re: Pope Demands “ Legitimate Redistribution ” of Wealth Per Drudge.

A simple "yes" would have sufficed.

Look, I get it. I know what it's like to have a serious conviction about things like this, I did for many years. And as I said earlier, I took it much more seriously than the majority of christians I knew then and know now.

At the end of the day though, such stories just dont hold up in the light of 21st century knowledge in my opinion. A serious inquiry into the legitimacy of the claims of christianity, or any religion for that matter, leaves you with little reasoning and lots of apologetic squirming out of serious issues. At the end of the day, I had to choose between everything I experienced in the natural world and the theology of men defending positions contrary to our common senses.

As for your personal anecdotes about speaking to God, understand that I have no more reason to believe you than I do the Hindus, Muslims and Jews who have heard God's voice. Moreover, I have no way of knowing your psychological state, as you could have an undiagnosed psychological disorder causing auditory hallucinations for all I know.