[Gocamino] London

[Glenn]

I think we should keep mentions of religion out of our frustration in
dealing with the violence in the world today.  It's not really religion that
is the problem it is politics and the desire for power and control. 
Religion has been
used sometimes as a cloak by many to justify the quest for power.  I would
wager to say that the 20th Century saw the most violence as Christian vs
Christian during the World Wars.

I'm American.  My father was Catholic, my mother Protestant.  I married a
German citizen, my brother an Iranian citizen.  My Catholic nephew married 
an Israeli
Jew and is living there as a doctor.  The Christians in our family have 
married
Turks, Indonesians, Koreans.  Family gatherings are like UN meetings.  I can
tell you they all are wonderful people who respect each other and get along
famously.  The core of all the religions is the desire to come closer to and
understand the transcendent.

We can do our part by by putting ugly abuses of religion in human history
behind us, and not keep the wheel of revenge turning.

Glenn


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Margaret Fuchs" <megfuchs at gmail.com>
To: <GoCamino at oakapple.net>
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2005 5:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Gocamino] London


> Grant, I was deeply troubled by your claim that "Islam was a violent
> and aggressive movement from it's inception" and the way you seem to
> equate all Muslims with these fringe terrorist groups (and the
> atrocities of the crusades). For the muslims I have been privileged to
> meet (a female graduate student who plans to become a lawyer, a young
> man from Turkey who is a research chemist, a wise Egyptian scholar and
> feminist who is a professor of mine, etc. etc.), Islam means peace,
> and submission to God, and prayer, and care for the poor. They are as
> disgusted by these acts of violence as anyone, and perhaps more so,
> because the terrorists commit these murders in the name of Islam and
> in so doing, the terrorists tarnish and desecrate the name of that
> faith.
>
> My heart goes out to all of you who have friends and family in London.
> I am still waiting to hear from a friend of mine who lives there.
> Peace to you all, and bonne route/buen camino
>
> Meg
> (in Cahors today)
>
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