I've started another thread as the other one was degenerating into a long winded arguements about specific issues like homosexuality.
Fudamentalism is based on following a set of rules written in the past. As the world evolves, not set of rules, no matter how great they were when they were written cannot apply forever.
Many parts of holy texts are rooted in common sense - but the government and legislative bodies need to be completely seperate so that society can adjust to advancements made.
Example 1
It is taboo to eat certain types of food in many religions. For instance, for Jews and Muslims it is pork, because they are unclean. In olden days, that may have been the case, since pigs ate all kinds of rubbish and had worms and stuff. In today's world, pigs are mostly reared with animal feed and what is a pressing matter is whether pigs (and other animals) should be fed with genetically modified vegetation. Find me a holy book that talks about this.
Example 2
Incest is taboo because inbreeding tends to cause the manifestation of several homozygous recessive genetic disorders. It also impedes bio-diversity and evolution. Now if one day DNA testing becomes so good that we can predict all possible genetic disorders, maybe incest could be allowed (there would still be implications for social structure and interactions). Homosexuality has been taboo simply because it interferes with the process of perpetuating the human race.
Example 3
Prostitution promotes the spreading of sexual diseases and that is why it is bad in most religions. At the time when there were no rubber condoms (I think they used sheeps intestines or some other unsavoury items) that would seem logical. With proper sex education, it is easy to understand why it is becoming legal in many countries.
Example 4
The thing with Hindus and Cows is easy to understand too. There is little land for grazing and cows are needed for tilling the land. If India had huge grasslands perhaps things would be different. Then again, mad-cow disease mat be something we have to think about in the near future.
Many other 'rules' like not stealing still make sense today and that is why the legal infrastrucutre and religion still go hand in hand. However as time passes, the divergence between what is dictated by fundamentalist and what makes sense is bound to increase. Implicitly we can see this happening with opposites between the Old and New Testaments. An eye for and eye becomes turn the other cheek. Animal sacrifices were glorified but largely dropped later.
So to cut a long story short, the people who are living today are the only ones endowed with the proper knowledge to set the rules. As a governmental structure, religion was suitable at a certain phase of human civilisation but that time has passed.
Fudamentalism is based on following a set of rules written in the past. As the world evolves, not set of rules, no matter how great they were when they were written cannot apply forever.
Many parts of holy texts are rooted in common sense - but the government and legislative bodies need to be completely seperate so that society can adjust to advancements made.
Example 1
It is taboo to eat certain types of food in many religions. For instance, for Jews and Muslims it is pork, because they are unclean. In olden days, that may have been the case, since pigs ate all kinds of rubbish and had worms and stuff. In today's world, pigs are mostly reared with animal feed and what is a pressing matter is whether pigs (and other animals) should be fed with genetically modified vegetation. Find me a holy book that talks about this.
Example 2
Incest is taboo because inbreeding tends to cause the manifestation of several homozygous recessive genetic disorders. It also impedes bio-diversity and evolution. Now if one day DNA testing becomes so good that we can predict all possible genetic disorders, maybe incest could be allowed (there would still be implications for social structure and interactions). Homosexuality has been taboo simply because it interferes with the process of perpetuating the human race.
Example 3
Prostitution promotes the spreading of sexual diseases and that is why it is bad in most religions. At the time when there were no rubber condoms (I think they used sheeps intestines or some other unsavoury items) that would seem logical. With proper sex education, it is easy to understand why it is becoming legal in many countries.
Example 4
The thing with Hindus and Cows is easy to understand too. There is little land for grazing and cows are needed for tilling the land. If India had huge grasslands perhaps things would be different. Then again, mad-cow disease mat be something we have to think about in the near future.
Many other 'rules' like not stealing still make sense today and that is why the legal infrastrucutre and religion still go hand in hand. However as time passes, the divergence between what is dictated by fundamentalist and what makes sense is bound to increase. Implicitly we can see this happening with opposites between the Old and New Testaments. An eye for and eye becomes turn the other cheek. Animal sacrifices were glorified but largely dropped later.
So to cut a long story short, the people who are living today are the only ones endowed with the proper knowledge to set the rules. As a governmental structure, religion was suitable at a certain phase of human civilisation but that time has passed.
