Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E who wrote (33366)	3/25/1999 9:25:00 PM
From: Chuzzlewit	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 108807

E, I think you need to have a greater appreciation of code words. Christian is one such word, because it is frequently used to describe a small subset with whom the speaker agrees. For example, depending upon whether one accepts a rejects the concept of the divinity of Jesus may determine in some people's eyes whether one is a Christian or not. It is almost like defining yourself as a good American, or a real man etc. The really odd thing about these distinctions is how vehemently Christian people will get on different sides of the same issue. For example, Baptists have a long history of fear of religion in government. But some other Protestant denomination had no such qualms, and so began bible reading in the public schools. Catholics were incensed because the translation chosen was not Catholic (and anyhow, Catholics prefer other religious reading), and so the parochial school system was born in this country. Who is the Christian, and who is being persecuted? These internecine disputes are not confined to Christians. In Israel there is a major confrontation between the ultra-orthodox who wish to define who is a Jew, and to limit the rights of those who do not pass muster. And these disputes can take on a much bloodier setting, as between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims. The problem is that each group defines itself in the name of the greater group. So it is easy for a small Protestant sect, for example, to consider itself Christian to the exclusion of a host of other groups. Being a free-thinker is much easier. While I'm on the subject of religion, I'd like to pass on a subtle error that many people make when they describe themselves as "agnostics". The term was coined in the 19th century by Th. Huxley as a joke when some one asked him about his religious beliefs. The term, as he coined it, was supposed to connote the idea that the "agnostic" didn't know the nature of God (as opposed to the Gnostics). In modern philosophical parlance (at least among atheists) the meaning of the term has been preserved. Theism is though of a a positive attribute. That is, either you have it or you don't. So if you do not subscribe to religious belief (the existence of a supreme being) you are considered an atheist. People who are sitting on the fence (self-described "agnostics") are more properly thought of as atheists maintaining an open mind. In this sense, a new-born child is an atheist, and only becomes a theist as he becomes older and is taught a belief system by society. So under this terminology, it is possible to be both a theist (belief in a supreme being) and an agnostic (uanble to describe the nature of the supreme being). TTFN, CTC