naturally, you have me thinking again...

I acknowledge that those who have genuinely examined their religious
instruction/upbringing/whatever, and have in conscience chosen to pursue
the good and compassionate in that realm, are far beyond admirable.  Sadly,
I suspect that they are in the minority....  I've seen and read far to many
instances where fervor of the un- or mis-educated kind is used to spur
people to actions wildly counter to those compassionate aspects.  It's far
easier and effective to motivate or justify by appealing to one's viscera
and baser instincts, and even more to one's fears.
Certainly, the Crusades were at least as much economic attempts as
religious ones to wrest control of the *Holy Lands* from *the Infidels*.
To the common soldier who fought and died there, and the children's army,
and who knows how many others - there was no economic gain or motivation,
but to the people choosing to pursue the wars, winning would have been of
major economic importance.
The kooks, the power-seekers, or the abusers may well be in the minority -
but they have learned the effectiveness of couching their personal goals
within the vestments of their chosen religion (including anti-religion, to
be sure).

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