From: L' Ermit (lhermit@hotmail.com)
Date: Fri Jan 25 2002 - 08:25:52 MST
[Joe Dees] At this point, considering the written, spoken and recent
historical evidence, I consider it beyond dispute that islam is presently
the most absolutistic, fundamentalist, virulent and violemt of the
patriarchal monotheisms, or at leat exhibite the greatest tendenct to slide
in such a direction, as well asn the greatest percentage of adherents who
have so slid, and thus poses the greatest threat to the advancement and
progress of humanity towards enlightened secular humanism, the assimilation
of the verification pronciple of science and popperian falsifiability, and
virion ideals.
[Hermit] Leaving aside sliding down the slippery slope, if we take the
babble wielding BaptiCostalFundyMentalist (tm) idiots making up 20% of the
population of the US, and use those as a yardstick to measure Christianity,
I doubt that Christianity or indeed any Theist religion would fare any
better. What you appear to me to be doing (and I could of course be wrong)
is attempting to measure the worst fanatics of a particular religion against
the best political system that the world currently has - and which only
arose despite Christianity, not because of it.
[Hermit] As for threats, I suggest that it the American Religious wrong in
combination with the sons of "Abraham" in Israel that currently and
demonstrably poses the greatest threat to the world. As they currently have
their hands firmly on the reins of irresistible power, they, and they alone
threaten the development of mankind, never mind the progress of humanity
towards enlightened secular humanism. Right now, if you "gave" the Muslim
world democracy, it would not work. They don't have the economics to allow
it to. This same factor means that they ae not a significant factor in the
global economies - of money, power, influence or ideas.
[Hermit] Richard Ridge put it very nicely. Islam (in all its aspects) is an
anchor to the past. Just as Judaism and Christianity (in all their aspects)
are anchors to the past. Anchors that some of us have managed to escape by
slipping our chains or shearing our hawsers. Just as there are lunatic
Muslims, there are lunatic Jews and lunatic Christians. But just as with
Christians and Jews, the vast majority of Muslims are not fanatics dedicated
to the elimination of anything. They are nice people trying to get on with
their lives. And the world is becoming more secular, and eventually, despite
the lunatics trying to stop progress by dynamiting the tracks (like Senator
John Hawkins with his Ten Commandments bill), the world will become a more
secular place, where we can cordially hate one another for reasons other
than belief.
Kind Regards
Hermit
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