you want a reply here?...*smile*....to me, EVERYONE is an individual...but it is MUCH easier to do when you see them everyday and know them personally....I know Orthodox Jews, Episcopalians, Methodists, Buddhists...etc..as well as foaming atheists...and we talk, sing and share meals together pretty easily....but we do NOT discuss the 'whethers' of religion much...only sometimes the 'whats' (it is sundown Friday for Charlie Baum and he doesn't answer his phone or travel...and I often need to remember that...)

since my views are about as well known as yours, I don't expect any 'pouncing'...*grin*...I am a hopeless case, anyway. It is strange trying to respond to viewpoints totally separate from the individual who espouses them, but I DO try. You have radically altered your approach...more than once...since you first appeared here. I suspect there was a LOT of pain and confusion as you tried to decide how to be part of this multi-faceted group, and I confess, I was a bit surprised that you found a realtively comfortable niche.

am I an extremist?...yeah, probably.I am probably quite extreme in my basic non-belief, But I NEVER start a thread on these issues....I am arguing for a philosophic point many times, but usually just to keep the reality of the issue clear...just as I argue about definitions of trad/folk music.

I am basically a pragmatist and don't expect to 'convert' anyone to my definition, but I sure don't want them to be able to pretend they never heard it...and so with religious/moral issues. They are NOT trivial matters in this world...as the above quote says, people who DO believe in certain things behave and live differently in many ways, and as history shows, it can affect society profoundly.

So....(hi, Susan.. *smile*)...I can discuss LOTS of things on lots of threads with you, but we will always 'know' that we differ in some obvious ways...if you were to appear at the Getaway, I could spend the whole weekend making music with you and never discussing religion, unless it were MADE an issue.

I have no idea if I have answered you, or merely rambled on as I often do...but I doubt that 'taking you as an individual' will ever be totally free of the 'Praise' period, nor will it be dominated by those times...and I suspect that you'd be surprised if it were any other way.

we all just 'are'...and we try to fit in as best we can, given our prejudices and history.