I'd probably say your education and upbringing contributes to your ability to have sympathy and empathy, at a guess. A lot of folks don't have the benefit of that, though, and for them perhaps religion is a positive force to encourage them to help others.
Would you agree that that Haitian adoption case was an isolated one, and not representative of the vast majority of the relief efforts by religious groups there?
Never said religion was the "only" bond-builder, just that it should get credit for the good it does do. When national publications have as their headline "Did Christianity Cause the Crash?", it becomes harder to say that Hitchens and Dawkins are lone voices in the wilderness anymore re: depicting religion as an on-balance negative force.
Hitchens actually does some good work talking out against fascist groups like the SSNP in Lebanon, but on religion he's off the reservation a lot of the time. Andrew Sullivan has the same problem: still good on balance, but when he's talking about gay marriage, torture, or Sarah Palin, he's pretty much unreadable for me because he speaks as an ideologue rather than a thinker.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-02-14 03:57 pm (UTC)Would you agree that that Haitian adoption case was an isolated one, and not representative of the vast majority of the relief efforts by religious groups there?
Never said religion was the "only" bond-builder, just that it should get credit for the good it does do. When national publications have as their headline "Did Christianity Cause the Crash?", it becomes harder to say that Hitchens and Dawkins are lone voices in the wilderness anymore re: depicting religion as an on-balance negative force.
Hitchens actually does some good work talking out against fascist groups like the SSNP in Lebanon, but on religion he's off the reservation a lot of the time. Andrew Sullivan has the same problem: still good on balance, but when he's talking about gay marriage, torture, or Sarah Palin, he's pretty much unreadable for me because he speaks as an ideologue rather than a thinker.