The 1763 Treatise on Toleration by Voltaire contains the subtitles "Of Universal Tolerance" and "Prayer to God." The subtitles suggest to me that Voltaire might think that, if we expect man to be tolerant on his own, God help us. The date and place the the Treatise was published, 1763 Paris, tells me that it is probably a product of the wondrous Age of Enlightenment.
Voltaire, Francois Marie Arouet, was a Parisian wit and philosopher, and very much a man of his place and time; but, he is more than that. His words have inspired men from his day to this day. He lived from 1649 - 1778. H e was an Enlightenment thinker who knew the words of Montesquieu, Rousseau, Hume, and probably Franklin, as they knew his.
He appeals to our morality, reason, and rationality. He is a credible representative of Enlightenment thought.
His thesis in the Treatise seem to be that Christian tolerance of Christians is less than it may well be. He persuades me that too many of our acts, of then and now, are not in accord with our words nor with our stated beliefs, much less with good sense. He present us with his observations of the workings of our current beliefs and realities and holds them up to the light of reason so that even a man of poor vision may see the deadly flaws there.
He appeals to words at the very heart of the Good Book, "Love God and thy Neighbor as thyself." and suggests that Christian killing
killing Christian in the name of Christianity may not accord well with those words. I'm sure that he expected our reading of the New Testament to remind us that, as an example of the neighbor we ought to love, Jesus gave us an Arab.
Voltaire feels the pain of man, but in his pain manages to speak sanely.
Voltaire reminds us of our brotherhood in the name of and word of wise men of the ages. He seems not to ask for perfection, but rather that we tend to act more in accord with the wisdom of the book, the sages, and our own better selves.
Voltaire's 'Prayer to God' ends with '... let us use this brief moment of of our existence in blessing in a thousand different tongues, from Siam to California, Thy goodness which has bestowed this moment upon us.' It touches me. I do, however, hope that his words do not imply that California marks the ends of the earth.
This Treatise and many other works of Voltaire tend to be short and their translation to English clear. I wonder if any of them are available in the form of an audio book.
Getting into the Age of Enlightenment tends to do one good. Part of Steve Job's speech at Stanford reflects Voltaire's Prayer.
Please help me to correct the mistakes I have made by commenting below. You could even mention a part that you like, if you want to.
Showing posts with label Christian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian. Show all posts
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
You May Not Love Diego
I haven't loved an Indian for awhile; however, in general I find Indians highly respectable. If you are an Indian, a Native American Indian, you may think of Diego de Landa, Bishop of Yucatan, as you may think of Christopher Columbus, Admiral of the Ocean Sea. Yes, I know that their are some Indians who lack respect for certain Admirals and Bishops. But then, I am old enough to have met a Indian who was proud to have learned to tie a bow in his shoe-lace before he was forty. Then again he was also proud to own a plane and a license to fly it by that time.
Landa didn't have a casino. Do you know who he had for cultural neighbors? On one side he had Henry the VIII of England an on the other he had Ivan the Terrible of Russia. Just because these guys had good jobs did not make them sweethearts.
This is supposed to be a history so it seems only right to give you a few dates:
Chris lived from around 1451 to about 1506,
Henry lived from 1491 to 1547,
Diego lived from around 1524 to 1579,
Nik lived from around 1505 to 1542.
Ah, you don't know who Nik is. Nik was, Nikolaus Federmann, a German 'conquistador' of Colombia and Venezuela. He was supposed to be looking for land for German colonists, but went looking for Indian gold. I've read implications that he had ways of making then speak of their gold.
I'm trying to provide some interesting information about Diego de Landa. Not knowing what you already know of him or what parts of his life you might find useful or interesting has me stumbling around a bit.
I imagine that you know that he was a Spaniard and that Spain was probably the richest most powerful state in Europe at the time. Spain was also probably the seat of learning in Europe. They were also the most powerful Christian nation on earth. Christian faith was very strong in Spain, yet Church leaders and others felt the faith to be threatened. Perhaps it was; even in Europe.
