Posted by Carlos Javier on January 05, 1997 at 02:56:13:
In Reply to: Re: The particular danger of some religions (Christianity and Islam) posted by Jason on January 03, 1997 at 00:41:56:
Perhaps I should give Harpur and Peck a look, but it seems to me
liberal christian philosophy is just rationalization for avoiding
holy responsibilties and getting on with their worldly concerns, a
sentiment with which I can certainly sympathize.
I don't have my king james bible with me in this cafe, but the
passage that comes to mind is the one where jesus says that there is
no way to the father but through him. that single passage is
probably the most dangerous one in the bible.
I made some generalizations, but I was careful to note exceptions.
Also, I did not say that religion was the enemy. I feel perfectly
safe living alongside buddhists and hindus. When you say that the
real enemy is dogmatism, you're simply repeating what I said in my
post.
I feel that generalizations can be perfectly valid, as long as
the exceptions to the rule are duly noted. For instance, the average
hispanic american (my ethnic group) has lower math skills than the
average anglo american, but there are exceptions.
The voices of reason have never been the barbarians at the gate,
because of their very nature as open questioning people. Rather,
they have been and will continue to be the targets of religious
zealots, particularly christian and muslim.
I did not write a call to arms, but a warning of a very real
danger. If you want to ignore it, that's your business. Just don't
say I didn't warn you.
I must say that I feel you are a very rational and open person.
Maybe you've just watched too many episodes of the care bears. One
single posting is too little to judge a person on, but I get the
feeling that you may tend to carry tolerance a little too far.