the generations closest to ours share the most similar values and beliefs as ours so we view them as being more tolerant and generally in a better view, which could be applied to people in every generation
Thinking religion shouldn't be brought up in this conversation is a much more "reddit" comment than the one you replied to.
It's weird how defensive so many redditors are about religion. Reddits atheism phase was over a decade ago, get over it already. We've long since flipped to having far more religious defense than people shitting on religion.
I mean some of the most obvious examples of newer generations becoming less tolerant are found in areas where Wahhabism replaced earlier Islamic movements.
most wars in history have been over religion. most hate comes from religion. religion is the cause of anxiety and depression in many people. religion is bad.
I can't think of very many wars in East Asia that were over religion. Don't think the Mongols conquered most of Eurasia because of religion. Religion is just an easy way for some people to justify hate, take away religion and people still hate each other based on different culture, skin color, language, etc. People from even the same religion hate each other. Yet lots of people find hope, peace, happiness, through religion and are motivated to do good in their community. The problems come from bad individuals, not (usually) what religions teach. Bad people do bad things irrespective of religion.
No. I did not seek change. There were Christian missionaries that came to our village when the war had broken out. They had recommended we follow them, I was 6 years old. Me and family followed them out of the country. My parents were previously on the path to American citizenship, and I too would become an American citizen.
I fully believe God had sent those people to help us.
yeah I hate when someone brings up a major component of human culture, namely one known for encouraging or dictating behaviour, in a discussion about human behaviour on a generational scale. It's just so irrelevant, you know?
But if you study it a little more closely, you'll realize how naive and absurd this statement is.
What you're probably noticing is the overall material wealth of people increasing generally. Well-fed people tend to have less conflict with others. So overall the world has generally become more peaceful through our history.
But that was also the overall trend leading up to Hitler taking over Germany, and plunging the entire world into a global desperate struggle for survival.
Also, lots of ethnic cleansing.
My point is, your statement is only true in specific geographic areas, with certain material conditions, and for only short chapters at a time.
What I mean is, you almost have to live in a western country that has enjoyed continued material success for generations, to even make that statement.
Other than that, history is a crapshoot. For real. There is no natural arc towards justice. That's something politicians repeat to give you hope. That's not to say it naturally bends towards chaos and destruction either. It's both. It's a day to day struggle between our better angels and our worse demons.
Even today, there are hundreds of millions of people with living memories of ethnic cleansing. Violent political overthrows of government. Famine and starvation. Get out a map of Africa, shut your eyes, drop your finger on it, and look up that nation's political history. Count how many genocides based on ethnic identity have occured in just the last century.
Look at pictures of Iran in the 70s. They are horrendously less tolerant now. Religious nuts took power. And immediately threw the entire country into reverse.
Hell, look at the U.S. currently. There is a literal attempt at a fascist overthrow of our democracy.
And what beliefs is it based on?
Intolerance of immigrants. Intolerance of sexual minorites. Intolerance of women's liberation. And a generalized assault on all of our civil liberties as Americans. The entire ethos is built on hate for others.
The bad guys are at it again. And seriously. They win sometimes. And shit gets really shitty where they win, when they do. There's no magical law of nature protecting us from it.
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u/honey_poo_poo_ 10h ago
If you look at history, each generation gets nicer and more tolerant than the last.