Hi Rob, > So then what you are saying is that life as we know it will never be the > same, we will all be forced into oppression, and everyone will be forced > into church because the work God is in the pledge? No. I'm saying *some* of us are "forced into oppression" by having to profess beliefs we don't have -- sometimes in a court of law, and sometimes under penalty of imprisonment. I'm a person of conscience, and I really detest the fact that our government mandates that I lie about my beliefs or lack thereof. I'm constantly amazed at how glibly Americans proclaim that this is a free country. True, it's "free" for some people, but certainly not for all -- perhaps not even for most. Of course if you are a Christian, especially one who believes is your responsibility to proselytize, mandating "God-speak" in government affairs probably wouldn't trouble you. But what if you had to renounce your belief in God in a court of law or be charged with contempt of court? As a child, what if you had to recite a pledge with the phrase, "one nation, founded on the nonexistence of any supreme being... ?" How would you feel then? Oppressed, perhaps? Perhaps you wouldn't care anyway, because you would tell yourself they're only words or that it's all merely a formality or a tradition. Some people are that way. But what if words really mattered to you? What if you valued truth above all else? Some people are that way too. I know, because I'm one of them. > Is God really that bad? > Are you afraid of God? You should be. If I should be afraid of a vindictive god who would punish me for questioning its existence or critically pondering the mysteries of the universe (indeed, punish me for exhibiting human curiosity), then yes, God is really that bad. However, I would think that would not be the nature of any supreme being. If there were that sort of evil god watching out over our thoughts like Big Brother, eager to destroy us for daring to think and question, then I would have been vaporized by a bolt of lightning decades ago! Surely human curiosity is not a sin. Surely the real sin would be to numb our minds to the profundity of our universe, cowering in fear that we would somehow anger the gods by daring to question the dogma that is written for us in "The Book." Food for thought, I hope Peace, Sarah
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