Absurdities Abound

[Gary Childress]

Why is the cradle of the Abrahamic religions such a hotbed for war and strife? The Far East seems much less volatile than Mesopotamia. I mean, what kind of "holy" city is one that people will kill over to control? Do others not see the absurdity here?

[popeye1945]

Why is the cradle of the Abrahamic religions such a hotbed for war and strife? The Far East seems much less volatile than Mesopotamia. I mean, what kind of "holy" city is one that people will kill over to control? Do others not see the absurdity here?

These archaic mythologies/religions are absurd, but with a bit of wisdom and some great poetry, that might be salvaged.

[Fairy]

Why is the cradle of the Abrahamic religions such a hotbed for war and strife? The Far East seems much less volatile than Mesopotamia. I mean, what kind of "holy" city is one that people will kill over to control? Do others not see the absurdity here?

Anything can happen in a dream.

The absurdity of this dream is that nothing ever happens in a dream.

[MikeNovack]

Why is the cradle of the Abrahamic religions such a hotbed for war and strife? The Far East seems much less volatile than Mesopotamia. I mean, what kind of "holy" city is one that people will kill over to control? Do others not see the absurdity here?

Might I humbly suggest that perhaps this is an illusion? You think the far east less volatile because you know its history less well. You associate conflicts in the Middle east in terms of religion because you know of the conflicts that got recorded in religious texts.

If you had grown up in Japan, Korea, China, etc. you perhaps would have thought the reverse, your area full of strife and war and other parts of the world less volatile/more peaceful.

Humans have always engaged in "strife". Of course before the late Neolithic/agriculture no larger groups, so conflicts less like wars than feuds between bands of about 50. However, if you do the math, you discover that with bands that size, even if only one fatality per decade, the chances that a man will de in battle surprisingly high.

[Gary Childress]

Why is the cradle of the Abrahamic religions such a hotbed for war and strife? The Far East seems much less volatile than Mesopotamia. I mean, what kind of "holy" city is one that people will kill over to control? Do others not see the absurdity here?

Might I humbly suggest that perhaps this is an illusion? You think the far east less volatile because you know its history less well. You associate conflicts in the Middle east in terms of religion because you know of the conflicts that got recorded in religious texts.

If you had grown up in Japan, Korea, China, etc. you perhaps would have thought the reverse, your area full of strife and war and other parts of the world less volatile/more peaceful.

Humans have always engaged in "strife". Of course before the late Neolithic/agriculture no larger groups, so conflicts less like wars than feuds between bands of about 50. However, if you do the math, you discover that with bands that size, even if only one fatality per decade, the chances that a man will de in battle surprisingly high.

If the Abrahamic God is the "true" God, then I would think those regions would be more peaceful than any other in the world. As you yourself point out, that's not the case. The Abrahamic religions have little if any comparative net effect on humans, any more than any other religion. So does it really seem like there is a God out there? People accomplish the same thing with other religions that don't subscribe to the Abrahamic God or, in some cases, don't subscribe to any God at all.

[promethean75]

Ever find yourself tryna make the same points over and over in some thread because a) there's a new guy in the discussion or b) same guy, but like any forum poster, they aren't budging?

If so, you may like the seven day Philosophy Forum Recovery program that I offer for a very reasonable price.

[Fairy]

That’s what echo chambers are for. To have fun receiving what you give to your self.