Are we moving backwards?

Sallywally I think Mohammed would be as appalled by what is being done in his name as Jesus would be. Fundamentalists in any faith seem to have a very twisted version of the original message.

Excellent post Sallywally.

When I feel despairing and powerless in the face of the capacity for evil within human nature, I meditate and pray, somehow this brings about an inner peace and clarity. From this space, I source a word or a deed Im able to act upon - however tiny - to sow a seed of comprehension, I have come to recognise (in part) intrinsically within myself hides my own shadow, my own darkness and I feel ashamed of my judgements and complacent inertia. All Religions can and are
interpreted by those who hold the power; in such a way to fuel fear greed and hatred, but I choose to believe the human spirit is forever evolving and seeking to attain its highest self possible

I think most of us are fully aware that the Taliban (and other organisations) is twisting the Quran to mean what they want it to mean and that most Muslims know this and do not support it.

But unfortunately the fundamentalist nature of all religious texts (i.e. they deal in fundamentals) leaves the door open for nutters to interpret in their own way.

Indeed all readings of religious texts are interpretations: most Christians latch on the the message of love and kindness from the New Testament, but there is plenty in the bible that can be interpreted otherwise - just look at America with their fundamentalists and evangelicals.

And all this in an age when we have the means to understand the world better through our diligent scientists.

Just recently I have been reading parts of the Quran in particular those that mention women’s place in Islam. The Talibans interpretation is way off the real meaning. Whilst modesty, for example, is mentioned for both genders I cannot see anything about the wearing of garments such as a burka. Mohammed encouraged the pursuit of knowledge for both men and women, so nothing about banning education for girls.

I consider myself a Christian and am not a Muslim, but I think it might be useful for us non Muslims to be aware of the the proper message of the Quran and not the extremists twisted interpretation. Just a thought.

I am sorry but some of you need to STOP conflating the Plymouth shooter with what is going on in Afghanistan - they have ZERO to do with each other. The situation out there is confused enough without people making banile comparisons that serve no purpose. At the moment with Afghanistan it is a case of "watch, wait and hope for the best". The useless so-called "incel" in Plymouth should be kept out of this discussion - vague comparisons serve no purpose.

Trump most certainly started the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan - but not only has Joe Biden not reversed that decision, he has speeded it up! US intelligence said the Taliban would not reach Kabul for 30 days - it took ONE! We were all caught on the hop, with plans to extract our own nationals plus Afghanis at risk from working with UK troops. The Americans have ZERO moral highground here - we cannot stay on our own as we share equipment with the Americans.

We did apparently ask other European leaders if they would help to hold the line (purely to stop breeding of terrorist insurgents in Afghanistan coming ot Europe) - but, quelle surprise, none of the cowards wanted to have anything to do with it! Yes its a total shame what is going to happen in Afghanistan - but I cannot say what we could have done to prevent it? Russia never managed it,so the thought that the West could do it was arrogant to say the least! I weep for the women and girls of Afghanistan - whilst hoping the promises of the Taliban leaders hold true and they will not go back to the barbarity of the late 90s!

The young age of the men that entered the presidential building was surprsing. About the same ages as the ones that entered the White House.

Are we doomed to go backwards?

I hope we progress but perhaps it's a case of two small steps forward, one large step back at the moment.

GillT57
Australia deports undesirables. She's been back for a month!

Fridayschild

I worry a lot about the taliban and all that goes with them, with UK accepting all and welcome mats out, how long before they are in government here. Now that’s really scary.

Good grief. Are you back from Australia already Katie?

I worry a lot about the taliban and all that goes with them, with UK accepting all and welcome mats out, how long before they are in government here. Now that’s really scary.

I believe the old adage that everything always sinks to the lowest level.

Examples everywhere we look, from the dreadful news headlines, to concreting over Britain, to the loss and bastardisation of our beautiful language.

Sad.

I too have been upset today reading about the taliban advancing on Afghanistan and the horrible person from Plymouth who shot people dead, we are going backwards especially where women’s freedoms are concerned, very sad world we live in.