The Inquisition was begun. The Spanish Inquisition may have bee a lot like an Inquisition on steroids. You might find it instructive and even fascinating to review what your World History book has to say about it.
In Morelia, the fine Capital of the Mexican State of Michoacan I visited more than once, a small audiological museum displaying some 'implaments' of the Inquisition which had recently been found will digging in the local office of the Inquisition. As I remember that museum is in that very office.
To help orient you let me mention some other men whose activities effected the world during Bishop de Landa's life:
~ Niccolo Machiavelli was born in 1469 and by 1532 was publishing his most famous work, The Prince.
~ In 1531 Pizarro marched on the Inca.
~ In 1534 the Anabaptists formed a communist state under John of Leiden, but then they were Protestants.
I think that Landa, by living to the age of 55, lived longer than any of the men I've mentioned so far.
You are probably used to a lot of dates in your history so here a a few more to keep you comfortable:
~ In 1478 the Inquisition was established in Spain. The started by saying no Muslims allowed; then by saying no Muslims or Jews, and they meant it. After that it got worse. Protestants were from Hell. In the beginning they had no idea that they had a world of Indians to save. The Inquisitors may have had more instruments of torture than certain contractors for the CIA. The Inquisition was active in Spain until 1834. That is over 350 years!
~ Most Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal in the few years between 1492 and 1496. Spanish was the first language of the expelled Jews and perhaps their only language. Some Jewish families had been in Spain for a thousand years and helped to create the language. Were did the expelled people go? Many places. Some ended up in New Mexico. Others went to Turkey. They talked turkey their, but kept their Spanish for hundreds of years. A lot of this activity was a sort of practice to get ready to deal with the Indians of the New world.
~ From 1492 to 1506 Christopher Columbus voyaged and found those Indians.
~ In 1503 'Columbus discovered' the Cayman Islands and named them Las Tortugas. Cayman is kind of an alligator and Las Tortugas means the turtles. Now there were some people living on these islands when Chris got there. OMG! Indians! Some of those Indian guys tried to tell Chris and his sailors and soldiers that their islands were not called Alligator or Turtle. Someone must know what they called their land. When Columbus sailed away he took an Indian girl with him, sweet Mary Ann. She was taken, it has been said, to be a translator. She, surely must have told the Spaniards the the true name of her land.
Well, I've kind of gotten away from Diego de Landa. But, then, you never claimed any interest in that Bishop of Yucatan.
Landa didn't have a casino. Do you know who he had for cultural neighbors? On one side he had Henry the VIII of England an on the other he had Ivan the Terrible of Russia. Just because these guys had good jobs did not make them sweethearts.
This is supposed to be a history so it seems only right to give you a few dates:
Chris lived from around 1451 to about 1506,
Henry lived from 1491 to 1547,
Diego lived from around 1524 to 1579,
Nik lived from around 1505 to 1542.
Ah, you don't know who Nik is. Nik was, Nikolaus Federmann, a German 'conquistador' of Colombia and Venezuela. He was supposed to be looking for land for German colonists, but went looking for Indian gold. I've read implications that he had ways of making then speak of their gold.
I'm trying to provide some interesting information about Diego de Landa. Not knowing what you already know of him or what parts of his life you might find useful or interesting has me stumbling around a bit.
I imagine that you know that he was a Spaniard and that Spain was probably the richest most powerful state in Europe at the time. Spain was also probably the seat of learning in Europe. They were also the most powerful Christian nation on earth. Christian faith was very strong in Spain, yet Church leaders and others felt the faith to be threatened. Perhaps it was; even in Europe.
The Inquisition was begun. The Spanish Inquisition may have bee a lot like an Inquisition on steroids. You might find it instructive and even fascinating to review what your World History book has to say about it.
