In Reply to: Re: Unfortunate Truths posted by moonshiner on March 28, 2006 at 19:59:08:
I do not think institutional, mainstream Christianity is a benevolent religion. I think that the more Christianity aligns its interests with the power of the state and the state aligns its power with the interests of institutional Christianity, the less benevolent it becomes.
I am NOT arguing that Christianity is a superior religion, and I acknowledge that peacenik Christianity represents a fringe of the mainstream. I believe that peacenik Muslims probably exist, and if they exist anywhere in the world as an organized group and voice of conscience to society, it would be in countries where there is a solid wall of separation between church and state. That condition does not exist in an Islamic republic, where "freedom of religion" is viewed as an heretical concept that poses a threat to the power of the state.
There is one exception to this that I've been able to find, and that involves the peacemaking mission of Islamic feminist groups such as Women Living under Muslim Laws and the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan.
http://www.wluml.org/english/actions.shtml
http://www.rawa.us/index.htm
Before Christianity became the state religion under Constantine in 312 AD, it was despised by the rich and powerful as a religion for women and slaves.