[Buddha-l] NYTimes.com: Let Us Pray for Wealth

[SJZiobro at cs.com]

Erik Hoogcarspel <jehms at xs4all.nl> wrote:


>That may be a matter of taste or bias. The question remains whether the repulsive actions of Christian Catholic missionaires are caused by the teaching, the theology, the organisation or the history. There was f.i. a missionair in India, Roberto de Nobili, who was quite impressed by the Indian culture. This made him not very populair in the Vatican. I get the impression that the arrogance of the Popes, a phenomenon which is still present was an important factor. It may also be an inheritence from the Roman empire. Augustine saw himself as the successor of the Roman emperors and he was the first pope to prosecute the heretics on a large scale. And things got worse after him. The overall policy of the popes was to call philosophy the housemaid of theology and burn their opponents at the stake. I think Ricci and Xavier were pretty arrogant basterds too.
>Last summer I visited the museum of Pakse in Laos and saw an exhibition about the visit a Dutch merchant made to the king of Laos in the 17th century. Not a harsh word! The merchant gave the king some presents and the king promised to support the trade with the V.O.C. and they parted as good friends.
>
Erik,

I'll simply accept the fact that you have little good to say about most things Christian.  But please allow me to point out to you, for the sake of clarity, that Augustine was not a Pope.  If you are going to criticize, at least know what it is you criticize.

Regards,

Stan