What effects do you think religious belief has on the actions of world governments? I’m interested in the actual effects on the world that come from people in power who believe in “good and evil” and “sin” and so forth.
Posted: October 11th 2009
Eric_PK
I think religious beliefs make people dangerous. It’s one lever you use to short-circuit what I would call common human decency (nationalism being the other).
It’s especially bad if they are of the evangelical bent. George W. is a perfect example of the effect one who is devoted to religion has on the world.
I do believe in good and evil, but I also believe that things are rarely that black and white, and that in any country there are always serious vested interests who have hidden agendas.
Posted: October 12th 2009
SmartLX www
It depends on the religiosity of world leaders.
Look no further for an example than George W. Bush. Former French president Jacques Chirac recently revealed that in 2003, Bush told him Iraq had to be invaded to defeat the Biblical demons Gog and Magog.
He gave other reasons in public, certainly, and some of them might even have been valid (probably not the one about WMD), but his real reason was apparently to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy.
For one more example, try to name an action by the Iranian government in the last 20 years which it has not openly linked to Islam.
Posted: October 11th 2009