Sir,

The passage you quoted from Acts describes Paul's visit to Athens. The people of Athens at that time were incredibly superstitous, and erected statues to all known Gods of the day. In case they missed one, they erected a statute to the Unknown God, kind of a catch-all, CYA kind of thing. In a very nice way, Paul was in a sense mocking them, for he knew there was only one true God. Read the rest of the chapter. Further in your comments, you survey world religions in a cafeteria style, i.e. pick the one you want (or whatever combination), and, for you, that will be the true religion. The passage from Acts you quote actually serves to discredit the remainder of your post. God does not mold himself to your definition, nor mine. He simply is. ("I AM" was a name he referred to himself as.)

True, there are many religions and beliefs existing today. However, since they contradict each other, the rules of simple logic dictate that it is impossible for them all to be correct. Can we agree on that, at least? To say that all religions are true if they are believed by someone is ridiculous from the premise. This is Moral Relativism, which implies that there are no truth absolutes (true or false). Rather, truth is defined culturally - that is, if we all agree something is true, then it must be true.

In fact, there ARE absolutes. There are five very strong arguements against Moral Relativism. Rather than listing them here, I will instead encourage you to read Love God With All Your Mind by J.P. Moreland. This book presents compelling arguements to many of your misconceptions, and points you to the answers you seek.

Today, more than ever before, it is vital for a Christian to also be an Apologetic, an intellectual defender of the faith. While I am a Christian, I am also an American and a firm believer in the Bill of Rights. I don't persecute non-Christians - I just accept it as their constitutional right to be wrong.

Of course, being a Christian is more than just the intellectual acceptance of the truth of the Bible - it is the act of yielding your will to the will of God. THAT's the hard part for a lot of people.

As an aside, your implication that scripture could fundamentally change through a "pass the secret" scheme would, if applied to the Koran, result if a death sentence for you. Ask Salman (sp?) Rushdie, the author of Santanic Verses. Although the King James version was translated from the original Hebrew, Greek and Arabic to Latin, THEN to English, it is amazingly similar to, say, the New American Standard version, which was translated directly from the original (Dead Sea Scrolls, etc.) into contemporary English. Rather than assume it was translated incorrectly, we are left to marvel at the hand of God. Sixty-six books written over several hundred years by so many people - yet resulting in an amazingly cohesive book detailing hundreds of fullfilled prophesies spanning centuries while explaining in simple terms unfathomable truthes. The validity of the Bible does not rest simply within the Bible (i.e. "the Bible says it, I believe it, and that's that"), but abundantly outside of the Bible as well. The proof of the existance of God is all around you.

One thing you said that I completely agree with is your statement that one does not have to attend church to be a believer. Its just easier, because you can commit more time to a structured study regime (it's a life-time kind of thing), and there are more opportunities to witness (some) good examples of what you aspire to be.

My Dear Reader, my advice to you is not to find a religion that you like, but to find the religion that is true. I encourage you to learn about all the religions noted in the post above, but for the purpose of determining what is true and what is not true. You cannot take a cafeteria approach (one of these, one of those). Don't just take my word for it - do your own research. Take your time and do it right - there is a lot at stake here.

Thank you for my $.02 opportunity, and God Bless You All! And, please, no "XMASS". Don't take the "Christ" out of Christmas!