Blacknad wrote:
"It is very clear that Christ ushered in an age of grace where mercy is to be a prime characteristic of the religious."

Dan replied:
?I thought you lived in Britain not on another planet. When you look around this place ... Africa for example (Libya? Egypt? Nigeria? Sierra Leone? Ethiopia? Zimbabwe?) ou seen grace and mercy? Oh but that is Africa. How about Asia then? Laos? Myanmar? No that's Asia. Perhaps you mean in Latin America ... Guatemala? Columbia? No that's not where you live. Central Asia then perhaps? all of the stans like Pakistan? Afghanistan? No those won't do. How about further west the grace and mercy that is Iran? Iraq? Syria? Lebanon? No those won't do. What you mean is The US (and I don't see either grace or mercy), Canada ... Ok but then it has always been a decent place ... Western Europe? Well only if you ignore everything that happened before 1945 and everything happening in the Basque country and everything happening in Northern Ireland and everything that happened last fall in France and .... What planet do you live on again Blacknad? Grace and mercy my ....?

REP: I was specifically talking about Christianity. Because people enlist Christ on their side, time and time again, whilst they commit damnable acts does not have any impact whatsoever on the veracity or good sense of his teachings.

You would not allow me to damn atheism because of all of the secular wars that have been fought. The same applies to Christ ? if people choose to ignore the basis of his message to ?love one another? ? ?love your enemies? ? ?serve one another as I have served you? ? ?go the extra mile for your neighbour? ? ?forgive others unconditionally? and let?s not forget about the good Samaritan, a man who went out of his way and paid from his own pocket to look after a wounded enemy.

It is not contestable ? the message of Christianity is one of mercy and grace to all, and the vast majority of the two billion people who call themselves Christians today devote themselves to displaying those characteristics in their lives.

Blacknad.