"Don()T you make three statements from your own agenda, from your own time and culture and 21st century understanding and you do not substantiate any of them. You assume facts not in evidence and base your CONCLUSIONS on your assumptions!"

Slag, you accuse me of assuming facts not in evidence. The very reason we are having this discussion is because there ARE no facts in evidence.

There are only , in the context of the "major" religions, three books which have passed through the hands of generations of MEN with their own individual agendas and prejudices.

It is inconceivable that what we see today has come through those ages unchanged, and it is certain that customs and mores have over that time seen many and quite radical changes.

Why is it hard to believe that MEN have altered the messages in those books to reflect this. I would find it harder to believe that they have NOT (consider the view of Richard III which was foisted upon students of history by the Tudors, to justify their usurping of his throne).

The message to which I referred is the word of God as originally expressed, and the author to whom I referred is God.

Christians, Jews and Muslims believe in ONE God, each group has a book purporting to relay HIS message, but none of those books contains much, if any verifiable evidence of authenticity, and since the messages from God contained therein differ widely in the three religions, it would seem that they owe more to the interpreters than to the author.

If you can adduce factual evidence that supports your assessment of my comments as jumping to hasty conclusions, I would be most interested.

Don T.