On 08 Nov 2004 03:29:38 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

You want your kids to recite a Christian prayer at the beginning of a school
day?
There are dozens of schools just like that in most communities- they aren't
supported by tax dollars nor should they be.

=========================================

Unfortunately the prevailing view of the so called christian right is
that anyone of a different belief is a pagan at best, and should be
converted if possible that their soul may be saved. It's hard to hold
a reasonable discussion with someone of that belief system, and it's
ironic to me that it fosters the same kind of intolerance that the
hard line Islamic's are known for.

Wayne,
I was reading this book about early North American exploration. It said
that the a portion of the French priests that came over to convert the
Native Americans did so with the belief that they were the lost tribe of
Israel. They believed that when all the natives (they didn't have a clue
what "all" entailed) were converted the three riders of the apocalypse would
be unleashed, The scary part was they were reverently working towards that
goal.
Paul

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On 08 Nov 2004 03:29:38 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

You want your kids to recite a Christian prayer at the beginning of a
school
day?
There are dozens of schools just like that in most communities- they
aren't
supported by tax dollars nor should they be.

=========================================

Unfortunately the prevailing view of the so called christian right is
that anyone of a different belief is a pagan at best, and should be
converted if possible that their soul may be saved. It's hard to hold
a reasonable discussion with someone of that belief system, and it's
ironic to me that it fosters the same kind of intolerance that the
hard line Islamic's are known for.

I was reading this book about early North American exploration. It said
that the a portion of the French priests that came over to convert the
Native Americans did so with the belief that they were the lost tribe of
Israel.

Could have been. The indigenous population of the Americas resulted from a
mixture of people from various parts of the world for many hundreds, if not
thousands,
of years before the Columbian expeditions.

The original missionary priests in the Mississippi vallley reported discovering
native tribes with blue and hazel eyes, and fair skin. In New England, three
British missionaries were about to be burned at the stake. Two were English,
the third had
grown up speaking Welsh as a child. As the Native Americans were geting ready
to
light off the pyres, the Welsh missionary began calling out to God in his
childhood language. Many of the words were so similar to the language used by
the tribe that had captured these missionaries that some of the captors
understood that he was calling out, in a dialect of *their own language* to a
powerful spirit for help. The missionaries were released unharmed, as a result
of this amazing "sign".

There are literally scores of similar accounts, those are the two I remember
most easily.

On Mon, 08 Nov 2004 17:09:34 +0000, Gould 0738 wrote:


Could have been. The indigenous population of the Americas resulted from a
mixture of people from various parts of the world for many hundreds, if
not thousands,
of years before the Columbian expeditions.

You bet. Discoveries of Kennewick Man and the Spirit Cave Mummy show us
how much we don't know.

http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/kennewick_man.html

http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story....7&nav=168XKCXa

On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 09:18:41 -0500, "Paul Schilter"
paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote:

Wayne,
I was reading this book about early North American exploration. It said
that the a portion of the French priests that came over to convert the
Native Americans did so with the belief that they were the lost tribe of
Israel. They believed that when all the natives (they didn't have a clue
what "all" entailed) were converted the three riders of the apocalypse would
be unleashed, The scary part was they were reverently working towards that
goal.
Paul

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
.. .
On 08 Nov 2004 03:29:38 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

You want your kids to recite a Christian prayer at the beginning of a
school
day?
There are dozens of schools just like that in most communities- they
aren't
supported by tax dollars nor should they be.

=========================================

Unfortunately the prevailing view of the so called christian right is
that anyone of a different belief is a pagan at best, and should be
converted if possible that their soul may be saved. It's hard to hold
a reasonable discussion with someone of that belief system, and it's
ironic to me that it fosters the same kind of intolerance that the
hard line Islamic's are known for.

Issac Asimov (I think - can't remember - or the name of the story at
the moment) who wrote a story about Tibetan Monks spinning prayer
wheels. Their belief, of course, is that when all the prayers are
said, the end of the world occurs.

So the monks purchased several mainframe computers to say the prayers
and when the computers were switched on, the technicians leaving the
monastery started to notice that the stars were going out. :)

I don't do the story justice, but it was a great story.

Later,

Tom