[kathyv]

Hey CJ, nice to see you here again!

Your questions are very valid and very timely and I agree with a lot of what you have said.

A lot of damage has been done and is being done in the name of Religion. But what we forget is that this is man's creation, people accepting and following another persons interpretation of a religious law and I would like to point to your quote of the commandment 'forbidding other faiths'. It doesn't say that. It says 'Thou shalt have no other god before me'. And another god can be anything, not just some other belief's deity. It can be money, or possessions, or another person, it can be whatever you value more than the creator. It is whatever comes between you and your time for that creator.

What a lot of beliefs, especially Christian, neglect to remember is that the religious laws they are following are actually man law. I have 2 Biblical laws that I follow, "Love the Lord your God with all you heart, mind and strength" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." These 2 commands cover all the 10 commandments from the Old Testament and were given to all man. Not just me or others who believe the same as I.

If you do love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength, then you have no desire to put another 'god' before that first love.

And as far as evidences, with Faith, I see evidences of God everywhere because of what I believe. That He created the world and set it in motion. So for me anyway because of my Faith and my relationship with Him, I see a miracle when the moon runs it's phases, I see a miracle when babies are conceived and born, I see evidences of him in the seasons of the year and the tides, all those things that help make out world work to support life.

I am never going to demand that you or anyone ever respect me for my belief, I do ask that you respect me for the way I try to live my life, because I try to live it as an example of His law. I won't ever condemn or judge you or any other person because as a Christian that is not my job, your judgment is between you and God, and only He knows the outcome of that judgment. I can not step into His shoes and do that. I think a lot of militant, zealots regardless of their religion have been doing this and it's caused a lot of trouble, it's caused you to question them and their motives, and you are not the only one.

I know Hell has been portrayed as a fiery pit, a lake of fire, etc. . . but really, it's an eternity with out God's presence in it, with his 'face' turned from you. I don't want that for myself, I don't really want that for anyone but I know the quickest way to send someone there is to insist that they do it my way. I won't do that but I will share my belief with you, when you ask.

And I will do it with love and respect because I truly believe that like me, God created you and all of humanity as well, be they agnostic, atheist, Islam, Buddhist, it doesn't matter because I know what I believe. We are all God's children.

I hope this helps you see a bit of what many Christians believe, and even with this relationship faith, damage is still done because it's not done with love and respect at times.