In Morelia, the fine Capital of the Mexican State of Michoacan I visited more than once, a small audiological museum displaying some 'implaments' of the Inquisition which had recently been found will digging in the local office of the Inquisition. As I remember that museum is in that very office.
To help orient you let me mention some other men whose activities effected the world during Bishop de Landa's life:
~ Niccolo Machiavelli was born in 1469 and by 1532 was publishing his most famous work, The Prince.
~ In 1531 Pizarro marched on the Inca.
~ In 1534 the Anabaptists formed a communist state under John of Leiden, but then they were Protestants.
I think that Landa, by living to the age of 55, lived longer than any of the men I've mentioned so far.
You are probably used to a lot of dates in your history so here a a few more to keep you comfortable:
~ In 1478 the Inquisition was established in Spain. The started by saying no Muslims allowed; then by saying no Muslims or Jews, and they meant it. After that it got worse. Protestants were from Hell. In the beginning they had no idea that they had a world of Indians to save. The Inquisitors may have had more instruments of torture than certain contractors for the CIA. The Inquisition was active in Spain until 1834. That is over 350 years!
~ Most Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal in the few years between 1492 and 1496. Spanish was the first language of the expelled Jews and perhaps their only language. Some Jewish families had been in Spain for a thousand years and helped to create the language. Were did the expelled people go? Many places. Some ended up in New Mexico. Others went to Turkey. They talked turkey their, but kept their Spanish for hundreds of years. A lot of this activity was a sort of practice to get ready to deal with the Indians of the New world.
~ From 1492 to 1506 Christopher Columbus voyaged and found those Indians.
~ In 1503 'Columbus discovered' the Cayman Islands and named them Las Tortugas. Cayman is kind of an alligator and Las Tortugas means the turtles. Now there were some people living on these islands when Chris got there. OMG! Indians! Some of those Indian guys tried to tell Chris and his sailors and soldiers that their islands were not called Alligator or Turtle. Someone must know what they called their land. When Columbus sailed away he took an Indian girl with him, sweet Mary Ann. She was taken, it has been said, to be a translator. She, surely must have told the Spaniards the the true name of her land.
Well, I've kind of gotten away from Diego de Landa. But, then, you never claimed any interest in that Bishop of Yucatan.
Monday, May 2, 2011
A Christian is Good
Being a true Christian begins with love.
Being a true Christian continues with learning more of love.
A true Christian comes to know that this love, which has come to be called Christian love, is more.
He knows that the love he is charged to learn contains, but is more than:
~ admiration and benevolence,
~ unselfish acceptance of one's humanity and the seeking of that one's welfare,
~ cherishing,
~ man's adoration of God,
~ strong desire, prise, trust, belief,
~ perhaps even more than the fatherly concern of God for man.
~ motherly, sisterly, brotherly, fatherly.
He finds learning this lesson of love a difficult one, but not a complicated one.
He learns that he is apply this love to:
~ one and all,
~ his neighbor,
~ his self.
He applies his life to learning to:
a) love himself and to how he loves himself,
b) love his neighbor and who Jesus Christ includes as a neighbor,
c) love All and One and One and All.
Being a true Christian continues with learning more of love.
A true Christian comes to know that this love, which has come to be called Christian love, is more.
He knows that the love he is charged to learn contains, but is more than:
~ admiration and benevolence,
~ unselfish acceptance of one's humanity and the seeking of that one's welfare,
~ cherishing,
~ man's adoration of God,
~ strong desire, prise, trust, belief,
~ perhaps even more than the fatherly concern of God for man.
~ motherly, sisterly, brotherly, fatherly.
He finds learning this lesson of love a difficult one, but not a complicated one.
He learns that he is apply this love to:
~ one and all,
~ his neighbor,
~ his self.
He applies his life to learning to:
a) love himself and to how he loves himself,
b) love his neighbor and who Jesus Christ includes as a neighbor,
c) love All and One and One and All.
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