William_Mary's depiction of communism is very inaccurate. He has obviously not read the original source documents of communism -- Marx, Engels, Trotsky, Mao -- on which communism was based.. The communist movement in Russia and Eastern Europe DID follow the Marxist model and it was a tyrannical system which would never have evolved into the communist utopia they depicted. He also has never read THE NEW CLASS by Milovan Djilas, the greatest analysis of communism ever written. Djilas was a commynist leader in Yugoslavia who became disillusioned with the ideology when he saw its flaws in design and implementation. Anyone who depicts it as a potentially good is simply ignorant of the facts.

I listen to Christian radio stations as they come across the radio waves. I don't make a concerted effort to study the Bible though. I am listening more for political perspective than religious

I read the bible. It has helped me to decipher and recognize the hypocrisy. As a teenager I asked a preacher how he could be so certain there was a god. He couldn't give me an answer. He instead engaged in psychological ramblings without any coherent substance as a proof. After several minutes of pushing for substance, he told me it was better to believe than to go through life a non believer, unsaved, and not reach heaven. Every time I see the graphic on facebook with the Indian, asking if I did not know of god before you told me of him, would I go to heaven, I think of that day. I believe I live a life as good if not better than most self proclaimed religious folk. If there is a heaven and I don't make it while they live in the silence of their religions hypocrisies, then I'm completely satisfied their god is not what they tell us it is to be a part of.

Lived most of my childhood in a Fundie household in a Fundie town and Fundie County in the Bible Belt, so I can speak fluent Evangelicalese. I've also studied the Christian Bible and the early history of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, in addition to a back of the napkin knowledge of Buddhism and Hinduism.

I have read a bit about early Christian history,if you want to read good atheist books on the subject try Burton Mack he is an anthropologist as well as a theologan but he gives a convincing argument to show how the NT was set up so as to show continuation of authority directly from Jesus to the lineage of the later Popes.

He has been debating publically with Christian thoelogians for years and is very good in my view.
Not sure I consider relgious people as "the enemy" ,but being British we don't get many fanatical religious types this side of the pond ,as someone here once said being a member of the Church of England is like being innoculated against religion.

Some of us here, like myself, actually come from a religious background, so we're well versed in the bible. As well, having lived in the culture helps us understand the mindset. Don't be afraid to ask questions here, so as not to re-learn stuff you can get from this community. Of course - familiarise yourself as much as possible... education of the religitards is important.

Keep in mind that a lot of Christians mean no harm, and are only looking for a vehicle to express their love and good works, like working in soup kitchens, helping anyone in need. It's the hard core zealots that want the world turned in a theocracy by any means possible that are dangerous. Get to know them...

My $0.02.

I've read the Bible cover to cover at least a dozen times. I've written essays on biblical doctrines for several classes. I grew up as a fundamentalist Christian, too. Christian theists really hate trying to debate with me.