Originally Posted by sleeper
ok, i thought you were maybe referring to that and i fully agree. that principle stands up to any test i think
i dont know what you mean about escaping personal problems exactly. thats a fairly broad way to put it and, insofar as its broad enough to capture what i think on that, i agree. theres a more specific answer to that question though, i think. i can say that, overall, almost by definition, it takes a pretty deficient mind to identify fully with near anything. its really not right. you could talk all day about what root it stems from, but i usually think of it as coming from this fundamental phobia of accepting uncertainty. its not even really a demand for certainty or absolutes, but more a refusal to accept uncertainty in those realms i think. such absolutes dont really exist, so its easy to just find or create them i think. its why the most pacific, stable times or places produce (for lack of a better word) humanism, and why, you know, "there are no atheists in fox holes" or whatever. this is a pretty tired, prosaic conclusion, i know, but its certainly not less true because of that
in fact, ive been thinking more and more of (another tired conclusion) politics as religion. this couldnt be more true. for instance, in terms of the psychology behind it, communism was very, very much a religion back in the early 20th century, way more than it was even a political ideology for a lot of people. i cant stress this enough. i dont really even take seriously it as an political theory anymore, its a religion through and through. and i hate to be crude and take a shot at your buddy now, but jczeroman is truly the embodiment of this pathology. the whole christian thing was just embarrassingly fitting
this is a bit off topic but i just found it really interesting and its kind of within the theme that is developing now. i read this op-ed that discussed this idea that atheists, being people who dont believe in a god, are more prone to violence or just any amoral act. the piece was basically arguing the opposite, that its atheists who dont have the luxury of excuses and have to answer to themselves, while religion allows oeople to break that thin but incredibly, incredibly important barrier, alleviating people of responsibility for their acts. this is so true, i think, and its a great topic that gets soiled too much with stupid bickering ("crusades and inquisitions!" says one. "oh yeah?! stalin and mao!" says the other). its on that psychological level that this is most interesting. i heard this story recently that some photojournalist who made his way into the insurgency in iraq after months of building trust recounted: he said at one point the americans were baring down on them and one of the insurgents knew he would have to fight (and invariably die) and he started talking to the journalist about his wife and kid and started crying, only to them say "no, no, these tears are the devils way of controlling me." then he went out and got killed.
ok identifying with some political ideology maybe isnt that sick but, hey, its pretty close
|