By exfundy -- A few months ago I walked away from the faith that had defined my very existence for over 30 years. It was such a relief. Of course every change brings its own set of questions. Of all the questions that have been raised due to this change the one that has nagged at me the most has to do with labels. To understand why this question bothers me so much I have to give a little background here. During my days in Christianity I carried around dozens of labels. Of course the big one was 'Christian', but there were lots of others. I carried one based on my denominational affiliation. I carried others based on which side I took on any number of theological issues. I carried each of them proudly. Each was a badge of honor to let others know exactly what I believed and stood for. Yet as I look back I am saddened to realize that all those labels completely obscured the person behind them. The amount of people that actually knew anything about me that wasn...

By exfundy -- This is the second installment of the countermeasures I use to deal with my fanatical fundy-in-laws. Story #3 J ane (the sister-in-law ) refuses to have a computer in their house. Why? Because of all the evil things that can be found online. That age old Christian belief that it's better to completely avoid something good because it can be used for bad things. We have tried to tell her how important it is for her kids to learn to use a computer these days. The argument falls on deaf ears because she is afraid they might see something they shouldn't. Of course she has no problem coming to our house to use our computer. Many times she either arrives unannounced or calls when she is two blocks away and asks to use the computer. We are generally very accommodating because we do understand that these days there are some things that are just much easier to do with an Internet connection. The thing that frustrates me the most though is she will volunteer...