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<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Gary</span></font></st1:City></st1:place>,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>I was addressing an argument of yours, and I think that curiosity about
what “religion” you claim for yourself is highly germane to your
argument. In what follows I’ll remind you of the written record;
and this will hopefully be the conclusion to our interesting discussion.
Thanks much.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>I. You Just Wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Greetings, Michael. Just let me tell you how
sorry I am that I didn't drop everything and respond to your question. Now that
you have my full and undivided attention, just let me say that I can't imagine
any discussion, further or otherwise, that we might have where by my religion,
or lack there of, should matter to you in the least. I am, generally, not in
the habit of indulging other peoples idle curiosity, and this instance will not
be an exception. Should you have queries of a more germane nature, please feel
free to inquire, however don't be disappointed if you don't always get what you
want, whether it be a reply or the reply you were hoping for. (despite my slack
jawed, imbecilic countenance, I do understand precisely why you are so
adamant about receiving an answer to your ecclesiastical question.) Please feel
free to jump to whatever conclusion best meets your current needs.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>gc<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>II. However, you had originally written<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Mr. Nielsen, I am certain that there is a boat load of
difference between "comment on" and "answer for." I am also
sure that you are already well aware of this.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>As to your contention that it's an
"oxymoron" that atheists don't worship any god, I would respectfully
beg to differ. It seems to me that, in their own minds, they worship at the
altar of science, rationality, and secularism. Were this not the case why would
you devote so much of your precious time over the years to correcting what you
perceive as the error and folly that you imagine *other* religious groups
have made?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Lastly, I find your rhetorical style to be
fascinating. First you demand that Mr. Iverson explain the Pope's comments and
then you call on me to do the same. Then you toss it all off with how Pastor
Lynn didn't mention the Pope at all. I am not communicating with Pastor Lynn. I
am responding (incoherently perhaps) to you.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>gc<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>It is impossible for there to be a person with no
religion (i.e.without any kind of relationship to the world) as it is for there
to be a person without a heart. He may not know that he has a religion, just as
a person may not know that he has a heart, but it is no more possible for a
person to exist without a religion than without a heart. (Leo Tolstoy, 1879)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>III. And then this was my response, and my question:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>“It is impossible for there to be a person with
no religion (i.e. without any kind of relationship to the world) as it is for
there to be a person without a heart. He may not know that he has a religion,
just as a person may not know that he has a heart, but it is no more possible
for a person to exist without a religion than without a heart. (Leo Tolstoy,
1879)”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Gary</span></font></st1:City></st1:place>,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>This is a nice quote. However, if I were to qualify
Tolstoy’s point, I would say that there are a lot of people out there who
hardly qualify as having “a heart,” if we take the usage of this
phrase in its more normal meaning in contexts like this. There are some who are
just vain cynics, who have little sympathy for others and little taste for
transcendence. Some find discussions about sociology, theology, and
politics to be mere entertainment, not taking the discourse seriously, nor
caring at all for whom they dialog with. So I would want to group folks
into four groups: theist with heart, theist without heart, non-theist with
heart, non-theist without heart. However, given your interpretation of
this nice passage from Tolstoy, if everyman is religious, what kind of religion
are you?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Thank you<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Michael Metzler <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.poohsthink.com/"
title="http://www.poohsthink.com/">www.poohsthink.com</a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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