Re: Is religion antithetical to democracy [formerly: Are Islam and Democracy Incompatible?]

AE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> Christianity was never and will never be an individualistic religion:
> 
> While surely everybody has to decide for himself/herself whether or not 
> to be Christian, the base of Christianity is the parish.

No, the base of Christianity is the idea of a PERSONAL deity. 
Although corporate recognition is necessary, the relationship will
always remain a personal one.

> It was from the very beginning a strategy of Christians to exclude 
> people from community.

Are those Christian principles?  If so, what source are you
referencing?

> The more parish meant as well borough or something similar the worse 
> were the effects of such an exclusion - IMHO this sounds like forced 
> moral imperatives.

Morality (apart from the infringment of one will on another [natural
rights infringement] ) means nothing without God, from a Christian
perspective.  Any attempt to regulate the morality of non-Christians
is unnecessary from a Christian perspective, as Christians are saved
by grace and not by law.  This is a concept lost on many modern
Christians, but it's true nonetheless.