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To: VadeRetro; PatrickHenry; CarolinaGuitarman
Some observations of my own:

1) Atheistic liberatarians can never live down that they live under a system instituted by God-fearing men.

They skirt that (ahem) inconvenient point.

(But I confess that I delight in it.)

Our wonderful (and brilliant!) system of government allows for the greatest latitude in personal freedoms exactly BECAUSE it was devised by God-fearing men.

2) Science progressed in Europe not despite of, but largely BECAUSE OF the influence of Christianity.

Science could not have evolved anywhere else on the globe as rapidly as it did in Europe precisely because Christianity (almost always) was tolerant of scientific inquiry. Certainly far more so than Islam. It also valued education, which directly supported science.

532 posted on 12/05/2005 10:13:59 PM PST by sauron ("Truth is hate to those who hate Truth" --unknown)
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To: sauron
TOUCHE

Wolf
533 posted on 12/05/2005 10:18:24 PM PST by RunningWolf (Vet US Army Air Cav 1975)
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To: sauron
" 1) Atheistic liberatarians can never live down that they live under a system instituted by God-fearing men."

I live under a Constitution that ensures a secular government. Those God-fearing men were a lot wiser than you.

"Science could not have evolved anywhere else on the globe as rapidly as it did in Europe precisely because Christianity (almost always) was tolerant of scientific inquiry"

Tell it Galileo.

"Certainly far more so than Islam."

If it wasn't for medieval Islam, we wouldn't have had most of the ancient Greek writings. You need a history lesson.

"It also valued education, which directly supported science."

If you were a nobleman.
558 posted on 12/06/2005 5:10:57 AM PST by CarolinaGuitarman ("There is a grandeur in this view of life...")
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To: sauron
2) Science progressed in Europe not despite of, but largely BECAUSE OF the influence of Christianity.

That is hard to detect in history. The first thousand years of Christianity in Europe were a time of stagnation and ignorance. For much of it, Europe had no centers of culture and learning to match the best of the Islamic world.

When things changed, it was as much over the opposition of the Church as not.

594 posted on 12/06/2005 8:22:12 AM PST by VadeRetro (Liberalism is a cancer on society. Creationism is a cancer on conservatism.)
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To: sauron
1) Atheistic liberatarians can never live down that they live under a system instituted by God-fearing men.

They skirt that (ahem) inconvenient point.

(But I confess that I delight in it.)

Our wonderful (and brilliant!) system of government allows for the greatest latitude in personal freedoms exactly BECAUSE it was devised by God-fearing men.

Our system of government was designed by Christians who were suffering under the oppression of other Christians. They were part of a philosophical movement (the Enlightenment) that was in large part a reaction to the Catholic Church in France. The American system of checks & balances was inspired by the pagan Roman Republic.
694 posted on 12/06/2005 1:53:54 PM PST by jennyp (WHAT I'M READING NOW: Art of Unix Programming by Raymond)
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