davet@oakhill.UUCP (Dave Trissel) (03/16/85)
[..munch..munch Doesn't the title of this posting sound like a MP skit?] In article <4049@umcp-cs.UUCP> (Charley Wingate) writes: > >Rich, you seem to think that the arguments you bring against christianity >are new. They're not. Most of the things you've brought up were argued >against by Aquinas, and there are lots of responses to them through the >years. I don't suppose you've bothered reading any of them, though. > Aquinas believed that women were produced by "defective" circumstances (Ia.92.I): if conception took place under completely "natural" circumstances males would always result ("for the active force of the male seed intends to produce something similar to itself, perfect in its masculinity"), but if some peculiarity intervened - a defect in sperm or seed or the prevalence of a moist south wind at the time of conception - females would be born. "Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality" - John Boswell It seems that even with God's help Aquinas fell prey to the current belief systems of his day thinking along with Aristotle that women were inferior to men in many practical ways. Another Aquinas quote: "Woman is naturally of less character and dignity than man" again in (Ia.92.i). What I find really amazing are those Christians today that fail to see that they have their own cultural blind spots preferring instead to think that God would never allow them to believe anything wrong, especially anything which would be harmful to others. But, then again, I guess they can always claim that they are closer to God than Aquinas was. "The Life of Brian" satires many of the weaknesses of those devoted to some religious belief of some sort. And lets face it, the majority of their skits poke fun at the weaknesses of those too devoted to any given thing in particular. Dave Trissel {ihnp4,gatech,seismo}!ut-sally!oakhill!davet
laura@utzoo.UUCP (Laura Creighton) (03/18/85)
There is a reason that Thomas Aquinas believed ``with Aristotle'' a number of fallacies. Aristotles writing were discovered at the time of Thomas Aquinas' life and he is vitually responsible for the spread of Aristotelian thinking in the west. Both Aristotle and Aquinas got a lot wrong, but, especially in the case of Aristotle, the amount that was right far outshines it. Laura Creighton utzoo!laura