[andrewlittle]

Hello, Awediot. Welcome back. I don't really know you, nor you me, but I followed your posts quite avidly while on CARM. More about that later.

I am a christian - I am not a Christian. I make a distinction between the two that is purely my own.

As a christian, I hold to most of the tenets of faith of christianity, but disagree on some very important ones. I prefer to think of myself as a follower of the message of Christ. If I were a Christian, I am afraid I would spend more time worrying about my badge of honor and claim to righteousness than the message of Christ.

One of the tenets I have a problem with is that my salvation is dependent on Jesus' death on the cross. I believe that salvation was essentially intertwined with the message of God in the person of Jesus (who is the Christ). Salvation is to be found in hearing and following the message and teachings.

Jesus went against the religious heirarchy of his time and paid with his life. I think God could have stopped this, but was compelled to let free will reign. Christ, therefore, did not "buy" my salvation, nor die for it. Christ lived for it by living the very message he brought and by being willing to die for the integrity of that message.

Anyway, that's just one area of orthodoxy that I find troubling. As with any issue of faith, it will be problematic from a logical point of view. I don't think, when it comes to faith, that there is a dichotomous logical/illogical condition. Some things simply defy logic, and faith is one of them. It somehow resides in a no-man's land of ill definition.

Now, as to CARM. You, sir, have a mind as big as all outdoors. You are cerebral almost to a fault - I did say almost. You are not subtle (by a long shot) but do deal in nuances that I think evade the average person. When they become aware that they cannot follow your logic and understand, never mind counteract it, the next best thing is to become verbally violent. What ensues is a lot of chest beating and the projection of a totemic God - theirs being the bigger and more powerful one that has imbued them with absolute knowledge that you are a charleton and heretic. Ignorance seems to prove itself out most of the time.

Anyway, I for one enjoyed your posts, such that I could follow them.