"A Rose is a Rose is a Rose"

Who said that? I think it was one of those sports guys, maybe Pete Rose. Anyway, I'm not going to play your naming game because I think it's just silly.

Actually, Paul from the Bible was an apostle of Jesus, he just wasn't one of the original twelve. The original twelve were disciples before they became apostles, and Paul wasn't one of those. Although people frequently use the words interchangeably, a disciple and an apostle are two different things. A disciple is a follower, kind of like an apprentice, and an apostle is kind of like a journeyman, one who goes forth and preaches the word to others after he has learned it himself. Before He died, Jesus made his twelve disciples into apostles. Paul was converted after Jesus had died, but he did the same work as the other apostles, spreading the Gospel all around the Roman Empire.

I've heard what you said about the saints, but I've also heard (read actually) that some of the pre-Christian Pagan deities were made into saints in an attempt to recruit the Pagans to Christianity. Truth be known, most of the older religions borrowed ideas from each other, although they don't like to admit it.

The Hindus are the grand champions of religious assimilation, probably because of their long history of being over run by invaders and immigrants. They must have decided at some point that it was easier to join them than to fight them. They even believe that Jesus was one of the many incarnations of Vishnu, one of the other incarnations being Krishna, which may be the origin of our word for Christ. I think the Buddhists are like that too, although it's hard to tell because Buddhists can be so inscrutable. To my knowledge, the only enemies the Hindus and the Buddhists currently have are the
Muslims, and they certainly hate them. The Muslims of course hate everybody, including all the other Muslim sects except their own. Muslims are just not interested in assimilation. The Jews are kind of like that, especially the ones who live in Israel. That's another good reason to evacuate them from Israel to the U.S. Once they're here, I'm sure they would learn to work and play well with others, just like we do. 

I think that just about covers all the major religions of the world, and they all hate somebody. Well, my daughter is a Wiccan, and I've never heard her talk about hating anyone. Wiccans and other Neo Pagans like the Druids have been steadily gaining ground for some time, but I don't think they qualify as major world religions yet. The original Pagan sects fought each other a lot, until the Christians stomped them all equally regardless of race, color, or creed. If you will tell me one major religion that doesn't hate their enemies, I will be happy to look it up or even take your word for it. The Amish and the Quakers don't count because they are Christian sects. Of course Christians hate people too, but they're not supposed to.

Christians do a lot of things they're not supposed to, which is the point I was trying to make yesterday. Their whole system seems to be designed to make everybody feel guilty because there is no way a mortal man could live up to those expectations. It's a good fit for somebody who is already wracked with guilt and is looking for a way out, but it's not so comfortable for somebody who is pretty happy with they way they are already......Like me!