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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (54904)	7/18/2004 2:26:19 PM
From: zeta1961	Respond to of 793824

<<The hard core militant left who have that attitude left us with gutted churches and murdered priests all over Communist Europe and Asia>> So, true...my folks escaped Albania in the 50's because of fear of reprisals for dissenting when communism did not deliver as was so eloquently pointed out by the Australian journalist posted here today. In Albania, Hoxha, unsatisfied with the natural death of a prominent intellectual Friar...Pater Gjergj Fishta, considered by many European scholars as Albania's Homer, had his body exhumed and cremated...so the people who admired him would have no place to go to honor him...he made religion illegal, punishable by death...there are now a couple of generations of people who have no belief in anything remotely to a sense there is a force that is inexplicable...no matter which name you attach to it...Some of them are relatives I've met...to say it's a sorry situation is an understatement...their being the most impoverished, behind the curve nation in Europe is no accident...imho. My sense is that religions, philosophers are in a Catch-22...on the one hand, it's their 'duty' to help the world be a better place...yet they are human, citizens of the world...with all the imperfections of their followers... The Catholic church got much flack about their inadvertant complicity by their silence about Hitler's actions...but when they speak out, they're criticized for meddling in public affairs...yet, I didn't hear complaints from the anti-war protestors when the Pope spoke out about the current Iraq war. We also need to remember/own that humanity's actions have always been informed by their religious beliefs...from the Greek era and before(pagan, atheist, theistic)until the present...the Black-American population would never have survived, had the courage to construct the underground rail road, etc, if not for their fervent belief in a loving God who they believed did not want them enslaved... And when one talks to even liberal intellectuals, CEO's, politicians in a candid manner...it's their belief system that is the primary informant of their actions... Unfortunately, the imperfections, extremists of the religions(not just the monotheistic ones, their are plenty of modern day Eastern Thought gurus who have been quite 'irregular', we just don't hear about them as much)...have made being religious/spiritual a 'stain' held against you in public dialogue...I'm a deeply religious person and liberal, living in a very libertarian environment...there are very few people with whom I feel comfortable discussing it openly...I'm not alone with this dilemma... Somehow, there has to be a better way...but perhaps there isn't...a problem that we, as a world, will always struggle with... Just some thoughts. Zeta