Glenn Morton wrote:
> Hi George, you wrote:
> > You're quite right that sacramental issues have been divisive
> >especially
> >since the Reformation. Ecumenical dialogues over the past 40 years
> >have, however,
> >resulted in a great deal of progress. So simply not talking about
> >them or agreeing
> >to disagree isn't the only way to promote peace.
> > OTOH, the creation-evolution issue has been even more
> >divisive over the
> >past century, & as you point out, issues about stem cells &c are
> >becoming so.
>
> Living now in the UK where I get to see events in Glasgow and Northern
> Ireland from a little bit closer than before, I would assure you that
> creation-evolution issues are not nearly as divisive as sacramental issues.
> Over here you can get killed for being on the wrong side of that fence. And
> both sides are the wrong side. A few months ago, much to my shame,
> protestants threw molotov cocktails at little Catholic elementary school
> kids for merely walking to school through their neighborhood.
>
> At least to my knowledge no one is yet killing people over C/E YET!
Quite right. I didn't mean to suggest that sacramental
questions are no
longer divisive anywhere. However, I think it would be misleading to suggest
that conflict in Northern Island really is about different understandings of
Eucharistic presence, or even that just about religion. Economic & cultural
factors & historical resentment & suspicion are major factors.
& yes, nobody is being firebombed because of C/E differences. OTOH,
nobody is trying to get transsubstantiation or Zwingli's view of the Eucharist
into the public schools, as the ID folks are now trying to do with
their notions
in Ohio.
Shalom,
George
George L. Murphy
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
"The Science-Theology Interface"
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