Hello. Mr. Rice has forwarded your email to my attention, and I submit the following response for your consideration in the hope that it may possibly help you in some way.

Inbound mail:
>If you trust in men, of course you will be disappointed.
>All men are sinners.

Robert Curry:
What a terribbly dim view of life to embrace. Have you been especially disappointed, and feel that saying "all men are sinners" somehow explains why you should have expected disappointment all along?

I agree that some disappointment is inevitable, but to make it a primary dogma of your religious faith seems rather extreme and appeals to a false sense of hopelessness.

Inbound mail:
>If its the truth you seek, Jesus is the Truth.

Robert Curry:
Nonsense. You are merely repeating superstitious fairy tales and religious make believe. I would strongly encourage you to grow up and accept responsibility for thinking more clearly.

Are you willing to accept that challenge?

Will you even read this entire response all the way to the end?

Inbound mail:
>Jesus is not to be proven, but believed.

Robert Curry:
The same as Santa Claus, who is likewise believed to exist outside imagination despite there being no evidence to support such a contention. From the standpoint of evidence, the Jesus myth and the Santa myth are logically equivalent.

Inbound mail:
>I'm sorry you have had bad experiences with Christians,

Robert Curry:
This is true for many people, unfortunately. I am perhaps lucky to have had very few negative experiences, and many more positive ones where christians (and people who believe in other very different religions) are concerned.

Inbound mail:
>but just because we are believers does not make us perfect,
>just saved. In God's eyes we are all the same

Robert Curry:
We are all very much the same, and there is no need to play with make believe gods to come to that understanding. The sooner people come to realize this, the better able they will be to put away their childish toy gods and superstitious dogmas.

Inbound mail:
>He loves us all equally, even the nonbelievers.

Robert Curry:
And this love is demonstrated by casting the nonbelievers into hell, a place of eternal torture, right?

Inbound mail:
>Mr. Rice, Jesus came to save everyone from their sin and the
>punishment of their sin which is eternity in Hell.

Robert Curry:
Right. What kind of monster punishes its children by torturing them? I trust that you do not follow the same vicious and hateful rule with any children under YOUR care. Especially not if you call such hideous child abuse by the name of "love."

Inbound mail:
>God loves you so much and wants you to know Him and
>believe in His Son so you can spend eternity in Heaven
>with Him.

Robert Curry:
Otherwise, burn in hell. Again, you are describing a two-faced monster. What a sick fairy tale to believe in!

No wonder our society suffers from so many problems, when religious horror stories like the above are believed by so many unfortunate people even today.

Inbound mail:
>You see, God doesn't have to prove His existence to anyone.

Robert Curry:
Peter Pan doesn't have to, either. Nor does Caspar the Friendly Ghost. Did you ever stop to wonder why?

Inbound mail:
>Proof is the sky, the trees, flowers, grass, plants, babies and
>children of all ages.

Robert Curry:
Evidence of the sky, the trees, flowers, grass, plants, babies and children of all ages -- yes. Evidence of a god or any other ghost existing outside the human imagination? No.

You realy ought to stop sometime and take a good look at the sheer nonsense that you repeat above without thinking it through.

Inbound mail:
>He's right in your heart waiting for you to acknowledge Him,
>and I pray someday you will.

Robert Curry:
Why? Because you are afraid of what your monster of a god will do to Mr. Rice (and billions of other people) if they do not believe in your particular religious dogmas?

I understand that you do not want to see billions of people tortured in hell. No sane, compassionate person could possibly want such a horrible thing. But you are afraid. You know that very few people really believe in the monster of a god that you say is going to cast Mr. Rice and so many others into hell.

And you want to help them avoid this fate, don't you? If only you could help bring one of these thousands of millions of people to believe as you do, then that would be one less person who has to suffer the eternal and unbearable agonies of hell forever and ever without any chance of escape or mercy from the jailer who oversees their perpetual, unending torture.

You feel sorry, perhaps, for what Mr. Rice is going to suffer eventually, after he is dead, if what you believe is true and not just a collection of old religious myths.

I feel sorry for what you must be going through right now and every day of your life, believing in such a monstrous god that would torture even one person -- let alone the billions that you know will never believe in your religious dogmas!

What a living nightmare it must be for any compassionate, caring person to seriously believe in such a horribly cruel and vicious monster of a deity committing atrocities of torture that would turn the stomachs of all decent human beings. It must be very difficult for you to really think about what you believe and still acknowledge the value and worth of each and every individual person.

You have my sympathy. I appreciate your concern, and hope that one day you will learn to direct your positive concerns toward reality, with the courage to question religious dogmas, and the freedom to think critically and creatively without fear.

With Best Wishes,
Robert Curry
St. Petersburg, Florida