From a Blog: Spiritual Daleks and Borg in real life

“We are the Daleks! Exterminate all humans! Exterminate the Doctor! Exterminate!!!” “We are the Borg. Resitance is futile. Your cultural and biological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Prepare to be assimilated.“Sure, one may dismiss the Daleks of Doctor Who and the Borg of Star Trek as fiction, but isn’t it obvious that they are really symbols of racism and other forms of intolerance, including religious bigotry? Christian fundamentalists naturally favor a world in which there are only Christians like themselves, so they seek to “convert” others to their point of view, and when they fail to do so, they label anyone who disagrees with them as enemies. The Muslims of terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda are much the same.

If we see the Daleks and Borg as evil, why not the spiritual Daleks and Borg in the real world?” (Dale Husband’s Blog: Spiritual Daleks and Borg in real life)

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My Comment:

“If we see the Daleks and Borg as evil, why not the spiritual Daleks and Borg in the real world?”

I think we do, Dale. I know I do.

There are plenty of resistance out there – the problem is that we, in the Western World, have lived with the equivalent of the Daleks and the Borgs for 2000 years, and are conditioned to think in the manner of Daleks and Borgs – not in any really big ways, but our entire Society is permeated in Dalek and Borg Doctrine, it takes time to break free, and most people don’t even see it as a problem.

They have been taught that Dalek and Borg values are the only GOOD ones – that in fact you cannot be a good person unless you are Dalek or Borg.

Look around you – every bigger holiday is based in Dalek or Borg doctrine, and reaches into every crevasse and corner of Society – it takes a lot to SEE and to resist – especially if that is all you know.

 

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Continued Comment:

I believe any Fundamentalism is inherently evil, because it demands blind faith and forbids free individual thinking – this goes for any Fundamentalism, Muslim, Xtian, Jewish, Hindu…

If Western Society is permeated in Xtian Doctrine, then Near Eastern Society is permeated in Muslim Doctrine – and as soon as you have DOCTRINE, you have the potential for Fundamentalism.

What’s worse – as I said above – if a Doctrine has been around long enough it tend to be pretty much internalized. Even people who normally wouldn’t call themselves Xtian celebrate Xmas, with all the basic trimmings. I am pretty sure the same is true for Muslims and Ramadan or Jews and Chanukah.

This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t resist – it only means that it’s not like deciding not to eat meat or buy Proctor and Gamble products – it’s a matter of resisting a mind-set that has been bred into us from the day we were born.

 

I don’t begrudge the Xtians, Muslims or Jews their holidays or their beliefs – I am Jewish, and religious at that – but I don’t like the way religious belief has overrun Society. I think Society needs to be strictly secular. With room for all beliefs to be celebrated on equal footing. After all, religious freedom not only guarantees the right to practice any religion in peace, but also the right NOT to practice any religion at all.

We seem to have forgotten this important detail.