Here's an exchange that I felt deserved attention ...

This guy is from 'Plentyoffish'. He wrote me first of all to ask my birthday. I looked at his profile and it says 'other religion', so I asked him what that means to him. His response is exactly my reason for scoping this out: I don't want to waste time debating religion, especially from a new age, universalist, etc .. point of view .. I get very quickly weary of the political types who consider themselves worldly, sophisticated ... and are therefore unteachable.

This guy's attitude LOUDLY demonstrates why I'm wise to avoid anything further!
(his posts will be in green, mine in purple, in order of correspondence)

Pay close attention to the rapidly-accelerated intensity of such a brief interaction:
_______________________________________________________
From: *oc*
Subject: *hey
Sent Date: 9/29/2007 1:54:10 AM
you are my age....
my birthday is april 5th.....when is yours....??
g

From: Key_Player
Subject: march 21 ..
Sent Date: 9/29/2007 2:50:08 AM
I noticed it says 'other religion' on your profile: what does that mean for you?

From: *oc*
Subject: RE:march 21 ..
Sent Date: 9/29/2007 8:44:31 AM
it means i subscribe to the spirit of the law not the letter of the law...
or,
it means the commonalities of religions i follow....the same truth within ALL religions...
they are all saying the same thing....they are just using different terms....god, alah, the tao,the great white spirit,all-that-is...etc, etc...all refer to the same force or energy...
other religion means....a catholic shouldn,t say a native african will go to hell because he has never heard of the word ....jesus and is therefore a heathen
so...an allowance for all religions means ..."other"...
g

From: Key_Player
Subject: RE:RE:march 21 ..
Sent Date: 9/29/2007 10:11:17 AM
ahhh. I see....
well, in all fairness I ought to tell you that my faith is of the deeply Christian, and I'm not sure we'd necessarily see eye-to-eye on this level (I'm of the conviction that if someone has not put their trust in Jesus, they cannot see God, because Jesus IS God!) so perhaps as friends we'd do better, as long as we steer clear of religious matters?
If I dated someone, a shared belief base is basically wanted in order to prevent that fundamental conflict.
whatya t'ink?

From: *oc*
Subject: what ya t'ink
Sent Date: 9/29/2007 10:51:49 AM
dating???
hard to do with the distance....i'm in vancouver...
jesus....is my hero...the best teacher i have ever known...
is he god? yes!!!
you know why they killed him????
because in john 10:26
he said.....THAT YE ARE GODS
he said all of humanity were gods not just himself....even according to the old testament scriptures it was written so...
but the pharasee's couldn't take it!!
they were not able to endure HIS knowledge....as he said...you can't put new wine in old skins....they will burst
so the religious priests of the time MURDERED him....
that is why i am not religious but very spiritual...
the sabbath said you should not heal on the sabbath day....but jesus did !!!
therefore jesus was spiritual and not dogmaticly,rigidly religious...
if you are a christian...you should love your enemies....the usa is a religious people...their money says...in god we trust....and yet they have murdered innocent women and children in iraq in the name of god.....see how people USE religion and dont understand it...
do good unto those who would harm you, pray for those....
as you so you reap....that is pure
how can you say jesus,jesus ...go to church and then have anger in your heart....these people are not practising christians.....by word yes...not by deed...
g

From: Key_Player
Subject: this isn't a political thing with me.
Sent Date: 9/29/2007 10:57:27 AM
dunno why the reference to the USA is there..
I'm just not into discussing the religion part of it. like you, I'm spiritual but I don't care for the way man has distorted it.
however, it sounds like we're not very well-matched even to get along as buddies, I do appreciate your letter.. and as for asking about the dating, don't make it seem so incredulous that I would ask; how could I know what you're here for? :-)
anyway I'm going to take my leave here; I have a lot of things in my life that are stressful and I do apologize but debating religious motives is just too much for my nerves, I wish you well.
KP
________________________________________________
Wow ... I've learned over a little while on these sites that the ones claiming the most expansive religious tolerance turn out to be the LEAST tolerant of those who profess a specific faith in Christ.
I don't want to turn my blog into a battleground; I merely am saying that I have to steer clear of the reverse example of a holy roller: someone who demands a complete melting pot of all faiths, and gets THIS ANGRY when a person points to JESUS.

Some of you readers may point out "but YOU brought up religion, he didn't". Fair enough, but since his profile left that detail so ambiguous, I had to ask. My experience is that those with 'other religion' would not let up on the debate, so I wanted to see if this guy is of the debating kind, which .. as we see here, he is.