From: Rick McCallister
Message: 54752
Date: 2008-03-06
>____________________________________________________________________________________
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rick McCallister" <gabaroo6958@...>
> To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 11:28 AM
> Subject: Re: [tied] Re: Swiftness of Indra
>
>
> > Not so rare. Look at how the Greeks totally
> > transformed the Roman and Etruscan pantheons.
>
> ***
>
> They did nothing of the kind.
>
> ***
>
> > Look at how Christianity incorporated foreign gods
> > through demotion. Santa Claus in many of his
> > attributes is a demoted Thor. St. Martin the
> soldier a
> > demoted Mars.
> > Easter is the name of a pagan goddess.
> > The Book of Esther is a wholesale incorporation of
> the
> > cult of Marduk and Ishtar.
>
> ***
>
> You must know some people who worship Santa Claus.
>
> I do not.
>
> Did you miss the qualification I wrote about what we
> can expect with
> "supreme" gods.
>
> ***
>
>
> > Christianity, as practiced in much of the US
> South,
> > with its emphasis upon hatred and exclusion of the
> > Other, glee and self-satisfaction at the suffering
> of
> > non-believers is more akin to the worship of Odin
> than
> > any mainstream form of Christianity.
>
> ***
>
> If you hate them so much, it would only be human for
> them to return the
> favor.
>
> ***
> > As you well know, Buddha and Jesus are the 8th and
> 9th
> > avatars of Vishnu --at least according to many
> Hindus.
> > Islam, as practiced by most Muslims, also
> incorporates
> > many aspects of preexisting religions --such as
> > adoration of saints, spirits, even other gods such
> as
> > Ram among Indian Muslims I've met.
> > Religion is probably the most malleable
> institution
> > that exists among humans.
>
>
> ***
>
> Rick, I am not religious myself but I am also not
> interested in the
> slightest bit in your bitter ideas about religion
> except in so far as they
> apply to questions of linguistic interest.
>
>
> Patrick
>
>
> > --- Patrick Ryan <proto-language@...> wrote:
> >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Rick McCallister" <gabaroo6958@...>
> > > To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
> > > Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 10:45 PM
> > > Subject: Re: [tied] Re: Swiftness of Indra
> > >
> > >
> > > >
> > > > --- Patrick Ryan <proto-language@...>
> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > The only objections I would raise would be:
> > > > >
> > > > > 1) it is rather unusual to borrow a name for
> the
> > > > > supreme god;
> > > >
> > > > Not true: See Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah et al. In
> > > > Meso-America Nahuatl names were borrowed,
> calqued
> > > or
> > > > subjected to popular etymology, etc. In West
> > > Africa,
> > > > some names were shared: e.g. Legba was Ewe-Fon
> but
> > > > passed into Yoruba and then into Santería as
> > > Eleguá.
> > > > Some Buddhist deities, avatars and
> boddhisattvas
> > > had
> > > > names that passed from Sanskrit to Chinese to
> > > > Japanese.
> > > > Religion and religious terminology seem very
> prone
> > > to
> > > > borrowing
> > >
> > > <snip>
> > >
> > > ***
> > >
> > > True, Rick.
> > >
> > > You must differentiate between borrowing a
> foreign
> > > name for an existing
> > > native god, who keeps his native attributes,
> > >
> > > and
> > >
> > > adopting a foreign god with his original foreign
> > > attributes into the native
> > > pantheon (like Isis in the classical world).
> > >
> > > Continuing to worship Odin but calling him
> Yahweh?
> > > Pretty rare.
> > >
> > >
> > > Patrick
> > >
> > > ***
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page.____________________________________________________________________________________
> > http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
> >
>