Can we speak about religion the same way we speak about politics?

Ah, Mlle Demoritto, this question causes me amusement, because it betrays your lack of Anglo-Saxon repression.

The Anglo-Saxon proverbial expression is, there are three topics that one should never bring up for social discussion: Sex, Politics, and Religion. All three are regarded as too hot.

This is obviously a culture-specific judgement, and different cultures and individuals will have completely different opinions. Some cultures, and a lot of people, are quite ok to talk about sex. In countries without a sectarian divide, or where there is long-entrenched freedom of religion, religion will be far less toxic—unless individuals are True Believers, trying to convert everyone at the dinner table.

The same actually goes for politics. In Greece, my childhood memory is that discussing politics was more an entertainment, an excuse for people to gesticulate and mock argue, than something serious and deadly (although there was an undercurrent of that too).

So the answer to your question really depends on the culture of the “we”, and on how much of a True Believer (moral, religious or ideological) “we” are.

One Comment

• John Cowan says:

  January 15, 2018 at 4:02 am

  Text Editors, don’t forget Text Editors. “Vi! Emacs! Vi! Emacs!”

  (I myself am an ex troglodyte, as distinct from an ex-troglodyte.)

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