In Raleigh Whiteman's column of Nov. 8, Democracy Not Always The Answer, he appears to slight democracy in the title. Actually, the column is about religion. Whiteman says there are over billion atheists and agnostics in the world, the wildest estimate I have ever heard. According to Whiteman, "Nary a one of these 37 churches considers any of the others to be equal or valid." On the contrary, today the Roman Catholic Church considers a baptism in virtually any Protestant church to be valid. Although there are several sects of Eastern Orthodox, they all recognize the others as having valid Apostolic Succession. The Church of England practices InterOrdination with a sect called the Old Catholic Church.Bishops of either church are sometimes ordained by Bishops of both churches. The Methodist Church split off the Church of England, but not because of differences in belief. John Wesley did not introduce new beliefs, he wanted a new emphasis on Bible study and to bring Christian services to the American frontier. ...more

December 9, 2007

It appears to some that the United States government and its leaders are trying to take over the whole Earth with democracy in each and every country and enforce that form of government by force if necessary and ignore the sovereignty of nations. Religion has and likely will always be the major cause of dissension between governments and countries and individuals. The majority of mankind cannot accept a belief that does not include the probability of a life or existence after death. Achieving that existence is the difference between every religion. Each believes theirs is the only way to get there. ...more

November 8, 2007