The all new, totally accepted, bigotry thread - "Blame a Christian"

[ParkCungHee]

Noting that the INLA included a significant number of Catholic Protestant Atheists.

In my experience, Catholic Protestant Atheists are by far the worst. Fortunately, I don't think I've ever met a Protestant Catholic Atheist.

 

[Lord Gay]

There are several CPAs in our accounting department.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Have you reported them to the authorities?

 

[Formaldehyde]

Yeah, I actually consider religious education an important subject that should be mandatory at school, as long as its curriculum and teachers are secular.

Why would anybody be opposed to teaching public school students that all the major Western civilization religions are based on the same common mythology?

 

[ParkCungHee]

Er...because that's not true? Gaelic Druidism, the Greek Cults, Norse Paganism and Christianity have no common roots.

 

[Formaldehyde]

That's why I said major religions, e.g. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They are all based on mythology which appeared in Babylon and elsewhere long before it appeared in the Abrahamic religions.

But I imagine that even your examples have at least some myths and legends in common with them. It would be unusual if they didn't.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Judaism and Islam are major western religions? That's news to me.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Yes. I consider Germany, Italy, Spain, as well as other European countries which have large Jewish and Muslim populations, to be parts of Western civilization. Don't you? Isn't the birthplace of Christianity even considered by many to be part of Western civilization?

 

[Whiskey_Lord]

Yeah, you remember that time when Mohammed rode a flying horse Frankfurt, right?

 

[Formaldehyde]

Someone should tell Albania, Kosovo, Italy, and Spain that they aren't part of Europe.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Yes. I consider Germany, Italy, Spain, as well as other European countries which have large Jewish and Muslim populations, to be parts of Western civilization.

Well if you're going by that standard, you're probably going to have to include Hinduism and Chinese Traditional Religion as some of the Great Western Religions.

Isn't the birthplace of Christianity even considered by many to be part of Western civilization?

No. That's considered part of the east. Hence why it's called the Near East.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Yeah, you remember that time when Mohammed rode a flying horse Frankfurt, right?

Of course. It's why Germanic peoples traditionally set logs on fire.

 

[ParkCungHee]

You know what's even more fun? Applying this logic backwards. By making kids read the bible, we're exposing them to one of Great Religions of East Asia!
And at the same time, we're teaching them about the people who were here before us, but teaching them about the Great Native American Religion!
In one book we can teach them a great religion of the West, the East, The Far East, The Near East, the Middle East, Africa, The Americas and Oceania! Who knew what multiculturalism we were introducing when we came up with Bible Class.

 

[Arakhor]

If the Abrahamic religions aren't Western, by virtue of tracing back to Jerusalem, then there are no major Western religions.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Ah, but I never said Islam and Judaism weren't western by virtue of having been created in the Near East, only that existing in the Near East doesn't make something Western.

Christianity started in Jerusalem and flourished in the West. More than that, it defined the West, in opposition to Islam, which, except for a brief time in Spain, never strongly influenced the West. Judaism existed for longer in Europe, but never was anything but the religion of a proscribed minority, and never was of any significance to non-Jews except to gain insight into Christianity.

Islam and Judaism are not part of the Western Tradition for the same reason Chinese Traditional Religion isn't: despite a significant minority of the population following that tradition in the west, it did not play a strong influence in guiding the course of western religion or thought.

 

[Arakhor]

Fair enough.

 

[peter grimes]

You know what's even more fun? Applying this logic backwards. By making kids read the bible, we're exposing them to one of Great Religions of East Asia!
And at the same time, we're teaching them about the people who were here before us, but teaching them about the Great Native American Religion!
In one book we can teach them a great religion of the West, the East, The Far East, The Near East, the Middle East, Africa, The Americas and Oceania! Who knew what multiculturalism we were introducing when we came up with Bible Class.

I think you lost me..

I'm all for comparative religion education (fascinating stuff, that), but are you saying that by teaching the Bible (and only the bible) you'll wind up teaching about the Native American religions as well as all the rest?

I'm sure I'm misunderstanding something.

 

[Leoreth]

Why would anybody be opposed to teaching public school students that all the major Western civilization religions are based on the same common mythology?

I'd already be happy if students were taught what other religions actually believe in.

 

[sophie]

I think you lost me..

I'm all for comparative religion education (fascinating stuff, that), but are you saying that by teaching the Bible (and only the bible) you'll wind up teaching about the Native American religions as well as all the rest?

I'm sure I'm misunderstanding something.

He's mocking Formaldehyde, who said that Islam can be considered a Western Religion because there are small Islamic minorities today in what would be considered "Western Countries". So by that metric, Christianity is a Far Eastern AND Native American religion because currently there are Chinese and Native American Christians.

 

[peter grimes]

He's mocking Formaldehyde, who said that Islam can be considered a Western Religion because there are small Islamic minorities today in what would be considered "Western Countries". So by that metric, Christianity is a Far Eastern AND Native American religion because currently there are Chinese and Native American Christians.

Ahh, now I get the joke