Have you ever had any experiences with manipulating Mormons

[_Roger Morrison]

Hi Gaz, i'll do this in the usual, injecting 'boldly' ;-)

"God" is no respector of persons, rituals or platitudes.

Does this include the ones he expressly commanded be practiced? Does your belief in Christ extend to the words he stated when he set apart and ordained the apostles to go forth and baptise?

RM: Such as, "...leave nothing alive...men, women or children..." OR, "...to love your neighbor as yourself..."??? First, NO! Second, YES! ... He is said to have sent others to teach, and do what he did--as best they could. I have no reason to doubt that... As for the rituals leading to authority, you deem essential to do-the-deeds: I personally do not see them essential to performing good-works, or instructing to proper understanding and behaviour. As i have told you repeatedly, i see no spiritual necessity in the baptismal ritual/ordinance. Baptism is simply symbolic...

When your studying the words of Christ, how much of what he said and what is described to have been done by him do oyu toss out the window, and how much do you keep? By the time your done, how many of the epistles and how many of the gospels are left in your scriptures?

RM: From past posts & exchanges, you must have a pretty good idea of my choices of keep-vs-discard... By the time i have processed "...the epistles & gospels..." through MY filter???

Generally speaking: The Sermon On The Mount; Without Charity you are nothing; The Kingdom of "God" IS within YOU; A new commandment i give Y'all; Letter killeth, the Spirit giveth life; Let NO man judge you; ALL one in Christ; Charity covers...sins; Fear not; Judge not; The greatest should be servants to the lessor; Blessed are Peace-Makers; Love/Pray for your enemies; Don't kill; Eat meat sparingly, and veggies much; Never pass beggars without giving to them; Be faithful to your spouse/partner; Be honest; Don't be greedy and a wealth builder--avoid the stuff that gluts without satisfying the Spirit/Soul; Be a best-parent & of course a best-spouse... off the top of my bald-head :-)

Christ's teachings are too confining..."?? To ME his teachings are liberating.

You stated that people can believe whatever they want and stil get to heaven. By that notion, you deny Christ and his teaching that "...no man cometh unto the Father but by me and my Law" Kind of takes the wind out of your sails about people of non-christian faiths returning to the presence of the Father doesent it?

RM: "...believe whatever they want and still get to heaven..." I respectfully suggest is somewhat of a nonsense statement when assuming some requirments of passage... Like to believe it's OK, then proceed to murder, rape, abuse children, lead Jews into gas-chambers, hang Blacks from trees etc??? I don't subscribe to that, any more than i imagine you do...

Can you for a moment think beyond the confines of traditional Christian indoctrination, plllllease? :-) Try this: IF "Father" is another word for 'love/truth' AND Jesus is THE one who leads folks to 'truth-&-love'... AND when Jesus sent forth 'his' teachers into ALL THE WORLD, he didn't say, "make them believe in me!" He directed them to teach the principles of charity, well-being & doing according to the "Two New Commandments"!

"Exclusivity". A most un-Christian attitude

See above

in this life or the next... IF there is one

You claim to be a believer in Christinity, then question the existence of an afterlife? So you believe in Christ, just not in anything he said or did.

Gaz, do you have a 'retention deficit disorder' :-) I thought that to be a product of my old-age, LOL! This is old ground Bro... I think/believe, generally speaking, Christianity has not represented Jesus very well; in many cases completely misrepresented him. Soooo, i'm a contemplative christian disident who believes Jesus was born of Mary and taught a new way to relate to life and each other. I believe those several things i listed above to be the essence and core of Jesus' philosophy. We--believers--have yet to take it beyond the theory, and practice it to perfection...

Doesn't every thinking person question the existance of an afterlife? What conclusion i come to on the question--i haven't heard any good answers--will have absolutely no bearing on whether there is, or isn't an afterlife. It is a most absurd discussion except as a Tribal Identity...