[Totenkopf]

Originally Posted by pest

The one thing more annoying than a fundamentalist telling you what you should believe is a anti-religion person telling you what you shouldnt believe. Your religious belief, or lack thereof, are your business and no one elses.

As someone said earlier, religion is based on faith, but still rooted in history and fact. Jesus lived, mohammed lived, buddha lived. This is fact. Were they prohets, messhiahs, God incarnate? Or were they just charimatic fanatics? That is where the faith part comes in. You can say science explains our world, but i am not always so sure. I firmly believe in evolution, but I aint buying the big bang theory.

I always find it amusing when people say that religion is a tool to control the simple minded. That is such a simple response to a very complex human behavior. Religion has had its bad times and corruption, but it is run by man, and man is an imperfect being. You dont need to read the bible or even believe in it, but you should respect it. It is, afterall, the best selling and most influential piece of literature ever printed.

As far as the death question goes, who knows? All you can do is prepare yourself for it the best way you know how. When you die, you will know (or cease to know anything). Religion, if nothing else, is a way to put your mind at ease for when you face the unknown.

I fear that perhaps I came off to strong in my post. I do not mean to preach anti-religion on anyone. It's your life live it. Like stated, religion is a way to put one's mind at ease. It is even a means of controlling society with basic rules, i.e. don't go murdering people, etc.

Also, I do believe that Jesus, Mohammed and others lived. Highly charismatic people, that drew people to them, and became a huge part of religion, and history. Just like a modern day Ghandi, MLK, or in a negative sense, Hitler. All of these people drew masses to them.

Anyway, boss just walked in...gotta go. ed: