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Americans don't get it because Americans have no American race; they only have an American identity. Only the Native Americans can claim that their race is the original 'American' race, but then they were wrongfully called Indians and as far as I know at that time no Indian (from India) lived on the American continent.
I would totally disagree with your premise! IMO the ones who 'don't get it' are those who feel that their 'race' (color/biological difference) is paramount and defining.
If I understand your point properly, you are limiting the term 'race' to biological differences; a archaic viewpoint based on poor understanding of genetics. I believe using the more scientifically accurate basis of "socially constructed " to define race is more useful.
Having been born in America of parents who were born in America (some 8 generations) By any conventional definition I am first and foremost native American. Somewhere in my heritage there are a multitude of other 'races'; Germanic, Celtic, Welsh,etc; some of which were once biologically classified as Caucasian, Mongoloid, or Negroid. How many generations are required before an indigenous population becomes "Native"; 10, 100, 1000? Are our "Native Americans" then Mongols because of where they came from? Are you (as well as the rest of us) then African because your DNA can be traced there?
"What is Race? When some people use the "race" they attach a biological meaning, still others use "race" as a socially constructed concept. It is clear that even though race does not have a biological meaning, it does have a social meaning which has been legally constructed."
Originally Posted by Polybius Be that as it may, when it comes to race I'm (colour) blind.
I don't care about race at all only about character.
Exactly. I try to follow the same rule for ALL biological, cultural, and physical differences. I do have to admit failing occasionally; it's sometimes difficult to remember that all Europeans aren't anti-American Bush haters when the majority one meets are. Just an example of on of the cultural bias issues i believe we all should do better with.
Originally Posted by Dwatted Wabbit True, but unlike the Europeans the Indians would have contained their madness to their own continent while the Euros spread it all over the world.
The only thing preventing early American tribes from conquering more territory and people was logistics. What contained "their madness to their own continent" was a lack of large seagoing vessels. Added to this was the lack of any large animal like horses or oxen- away from the coast they walked everywhere. Made it difficult to rule a larger area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tricky D
Only the Christian Euros had the ambition to conquer the whole world and make everyone a Christian and exterminate those who don't wanna be converted to Christianity.
From your post I would surmise that "exterminate those who don't wanna be converted to Christianity" is much worse than exterminating those who don't bow down and worship the conqueror?
As for "the ambition to conquer the whole world" perhaps Genghis Khan might ring a bell? Or perhaps the Romans, European but not Christian until after the death of Christ.
Or any of the following:
The Chinese who conquered their known world beginning with (The Shang Dynasty (1570-1045 bc));Ancient World History : Ancient China
Not Christian- not 'Euro'
The only thing preventing early American tribes from conquering more territory and people was logistics. What contained "their madness to their own continent" was a lack of large seagoing vessels. Added to this was the lack of any large animal like horses or oxen- away from the coast they walked everywhere. Made it difficult to rule a larger area.
From your post I would surmise that "exterminate those who don't wanna be converted to Christianity" is much worse than exterminating those who don't bow down and worship the conqueror?
As for "the ambition to conquer the whole world" perhaps Genghis Khan might ring a bell? Or perhaps the Romans, European but not Christian until after the death of Christ.
Or any of the following:
The Chinese who conquered their known world beginning with (The Shang Dynasty (1570-1045 bc));Ancient World History : Ancient China
Not Christian- not 'Euro'
I seem to recall the saying " The sun will never set on the British Empire"
The quote as I remember it was "The sun never sets on the British Empire". While Brits are assuredly Christian if you suggest to them that they are 'European' most would be greatly offended! Europe is that area over there across than channel.
At any rate my post was in response to "Only the Christian Euros had the ambition to conquer the whole world and make everyone a Christian and exterminate those who don't wanna be converted to Christianity." so I simply cited examples of why the OPs total premise was in error.
As for "the ambition to conquer the whole world" perhaps Genghis Khan might ring a bell?
