“Fact is, religious faith, which encodes the highest aspirations of human race, is now, in our country, the servant of lowest instincts, and God is the creature of evil." ~ Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses .
"A cheap, childish shot?" Quite the reverse: I had sent this to go out on Sunday, and for some reason it didn't. It only gained added relevance in the 24 hours that followed. I invite you to contemplate why it is, as Voltaire observed so long ago, that folk who believe absurdities tend to commit atrocities.
"No context"? The charactier in Rushdie's novel was criticising Hindu violence in the name of those gods; the novel's context made clear he intended the observation to apply to every god, and every religion.
A quote is a quote no matter how seriously it should be taken I guess but I still feel its cheap because its a sweeping statement about religion yet centered on two Muslim based characters and polytheism. You may think they are all religions except atheism are rubbish but even were that true the deluded are demonstrably not equal in theology and behaviours which means that the gods likewise are not necessarily equal - even Dawkins accepts that. You might as well have quoted something from a Harry Potter book and on that basis this looks like you found some lollies and could resist scoffing them all at once - it lacks your usual thoughfulness.
3 comments:
No context and a cheap, childish shot. D-
3:16
"A cheap, childish shot?" Quite the reverse: I had sent this to go out on Sunday, and for some reason it didn't. It only gained added relevance in the 24 hours that followed. I invite you to contemplate why it is, as Voltaire observed so long ago, that folk who believe absurdities tend to commit atrocities.
"No context"? The charactier in Rushdie's novel was criticising Hindu violence in the name of those gods; the novel's context made clear he intended the observation to apply to every god, and every religion.
A quote is a quote no matter how seriously it should be taken I guess but I still feel its cheap because its a sweeping statement about religion yet centered on two Muslim based characters and polytheism. You may think they are all religions except atheism are rubbish but even were that true the deluded are demonstrably not equal in theology and behaviours which means that the gods likewise are not necessarily equal - even Dawkins accepts that. You might as well have quoted something from a Harry Potter book and on that basis this looks like you found some lollies and could resist scoffing them all at once - it lacks your usual thoughfulness.
3:16
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