Dude! I wonder if you are this rude to people you meet face-to-face. I
suspect that a certain invisibility and anonymity has made you forget your
manners. It probably happens to most of us on the internet from time to
time. Maybe you failed to recognize that a living human being sits reading
your hateful words?



Perhaps you have never had a discussion of a book before. If I were to ask a
question about what grains Bilbo Baggins had stored in his pantry, would you
then jump to the conclusion that I believe Tolkien wrote a literal history?
(This isn't a perfect analogy but I probably thought of it because I just
got back from a short time in a series of caves and tunnels and I felt like
a hobbit.) Anyway my point is: I was discussing whether or not the Bible was
pro-Paleo, and my thinking is that no, it isn't. I was not discussing my
opinion one way or the other whether Genesis should be taken as a literal
account or whether I believe in the resurrection, etc. - and nowhere did I
even *suggest* what anyone else should believe, think, feel or do.



Surely you can see that the Bible, whether or not one believes it to be
divinely inspired, can provide much information about human history (a great
deal of it supported by archaeology and other sources) and therefore isn't
lightly dismissed as completely irrelevant. Last I heard it was the
bestselling book of all time, by a longshot, so it doesn't seem unreasonable
to me that a lot of people - religious and not - have read it and discuss
it. If this has escaped your notice and surprises you, then how ironic is it
that you consider me uneducated and ill-informed?



And by the way, if I DO believe one thing or the other, what business is it
of yours, and who are you to pass judgment on what you THINK you know of me?
Isn't that what you accuse me of when you call me names based upon your
assumptions about what I believe? So aren't you being the kind of intolerant
hypocrite you accuse me of being?



In any case, I refuse to take your remarks to heart. Neither my belief nor
my self-image is dependent upon your approval or even your right
understanding. Instead, I wish you every good thing and every blessing - and
that you will be granted the true desires of your heart.



Anne