GrandeTante wrote:

"The one is the fact that the scientific or more properly academic approach to religions as such that made such advances from about the 1860s was just that - an academic discipline that certainly attracted followers at the level of congregations and their ministers, priests, rabbis or imams, but equally made no impact on a vast number of followers of the various religions."

Religions' social functions don't include educating the faithful flock. The reason for this is that religions' functions do include supporting the status quo i.e. religions are always conservative. The more liberal religions such as the Quakers, the Sufis, or the Unitarians are minorities and are sometimes not recognised as religions by the traditional more authoritarian institutions.

@Mistyfluff8. I think the Plymouth shooter was against women for a different reason. He was a member of an online ‘celibate’ community and his rants against women were mainly centred on the fact that he wasn’t having much success with them. I think the biggest factor in the Plymouth shooting was the massive error of returning his guns and firearms license, which were taken away because of his past mental health problems. His rants were out there for all to see, but reportedly no one in authority checked to see whether it was actually safe to restore his access.

this post seems to have deteriorated into a slanging match of religion, culture, and perhaps race. not, i think, quite what the op was hoping for.

my own "halfpennyworth" is that war seems to have been a constant for a long time. it's how the rich get richer and ensure they get more than their fair share of "the spoils".
but how do you persuade a lot of sensible people, intent on living/enjoying their lives and feeding their families, to go to war? you use the strongest form of persuader; which has long been religion.
in other words: don't blame the religion for war and the awful things that are done in its name; blame the people who use the religion to their ends.
and note, now that religion is, for many, less of a persuader, there's that much-abused term "democracy". "we" fight (with words as well as guns) for the principle of democracy, and yet in its name our own version of "vote for trump and you get what you deserve" has given away many millions and even billions of pounds to his friends and supporters. whilst allowing the destruction of our home/planet to continue apace.
surely we need a completely new way to make decisions!

It’s all about interpretation isn’t it ? The Taliban are about control. Ignorant people are easier to handle, so education becomes the enemy. I can’t get past the hypocrisy of it all - western civilisation is vilified, but they’re happy to accept and utilise modern technology to further their ‘cause’. And I also feel truly, truly sorry for anyone who has lost a loved one in the armed forces - they must be going through hell all over again trying to make sense of what they died, given what’s happening now.

pearl79, one of my university lecturers used to quote that quite a bit and I often think of it.

Sadly what about the shooter in Plymouth who sadly killed those people and a beautiful little girl .He was on the internet and against women

hi coconut. according to wikiquotes it was horace walpole, writer and politician (1717-1797) who said "I have often said, and oftener think, that this world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel — a solution of why Democritus laughed and Heraclitus wept."
so it's been going on for a long time, and maybe will forever.

Savages is the right word for thugs like the Taliban! Any ideology that permits their behaviour towards their human fellows in the 21st century is wrong, disgusting, abhorrent. They are worse, far worse than Fascists and I really, don't care to be called intolerant, racist, etc when it comes to these kind of ideologies. I find no excuse for their behaviour at all. A bunch murderers, rapists, terrorists, anti women, ... are not worth any respect. The right places for them are either prisons or high security mental hospitals and not in any government. The Afgan nation has been abandoned to be devoured by a bunch of criminals and insane group, and here we are helplessly watching it and feeling angry and upset! Soon it'll be off the screen and not a news any more. Not seeing it though doesn't mean it won't be there! It's a real human tragedy hard to believe that it's not to be tackled as Hitler was.

Whoops Algerias!

I agree with ‘OldWoman70’ and a lot of the other contributors. My great-uncle, who was an experienced soldier in the Great War and fought in the British War in Afghanistan in 1919 always said with great emphasis ‘We should never go back into Afghanistan’. Our politicians unfortunately don’t read history. The only hope is that the spread of modern ideas though the Internet and outside contacts will eventually inspire the religious population of Afghanistan to throw the Taliban out and progress to a less medieval form of Islam, as a personal belief and separate from the Government and Administration. In the U.K. we too, are guilty of allowing religious beliefs to infiltrate our social and legal systems, not surprisingly to the detriment of women, e.g. polygamy, abortions of girl foetuses, and the wearing of the full-face Niqab. We should guard our freedoms with care.

Biden / Trump the writing was on the wall. The Afghan army have been trained for years with money and expertise .