Posted by pancho from pool0052.cvx25-bradley.dialup.earthlink.net (209.179.216.52) on Sunday, January 19, 2003 at 10:16AM :
They say all of Europe voluntarily surenedered to Christ...maybe. Maybe the backing of the Roman Empire had something to do with it. Or the collapse of Roman authority led to chaos which always helps conversions.
But Africa wasn't converted peaceably to Christianity...I mean in the modern era. King Leopold of Belgium was a notorious sadist in the Congo as were most colonial powers. The Church didn't appeal to people simply by presenting its case...people were coerced and forced to attend and especially, to send their children...get the next generation started...kids are easy.
The New World certainly didn't reach out and take Jesus. The native population of North America, Central and South America were dragged to the altar and brutalized till they were either killed or converted...same with the Africans who were dragged in chains to the New World, who laid the foundations for the wealth...and were forced into Christianity.
Today the Two Americas plus Africa contain the world's greatest amounts of natural resources...and what they don't have China has...another place where the Christians tried to force Christ down people's throats...but failed.
Christianity was the wedge used to steal those lands...or justify the theft. So don't tell us about Islam "forcing" itself on people. They all did it...all except the Jews who don't want any converts.
Alls I'm saying is that regardless of how it was done and what you think of the deplorable means used by one side...don't forget the crimes committed by the other as well. Bury your dead, get past your resentments about "losing" and take the world as it comes today, at least as far as religion is concerned. leave people alone to enjoy theirs and you enjoy yours..let's not go back to a time of forced conversions, converting people whose religion you don't like to corpses.
You can't right the theft of lands, and you yourselves are living on stolen land. Let's get away from this sort of thing, not head back there like it will make anyone's life better.
Christianity is on its way out in the MidEast and there is nothing wrong with that...it's the right of the dominant group to determine how it wants to live...it would be nice if they were fair and decent about it...and Muslims have tried to be accomodating...but enough is enough. Pack your crosses, take your bibles and your miracles and go where you'll be welcome, sort of.
In time we may find out that we would have been far better off to have remained among our own people, whatever their religion, rather than be sucked in by the siren song of the Christian West who just uses us when it suits them, like now.
-- pancho
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