17-Aug-16 World View -- Russia-Iran airbase agreement further isolates Saudi Arabia / Generational alignments-religions

[John]

17-Aug-16 World View -- Russia-Iran airbase agreement further isolates Saudi Arabia


Generational alignments of the world's religions - hypothesis

** 17-Aug-16 World View -- Russia-Iran airbase agreement further isolates Saudi Arabia
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... tm#e160817



Contents:
Russia-Iran airbase agreement further isolates Saudi Arabia
Continuing Mideast realignment: Russia and Iran vs Saudi Arabia
Generational alignments of the world's religions - hypothesis


Keys:
Generational Dynamics, Russia, Iran, Hamadan, Hamedan,
Chris Garver, Iraq, Syria, Caspian Sea, takfiri,
Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh,
Ali Shamkhani, Saudi Arabia, Human Rights Watch, napalm,
Hindu, Shia Islam, Jews, Protestants, Orthodox Chrstians,
Buddhists, Sunni Islam, Catholics,
universal religions, targeted religions

[JULLIEN1]

I'm afraid your hypothesis is wrong:
- too many generalisations,
- generational dynamics work by geographical regions and nations, not religions.
I'll give more comments later.

[John]

> I'm afraid your hypothesis is wrong:
> - too many generalisations,
> - generational dynamics work by geographical regions and nations,
> not religions.
> I'll give more comments later.

A core principle of generational theory is that "identity groups" ally
in wars, irrespective of geography. For example, in WW II, Britain
and the US were allied despite their geographical distance, and it
never could have happened any other way.

The hypothesis states that societies and nations have natural identity
group alliances by "universal religions" versus "targeted religions."

Identity groups can form along religious, ethnic, and geographic fault
lines. I consider ethnic identity groups to get the most powerful,
since it's the only thing that's set at birth and can't change.
However, it's also true that religions follow ethnics, so religion is
a very close second in power to ethnicity.

[MarvyGuy]

“The idea that what was done in Saudi Arabia – where two cities holy to Islam, Mecca and Medina, are sites where only Muslims have the right to enter – will be done on the Temple Mount is a distorted idea that we will not let happen,” Dichter said. “We will respect the sanctity of al-Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem, and will stand up for our rights on the Temple Mount.” JPOST

[JULLIEN1]

To John:
I agree even if ethnicity far outdoes religion in people's minds. Remember some of the most savage conflicts in history such as the Hundred Years War or the Peloponnesian War happened between people with exactly the same religious beliefs.
I also agree with the idea of opposing "universal religions" to "targeted religions" (I would say "ethnic") but you put some items in the wrong class.
You wrote:

Universal religions: Catholicism, Sunni Islam, Buddhism.
Targeted religions: Protestant Christianity, Orthodox Christianity, Shia Islam, Hinduism, Taoism, Judaism

Actually Protestant Christianity and Shia Islam are universal religions. I guess you're wrong because in the USA most Protestant denominations are associated with ethnicity and social class. However your country exported in the last 100 years Mormonism and pentecostal denominations such as the Assemblies of God all around the world and on the global scale Protestantism is not associated with a peculiar nation. Shia Islam is generally associated with Iran where it's a component of Persian nationalism but there are conversions to it in faraway countries with no Persian people in: for example I recently read about the massacre of converts in Nigeria by the Nigerian army (easier than fighting Boko Haram, wasn't it?).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Zaria_massacre
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/n ... 09995.html
As for Taoism few Chinese people are believers in that religion: the most important religion in China is atheism or Chinese paganism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_folk_religion); Taoism is more a set of philosophical and mystical movements within Chinese paganism. Also Catholicism is rather rare in China (between 12 and 15 million people combining the 'Patriotic' Catholic Church controlled by the CCP and the "Church of silence" obedient to the Vatican): that's Protestantism who is in expansion in China with a lot of Baptist and Pentecostal denominations introduced in China by Chinese coming back from the USA.

[WorldMan]

I always thought the reason Hindus and Shia Muslims allied was to combat the much stronger Sunni Muslim conquest. Making it a necessity for the time, but not a trend based on similar religious ties. So this could happen again on our timeline, but say in the future Sunnis was to decline you would see the break down in the relationship. Similar to our alliance with USSR against Fascism until Hitler et al. didn't exist we were enemies of Russia.

Also I think ethnic disputes and age old cultural differences are much more likely to be dictates of division in crisis era rather than religion. If Catholic France and Protestant Germany (which is barely true in today's world because of the decline of church goers) fought on opposite sides, I would say it was the centuries old German vs French divide that predates the Reformation but centuries.

But we shall see, I do believe that countries could band together to stop dominating universal religions but I can't imagine again that it wouldn't more be influence by not wanting huge waves of Chinese soldiers in your country rather than worrying if they are Buddhist or Muslim or not.

[Guest]

Will some Catholic countries ally with Sunni Muslim countries? If not, then why not? Aren't they in the same group?