Hi Linda, I'm glad you dropped by and even more pleased that you have an opinion (of course I knew you would!) You have done your daughter a great service by teaching her to question everything. Simply believing anything blindly can be and often is very dangerous. It seems our grandfathers were very much alike. My Grandad used to go to church with my Granny until one day when the Royal Family was in town. The church they attended happened to be the same one the Royal Family attended, and he was asked to move to the back from where he usually sat up front (he had a hearing problem caused by a serious accident), to make room for the royals up front. Grandad moved to the back, all right - right out the back to the street. His words were, "They came into this world kicking and screaming and covered in blood just like everyone else - what makes anyone think they're better than anyone else?" Grandad was a very strong believer in Jesus Christ - but very much against the pomp and ceremony (and glitz) that is often a major part of organized religion. Religion is something I have some big problems with, too, as so much evil has been done in the world by religious organizations. It's too bad they don't simply follow in the footsteps of the founder. ============================================================= Point being, I have learned to make my decisions about people based on how they treat other people, not their stance on religion or God or christianity. Talk is cheap. Now, walking one's talk - that's rare. ================================================================ Amen! Far too many people today love to talk the talk, most likely... no,no... definitely to try to gain an advantage. Walking the walk IS what makes the difference. My personal belief is that it's how you live your life that really counts, not what you build, accumulate, accomplish, etc. The way you treat others and the way you do what you do is what makes the greatest difference in this world. Thanks for you insightful comments, Linda. God bless, Dave

Dave, heh...heh... Sorry, but I can't help myself here... You said about "royalty": ============== "They came into this world kicking and screaming and covered in blood just like everyone else - what makes anyone think they're better than anyone else?" ============== ... coz their blood is blue. Boom. Boom. Gary

Hi, gary, We all have blue blood - it turns red after going through the lungs to be oxygenated. As for religion and the Bible, I'm sure one of the early pronouncements by God to man was that 'thou shalt have no craven images'. Oops - I'd better get rid of my crucifixes! Regards

Hi Art, Yeah, I know, but it was too good an opportunity to pass up. Gary

Hi; ===== "They came into this world kicking and screaming and covered in blood just like everyone else - what makes anyone think they're better than anyone else?" ===== Ironically -- they think as they do because *we* (the general public) accept and endorse it. America doesn't have a king/queen because Americans decided not to. Think about it. If some guy just stood up out of the blue and said "I'm the King, treat me as such!" we'd laugh him out of the room. We'd call him psycho and tell him he needs psychiatric help. People with elevated stature in life - royalty, government officials, celebrities and wealthy people - HAVE that very status because WE - the masses - give it to them and accept it. The theory, of course, is that we need people to look up to. Then once we put someone on a pedestal, we riducule them, criticize their human foibles and try to knock them OFF the pedestal we put them on. Go figure. : ) Linda