Griefswald

Wednesday 28 November, 2007 | 3:16 p.m.

On Sunday evening I was approached by a couple of mormons on the streets of Greifswald. They were rather excited by the news that I couldn’t understand german (they were from America) and proceeded in english. They asked what I knew of Joseph Smith - truthfully, all I could recall is that he had been convicted on some charge in New York at some time. One of them reassured me, with a countenance of strong personal conviction I have seen elsewhere, that this was not at all the case. It was clear to all that their german book was unlikely to have any great effect on me, but I agreed to read an online english copy only on the condition that they read a book which I suggest to them. That book is “God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything” by Christopher Hitchens, an excellent book I’ve recently finished reading and recommend to everyone.

The last few books I’ve read, combined with recent encounters on the streets and trains of Germany have me thinking about the strange ways of humans again, which is always a fun activity. I’ve been trying to think of general classes of social structures which by their nature will always do harm. I think perhaps any organisation that requires for its own persistence an emotional attachment by its members or subjects. Perhaps that should be one which benefits from the emotional control over its members. I’m not certain about this at all, but perhaps I’m close.

Today’s lesson: if you don’t control your emotions, someone else will.

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