tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251755.post115230972566077658..comments2023-08-10T02:35:48.311-07:00Comments on My Sandmen: Faith and UnderstandingMr.Atoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531644043944267693noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251755.post-1152578495411340392006-07-10T17:41:00.000-07:002006-07-10T17:41:00.000-07:00Atos:you bring up a great point that faith need no...Atos:<BR/><BR/>you bring up a great point that faith need not necessarily be the belief in a higher power - it can be the belief in NO higher power, in as much as that belief is forced upon others.<BR/><BR/>boghie:<BR/><BR/>you are correct in the strauss/howe information. however, i suppose the people that i'm talking about are the middle-of-the-road lefties around these parts - the ones without a declared faith. the far-lefties that own the rhetoric of their side of the spectrum have declared atheism or Gore-flavored gaia worship as their religion. so we're left with this:<BR/><BR/>- the middle-right and right want to make sure we don't all get killed or tyrannized by islamic militants<BR/>- the left and far-left want to make sure that the middle-right and right don't destroy the planet and their "freedom"<BR/>- the middle-left generally agrees with the left and far-left, but isn't ready to take on the middle-right directly, nor do they want to recognize that islamic militants are a threat to them.<BR/><BR/>is this a recepie for the survival of western liberal democracy? it sure don't look like it.dueler88https://www.blogger.com/profile/15936047536305626931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251755.post-1152369737457330522006-07-08T07:42:00.000-07:002006-07-08T07:42:00.000-07:00Dueler88Faith of all types plays a major role in m...Dueler88<BR/><BR/>Faith of all types plays a major role in major events.<BR/><BR/>If pushed hard enough, the West (referenced in your post as the Judeo-Christian tradition) pushes back <I><B>hard</B></I>. As Mr. Atos stated in the previous comment: 'Live and Let Live.'<BR/><BR/>The corollary, however, is 'Kill or be Killed.' That came in WWII, the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, the War of Roses, ..., the 30 Years War, the Roman/Germanic Wars, the Persian Wars, ...<BR/><BR/>Faith (religious and/or secular) played a role in all. These eras were defined by sharply delineated belief structures. We are in an era of sharply delineated belief structures - internal and external.<BR/><BR/>Our great luck (and I really don't believe in luck) has provided us eight years of tremendous leadership which in the end may stem the destruction that seemed imminent on 9/11. But, will the internal conflict subside to the point that we can resolve the external conflict without huge amounts of bloodshed? Will the other parties in the external conflict stand down - defeated and demoralized, or at least accepting of ‘Live and Let Live' social mores?<BR/><BR/>We shall see internally. Will our culture destroy the NYT, the current incarnation of the Democratic Party, and the weak kneed concepts of the Liberal 60's - and then rebuild and restructure them. Or will the NYT, the Democratic Party, and the 60's Liberals defeat and change the culture? My guess here is the former. I think we are past the tipping point.<BR/><BR/>We shall see externally. President Bush is attempting to resolve the external threat (or at least the ones we can see today) through 'soft power' - I know the Libs will look askance at that, but think again... Can a shining city on a hill be built, culturally defined, and draw an entire civilization out of the gap? Or will that civilization march right past and into the abyss.<BR/><BR/>Right to were faith forces action.Boghiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07082497352696881585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251755.post-1152363196816810392006-07-08T05:53:00.000-07:002006-07-08T05:53:00.000-07:00Live and let live. Its what it all comes down to....Live and let live. Its what it all comes down to. Don't slice my throat... or the tires on my SUV because you dont like one or the other. Religion as a concept, takes many forms and has varying degrees of devotion. Spiking trees, torching condos, falsifying scientific evidence, sabotaging transmission towers, arson, vandalism, are one form of worship. The mass marketing of abortion is another. It seems that regardless of affiliation, the extremists never recognize their own fanaticism... nor its logical corollaries, even as the threats are both similar and emminent.Mr.Atoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11531644043944267693noreply@blogger.com