on Saturday, with very little of worth else on, I watched an interesting documentary on the Saudi Kingdom.

It illustrated the extreme society a religion can create and as such was deeply disturbing.

There is no arguing with people who believe they are right.
Belief is one of the most dangerous things in life.

Certainty is as frightening as it is probably wrong.

Yes, that is one nasty regime by any standards. Because of the fortuitous Saudi oil wealth, they have far more influence than they deserve.

A strong argument for humanity relegating all religion to the status of horoscopes and tarot cards i.e.personal superstitions and kept right away from any position of real influence. Quite how this is to be achieved is anyone's guess.

There's nothing obscure about Saudi corruption and blind superstition.

I do disagree.

Belief is actually a very positive thing. Many studies have shown that people with beliefs usually live longer - are ill less - and are often happier.

Why is this so ?

It cant just be the power of positive thought.

I dont believe I am blood thirsty or anyone else on here - yet our Government has killed many hundreds of thousands in our name. To cultures looking "in" at our country they may consider us very dangerous and very evil because of this undoubted fact.

I believe in love - and I believe God is love. Organised Islam ( what we call militant) is little different to the IRA - they are freedom fighters for their culture using religion as a convenient rallying point. If they really looked at their holy texts ( and this applies to Jews and Christians as well ) they would see that their religions have been hijacked by Political types.

Pure spirituality is good. In addition all people are human and are capable of right and wrong - and actions that can hurt other people. Therefore a belief does not make anyone superior - and the "I'm alright jack" upper middle class religious crowd also need to take a check on their attitudes to those who may not share their belief.

God created everyone in his image - therefore we all have the ability to love and we are all special. Therefore hating people or not forgiving people is basically wrong. It does not mean we have to put up with bad things - but at the end of the day until we understand how to forgive other we dont really move on.

Cultural misunderstandings are probably the biggest reason for conflict - these conflicts may then seem to be about religion but nationalism is a far wider thing than just religion and self determination is often the underlying cause of war.

I watched it too. LOL. A wonderful documentary and an insight into the very heart of Saudi. BBC 2 AND BBC 4 are the choices to view on Saturday evening...the only alternative to celebrities in sequins.