tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30495100.post4422430656498660495..comments2024-01-29T17:58:00.974-05:00Comments on Galileo Blogs: Galileo Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02592692929747610846noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30495100.post-81772504046286415912007-08-28T15:02:00.000-04:002007-08-28T15:02:00.000-04:00That makes sense, Jim. I am glad that Christianit...That makes sense, Jim. I am glad that Christianity does refer strictly to religion, and that to be Christian and to be American are not synonyms.<BR/><BR/>However, as you point out, re-emergent feral Christianity would like those two terms to be synonymous. They are working hard to bring coercive Christianity back, however they can. The latest stunt I have read about is offering Bible classes in public schools.<BR/><BR/>Sure, I can imagine how a Christian fundamentalist teacher in the public schools would teach the Bible in a secular manner. No... I can't imagine it.Galileo Blogshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02592692929747610846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30495100.post-33118605984698552442007-08-28T04:19:00.000-04:002007-08-28T04:19:00.000-04:00I suspect that the reason why "Christian Atheist" ...I suspect that the reason why "Christian Atheist" doesn't occur is because the West went from a religious phase through a nationalist/secular phase, which informs the current derivation of identity. Europeans identify themselves as such, because in the West, after the displacement of religion by the secular nation-state, the latter has become our primary identifier. I myself, for example, might identify myself as Canadian, in the sense of being born and raised in Canada. Americans have historically done so as well, though for for a profoundly different reason; where in Europe the nation/collective ended up being a mere substitute for God, being "American" has always referred to the unique nature of its founding principles.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, with Christianity starting to go feral again, that may be changing in some quarters.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30495100.post-59331344452244000412007-08-19T11:01:00.000-04:002007-08-19T11:01:00.000-04:00I will add an additional thought in response to yo...I will add an additional thought in response to your post.<BR/><BR/>It is possible that Ms. Ali would identify herself as a Muslim, but I venture to say she would mean it in a cultural sense, not a religious sense. She is a Muslim in the sense of having grown up in a Muslim society, much in the same way that an atheist Jew might still identify himself as Jewish. He would consider himself a cultural Jew, if not any more a religious one.<BR/><BR/>Interestingly, I have never heard of such a thing as a "Christian atheist." The term Christianity invariably refers to religion. It would not be used to refer solely to a cultural tradition, devoid of religious content.Galileo Blogshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02592692929747610846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30495100.post-91839329549242749452007-08-19T10:57:00.000-04:002007-08-19T10:57:00.000-04:00Sorry, I just added a "plot spoilers" warning at t...Sorry, I just added a "plot spoilers" warning at the beginning of my post.<BR/><BR/>Yes, she does indeed declare herself an atheist toward the end of the book. Her transformation is even more remarkable by its completeness. Ms. Ali correctly identified religion as such as false, and prone to fundamentalist intolerance. Certainly, we have seen such bloody intolerance in the Christian and pagan religions, although the worst days of Christianity admittedly ended some 400 years ago.Galileo Blogshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02592692929747610846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30495100.post-75043505882973032742007-08-19T09:48:00.000-04:002007-08-19T09:48:00.000-04:00"By the end of the book, Ms. Ali declares herself ..."By the end of the book, Ms. Ali declares herself an infidel...She rejects all religious faith."<BR/>I didn't know that (I haven't yet read the book). I thought she had remained a Muslim, even if an astonishingly enlightened one. In any case, she's a heroine.Valda Redfernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com