My Renditional Assessment of Religion

[Bill Irwin]

El Patron Sez:
"The Catholic countries probably used the tool better in colonization than did the non catholic colonizers. Just look at what the English did with a bunch of radical breakaway religious sects and what happened to our native tribes as compared to those colonized by the Spanish or French. Need I say more?"

Good point Clark, and today we have pretty much an Indian nation just south of the Rio Grande.
Ewie
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Clark Santos 
  To: Remembrances of Austin Ghetto ; survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s 
  Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2005 10:44 AM
  Subject: Re: My Renditional Assessment of Religion


  Frances, Frances, Frances,
  Churches were founded by politicians or the creatures in the magic flying machines to control people. People needed to respect, fear, and revere, a deity who stood behind their leader, who achieved his lofty position by the grace of and with the approval of said deities. The Leader (Chief, King, Profit, priest, Pope) gave the people structure, order, and safety for a percent of their wealth, depending on their rank in the pecking order.
  Religion is a tool, better used by some than others. The Catholic countries probably used the tool better in colonization than did the non catholic colonizers. Just look at what the English did with a bunch of radical breakaway religious sects and what happened to our native tribes as compared to those colonized by the Spanish or French. Need I say more?

  EL PATRON

  On Mar 9, 2005, at 11:28 AM, Frances Morey wrote:

  Clarkson,
  No, not hardly, never even set foot in a Baptist church until I attended a shape note sing fest in TomBall, TX. But churches were invented so we would have someplace to go on Sunday, someplace to have weddings, to find solace and take respite with others when things become unimaginably oppressive. The idea of religion is to hold up ideals of human behavior and interraction and give us such goals and place to get the hang of it.
  Then the schools began to function, as relief for parents, in socializing the young, and maybe teach them a thing or two while at it. Even later the state stepped in taking on the social service function and the church was left with not much to do. We all know, idleness is the devil's workshop. So the churches today are an empty shell of the functions it used to fill.
  The muslim world is the opposite, where church, state, commerce and family are all one. When asked who sponsored her education here in America one Saudi woman replied, "Well, the company," as if, who else? Duh.
  I came to find out this meant the government, which is ubiquitously in charge of everything. So what, over here in our putative democracy, things hardly go the way a clear majority of us say we want when polled. Perhaps a monarchy is a slicker way to affect social change for the better, if the dynasty hasn't interbred too much for too long.
  Churches eventually became the last bastion of where the transmission of culture takes place: teaching music, the support of the arts, choral singing, and dancing. Whoa, yeah, I was born and raised Catholic and we learned to appreciate dancing as a great way to show off our human capabilities for movement and rhythm, instead of a sin.
  Where things went wrong for Baptists is when some proudly uneducated umbrella "convention" decided that higher learning was no longer a necessary perequisite for preaching to a flock. Too bad.
  Frances
  ----- Original Message -----
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