<snip> > Andre: > ><snip> I sense that part of the concern is also that individuals > and groups do good, but also horrible things to other groups and individuals > IN THE NAME OF (as added, absolute justification).
mel: So true. The individual is responsible for his actions, yet the group is accountable, an admittedly odd pairing, but clearer than just fuzzing it up together. We in a different time or society may disagree as to the good / bad in others' actions, but then we share little community of interest nor do we see their view of history or need. Andre: > I may be wrong but I have never heard of a case where 'in the name of ' a, > say, Lao Tsu or Buddha a person has acted 'good' or 'bad'. (please > understand I am talking about crusades, proselytising, flying planes in > buildings, murder etc.) > mel: History in the non-greek descended world is not, until recently, accounted in a manner we are used to. If a group did act in such a manner we might never know. Buddhism sure spread as a mass movement, but I don't know where proselytising fits in as a definition. Aside from just knowing about the Tao-te-ching, I am relatively ignorant of LT's followers and the specifics of their actions. (must research this I must, preciousssss) Sri Lanka has some nastiness that is at least social, but it is not like we have control groups to test what portion is "religious" within the social melieu vs what part ethnic. Crusades are an interesting artifact in part because they are deliberately over-generalized and blame-loaded. I can't help wonder how much of the Spanish actions in the Americas was religion based and how much was a marriage of convenience. While there were plenty of clerical threads in the weaving of the whole cloth, I suspect the loom (motive and mechanism) was political and economic. We so easily attribute motive, yet I suspect our ignorance far exceeds our knowledge in most things. thanks--mel Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
