Dr. Barad wrote: We can tackle ALL events at the same time. One should recognize that the inquisition in Goa happened many years before the two that Ignatius has mentioned. If we were to follow his criteria for discussions, then one can always use a recent event to shut down discussionon a previous issue.
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:23:35 +0900 From: Joao Barros-Pereira <joaobarrospere...@gmail.com> The Inquisition happened centuries ago. No one who is alive today can be held personally responsible. There is a difference, my friend ... Mario asks: Joao, The question asked by Sapna was about the Inquisition. Does the Inquisition have anything to do with the atrocities following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, or sati, or caste, or female infanticide, or bride burning as mentioned by others, or was mentioning these unrelated atrocities just an attempt to deflect attention from the subject? What is the logic that we should discuss unrelated historical events in some particular sequence? Since the Inquisition happened centuries ago and no one today is personally responsible, why do you think some of our friends became so hysterical and rude at Sapna's question, as if they were being personally accused of something, and why were you so keen to avoid the topic as well? The focus on Rough Guides is another red herring to deflect attention from the original question. Incorrect information in Rough Guides could simply be corrected. For example the assertion that the Inquisition was the "worst in the world". Clearly there were worse atrocities in history and these could have been pointed out. The last time I checked, Sapna had not asked Goan Christians to be proud of the Inquisition or accused us of any complicity. She only said in her original post that she thinks from her experience that many non-Goans are not aware of it and wondered why and asked for our comments. I'm not even sure her sweeping generality is correct as I know many non-Goans who know about it. I don't understand why Christians should be afraid of discussing this topic - if someone else brings it up, because we obviously have no interest in bringing it up. The Inquisition was a sad fact and it was eventually discontinued. It had nothing to do with what Christ taught. It was a disgrace to Chrisianity, just like the Papal excesses and corruption before the Reformation and the more recent pedophile priest issue. We Christians should be the first to acknowledge internal atrocities, condemn them, and move on, or we risk looking unnecessarily guilty, or defensive or crass. Christians who follow the teachings of Christ have nothing to be ashamed of.
