Dear misguided Pious Bob, Marx said religion is the opium of the people. He hit the nail on the head. We are who we are to make the best of life that we can. We have no super being help in life. As far as christianity is concerned, that is just fancied up opium with a new flavor. Islam and other religions come from the same place. They all get the people hooked on the religion drug and then use it to control them. Christianity didn't succeed and grow because it is real. The Romans finally saw it as a way of controlling people and that's how the pope & the vatican got going. Spend your time on something real and stop bothering people.  Anonymous

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Dear Anonymous,
I attended a Christian funeral today.  I witnessed rememberance, love, comfort to those that mourned and a trust in a creator God that made everyone's life and thoughts of death and their own death a celebration.  You would call this a drug induced event.  I would call it a loving God using everyone attending, and even those who couldn't make it, as His conduits of love and grace to each of them.  And in doing so, receiving His mortal child back to him, just as He received Jesus back to Him.  The life and death of Jesus wasn't fancied up opium, but a way God communicated with His children to assure them a better life and a place in eternity with Him.  This gift is recognized and witnessed to by many today and has been throughout history as God continues to reveal His Love & Grace to the world.  However, there is a catch to all of this.  If you are not seeking and or listening to our loving Father as you experience this gift of life that He has given us, you are taking yourself out of this blessing by ignoring it.  How God relates to and deals with those who don't and won't seek Him in their lives is His business, not mine.  Making this choice to ignore and deny Him is your choice, not His.  Ultimately, our choices in this gift of life do matter and sometimes cause us and God a good deal of pain.  Sorry to bother you.
In His Love,
Pious Bob