I notice no one responded to this, and as someone who grew up in Missouri (a border state), I know that the majority of people who fought in the Civil War - on BOTH sides - were Christians.
He did exist, it is a very well known fact, and even people of different faith (jews/ Muslims) and Athiest acknowledge him as a real person.
Giordano Bruno was put to death for “Holding opinions contrary to the Catholic Faith and speaking against it and its ministers”. He was given countless opportunities to renounce those opinions and refused. He was burned at the stake.
I never said Christians weren’t slave owners (but it was the ideals of brotherly love as espoused by Jesus that propelled people like Lincoln to put a stop to slavery), my contention theistgal is that you can’t blame Christians for slavery without conceding the fact that there were many Christians who fought in a war to end it. The issue of slavery was being fiercely fought by Christians around the world and most especially by the CC.
The Devil had courage too, does that make him admirable as well?
Even here, though their may seem to be only two choices, we can still ask why we are being asked this particular question and not some other one? Is this really a good question or does it have some faulty premises behind it such as questions like “do you still beat your wife”? Or what is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything?
So… where do You want to go when you die?
I have little idea what happens when we die, but I doubt it’s anything very interesting. I suppose the experience will be much like the experience of having not yet been born. It is nothing I am concerned about. I don’t lose any more sleep over the idea of Heaven and Hell than I suppose you do about whether the Muslims or Mormons or others are right that you will be damned along with me for your lack of adherence to their religion. Trying to create a better future for my children and (someday I hope) grandchildren is of much greater interest to me than the idea of an immortal soul.
So, you would rather focus on the immediate Earthly things, rather then be open to the pausibility that There is a place on the otherside where someone will spend an eternity?
What a dreary existence to believe that this life is all we have.
Are you saying that Giordano Bruno (and other heretics who were "not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways 
) are on the same level as the Devil? No I don’t put people on the same level as the devil (courage alone is not enough to admire someone though), anyways, one lone man does not a religion make. So I will ask how does Giordano Bruno have anything to do with verifying the truth claims of the Gospels through the deaths via persecution by Rome of not one but hundreds (possibly thousands) of 1st century martyrs (including the apostles who wrote most of the NT)? This was the argument Angel and Leela and I were discussing.
I was just trying to point out that there have been people other than orthodox Christians who have had the courage to die for what they believe. I am quite surprised to find that you think that puts them on the same level as the Dark Lord himself.
The CC was fairly young and without much clout in the U.S. because the U.S. was very much protestant and hostile to the Church (the KKK began as an anti-catholic organization). Furthermore, when I speak of the Church’s stance against slavery I take into consideration the hundreds of years of labouring against it, in fact, she herself was the first to lay the groundwork for international law concerning the rights of men.
Then the Catholic Church would add to the Fire, and it would make the country even moer divided.
I was just trying to point out that there have been people other than orthodox Christians who have had the courage to die for what they believe. I am quite surprised to find that you think that puts them on the same level as the Dark Lord himself.
Also, per your other post about slavery - yes, it is true that the abolitionists and others who sought to end slavery in the U.S. were motivated by their Christian principles. However, a clear reading of history shows that those who sought to keep slavery as an institution and reform it from the inside were ALSO motivated by their Christian principles.
And by the way, if the Church was so gung-ho in favor of ending slavery, why did it steadfastly refuse to issue any statements favorable to either side? Or perhaps you didn’t know that the U.S. bishops of the time wrote the following:
Not to pick on CWBetts since this is a common conceit but if you had any idea how condescending that sounds you’d have a partial answer to the question “why are atheists so unhappy?”
I belong to the American Legion, and at no time was I asked about my religious belief (or lack thereof),the only determination for eligibility was having been on active duty during a conflict (WW2, Vietnam, Desert Storm, etc.).
Not being able to make sense of whatever distinction you’d like to make by talking about “Earthly things” it is difficult to answer directly. Consider this anaology to the situation taken from Harris:
That is fantastic news. I hope that practice of not asking becomes universal in the American Legion.