It's clear how Christian you are SoSick. It's just that you said, "Each and every one of us, in order to move forward and make progress, must first acknowledge our mistakes and ignorant beliefs and desires that bind us to that self-deception and likewise, blind us to truth." It's losing the self-deception part that sounded Buddhist to me. I know that was not in your mind, but I think it shows that elements of truth can be found from many different sources.

I had to laugh when I read that looking for the truth from many different angles must mean I'm on a cop-out. You're still telling me that there is only one truth, and one way to it, and everything else is just plain wrong. You think I don't want to encounter the divine in whatever form it exists? I have been looking for it all my life. My longing for it is so deep that I will never be content if I am not actively searching. I rejected the faith I grew up with, the faith of my parents, the faith that was so strong that I wanted to work within it when I grew up. Because my beliefs had changed. I have moved on. Most people never go through this process and follow the religion they inherit from their families. I'm on a cop-out? Really?

"There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our phiosophies."

I am a little disturbed by the black-and-white thinking here. If you're not a creationist you must be a fervent evolutionist. You do believe in a god or you don't. Have you considered that there might be some shades in between? Do you think, just because many Buddhists do not believe in a personal god, that they do not believe there is anything divine or spiritual about existence? I think it must be a sad and narrow-minded life for someone to lead who believes that the only truth in the world is what they can absorb through their five senses. When I say "truth" though, I do not necessarily mean one god, or one right way to live. I can go to a wood or a forest and feel the life all around me, and a sense of spirituality, without believing in a perosnal god. I can understand why this would sound offensive to a Christian, and my parents couldn't cope with it the one time I tried to explain to them. And you are welcome to believe anything you want. Just please don't think that people like me are copping out, ducking responsibility, not interested in anything spiritual, etc. I actually think that most people feel they need spirituality in their lives, but they need to find their own way to it, and yes there are many paths they can take. I don't think anyone can know the whole "truth," and certainly no one here, so I would be careful about making judgements about that.

Linda.