"Reframing" to successfully engage those who caught Religion

Excellent article from the Huffington Post. I like the writer's suggestion on how "reframing" is a viable way to engage those who have caught religion (the dogmatic, loveless and sometimes potentially violent sort). The article focus is on the Tea Party group and leaning on the American history of independence, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for insight.

The Tea Party group had made me pessimistic about America's government effectiveness and leadership. That was why I felt there was only a 50/50 chance of raising the debt ceiling.

The Tea Party's Sacred Cows and the Privilege of Absurdity

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-atra...

Because people hold sacred values to be absolute and inviolable, any symbolic "concession" must not appear to violate or weaken one's own sacred values. Doing so would likely be seen as forsaking core personal and social identity.

Update: This writer (Scott Atran) have written two very intriguing books. Unfortunately I cannot spare the time at the moment to check them out. Sigh, I do not have the time for so many things I want to do.

Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood, and the (Un)Making of Terrorists

http://www.amazon.com/Talking-Enemy-Brot...

Terrorists don't kill and die just for a cause. They kill and die for each other. In this rigorous and challenging work that combines the penetrating insight of The Looming Tower and the historical sweep and scope of Guns, Germs, and Steel , r...

This book (above) can be loaned from our three regional libraries. (Kindle @ 14.99)

In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion

http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Trust-Evoluti...

This ambitious, interdisciplinary book seeks to explain the origins of religion using our knowledge of the evolution of cognition. A cognitive anthropologist and psychologist, Scott Atran argues that religion is a by-product of human evolution just as the cognitive intervention, cultural selectio...

This book, which I am keener on is only for reference at Repository Used Books Collections (Kindle @ 16.49)

Perhaps when I revisit this entry a long time from now, I would have the time and interest for them.