A different spin on things.

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by BurningQuestion

An unfortunate aspect of religion is it's pervasive psychological power - which is easily abused and turned into a form of brainwashing by extremists.

I dont think its a simple matter of abuse or brainwashing. Religion is the trump card over all other things. Everyone has priorities in their lives, and the highest priority takes precidence over everything else. We have seen religious extreemists here in the US: Charles Manson convinced his followers he is Jesus, and they were more than willing to murder for him. Same with David Korey, Jim Jones, that guy with the comet/alien cult - mass suicide...

It is simply incredible how people can be stripped of their humanity to such an extent that they feel motivated to die violently, killing innocent people in the name of God. The fact that anyone would have such a death wish indicates severe psychological damage - it goes against every human evolutionary instinct.

I dont think you realize how close to home all these stuff is - these people are not all mentally ill, they are regular people who have bought into something that is not true, is not real. As a result what looks logical to them is lunacy to everyone else. How can you stop it? Ban any form of extreme religious teachings? Monitor and control religious leaders?

Again, we have them here in the US. Should Pat Roberson be jailed for inciting violence? Falwell and others who demonize groups of people for not behaving the way they think God wants them to?

I dont have an answer to the problem, but we should at least understand that much of what is happening in the Middle East is similar to things happening in our country as well.