Edited by author 03-23-2002 02:13 AM
>>If Christians are right, then the Buddhists and the Jews are wrong. If Hindus are right, then the Muslims and the Christians are wrong. etc. etc.

So? It's a basic "either P or not P" binary system. If one belief system is right, then the others are wrong. If you have a problem with this concept, try to stay away from math/algebra/computer programming.

>>As if god, truth, whatever, could be confined to this or that sect, group, tribe, etc.

Assuming an all-powerful Divine Being (which is what most religions do), said Being can limit himself to whatever moral or social system the deity wants. The fact that you don't like His methods or His rules is rather irrelevant.

>>Another way of putting it: if Christianity is the one and only truth, then Ghandi, Nietzsche, and the Buddha all went to hell, and Jimmy Swaggart will go to heaven. So in short, I'm not impressed.

If Islam is the one and only truth, Mother Teresa, St. Augustine, and George Washington went to Hell, and Osama bin Laden is going to Heaven to meet 70 virgins.

Point being, every religion has its bad apples. And depending on which religion you hold to, you have to believe that some people you consider "good" or "moral" will end up in Hell. Christianity isn't trying to impress you with some kind of list of people you can identify with, or with claims of pefection.

If there was a perfect religion, where everyone acted piously and no one ever did anything wrong and everyone was "practically perfect in every way" -- then no one would get in.

I apologize for any offense you may derive from this message - but it's irresponsible for a person to allow something he believes in to be attacked without defending it. And since sarcasm seems to be the modus operandi of the day. . .