[Vision2020] Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Sun, 30 May 2004 16:35:49 EDT

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The Whole Gang:

I will skip the theology lessons, lofty ethical analysis and theory of 
knowledge discourses.  If I have any grievance against Eric or his fellow 
"fundamentalists," it is because of real consequences to real human beings in this 
community and elsewhere because of beliefs that are acted upon in the real world.  

I have listened to Eric sing and met him, and thought he was a fine fellow.  
Fine fellows though can promote attitudes that do people harm.

I'll be brief.

The religious fundamentalists in Moscow who keep women in subservient roles, 
who view gay people as sinners being judged severely by an all powerful all 
knowing God, who advocate erroneous interpretations of slavery and race in the 
history of the US, who promote the cruelty, injustice and barbarism inherent in 
the death penalty, who seek to dismantle the public school system, who 
condone keeping women trapped by their biology with unwanted pregnancies, and who on 
the one hand claim to be promoting love and understanding, yet reveal a 
shocking lack of empathy for other religions or spiritual viewpoints, which leads 
in the grand scheme of our world to misunderstanding and hatred among the 
world's cultures, are doing real harm to real people.  

This is not just a matter of personal faith that is best left off a public 
list serve because it is rude or a waste of time because no minds are being 
changed.  There are real consequences to real people due to these religiously 
oriented belief systems.

I don't have any personal grievance with Eric.  The issues listed above, and 
many not mentioned, are the real concerns.

Now about those dead trees ... terrible, terrible, terrible!

Ted Moffett

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<HTML><HTML> 
The Whole Gang: 
 
I will skip the theology lessons, lofty ethical analysis and theory of knowl=
edge discourses.&nbsp; If I have any grievance against Eric or his fellow "f=
undamentalists," it is because of real consequences to real human beings in=20=
this community and elsewhere because of beliefs that are acted upon in the r=
eal world.&nbsp; 
 
I have listened to Eric sing and met him, and thought he was a fine fellow.&=
nbsp; Fine fellows though can promote attitudes that do people harm. 
 
I'll be brief. 
 
The religious fundamentalists in Moscow who keep women in subservient roles,=
 who view gay people as sinners being judged severely by an all powerful all=
 knowing God, who advocate erroneous interpretations of slavery and race in=20=
the history of the US, who promote the cruelty, injustice and barbarism inhe=
rent in the death penalty, who seek to dismantle the public school system, w=
ho condone keeping women trapped by their biology with unwanted pregnancies,=
 and who on the one hand claim to be promoting love and understanding, yet r=
eveal a shocking lack of empathy for other religions or spiritual viewpoints=
, which leads in the grand scheme of our world to misunderstanding and hatre=
d among the world's cultures, are doing real harm to real people.&nbsp; 
 
This is not just a matter of personal faith that is best left off a public l=
ist serve because it is rude or a waste of time because no minds are being c=
hanged.&nbsp; There are real consequences to real people due to these religi=
ously oriented belief systems. 
 
I don't have any personal grievance with Eric.&nbsp; The issues listed above=
, and many not mentioned, are the real concerns. 
 
Now about those dead trees ... terrible, terrible, terrible! 
 
Ted Moffett</HTML>

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