response 235 of 293:

Dec 18 03:59 UTC 2003

The China theory you're talking about isn't necessarily true, but it's
certainly intriguing.

Re #232:  This thread started with me saying that there was no good reason
          to pick up religious beliefs from the most fractious and un-
          peaceable region of the world.  Your response was that industry
          and nationalism came about because people followed those particular
          religions.  I (and others) rebutted that by pointing out that many
          polytheistic cultures overcame tribalism, and that technological
          developments weren't the exclusive province of the Biblical
          religions.

          If you want to rebut that argument, you can't do it by showing that
          Christians also made technological developments; we aren't denying
          that they did.  We're just saying that Judeo-Christian-Moslem
          belief wasn't a necessary prerequisite.  Good luck rebutting that
          one given the historical record.  Sure, they invented stuff -- but
          so have polytheists, so monotheism clearly wasn't a requirement.