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MW, For the record, I had very few one-night stands, and never with guys who didn't remember my name the next day! There was a series of extramarital relationships (granted, some were pretty short!) over about a three-year period. But always there was friendship first and almost as a...

MW, These abuses are not the result of WOMEN having too much freedom, but of MEN still having too much power over them, and of a patriarchal, misogynistic legal system in many countries which protects the abusers rather than the victims. If women are not free to say YES, they are not free to...

Quote: Originally Posted by Raksha Strictly your opinion! Thomas, So your opinion and Christian doctrine are one and the same? And that's supposed to convince me of something? You already know I don't accept orthodox Christian doctrine, don't find it authoritative and don't have the...

Thomas, I have read it--very carefully, as a matter of fact. There is no question that there is a great deal of value in it, but sooner or later I ALWAYS, inevitably, hit the brick wall of the author's Roman Catholic particularism. And that is ALWAYS the place where I get off. Inevitably. The...

[/COLOR] Dondi, Very good! I really like the Book of James, but it's my understanding it almost didn't get included in the canon of the NT because it was too "Jewish." --Linda

Good. Serves you right! No. Don't insult me. --Linda

Thomas, Speaking subjectively--which is the ONLY way to talk about such things--the issue of discernment can be an extremely delicate and difficult judgment call, even for the individual herself (in my case) and certainly impossible for any outsider. And it's absolutely impossible for an...

Yes, of course I'm approaching it subjectively, and why shouldn't I? I was born and raised Jewish, remember? I was NEVER under the slightest obligation to give the Nicene Creed what you would consider even "a fair hearing," and I never have and probably never will. The Nicene Creed wasn't...

Not necessarily. The dualistic and "world-hating" definition is somewhat dated, but I'm too tired now to get into the specifics. Just bear in mind that we have the actual texts now, and Iranaeus is NOT the last word on Gnosticism these days. --Linda

Dogbrain, As a kabbalist I believe that justice and mercy always have to be kept in balance. As a fallible human being I fall short of that ideal often, but I never stop trying. No I'm not, and I'm very tired of hearing that. Mine is simply a very harsh, cold and uncompromising sense of...

Quote: Originally Posted by Nick the Pilot --> Yes, this is a huge disagreement between us. I don’t think it’s good they sleep around, I think it’s good they have the right to sleep around. Again, the important thing here is for both of us to consider each other’s viewpoint. MW, Have you...

Virtual Cliff, I don't think it's wrong to make women show their faces, even if only a small minority chooses to cover them for religious reasons. I don't know how it in England, but here in America everyone is required by law to carry a picture identification card at all times, usually a...

MW, I think I would have understood you better five years ago. I know you don't agree, but to me it sounds like you are internalizing the negative Muslim attitude towards women. I cannot regard that as anything but Stockholm syndrome, as someone said earlier. I don't believe you, and I...

Thomas, Okay, I changed my mind again. I guess I do want to get into it with you, at least a little bit. Maybe not to any great extent, though. Strictly your opinion! For one thing, you used the masculine gender, and the Gnostics would emphatically disagree with you on that point. If you...

Thomas, Changed my mind. I'm not sure if I want to get into it with you or not, because I still find your "WE are the real thing" attitude so galling and inherently offensive I doubt very much if I can address a civil comment to you. You are simply incapable of dealing with other...

BB, Okay, I'll tone it down from now on. I understand that you're just trying to avoid flame wars. I don't think my friend Gabriel Wilensky that I mentioned earlier would appreciate a recommendation in that tone anyway. He always manages to keep it civil with his opponents, despite [ahem]...

Thomas, A note on my last note, because I think I'm past the 20-minute editing window. I said among other things: You can bad-mouth syncretism all you want to, but if I were not a syncretist I would not have been able to use the term "Holy Spirit" as I did in that sentence. I used it as the...

Thomas, So it wasn't your own personal arrogance but the spiritual arrogance of the Catholic Church you were expressing. I should have guessed that! But it's precisely that compulsion to put its own copyright on the work of the Holy Spirit, to claim to make that distinction between the...

Thomas, Gabriel Wilensky and I had an interesting little exchange about that on Facebook not long ago. He was being pretty sarcastic on subject of the Church's famous "few rotten apples" defense, and I enjoyed it immensely. I should probably copy and paste what he said, although I doubt very...

Because I didn't have time to answer your note point-by-point, and for no other reason. I haven't even been around here for months although I like this forum and the people on it very much--okay, with a few exceptions but for the most part. I have a lot of friends in several different...