Well, with a note of sorrow for the loss of the garden, I'll ask, in reference to your creed statement:

What part of all that means that when Russia and Georgia go to guns, that's a signal of the End Times?

I know, I know, one wants to be ever vigilant. As a matter of fact, I believe (along with Richard Mitchell) that on the desk of every teacher in the country there ought to be a skull, with the words above it, "Maybe Tomorrow."

But prophecies, whether taken from the Bible or Nostradamus or the Global Cooling majority of the 1970's, have a way of fooling even the most studious of believers . . .

One thing that I've often found annoying about true believers (of any persuasion) is the tendency to express "I know what's what." I'm not claiming that you have said that, exactly, but I suppose I am suggesting that while you do surely believe what you believe, you don't necessarily know what you think you know.

You believe in a close personal relationship with Jesus where you pray, He answers, you're saved, and so forth. But then to extend that belief into "knowing" when the world will end . . . or when it will begin to end . . . well that's got all the flawed reasoning that you have accused Al Gore of in talking about Global Warming, in my opinion.

And of course there is that "your house is on fire" metaphor . . . how close is that to "An Inconvenient Truth," if you think about it?

Herring405