tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post4954192541582542362..comments2023-12-25T01:24:48.957-05:00Comments on Republic of Gilead: Fundamentalists See a Modern World in DecayAhabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675629709031865432noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post-64135471178814210352013-09-09T09:58:37.837-04:002013-09-09T09:58:37.837-04:00Green Eagle -- A good reminder. The myth of a gold...Green Eagle -- A good reminder. The myth of a golden age (and of a corrupt present age) has been used by many groups to justify agendas.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14675629709031865432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post-8441864641529470222013-09-08T14:29:22.568-04:002013-09-08T14:29:22.568-04:00Don't forget that the myth of the Golden Age h...Don't forget that the myth of the Golden Age has been a cultural staple at least since Homer. It has certainly been a staple of hard right ideologues (e.g. Mussolini's reverence for ancient Rome, the Nazis' near deification of Barbarossa) but historically it has by no means been exclusively a right wing phenomenon. No one has had a greater role in promoting this notion, I think, than Rousseau, and he can hardly be considered a right winger.Green Eaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13477132834757467690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post-37420532829539667202013-09-03T11:59:10.360-04:002013-09-03T11:59:10.360-04:00Christian -- Fundamentalists definitely chafe at t...Christian -- Fundamentalists definitely chafe at the fact that their version of religion no longer dominates society.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14675629709031865432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post-21890038781054698752013-09-03T11:58:16.569-04:002013-09-03T11:58:16.569-04:00Wise Fool -- Good observation. If they filter thei...Wise Fool -- Good observation. If they filter their observations through a tinted lens, they'll definitely miss positive aspects of today's world.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14675629709031865432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post-75922881113775402812013-09-03T11:57:06.403-04:002013-09-03T11:57:06.403-04:00Infidel -- Those culture war losses just intensify...Infidel -- Those culture war losses just intensify their belief that the modern world is fallen, and feeds into a vicious cycle.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14675629709031865432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post-16987131718763847472013-09-03T09:38:34.671-04:002013-09-03T09:38:34.671-04:00You are right in my opinion. Fundamentalists I thi...You are right in my opinion. Fundamentalists I think just want to go back to times when their religion was dominant and they can get away with anything they wanted. It makes social responsibility less as you can just claim sin, but now they have to actually deal with the fall out from their actions and they do not like that.Christianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01243905647317437724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post-41842416093605420442013-09-03T08:39:29.385-04:002013-09-03T08:39:29.385-04:00Unfortunately, not only can it be seen as part of ...Unfortunately, not only can it be seen as part of a "larger strategy", but also a fundamental cognitive issue that most of us experience at one time or another; confirmation bias. They've got a book that tells them the way things are and the way things will be, so they focus on the evidence which aligns with that world view, and pretty much ignore everything else.TWFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06016277303703254572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post-34195810268726160622013-09-03T08:06:32.638-04:002013-09-03T08:06:32.638-04:00It fits the image of reality they have. Since we ...It fits the image of reality they have. Since we know that humanity started in a primitive state and gradually advanced as new knowledge and abilities were acquired, it's natural to us to see history in terms of progress. They think we started off in a perfect state (the garden of Eden) and "fell", so it's natural to them to see history as decline.<br /><br />They don't generally see advancing technology as progress since that technology has made us less helpless in the face of nature and thus less psychologically dependent on religion for comfort. And they definitely don't see "greater rights for previously marginalized groups" as progress since they were the ones marginalizing those groups.<br /><br />And there's comfort for them in the thought that this "depravity" will soon bring about total collapse, or the return of Jesus, and then they'll be triumphant while the rest of us are brought down. Given that they're losing the culture war on every front, that fantasy is all they've got to cling to.Infidel753https://www.blogger.com/profile/10965786814334886696noreply@blogger.com