>actually, now that I think about it, doesn't christianity teach >original sin....that were born with sin and we must atone for it?
Not at all. It teaches that we are all sinful, but that Jesus died on the Cross to atone for our sins. We are not saved by our own actions, we are saved only through God's grace. We are not supposed to be guilty about our sin, but appreciate and love God for the great sacrifice he made for us. We do good not because we are guilty and fear retribution, but because our hearts and minds are changed by God's love for us. As for atheism being a religion...not really. There are different types of atheism as well, most notable being strong vs. weak...weak being simply an absence of any belief in a god (such as people that have no exposure to religious teachings) and strong atheism which is an absolute disbelief in the existence of god(s). The latter I would say is a declaration that is essentially faith-based, since there is no more proof that a God does not exist than proof that he does. Belief that a god does exist (theism) is not in and of itself a religion either, but it certainly is a declaration of faith. Of course you can also throw agnosticism into the mix, in which a person tempers a statement of belief (either for or against existence of god) without a profession of absolute faith in that belief. --- Mary Jo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:306233 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
