Dear Brent, The religion is always a touchy topic and for that reason alone, I think, your advice is good. However, we do need to approach to the religion with our heads cool. To this end, I'm now contemplating a statement that will not cause anger. I must be careful, but in essence it will be like this: There are simple historical facts about the Bible. It was a result of negotiations between Hellenistic and Jewish scholars with a variety of Christian traditions --- almost four centuries after Christ. In essence, Constantine the Great needed the highest authority possible to rule over his crumbling empire. Back then, rulers were expected to have backing of unnatural authority --- the more powerful the better... Naturally, a god above all other gods was the best option. Nonchristian religions were also trying to provide such moral authority to their own one and only god. And this battle for hearts and souls of uneducated populace continues today. Today's frictions between religions about whose god is one and only --- only confirm that they are rather political organisations then seriously worshiping their own one and only... Today's frontline churches are trying to deliver parts of the message Christ may have been trying to deliver. However, they are still stuck in the past --- polytheistic past of the Roman Empire. Therefore, all theological attempts to reconcile these religions are doomed to fail. It is my opinion that it is time to forget about such one and only god in a pantheon --- and then work on the possible future elections about whose god should be on the throne to rule over the universe. It is also my opinion that The Protestor intuited the new age coming. They simply had a hope awaken --- a hope that we really have free will. And with this hope, entirely new morality comes in as a surprising factor. It is now hard to delegate our free will to civil authorities and then forget about it. I expect to see something similar in religions also. I fear, however, that churches may opt for their good old god in the old pantheon. This may cause even bloodshed... It is, therefore, very urgent to discuss religion as it should be. Have a nice day,

Hi Damir, These best and worst of the bible topics, I imagine them more of simply being people ranking their top 10 (or worst 10) scriptures or messages pertained, there in. Your proposals seem to be about a different topic, altogether - namely, what is the bible? I'm sure some people think it is the infallible word of God, others think it is a mere political document, and others might think of it as primitive blathers of a clueless people from a long time ago, both morally and chronologically, to name a few possible camps? I think it would be great to capture what everyone does believe about the bible, including what you've stated here, in another topic surveying for what people think the bible is. What do you think about that? Brent Allsop

Dear all, This is what I believe about Christ's message to be true. 1. Men and women are equal and their relationship is holy. That's why we must respect such parents as saints. The opposite is also possible. The marriage can be hell also... 2. There is heaven on earth --- here and now. It is in hearts of our kids. I do believe that if I make for them this place a little better for them to live in --- then this will be my heaven when I pass on. Have a nice day,

Dear all, I suggest that we open the topic with the following: --- The Bible is political document negotiated at the end of the third century. It was rather a compromise between Jewish and Roman philosophy of the times. That's why we have the old and the new testament. As political documet, its sole purpose was to unite fragmenting Roman Empire. That's why all of the Christ's teachings - that were contrary to the Roman psyche - carefully weeded out. If we detect all of these censorships - we might find the whole of the Christ's message... --- Please, let me know what you think, so I can act accordingly. Have a nice day,

Dear Brent, We could keep the "best" and the "worst" as separate agreeing disagreeing camps. They can function as detectors of issues to discuss. I, for example, believe that the Bible is terible towards women and that this was against Christ's teachings. However, this was a political decission, since that went against Roman psyche of the times. As result, we have the Bible with that part of Christ's teaching carefully weeded out. Have a nice day, Damir

Hi Damir, If we merged the best and worst topics, and if you joined a camp for a particular scripture, would you be indicating that camp was one of the best of the bible, or one of the worst of the bible? I prefer the way these two are now, for this reason. You can always start a new camp, with any stated survey and operating purpose you'd like? Brent

Dear all, We should merge Bible's Best & Worst into a single topic. However, I propose treating Bible as political document. Since its negotiated begginings at the end of third century it was meant as a "glue" to the crumbling Roman Empire. It was therefore crafted to sustain Roman psyche of the times rather than present Christ's teachings. That is where the "best" and the "worst" start making sense. Have a nice day, Damir