VERSION|0.5.1|NAME|Steve|DATE|1369406767|CONTENT|We had The Enlightenment in The West because we were relatively rich. It happened in the universities, not in the churches, nor in the fields. At various points in history, other places and other religions have been the most advanced and liberal societies in the world, with Christian Western Europe lagging behind.

There is little difference that I can see between Islamic terrorism and url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord%27s_Resistance_Army]The Lord&#039;s Resistance Army.[/url] A Sudanese person exposed only to the LRA&#039;s version of christianity might well assume that it is the only interpretation there is, that The Vicar of Dibley is state-sanctioned terrorist propaganda. All the same arguments apply - the LRA uses very explicit, easily found passages in the bible to justify its violence, as do Islamists. They ignore the parts of the bible that don&#039;t fit the violent message, as do Islamists. And yet christianity, for all its faults, is not to blame for the LRA.

Mona Siddique is no more responsible for Ayman al-Zawahiri than Justin Welby is for Joseph Kony. Power is the goal for both men. Religion is the tool. If we argue that all Sudanese christians are in some way, however vaguely, guilty for LRA crimes, all we do is increase the LRA&#039;s power.

I suspect there are Sudanese villages where the term &quot;moderate christian&quot; is understood very well indeed.|IP-ADDRESS|10.0.119.73, 217.36.222.79, 10.37.42.203|MODERATIONFLAG|