Every one is an atheist. All current monotheists do not believe in the Greek, Roman, Norse and other pantheons of gods. People who call themselves atheists simply believe in one less god than the monotheists.

Here's a rather less rosy review of "God is Back': http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2009/0905.baumann.html

Despite the focus on religion, the book is actually a defence of free-market economics which uses the example of the Hillsong-style of "salvation for sale".

It concludes, "In the end, it is hard to imagine any serious religious believer, or any curious agnostic, for that matter, not being irked by a theory that requires a neologism as cringe-making as "pastorpreneur," or by a book whose bottom line informs us that American-style Evangelical religion has finally solved the age-old problem of whether one can serve both God and Mammon."

oug wrote: i have reverance for all the holy texts..[except the talmud]

Dear oug,

The Talmud records rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. It is central to mainstream Judaism.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud

Criticism of the Talmud is widespread, in great part through the Internet.

The Anti-Defamation League's report on this topic states:

By selectively citing various passages from the Talmud and Midrash, polemicists have sought to demonstrate that Judaism espouses hatred for non-Jews (and specifically for Christians), and promotes obscenity, sexual perversion, and other immoral behavior. To make these passages serve their purposes, these polemicists frequently mistranslate them or cite them out of context (wholesale fabrication of passages is not unknown)...
In distorting the normative meanings of rabbinic texts, anti-Talmud writers frequently remove passages from their textual and historical contexts. Even when they present their citations accurately, they judge the passages based on contemporary moral standards, ignoring the fact that most of these passages were composed close to two thousand years ago by people living in cultures radically different from our own. They thus ignore Judaism's long history of social progress and paint it instead as a primitive and parochial religion.

Those who attack the Talmud frequently cite ancient rabbinic sources without noting subsequent developments in Jewish thought, and without making a good-faith effort to consult with contemporary Jewish authorities who can explain the role of these sources in normative Jewish thought and practice.
—Anti-Defamation League, The Talmud in Anti-Semitic Polemics

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Rabbi Gil Student, a prolific Internet author, writes:

Anti-Talmud accusations have a long history dating back to the 13th century when the associates of the Inquisition attempted to defame Jews and their religion [see Yitzchak Baer, A History of Jews in Christian Spain, vol. I pp. 150-185]. The early material compiled by hateful preachers like Raymond Martini and Nicholas Donin remain the basis of all subsequent accusations against the Talmud. Some are true, most are false and based on quotations taken out of context, and some are total fabrications [see Baer, ch. 4 f. 54, 82 that it has been proven that Raymond Martini forged quotations]. On the Internet today we can find many of these old accusations being rehashed...
—Gil Student, The Real Truth About the Talmud

I suspect that you have accepted this defamatory information as true.

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Maybe my Book of Job, is different, or my English comprehension is deficient, but in Chapter 42, after the Lord spoke to Job, he spoke to Eliphaz the Temanite, my wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends, for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. God gave instructions for a sacrifice, and instructed them that if Job prayed for them He would accept the prayer. And the Lord turned ( ended) the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends; also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. The other two friends are said to be Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than the beginning.

I saw a cheap shot at one large evangelical Church. It is very modern in its technology, but no more so than some Presbyterian Churches I know of. Perhaps if the mainstream Churches realized that neither of the really big ones, are State Churches anymore, they would start to demand some responsibility by our governments. They would recognize that the enemy is not each other, but the State itself, because when a State becomes a God, it is an abomination. The Christian majority in Australia should stop being apologetic, and assert their undoubted influence for good. The moral and ethical conduct demanded of Christians used to be enforceable. While Judges and Magistrates rule arbitrarily, it is not. Democracy cannot survive without an anchor. The Bible is that anchor.

The evangelical Churches all over Australia took the cable presentation from the National Press Club, about three weeks before the November 2007 election. 200,000 people gave up a Thursday evening, to listen to the two contestants for the Christian vote. One of the contestants was very impressive and remains so. Unfortunately he has some fellow travelers still stuck in a Liberal Party time warp, still employed in government, but we can hope he will carry out the necessary reforms, to restore the good government guaranteed by the Australian Constitution

As this thread is developing, it is becoming increasingly clear that Australia has left the path of its Constitution, and allowed nine separate Bishoprics to develop, each with its own justice stream. Instead of nine Popes, all running a State Church, we have six Premiers, two Chief Ministers, and one Prime Minister. All except Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd, for the last sixty years have seen nothing wrong with this but it is terribly wrong. The concept of One God, combined with One Queen, representing Him, was the foundation of all property rights, but now no one has any property except what the State will allow you to keep. Taxation has expanded to take over one third of most peoples wages, and when they lost that right in 1942, in the National Interest, the States found other ways to extract money from the people.

The High Court is simply a toothless tiger as far as the Constitution is concerned. It shabby rules restricting access to its power, are totally negating the Constitution, and a direct attack on Christianity. To extract limitless money from people the States had to dissolve the Commonwealth, and establish Communist States as Sovereign, instead of Almighty God. They have done this with all the help in the world from lawyers. Lawyers have profited enormously from their loyalty to the State. They have a monopoly, the only profession that has no competition policy to meet. They monopolise the sale and purchase of justice, and have formed great partnerships, employing thousands of want to be lawyers at sweat shop wages.

The law firms will not accept the High Court as an authority when it does not suit their clients, and the one who can afford them are mostly the big corporations whose legal budget, is written into your cost of living. The Commonwealth as a corporation spent $400 million dollars last year on legal services. They do not want to waste that money so they continue to make sure the Law Courts are stacked with their lawyers. God will come back and when He does, our lives improve