Thank you all for the well wishes and prayers. Most of all thank you so much for being so candid. I feel bad I wasn't able to respond like I normally do. I was able to get my post done and scheduled it to post and that was it. It should be good now.

I honestly feel it's discussions like this that start change. As a few others have mentioned they have studied and looked into various paths, I have too. I am by no means an expert nor do I pretend to be. My personal feeling is that we all have our own journeys and that our paths are unique to ourselves. Yet they all lead to the same destination.

One thing I have come across in my studies is there actually are many points in all that are similar in thought.

• Morals
• God/Spirit reside in us
• Peace/non-violence
• God/Spirit is everywhere
• Compassion and respect for all
• Humanity is united
• God/Spirit is light

There are actually more similarities in religion than there are differences. Yet it seems that the differences are what tear us apart. As we have seen over a millennia or 2 the amount of lost lives in this cause is unimaginable. We have seen and still seeing genocide on a large scale. All for what? A belief that one is better than another?

What appears to be the issue is fanatics or zealots. They are obsessive about their thoughts and causes. Being dedicated is one thing, but being fanatical is something completely different. If we look back at these situations it almost always boils down to zealots or fanatics. This is where we as individuals need to be strong in our faith and beliefs as to not fall in line with these individuals.

Fanaticism preys on our fears. It gives a false sense of hope in desperate times. It makes promises that cannot be kept and usually calls for destruction or annihilation of those that do not follow.

This is one of the reasons I don't believe 'God' is all light. We are 'kept' inline by fear of retribution. Yet with life we know there has to be a balance. If God is the creator of all living things then it's all. Not the ones that suit us. Each animal, insect and plant has a place and purpose.

A person gets cancer and there is someone there saying that they did not live their life according to 'God.' My favorite (I mean this sarcastically) is the church that pickets the funerals of servicemen saying that they died because of homosexuality in the world. I am sorry none of this happened in retribution of an omnipotent being.

We are all heathens, infidels or nonbelievers in someone's eyes.