Re: (TFT) Daily Life...

[Joey Beutel <mejobo@comcast.net>]

I've got to say, if you actually have an argument regarding how the  
Catholic Church is the cause of civilization (in a direct and active  
way, especially), I'd love to hear it.

Now, you do have a degree in history, so I know that things like  
"sunday school history" or "3rd grade eurocentrism" are not the basis  
of your argument. Please enlighten me, and I actually mean that (not  
in the obnoxious internet sorta way people will use it).

I am not an expert on the history of the catholic church or even any  
sort of history, but I've done my fair share of reading (including  
wikipedia) on the subject, and having been in the 3rd grade, I can  
guarantee that the common argument seemed to be much more pro-church  
than books like Constantine's Sword, A Distant Mirror, or an AP Euro  
text book in high school. Then again, the story of Galileo and similar  
have probably been with me for a bit longer than all that, and  
certainly influences my view, as it should.

However, I defer to the expert-- you-- to explain. The other experts  
have pushed me the opposite direction.
On Oct 3, 2011, at 3:23 PM, gem6868 wrote:

>
> 90% of the population doesn't know the difference between such hard  
> and soft history, so they keep repeating what they learned in 3rd  
> grade (or much much worse - saw in movies...especially Oliver Stone  
> films), which was often erroneous, is now dated, or was so  
> simplified that it holds no real value. Just the other day I heard  
> someone quote the old saw that the Colonists won the American  
> Revolution by hiding behind bushes while stupid redcoats marched in  
> straight lines, as though the entire war was Lexington / Concord.  
> The same sort of "everyone knows it" history is repeated about  
> everything from the Fall of Rome, the role of the Catholic Church,  
> the Crusades, to WWII and Vietnam
>
> Personally, I don't mind that people hold fashionable, erroneous or  
> simplistic ideas - we can't all be experts at everything.  But if  
> you know you're not an expert or highly trained / experienced in a  
> field, then at least defer to those who do while you go look it up  
> yourself.  Even a quick trip to Wiki isn't entirely wasted, I've  
> found, if you're in a hurry - you just can't take it as gospel.
=====
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