this is a very interesting thread!

i was raised a lutheran and attended church regularly. i read the bible from cover to cover several times. catechism, etc. i was in the choir and an altar boy for a while. i was the chaplain for my boy scout troup. i was inquisitive, so i tried other religions to see what they were about. so i experimented with catholicism, greek and russian orthodox, baptist, so many variations of christianity i cant even remember them all now, unitarian, buddhism, confusionism, shintoism and finally came upon zoroastrianism.

from what i read of zoroastrianism, it was one of the first religions ever to be created, in the cradle of civilization, the current holy land. zoroastrianism had the same creation story, the same flood story, in fact quite a lot of the old testament was eerily similar to christian belief. the religion was created by the ruler at the time, zoroaster, essentially to give him divine right to the throne. (almost the same as what happened in egypy with the pharoahs claiming son of ra) zoroaster became the "jesus" figure in this religion, minus the crucifiction, of course. but what really interested me was this religion's effect through the rest of time.

i conducted much research into the "history" of the bible and was surprised that most of the bible's miracles could be scientifically or historically explained. for example, moses parting the waters was figurative. moses knew that at this certain place at a certain time along this portion of the waters, they receeded and made quite a capable walking area. at the same time, the ground was way to moist to support horses, cannons and the like. so moses and his people were able to escape, essentially during low tide and as the enemy attempted a pursuit, they sunk. please excuse my lack of detail, as its been a while since i've even discussed this.

about this time, the pastor at the lutheran church i went to noticed my lack of faith and we began discussing things. i asked questions, he attempted to answer. over time, the quality of the answers sounded like an echo. faith. that was all this religion really depended on. blind faith. i was never one to believe something that couldnt be proven, so i was at a loss.

a lot of the morals and values in the bible are very valid. it still has some great lessons to be learned. and i will still admit that jesus was a very enlightened man, though i do not believe he is the physical son of a sentient god up in the sky, he became the figurative "god's" son by living life the way he did. educating people in a way of life that drastically differed from the current lifestyle of decadence, gluttony and murder for entertainment. at the time, a person like that was muich needed.

woah. i went off there... : )

here's my personal religious opinion, since it's a little different than others:

i consider myself a taoist. meaning. i dont believe in "god" as most do. there is no sentient all powerful being in the sky. my "god" is the universe. the same essense of every molecule in the universe is also part of us. we are everything, and thus nothing.

consider: newton claims that matter is neither created or destroyed, only changed. thus, as we touch something, breath on something, shake hands, etc. we pass along a part of ourselves to the object that is touchced. atoms are transferred, regardless of how small. that object, person, air is now part of you. you then travel millions of miles to touch mountains, plains, deserts and everyone else in the world.

ok that was a very simplified version of what i believe, but i have to get back to work... lol. thanks for listening with an open mind.