Cobb

What you called the weakness of Christianity is certainly there. But it is also a strength. All our notions of human rights come from Christianity or Judeo-Christianity. The idea that no one should be a slave or that all people have intrinsic worth are radical Christian ideas, which are still not accepted in other parts of the world. Christianity is a religion of ideals, it's impossible to be a perfect Christian, which is why Christians never have had the self satisfaction and assurance and absolute certainty of Muslims, even in the days when the christian religion was strong. Everything has the defects of its qualities.

No doubt, but this reconciliation with our ideas about family is a resounding hole. Part of this arose when I asked the question of how Jesus would resolve a child custody case? I should bring the issue to the top.

Anita, there are some contradictions in your statement. You argue that Christians have never had the absolute certainty and self-assurance as Muslims. But at the same time you appear to be arguing that our entire conception of human rights emanates from Christianity. So on the one hand Christianity is characterized by some doubt and humility...on the other hand Christianity is responsible for more freedom and liberty than any other conception.

Without even beginning to take the story of Hypatia (or the Salem "witches" or the enslaved Africans) into account, I'm not sure these contradictions can be successfully reconciled.

I don't think there's a contradiction, at least not in the sense that makes what I wrote wrong. Nothing is perfect and everything has serious defects. Every system of thought has contradictions within it, including contradictions that could destroy it. Also, the minute that anyone says that you have something to defend, your beliefs, you are at war with those who don't believe the same, even if you judgment regarding who is a threat is mistaken. The fact that christians have done evil things does negate the religion. But the fact that Christian cultures have provided the most liberal systems on earth is a plus for the religion. The doubt and humility of christianity are the source of liberalism, the source of the acknowledgment that others are not necessarily infidels or animals. That is the normal human way of thinking and the way that is still followed by muslims, and most cultures. Bigotry is normal and universal, as is oppression, slavery and cruelty. The notion that such things are wrong and should not be emanate from the christian west. I have never heard of any non westerner taking responsibility for anything they or their ancestors did wrong, whether slavery in Sudan, genocide in Africa, what the Chinese did to the Buddhists. I believe that christianity or judeo christianity is the most effective weapon against human savagery. And I'm not forgetting african slavery, which involved africans selling each other to the europeans, or the holocaust.

I have to think about this a bit. It is clear to me that Christianity develops from the same geographic place as Islam. While we talk about Judeo-Christianity, I think it is probably more accurate to refer to Judeo-Christian-Islam. With that said, I'm not sure what you are referring to when you talk about "Christian cultures." The oldest version of the Bible exists in Africa, not in Europe.

I'd also like to offer a counter-hypothesis. I argue that the reason that slavery was universally condemned starting with the West, is not because of Christian-inspired charity...but rather because the form of slavery practiced by Christians was so virulently horrible as to inspire outrage among enslaved Africans and others.

How is this hypothesis wrong compared to the one you offer?

All three religions demand sacrifice and various forms of sexual restraint. Perhaps they cycle around slavery in ways that other religions don't because of these notions.

You have all expressed some very interesting ideas. However, I feel that I should add my own ideas to this discussion. To understand what I am trying to say, you need to first understand my background. I attended a Christian high school, and I was raised in a semi-religious home. My parents were Christians, but we didn't go to church very often. This may be why I was always open to the ideas of other religions. Either way, no matter how much Buddhist philosophy I studied, or how many different versions of the Bible I read, I couldn't find happiness, simply because I have a very inquisitive nature, and nothing frustrated me more than a question I couldn't find an answer to. I wanted to understand life. I wanted to know what to believe in, and more importantly, who to believe in. Everyone I ever trusted betrayed me , and religion just couldn't solve that. How could I trust a god that I had never seen, and that might not even be real? Everything I knew about this being called "god" was imprinted into my mind through a culture I didn't truly understand. How could I be certain that what I had been told wasn't just another lie? What really bothered me wasn't that I couldn't find an answer. Many things are just too hard to understand. What bothered me was that I knew that the answer itself must be extremely simple, but I would never find it, because it was more more difficult to find this information than to learn it. The truth about life and existance cannot be found on earth. Many people have claimed that they know the truth, but this cannot be correct, because if someone found the truth about something as profound as this, everyone would have to accept it as truth. Therefore, this information is entirely comprehendable, but no one will ever have the chance to understand, because it is quite obvious that universally appealing ideas are impossible to express in any human language. It has been little over a year since I last searched for my answers. Of course, I never found them, but in retrospect, I realize that I everything I have ever read, I read while under a specific state of mind. Reading these thing again, I have gained an entirely different perspective on what the Bible really says. Like all philsosophy, religious texts are both cryptic and specific simultaneously. They are written with a specific subject in mind, and a certain general theme to how it is written, but religious texts mean different things to different people at different phases of their lives. This is the one great failing of all religious followers: they take the words of their prophets and gods too literally. Scripture is a guide, not a set of rules to be followed exactly. Religion does not demand obedience from worshippers, worshippers demand it from themselves, making themselves slaves to system that would ironically not exist without them. This principle is not only true for religion, but also for any other type of be ethics and views. Your morales should, instead of influencing the way you view the world around you, be influenced BY the world around you. Wars are caused by groups of people being unable to adapt and revise their opinions to suit the ever changing world. If anyone has read this far, you are probably wondering what the point I'm trying to make is. What I'm trying to say is that everyone needs to find their own answers. The truth is different for everyone, and conflict is the inevitable attempt of both parties involved to reaffirm their own version of the truth and dispel any insecurities that they may have. You don't have to look for answers. Just live your life, and your answers will find you. Never be afraid to alter your views, because true happiness only comes from the ultimate realization of personal truth. In the end, life is all a matter of perspective, and NOTHING you do can be truly wrong if your reasons for doing it are, at least in your own eyes, right. That is my truth. I hope that you can find yours.