[Iris7]

"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?"

"Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

"And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!"

There are plenty enough heathen here in the USA.

[jclimacus]

Yes, I am one of those heathen!
But I used to be a pre-seminarian in a conservative college in the Midwest.

I marvel how those of you who quote the bible so prolifically, especially in defense of American imperialism, intermingle with such ease the god of wrath (so aptly depicted in much of the Old Testament) with a Christian theology that claims to be founded on the teachings of Christ, who understood god as a god of love.

I also marvel how tolerance of other religions and other ideas finds no room in hearts; that punishment of the infidel is the only remedy for dealing with differences; or that opinions different than your own can only be greeted with an attempt to convert the opinion holder.

Thomas Jefferson said, "Our particular principles of religion are a subject of accountability to our god alone. I enquire after no man's and trouble none with mine; nor is it given to us in this life to know whether yours or mine, our friend's or our foe's, are exactly the right."

I find it peculiar too how little our fundamentalist friends know of the origin of the modern bible, and recommend for your "open minds" the reading of "Misquoting Jesus".