At 09:15 AM Friday 4/25/2008, Charlie Bell wrote: >On 25/04/2008, at 10:41 PM, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: > > At 12:24 AM Friday 4/25/2008, Charlie Bell wrote: > > > >> You don't see that much of atheists rallying round > >> the oppressed religious (except possibly when atheists and minority > >> religious like wiccans or Muslims are trying to get equal treatment > >> to > >> the Xian majority), because there just aren't that many cases of the > >> religious being oppressed - they've got such a huge majority. > > > > > > > > So how cum we seldom hear of atheists in Middle Eastern countries > > where members of non-Muslim religions are the oppressed minority > > protesting against the huge religious majority? ;) > >Well, yeah. Point i was trying to make originally was that USA ain't >the rest of the world...
So was I. ;) While I'm not necessarily defending what the teacher did (allowing for the fact that we have only the one news report to tell us what that was, and any of us who have ever done something which has been in the paper, or even written something which was published in the paper, knows from experience how different what you read in the paper or other news source can be from what actually happened), I was simply pointing out that with all its faults, the US remains a place where people of different religious beliefs or no religious belief can live side-by-side mostly in peace and even friendship and can have discussions like this about our differences mostly without worrying about being arrested and perhaps executed for having those beliefs or letting it be known that we have those beliefs. FWIW I don't plan to go downtown this evening nor do I feel that this event is likely to accomplish much to solve the problems of the city and area where I live: <http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2008/04/city_leaders_pastors_residents.html> <quote> City leaders, pastors, residents to gather for prayer Posted by Birmingham News staff April 24, 2008 9:40 PM Ministers, city leaders and residents are expected to gather at the Boutwell Auditorium at 6 p.m. Friday to pray for an end to violence in the city. In his call for a day of prayer in sackcloth and ashes, Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford has said the city needs to humble itself. The Rev. Steve Green of More Than Conquerors Church has helped organize the event and said it will have an impact on the city. "The king of Ninevah called constituents to a time of prayer and fasting," Green said. "We believe things begin to dramatically change when the mayor, or leader, calls for prayer. </quote> And from <http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/120911137345020.xml&coll=2>: <quote> With Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford calling for citizens to wear sackcloth and ashes tonight at 6 in a prayer rally at Boutwell Auditorium, some supportive ministers say it's time for biblical repentance. [...] Green said the mayor has bought 2,000 burlap sacks to be handed out to people at the event. [...] In a city proclamation, Langford said that "like the king of Ninevah," he declared a "day of prayer in sackcloth and ashes." </quote> The ballyhoo sort of brings to mind this verse from the Sermon on the Mount: "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." (New Testament | Matthew 6:6). IOW, IMO we don't need public stunts but rather we need people throughout the city (, county, state, nation, world . . . ) to individually decide to start living better, perhaps by deciding to follow the Second Great Commandment: "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (New Testament | Matthew 22:39) or even just the latter portion of the Ten Commandments (those which prescribe how we should relate to our fellow man rather than how we should worship God): "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's." (Old Testament | Exodus 20:12 - 17) Of course, if everyone (both ordinary citizens and the leaders) followed those (whether they considered them "commandments from God" or just good advice for living), the newspaper would be significantly thinner . . . . . . ronn! :) _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
