 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
The study of history from the building of the pyramids to the present day is not encouraging for any humane person. At various times there have been men who saw what was good, but they did not succeed in altering the pattern of human behaviour. Buddha, as much as Christ, taught universal love, but in the end the inhabitants of India preferred Siva. St. Francis was gentle in his doctrines, but his immediate disciples became recruiting sergeants in a very savage war. There is so strong a tendency in human nature towards the fiercer passions that those who oppose them almost always incur hatred, and that whole systems of morals and theology are invented to make people feel that savagery is noble.
Source： Bertrand Russell: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954, part II: The Conflict of Passions, chapter 1: From Ethcs to Politics, n.4
More info.: https://russell-j.com/cool/47T-2_0104.htm
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Shiva is ‘one of the three most influential principal deities in modern Hinduism’ and ‘myths about Shiva describe him as benevolent, while many episodes are told of his contrasting and terrifying nature, and he is also described as the god of ambiguity and paradox’ (wikipedia description).
In short, many people are not satisfied with a God or Buddha who is only benevolent and gentle, but want a God who ‘punishes people they don't like’.
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