I'm inclined to think that religion substitutes for control. When the society is functioning better, the need for religion goes down. That's the big draw for Muslims, that the governments are corrupt, leaving the society without a sense of stability or even basic services. It's what drew the Taliban into war torn Afghanistan the first time, what's bringing them back now, what got al Qaeda into Somalia, the need for order. The lure of structure is contributing to its growth in the Sunni areas of Iraq, it gives all those unemployed kids something to do, and of course its importance in just ordinary countries like Egypt. Hezbollah, the Party of God, is out and out political. Here in the U.S. we have the rule of secular law so religion isn't going to be as necessary a force. Regarding masturbation, Christians are obsessed with it too. The word onanism comes out of the Bible. Onan was masturbating and was caught by his sons. It was so traumatizing that they named "the deed" after him in the Bible no less. For years masturbation in the West was associated with blindness, etc. etc. Having sex with someone is a source of pride (check out the magazines at the supermarket), but how many westerners admit to masturbating (ever see it in the magazines)? It's downright a source of secrecy and quite intense shame. I didn't read the thing Eric posted, and it probably is silly, but attitudes in general everywhere toward sex are silly. It's so grossly overrated as the end all and be all of all joy. Where would advertising and MTV be without it? It's even ascribed all sorts of magical powers. Athletes aren't allowed to have sex before a big game, priests aren't allowed to marry, and on and on. I imagine that if the Ayatollah is talking about it, however unscientifically, then at least it's out of the closet. I think of far more consequence is their acceptance of child sex abuse, the way in many countries it's accepted; child brides, etc. That makes for very unhappy people and leads to all sorts of societal problems. Regarding North Korea, I agree. Iran seems much more stable than North Korea. We should be partnering with Iran to get rid of drugs, deal with North Korea. Instead, we're again attacking the wrong target. > [Original Message] > From: John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx> > To: Anthro-L <ANTHRO-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Date: 10/6/2006 12:45:36 AM > Subject: [lit-ideas] Why am I not surprised? > > http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/us/06evangelical.html?_r=1&hp&ex=116010720 0&en=4bc2ab121e996b11&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin > > This URL points to a story in the New York Times headlined > "Evangelicals Fear the Loss of Their Teenagers." Having grown up in a > pious family then drifted away I find myself sayin, "Of course." Any > thoughts out there? > > > -- > John McCreery > The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html