> It is also used as a smoke screen. I am not interested in what external
> circumstances John blames for saying what he said. I am more
interested in
> what he really thinks. Who cares if he drinks coffee or not (and reading
> about it three times in three days is a bit too much for me). Having
pulled
> the blame meme from his coffee John does not feel like thinking more for
> this discussion. So, what do you _really_ think, John?
>
I said what I said for one reason; I wanted to at the time. Whether this
was instigated by caffeine or not is not the point, because what was
said still came from my mouth (or keyboard). It is still my
responsibility whether I am on caffeine or cocaine.
As you may have noticed, I took back my premature judgement of
christianity and other religions based upon occurances of violence in
their history. As I said, anything can be misused. At certain times I
get very angry about the actions of some religious people, but I now
realize that I am angry with the wrong thing. What I am really angry
with is the fact that certain people manipulate religion and faith to
fulfill their own ulterior motives. It also angers me that some
religious people harbor such intolerance for lifestyles other than their
own. Religion, be it christianity or any other, is not responsible for
this. Religion is just how it is manifested. The people that stand upon
a soapbox, look down on others, and try to convert everyone to their
beliefs are like this before religion ever enters the picture. People
like this need the feeling of pride that they recieve from placing
themselves above people, mainly because they have always been placed
below people. This can be manifested in many ways aside from religion.
Activists that try to spread a certain message may have this in a dilute
form. Skinheads and KKK members have this to the point of violence. If
you would like to know where I would put religion in this scheme, (1
being an activist and 10 being a skinhead) I would have to give religion
a 2. Religous people have a bit more than activists because religious
views are of greater weight (eternal damnation is a big thing) than that
of the average activist.
The reason you read about this three times in three days is because I
felt I had to reply to every message of discontent that I recieved. I am
not one to shift blame to other conditions or people. Ultimately, what
is done by my hand is done by my hand, no matter what the conditions.
-- John Aten jwa@inx.netA stopped clock is exactly right every twelve hours