Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
It was a serious point, if a silly question. Look at the way that Israel is comfortable using military force against Palestinians, or the way that Protestants committed atrocities during the Thirty Years War. (Culturally, those are very different examples -- which just shows that a reductive focus on religion leaves out a lot of important culture.)
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I do not have a reductive focus on religion. I do believe, however, that in many Muslim countries, religion is a dominant factor in shaping the culture of the country. It is generally much less so in the West.
Your point about Israelis doesn't work, because so much of that is based on the situation that Israel is in. I would be as comfortable as the "average" Israeli using military force against Palestinians if faced by the same circumstances.
Your point about Protestants in the 30 Years War does work. And I believe that both religion (the fanaticism of it, for both Protestants and Catholics, at that time) and other aspects of the culture (a whole lot less respect for humanity in the 17th century) contributed to that.