Ghenghis Kahn could not conquer the whole world and even when he did he is still mortal. The lifespan of a religion is generally much longer than that of a mortal man even when it is Genghis Khan.
The problem with a religion as Christianity is that they believe that God is eternal and therefore His will should be eternal, which results in the continual re-enactment of their Creation story where man is God's favourite so he can do what he wants without being concerned about the consequences of his actions ( like for example the ever increasing world population, or the increasing world pollution by man’s actions).
I noticed your anti Christian bias in your original post and simply failed to acknowledge it; it is now duly noted and disregarded.
Your original post:
Please note the 'Only' and that it says 'ambition' rather than 'actually' related to conquer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tricky D
Only the Christian Euros had the ambition to conquer the whole world and make everyone a Christian and exterminate those who don't wanna be converted to Christianity.
And my response "As for "the ambition to conquer the whole world" perhaps Genghis Khan might ring a bell?" Perhaps this clarifies what my post actually stated and meant?
Which explains why I don't understand how this reply relates to my post:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tricky D
Ghenghis Kahn could not conquer the whole world and even when he did he is still mortal. The lifespan of a religion is generally much longer than that of a mortal man even when it is Genghis Khan.
And your anti Christian rant that follows left me further confused as to how it relates to the original post:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tricky D
The problem with a religion as Christianity is that they believe that God is eternal and therefore His will should be eternal, which results in the continual re-enactment of their Creation story where man is God's favourite so he can do what he wants without being concerned about the consequences of his actions ( like for example the ever increasing world population, or the increasing world pollution by man’s actions).
I would say that your understanding of Christianity is extremely limited, perhaps you believe that all Christians believe the same things? While I'm not a religious scholar, I am not aware of any mainstream church preaching a doctrine including those concepts.
Good topic for another thread.
And my response "As for "the ambition to conquer the whole world" perhaps Genghis Khan might ring a bell?" Perhaps this clarifies what my post actually stated and meant?
Only the Abrahamic religions have had the drive to convert the whole world to their religion.
What all 3 religions have in common is that they're monotheistic which probably explains why they feel justified to conquer the whole world because they are in essence simply intolerant to other religions and philosophies.
Quote:
Judaism is not a universal religion, but applies only to people ethnically defined as Jews, although people do convert. Christianity and Islam conceive themselves as universal in the sense that believers feel their doctrine should be spread to all humanity, and each of these two religions encourages the aggressive proselytising to and conversion of unbelievers.
These religions all claim to share high-sounding moral pronouncements, such as encouraging love and peaceful means of conflict resolution, while in point of historical fact many of their adherents have been guilty of massive bloodletting and provocation of religious hatred by a fundamentalist intolerance of other beliefs. Of the three religions Islam is most progressive in its recognition of the intrinsic value of the monotheistic beliefs of Jews and Christians.
Source: Abrahamic Religions
Even within races I have really noticed that culture really varies. White ;blacks and other people seem more and more to want to get away from the so called getto culture. They seem to find what they are looking for in the burbs often times.Often the bubs is a rejection of the life people came from as it exist how days.
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Only the Native Americans can claim that their race is the original 'American' race, but then they were wrongfully called Indians and as far as I know at that time no Indian (from India) lived on the American continent.
it's sometimes difficult to remember that all Europeans aren't anti-American Bush haters when the majority one meets are. Just an example of on of the cultural bias issues i believe we all should do better with.
Only the Christian Euros had the ambition to conquer the whole world and make everyone a Christian and exterminate those who don't wanna be converted to Christianity.
The lifespan of a religion is generally much longer than that of a mortal man even when it is Genghis Khan.
The problem with a religion as Christianity is that they believe that God is eternal and therefore His will should be eternal, which results in the continual re-enactment of their Creation story where man is God's favourite so he can do what he wants without being concerned about the consequences of his actions (
