XPost: alt.books.cs-lewis   
   From: hayesmstw@hotmail.com   
      
   On 2 Oct 2005 21:38:18 GMT, Siwel Naph  wrote:   
      
   >Steve Hayes wrote:   
   >   
   >> On 2 Oct 2005 14:20:06 GMT, Siwel Naph    
   >> wrote:   
   >>   
   >>>I was wondering... If there were TWO magic wardrobes, one leading to a   
   >>>land where everyone practised Mere Christianity, the other leading to   
   >>>a land where everyone practised Mere Buddhism, WHICH wardrobe would be   
   >>>better/safer to go thru, and WHICH land would Aslan be likelier to be   
   >>>better pleased by?   
   >   
   >[cut]   
   >   
   >> But the wardriobe that Lewis write about did not lead to a land where   
   >> everybody practised anything.   
   >   
   >Yes, true, but I needed a Lewis-y hook for my heading.   
   >   
   >> In that respect it was a world much like   
   >> ours, where some people paid lip-service to things they didn't   
   >> practise, and others just did whatever seemed expedient at the time.   
   >   
   >In my imaginary lands, everyone is SINCERE in his/her beliefs. That's why   
   >they're imaginary...   
   >   
   >>>If I were a minority denomination, a homosexual, a Jew, a black, a   
   >>>Muslim, a woman, etc, my apprehension would be even higher. "Mere   
   >>>Christianity" is ELOQUENT about core theological doctrines, but SILENT   
   >>>about whether it's right or wrong to use severe forms of   
   >>>punishment/execution, to wage war against other Christians, to grant   
   >>>women and minorities equal rights, etc, etc.   
   >>   
   >> "as you would that others do to you, do so to them."   
   >>   
   >> If people *practised* that mere Christianity,. it would cover not only   
   >> the waterfront, but the ocean and the hinterland as well.   
   >   
   >But that's "Mere" Golden-Rule-ism, which is SUPPOSED to be common to all   
   >great religions.   
      
   Possibly, but as it's part of "mere Christianity", in your imaginary land   
   through the wardrobe, people would be practising that too, if they were   
   sincere.   
      
   >   
   >>>But... would anyone be AS apprehensive about going thru wardrobe two,   
   >>>into the land where everyone practised "Mere Buddhism"? Would anyone   
   >>>be apprehensive at ALL? (Maybe this is my realtive ignorance of   
   >>>Buddhism speaking here.)   
   >>   
   >> In *practice* there seems to be little difference between Buddhism and   
   >> Christianity, though there are some differences in theory (or   
   >> theology, if you prefer).   
   >   
   >As I said, I'm relatively IGNORANT of Buddhism, but have Buddhists ever   
   >fought wars against each other or thrown each other into jail, and worse?   
      
   Indeed they have, though they've been more inclined to throw non-Buddhists   
   into jail and fight wars against non-Buddhists. Take the current situation in   
   Sri Lanka, for example, or the history of Japan.   
      
   However, I understood that we are not talking about *real* instances of mere   
   Christianity or mere Buddhis, but about imaginary lands through wardrobes   
   where everyone is sincere and practises their beliefs all the time, I I   
   imagine such things would not happen there, just as they would not happen in   
   the merely Christian land through the wardrobe.   
      
   >   
   >>>One could increase the number of the wardrobes to include "Mere Islam"   
   >>>(I'd be apprehensive, particularly if etc), "Mere Judaism" (ditto),   
   >>>"Mere Hinduism" (less apprehensive in SOME ways), "Mere Jainism" (less   
   >>>apprehensive), "Mere Zoroastrianism" (don't know enough to decide),   
   >>>etc.   
   >>   
   >> How about mere Atheism,   
   >   
   >Not sure what that would consist of. I think atheism is just a negative,   
   >like a SHADOW: unless theism is there to cast the shadow, it can't exist.   
   >   
   >> mere Wicca,   
   >   
   >I'd worry.   
      
   Why?   
      
   "An it harm none, do what thou wilt" -- you'd come to no harm.   
      
   >> mere ethical humanism,   
   >   
   >It TALKS a good game, but I think it's inherently unstable and would   
   >MUTATE into something else, possibly/probably very nasty.   
      
   But not in the imaginary land on the other side of the wardrobe, where   
   everyone is *sincere* in their beliefs, and practises what they preach.   
      
   >> mere objectivism   
   >   
   >Ayn Rand? It would go like Mere Scientology.   
      
   Well that's one I would not like to be in -- where everyone *sincerely*   
   practised the virtue of selfishness.   
      
   >> or mere communism?   
   >   
   >I'd worry. Very bad record wherever and whenever it's been in power.   
      
      
   But we're not talkingh about its record. We're talking about an imagineary   
   land on the other side of a wardrobe where everyone is *sincere* about what   
   they believe and practise what they preach.   
      
   So there would be a society in which they would practise "from each according   
   to his ability, to each according to his need".   
      
   So it seems that you are very quick to abandon your stipulations for imaginary   
   worlds, and your imaginary worlds would be very inconsistent.   
      
      
      
   --   
   Steve Hayes   
   Web: http://www.geocities.com/hayesstw/stevesig.htm   
        http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/Methodius   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)