Dan Minette wrote: > > Gautam, how many religio-political groups condemn their own > > lunatics/extremists loudly, clearly and constantly? For > that matter, how > > many political organisations/groups do that? > > >From my perspective, its the norm over here. I remember the > pope routinely > commenting against terrorism by the IRA. Protestant leaders > also condemned > violence by militant Loyalists. The Republican party had to > denounce David > Duke to remain credible. The Oklahoma city bombings were > overwhelmingly > criticized by the anti-big government folks.
Right. I stand corrected then. :) Here, the norm is somewhat different: you get reactions from religious groups when one of their own is hurt, not when one of their own ends up hurting others. > In the US, religious and political leaders condemned violence against > Muslims in the wake of 9-11. This I remember very well - there were not only condemnations but the Bush administration acted rather fast, comprehensively and sensibly to nip all such ideas in the bud. I found that about as impressive as the work of the disaster relief organistaions on ground zero. > If any radical Christian group, such as the KKK who claim to > be a Christian > organization, killed scores of Muslim civilians in a > terrorist attack and > claimed it was in the name of God, I would expect routine > condemnation. If > the organization were to put out propaganda on a regular > basis, and there > was any risk at all that this would be followed, I would > expect the pope, > the archbishop of Canterbury, the US Council of Churches, > etc. to actively > and regularly proclaim their teachings that this violates > Christianity, not > supports in. I find myself wondering if there are certain benefits to a well organised religious heirarchy after all. At least there is a centralised authority to issue clear statements about what is an officially acceptable version of the religion. :) Ritu GCU Bedtime _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
