First off, I don't believe missionaries are all-bad. In fact, I believe they do quite a bit of good. Helping people achieve the basic necesseties of life is always a good thing. The downside (in my, personal opinion) is the fact that these desperately poor people attach *Christianity* to *prosperity*. We believe in Goddess Ulanji, we are poor, they believe in Christ, and are not poor. Therefore, if I believe in Christ, I will not be poor either. It's a rather sickening sort of ideological marketing. Marketing? Well, not really. More like a drug pusher. "Here, have a few samples of this stuff. We call it food--and hey, it's on me this time. To get more, come to our religious meeting tonight."

Now, about witch-trials. Your paraphrase of C.S. Lewis: "It may be a great advance in knowledge not to believe in witches, but there is no moral advancement." I agree with the esteemed scholar, letter-for-letter, but not necessarily with his intent. Granted, there is no moral advancement in moving from superstition to a lack thereof. However, there is a HUGE moral advancement in recognizing humanity's gross tendency for mob-mentality, and working to avoid said mentality. You don't think it's *morally* wrong to kill someone simply because we're afraid of what that person *might* be? Sounds like a twisted moral system to me. The witch trials embody human ignorance and fear of the unknown at its very worst. Watch Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" for a rather comical presentation of human folly on this matter. The point of bringing up the witch trials is this: if we remember how easily we can slide into ignorance, we're that much closer to enlightenment. Rshscks said it best in his post: "As far as the Salem witch trials, and the crusades go, the reason people did that is out of fear, they were told they will suffer in hell if they did not listen to the Holymen, and most of them did, cause illetracy was high back then..." Amen, bro. My question to you: who told them that they would suffer in hell if they did not listen to the Holymen? My guess is, the Holymen. Now, were those Holymen guided by a belief in Christ? Think carefully.

Reject, I can understand some of your perceptions. You asked me: "Now my question to you. You seem to think that Christians are the ones out to conquer the world, but from what I can understand its the Muslims that kill and conquer." THIS is what I'm talking about, when I encourage you all to open your eyes to the truth.

Reject, in the modern world, specifically the modern AMERICAN world, this is how "those crazy Muslims" are presented. And with some accuracy. Some Muslim extremists and predominantly Muslim governments do engage in terrorism. We all can agree--this is a bad thing. Now, what you're copmpletely forgetting is this: America engages in terroristic activities too--some covert, others in grand public display. For example: the Sandanista debacle in the 1980's (covert), where we sent a squad of elite military personnel to attempt an assasination. Another example: the invasion of Iraq in 1991 (ended up killing 250,000 Iraqi soldiers, and all for the noble purpose of... maintaining a LOW PRICE FOR OIL). If that isn't "terrorism" (utilization of deadly force to achieve political objectives), then I don't know what is. "Oh, but the U.S. is not a Christian nation." Try telling that to the Iraqis, who percieve the U.S. as the "Great Satan," (since they believe Jesus was a false Christ) and who point at statistics showing that a majority of U.S. citizens are Christians.

Now, don't get me wrong--I think Saddam Hussein is a terrible dictator. I'm just trying to deflate the U.S./Christian narcissism (inflated ego) a little bit. Leaders like Hussein use the Muslim religion to further their political ends. Leaders in the U.S. use a generalized, Christian "God" to further their political ends (along with perverse interpretations of "freedom"). Some U.S. leaders may genuinely have Christian faith. Some foreign leaders may genuinely have Muslim (or Hindu, or yadda-yadda-whatever) faith. The point is this--Christian nations engage in terrorism too.

So far I've only mentioned the present day. Now, as Reject mentioned, I "...seem to think that Christians are the ones out to conquer the world." Well... why do you think the U.S. exists? Why do you think Canada exists? Why is it that the predominant language in Central and South America is NOT a native tongue, but rather a European tongue (Spanish). Why was India a British territory for so many years? Well... because Christians were out to conquer the world. Literally. Ever hear of the "Conquistadors" (translation from Spanish = "CONQUEROR")? I thought so. Convert 'em or burn 'em--the modus operendi of Medieval/Rennaisance Christianity. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me you haven't forgotten such a huge part of history.

I'll discuss the enslavement thing later on (gotta get back to work now).

Peace and Enlightenment to us all.

-Sim

I think that it is a good thing that they come and pst stuff on our forums. I'm not really sure how to explain myself. Take a look at Jesus, what kind of crowd did he socalize with? The answer both, he had christian fellowship with his disciples and other christians. He also socalized with non christians... alot of them. What kind? Prostitutes, thiefs, murderers, etc. Mainly to teach them and show them the way to our father. The point is that we should welcome all who come to our site for it gives us a chance to show them our faith and maybe increse thiers in God.