Hi Gofer. I don't want to get into a debate on faith or religion, but your comment 'I would argue that God does not punish non-adherents, they simply exclude themselves.' is something I have heard before and it intrigues me. The vast majority of humanity have been born and lived in the wrong place and/or the wrong time to even know about your religion of choice. How have they excluded themselves?

As a convinced atheist I don't believe any of it. When I die (when any of us die) consciousness ends and thats it - with decomposition or ashes for the physical bits that remain. But in the real world there are believers with enormous political or financial power who use their metaphysical views to affect the lives of millions. I was reading some things about Mike Johnson - the new US Speaker - this morning, and his view of 'the Christian elect and the rest' is truly scary. Your posts usually come across as a matter of personal faith (and a code for living) not about imposing a belief system on others, but the comment I picked out above confuses and worries me.