Saudi Arabia and Iran: The Cold War of Islam

Re:Saudi Arabia and Iran: The Cold War of Islam by danharaj on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @12:52PM (#11668613)

People who believe that killing is wrong engage in bloody wars. People call themselves pro-life but support the death penalty. Countries that claim to promote peace invade other countries. People say they believe in freedom and democracy and push a police state.

People go through contortions to square the dissonance between their ideology and their actions. Ideology serves people, not the other way around. At best ideology is a hint at what people are like. There are always gross contradictions between what people believe and how people act.

Ideology does not arise from pure reason, it does not spring from the void. Ideology does not exist on its own, only in conjunction with power structures; ideology is completely subordinate to physical power. Ideology does not create power, it rationalizes it.

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Re:Saudi Arabia and Iran: The Cold War of Islam by FreedomToCreate on Tuesday May 10, 2016 @01:18PM (#11668837)

I agree that there can be contradictions, but those contradictions don't stand in complete separation from the ideology like you say. Ideology can serve people in power, but for the average citizen it forms the way they think and conduct themselves, and that is where the problem is.

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