[lit-ideas] Re: discussion or the same old slugfest?
- From: Ursula Stange <Ursula@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 09 Apr 2004 08:26:44 -0400
Maybe it's the concept of a 'jealous' god that caused all the trouble.
I don't remember any stories of the followers of Isis killing the
followers of Mithras (all imports from the ANE). We had a discussion
about gods at the end of one of my classes and decided that God was the
last of the old gods and perhaps had overstayed his time. It satisfied
us at the time.
Nice to hear your voice, Mike,
All best,
Ursula
Michael Geary wrote:
>Before I go on vacation again I must ask, as a poll more than discussion
>since I have no desire to argue it, am I alone in believing that the concept
>of God is the most disastrous development in human history? That no good
>has ever come of it, save, perhaps, Gregorian Chant and the personal
>assuagement of narcissistic fear in the face of annihilation?
>
>Mike Geary
>
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Omar Kusturica" <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
>To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 8:34 PM
>Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: discussion or the same old slugfest?
>
>
>
>
>>--- Scribe1865@xxxxxxx wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Omar, I was seeking to engage people on the value of
>>>the ancient near eastern
>>>influence on Western cultures. In doing so, we could
>>>be discussing attitudes
>>>toward authority, approaches to learning, etc.,
>>>styles of government,
>>>paradigms of our relation to the natural world, the
>>>impact of Greek thought on the
>>>ancient near east after 323 BC, etc.
>>>
>>>
>>*I am afraid that the proposed topic is simply too
>>broad to result in a productive discussion, even if we
>>had the time, resources etc. There is little in
>>Western cultures that could not be traced back to
>>near-Eastern influences. The Greek philosophy
>>originally borrowed heavily from the Egyptians, the
>>Persians etc. It was later re-introduced in the West
>>through the Arabs.
>>
>>
>>
>>>Instead you and Mike Chase (who both should know
>>>better) immediately engage
>>>in name calling, racist stereotyping, and ad
>>>hominems, as if I were some Bubba
>>>trying to say them thar Ay-rabs were baaaad.
>>>
>>>
>>*I think that both Mike Chase and I were responding
>>with a mild sense of humour.
>>
>>(snip)
>>
>>
>>>As for your Jesus reference and my Sufi reference,
>>>why not add G. Bruno and
>>>others to reinforce the point that orthodoxies tend
>>>to persecute individual
>>>thinking everywhere?
>>>
>>>
>>*Surely most listmembers will have some awareness of
>>the activities of Catholic Inquisition, the wars of
>>Reformation etc. Islam has its own history of
>>persecuting religious dissent, but it is not nearly on
>>such a massive scale and in such a systematic manner.
>>Sufism became a tolerated and even respectable form of
>>Islam within 100 years from Al-Hallaj's death.
>>
>> Otherwise you are merely making
>>
>>
>>>a covert political point
>>>about Jews killing Jesus and I am countering with a
>>>political point about Moslems
>>>killing Sufi mystics.
>>>
>>>
>>*I was originally making a point about what seemed to
>>me to be a politically motivated misrepresentation of
>>the Kuranic view on the murder of Jesus ('The Kuran
>>says that Crucifixion never happened'), and some
>>covert suggestion that the Arabs or Muslims are
>>apparently not fit to even watch a film that deals
>>with this issue. It wasn't my intention to turn that
>>into an all-out assault on the Jews as you interpreted
>>it, and it wasn't necessary to activate the
>>pseudo-Nietzschean American Superman on me.
>>
>>O.K.
>>
>>__________________________________
>>Do you Yahoo!?
>>Yahoo! Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway
>>http://promotions.yahoo.com/design_giveaway/
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>>
>
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