I see no reason to re-open the debate on which religion or worldview provides a better moral compass. http://www.robert-fisk.com/articles537.htm
All religions hijack personal sentiments with threats of retribution or offers of rewards in a nebulous afterlife in exchange for complete devotion. But Christianity in general, and Catholicism in particular, takes that deep seated fear of the finality of death and thrusts it into the faces of their adherants mounted on an instrument of torture to evoke piety. The etymology of the word 'Cross' which has become synonymous with Crucfixianity is 'Torture'. http://www.designboom.com/history/cross_symbol.html says.... the cross had symbolic meaning before it assumed its christians connotations. it has been employed as a sacred, protective, or decorative emblem in almost every culture throughout the world. it has been found in china and africa, it appears on bronze age stones in scandinavia ; in ancient greece; in pre-columbian america, and in the euphrates-tigris region around 1500 B.C. the origin of the word cross is the latin word crux, from the verb cruciare, meaning to torture. when the successful new ideology of christianity began to spread, the worship of suffering also spread... and the promoters of apostles had the honor of having a torture rack named after them (like the cross of st. peter, the cross of st. andrew, the cross of st. phillip, etc.). Kevin Saldanha Mississauga, ON. --------------------- Mario said: Christianity is no longer guilt ridden, though it does provide a moral compass, which atheism does not provide, preferring whatever is convenient at any given time, of course within the legal system. -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .