I worked in an office with a woman who was a ???born-again Christian and a minister???s wife.???  She seemed friendly enough, until she learned I attended Catholic schools, and then she placed me in the ???unsaved??? category.  Funny, I was taught that Catholics were the first Christians.  Being regulated into the unsaved meant being tolerated, ignored, and stared at.  I supposed she was waiting for the heathen to jump out. 
 
This woman preached about a new concept to me called, ???The Rapture.???  Sounds wonderful doesn???t it?  Well, it???s not, at least for most of us.  Every day at lunch, our table received a sermon on The Rapture.  She defined it as the future days of chaos and war, when the born-agains would disappear, joining God in heaven.  We the sinners, gamblers, drinkers, Jews, Catholics, etc. stayed behind, with the murderers, pimps, and Arabs.  This was a wonderful thing to her and the more she talked, the more I preferred the company below.
 

She was from Texas and loved Bush. She said that he was sent by God to fulfill the prophecy.  I guess she really believed this, for we heard it often enough.  Only think what this meant.  Was Bush to cause the third world war, let Korea and Iran go nuclear?  What is this chaos and if Bush were going to make it come about, wouldn???t that be a bad thing?  I surmised the born-agains must be in a great rush to get into heaven, at any cost.
 

I used to come home and laugh about her ideas, for they smacked of superiority, judgmental cruelty, and pompous arrogance.  Now, after the election results and seeing the 43% born-again vote, I have to wonder, is there some projected master plan all us sinners are missing? 
 
I love history and like many of us; I wonder how the German???s fell for Hitler.  Now I???m not calling Bush Hitler, but he does have the same kind of manic followers.  Any group, that believes they are ordained by God, and superior, is scary. 
 
Christianity has always been judgmental, but what happened to the helping hand, pity, charity, and grace?  Is it lost in rhetoric and a dream of floating above, and smugly smiling down on the ???unsaved????  It is a sad state of affairs and I have to wonder if a loving God desires this fanatical end to humanity.  I am not ???born again,??? just once, and I am human. I have to fear a group that thinks they are not.  What is our nation???s definition of ethics, and family values?  Smug elitism, condescension for our fellow citizens, I think we all need to reflect on the answer, especially if it is going to form our national policy.

- Angela Conrad
 http://www.oraculartree.com/conrad_mandate.html

WOW, i must say, im shoked to read this even though i knew it was happening. The problem with Christianity (just like most other religions) is it often serves as an excuse for world's most violent atrocities. Hitler was as religious man, so was Nazi Germany, so is GWBush.

Not so long ago there was a murder case on TV- a woman killed a yougn boy because she thought he was the Devil. And she was a deeply religious person.

Crime in the name of God (aka American Invasion in Iraq in 2003) is still a crime.

George Bush is a weapon of mass distruction himself. But the funny part is who's going to put him in jail for all the evil that he has unveiled upon the rest of the world? Who does he have to answer to but his beloved Laura "bi-tch" Bush. He is the face of evil and make no mistake about it. George Bush is the American disaster.

No one ever comment on these issues for fear of retibution, just like the popular opinions that terrorism is the result of poverty and SUVs are responsible for climate change. And my fear is that no one in this forum will say different but also no one will attempted to contradict these statements in any way because they too feel this way, just shy of saying so.

But all this is meaningless compared to the rage of any so called politician trying to impose her/his conspiratorial views on a complex reality until everything fits together seamlessly. Whatever the deceased pope had longed for and meant: He does not deserve Antje Vollmer as the executor of his will."

That's all I have to say...

I really understand why a lot of people don't go to church. Mankind has screwed up religion so bad that it scares a lot of people away. I consider myself a Heinz 57 Christian. Basically that gives me the GOD given right to walk into any house of worship without having to agree with the rules of any one religion. I'm very fortunate to be in this situation in the fact that I'm not limited to only one group's interpretation of GOD'S word. I'm able hear a bit of everything and therefor a bit less judgemental of other people because of their beliefs. If I stay home and drink beer on Sunday I honestly don't beleive GOD will become angry. If I go to two different churches on Sunday I don't beleive GOD will become angry. I beleive it irritates GOD to no end when people use their interpretations of HIS word against other people to promote hatred or war. Sorry, I am starting to turn into Ratchett Jaws here.
PS......If I ever say I'll swear on a stack of bibles, I do own a stack of bibles.

I to thinking that if I could be born again, I'd join Islam since I find, they're truly religious unlike christians who pray once a week, these guys pray 5 times a day. The extreamists also have a more justified cause which is the fall of capitalism in the west which I support to an extent and that support ends with loss of life.