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Politics : Should God be replaced? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Solon who wrote (3136)	11/4/2000 1:28:06 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28931

I agree one should speak. And it isn't hard to say "I'm a kind person and I repudiate these things in this book...., because they are not in line with my notion of what kindness and compassion are." I think you can say that and still be kind. Don't you? I don't think kindness needs to be a compromise.

To: Solon who wrote (3136)	11/4/2000 2:25:19 PM
From: E	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 28931

I think maybe one thing you're leaving out, in your despair, is that religions, too, change over time. The inerrantist and fundamentalist tendencies represent only one strand of interpretation. Unitarians, for example, are generally theists, but regard the theatrics of the Old Testament as a combination of literary display, cooked up history, and borrowed mythology. There are moderating movements within Judaism, Christianity in all its branches, and even in Islam (though those movements are certainly not in the ascendency in Islam.) Another thing it's good to remember, I think, in these moments of incredulity, is that a lot of good, kind people are associated with the institutions that have the dark sides you mention. IMO, it's cognitive dissonance that makes that possible, but it surely is the case. And they will pass their goodness and kindness on to their children, the Bible notwithstanding. You were the one who was saying a couple of days ago that things are getting better, remember? Ventilation helps, I know. And I admired your honesty and passion. But your post made me nervous because this place has been the first place on SI in which I've participated in civilized, non-hostile, non-confrontational conversations about religion. Greg seemed to take your comments good-naturedly, I see. I was glad to see that! It will be interesting to see the responses you get. I pretty much agreed with what X said. As per usual.