: HOLY CHRIST! I try to find some common ground with a guy like Frenchy and he insults my religion! Man, I know who I'm NOT going to be stuck in a subway station with....
$$$$$$$$$$$$$Did you read the peice about abortion at the Catholic Encyclopedia? Isn't that what you asked for? I have no idea why your getting your panties twisted in a bunch. I don't take the subway.
: : Beings that may be treated simply as means to the perfection of persons can have no rights, and to this category the brute creation belongs. In the Divine plan of the universe the lower creatures are subordinated to the welfare of man.
: Yeah, St. Francis of Asissi was really a animal abuser. Try again Frenchy.
$$$$$$$$$$$No, St. Francis had regard for animals (to the extent that the legends are accurate), but that doesn't mean that he equated animals with humans. They, as with all creation, were manifestations of God.
: : On Islam:
: : It is hardly necessary here to emphasize the fact that the ethics of Islam are far inferior to those of Judaism and even more inferior to those of the New Testament.
: Right. I'm not a Muslim, and I don't admire Islam more than any other religion which I know nothing about- i certainly have no desire to become one myself, but that kind of statement is beyond silly- JUDAISM AND ISLAM SHARE THE SAME ETHICS, in case you forgot! Islam derived most of its law from Mosaic law! All the way down to the penalty for aduletery! What the hell is this trying to say? I can't figure it out.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Yeah, neither can I. How come so many Muslims want to kill others, especially westerners, the great Satan and all that? Your very statement that you yourself wouldn't want to be a Muslim indicates that even in your mind their are some religions that are inferior to others, no?
: By the way, the collective prayer and the zakat are Islamic practices that seem to be quite progressive and could stand to be adopted over here. Islam also seems to have done a better job than Western Protestantism at combating alcoholism, prostitution, crime, AIDS, and rape. just look at teh statistics for the Middle East and for (about half-Islamized) West Africa on these indicators.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$So now you think a theocracy is the way to go? What happened to Socialism/Communism/Liberalism?
: : On Hinduism:
: : "...Hinduism adapts itself to every form of religion, from the lofty monotheism of the cultivated Brahmin
: It's not 'monotheism', it's simply 'theism', the Hindus believe in a little thing called tolerance, meaning it''s OK if you see God as having a single personal aspect or many of them. The Hindu "Universal Spirit" or "Brahman" is sometimes seen as transcending the different personal forms which it may manifest (e.g. Krishna, Shiva, etc.) sometimes, on the other hand, it's seen as identical with one or more (generally Vishnu).
: :to the degraded nature-worship of the ignorant,
: Yeah, suck it Frenchy, we don't call our poorer citizens primitive or degraded, even though you might prefer to, and we don't spit on their beliefs, nature worship or otherwise. Nature worship is a perfectly legitimate form of recognizing the glory that is God. Looks like it worked a little better than your western capitalism at combatting environmental destruction. Oh I frogot, your creed is fuck the environment. Well the Hindus beg to disagree. We were the first religion in teh world to practice nature conservation and set up wildlife refuges.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$So, you critisize a person for his beliefs while at the same time admitting that you'd prefer not to be of this particular religion, or perhaps that one.
If your standards are relativistic, if you insist that all religions are worthy of respect, then why in the world are you denigrating a religion that proclaims itself to be the true religion? Eh?
: :half savage peasant....
: YEah, that expression really shows your empathy fro teh peasants. Nice one Frenchy.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$There is nothing, N-O-T-H-I-N-G, glorious about being a peasant. If you think so, walk your talk..
: : We have nothing to learn from India that makes for higher culture.
: That would explain why the sick society in the West is looking into Indian culture and philosophy as fast as it can. Ever heard of M.K. Gandhi? Tagore? Ever heard of teh Hindu Epics?
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Yeah, many Westerners are seeking enlightment in different places, including the East.
Rot's 'o ruck.
The Icelandics have their own Epics. So?
The question is 1.Did Jesus live, was he a real person and 2. Was his resurrection a fact?
If the answers are 'yes',...
: :On the other hand, India has much of value to learn from Christian civilization.
: Yeah, that would explain why Christianity came to India over 19 centuries ago, with St. Thomas the Apostle, and in all this time they've converted a grand total of 3 percent of the population. And a lot of that 3 percent has blended Catholicism with a great deal of Hindu practices and beliefs- syncretic Catholicism.
$$$$$$$$$$$Yup, your absolutely correct. And in Japan, after the warlords realized that the missionaries were slowly but surely having a serious impact on conversions, they simply slaughtered the missionaries. Dittos China. India? I don't know about St. Thomas, but the Christians are taking a shellacking today. You may have read about it.
: If Christianity is so self-evidently superior to every other religion, then its missionaries haven't been doing a very good job. India's population is 82% Hindu or nature worshiping, 12% Muslim, 3% Christian, 2% Sikh, 1% other. HEll, the Moghul warriors arrived in India twelve centuries after the Christians, were hated by the populace, yet their success in conversion beats the Christians by a country mile.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Sure, in India. But just as the influence of Hinduism cannot be erased from the history of India, neither can the history of Christianity be erased from the history of America.
Take a look at the bottom line...where would you rather live? Where would most people rather live? Why?
PS ole buddy, I'll critisize any damn thing I want, and you can do the same.
:
: Damn, Frenchy, even this Pope (not to mention John XXIII, one of the great men of this century) has endorsed religious tolerance and teh idea that every religion has good insights and things to teach each other. Your recationary superiorism has nothing to stand on.
$$$$$$$$$$$OK.
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McSpotlight: The average Muslim doesn't want to kill people any more than the average Christian does.
