However, I am going to respond to one point in particular:

Quote:
I am accountable to God for my actions, not them.

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When a Christian becomes a believer, he or she is declared rightouse before God. This means that the Christian will no longer suffer the long term consequences of sin and will ultimatly exist in Heaven with God for all eternity. It does NOT mean that the believer is able to cut sin out of his or her life


Doesn't it follow, then, in a non-Catholic point of view (what you say is distinctly opposed to the Catholic point of view, I think) that there is no real reason to avoid sin? I can believe that Jesus died for my sins, so why not go hog-wild? No reason for him to pay for something I'm not using.

I know that that's not what Christian philosophy intends. But it could certainly be read that way. While I doubt many (if any) people are using that to justify killing sprees, I can see where many people might use it to justify an "ends justify the means" argument, or a "means justify the ends" argument. If I'm not to be held accountable for the sins of, let's say, for instance, killing thousands of innocent civilians, what's to prevent me from doing so in order to remove a despot? And don't think I'm talking excusively of Bush here. I could just as easily be talking about the acts of Osama bin Laden, or the Crusaders, or the IRA, or any of a thousand human-built organizations throughout the history of the world.

The way you describe how external religion trumps internal concerns me, even from your point of view. You say that you are likely to be confused about what's right and wrong, even though God exists within you. One would assume that you would assume that that's true for all Christians, if not all people. Yet you assume that that moral compass, when interpreted by the people who wrote it down, then interpreted by your brain, then interpreted by your moral compass has more validity than the one inside you that shares one of those potential failing points and then adds a few more on top. (And, at least from my theoretical point of view, that accusation covers not just modern theological writings, but also the Bible itself.)

Like I said: it's the failure to listen to your own compass that's the problem.
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Bitt Faulk