Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/05/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Sometimes a disagreement takes on a life of its own. If you read the newspapers at all (I just look at the pictures, myself) you will have noticed that Pope John Paul II, head of the Roman Catholic Church, visited Greece, a stronghold of the Orthodox church, and was not exactly welcome. For about 1000 years there was, more or less, one church. In 1054 AD there was a big fight, and the Christian church broke into two major groups. The Pope's visit to Greece was the first visit since 1054 by the leader of one side to a stronghold of the other side. What was the fight about? Almost nothing, seen through the lens of history. The Roman church wanted the Nicene Creed to say "the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, proceeds from the Father and the Son", while the Eastern Church (centered in Constantinople) didn't like the words "and the Son" at the end. That phrase is called "the filioque" "feel e OH kay", and arguing about it has lasted a thousand years, a dozen crusades, sacking, burning, pillaging, and so forth. Was it worth it? Not for us to decide. Sometimes the feud is life itself, and when people stop feuding they no longer have any reason to exist. Find it in you to ignore people that you are convinced are wrong. Whether what they are wrong about is lens sharpness, or whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son or just from the Father, it is not worth the combat.