Islam, Judaism, and Christianity… Which one is better? Which one is worse? Which is right? Which is wrong? …to infinity! One of the reasons I could never adopt either of those religions is because they all say they are the way. Which kind of disrespects The Eternal One since all three say they are the way to him. Unless there are three separate dieties. Then things would make more sense to me. Each individual diety is fighting for control of this world along with their faithful followers. That’s more comfortable for me to deal with. But if we all agree there is only...

A good friend of mine is a Muslim (born and raised in Egypt). We were having a general discussion about Iraq at my house when he just stops, gets a thoughtful look on his face and says: How can a keep believing in the peace in Islam when many of my fellow Muslims obviously don’t? Am I not a Muslim then? WOW! How could I answer that? I’m a weak agnostic with a intermediate knowledge of Islam. Yet here was my good friend looking at me for an answer. And in his look, I could see pain. He was clearly struggling with himself. So I took a swig of my iced tea, took a deep breath, and...

One of the main reasons why I became an agnostic had to deal with my love and respect of Kwanzaa, and the harsh criticism I received from Christians. They always hit me with the “Kwanzaa is anti-Christian and Marxist” boomerang. When I heard that (or hear it to this day), I get physically ill. Why? Because I have based a large portion of my life upon the values of Kwanzaa: * Umoja (Unity) * Kujichagulia (Self-determination) * Ujima (Collective work and responsibility) * Ujamaa (Cooperative economics) * Nia (Purpose) * Kuumba (Creativity) * Imani (Faith) Those seven values affected...

I’ve had enough! I’m declaring war on New Year’s Eve and Day! Look what those days have become: alcohol extraganzas with big dollops of silly, sexual, and downright ignorant behavior thrown in. Look at what they do in the Big Apple. They crowd around that THING and watch it creep slowly up (or down or WHATEVER) until it hits the top (or bottom or WHATEVER). Then everyone erupts into drunken singin’, hollerin’, feelin’ up, etc. Everyone letting loose their inhibitions and seriousness be damned! We need to go back to the real meaning of New Year’s Eve...

Words of advice to all religious people: Denouncing a good friend after you found your faith simply because they don’t share it shows that you are faithless. Especially when that good friend has only been supportive of you almost your entire life. I will try hard to not let bitterness and resentment take over my feelings toward you friend. But it will be no skin off my back if I don’t ever have to see you again, pal. I hope your satisfied. UPDATE! Maybe I’ll just get my ol’ pumpkin carving kit and have at the one of the eight pumpkins sitting in my garage. Roasting those...

** For those of you not familiar with The Da Vinci Code, please click here for an excellent summation of it via Wikipedia. ** La Shawn Barber’s words concerning The Da Vinci Code movie (due for release May 2006) and book sums up why religious disputes are so hard to reconcile: The Da Vinci Code hype has down died in the past couple of years, but it’s sure to heat up again. The story is not true, but that’s hardly the point. In a world hostile to the faith, we must be prepared to defend the faith when confronted by questions and absurd arguments made on the nonsense within the pages of...