southernhybrid
Contributor
The opposite extreme might be Unitarians who promote social justice as a group, or how they open their doors to offer holiday dinner to the lonely in the community etc. Just because they are both forms of religion, doesn't mean they have anything in common. One promotes a narrow minded mythology that can promote violence under certain circumstances, and that also distances itself from anything resembling reality. The other promotes diversity, generosity and justice, while not taking any one set of myths too literally. It's hard for me to imagine a UU willing to kill or die for religion. I just don't think it's fair to put all of religion into one basket and then label it based on the worst parts. I guess we just see things from a different perspective.
But it's not necessarily a bad thing to be prepared to kill for your religion. Religion is fundamentally to be part of something greater than yourself, and you use some abstract symbol to bind yourself together. You create a story, and myths and aspirational behaviours. Perhaps a uniform clothing? Maybe hats? This is the kind of thinking that allowed the Allies to defeat Hitler in WW2. I'd say that was a good thing.
I don't see much difference between religion, nationalism, ideology, sports team supporting, being a punk rocker. They're all similar movements with similar results, they activate large groups of people towards shared goals. Which is essentially what civilisation is all about.
It would be very difficult for me to agree with the first part of your post, as I've been anti war my entire adult life. Perhaps there have been times when wars seemed necessary, but most of those who go to war have no intention of sacrificing themselves. I certainly can't imagine sacrificing oneself for a religion. I'd have to think long and hard about your claim.
The second part of your post makes sense. As I've mentioned in this thread before, I think that all human ideologies are mythological in nature. There is no pure truth in anything that humans make up or believe. Even science changes as new evidence comes available. This is especially true of medical science, an area that I'm very familiar with due to my past career. There is no perfect form of government. There is no perfect financial system. It's all based on wishful thinking. One of the biggest myths that American children are taught to believe is that we live in the greatest country on earth. We humans thrive on myths. That can be beneficial or harmful depending on circumstances.