On Tuesday 02 Sep 2008 10:48:23 pm Perry E. Metzger wrote: > ss <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > I see it as follows. I believe that both Islam and Christianity were > > goals that sought to suppress ancient tribal differences and tribal wars > > by suppressing tribe and creating a unified "super-tribe" of Christianity > > and a "super-tribe" of Islam. This process was by an large eminently > > successful until it hit India. > > The religious wars of the West where pretty bloody from about the time > of the birth of Christ to about, well, more or less today. My favorite > remains the thirty years war, which at the end so reduced the > situation of the combatants that plowshares were literally beaten into > swords rather than the biblical prescription of the other way > around. The Crusades weren't too bad either, though.
My favorite is the thirty years war too because IIRC it was after the Thirty Years war that there was the "Peace of Westphaila". I believe this is what led to the creation of modern secular democracies and that marks the Thirty Years war as unique in human history. I believe that Human political organization moved from Tribe to Religion to Secular Democracy (or communsm) in large parts of the world except India. In India it has moved from tribe directly to democracy. India likes to call itself a secular democracy, but Indians do not know the true meaning of secularism. Indian people form a pluralistic democracy in which religion is not set aside, but celebrated and worn on one's shoulder. However the Indian constitution is at odds with this and claims to be "secular". There is definitely some confusion here IMO. shiv
