I think the reason Tyson (and I) use religious fundamentalism as the bogeyman in situations like this is that it creates repressive societies. This is because cynical (religious and government) leaders use it as they use other powerful, psychological tools and -isms to control their people and gather power.
Because the Abrahamic religions (Islam, Christianity, Judaism) all claim God as their own and dismiss others' religious notions as misdirected at best, it's a more powerful tool for control than anything else. If you drug your people to control them, eventually that'll fail or the people will rise up against it; if you use the stick and carrot of God to control people, by definition they can't question the dictates.
I, too, am driven crazy by hypocrisy. Religion is full of it, as is politics, and they're even smug about their hypocrisy because they know they're right. GAAAAH!
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Date: 2011-08-08 05:16 pm (UTC)Because the Abrahamic religions (Islam, Christianity, Judaism) all claim God as their own and dismiss others' religious notions as misdirected at best, it's a more powerful tool for control than anything else. If you drug your people to control them, eventually that'll fail or the people will rise up against it; if you use the stick and carrot of God to control people, by definition they can't question the dictates.
I, too, am driven crazy by hypocrisy. Religion is full of it, as is politics, and they're even smug about their hypocrisy because they know they're right. GAAAAH!