Yeah, if you think of your ways as superior to those of indigenous populations, you're arrogant, imperialistic and probably more than just a little bit racist. You can try to equate ancient spiritual/cultural beliefs and customs with modern organized religion, but you'd be a dumbass to do it. If you think those customs and practices hold less value than the AA system/community, Protestant puritanism or the straight edge tradition, you're a fuckin' square as well!
A) I believe my beliefs to be the correct ones, so I guess that's what I meant by superior. I have no problem with anyone believing in any of the Great Plains creation stories, but I'm never going to believe them. And I totally think you can compare religions, as long as you understand the limits.
B) Indigenous beliefs are not just historical, they are practiced today. In the sense that they ARE ancient, tradition IMO has nothing to do with their value. Christianity has a long history, and I'm not particularly fond of it -- either in its modern form or when it was an illegal "cult". If you're telling me I should respect Christianity's history, fuck off.
C) I never said indigenous religions were less than western religions/cultural institutions, unless you take secular humanism as a western institution, and since only the name of secular humanism is western -- people justifying agnosticism, atheism, and skepticism have independently developed communities all over the world -- I don't think nonbelief counts. Fuck straight edge.
You can think what you want about me, I fight oppression every day in a classroom and I think about multiculturalism all the time. Just because I think a non-hierarchical "religion" based on demonstrable assertions is superior to ANY religion that relies on hierarchy, social order, or the supernatural for its authority or ultimate purpose doesn't make me an imperialist or a racist. Respond how you will, I've read enough of what you write to know it's not worth my time.
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