A “Fruitful Meeting” Between Civilizations – Part 1/2

May 11, 2011

Pope Benedict XVI (born 1927 – ) has called Matteo Ricci [a 16th century Jesuit, 1552 – 1610] a model for a “fruitful meeting” between civilizations. Source: Catholic News Agency

America and the other Western democracies could learn much from this man, who is being considered for beatification by the
Vatican.

This wasn’t the first time I heard of the Jesuit missionary. In 1999, while my wife and I were on our honeymoon in China, she told me about Ricci. At the time, I was busy learning of Sir Robert Hart, the protagonist in my first two historical fiction novels, “The Concubine Saga”.

When we first visited Book City in Shanghai, I searched for information of Ricci but the only copy I found was in Mandarin, which I do not read.

Over the years, I forgot about Ricci until a commenter, Y Chan, reminded me when he left a comment for The Connection Between Opium, Christianity and Cannon Balls in China , a post republished March 1, 2011.

Here’s what Y Chan first said in his comment.

“You may want to be more specific when using the word “Christianity” in your article.”

Continued on May 12, 2011, A “Fruitful Meeting” Between Civilizations – Part 2

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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American Genocide

February 15, 2010

Christ once said let he who has no sin cast the first stone.

The topic of the next few posts will be about minority native treatment in China and America. As I have done before, I will compare China to America. This post will focus on the United States with some historical background.

Atrocities abound in the history books concerning treatment of Native American Indians during the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. The Spanish destroyed the Aztec and Inca civilizations with disease and warfare. The Catholic mission system in California enslaved American Indians.

After the Civil War, the United States military was sent west and drove North American Indians from the land they had lived on for thousands of years and slaughtered men, women and children—millions died. Today, many of the surviving natives live in horrible poverty on reservations.

Trail of Tears

Then the American government grabbed Hawaii from the native Hawaiian people against their will. (There’s a native Hawaiian nonviolent separatist movement asking for freedom from America.)

It is always good to have the facts before passing judgment, and history counts.

Discover more at An American Shadow over the Philippines

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse