In a message dated 3/23/2002 6:30:53 AM US Mountain Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: > Brothers while i exceeded my daily quota yesterday my posting was rejected > but here it comes once again. Faye: It is certainly very human to err and I should be living testament of this. I also have very strong feelings against many forms of established religions, aspects of which have been deliberately set up to rob the working man of his or her well hard earned money. It is also interesting to not how these religious institutions always have such a firm hold on the disadvantaged and lower class. A trip to any south side neighborhood in the USA should illustrate this. I am also concerned about how many of these religious interpretations are viewed the same way they were 1000 years ago. This IMO is not practical. It is also no longer practical for one to marry multiple wives in certain situations, or to not practice birth control (see position of catholic church on the use of condoms even for married couples). The story in the Bible of how we (Africans) were the descendants of Ham whose children would become the wretched of the Earth, is also quite controversial. These are just a few instances of serious contentions I have with aspects or organized religion. That said, one cannot dispute the fact that religion has also been a very positive influence in the parallel developments of many societies. On Bilal, I gather he was a devoted servant of the Prophet. Given there was a multitude of writing about life in Arabia during this period in time, I would be very interested in hearing or reading about how he was perceived and treated by others during his life there. I am also interested in learning how the Moor invaders reconciled their invasion and treatment of Africans against their religious beliefs. Story has it that the name, Narr, was given to invaders because they had the cannon and used this to burn down and terrorize villages so much, that they were called Narr, the Wollof equivalent of fire. I wonder how true this story is.. - Yus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~