10/20   To the "athiest" who wants an honest response from a Christian
        regarding religion and faith:
        Are you an athiest?  or are you searching?  I believe that
        determining whether there is a Creator can be done through reason.
        \_ I'm glad  you have faith in that assertion, because there's
           no other way to establish it!
        Now to determine God's nature, or whether Jesus Christ is God
        requires some faith.  For those who are searching, good for you.
        Even though I am a Christian, go ahead and do look at the other
        religions.  See what makes them tick, and try to understand each.
        Of course, since I have faith that Jesus Christ is God, I would
        like to introduce you to the Faith.  You may accept it.  You may
        reject it.  It is up to you what to do with that information.
        I do hope that you do look at Christianity with an open mind,
        even if you do look at other Religions.  We can discuss by
        email if you wish.
        \_ Unfortunately, Christianity and imperalism are inseperable.
           Even today, I can see elements of White Man's Burden when I
           look at these missionaries and their mindsets, even though
           Christanity's orgin has nothing to do with caucasian nor
           race.  Instead of focusing on things like creation of Universe,
           try to look at the not-so-gorious aspect of history, i.e.
           time between fall of Roman Empire and 1500 A.D.  Until you
           understand why people hate Christians, don't try to convince
           them to join your camp.
           \_ are you the same person discussing way down below or
              a different person?
              \_ It's not me, that's for sure. -- agnostic (weak atheist)
                 \_ I encourage you to keep on searching among
                    the different religions.  I do hope you get
                    a good representative to represent Christianity.
                    There are many different "Christian" categories too
                    such as Catholicism and different Protestant sects.
                    And even among them, more liberal, or conservative
                    members.
                        \_ and, of course, they're each the One True Way.
           \_ Christians do look at the creation of the Universe.  Very
              definitely.  It shows God the Creator.  Jews believe that
              the Messiah is still coming.  As for Christians, they
              believe the entire time is part of God's salvation history.
              Jesus Christ is but one part of the entire truth, IMHO.
           \_ That's kinda a moot point, unless you're talking about
              Catholics.  Most Christian religions believe that was
              a time of apostacy, when the church was corrupt and the
              truth could not be taught.
              \_ I agree. as an athiest, i view protestant religions as
                 evil idiocy and catholicism as an evil cult.  that's
                 an important difference.
               \_ are you trying to create some devisiveness between
                  Catholics and Protestants?
                  \_ Best. Oblivious-to-the-obvious. Troll. EVER.
           \_ So how do you explain pre-Christian Roman imperialism,
              or Chinese imperialism, etc. ?
              \_ The statement "Xianity and imperialism are inseparable"
                 would be better phrased "Xianity implies imperialism."
                 The proof that the inverse is not necessarily true is
                 left to the reader.
                 \_ What you have, is at best, a weak correlation.
                    Early Christianity flourished under Rome's prosecution
                    Christianity in Korea flourished under Japan's (Shinto)
                    rule.  Pressures from British missionaries and churches
                    were key to ending the opium trade in China (against
                    British business interest).  Pre-Islamic expansion
                    Christianity in Africa has nothing to do with
                    imperialism.  Imperialism deeply affected Asia, Africa
                    and the Americas, but thhe only place were I see a
                    significant corelation is the Americas, and the
                    Filipines.
                    \_ ObTroll:  Rome and Japan were merely fighting the
                       imperialistic infection of Xianity in their
                       respective spheres of influence.  That Xianity
                       was viral and grassroots in these cases changes
                       nothing about the imperialistic dreams of its
                       proponents-- they were simply far-sighted in their
                       ambitions to bring about the Kingdom of God.
                       \_ You actually think that the motive of the Dutch
                          and British East India Companies is to bring about
                          the Kingdom of God?  Ha, what a joke.
                       \_ You actually believe that Japan killed tens of
                          millions of Chinese, Koreans, etc. to preempt
                          Christianity?
                       \_ Pressures from British missionaries and churches
                          were key to ending the opium trade in China?  I
                          thought the monarch was the head of the church there.
        \_ Ah, but am I permitted to reject your god? Christian sects are
           rooted in evangelizing. It is not enough that they are Christians,
           everyone must be. They must be converted to the Christian god.
           Some people really find that irritating.
           \_ Yes, you can reject God. But duh, of course we're going to
              share our relationship with God. It's not relativism.
              It's what we think is true.