From: rachel@phsbbs.princeton.nj.us (Rachel M. Kadel)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.theory
Subject: Re: Anti-religious fanatics (Was Re: School Choice )
Date: 18 Aug 92 21:22:37 GMT
Organization: Princeton High School, Princeton, New Jersey

john@anasazi.com (John R. Moore) writes:

> Keywords: 
> 
> In article <24712@castle.ed.ac.uk> fofp@castle.ed.ac.uk (M Holmes) writes:
> ]>Yes... I know of the excesses of the bible beaters, and I have indeed
> ]>read about the Spanish Inquisition. These are no excuse for the
> ]>hostility or even hatred for anything related to Christian religion
> ]>(which seems to be the main target).
> ]
> ]Huh? Want to run that by me again? If a set of tortures and murders in
> ]the name of a cause don't qualify as a reason for disliking that cause
> ]then what exactly *would* qualify?
> 
> Sure. It was an aberration that occurred hundreds of years ago
> under vastly different conditions. To continue to treat Christian
> religion as if it stands for the inquisition is about as clever
> as assuming all liberals are communists because a few were once
> upon a time.
> 
> ]This is a kind interesting concept though, let's see if we can apply it
> ]to anything else:
> ]
> ]*   So, admittedly Stalinism did lead to a few million deaths in work camps
> ]    and so on, but that's no excuse for hostility to stalinism.
> Nice try, but I have no problem with you objecting to the Spanish
> Inquisition (which is the analogy to Stalinism)
> ]
> ]*   OK, it was probably a bad idea to have all the folks in Jamestown
> ]    commit suicide, and what with them killing a senator and all. Still,
> ]    that's no argument against Reverend Jones' ideas....
> Of course it is. Reverend Jones was not a representative or typical
> Christian. He was a typical cult leader (which occur in lots of religions
> and non-religions).
> ]
> ]*   Well, yes, the terrorists do have a bad habit of blowing up
> ]    airplanes, discos and all, but that's no reason for an irrational
> ]    dislike of 'em.
> Give it a rest, eh?
> ]
> ]*   Yes, I've read about the Holocaust. Six million Jews was it? Still
> ]    you can't go from there to saying that the Nazis were bad guys...
> Please explain what this has to do with modern antipathy towards anything
> related to the Christian religion.
> 
> You are constructing a classic strawman argument. Please try again
> with something a bit more rational and to the point.
I think the main difference between hating Nazis, Reverend Jones, 
terrorists, and Stalinists because of the people killed in the name of 
their ideas and hating Christians because of the Spanish Inquisition is 
that Christians have done and continue to do much that is good and 
charitable, and that the basic tenets of Christianity as large portions 
of Christianity interpret them now are directly _against_ such acts as 
the Spanish Inquisition.  Sure, there have been terrible things done in 
the name of Christianity, but there have been terrible things done in the 
name of Truth, Justice, and the American Way, too.  There are bad guys in 
every crowd.
                                  Rachel M. Kadel

There's an infinite number of monkeys at the door wanting to show us the 
script to Hamlet they've worked out...The school won't even LISTEN to me 
, much less let me speak for it...rachel@phsbbs.princeton.nj.us