Oh, hey...likewise. No problem. We're good.Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2019 3:32 amgaffo wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2019 3:08 am i try not to insult folks a like, and i like you, but i do get hot headed rarely, and if i do, and insult you in the future, point it out (if I do not do see it and correct myself and mea culpa - point out i'm being a dick to you, and i will self reflect and appologize to you (for the record you have shown me the upmost respect and one man to another of goodwill - so i have no complants).
The Albigenses, Cathars and others are problematic for us to figure out, because most of what we know about them we get from Catholic records, mostly written by the people who rounded them up and killed them. That means they were considered "heretics," and so the Catholics had a stake in saying they were very bad in some way because, well, it's not good to hurt nice people, but feels better if the people you're hurting are very bad. So really, we don't know much from original records, because most of those were burned or lost. So maybe they believed what the Catholics tell us they believed, and maybe they didn't. We may never know for sure.yes i do have a prety high knowledge of Gnostcism (its not just one religion - but 100+ sects each different, but all similar in central mindset) - all of them are of course extinct now, the Catholic Church removed the last sect around 1200 in Spain (via that fellow that said "kill them all and let God sort them out). Aberginians(sp)?
Were they Gnostic? Maybe. Or was that just the easiest negative thing for their persecutors to say when somebody asked, "How do you know they're heretics?" Maybe.
However, interestingly, Gnosticism isn't entirely a feature of the past. While it did go underground in the 17th Century, it kept popping up in the form of various cults and smaller groups after that. It never really disappeared. For example, the Masons and Mormons both have Gnostic theologies. But lately, it's cropped up in an unexpected way, among technophiles of various kinds. There's even a group called the Extropians, who have Gnostic ideas but think "enlightenment" will entail escape from the body into the world of computers.
I thought you'd find that interesting.
Well, I've said before that I'm not American, but like Americans and have travelled in America. But my parents' families are from Europe, and I spent years in the Developing World as well. In my messages, I don't spell like an American or use (many) UK stock phrases, though I do use some, perhaps.I've asked you many times now - but you prefer your anonemnity(sp) - where are you from? Canada has been my guess since last year, but you could be UK, Ausie, or Kiwi - for some reason i've always leaned toward CA via your posts.
As for my current location, I have no durable affinity to it. But it's a nice place. Does it matter, then?