JW's won't like this but the Guardian says, "Now for the good news: things really are getting better"

AndersonsInfo

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/11/news-isis-syria-headlines-violence-steven-pinker?CMP=share_btn_fb

Now for the good news: things really are getting better

Friday 11 September 2015 04.00 EDT

Isis and Syria dominate global headlines, but new data shows that violence remains in retreat overall.

It takes a streak of foolhardiness to answer the question “What are you optimistic about?” Because any response would seem to taunt the fates to prove one wrong. But in 2007 I took the bait and ventured that every form of violence, when measured objectively, was in decline – a claim I buttressed with 100 graphs in my 2011 book The Better Angels of Our Nature. Friends advised me I was setting myself up for embarrassment: a war with Iran, a contest over oil, or a nuclear terrorist attack could erupt any day. And wasn’t I even a bit superstitious about the impending centennial of the first world war?

Though I was documenting the past rather than prognosticating, a decade’s worth of new data provides a chance to calibrate our understanding of global trends. In the early 21st century did a bunch of undulating curves fortuitously scrape bottom? Or, as I argued, was something systematic going on?

To any headline-clicker, the answer is obvious. The year 2015 began with the Charlie Hebdo massacre and proceeded to a failed ceasefire in Ukraine, atrocities by Islamic State, and a human catastrophe in Syria that has spilled over Europe’s borders. READ MORE

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/11/news-isis-syria-headlines-violence-steven-pinker?CMP=share_btn_fb

DesirousOfChange

Come on, Barbara! You know that you cannot trust the Guardian. Wasn't it the Guardian that concocted all that false publicity about the WTS sleeping with the UN??? The Guardian is obviously(TM) a "tool of Satan". We know this report has to be fake as it contradicts "Bible prophecy". Are you going to believe the Bible or the Facts?

Doc

Vidiot

"...Are you going to believe the Bible or the Facts?"

That'd be a great one to cap off a public argument with a fundamentalist if your prior line of questioning was really starting to get him riled up.

never a jw

Are you going to believe the Bible or the Facts?

Hands down I believe the Bible more. It was the Bible that predicted the invisible parousia of Jesus in 1914. You don't believe it because in that year you were not of the anointed, those who saw the signs.

LoveUniHateExams

the Guardian says, "Now for the good news: things really are getting better" - really?! So Cameron and the Tories are doing something right?

I'm sure Guardian columnists such as Seamus Milne are worrying about Western aggression against ISIS as a result of the latter's total depravity - Islamophobia!!!

What about ordinary British couples questioning their children's schools when their children are shown age-inappropriate material about same sex marriages? Homophobia!!!

And you builders - if you dare wolf-whistle an attractive young lady you are no better than a rapist. A RAPIST!!!

Ever wanted a cheeseburger? You evil bastard! Meat is murder, doncha know! Why not try kale salad, washed down with fairtrade coffee ...

Aleph

As you say in english

"one swallow does not make a summer"

For lot of us, life is getting harder and tough to deal with.
Of course, less or great good news coming, but also frustration,
and disappointments from life, I don't believe in Politics, religions in
general are a big business, then who to go after ?
We could talk for a long time about it, if you have live enough
things in this life, everyone should be able to build his own
opinion from his own experience.

freemindfade

I think of these facts every time I have to sit through a stupid meeting and listen to the elder spewing out to the audience:

The world is so bad, isnt' it, its worse than ever, things get worse and worse, its worse than its ever been before, oh woe is us.

It makes my blood boil because all the R&F are soaking up and believing that dribble.

Thanks barbara,

Diogenesister

Ahhh, but you know whenever I would point out the positives of the modern world they would always say" satan comes as an angel of light"and just when they say "peace & security"the end will come!!! You can't win! If its bad news it's the end if it's good news it's the end - that's how a cult works.

Diogenesister

Loveunihatexams I just gave you a dislike.

Lets all buy The Mail 😡😵😹

cofty

I highly recommend Pinker's book. It should be required reading for all ex-JWs

JW's won't like this but the Guardian says, "Now for the good news: things really are getting better"

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