Wirt writes:
 "Bombs. Religion is all about bombs. And hatred. And fear. And excesses of
piety. Lordy, give me some of that ole' time religion. "

I spent time in Northern Ireland during the early 70's, and was within a
couple of minutes of being a casualty of an IRA bomb during my first two
weeks there.  The press called this a 'religious war' because it involved
the Protestants and Catholics.  The reality is this was a conflict about
reuniting the Northern 6 counties with the Republic of Ireland.  This makes
it a political conflict not one about religion.  I found it interesting that
most of the buildings that were destroyed were in the poorer parts of
Belfast and Londonderry.  I lived mostly in what was called the
'middle-class' area where Catholics and Protestants lived side by side and
were friendly and helpful to each other.

What brought about all the different religious faiths anyway?  I believe it
was because people interpret 'scripture' differently.  I also believe there
are some who consider religion a business and try to become wealthy by it.
I could name a minister of a Northern Ireland denomination who preached
hatred against the Catholics and required the members of his congregation to
not make contributions in anything other than paper.  He didn't want to hear
the sound of coins in "his" collection plates!  Yes he taught his
congregation to hate and that is sad. In my opinion he was in it for the
money and notoriety; nothing more.  On the flip side I knew a Catholic
Priest in Waterford who was known by everyone in the city as "Bingo Bobby",
need I say more?  He also drove an expensive car.  I wonder who paid for it?

We have the current conflict in the Israel and Palestine, is this really a
religious war or a war over who controls the land?

There was 9/11 with the so called religious zealots creating fear.  This
fear didn't affect just the American Catholics, or American Protestants, or
American Jews; it affect the entire world.  A world made up of many
different religious groups.

Religion IS NOT all about bombs.  True religious practice is about peace,
and understanding the vast cultural differences between groups of people.
When we can walk a mile, or kilometer, in someone else's shoes, sandals,
flip-flops, etc. that is when we will begin to have peace and understanding.
Until then there will be those few zealots who will throw bombs and call it
religion.


just my thoughts on the issue.

* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *