Lydia Nickerson <Lydy at demesne.com> wrote: >Religion isn't responsible for anything People >are. You must not have been raised in a seriously religious family. Trust me. Religion can, indeed, be a profound part of who people are, whether they want to or not. i was raised in a Calvinist church, and I have a very Calvinist outlook on life, fight it though I do. You are taking too narrow a view of what people are and how they interact with the world, in my opinion. Who you are is, in part, who you've been and what you've experienced. *************************************************************************************** I find this hilariously funny. We have had friends over tonight and, due to this lovely debate upon this list, the subject turned to religion. The one friend I have been talking to was raised Catholic and is now, I would say, just lost. Not religeous, not agnostic, not athiest, just uncertain. I cannot remember right now the exact discussion, but Steve and I got reference Bibles out to answer some questions. After a while, Steve got involved in a computer game. The friend and I were talking about Atheism and I mentioned that Steve's parents were Atheist and that childhood conditioning continues through adulthood. Hhhmmm, now this is a thought. Steve did not take offense, but it got his attention. He mentioned that Atheism has often been seen by outsiders as "rebelling" against religious parents...and that he could at least say he wasn't rebelling. Then I mentioned that I have NEVER used the term to describe someone's beliefs as " You must be rebelling against your parents", as I believe early conditioning has MUCH more of an effect on one's adult beliefs than the brief "rebelling" phase. This is a concept I'd like to follow. Could Atheism be just as much a "taught" belief in childhood as religion? Imagine a world where "religions" ( yes, in plural) was a class taught in grade school...and Atheism was taught along with it. A completely academic study of the belief systems. I really wonder where it would go from there. Peace, Caliann *Owned and Operated by the Grand Poohbah Cheese of the Universe* "Offense theives. -- they take it when it isn't offered." --Tom Digby --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now