Dear GUEST:

I was brought up Catholic. I have a college minor (21 semester hours) in Theology and another in Philosophy. I have read and studied extensively in Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Atheism, various Pagan religions, Wicca, and Animism, as well as Native American and other belief structures. These reading range from pop culture (e.g., Carlos Castanada's fakery) to works by heavy-duty scholars in theology, anthropology and other disciplines.

What I have found is that there are common, underlying, threads among all "religions" (including atheism). These include, but are not limited to, things like "take care of others" "don't kill anyone unnecessarily" and "don't steal or lie."

If these are "wavering belief systems" I weep for humanity.

And did you know that Yeshua of Nazareth, according to the New Testament, never ever said one single word against gays or people of another race or (according to the Jesus Seminar) never even claimed to be the "Son of God" or the "Son of Man" or even said outright that he was the "Messiah"?

Before you go around condemning things, I urge you to study them. I have, and I have found that the deeds of a Church are very very often at odds with the beliefs and teachings a Church professes. This does not invalidate the teachings of a religion, but it does invalidate the Church.