A letter from SUPERNOVA & AUBREYDAWN THIS WAS FIRST WRITTEN AS A COMMENT POSTED ON "I HAVE EXPERIENCED GOD, BUT...". I WROTE ONE PREVIOUSLY (YOU CAN CHECK IT OUT ON ABOVE TITLE IF INTERESTED, BUT IT'S NOT IMPORTANT). THIS WAS GOING TO BE A SECOND COMMENT ON THAT POST, BUT I THOUGHT IT BETTER TO POST IT HERE. I'm not sure why I joined this discussion. It's the first discussion or comment exchange I've been a part of on-line other than some with myspace friends; rarely. I wasn't looking for inspiration or validation when I logged in to this site. I just ran across it by accident; read a few comments, became irritated, and was provoked by stupidity (not ignorance, STUPIDITY) to comment. I too was a "born again christian" for 20 years of my life. I was sheltered. It took that long (20 years) before I was introduced to any other ideas. Believe it! And how were they introduced to me? My own reflections. Really. You just have to be willin...

Sent in by Steve Johnsons I am a practicing Christian and I go to the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago Illinois. Every day I am surrounded by some of the most ignorant people that I know. As a matter of fact, I only have one friend who confronts the tough questions of Christianity, like the origin of evil and some other tough ideas. I have been questioning my faith for a few weeks now. It's not that I don't have the "willpower" to believe, if you want to say that. It's whether I "want" to believe anymore. The "world" has become much more appealing to my eyes, and God, who does not communicate to me, has become less appealing. I am sick and tired of these fucking ignorant answers I get from every Christian I know. It seems as though they believe in God with no evidence, which is stupid. Why would anyone believe in something they can't see or have at least not experienced. I have experienced God, or so I think. I have cried in worship, I have...

From Rev Bob Pyle, MA As a nondenominational minister, I am disturbed and enraged by the fact that many people who leave the Church do so because of the dumb actions of certain believers. The idea is to concentrate on God, and not his alleged flock. A classic case to make my point is the organization CUFI (Christians United for Israel) , which is led by a self-deluded, spiritual idiot named John Hagee . His big thing is we are to nuke Iran. This is to precipitate a violent response from Muslims, and in the aftermath, Christ is supposed to return to establish His kingdom. There is NOT one word in Scripture to support nor validate this stupidity on the part of Hagge & his flock. Therefore, I strongly recommend you give thought that with "friends" such as Hagee & his biblical illiterates who are quite willing to commit murder, Christ does not need any enemies. Enough said. tag: John Hagee , Nuke Iran , CUFI ,

From Meranda F How do you deal with people who don’t agree with you or threaten your position on life with good solid evidence? Do you just walk away defeated with a plain face? What about when you feel hurt or offended that your ideas or way of life just don't seem to stand up to theirs? Seems like every time I take up a new position, I get beaten down for it, because it isn’t the "right" position. I used to be atheist, but there was so much negativity expressed toward it, and I just wanted to feel at peace with my decision. I knew that I didn't believe in a god, but even if there was a god, I wanted to chose how I would deal with it. I didn't want anyone choosing for me. So I turned to secularity because it seemed to be the perfect fit for my beliefs: no religion in government, no proselytizing others, and freedom to do as I choose so long as I don't hurt others. I wonder, is it that I really don’t believe in a god, or am I sick of conventional ideas on ...

From Gloria I'd like to comment on your following statement: "My point is that many Christians who arrive here do not obey the dictates of their own religion. They post on this site with beams in their eyes howling at Dave to remove the speck in his. They claim a loving god and can neither give a convincing argument for the claim based upon the contents of their faith nor the example of their own behavior. They call Dave hateful and promise him nothing but Hell." -- ref 1. There are many people who call themselves Christians. Christ lends respectability and the image of being a "nice guy" to a person's identify. Many people simply fake it. I suspect that many of the fakers actually believe they're Christians. 2. True Christians don't write hateful e-mail. They do not condemn people to Hell. Please don't confuse charlatans -- who just want to argue (because your opinion differs from what they pretend to believe) -- with true Christians. God,...