2 ms·
I'm interested in hearing what HN'ers think about this: "He quotes a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, tasked with finding out what gave the We
by jkuria 15y ago
I'm interested in hearing what HN'ers think about this:
"He quotes a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, tasked with finding out what gave the West its dominance. He said: At first we thought it was your guns. Then we thought it was your political system, democracy. Then we said it was your economic system, capitalism. But for the last 20 years, we have known that it was your religion.
It was the Judeo-Christian heritage that gave the West its restless pursuit of a tomorrow that would be better than today. The Chinese have learned the lesson. Fifty years after Chairman Mao declared China a religion-free zone, there are now more Chinese Christians than there are members of the Communist Party.
China has learned the lesson. The question is: Will we?"
- TomOfTTB 15y agoI'm far, FAR more religious than almost anyone on HN (in my experience) but I don't entirely buy this. I think religion can give purpose. It can imbue someone who doesn't have a purpose with a strength of conviction. So in that sense I think the quote is correct. But I don't think someone who has a purpose they truly believe in is worse for not having religion in a motivational sense. So what I think religion has done for the United States is to give the masses (people who are fine with a 9-to-5 day) more motivation to work diligently even when they aren't chasing their dream. But the thing about countries like China and India is this: What Americans consider mundane work is the dream of many people in these countries. I've met people from India who dreamed of a job in a call center since they were a little kid. Meaning those people are just as motivated if not more so than their American counterparts who worked hard because they thought God commanded them to.