Quote:
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Originally Posted by sycamore
Why?
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Because western civilization, which we (most Cellarites) enjoy the fruits of, developed along with Christianity. Contemporary Islam has no such fruit. That said, fundementalists like Bush do not appreciate liberal western society and its focus on individual rights and responsibilities. Mostly though, I said it to head off our right wingers who always try to claim God for their side, reasoning that if they know God they know his will. My fellow Catholics know that the Pope opposed the War in Iraq while some of the bishops in the states tried to obsolve individual Catholic soldiers of responsibility for their actions, shifting it to their leaders. This was a Church failure. We are all responsible for our actions whether we are under arms or not. I may not be the best Catholic, but I have developed that thing which the Church is so good at developing, a conscience. We can fight about the flip side, guilt, another time. (
I also carry the gift of sanctimony as I've been reminded a time or two.)
Something I was trying to get at is that one thing that has threatened western civilization for the past century is totalitarianism. The total state has advocates on the left and the right and they are both trying to end the progress of our civilization by controlling the progress of our civilization. The Republicans have jettisoned all their morals on this issue. If only the Democrats had the moral authority to step up.