As for the nuns, Shambles, that's for me to know, and for you to find out.

You distort the basic beliefs of Christianity when you say it's based on a passionate belief in heaven and hell. Those are certainly part of the beliefs of almost all Christian denominations - but the primary emphasis of Christianity is on having a relationship with God, of seeking That which is beyond us. I know that's hard for a nonbeliever to understand, and that may be why all they see of religion is sin and guilt and heaven and hell.

You also seem to insist that religious denominations must have a strict uniformity of belief and obedience, and that is also a misperception. There are certain common beliefs that are defined in creeds and doctrines, but there is a vast amount of room for individual perception in most religious denominations. Within a given denomination, however, most believers agree on the basic beliefs - and I agree with most (maybe all) of the official beliefs of the Catholic Church (but not as they are defined in simplistic terms by the fundamentalists and news services). Certainly, there are those who seek a religion because they are afraid to think for themselves - and there are religious denominations that cater to that need. Some come to the Catholic church because they seek uniformity and "absolute truth," and some Catholic converts and some "cradle Catholics" have tried to recreate the Catholic Church according to their own narrow perception. We now have a situation where neoconservative Catholics question the orthodoxy of most bishops priests and nuns, and mistakenly see the Pope as the only source of truth and authority.

Shambles, you describe faith in terms that are far from the reality of the faith of many believers, and you posit that the "faith" you reject is the One True Faith. Well, the fact of the matter is that most believers don't believe what you insist they must believe. Certainly, there is profound truth in the faith of the Catholic Church and in the faith of all people of faith - but that faith cannot be expressed in sound bites and slogans.

You and Fionn and the Catholic fundamentalists keep insisting that I'm the one who does not know what is the essence of the Catholic Faith - and yet I'm the one who's employed to teach it. How is it you came to know so much? You take faith and redefine it in simplistic terms, and then reject it. It's a pretty classic case of "argumentum ad absurdum." And when the opposing argument is absurd, it's very difficult to argue against it.

-Joe Offer-