Reply #58: I wonder if religious fundamentalism

[ninkasi]

has any effect? I notice that among the top 10 states in number of homicides, over half are in the South. I live in Texas, myself, and thought I'd see Texas on the list. I know that the Bible Belt has more divorces, and maybe all of the Old Testament emphasis has something to do with murder rates. There's a lot of bloodshed and vengeance in the OT, and a lot of wrath and violence.

Maybe it would be better for those who identify themselves as Christians to read a bit more of what Jesus preached, and take to heart the admonitions to feed the hungry, feed the poor, and love your fellow man. I don't know, but it all seems to fit together, the anger, the rigid thinking, the violence, the lust for revenge...it seems to result in poverty, divorce, and homicide.

I'm not bashing Christians, because I was raised as a Methodist, but it was a very laid back, gentle kind of religion, lots of emphasis on love and forgiveness, helping others, and doing the right thing out of love. We were taught that since Jesus asked us to love and forgive each other, we could best worship him by following his words. So...maybe the fire and brimstone and screaming about vengeance isn't such a good idea, and leads to angry, unforgiving people. Maybe there's a better way for society to get along.