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From: haas@utah-gr.UUCP (Walt Haas)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: net.singles.christian
Message-ID: <1368@utah-gr.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 5-Mar-85 17:35:37 EST
Article-I.D.: utah-gr.1368
Posted: Tue Mar  5 17:35:37 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 10-Mar-85 07:17:11 EST
Organization: Univ of Utah CS Dept
Lines: 34

> "...I find the notion that ``religion'' is distinct from ``being single''
> bizzarre in the extreme. All the religious people I know think that
> being ``religious'' is a part of everything they do and are, and that
> it is impossible to separate the religion from everything else.
>
> Is this an attempt to sweep Christians under the rug so that you
> won't have to listen to them?..." Laura Creighton

Undoubtedly many people make religion part of many aspects of
their lives.  Dating and marriage have certainly been mediated
by almost every religion I ever heard of; however different
religions have provided different rules.  The various denominations
of Christianity have varied widely over the years in their norms
concerning permitted forms of courtship, marriage and divorce.
I made a point of citing the practice of plural marriage in an
attempt to illustrate the relationship, or lack thereof, between
particular relgious beliefs and the actual lives of most people.
For another interesting example of the variation in norms between
nominally Christian groups, read /Amish Society/ by John Hostetler
and compare Amish norms to the practices of other groups such as the
Baptists or Catholics.

Somewhere there has to be a line, however vague, between topics
of more general interest and topics of interest only to those who
hold certain specific beliefs.  Hence my suggestion about
considering how those that don't share a particular set of beliefs
might react to discussion about those beliefs.  Obviously, this is
a judgement call.  I'm not asking for more than a reasonable good
faith effort on the part of submitters.

Regards  -- Walt Haas

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