I disagree. I think a good current analogy is like the one @Jmg just posted on the "Asian Hate Crime" bill. A crime is a crime and hate is hate. Anything else is just extra adjectives. Somewhere along the line, we added these terms to add weight. In the end, if I hate fate chicks the way Hitler hated the Jews, it is no different. You have just been conditioned to think there is a difference.
So when I look back in history, if we say hate is a problem, I dont see it has one. Maybe I am wrong, but I think we are probably more peaceful now as a world than ever before and I would say this is due to IQ increasing over time. Though, I could be mistaken.
I agree the world and people in general are more peaceful today than ever before. However I put it to two parallel trends. The first is the expansion and development of western style free market capitalism and greater participation of the general population in government. The second is the growth and spread of the principles of Christianity. A wealthier population has more to lose and the ideas beyond the religious that Jesus preached has guided people away from violence. I realize those are two very broad claims but I believe they can be shown to hold.
I used to believe it was attributed to religion, however Christians have a very bloody past. While more docile these days I think the more IQ increases the less religion the world will have moving forward. In reality, we should thank the Reformation. Getting the bible into the peoples hands was the 1st step in them putting it down. We have to understand religion is man made. Period.
This is funny now. Here I am talking about increasing IQ and we have disabled Joe as president. Yea, I am probably wrong on all of this haha.
That doesn't mean racism - or whatever you want to call it - doesn't exist. But its been criminalized over the years. I absolutely agree, a crime is a crime; how the perp felt about the victim shouldn't make it worse.
I am on the outside of this and I understand that, but racism is just a man made word and is being used by man to control man. Obviously the word exists and has been defined and continues to evolve. I dont deny that. I am merely saying that just by the words existence does it mean that it should hold any weight; because that is what the word was made for, to add weight. This is the problem with modern day peace. We are actively looking for "issues".
That’s why I said Christian principles rather than a specific religion. Yes man has used religion for hate and violence forever and still is. However the portion of Christ’s teaching about how we should treat each other has been growing in strength and breadth for over 500 years. Note I agree that the movable press and explosion of printing, reading etcetera fueled the Protestant reformation which I believe is the foundation of both free market capitalism and the reduction in violence. If that’s an improvement in IQ or just an explosion of shared knowledge is an interesting question.
Basically, the "threat" of harm is the only thing that keeps the human animal in check. Everywhere there is no law and order, crime is off the chart. For religion, it is the threat of burning in hell .... or at a stake if you were a witch. Anyone who thinks the base human being is anything but evil is nuts. We can be taught to be nice, or threatened to be nice ... but it does not come natural to us.
