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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (209802)	12/13/2001 7:01:50 PM
From: Srexley	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Not sure why I am sharing all this with you, but here goes: "I take it you do not believe much if anything in the old testament of the bible....like the Flood for example?" Correct. God seems mean in the old testament. I started to read it and the thoughts of killing everyone's first born or building a boat that could hold ALL animals seems to be a stretch. Seems particularly weird to me that God would have a "favorite" people too. "By special creation I include the exclusivity of the planet earth? Do you allow for life on other planets and do you think it from a grand design?" Certainly a possibility. Seems unlikely to me that the earth is the only sphere in the universe with life. I view God as the entity that allows for life, and the bible as a guidebook as to how we should live it. "Do you think everything that happens is God's will?" No. We have free will, and consequently the possibility to do good or to do bad. I do think God does bless some things and damns some others. God is on our side in the current skirmish imo. He doesn't like people who kill, rape, torture, oppress, etc.

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (209802)	12/13/2001 10:16:35 PM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

The night the Christmas Lights went out at the Space Needle It was a rainy night, like many in Seattle during late December. Yet this year was different. After 50 years of Christmas lights decorating the Space Needle grounds, tonight they were turned off for good. For many years, families, lovers, the elderly and those lonely looking for happiness and joy, planned that one special night and took a trip into the city to see the beautiful white canopy, the complex choo-choo train displays, and the small skating ring which seemed locked in time to a simpler, smaller, Seattle past. Lovers slowly walked around the fountain terrace, parents strolled their new born babies and could be heard while peeking into the stroller "look at the lights sweety", and the elderly took their last peaceful walks hand-in-hand. But it's all gone now. The lights are out, and the people haven't returned. It all began when a local politician sent a memo to all county employees. Ron Sims called for the workers of King County to not say "Merry Christmas" because of sensitivity toward diversity concerns. He also called for city employees to remove religious symbols which might offend others during the month of December. After Merry Christmas was considered religiously offensive, it didn't take long before poinsettias were removed from all desks and offices. This spread rapidly, the offensive plants were removed from libraries, schools, museums, parks, and finally from the ferries. It wasn't long before Christmas lights were banned from offices, parks, libraries and finally today, the Space Needle grounds. The lights are now out, as we walk toward the ferry under the darkness of dimming street lights, one person in our group is heard saying. "There's only one thing more oppressive then insensitivity, that's oversensitivity." Michael