I would like to add that I have zero interest in proselytizing, or trying to convince you or anyone else to believe in God or any religion whatsover.
Nor was I advancing the thesis that the Catholic religion has all the answers or is the One True Way.
And I don't recall that I ever once said anything about my own faith, that is, what I personally believe, in a religious sense, except in response to questions by Del about what I believe about the relationship between Christ and God.
I did say that I thought if people behaved according to the precepts of Christ, that is, love one another, heal the sick, comfort the afflicted, feed the hungry, give to the poor, the world would be a better place.
What I think is going on is that you guys are so used to different kinds of arguments that you automatically assigned me the role of proselytizer, defender of the faith, asserter of the belief that the Bible is the literal word of God, and a lot of other things I never said.
My argument is that Christianity, qua Christianity, does not cause people to do bad things. The Catholic Church has been the cause of some wrong things due to mistakes in doctrine which have, in my opinion, nothing to do with the words of Christ. Intolerance of homosexuality, intolerance of women, tolerance of slavery, desire to exterminate schismatics, none of that derives from Christ. |
