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

chris alden wrote:
> AE wrote:
> > 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.

Yes - the deity is an individuum, but the religion is not based on 
individualism but on a strong community.

> > 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?

1 Corinthians 5

> > 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.

As soon as purely Christian boroughs started to exist the word "put away 
from among yourselves that wicked person" meant to outlaw people to 
enforce moral imperatives.