iv bean gong to curhch cense i was lidle i hasd beleved in jesus liek foerver how cn ayu ppl htae him so muhc he luzz yu adn dyd on the caross fr yur sinus
Showing disrespect to people is bad, but christianity is certainly not necessarily to show disrespect.
Personally I'm an atheist, but I'm still angered when people make negative assumptions about christians. God is a very important supportive character to a great deal of people, and I don't have the heart to see that be taken away from people.
That can be agreed that their is no reason to discriminate.
I think it is flawed in the same sense as all western culture, not shared by the awmish our mistakes but they have their own in the same sense, I think the attitude of the natives is the best one, aboriginal people is the scientific word for it as well as the word used for the aboriginals of australia!
But the religion is flawed. Why should it be exempt from criticism? And there is plenty not to like about some of the attitudes expressed in the Bible.
Exactly right. Religion should not be free from criticism. It should receive no special pass.
P.S. Who on earth is John McCain?
Crazy right-wing wack-job who's been running for president for a couple of decades. Currently he's pretending to be very, very religious (he's not) in order to get the votes of the fundamentalists who loathe his more successful rival, Rudi Giuliani.
Guiliani sucessfull - thats funny.
Bloody hell! Just made the massive mistake of trying to follow this thread from the beginning! Gave up! What happened to Yetti? She seemed like nice lady!
lol
No, kidding really! Hands up, don't shoot!
Maybe she's off to paint portrait of her warlord!
What a load you pants^
The theist’s belief in the existence of god is based on faith and as such does not require ‘proof’.
Proof would only ever satisfy agnostics.
Atheists don’t believe in god anyway and so wouldn’t accept proof regardless.
LOL
What's the whole deal with proof, anyway? QD's right! Very nicely and concisely expressed too! 
When I was an atheist I didn't need proof that God didn't exist, because I didn't believe in any of it.
Now I'm a Christian I know God exists. I don't need proof and what's more I don't need to prove His existence to anyone else.
Belief and faith are impervious to the whole proof nonsense! 
I am an Atheist. I do not deny the possibility of a god's existence, but I do not believe in any of them. I do not believe in any higher powers. I do not believe in an afterlife. I do not believe in reincarnation. I do not believe. The reason for this disbelief in any of these concepts is simple: I require evidence. Religion, however, does not provide evidence. Religion asks for people to take it on faith and I will not do that.
Now, I know there will be someone who will say that there is no evidence that could possibly convince me of the existence of a god, but there is indeed there is. If your god were to rearrange the stars themselves to send the message of its existence and this rearrangement could be confirmed by multiple parties, that would be sufficient evidence. If your god were to cause my dog to speak its existence and this speech could be confirmed by multiple parties, that would be sufficient evidence. If your god were to allow me to rewrite all the books in my house to tell of its existence and these rewrites could be confirmed by multiple parties, that would be sufficient evidence. The reason I demand that the evidence be confirmable by multiple parties is to allow me to be sure that I am not just hallucinating.
Of course, once evidence was provided, I really wouldn't have faith, now would I? I would instead have knowledge and a whole set of new questions that I would need to ask such as "Why did this god create the universe?", "From whence does this come?", "What are the powers this god possesses?", "Are there limitations to these powers?", "How does this god operate?", and "Can this god die?".
Yes I drew this... This is what made me reject christianity, I just can't respect a god, nor son of god that claims demons exist and do this kind of silly stuff... Just imagine this scenario in the modern world and you have your answer!!
So I am way late on this conversation, but I just read and LOVED - Lamb - The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
I am a heathen, but think most people would find the book pretty darn funny, Christian or not.
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND
(The Pagan Version)
One night I had a wondrous dream
I dreamed I was walking along the beach
with the Goddess. And on the shore
were Her footprints and nothing more.
Then suddenly prints I did see,
I asked the Goddess, "What kind are these?
These aren't my knees, these aren't my hands,
these aren't my footprints in the sand!"
"My child," She said in somber tones,
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
but you refused and made me wait."
"You would not learn, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know,
So I got tired, I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt.
"Because in life, there comes a time
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."
A more careful reading of the New Testament shows Jesus the Son of God to have many characteristics of women (nuturing children, also the humility of foot washing). Also do not forget that the crucifixion process was torturous, quite painful, and in fact did kill Him (everyone's new birth, compare to childbirth)- and to think He refused the wine mixed with gall (the anesthetic of the day).
