Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?
Ahh, computers. The harddrive on my laptop finally gave up, and that's the reason I've been away from the blog since Monday. I was able to access internet on my phone, thank goodness, but I knew I would never have the patience to write anything lengthy on it, so I simply gave the blog a miss, again. I'm writing this on my mom's laptop, which she kindly lent to me. I could manage to function without the joys of blogging for a few more days, before I can get a new laptop, but I can't translate, pay my bills, or e-mail anyone properly, and this is a particularly bad time for me to be without access to all that. I got the book I'm supposed to translate just today, so I can start writing that grant application I told you about. I really, really wish I will get the grant. It would be a godsend to have a steady income, that exceeds my expenses, for a whole year. I could save some money, and of course I might get another job before the year was out. Still keeping my fingers crossed...
As for the question for today,
if I had the answer to that, I could be going for the Nobel peace prize, which by the way was won by a Finnish man, one of our former presidents, Martti Ahtisaari. He's been a peace negotiator for the UN, and has done a lot of work in Africa. I remember whern he was elected, I was in my teens then. There was a lot of criticism about his looks (he's fat, and he never was handsome), which I thought silly at the time. I do know that looks are important, and I'm not totally indifferent to my own looks, either, but clearly a president needs more than looks to be succesful in what he does. It's not all about image, you need to back it up with something more. I also thought it a bit odd for Finns to criticize someone harshly for their looks, because Finns aren't all that concerned about image, style and fashion anyway, at least compared to our neighbours, the Swedes and Russians. A Russian girl, who lived in our student corridor, said that it took at least a year of living in Finland before she got used to that you actually don't need to put on makeup every time you leave the house.
If I should attempt to answer the question, bearing in mind that I'm religious myself, I would say something like this: Religion isn't so much about the concerns of this world, but more about eternal matters, and therefore religious reasons are different than political and practical reasons. If you consider the situation in Palestine, for example, the Jews there seem to feel that they have a right to live in Jerusalem, because God says so. It's a perfectly valid reason for them, and the fact that the world has changed a bit since the days of Moses doesn't necessarily matter so much in that context. Another big reason why the religions of love don't promote a peaceful life is probably that religion stirs the deepest feelings we have. The suicide bomber, the nun or monk, the yogi, who seems to subsist without any food, and the humble church-goer are all doing what they do because they believe that something exists outside the world we can see, and they adore that something with a passion that they are willing to die for, whether they believe in a reward in the afterlife or not. They feel they are serving a greater cause, and they really believe it's worth risking everything. Religion isn't all about love, there's lots more to it, however peaceful the doctrines seem. It's an all-or-nothing deal, and the stakes are higher than any others, because they affect the way you will spend eternity.
This was kind of a disappointing day for me, because we went to look at computers, and then we couldn't buy one, after all. I wanted to pay for it in instalments, but I can't get any credit (no steady income, you see), so we have to wait until we can pay the full prize. If I do get the one I have my eye on, or at least one very like it, I'll be very happy. However, I went to the library and found lots to read, and two seasons of The Simpsons to watch, so it will be all right. And, most importantly, I have a borrowed computer, and it works excellently. I'm a firm believer in the silver lining...
As for the question for today,
if I had the answer to that, I could be going for the Nobel peace prize, which by the way was won by a Finnish man, one of our former presidents, Martti Ahtisaari. He's been a peace negotiator for the UN, and has done a lot of work in Africa. I remember whern he was elected, I was in my teens then. There was a lot of criticism about his looks (he's fat, and he never was handsome), which I thought silly at the time. I do know that looks are important, and I'm not totally indifferent to my own looks, either, but clearly a president needs more than looks to be succesful in what he does. It's not all about image, you need to back it up with something more. I also thought it a bit odd for Finns to criticize someone harshly for their looks, because Finns aren't all that concerned about image, style and fashion anyway, at least compared to our neighbours, the Swedes and Russians. A Russian girl, who lived in our student corridor, said that it took at least a year of living in Finland before she got used to that you actually don't need to put on makeup every time you leave the house.
If I should attempt to answer the question, bearing in mind that I'm religious myself, I would say something like this: Religion isn't so much about the concerns of this world, but more about eternal matters, and therefore religious reasons are different than political and practical reasons. If you consider the situation in Palestine, for example, the Jews there seem to feel that they have a right to live in Jerusalem, because God says so. It's a perfectly valid reason for them, and the fact that the world has changed a bit since the days of Moses doesn't necessarily matter so much in that context. Another big reason why the religions of love don't promote a peaceful life is probably that religion stirs the deepest feelings we have. The suicide bomber, the nun or monk, the yogi, who seems to subsist without any food, and the humble church-goer are all doing what they do because they believe that something exists outside the world we can see, and they adore that something with a passion that they are willing to die for, whether they believe in a reward in the afterlife or not. They feel they are serving a greater cause, and they really believe it's worth risking everything. Religion isn't all about love, there's lots more to it, however peaceful the doctrines seem. It's an all-or-nothing deal, and the stakes are higher than any others, because they affect the way you will spend eternity.
This was kind of a disappointing day for me, because we went to look at computers, and then we couldn't buy one, after all. I wanted to pay for it in instalments, but I can't get any credit (no steady income, you see), so we have to wait until we can pay the full prize. If I do get the one I have my eye on, or at least one very like it, I'll be very happy. However, I went to the library and found lots to read, and two seasons of The Simpsons to watch, so it will be all right. And, most importantly, I have a borrowed computer, and it works excellently. I'm a firm believer in the silver lining...