KT.
((tom, I'm not against anyone's religion, but when you can't bend and are violent, we have to beware.))
Never was quite sure what to make of George Soros. But on the surface, I do agree with his notion of "open society", which he credits to his London School of Economics tutor Karl Popper.
The notion being that any society based on the notion of an unquestionable fundamental "truth" is succeptible to fall into a totalitarian form of governance. Which really is probably meant in the same way as you use religion above - i.e. a "religious" like devotion to the total "truth" of a viewpoint - be in free markets, communism, God, "the (fill in the nationality) way", Islam, Christianity, or the Chicago Cubs (pity the poor soul devoted to that cause!).
But it sort of begs the question "Why would someone hold onto a perspective as absolute truth?", and not be able to be open and tolerant to other points of view? To my mind, being a victim of extreme injustice, propaganda, the desire to retain power, existential insecurity all come to mind as motivators for extreme devotion to some "absolute" cause or truth.
Again, I'm reminded of the novel Dune. When young Paul Atriedes (sp?) effectively launches a Jihad against corrupt oprressors of the planet Dune, and effectively takes on the Imperium. But in his worst nightmares, he has visions of the future where his disciples are raping and pillaging the empire in the name of the righteousness of the cause. Scary, but understandable. How many examples of initial attempts to socially overcome injustice ... which ultimately led to inhumane reigns of terror - The French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the Chinese Civil War ... and the Islamic Revolution of the early 21st century? We shall see. Let's hope greater wisdom prevails from ALL sides.
Regards,
Glenn |
