Steve,
<<If we respect freedom of religion, shouldn't we also respect freedom from religion for those who desire it? >>
Like I said before to have freedom we are going to have to listen to some things we don't like. I don't know how you can signal everyone who might offend you about religion in advance not to talk to you except maybe to wear a sign. <gg>
<<When Christianity was at the stage that Islam is at now, it was considered right, just, and eminently desirable to burn unbelievers, heretics, witches, and anybody else the local religious authorities happened to dislike.>>
Of course there has been a lot of evil done in God's name. But it was done by men, not God. You cannot blame God for it. Jesus was very clear about how he expected His followers to treat others. He also said that those who did not do His will were not His disciples. It's very clear to me that the evil done in God's name was not God's will and the people doing it were not Jesus's disciples. They were only deluding themselves.
<<From this I conclude that you do not believe that Catholics represent true Christianity. Catholics would surely disagree. Which of the current multiplicity of "Christian" sects would you say DOES represent true Christianity? Episcopalians? Seventh-Day Adventists? Baptists? The lunatics at www.godhatesfags.com? All would claim that they are Christians, and that the others are not. How do we debate the merits of Christianity if even Christians can't agree on what a Christian is?>>
It remains to be seen who is a true disciple of Jesus and who is deluding themselves. There are as many religions as there are opinions. Only those who do God's will as He said in His Word are truly His disciples. It will all come out in the wash.
<<Are you saying that God has made us wealthy as a reward for our adherence to Christian principles? How then do we explain Brunei, or Saudi Arabia?>>
I was looking at the whole picture, not just money. Freedom of speech is a concept that was written into our constitution by christians. Freedom of speech and religion go hand in hand. The freedom of speech represents the freedom of thought which cannot be seen. Freedom of religion is freedom of thought and speech. The christians who wrote that into our constitution did so because they knew the evil of state religion and governments restricting freedom, even of thought.
Bob
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