Anything that requires the suspension of reason is exactly the problem.
I know what you mean, but you can't cut down the tree that makes you live.
i know that in the USA there are many diffrent belivers and some may be extrem too or religion may have a more persistant place than in France but what you says is wrong. You make a generality.
You may belive that people were equal in the past ( intelletually i mean ) and religion came to brake this fact. You make a major historical mistake : you think the past with your modern way of thinking.
for exemple : christianity was barbaic because they do not educate people to maintain them into darkness. So i did not choose a good exemple because even a 5 year old child can tell that it is historically not true ( jeanne d'Arc for exemple ) but it is the transposition of the 20's century concept into the middle ages si it is obvious that you will find a problem.
Christianity never suspended reason, people at different times made with what their evolution allowed them.
Christianity developped litterature and printing, ok it was not for **** books or free modern art, but the major diffrence with islam was that christians kept many books, their treasures were in libraries ( etier to pray the lord, either to contradict a book ). muslims burnt everything, there is only 1 book to have.
This at dirrent eras of evolution so there was ups and downs for both of them, but what matters is the backbone behind the facts.
Another huge argument is that in christianity this is allowed do disscuss the religion, to ask for meaning, and there is for some christians the clergy : some people tell other the meaning of the bible. how can you cay that it is the suspension of reason when it's exactly the opposite ! people teaching others !
You can tell me : " yes but they teacjed to kill other people " okay but i'll tell you that they teached to save and respect them too. Only the christians did that since the 9th century and the first letters from the pope angainst slavery( unum est, jean VIII). and only the chistians ended slavery that continues to happens in islamic countries ( before isis ).
What about achitecture, when you visit the cathedrals, it is not a symbol of suspension of reason. What about painting and arts in geneal ? okay religion did not allowed everything but it did not prohibit too.
