Current mood:

calm

Conscience
I found the link (http://www.users.muohio.edu/erlichrd/vms_site/afric.htm) after chatting with mssnlayam. Something that I wanted to jot down when I could. I apologize to the people for whom this is the umpteenth repetition/rehashed discussion.

This was the best part of "African Genesis" by Robert Adrey, a book I highly rate for the author's liberal and liberated thought process, even though the book has started to show its age, but its remarkable for a book written at that time.

If anyone had seen the thought process of the early Christian settlers and the atrocities that they committed on the American Indian natives(something well recorded in "People's history of the United States" by Howard Zinn), you'll see what I am trying to capture. The same thing applies to all those who think all muslims in India should be sent to Pakistan, immigrants in the US to X, Biharis in Bombay to Bihar, "outsiders" in Bangalore to X(ahem!), "return to the golden era of our ancestors", .....and other bullshit.

So here goes:

" My third assertion, far less speculative, is that conscience as a guiding force in the human drama is one of such small reliability that it assumes very nearly the role of villain. Conscience has evolved directly from the amity-enmity complex of our primate past. But unlike civilization it has acted as no force to inhibit the predatory instinct. It has instead been the conqueror's chief ally. And if mankind survives the contemporary predicament, it will be in spite of, not because of, the parochial powers of our animal conscience.

The limitation of conscience lies in its territorial nature.... Conscience organizes hatred as it organizes love.

My conscience is totally amoral. I shall delude myself that it directs me to act in the interests of human good, and well it may. But with equal force it will direct me to act in the interests of human evil, if such evil is in the interests of my society.

Society in its ancient wisdom does not appeal to my conscience through reason, for my conscience being of animal inheritance will respond with a minimum of force. And so conscience in human society becomes an essentially anti-rational power. "

- Robert Adrey

This generalization, I think trumps Richard Dawkins highly-immature attempts in his "God-Delusion" series to attribute all evil in the world to religion.

The only "noble savage" out there is the anarchist.

Hear, hear! Joker :D