Church, state and doing what comes naturally

[jwcpgh]

> > Laura:
> > I think these reactions come from fear and ignorance-I've found 
that the more knowledgeable and secure you are in your own beliefs, 
the less threatened you feel by those that are different than yours. 
<snip> 

> Kathryn Cawte:
> 
> Well to be fair it's not necessarily ignorance in the case of 
trying to force someone to change their mind - depending how 
religious you are and which particular brand of any religion you 
follow some people strongly believe that anyone not following that 
belief is destined to burn in hellfor all eternity (or whatever your 
particular religion views as a punishment). <snip>

Laura replies:

To me, that's a fear reaction.  That kind of stance is adopted by 
people who feel threatened.  And it often goes hand in hand with 
extreme social conservatism, hostility to those different than you, 
anxiety about change and so forth.  The fear comes from having their 
world view challenged and from living in an environment that they 
perceive as unstable and unpredictable.  It's a sort of societal 
Luddite-ism.

This isn't to say that those people don't sincerely believe in hell 
and all that stuff.  But I think that a philosophy of that nature 
originates in fear.  It must not be a very joyful way to live.