What does the mindful Christian need with a goddess? We have Jesus.
If the masculinity of Yahweh scares one away from Christianity, one would do well to consider that Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to comfort and counsel us Christians in absence of Jesus (baby sitter) are also part of God.
People who are scared off by the masculinity of "God" do not understand the Christian "God" or God concept at all.
1) Characteristics of women? My husband is one hell of a nurturing man, and yet remains fully male.
2) At no point did I say that a Christian needed the Goddess. While I think that she would welcome you, as she does anyone who comes to her, you have a deity that you like and enjoy, why change?
3) I did not say one word about being scared or offended by the masculinity of God. I believe in many Gods and their masculinity is a very important part of their being.
While I am sure that many people who embrace the Christian faith have enough of a sense of humor and HUMILITY to understand this, apparently you do not. Atypical placed a poem about her faith. I had a similar one, which I think is incredibly fun and cute, and added it after hers.
Your jumping to conclusions is not really merited GuessWho. Because I posted about my faith should not and was never meant to detract from any postings about yours.
Oh, See I didn't read Guess Whos post as antagonistic or against Korrigans - it seemed to me it spurred on an idealogical/intellectual idea to further the thread. I find this thread very intersting - like the liveliness also!
I do not personally think christianity is wrong - but am not offended, at all, by people with other beliefs _ I know that you aren't either Korrigan. Loved you poem/joke.! (it's me atypical)
Oh, I see. And I took offense, but maybe I should not have, GuessWho, why did you post the posts of 10:20 and 10:25 (on my clock anyway)?
Clarification helps....
And though it was a silly poem, it is not far from the truth, all caught up in my personal beliefs system is Karma, and often times, it will knock you on your bottom to get you to pay attention to your actions!
FOund it....the joke.\
During torrential rain, a flood forces a man to climb onto the roof of his isolated house. Being a true believer, he waits for a sign, and waits, and waits, and waits. A couple of hours later, by which time the water has reached the first floor, a boat passes and the people huddled together call out to him to join them, but he calls back "No thanks, God will save me." They go on their way and the man waits and waits and waits, by which time the water has reached the bottom of the roof, and a second boat passes by, but again he refuses their offer of help and says "God will save me." Another hour later and he's clinging to the chimney as the house begins to be swept away by the raging waters, when he suddenly notices a rope ladder dangling beside him. He looks up and sees a helicopter hovering overhead, with the pilot beckoning frantically with his free hand to climb the ladder, but the man shakes his head with a smile and shouts up. "Go away, God will save me." The helicopter flies away, and not long afterwards the water sweeps the house from beneath the man, who soon drowns. Standing in line to heaven, he finally reaches the gates and sees God behind the gates. "Why did you let me die?" He calls out in anger. "All my life I believed in you, and you let me die!" God frowns for a moment, presumably trying to remember which one of his many worshippers the man is, then replies with a mixed tone of surprise and frustration "I sent you two boats and a helicopter, and you're trying to say it's my fault?"
Oh heck yes! That goes, I think, for life in general. Whether that be God and Heaven, or the Goddess and the Summerland, you name it!
It really bothers me when people expect that because they believe in Deity, they can sit on their rumps and do nothing and expect everything to come to them on a silver platter with a note that says "From God" (or Goddess or whatever.)
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND
(The Pagan Version)
One night I had a wondrous dream
I dreamed I was walking along the beach
with the Goddess. And on the shore
were Her footprints and nothing more.
Then suddenly prints I did see,
I asked the Goddess, "What kind are these?
These aren't my knees, these aren't my hands,
these aren't my footprints in the sand!"
"My child," She said in somber tones,
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
but you refused and made me wait."
"You would not learn, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know,
So I got tired, I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt.
"Because in life, there comes a time
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."
Lol! 
That's great! I'm going to use that in a sermon! Ta!
Jesus would appeal to many goddess-inclined people, if they gave Him a chance. A perfect example of love as one would love a child (even the yuck factor, washing feet or changing diapers), patient love, and giving new life to every Christian.
If someone is out shopping Deity, I fully recommend they explore all of their choices and choose the one(s) that suit them.
However, I would never presuppose to choose for any one person what their religion should or should not be.
I like my Goddesses and my Gods just fine, thank you.