Spike Jones wrote:
>
> personally, i rather envy those who are born into atheist/agnostic homes,
> eliminating need to expend intellectual energy getting to reality. (see
> how closed minded i have become... {8^D )
Yeah, but it's tough on the parents, at least the first generation. I was
raised Christian but turned athiest/agnostic. (i.e., I believe in Occam's
razor. I will assume the lack of God until I see phenemona in the universe
that cause the universe to be most parsimoniously explained by God's
existence.) OK that's all very nice, but how do I figure out how to raise my
kids? I can't use my own upbringing as a worked example.
>
> > And what of other religions?
>
> i dont know. anybody? i assume other religions must have something
> analogous to christianity's spectrum of belief. dont the jews have reform,
> orthodox, and conservative? muslims the sunni and whats the other
> brand? i dont know what buddhists have. {8-]
>
Sunni and Shi'a Islam are different major divisions of Islam, not merely
two ends of the belief spectrum. They are more different than protestantism,
catholicism, and greek orthodox Christianity. As I understand it, each
branch has a range from "liberal" to "conservative," although I suspect this
is a gross oversimplification. Shi'a fundamentalists are truly scary, with
literal self-flagellation as part of their ceremony. The Sunni center is
more liberal than the Shi'a center, but the Taliban are Sunni fundamentalists.
Anybody who actually knows something about this should feel free to correct
my superficial understanding.