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A comment on Forgiveness in a vengeful age. Parent comment

Re:Forgiveness in a vengeful age by sn41 on Wednesday November 25, 2015 @03:17AM (#10626049)
I will hesitate to wear these rosy glasses. The West has had somewhat peaceful 60 years, that's about it. See how liberal countries like Sweden suddenly close because of Syria? Revenge, hatred, and love are perennial notions, and they will always be part of the human psyche. The battle between good and evil has no ultimate victors or losers. Rationality does not explain what is at work here, it is not a deep enough human motivation.

If this sounds unconvincing, the Buddha and Christ preceded Hitler. Ashoka established a chain of veterinary hospitals in India in 360 BC, proclaiming that animals required equal treatment as humans do. [1] Are we "better" than these humanitarians?

Another example: India had no slavery in Greek times, and now has the largest number of slaves in history. [2] [3] I think similar cycles of rises and downfall can be seen in all the great civilizations, Egypt, Mesopotamia, China etc.

I don't know the answer, but history does not seem to be a linear progression from barbarism to civilization. It seems more like revisiting the same questions on good and evil, each time with more potent technology. The morality is the same, the technology progresses.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka#As_administrator

[2] http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/arrian-bookVIII-In... paragraph X

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery#Distribution

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Re:Forgiveness in a vengeful age by silentplummet on Wednesday November 25, 2015 @08:21AM (#10627009)
Sweden is almost 5,000 km away from Syria. What specifically relates these two countries in your comment?
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Re:Forgiveness in a vengeful age by sn41 on Thursday November 26, 2015 @09:23PM (#10635534)
Oh, my point was that countries liberal at one point in time may close down later. The original poster was trying to say that conservative -> liberal is the trend of history. I was trying to argue that the back-edge is also possible, and witnessed often in history. Even for long-term trends, the general direction seems not all that clear.
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Re:Forgiveness in a vengeful age by silentplummet on Wednesday November 25, 2015 @07:40PM (#10630700)
Why downvotes?
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