I meant what I said, Steve Shaw. Religious faith requires a sense of poetry - otherwise, believers fall into the absurdities of fundamentalism. Take the creation story from Genesis. I admit that some people take it literally, but I don't think the writers wrote for them. If you look at it from a poetic viewpoint, it's an expression of wonder and awe at the world that surrounds us, seeing that world as a precious gift.

The Book of Isaiah is all poetry, and the works of many of the other prophets make sense only if one reads them with an eye for poetry. And the Song of Solomon, and the Book of Revelation. And the Holy Qur'an - lots and lots of poetry. The Bhagavad Gita? Same thing.

But I have found that strident atheists and religious fundamentalists can be interchangeable. They see things as absolutes. When the position they once held falls through, they grab onto the exact opposite with equal enthusiasm. And they cannot concede the validity of any perspectives other than their own.

-Joe Offer-