Islam is in principle egalitarian, and has always had problems with power. Mary Douglas More Quotes by Mary Douglas More Quotes From Mary Douglas If people want to compete for leadership of a religious group, they can compete in piety. A chilling thought. Or funny. Mary Douglas competition religious people Religion can make it worse. Are you supposing that if people were encouraged to believe in a transcendent reality, and to be encouraged by grand rituals and music and preaching, to love their neighbors, then they would put jealousy and frustration aside? Mary Douglas jealousy frustration believe It is very reasonable to worry about the harm done by organized religion, and to prefer looser and more private arrangements. Mary Douglas recycling done worry When we are reflecting on terrorism we can grieve for many things we do and have done. Mary Douglas terrorism done grieving Hierarchy is is much reviled in the present day. Mary Douglas present-day hierarchy It is only partly true that religion does more harm than good in society. The community makes God into the image it wants, vengeful, or milky sweet, or scrupulously just, and so on. Mary Douglas community doe sweet Since 1970, relationships can be more volatile, jobs more ephemeral, geographical mobility more intensified, stability of marriage weaker. Mary Douglas mobility ephemeral jobs The natural response of the old-timers is to build a strong moral wall against the outside. This is where the world starts to be painted in black and white, saints inside, and sinners outside the wall. Mary Douglas wall black-and-white strong Any great organization can go through sectarian phases. Mary Douglas great-organizations phases organization It's unlikely that the organized religions will get more sectarian... or is it? I am not at all sure. Mary Douglas organized-religion unlikely organized Just in our lifetime our society has become looser and more private, it becomes extremely difficult to hold to any permanent commitment whatever, least of all to organized religion. Mary Douglas our-society lifetime commitment The history of the Church of Rome is a constant leakage of members into such breakaway cults, which go on splitting. Mary Douglas rome church goes-on Real equality is immensely difficult to achieve, it needs continual revision and monitoring of distributions. And it does not provide buffers between members, so they are continually colliding or frustrating each other. Mary Douglas equality frustrated real Pretensions to moral superiority are devastatingly destructive. Mary Douglas pretension moral destructive Mormons... are so strong, they can handle wealth, they are confident. I think it is because they are not bogged down by rules for equality, but have a firmly defined system of relative status and responsible command. Mary Douglas equality strong thinking An escalating, violent tit-for-tat may lead to terrorism. Mary Douglas lead violent terrorism may
