
[good points on buddhism, etc. deleted]

just because one says christianity -- true christianity -- is hard to
follow faithfully does NOT mean that one discounts the validity and
difficulty of other religions.  i admire those of any religion who are
willing to make the kind of sacrifices and dedicate themselves
spiritually in the way you are talking about. 

[more deleted]

do you think this is what christianity is all about?  not all
christians believe in this particular story literally.  it sounds
above like you are supporting a policy of "to each his own" -- here is
another example of that.  if it helps someone's faith to take every
word of the bible literally, i support and respect that, too.


please don't judge all of christianity by one man.  the only man one
can truly judge all of christianity by is jesus (makes sense, right?).

i think his point about how we put our lives into little boxes is very
true -- what does your comment about robertson have to do with that?



i was raised agnostic -- my father was never baptised and was raised
atheist.  he is not an atheist because he found a close-mindedness
present in the viewpoint of his parents equal to the close-mindedness
he found in the viewpoint of the christians he came in contact with.
thus i was _free_ to choose how to live my life, and he supported the
decision i made to join the episcopal church, although he emphasized
to me that his respect for my beliefs should result in my not
intruding on his beliefs, ie, i should not try to convert him, as that
is his decision.  (please, no flames or advice on how to convert him!)
one of my good friends is hindi and i greatly respect her
beliefs and the culture surrounding her religion.  my best friend is
jewish and i have always held a profound resepct for the jewish
religion (chaim potok and isaac bashevis singer are two of my favorite
authors).  i really do not think you can make that kind of
generalization about how christians choose -- and i do mean CHOOSE--
their faith.  if they have not consciously accepted the faith in their
adult lives (which is what confirmation represents), THEN you can talk
about their being brainwashed.