Quote Originally Posted by Warbaby1943
Didn't the Civil War show the Government's feelings toward slavery? Many gave their lives to free the slaves.
Thats only one side of the issue. Many soldiers died to keep slavery. Thats sending mixed messages at its best.

The vikings were around some 1000 years ago. Whatever they did does not directly influence anything specific in the present. There is no point arguing who did what first and why. Just look at whats going on right now. I mean this in a very broad sense.

Contrast that with, for example, slavery in America. That would account for the reason there are significant numbers of black people (in America), and for plenty of other things. I would even go so far as to argue that is one reason the black prison population is so high (if you dont believe me, read this: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0881455.html)

Dawg, you know I'm not talking about the illegal slave trade happening right now.

And on the subject of the spanish inquisition, the church has actually apologized for many of the atrocities it commited. I think its about time the other major religions apologized for any acts of violence commited in their names. To me, thats good enough, because like I said before, dealing with money is tricky.

And on the subject of reparations, does anyone here think its possible to 'repay' the murder of a human being? No amount of money, jail time, or executions can bring him/her back. Yet no one seems to mind the fact that we still prosecute and seek to punish the criminal, despite the fact that it will not 'balance the account sheets'. So why the double standard?