
Probably because it IS rape.


So nothing.  It may work for some, but not for others: it doesn't give any
insight into an overall God or overall truth of a religion- it would seem to be
dependent solely on the individual, as well as individually-created.  And since
Christians have failed to show us how there way of life is in any wy better
than ours, I do not see why the attempt to try it is necessary, or even
particularly attractive.


Well, we will nerver know for sure if we were told the truth or not, but at the
very least there is a bit more evidence pointing to the fact that, say, there
was a military conflict in Vietnam 25 years ago, then there is a supernatural
diety who wants us to live a certain way.  The fact that Jesus warned against
it means nothing.  *I* warn against it too.  Big deal.


This is not true.  The first two choices here (life and death) are scantily
documented, and the last one is total malarky unless one uses the Bible, and
that is totally circular.  Perhaps it be better to use the imagination, or
one's ignorance.  Someone else will address this I'm sure, and refer you to
plenty of documentation...


How is this?  There is nothing more disgusting than Christian attempts to
manipulate/interpret the Old Testament as being filled with signs for the
coming of Christ.  Every little reference to a stick or bit of wood is
autmoatically interpreted as the Cross.  What a miscarriage of philology.


Well, since we have skeptical hearts (thank goodness,) there is no way to get
into us.  Here we have the irreconcilable difference: Christians glorify
exactly what we tend to despise or snub: trust/belief/faith without knowledge. 
If I am lucky one day and I happen to be thinking of God at the same time my
enkephalins go up, then I may associate this as a sign of God (it will "feel"
right, and I will trust without knowing).  Maybe.  Religosity does not seem to
be anything that is conclusively arrived at, but rather it seems to be more of
a sudden affliction...
I believe many of us were willing to die for what we believed, many of us were
not.  The question is, is suchg an attitude reflective of a _correct_ or
healthy morality.  IT would seem not to be.  The same thing could reflect
fanaticism, for example, and is any case an expression of simple selfishness.
-- 

--Adam