Penny, that sounds about right. I once read an article about the Book of Job which had the line, "'Where were you when I made heaven and earth?' asked God, like a peevish ageing builder." If you see it that the rules are MAN-MADE, then it makes sense - the rules aren't the requirements to get to heaven, but guidelines on how to live a good life. If all that stops you killing your neighbour and stealing his car are 3 or 4 of the Commandments, then you're as mad/bad as they come anyway.

The trouble is that it's a virus. The Bible and the Koran contains passages saying "this is the word of God", and if it's God's words then you can't argue with it; God is by definition perfect and can't be wrong. So it gets copied, just as a virus gets copied, and the carrier then passes it on to their friends and family. Not a nice analogy, I know, but that is the traditional way religion works, through indoctrination of children rather than free choice of adults. And once it's getting passed around, it's awfully difficult to protect against the effects of it, especially for those in whom the bug bites hardest.

Of course, given that typical folkies are pretty laid-back, this is all preaching to the choir...

Grab.