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Poll
The Queen Mum...
is dead. 10%
has ceased to be. 10%
is just resting, etc. 20%
was a filthy Hun. 10%
wore the sash her father wore down Garvaghy Road. 0%
was one of the Bridgetown Billy Boys. 0%
sang along with Donald Findlay Q.C. 0%
had '1690', 'F*ck the Pope', 'RFC' and 'LOYAL' tattoos. 50%

Votes: 10

 Reasons to be thankful.

 Author:  Topic:  Posted:
Mar 30, 2002
 Comments:
As today is Easter Sunday, I decided to reflect on some of the things that The Church has brought to the world.
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These inventions are varied and many, such as the introduction of written language, the invention of recycleable typefaces, the invention of stave notation for chanting, and so on.

However, one of my favourites is the invention of propaganda. More precisely, the Congregatio de propaganda fide, which was a committee of cardinals at Rome established in 1622 for propagating the Faith throughout the world.

Who would have thought that such a useful political tool could come from what I previously thought were unthinking slaves? Clearly, I was mistaken. I doff my virtual cap at The Church today, and look forward to learning more about it.

       
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Written language? (none / 0) (#1)
by SpaceGhoti on Sat Mar 30th, 2002 at 06:11:33 PM PST
What documentation supports this theory? Last I heard written language was developed to keep track of goods. I recall reading this honor went to the Egyptians, but I'm not sure if one of the other early civilizations have this honor.


A troll's true colors.

Now you've confused me. (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by because it isnt on Sat Mar 30th, 2002 at 06:47:39 PM PST
I can't remember what it was, but I was reading something that said that the transition from pagan religions to modern religions came with written script, which enabled the creation of abstract language. No longer did you need a physical entity to worship (sun, moon, wind, etc) but you could have abstract gods with abstract properties. I am not entirely certain why you couldn't just have this with spoken language.
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modern religions (none / 0) (#3)
by SpaceGhoti on Sat Mar 30th, 2002 at 08:51:07 PM PST
I don't know if modern religion is a result of abstract thought, but it suggests that written language was the precursor to modern religion rather than the reverse. So far as I know, the Hebrew monotheistic beliefs originated the whole concept of what you refer to as "modern religion." I've never heard it suggested they developed Judaism because of new communication techniques.


A troll's true colors.

 
laguages (none / 0) (#4)
by DG on Sun Mar 31st, 2002 at 08:50:33 AM PST
i don't know about introduction per se.. hmm they did end up preserving a lot of spoken works in some form or another ie:beowulf, norse mythology.. if they hadn't we would know very lttile about norse mythology, some would say so what but it keeps a link to the past we need
© 2002, DG. You may not reproduce this material, in whole or in part, without written permission of the owner.

Re: (none / 0) (#5)
by tkatchev on Sun Mar 31st, 2002 at 10:01:04 AM PST
Christianity (I'm not talking about Catholicism here, by the way) has a very strong point of translating theological works into native languages.

Since theological works deal with very difficult abstract concepts, for most Indo-European languges literary tradition started with the Bible. In many languages whole alphabets were invented just for the sake of making the Bible widely available.


--
Peace and much love...




Translation (none / 0) (#8)
by walwyn on Sun Mar 31st, 2002 at 05:30:49 PM PST
Here is a translation of the Cruxification for South American Indians:
The Panare killed Jesus Christ because they were wicked Let's kill Jesus Christ said the Panare. The Panare seized Jesus Christ. The Panare killed in this way. They laid a cross on the ground. They fastened his hands and his feet against the wooden beams,with nails. They raised him straight up, nailed. The man died like that, nailed. Thus the Panare killed Jesus Christ.



 
Preservation (none / 0) (#6)
by SpaceGhoti on Sun Mar 31st, 2002 at 03:56:56 PM PST
I will give the Church full marks for preserving knowledge during the Dark Ages. Talk about a liberalist movement! They were able to store and in some cases copy whole manuscripts that would otherwise have been lost through apathy and conservative reactionism. I don't believe any religion is responsible for introducing language but they certainly were a force for good in preserving them.


A troll's true colors.

OK then, (none / 0) (#7)
by because it isnt on Sun Mar 31st, 2002 at 04:39:39 PM PST
consider the diary rewritten to say that.

I also think The Church came up with Universities. They certainly started mine.
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