Granted; circular reasoning is not itself logical and thus, like a self-evident assertion, cannot be logically disproved.

Tribal religions are a perfect example of such a limited dogma. A Hopitah believes in the kachinas that spend part of the year on the mountain - believwes in all the ceremonies and dogm - but does not believe a notribal member needs to have the same belief.

Judaism was, at base, a tribal religion. It still holds that Jews need to do certian things, as emember od the tribe, but that others are equally saved - or not saved. In the "old Testament" (also known as the bible by those who don't see validity to any "new testament"), the Jewish god is a very smitey tribal god.

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And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --George W. Bush, Jan. 29, 2007

the two books that have most influenced my vision of hell and heaven the most are by CS Lewis. The Last Battle and The Great Divorce

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"A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent."
-John Calvin

The Great Divorce was the first place I found a perspective of hell that made any real sense to me.
If the concept of hell just seems pointlessly vindictive and utterly at odds with the concept of a "loving God" (as it often does) than that's definately a good book to read for a different perspective. And its not even really a theology book; it reads as a story.

Xtian is shorthand.

Kind of like LOL.

Or BTW.

Or even STFU.

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither breaks my leg, nor picks my pocket."

Thomas Jefferson

Yeah, well some of us say "Get the Christ out of my pagan holiday."

(You do know the origins of the holiday, don't you? In my house, we call it Saturnalia. Curiously, I learned about this from a Puritan: A Testimony Against several Prophane and Superstitious Customs, Now Practised by some in New-England.. You might also try Googling Saturnalia & Christmas together. If, that is, the answers you find won't scare you. . .As for this being a Christian nation, Christmas, as it was at that time [which is nowhere near what it's like now], was banned in Massachusetts in 1659, over 100 years before we even had a "nation," much less a Christian (or Xtian, to use shorthand) nation. It didn't even become a state holiday until 1856, and a federal law much later than that.

Besides, isn't Easter supposed to be the real important xtian holiday? Or maybe that was Mithra who rose from the dead & emerged from a rock tomb after three days sometime during the 3rd century BCE?!?! Sometimes I get confused; these "saviour" stories all start to sound the same to me after awhile.

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither breaks my leg, nor picks my pocket."

Thomas Jefferson

As if you could "choose" to be gay.

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither breaks my leg, nor picks my pocket."

Thomas Jefferson

A good friend of mine is named Christine. When I write her, I usually start with "Dear Xine." Just for shorthand, not to make light of her divinity (which, I assure you, she has ).

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither breaks my leg, nor picks my pocket."

Thomas Jefferson

"If you wanna get to heaven, you gotta raise a little hell."

-Ozark Mountain Daredevils

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither breaks my leg, nor picks my pocket."

Thomas Jefferson