In a message dated 2/19/02 6:44:02 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:

>Actually in true Islam, charity is one of the 5 pillars of faith that a
>good
>follower with comply with.  Some other Eastern cultures such as some sects
>of Hinduism and Buddhism feel that a disabled child is a mark of bad karma
>on the parents and such sects will often practice infanticide.  In more
>traditional parts of China and India, girls are often killed young.  In
>Japan, "less than perfect" children are often put in a sort of foster limbo,
>even though other families may want to adopt them (including more
>progressive Japanese families), the birth family is shamed and will not
>except the "help"

    Freud had a good take on this vis a vis Greco-Roman worship of the
perfect physique much like Hitler's Master Race concept. You will find that
Economic-Environmental-physical factors figured into the development of
religious tenents.

Bobby