Mike - I don't think that "no good has ever come of it, save perhaps the Gregorian Chant...." He's saved my life a couple of times. And we've had some stimulating dialog over the years, especially in times of crisis. I don't consider that "personal assuagement of narcissistic fear in the face of annihilation." You're just too irreverent, Mike. Give God a break, would you? Stan Spiegel a friend of God's in Portland, Maine ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Geary" <atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 9:56 PM Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: discussion or the same old slugfest? > 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/ > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html