>>But I was wondering about 282RA's reasons to celebrate what most people consider a religious holiday. Why pick Christmas? Why not have a Menorah around the house?<<

If my family wants to get together on Chanuka--fine. I'll be there.

And I DO have a menorah in my house. I also have several Qurans. I English bibles (some dating back to the 17th century), two Tanakhs, a Septuagint, a Greek NT, several Buddhist sutras, the Tao Te Ching, the Upanishads, the Nag Hammadi Library, the Tibetan and Egyptian Books of the Dead, several version of the Apocrypha, a scroll of the Book of Esther, a Buddhist scroll, several decks of tarot cards, a work in Sanskrit that I don't even know what it is but I bought it, the Pistis Sophia, a good dozen books of Freemasonry and astrology, as well as books by Burton Mack, G.A. Wells, Gerald Massey, Albert Churchward, John Shelby Spong, Nicholas Goodricke-Clarke, Daniel Dennett, John M.E. McTaggart, Thomas Paine. I have books on druidry, Greek mythology, the Book of Shadows, the Writings of Pliny, Lucian, Virgil, Homer, Josephus, the Apostolic writings, etc. And the great Alvin Boyd Kuhn--the one writer I admire than any other.

I have the Dancing Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva statue and a Buddhist tryptich on a shelf and a Celtic cross on the wall that can be seen as soon as you walk through the door.

I have recordings of Tibetan Buddhist chants, Islamic calls to prayer, old Christian hymns put out on the Yazoo label, religous music from Persia, India and Africa. I like avant-garde music because it's meditative. I adore movies as 2001, The Red Violin, Black Orpheus and others because I see an underlying message in them expresses my own private views aboutthe universe.

I am NOT the originator of this thread (at least two people think I am), I am not a materialist, I have a DEEPLY spiritual view that I do not share with anybody because it's nobody's business but mine, atheists are absolutely correct as far as their condemnation of organized religion goes, nor was I an atheist as a teen I became one in 90s when I was already in my mid-30s. I do not "evangelize" anybody and I have done nothing to deserve that accusation on this thread. My supplying quotes of past atheists (some of whom were actually quite religious as Kepler) was meant SOLELY for Little Hawk and his arrogant assertion that atheists are ALL WITHOUT EXCEPTION immature little snots who never grew beryond their teen years (and then denies he ever said it).

So please STOP trying to paint me as materialist who spits on people who believe in god or an afterlife or a particular religion. I've made clear several times now that I have nothing against Christians who mind their own business. I have several friends that are promise keepers and another who runs a church founded by his late father. And I would appreciate it if fanatical Christians would stop pushing for intervention in the Middle East where they are turning Islam into a murderous, fanatical guerilla outfit that will never progress as long as these Christians continue to make their lives miserable with their goddamn meddling in other people's affairs. And if you are a Christian who believes in what we're doing over there then you ARE who I am referring to--so get over yourselves. If you're not then I wasn't talking about you so shut up.

And this isn't just addressed to Wesley, it's addressed to all of you.

Nows that's it. I'm done with you.