Letters to the Editor
debaser
Published Letters: 652 Editor's Choice: 11
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Walter
[Read the article: The atheist delusion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Nice to see someone who knows about the history of the church! However, I think some of your analysis is a bit spotty. First, remember you are talking about an overwhelmingly illiterate (pre-literate?) society until well into the 17th Century, hell even most priests were illiterate! Maybe the Church had nefarious reasons for being the sole arbiter of Scripture, but not a small amount of that can be chalked up to simple expediency, not "keeping everyone stupid".
Also, you're misrepresenting Luther a little bit here, it wasn't the contradictions of Scriptural Interpretation that he rebelled against, but rather th problems that arose from the Vatican having both Spiritual and Temporal authority. Take a look at "The Babylonian Captivity Of The Church" or read about his trip to Rome as a monk to see what I'm talking about. Luther, if anything was calling for a more stringent Catholicism...well into the 1530s he still referred to himself as an "Augustinian Monk".
Maybe I'm reading too much into your words, but you seem to be placing contemporary morality on historical eras. I know that it's very tempting to do, but after spending far too many years studying history I've come to realization that you simply cannot do that. You gotta try and understand the mindframes and worldviews of the peoples in question. People who thought very differently about their world than we do ours...it's one of the fun/frustrating things about the study of history :)
And finally, correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember learning in my history of science class that based on naked eye observation, the geocentric models made just as much sense as the heliotropic ones (something about retrograde motion?)...so you can see why the Church was so obstinate (the fact that they remained obstinate for so long? Well that's a whole other kettle of fish :)
cheers,
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walter
[Read the article: The atheist delusion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"I could write you a multi-volume set and you could still complain that it's incomplete. You got the two-hundred-words-or-less version."
really? how do you know this? Thanks for being flip, it was much appreciated.
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@ornwen
[Read the article: The atheist delusion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I really liked your last post, it sounds alot like Sartre's existentialism to me...is that accurate?
That's all beside the point really, what got me was that I (a Roman Catholic of the pro-choice, leftist liberal slant) pretty much agreed with everything you said...it got me thinking:
How about we drop the attitude and the condescension (from both sides) and work on what we have in common?
because at it's core Roman Catholicism is all about humility and compassion, and your post was all about humility and compassion. Trying to make your life and the world around you is a worthwhile goal whether you're doing it out of a sense of spiritual duty or not.
I guess what I mean is, I don't care much why you think it's just to feed the hungry and clothe the poor, just so long as you do!
let's leave the histrionics behind us shall we?
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@droogoy
[Read the article: The atheist delusion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]cool,
that book sounds pretty interesting...I'll be sure to check it out (the development/evolution of theology is a topic I find endlessly fascinating!)
cheers
p.s. sorry for coming across as snide there with my "grade school" comment..but the whole "gospels have different biases" actually was something I learned in Grade 8 before Confirmation - I wasn't trying to be a jerk, even though it came across that way, my apologies.
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@neurotobot
[Read the article: The atheist delusion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I like the cut of your jib my friend...good work :)
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Hey Walter!
[Read the article: The atheist delusion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You may be a singer, but you ain't no dancer!
;)
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ummm......
[Read the article: The atheist delusion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]walter wrote:
"It works, too, which is probably why the Soviets were so lame in Afghanistan: atheists simply lack the proper religious zeal to be effective killers."
Stalingrad? The Eastern Front? Russian atrocities against the Germans (including rape, murder and pillage)?
Next.
:)
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re: the racial angle
[Read the article: Your cheating stars]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You're ALMOST right WES, only you gotta replace the word "white" with the word "rich"!
(shhhhh! don't go talking about "class" in America when "race" obscures things so nicely!)
cheers
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Every So Often...
[Read the article: Tom the Dancing Bug]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Something comes along that reminds me how happy I am that I don't live in the United F*cking States of America!
Jeebus people, really!! All the thinly veiled (and overtly) racist bullsh*t posts are leaving me gobsmacked...what is this? the 1920s? I half expect to see posts detailing the latest findings in phrenology and calls for state enforced sterilization programs!
When are you people going to get over race?! Every day I feel more and more blessed that I live in wonderful, multicultural Toronto...you know, where people actually *gasp!* get along??
The colossus, she is crumbling, and all I hear is the empty ravings of madmen.
peace on earth indeed...
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wow..twice now!
[Read the article: Tom the Dancing Bug]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That I actually agree with something Thrasher said!
"I am always amazed how white folks can remember and value certain aspects of American history and ignore and then tell Blacks folks to get over it.."
bang on man! I had a teacher who once said to me "if you are going to celebrate your nation's exploits then you have to take responsibility for its failures"
that always stuck with me...
cheers!
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ummmmm
[Read the article: Tom the Dancing Bug]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Hey Thrasher:
did you actually read what I wrote? Dude, I'm agreeing with you!
(oh how I wish I was still young...but this ever-receding hairline and ever-expanding middle section say otherwise ;)
what I meant by "getting over race" (which is what I assume you had a problem with? I dunno...I'm guessing here...) is that Americans simply have to Get Over Race. Especially those wonderful, oppressed white men (really, Black History Month is a soul crushing form of oppression? REALLY?!) who constantly clutter up such message boards with tales of woe and innocence.
A post-industrial world needs to be post-racial as well...the sooner everybody learns to chill the f*ck out the sooner America can get on with getting on. Man, you guys gotta stop seeing EVERYTHING through the prism of race...it's smothering you (not to mention how conveniently it obscures the real issue in America: Class)
A bientot