Hello John,

>LL>Either there is one god, multiple gods, or no god.  Which is it?

JO>Two!

Lyndon Johnson had two beagles, Him and Her.
Got in trouble with the press when he picked them up by their ears.
And then Snoopy ran away from home.

>JS>While Christianity, Judaism and Islam may all be monotheistic
>JS>religions,

>LL>That would mean one god, not multiple gods or no god.

>JS>that most certainly does not mean that the participants in those
>JS>religions are al worshiping the same God. The Jewish
"God" teaches
>JS>that God has no son, and that He is one.

>LL>We are all of the blood of Abraham.  Jews, Christians, and Muslims
>LL>alike.  Belief in one God, all coming from the same family, is what
>LL>makes us brothers.

JO>And you know what happened to the first of 'em...

Got his foreskin chopped off.  Along with all his brothers.
And other males in the household.  Genesis 17:9-27

>JS>The Muslim "God" likewise teaches that God has no son.

>LL>Muslims refer to God as Allah.  So do many Christians.
>LL>Although Muslims do not accept Jesus (whom they call Isa)
>LL>as Messiah, it is not an absolute rejection.  By their
>LL>understanding, we are all "sons of God" rather than any
>LL>single individual being the "Son of God."

>JS>The Christian God clearly teaches that God the Father is one, but
>JS>that He has a Son who died for the sins of the world, in order that
>JS>we might obtain Forgiveness, Salvation and Eternal Life.

>LL>Who knows what the Christian god teaches?

JO>God is Love

>LL>Who knows what the Jewish god teaches?

JO>God is one

>LL>Who knows what the Muslim god teaches?

JO>God is great

>LL>Who knows what the Hindu god teaches?

JO>Gods are everywhere

>LL>Who knows what the Buddhist god teaches?

JO>Man's suffering can end.

>LL>Who knows what the Atheist god teaches?

JO>You're better off not thinking about me...

Seems like God can be all things to all people...

>LL>Just because man might portend to "know" what a particular god
>LL>teaches does not mean that he really knows beans about anything.

JO>Drat. If you has spelled pretend...it would have been the best line in
JO>Fidonet...
JO>Even with portend...(There's a lot of portending going on as well...)

Let's pretend has gotten too pretensious.
Especially in the world of fido.  Better to portend.

>LL>We are taught to believe what others want us to believe.

JO>Believe me that's wrong.

Just because we are taught to believe what others want us to believe
does not mean we should believe what others want us to believe.  But
usually that is the case.  Why is a Christian a Christian?  Because
his mommy and daddy brought him up to be a Christian.  Why is a Muslim
a Muslim?  Because his mommy and daddy brought him up to be a Muslim.
Why is a Jew a Jew?  Because his mommy is a Jew.  Bobby Fischer did
not like that, had a temper tantrum, and went on to play chess for
the rest of his life, without ever knowing who is daddy was.

>LL>After all, who has seen the Face of God?  Not me.  Not you.
>LL>Not anybody else.  At least, not anybody that I know of.

>LL>To believe is to doubt.
>LL>One must doubt to believe.

JO>I doubt that.

You'd better doubt it!  Or else!

>LL>If I had seen the Face of God, I would KNOW of His existence.
>LL>Therefore, I would not believe.  It would not even be possible
>LL>for me to believe, as I would have no doubt.

JO>Mostly people somewhat doubt, and almost believe...

Without ever quite knowing.

JO>Somewhat believe and have their doubts...

Without ever quite knowing.

JO>this is why they have church services again and again...

Gotta keep them plates filled with cash!  Keep `em guessing, so they
can never know for sure if they've been saved or damned!  Cha-ching!

JO>...I believe (!) you are correct...those who are blessed with certitude
JO>should be whipped, I'm sure of that.

Absolutely.

JO>.

!

--Lee


 * SLMR 2.1a * "Now is the time for all good men to come to." - Pogo

--- Maximus 3.01