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From: rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.news.group,net.religion
Subject: Re: Proposal for net.religion subgroups
Message-ID: <228@pyuxd.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 31-Oct-84 09:39:25 EST
Article-I.D.: pyuxd.228
Posted: Wed Oct 31 09:39:25 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 1-Nov-84 05:10:07 EST
References: <187@hocsj.UUCP> <428@uwmacc.UUCP> <342@klipper.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Piscataway N.J.
Lines: 32

> But the real reason for subgrouping net.religion is, that it is fatuiging(sp?)
> to have to defend the basics of your creed which you just want to assume to
> be able to talk about the `details'.

I guess some people would rather assume than "waste time" defending the basics
of their creeds.  After all, despite the fact that SOME may consider thinking
a good exercise, wasting time delineating precisely what the roots of one's
faith (or non-faith) really are might actually lead you to see things you
haven't seen before, and that's not what faith is all about, is it?  Better to
congregate with one's own kind and not ask questions than to hear what other
people have to say, including their "offensive" sacrilegious questions, right?

Petty divisive isolationism only leads to 1) stagnation and reinforcement of
beliefs without allowing for further analysis and (more importantly)
2) breeding grounds for intolerance that lead to terror, assassination, war,
and death.  No, I don't believe that people will be killed because of religious
subgroups, but it reinforces the mentality of divisiveness and "master-racism"
rather than encouraging discussion among ALL people.  One might say "but what
about the person who doesn't want to talk with other people, only those of
his/her own kind?"  I'd prefer to accommodate those who wish to have a
community to talk to everyone rather than those who wish to isolate themselves.

Having people define groups for followers to belong to has been the single most
devastating destructive element in civilization.  It leads to race hatred,
holy wars, "nationality"/"religious movement" (both arbitrary classifications
created by those who wanted power over large groups of followers) slaughtering
other nationalities and religious movements.  If we can't even create one
community of people on a computer network, I have very dim hopes for the "real
world" doing the same.
-- 
"Come with me now to that secret place where
 the eyes of man have never set foot."		Rich Rosen    pyuxd!rlr