The real problem of religion is not so much the religion itself but the intolerance that it creates.

Christianity of itself seems OK but it's let down by the Christians who use it.

Since we are all compulsory Christians, by virtue of the Australian Constitution and live in this country by choice, being free to leave if we wish, the atheists among us should get to know all about why the system works. It works on tolerance. It works because mostly, but not always, the one great commandment of the New Testament, set out in Matthew 7 verse 1, Judge not that ye be not judged, is mostly respected.

There are a very small but influential cadre of individuals, who feel no guilt at judging others, but these will all face their own demons like Einfeld. They are called upon to pass judgment upon their own kind: Those who have made bad judgments, and committed crimes, in the eyes of the law. I am talking about the Magistrates and Judges of Australia, inflicted upon us by the atheists. They really have no place in Christian Australia. The capitalized Judge, was a creature of the Old Testament, and has no mention in the Australian Constitution, or the New Testament.

The Lord’s prayer, from Matthew 6 Verses 9-13, is said before every days sitting in the Parliament of the Commonwealth. Ask the stupid Democrats how come they have not one single seat in that place. They alone voted to abolish that prayer. The fundamentals of Christianity are contained in its body.

Give us this day our daily bread, is the basis of social security. Thy kingdom come, is the basis of our legal system. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, means that we can pray and have our prayers answered if just. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us was adopted by the English Catholics, and true repentance was rewarded by a suspended sentence, in the case of a first offence. Deliver us from evil, is a prayer, that we not be subjected to atheist judgments, made by one man or woman, sitting as a surrogate God. Christianity is essentially equality before Almighty God. S 79 Constitution, judges, is being adopted by the Rudd Government.

Please remind me how the Church crucified Jesus? Karen Armstrong rightly points out that politics is the culprit,that religion lies along the fault lines of political ambitions.

Religion is about communion with self and others, transcending the mythos/logos paradigm. It is about learning to leave the pseudo self behind and following the real self (what Jesus is), not an external idol that demands adoration at the expense/sacrifice of our inner being.

To all atheists; Thou doest protest too much. Also, your (false) idol lies outside yourself.

Annina, you ask

"To all atheists; Thou doest protest too much. Also, your (false) idol lies outside yourself.

Methinks it is the seriously dogmatic Sellick who publishes an article a month (which invariably casts aspersions at atheists) who doth protest too much.

And you, our right of reply.

PS

We don't have idols false or otherwise: we don't believe in deities - get it?

Peter the Believer,

I don't see why you think Australia is a Christian state. The constitution makes no such claim, but instead expressly prohibits (section 116) the Commonwealth from legislating in respect of religion.

"The rationality of theology includes a poetic/historic outlook that cannot be tested at the bar of logical positivism. Theological insights find a place in both the heart and the mind, they appeal to the whole person, not just the rational nor just the emotional.... This is not special pleading on behalf of theology but recognition that it has its own discipline as do most intellectual pursuits."

This is why there is widespread disagreement between theologians over the most fundamental tenets of theology. It is the hallmark of wishful thinking that it is influenced by one's own beliefs and culture; that is why Islamic theologians 'discover' that God is like the traditional God of the Koran and Christian theologians 'discover' that God is like the God of the Bible. Practitioners of science, on the other hand, take laborious and extensive precautions to try and prevent themselves from being influenced in this way. They don't always succeed, but they try.

Science is simply the human race's best attempt to avoid deluding itself. And this includes psychology, which has attained much more tangible results in a hundred years than theology has achieved in two thousand, simply by adopting a scientific approach to evidence and deduction.