Re: [OPE] The "Islamic threat" in Holland: mosques save the Dutchtaxpayer 150 million euro

Thanks, Jurriaan. The figures you quote regarding the social welfare benefits of the mosques fit into my own argument as to why religion survives in the modern world. Organized religion, I suggest in a recent essay, is a "potent folk remedy, applied most vigorously where capitalism hurts the most - in developing nations where rural traditions give way to the man-eat-man conditions of the urban jungle; and in the USA, where poor public services, lack of employment and housing rights, and a migrant economy generate a dire need for community self-help. In these societies, even the smallest religious organizations provide close fellowship; flowers and counselling for the bereaved; or free breakfasts; while the largest, the professional charities and the megachurches, supply a range of services well beyond anything underfunded governments can offer."

Essay available at http://www.stateofnature.org/atheismIsNotEnough.html

Paula

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Received on Thu Mar 19 17:59:22 2009