Are we as hated as we think we are?

[Anonymous]

Plesiosaur wrote:

I also said unkind and cringey things as a tween. I can say homeatly I never had hate or malice in my heart more just a still growing empathy and a bad sense of humor . I think that is probably true of the majority of the people who have said unkind and cringey things to me.

Amen. Sometimes the “hate” comes from people that don’t know any better. They may feel that they are defending their tribe by putting Mormons down? May we all turn our swords into plowshares.

[Anonymous]

Yes (by some) and no (by others).

Honestly, in my best Forrest Gump voice, “That’s all I have to say about that”. 😀

[Anonymous]

Carburettor wrote:

In the UK, I’d say at least 90% of the population no longer identifies with any type of faith, and those who do are viewed either with suspicion on account of the rise of pockets of religious extremism or indifference because they are seen as being stuck in a time-warp.

So, over here — hated? Not at all. We are simply an irrelevance to be used as the butt of occasional jokes.

This statement in bold (my bold face type) caught my interest. UK is very socialist compared to the United States (correct me if I’m wrong), and reminds me of Canada in many respects. When I lived in Canada, if you were religious at all you were considered kind of weird. Mormon and religious — very weird.

Then I moved to Florida in the United States and no longer was I weird when I mentioned the church I go to. A lot of other people also went to church and it was part of normal conversation.

There seems to be a tendency for more socialist societies to put a damper on religion. If that statement seems accurate to you, can anyone indicate why that is so?

[Anonymous]

SilentDawning wrote:

This statement in bold (my bold face type) caught my interest. UK is very socialist compared to the United States (correct me if I’m wrong), and reminds me of Canada in many respects. When I lived in Canada, if you were religious at all you were considered kind of weird. Mormon and religious — very weird.

Then I moved to Florida in the United States and no longer was I weird when I mentioned the church I go to. A lot of other people also went to church and it was part of normal conversation.

There seems to be a tendency for more socialist societies to put a damper on religion. If that statement seems accurate to you, can anyone indicate why that is so?

I think it’s more of a case of the ongoing competition for the alliance of the people (and their money) between church and state. Socialist countries (by definition) have a greater level of involvement in regulating the lives of everyday people – both in taxes and in services. The locations you were in in Canada and Florida may have something to do with it as well.

[Anonymous]

One thing I noticed was a difference in the cooperativeness of students in Florida relative to Canada. In Canada, students were more than willing to stand up to you and challenge you. And complain. In the United States, there was greater “power distance” (to use a term from Hofstede’s cultural values) between professors and students. Students were far less likely to challenge you and were far more cooperative.

I was discussing this with a colleague, and he felt it was because the governmental system in Florida was more favorable to business than Canadian government. There were fewer consumer protections, and there was the “right to work” state (Florida) in which the mantra that termination could occur “at any time for any reason”. This, he felt, trickled down to interactions between authority figures and the people over whom they had authority — including professors and students.

This is getting off-topic, but I found it was an interesting contrast in cultural norms when comparing the two locales. I hope I am not venturing too far into political discussion territory, which I know is not allowed here. I think not, but I mention it just in case.

Back to being hated — I will say that I think there is a tendency to be misunderstood and labeled on the fringe in countries where religion is de-emphasized for whatever reason, one of which may be socialism or even communism — which tends to de-emphasize religion.

[Anonymous]

SilentDawning wrote:

UK is very socialist compared to the United States (correct me if I’m wrong), and reminds me of Canada in many respects.

You have reached an intriguing conclusion — which, to me, sounds a bit like saying “Utah is very Jewish compared with Papua New Guinea.” While it may be the case statistically, it isn’t the case in principle.

In the UK, the “Conservative Party” is equivalent to your “Republican Party,” and the “Labour Party” is equivalent to your “Democrat Party.” Like the US, voters in the UK vote in one party for several years until they tip over the point of cumulative and collective dissatisfaction, at which point they vote for the primary opposition. Unlike the US, however, the UK has long established the principle of offering care for its entire population, paid for by taxes.

Also unlike the US, the UK is far less of a two-party state. We also have a left-of-centre party called the “Liberal Democrats” — which recently formed a coalition government with the Conservatives — and there are other fringe parties that also depend on forming coalitions to govern.

A fair political assessment of the UK is that is espouses “caring capitalism.” That is, it is committed to a free-market economy with dignified levels of social care to avoid anyone slipping between the cracks and being left to die. Sure, there are still plenty who consciously reject what they see as state intervention and live on the streets — but these individuals tend to suffer from mental, emotional, and other challenges that make it difficult for them to conform to state and societal expectations. Our social care system is one of the reasons so many migrating peoples cross multiple safe European countries and risk life and limb to navigate the 20+ mile dangerous sea boundary to reach the UK.

Since 1979, when the Conservatives (Republicans) came to power, we have seen:

[Anonymous]

Thanks for enlightening me on this one Pax — I appreciate learning more about the world around me, and I’m sorry if I mischaracterized the political landscape in Britain!

[Author]

Posts