Curtis: > I am proposing that karmic thoery is not > just the basis for cruelty in the vast > majority of its believer's lives... > You didn't state what is the 'karmic theory'.
The karmic theory in South Asia is the law of action-reaction. It's just like the theory of causation. Karma means action: if we perform an action, there will be a corresponding reaction. In the karmic theory there is nothing in existence that can avoid causation. The question is, does a mental thought cause another coresponding re-action now, or in the future? In other words, is there such a thing as moral reciprocity? You alluded to one in your message, but what really makes acts right or wrong? You also didn't define 'caste system', and you may have assumed, falsely, that the Indian caste sytem is based on the color of an individual's skin. Caste doesn't refer to race, but to the birth circumstances of a person, such as gender and profession. In India 'caste' means 'class', and there are classes in almost every society. The question is, are there intrinsic, different classes in society or not? And if so, on what basis is a person classed?
