Beginning the week with a quotation
Propagating the view that my blog is like buses - nothing for a while and then several posts at once - I'm going to pop my head up again, for one last time this evening.
Whilst reading the comments beneath the Times article I referenced in my previous post, I came across this:
I rather liked it.
Whilst reading the comments beneath the Times article I referenced in my previous post, I came across this:
"It never ceases to surprise me that apparently intelligent people, who ought to know enough history to understand the nature of socialism, nevertheless keep getting fooled."
I rather liked it.
Comments
A quote: "You and me, we're not that different you know."
It is my experience that most (all) people (regardless of political persuasion) yearn for a society where we need no governance, where we treat each other beautifully, the tranquil breeze of the trade winds is the only disturbance. No one is greedy, no one is proud and those who achieve, are congratulated, and in return they humbly accept congratulations.
We all just like to disagree about the best process to achieve this utopia.
Think Dave's sentiment is much better than the childish smugness of this post.
As has been said before James, you are better than this.
However, let's not let this detract from the fact that perhaps rather sadly there is an element of truth to it.
Incidentally, I'd probably use the word 'nice' about Dave's statement. I think that it was slightly oblique in this context, and a little naive but it's an interesting sentiment nonetheless. Talking of being smug, though, I wonder how many people are looking at themselves through rose-tinted spectacles (if you can do such a thing) and feeling that they themselves have all the qualities needed to achieve such a utopia. "If only everyone else was the same"...
Thank you, Dave, for what I perceive to be a small compliment.
Work on improving yourself - funnily enough here religion, rather than socialism, helps - and that's about all you should do. If everyone does: voila, we'll arrive at the closest thing to a utopia you can get.
So I disagree with Marc that religion helps in improving oneself, even though that is what it claims to do.
Religion has a place. But the problem is that those that embrace fall into the trap that it answers everything and some go further in justifying everything that they do.
Of course what is even more dangerous is when politics and religion mix too closely, either in an explicit way like a religious state, or a quasi religion such as the Nazi party.
As such I agree with Marc about the danger or attempting to define Utopia, but think that religion is will also have its "'utopian' ambitions fall down".
James1:27
The Bible agrees with you, anonymous.