"The Truth Shall Set You Free."

That's in the Bible somewhere, and I'm probably quoting it out of context, but it certainly has a nice ring to it. Don't you think?

I meant to answer your "honestly and responsibly" question yesterday, but it seems to have fallen through the cracks. The act itself is pretty straight forward, which is probably why I liked it so much. Other than failing to use birth control, there isn't much you can do wrong in that respect. It's the social bull shit that goes with it that requires honesty and responsibility, and that can be a challenge. Most of the guys I have known who were really successful with the ladies were deceitful and manipulative, and I decided early on that I wasn't going to play that game. It really is a game, you know, the girls expect it of you, and most of them can dish it out as well as they can take it. Nevertheless, I would rather be right than successful. I have to live with myself 24/7, which is more time than I spend with any woman, or any man either for that matter. If I am not happy with myself, how can I be happy with anybody else?

I always thought the Catholics were kind of strange myself. I got along with them okay, but I didn't want to be like them when I grew up. My mother said that Catholicism is a good religion for people who don't want to think for themselves. One day Jimmy next door came over and recited his catechism to her like a machine. He was so proud that he had finally memorized it all. When he was finished, Mom asked him if he could explain the meaning of all that in his own words. Jimmy replied laconically, "Oh, we don't have to know that."

I liked the people at Elsdon much better. If there was anything that you didn't understand, they would try to explain it to you, unless, of course, it was about sex. That was no big deal because nobody expected adults to honestly discuss sex with a kid anyway. The first question I asked any of them was if I was going to Hell because I wasn't Catholic. I believe it was another kid my age who quickly reassured me that I wasn't because Jesus had already died for my sins. Decades later, I came to conclusion that it didn't make a whole lot of sense but, at the time, it was a comforting thing to hear.

I have tried to explain this to you before, but I don't think you understand it yet: According to Biblical Christianity, you don't get to Heaven by racking up enough good points to overcome your bad points. That belief comes from the Persian prophet Zarathustra, who predated Christianity by at least a thousand years. In Christianity, your salvation depends on your acceptance of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Sin, with a capitol "S", is not an act you commit, it is a state of alienation from God, and only God can overcome it. I suppose God could overcome it without your cooperation, but He chooses not to, you have to ask for it. Hey, don't shoot the messenger! I'm not so sure anymore that I believe it myself, which is one reason I no longer go to church. I am not comfortable standing up in front of God and everybody proclaiming that I believe something when, truth be known, all I can  say with certainty is that anything's possible.