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Mary Douglas Quotes


An escalating, violent tit-for-tat may lead to terrorism.

Any great organization can go through sectarian phases.

Behind a leader there must be followers, but they should always be on the lookout for the main chance and ready to change sides if the current leader doesn't deliver.

Enclave life becomes very tense, Even when they do elect a leader, the factions remain, with the threat of splitting off.

Every year the progress of advanced capitalist society makes our population consist of more and more isolates. This is because of the infrastructure of the economy, especially electronic communications.

Hierarchy is is much reviled in the present day.

Hierarchy works well in a stable environment.

I am convinced that living in an enclave shapes the personality, and living alone shapes the personality too.

I am sure it must be true that people opt out of the mainstream society because they feel that there are going to be no rewards for them, if they stay.

I have increasingly, over the years, felt that religion today does our civilization more harm than good.

If people want to compete for leadership of a religious group, they can compete in piety. A chilling thought. Or funny.

If you want to change the culture, you will have to start by changing the organization.

Inequality can have a bad downside, but equality, for its part, sure does get in the way of coordination.

Inside a religious body you get sects and hierarchies, inside an information network you get bazaars and cathedrals, it is the same, call them what you like. They survive by pointing the finger of blame at each other.

Islam is in principle egalitarian, and has always had problems with power.

It is only partly true that religion does more harm than good in society. The community makes God into the image it wants, vengeful, or milky sweet, or scrupulously just, and so on.

It is very reasonable to worry about the harm done by organized religion, and to prefer looser and more private arrangements.

It seems true that the growth of science and secularism made organized Christianity feel under threat.

It's unlikely that the organized religions will get more sectarian... or is it? I am not at all sure.

Just in our lifetime our society has become looser and more private, it becomes extremely difficult to hold to any permanent commitment whatever, least of all to organized religion.