advancedatheist

Radical Muslims have worn out their welcome, and especially their toleration, in developed democratic societies. I can foresee some harsh political efforts to stomp on their superstition in the coming years.

Puck

I was thinking of radical muslims *and* christians. The strident have gotten pretty loud over these last years. As for harsh political efforts to stomp them out? We'd better hope not, when you try to force them to stop, they get worse. You have to hand them enough rope to hang themselves.

If you try to squash them, they get sympathy. You've gotta let them show their insanity for what it is. Of course, that doens't excuse criminal behaviour; bust their asses if they commit crimes, like bombing buildings, and the murder that entails.

Alonzo Fyfe

Science fiction may show a vision of a future without gods. However, how are we defining "science fiction" here? If we are excluding books like the "Left Behind" series? If we are, then we are cherry-picking our data. If we are not, the original thesis seems questionable.

I regret to say that my crystal ball is in the shop these days -- it's been a bit cloudy recently and I am having its mana changed.

So, I can't really tell if contemporary religious fundamentalism is the last gasp of a dying world view or the start of a new dark ages. It could go either way.

Because of that, I am willing to do a fair amount of pushing to make it the case that what teeters in the balance ends up falling in the right direction. I think it is a mistake to sit back and do nothing while convincing oneself "everything will be alright" -- just as it is a mistake to sit back and do nothing while convincing oneself, "all is hopeless."

IvanJames

Yeah, well, in most scifi stories, there aren't any minorities in the future, either. Also, if sci fi is to be believed, all women in the future will be scantily-clad amazons with 48EEE boobs.

advancedatheist

Uh, have you even read any science fiction published since, say, 1960? You find women and nonwhites all over the literature these days. The women don't all dress like dominatrices, either.

IvanJames

I'm not especially a fan, and I was sure someone was going to nitpick exceptions, but I have been to bookstores lately.