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Published On: Nov 01, 2006 04:11 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Nov 01, 2006 04:11 PM
DiaBlogue<A>: CAWK-ward Comments
Alan provides a lucid and gentle view of What Is Wrong with Christianity (and People), in
response to my relatively Hate -ful post. While his description was more
than fair, there were a few very minor potential confusions I wanted to clear
up. I started by creating a comment, but it grew a little longer than I
planned, so for ease of reading/finding I'm duplicating it
here.
Update: Alan answered with an additional comment, which I've inserted inline, below.
Update: Alan answered with an additional comment, which I've inserted inline, below.
Hi Alan,
Glad to see us agreeing. :-) A few
minor comments:
a) I specifically said that "more" was the basis of "this" critique, not necessary "all" critiques. That is, I was merely asserting "worthiness", not "uniqueness."
Regarding (a), I see that I probably read too much into what you wrote.
b) "inappropriate injection of religious beliefs into governmental policy" -- could you give an example of what "appropriate injection" would be? Or did you mean to imply all such injection was inappropriate?
For (b), I might suggest tolerance and respect for other viewpoints, honesty and integrity in office, promotion of the general welfare especially for the poor. These are good things that may be motivated, in some individuals, by religious beliefs. Of course, these are things that are good anyway, that do not require religious belief, so maybe they do not count. In a somewhat similar vein, I think that the religious freedoms that are enjoyed in this country are appropriate and were originally motivated by the various religious beliefs held (and not held) by the Founding Fathers.
c) "I am not sure that Christianity needs replacing based on these problems" -- then, are you sure it needs replacing? If so, then on what alternate basis?
I said that I do not think Christianity needs replacing "based on these problems". While I perhaps did not make this clear, I was intending to acknowledge and respond to a list of problems associated with Christians (among others) that nonetheless are not necessarily problems with Christianity. At most these are considerations that might help to establish why CAWKI can be harmful and therefore why it is important to discuss whether or not CAWKI is "true".
d) Finally, in case it wasn't clear, despite its many flaws I still consider myself one of "those" people; I did not mean to distance myself in any way from that critique.
Finally, thanks for clarifying your position relative to "those" people, though I suspect you are more reflective and self-critical about these issues than most people. As I tried to make clear, the same or similar problems plague any cross-section of society, and no doubt I am blind to some of my own failings in addition to those that I recognize. One thing that has become abundantly clear to me is how flawed we are, the entire human race. We have a lot of cleaning up to do, and it starts with ourselves. But I am not terribly optimistic.
a) I specifically said that "more" was the basis of "this" critique, not necessary "all" critiques. That is, I was merely asserting "worthiness", not "uniqueness."
Regarding (a), I see that I probably read too much into what you wrote.
b) "inappropriate injection of religious beliefs into governmental policy" -- could you give an example of what "appropriate injection" would be? Or did you mean to imply all such injection was inappropriate?
For (b), I might suggest tolerance and respect for other viewpoints, honesty and integrity in office, promotion of the general welfare especially for the poor. These are good things that may be motivated, in some individuals, by religious beliefs. Of course, these are things that are good anyway, that do not require religious belief, so maybe they do not count. In a somewhat similar vein, I think that the religious freedoms that are enjoyed in this country are appropriate and were originally motivated by the various religious beliefs held (and not held) by the Founding Fathers.
c) "I am not sure that Christianity needs replacing based on these problems" -- then, are you sure it needs replacing? If so, then on what alternate basis?
I said that I do not think Christianity needs replacing "based on these problems". While I perhaps did not make this clear, I was intending to acknowledge and respond to a list of problems associated with Christians (among others) that nonetheless are not necessarily problems with Christianity. At most these are considerations that might help to establish why CAWKI can be harmful and therefore why it is important to discuss whether or not CAWKI is "true".
d) Finally, in case it wasn't clear, despite its many flaws I still consider myself one of "those" people; I did not mean to distance myself in any way from that critique.
Finally, thanks for clarifying your position relative to "those" people, though I suspect you are more reflective and self-critical about these issues than most people. As I tried to make clear, the same or similar problems plague any cross-section of society, and no doubt I am blind to some of my own failings in addition to those that I recognize. One thing that has become abundantly clear to me is how flawed we are, the entire human race. We have a lot of cleaning up to do, and it starts with ourselves. But I am not terribly optimistic.
Posted: Tue - June 20, 2006 at 10:38 AM