I don’t think so. I’ve been to many places in the world, observed people there and talked to some of them. They did not strike me as “bizarrely and almost inexplicably hostile”.
I will admit to a certain cynicism in my worldview. I do, however, wish to note that half the species lives in either China, India, or Africa. Of these, China is generally considered fairly safe and orderly. India and Africa are getting more safe and orderly over time. South America is a step up from India and Africa in some countries and a step down in some few remaining regions. North America and Europe are generally some of the safest, most orderly places on Earth. Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, as I understand them, are often orderly but sometimes unsafe.
The Middle East, where I live, is generally considered the planet’s dumping ground for pointless, vicious hatred.
Anyway...
Didn’t you mean to say “This is what many/most Orthodox (and, generally, non-Reform) Jews actually believe”? There is a wee bit of a difference here… :-)
Not even. I’ve met ultra-Orthodox Jews who use their mysticism and woo to justify a very warm and outgoing outlook on the world, and to whom punishment fantasies are regarded as poison for authentic religion. There’s a very religious Muslim who works in the same building as me, actually, and we always say hi in the hall. To him, Allah (whom I usually regard as an utter totalitarian) gives the imperative to treat life seriously, consider things, and be ethical. In general, this guy acts like a kinder, more mature person than many of the secular people I see every day.
This isn’t to say I agree with either of these two religious views either, just that what we’re dealing with is a general psychological outlook rather than a uniform ideology confined to a single specific clade. “Religious/ideological people are violent and nasty, but most people aren’t like that” is an easy way for atheists, agnostics, and moderates of all stripes to congratulate themselves, but I don’t think it’s actually true.
Now that I come to reevaluating my expressed view, I no longer think my original cynicism is even mostly correct, either. However, it took a relatively large step of new, original thinking for me to come up with a theory as to why, and it also required a major evaluation of my sampling set (ie: the set of people I’ve met as opposed to the set of people who exist).
So anyway, I should probably go exercise, maybe refrain from writing down my Deep Insight so I never get ridiculed for taking so long to figure out what other people just knew the whole time. You get an upvote for challenging my narrow-minded cynicism and making me reevaluate.
I will admit to a certain cynicism in my worldview. I do, however, wish to note that half the species lives in either China, India, or Africa. Of these, China is generally considered fairly safe and orderly. India and Africa are getting more safe and orderly over time. South America is a step up from India and Africa in some countries and a step down in some few remaining regions. North America and Europe are generally some of the safest, most orderly places on Earth. Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, as I understand them, are often orderly but sometimes unsafe.
The Middle East, where I live, is generally considered the planet’s dumping ground for pointless, vicious hatred.
Anyway...
Not even. I’ve met ultra-Orthodox Jews who use their mysticism and woo to justify a very warm and outgoing outlook on the world, and to whom punishment fantasies are regarded as poison for authentic religion. There’s a very religious Muslim who works in the same building as me, actually, and we always say hi in the hall. To him, Allah (whom I usually regard as an utter totalitarian) gives the imperative to treat life seriously, consider things, and be ethical. In general, this guy acts like a kinder, more mature person than many of the secular people I see every day.
This isn’t to say I agree with either of these two religious views either, just that what we’re dealing with is a general psychological outlook rather than a uniform ideology confined to a single specific clade. “Religious/ideological people are violent and nasty, but most people aren’t like that” is an easy way for atheists, agnostics, and moderates of all stripes to congratulate themselves, but I don’t think it’s actually true.
Now that I come to reevaluating my expressed view, I no longer think my original cynicism is even mostly correct, either. However, it took a relatively large step of new, original thinking for me to come up with a theory as to why, and it also required a major evaluation of my sampling set (ie: the set of people I’ve met as opposed to the set of people who exist).
So anyway, I should probably go exercise, maybe refrain from writing down my Deep Insight so I never get ridiculed for taking so long to figure out what other people just knew the whole time. You get an upvote for challenging my narrow-minded cynicism and making me reevaluate.