[Cronislee]

Well, I guess to put things into perspective I'll tell you a bit about myself; I was raised Catholic, and by in large I am Catholic. I even went to a catholic school, granted that was because I beat the living hell out of a bully at my first school. But I saw things that I didn't like; Bible thumppers & Baptists who tell you to live this way, but treat others like crap because they were'nt the right kind of Christian (I still dislike Baptists because of their mentality).

So, I looked for answers. I was pagan for a long time, but I read the Quarran, Torah (First Testament), the lost books of the Bible, the translations of various hebrew scriptures, Taoism, Budhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, you name it I read it. And I noticed they were all telling very similar stories, etc.

I'm a very Old Testament individual, and while I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and forgiving, I believe that God is a wrathful God. I believe he does not help us, or curse us, by request. I believe that God is not forgiving. I also believe in angels and demons, I even wear the seal of the King Solomon so that I can be protected from evil, but my personal, fundamental, beliefs, rival those of other Christians, and even straddle Herrisy. (I also dont take the Bible as hard core "This is what happened" because you have to keep in mind that many of these stories are, in fact, historical, but were written as far back as 6K years ago.)

Your biggest argument today between Science and Religion is Creationism and Evolution. "The Bible says this" "Science says this", I say it's bullshit. I say they prove each other. For instance; The Bible says that before Light, there was Darkness. Science says before the Big Bang there was nothing. The bible says there was, in this order, earth, water, plants, animals, people. Science says Life Evolved as; Earth formed, primordial goo made life, plants formed, then animals, then people. And just to seal in the deal; Bible says that all mankind comes from Adam, and Science has proven that every single man on the face of the planet shares the exact same genetic code that links them all together back to 1 guy damn near 80,000 years ago.

I believe that we all share a link to God, and that we can all communicate with him. You dont need a man in a robe to tell you what God thinks, because God can tell you what God thinks. Whether your pagan, christian, muslim, we all believe that in life you have to be a good person, and live an honorable life. Yes, we are a violent species, and yes wars have been fought over religion for centuries. But that is because we are human. Look at animals, and dont let anyone tell you that animals arent violent. Watch the Chimps in the congo and you will see that they also fight actual wars with eachother over territory. Eliphants kill other eliphants for the right to claim a female as their own. Hell, cats torture other animals just for the fun of it.

But as far as faith and religion are concerned, Faith is something that you learn. Religion is something you practice. But Belief, that is the most important aspect of it all. Belief is believing in something. Belief is up to you. You know?