The religion area of controvesial subjects forum will go up as soon as Terry sees how well the current discussions go there.

If everyone can conduct themselves well and there is enough interest in the forums he will open the religion forum

So get in there and show him how popular those controversial subjects are!

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I gotta be me...everyone else was taken!

Hi, I just want to state ahead of time that I'm only posting what I've read with no intentions of imposing these thoughts on anyone or offending anyone.
In the book Memnoch the Devil By Ann Rice an interesting theory is introduced. Now this is a horror novel that is part of the Vampire Chronicles. Anyway, in this supposedly Earth is God's experiment. He created it to see what would happen. In this He is not all knowing or something like that. He has knowledge of past and present and can mke good assumptions about the future. Also, in this the devil is not the traditional devil. He is not Satan or Lucifer, he is not evil. His name is Memnoch. He also works towards good in this book, His and Gods views of what is good merely differ.He and God are friends actually. In fact, through most of the book Memnoch seemed to have the better sense of good. I'm not saying that this is what I believe, I'm agnostic, I niether believe nor disbelieve any of it. I merely find it all interesting. I suppose I won't know till I die, which will be a while considering I'm a young teenager. Or there will be the oblivion that Lestat fears. Surprisingly enough, I find that some of the Vampire Chronicles offer interesting points of view on religion, and, if your open to other thoughts I reccomend Memnoch the Devil and the other books in the chronicles for some interesting points. As I said, I'm completely open to all views and if you have something interesting to say or just wish to discuss these issues you can e-mail me at Allassandra@aol.com

I read Memnoch the Devil (thanks for reminding me of the title) and I also enjoyed the interesting new ideas of God and the devil.

The following titles are not related at all to Anne Rice...

Have you read Dante's Inferno? I know most people would groan at the thought of reading this, but I did it just for fun last summer and I have to say, I found it very enjoyable! At times, I thought it was downright funny. If you have a taste for poetry, or are not scared at the attempt, you may want to read this. Keep in mind that when this was written, people truly believed that Hell was at the center of the earth.

If modern fiction is more your taste, you may want to pick up a book called "Sophie's World" by...someone or other with a name that sounds Danish or Dutch or something. It's an introduction to philosophy as experienced by a young girl. It has a bit of a Through the LookingGlass quality about it, though.

Also, a book that I love is called "The Books of Rachael" by Joel Gross. It is a pseudo-history of the Jewish people. It has romance, adventure, history, all the makings of a good book.

These aren't anything like the Anne Rice book you enjoy, but maybe you'd like to try something new today? (Let me know if you read any of these. I'd love to know what you think!)

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...enjoying the journey...

Hi LindaK29, Did you ever get a chance to check out the Spalding books? Here is a site that you might want to peek at. It doesn't give much information but it gives you a little. www.algonet.se/hemesat/spalding.htm. Let me know what you think.

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Sandalwood's Cosmic Creations: Working with the magic of love....

thanks for the info, Sandalwood. I haven't had the chance to read much recently. Now that I have some spare time again, I'll see if I can find Spaulding.

Have you read any of the books I mentioned to Allassandra? Just wondering.

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...enjoying the journey...

Hi LindaK29, I have read "Dante's Inferno" I had a hard time getting through it. I do that somtimes when something is not in accordance with my beliefs. Has any one read all three of the "Conversations With God" series written by Neale? Let me know what you think. They are more about what I believe in.

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Sandalwood's Cosmic Creations: Working with the magic of love....

I haven't read the Conversations With God series. I've never hard of them. I'm going to the library, though, so I'll check it out. Thanks for the title.

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...enjoying the journey...

LindaK29, You can try looking in the library and I wish you luck. I think your best bet is a book store. Do you have a "Borders" there. At our store you can pick a book off of the shelf,go into the coffee/music area and read while listening to a live musician or which ever author might be in that day. I suggest that. I really don't want to spend my money on something that I am not going to like.

Neale,the author of "Conversations With God",has started which I am a member of, a United Religions foundation. It has to do with uniting all religions,putting our differences a side and realizing that all is all and what is one is the other. Get it? We have progressed greatly. This year on New Years Eve will be the biggest,ever,world prayer held with all different religions together,at the same time. In the back of the book there is information on this and on how to join.

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Sandalwood's Cosmic Creations: Working with the magic of love....

I hate to admit it but I haven't read any of the other books mentioned here. I mostly read horror novels and I sometimes stumble across a book with some interesting thoughts on religion in them. Most of what I know of reliugions is what I come across in my books, from discovery channel, and from my friends who are al very religous, which I think is somewhat ironic since I'm the only one of my friends who isn't. I really hate to admit all this! But lately I've been more interested in all this and next time I'm at the library I think I'll check out a few of the books you guys mentioned.

dear lindak29
I too have been deeply troubled by this religion thing.SO, I locked my self in my flat for a few weeks with every book I could find regarding myths & legends of the creation I included the bible in this collection and the conclusion I came to is quite disturbing for some people,be that as it may, here are my conclusions. In the days of creation "accordiing to the bible 7"
lots of stuff happened one day at a time "what utter rubbish!" this is the garbage fed to our children in religious classes at
school, when, in actual fact as proven by the various scientific
discoveries, it must have taken millions of years! SO, taking this as a guide line, we can come to the conclusion that religion
and I mean all of them is just a device invented by prople who wish to control the lives of others THESE ARE MY THOUGHTS, I do not apologise if they offend. dragonsaver

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dragonsaver

Here's a change of subject? still ancient Egypt.
has anyone read the 'RAMSES' series of books (5 in all) by
CHRISTIAN JAQUES I found them fascinating because they take a real long look at the lifestyles of the Egyptian people and the relation ship they had with their gods, CHRISTIAN JAQUES is a French archeologist who has put a lot of work into researching these novels.

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dragonsaver

I haven't read any of the 'RAMSES' series but, I am working with a book call 'How To Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs'. It is a step-by-step guide to teach yourself. I find it annoying for the simple fact that it is complicated. I just can't seem to figure it out.

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Sandalwood's Cosmic Creations: Working with the magic of love....

Please note!
Error in spelling authors name should be CHRISTIAN JACQ
THANKYOU

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dragonsaver

The story of Creation as taught in our Bible was never supposed to be a day by day account of creation. Any Jewish person will tell you that it is a story. The works of God are unknowable and, therefore, the story of Creation is only told to help us get a picture of his awesomeness. The whole idea that the Bible should be taken literally didn't come about until MUCH later. I think that didn't happen until the 17th Century, but I may have my dates wrong. (I'll look that up and get back to you all on that.)
Has anyone here read Maimonides? Or Acquinas? Just curious.

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...enjoying the journey...