Reply #181: Ok, one at a time:

[JerseygirlCT]

I'm talking core beliefs: the belief in a supernatural parent/babysitter who - like Santa - knows when you are sleeping, knows when you're awake, knows when you've been bad or good My take on God has nothing to do with a babysitter; the belief that Adam & Eve "fell from grace," thereby giving man his "sinful nature" that needs to be redeemed by a god-sent savior (let's face it, if you don't believe the Adam & Eve story, why believe that man has a sinful nature in need of redemption?)absolutely do not believe this - and you'd be surprised how few do; the belief that morals came from godnope; the belief that there is an afterlife, etc.yes, of some sort.

Again, you're deciding what you think are core beliefs, and then making broad assumptions. Not at all so. In fact, there is a huge variety in Christian thought.

And, I don't believe there are any other gods - or to put it another way, there is God. Other peoples at other times have perceived God differently, but that doesn't change God. It's our human perceptions that have changed, not the number or nature of God.

And why in the world would common ground with atheists be a problem? Again, you're making some big and not at all nice assumptions.

I take no responsibility for the perverse interpretation of Christianity exhibited by many fundamentalists. I believe what I believe, and will be judged on that. I don't own them, any more than you do.