Re: on original sin

hmmmm.....

a few stray comments.  (have been without my computer for a number of
days - a lot to catch up on.  and, it turns out i hadn't receive a
number of the messages in the middle of this discussion when i posted --
just got my computer back, and just got 92 new messages.  you people
have had mighty busy fingers. hehehe...  also, i didn't realize my
school's webmail would send my message without my name - that must have
seemed a bit rude, or presumptuous.)

ok, so let's see...

well, i also grew up in a catholic family, though always in a situation
of religious minority, so perhaps because of that we weren't as
traditional as those who identify as "roman catholic" rather than ..
plain ol catholic.  (our northern relatives always said "roman
catholic".  that apparently means little or nothing to most southern
protestants - merely 'catholic' was strange enough.)  so, being your
basic run of the mill catholics, we didn't follow a lot of standard
practices, like ..indulgences, matins, etc.

according to what i was taught one of the basic differences between
catholics and protestants is that, unlike protestants, catholics do not
engage in the concept of salvation  - that that is a strictly protestant
way of thinking.  also, catholics regard the bible as more of an
historical document intended for guidance through contemplation of its
lessons than anything else, with the exception of the specified ten
commandments of god.  those were the only "thou shalts" and "thou shalt
nots" which appear in the bible which we considered to be direct
commandments from god.  to us, the bible was not to be unnecessarily
scrutinized, memorized, or quoted.


br na'eem, yes, i think it is easy to say the transitional functions of
baptism and shahadah are analagous.  and, as br moo has said, in many
protestant faiths, especially those similar to the baptists, you take
baptism as one would take shahada:  only when you are of age, as a
choice to accept god.  it is only catholics who baptize their children
as tiny infants soon as they are old enough to be taken into a public
situation.  so i guess it's more accurately two analogies:  one between
born muslims and catholics, and one between muslims who choose to come
to islam and protestants who choose to come to their faith through
baptism.

the religions are not enemies, nor at odds -- i don't really understand
why there is so much competition for "rightness" among christians,
muslims, and jews.  as far as i know, since all three are religions of
the one god, enmity seems improper.  i would think you just learn as
much as you can, and guide others, never attacking them.  this might
just be my own perspective though - i choose to try never to quibble,
and when i find that i've fallen into it i try as hard as i can to get
out as quickly as possible.

here are two pieces of advice i heard in the movie ghost dog, from two
samurai masters whose names i didn't catch.  i really like this way of
thinking when it comes to human interaction....

1.  matters of great concern should be treated lightly.
2.  matters of small concern should be treated seriously.

charmi