Electoral Reform

[kandrathe]

I completely agree with you. And I also think Kandrathe agrees on most points with us. Especially the part that we are all not willing to force our believes to others using violence.
One mistake Kandrathe makes (in my opinion) and a lot of other people do is illustrated by him saying:

quote kandrathe....I can be a patriot, a libertarian, and still have Christian moral standards. unquote
Christian moral standards don't exist. A society makes moral standards, a religion just follows. This might look like a detail but it makes the whole Muslim vs. Christian struggle a lot less severe.

If it weren't for some bright scientists and people doubting the existence of god, we in Europe would still be living in the middle ages. We would burn witches, put heretics on stakes etc. etc.
At that time that was good Christian believe.......and the bible is still the same old book. Religion will follow society (often not happily) and that is why the most advanced societies generally sport the least extreme religion.

It was Christian ethical principles that eventually gave every human being an equal standing with their Creator and convinced modern nations to abandon slavery. The majority(91%) of Americans still espouse a belief in God, and we are not living in the middle ages. Source: Newsweek Poll (link) I would qualify your distinction. I can have moral standards, and I can have Christian moral standards. I freely admit my morality is shaped by my society, but also primarily by my understanding of the teachings of Christ. If there were a conflict between my societies rules and Christianity, I would defer to my Christian upbringing.

I recently was channel surfing a couple months ago and came across a show on EWTN "The Catholic Channel" regarding the misrepresentation of Catholicism in excessive deaths in Europe. Of course, you need to take the source with a grain of salt, but it made me start to question my assumption of the veracity of the historical "blame" against the Catholics for events like the "Inquisition". The argument was that the amount of state punishment and the tactics of the Christian states are actually less than non-Christian states in those same time periods. Viewing crime and punishment with a modern eye will of course shock the modern sensibilities. I am still researching and answering the question; "What was the norm for crime and punishment during these dark ages in all nations, and is there any correlation of excessive punishment related to the religious standing of the rulers?" Also, I think we need to look the culpability of the "State" in the violence which is inherent in the totalitarian monarchies of that time.

Anyway, I'm trying to be more open minded and analytical rather than just accept what might be hundreds of years of anti-Catholic propaganda. It kind of reminds me of the anti-American propaganda being levied against my nation now.