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I'm with Ullrich on this one. His list of religions' institutional
contributions (medicine, universal education, etc.) to civilization is
worth rereading. And that list could go on and on. Furthermore,
a fair reading of history shows that the vast majority of the contributions
he cites came from adherents of one major world religion in particular.
I daresay most current members of Western society don't even begin to
recognize the extent to which the elements of our culture and society which
they most prize--concepts like equality, freedom of conscience, freedom
of speech, freedom of assembly, due process, the rule of law, humane treatment
and roughly symmetrical punishment of criminals, the care of the disadvantaged,
and on and on and on and on--are the product of a Judeo-Christian heritage.
Many intellectual historians would also attribute the flowering of scientific
inquiry and technological innovation in Western civilization to that same
Judeo-Christian heritage.
Incidentally, it is far from true that "religion" in general has led
to more deaths than the plague, AIDS, cancer, etc. There indeed have
been particular religious movements at certain points in history that readily
killed non-adherents. But in most cases these movements have been
the exception, not the norm, and often the violence is more parsimoniously
explainable in political, economic, territorial, and/or ethnic/cultural
terms than in essentially religious/doctrinal terms.
Moreover, the deadliest movements in history have been explicitly non-
or anti-religious. Remarkably many of these came just in the past
century, and from leaders whose anti-religious rhetoric and values were
well-established: Stalin, Mao, Hitler, and their proteges.
Anyhow, enough for one message. Thanks for the dialogue.
Regards,
Erik
"Genevieve, Louisa, Herve" wrote:
Point
taken. I agree things are more complex than just black and white. i just
hope bush knows it too.Herve
<blockquote
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px">
----- Original Message -----
<div
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black">From:
Ullrich
Fischer
To: metastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
; metastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2001
8:09 PM
Subject: RE: Religion
True, but on the other hand, religion has produced Mother Teresa,
the preservation of what was left of human knowledge and history during
the dark ages, medical care for countless people who otherwise would have
died without it, basic education for countless people who otherwise
would have remained illiterate, etc. etc. etc. It is not all black
... or white.
The dark side of religion as represented today by the fundamentalists
of all stripes continues as always to push humanity back to the Dark Ages.
This time, the US really is on the side of the angels.
Has anyone thought of a possible link between Falwell and his posse
and the Islamic terrorists? They do seem to be demanding similar
changes in US society.
At 9/16/2001 08:33 AM, Genevieve, Louisa, Herve wrote:
I
could not agree more. Religion (any of them) must have killed more people
than plague, aids and cancer put together! God is just a poor excuse for
not taking responsability for our own action and destiny. Religion is the
worst plague than humanity never had to fight.
Herve
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-metastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-metastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On
Behalf Of voltage
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2001 10:25 AM
To: metastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Religion
Throughout history it has been the excuse
of all radical fundamentalists as an excuse for murder.Lets restart day
one with no religion to compensate for those lowest common denominators.We
are the masters of our own destiny,not "God"
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