Mike,

>>Well, you mean like the Roman Catholic church and the Inquisition? Or by the Muslims against the Christians last year where they poured gasoline on a father and son and set them on fire?
>
>You assign a nice pretty word like "inquisition" to the deeds of xtians, but spell out the crimes that Muslims commit. Oh no, Doug, you're not biased.

<g>

Give it a rest.. I pointed out two examples. That's all.

Please do not insinuate your particular 'take' on to me if you please.

If you knew anything about the Inquisition that the Roman Catholic church, through the Jesuits performed you wouldn't make a statement as absurd as it being a 'nice' word.

I'm perfectly comfortable in admitting that people who have called themselves Christian have done stupid things. I will, however, point out that people who called themselves Athiests killed more people in the last century than just about all of human history combined. Stalin killed either directly or by proxy somewhere around 100 milion.

I'll chalk this ignorance up to you being the result of today's school system and let it go at that.

If it will make you "feel" any better I would remind you of a simple device named the Iron Maiden. It was a sort of metal body cast with metal spikes indide, all pointing inside. They'd put you in and slowly close the door. Needless to say it wasn't pleasant. Then there was the rack, cutting off of one's tongue, gouging out the eyes and other various and assorted methods.

You should read Foxe's Book of Martyrs sometime.

One point I think you're missing and which is a source of your ignorance here is there is a huge difference between "religion" and "relationship". Perhaps you've missed the several posts I've made over the last couple of years where I've suggested that religion is not the same as relationship and that it is indeed the source of many of mankind's troubles? If you have missed it, here it is, plainly stated.

Now.... God wants a personal relationship, not a religious system. Do you have to burn incense or say a few mantras to get the favor either your dad or mom? No, you do not. Why? Because you have a love relationship with them (or should have anyways) not a religious system between you. God loves us and wants the same thing, not some dumb system that at the end of the day seeks to usurp God's power in your life and is used as a means of controlling you. Your pre-conceived ideas seem to be clouding your thought processes.

Sheesh.. <g>