kiwiland, you've jumped into the fire- and trying to justify or blame religion is only jumping from fire into the fying pan...it is a sensitive issue. And as you can see, there are always the orthodox religious groups on one end and the liberals on the other, hence the varying degrees of agreements/disagreements. Why dont you write an article in the Writer's Guild? See, it has two advantages: 1) People will read and try to understand what you say. 2). They cannot disagree with you ;) I mean, debating on issues of religion, abortion, gay rights, marriage, cloning, is all about individual perspectives; how your perspectives have been shaped as you grow up- its not just an ideology, its personal bias. So I look forward to seeing your article? or do you want me to write one for you ? kidding!