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Easy, Quahom1. I hate cockroaches at least as much as the next person (I lived in Hawaii, where the things fly and apparently think bug spray is the cockroach equivalent of high-grade marijuana), but I can see the validity of the metaphor. Heck, I had trouble explaining to a young dog why she...

I was originally going to call this "Who Do You Say I Am?", but it occurred to me that could be misinterpreted. ;) I've spent quite a bit of time arguing religion on-line over the past few years, which means I've been exposed to people who espouse the same religion I do, at least in name...

Here's information on the source, but I'm afraid it's not true. If anyone here isn't familiar with http://www.snopes.com, there a wonderful site for tracking down the truth of various tales which float around the internet. CJ

I think the books Thomas is talking about are the Left Behind series. I should warn you that an annoying popup encouraging you to sign up for their mailing list covers some of the text. I've seen the books in all of the bookstores I've been to, I think, not to mention the large discount...

As it happens, a couple of days ago I e-mailed WHKeith asking him what the appeal of Rapture theology was after I saw something on a different message board. His reply was good and thorough enough I asked him why he hadn't posted it here and got his permission to do so (he's a bit swamped at...

As far as I can make out it is. I know my (English) relatives are completely unfamiliar with it, and I didn't hear of it until I was an adult. I hope WHKeith will address this soon, since, if I may reveal one of his dread secrets, he did believe in the Rapture for a while back in his Christian...

I'm both a translator and a Christian, so of course I've got to chime in. The King James Version is about the last currently popular translation of the Bible I'd recom mend to someone interested in an accurate translation. While the language is beautiful, language has shifted over the past...

The issue of whether Christ's sacrifice covers all human beings or Christians only has actually been a subject of rather hot and heavy debate among Christians, I suspect for centuries. Polycarp and I have been accused of "watering down the Gospel" and "spreading false witness" because we are of...

Two fascinating questions in one evening. Have I mentioned that I love this place? I'll need to think about this question a lot more before I answer it properly, but it is one of the ones which has fascinated me. In the meantime, let me toss out one of my stock comparisons which is...

It's a fascinating question. I suffer from clinical depression, which means at times, I'm quite miserable, sometimes irrationally so. As a whole, though, I'd have to say yes, I'm fairly happy. Throwing religion into the mix makes it even more complex. Within the rigid Fundamentalist...

It's my understanding that they were the good, upstanding Jews of the day. They didn't see themselves as being excessively law-oriented or self-righteous, but as people who behaved the way God instructed them too. Their equivalent in modern day Christianity is probably the people who are the...

If you're interested in reading the text of it, along with other non-canonical gospels, there's a book called The Complete Gospels edited by Robert J. Miller which has that and other gospels, including The Gospel of Mary, written from the point of view of Mary Magdalene. It also goes into some...

Hmmm. I'd have to quibble about Doubting Thomas. In my particular church, he's been known to be protrayed as the archetypical engineer, requiring tangible proof of something before he'll believe. Of course, my church has a larger than average proportion of engineers, and I'm the daughter and...

Wiccan Wade, I've got a question for you. How do those who've been criticizing you for this prayer feel the Rule of 3 applies to it? It would seem to me that putting cynicism and bitterness into the world is asking for a rather unpleasant return in Wiccan terms. CJ

Well, Wiccan Wade, I'm afraid I couldn't resist. I just reposted your prayer on Straight Dope changing the terminology to Christian terminology and asking my fellow Christians if they'd be willing to pray it. It may be un-Christian of me, but I think it might be fun to see the reactions of...

With the possible exception of "sorcery", the Wiccans I am best acquainted with do not practice those things, while all too many Christians I know do. I have, among my friends and acquaintances, people who have been driven away from Christianity by the actions of Christians. Gatherer, I...

A while ago, on a different message board in an argument with a hard-core Fundamentalist, I had this to say on the subject of condemning people. If I am told I must condemn one person to hell, torture everlasting, unspeakable agony, or what have you, then the person I condemn is me. I have...

I used to hang out at an explicitly Christian message board before I got tired of the way one poster depicted the Episcopal Church, and I used to think of this story when I was told that some people were too sinful for a Christian to associate with. Some of the pagans I know, notably WHKeith...

I'm not picking on you, Dave, but the quote seemed apropos. For those who claim children are kind, sweet, innocent, or forgiving, how much time have you spent around children? OK, probably more than me (I'm not particularly fond of kids), but having seen 2 year olds having tantrums, not to...

What can I say, Bill? You know what happens during orgies - er- I mean RGs! :D (I'll ruin my own reputation, thank you very much!) CJ