[lace-chat] :) Fwd: The difference

[Tamara P. Duvall]

I grew up in a country which was 97% Catholic, despite (because of??? 
Contrariness is a fairly common human trait...) all the difficulties 
the Communist regime imposed on those who wanted to practise it. The 
remaining 3% were more-or-less equally divided between atheists and 
"other religions". History -- both in high school and at the U (where I 
only studied the Anglo-branches, having chosen English as my subject 
matter) -- alerted me to the existence of "Protestants". Those, 
apparently, were a branch of Christians, whose priests, unlike ours, 
didn't wear a cassock and a collarette, were permitted to marry, and 
where the congregation was encouraged to read the "basic text" (both 
"testaments" of the Bible), instead of having it "interpreted" for 
them...

Then, I came to US... :) And "met" the "niggling differences", somewhat 
like the one in the following, most excellent, IMO, joke. 31 yrs later, 
I still cannot believe it...

From: M.A.
I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the 
edge,
about to jump off. I immediately ran over and said "Stop! Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he said.
I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"
"Like what?"
"Well ... are you religious or atheist?"
"Religious."
"Me too! Are you Christian or Jewish?"
"Christian."
"Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"
"Protestant."
"Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"
"Baptist."
"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the 
Lord?"

"Baptist Church of God."
"Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed 
Baptist
Church of God?"

"Reformed Baptist Church of God."
"Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or
Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?"
"Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!"
To which I said, "Die, heretic scum!" and pushed him off.
---
Tamara P Duvall             http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd
Lexington, Virginia, USA     (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
              Healthy US through The No-CARB Diet:
    no C-heney, no A-shcroft, no R-umsfeld, no B-ush.
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