R
Ridgerunner
Guest
“…are more bigoted than the rest of the world.” Try this experiment. Walk into St. Peter’s in Rome and say aloud and repeatedly: “I am a Buddhist, and I think your religion is false.” Then go to Mecca; enter the Kaaba enclosure and do the same thing. A comparison of the consequences of the two experiences would, I believe, definitively disabuse you of your notion.
“…even to the point that someone said you should be willing to die when you witness to a Muslim…” Almost certainly not in Dearborn, no. Almost certainly in Dar al Islam, yes.
Speaking of “the inquisition” as if it was one thing only, easily creates confusion . It varied greatly from time to time and from place to place. A lot can be said, rightly, in condemnation of the Spanish Inquisition, for example. But it would be wrong to assume that the Inquisition itself killed anyone, because it didn’t. Those who went before the Inquisition in Spain were pretty well already condemned by the state or the populace. The Spanish Inquisition was more of a tribunal at which the accusations were re-examined. Those found to be “guilty” were simply turned back over to the state, which had already made up its mind. It also exonerated many who would have otherwise died at the hands of the state or the mobs. It is interesting to note that the accused had a right to appointed counsel throughout the process, which was unprecedented at the time and was not recognized in the U.S. until the Miranda decision. Again, this is not to say that the Inquisition in Spain was without serious moral problems. But it is not well understood, and should not be confused with its various manifestations in other times and places. It should certainly not be confused with unhistoric polemics of those who had reasons to stretch the truth or invent things outright.
“…having a hard time coming to grasp…” This is a forum, at which people are free to express what they know and what they believe. You might have noticed that a great number of anti-Catholic things are said in here. Since it is a Catholic forum, and most of the participants are Catholic, did you really think anti-Catholic statements would go unchallenged in here, or should go unchallenged? You might have noticed there are word limitations for posting. You can’t put a whole dissertation in here. Necessarily, then, people have to compress what they have to say. That’s the nature of a website like this. You might have noticed that, in speaking of the Inquisition above, I spoke in a very limited fashion, admitting there was more to know. I could not examine the entire history of the Inquisition in every detail. I could only point out that there is one widely held belief that is, in some respects, inaccurate. There are others.
Belief and opinion are not bigotry. They are belief and opinion. Unless one defines “bigotry” as being anything other than total relativism and radical non-judgmentalism, one has to accept it that people do have beliefs and opinions, and that their having them does not neccessarily constitute a moral failing. Possibly you feel that nothing can be held as true and that all beliefs and opinions are equally valid. If so, that’s your point of reference, and you’re entitled to have it. But it is not the approach of very many people who, after all, have to make a thousand judgments a day, in one way or another.
These complaints are pretty much from other people, and things I’ve seen ratified in real life with a lot of Christians I know.
Sorry, I did miss that when I was reading through them all. Sorries.
