Personal Choice And Respect.

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There is always a lot of debate on this site when it comes to Religion, which in my opinion is a good thing. I thoroughly enjoy reading through the threads and the differing opinions everyone has, even though a lot are far different from my own. Debates, even heated debates, about the topics at hand are what makes this forum a great place to be. We all have the freedom to say and believe whatever we want. The only problem I see is that there is a lot of intolerance here for the way others believe. In one way that is a good thing because it shows passion. But on the other hand it shows narrow mindedness thinking that "your way" is the best and only way.I was not raised up in a church. My family went to church on Easter and Christmas but that was about it. However, I grew up believing in GOD. Now I didn't really know anything (literally) about the Bible or what was in it. I never even read one until was in my mid twenties. My story is simple. When I was engaged to my wife we were looking for churches to get married in. We literally went to dozens of churches to see which one was the "prettiest" to get married in. When we picked one, the pastor had one stipulation for marrying us. We had to attend atleast 3 services. That was it. Well, we thought we could do that no problem. Well, that was 11 years ago this month and I can count on one hand the number of services we have missed since then. My wife, who grew up with an Atheist mother, was desperately seeking for information. She read the Bible front to back and was constantly asking questions of our pastor and "church friends". After years of not really knowing what she believed she made her choice.My point is this. Every single one of us has a choice to make. You either choose to believe, not to believe, or choose to be undecided. You have the right to believe what you want. I am a Christian so I call this free will. But it really doesn't matter what you call it. You still have the "right" to choose what you want. All I suggest is that you make your own decision based on whatever "facts" you choose to accumulate. Where do you get those "facts"? Well you have to decide that. Just don't fall into the belief that just beacuse someone says it, it must be true attitude. There is a lot of misinformation out there on both sides (so to speak). Make sure you do your reasearch when deciding what you believe.With that said, we all have to remember that everbody else has the same "right" we do. Personally, it doesn't matter to me what anybody else believes. Don't get me wrong I would love to convince everyone that there is a GOD . . . BUT . . . it is not my job to "make" anybody believe one way or the other. As a Christian, I feel it is my responsibility to answer any questions that anybody has, if they feel the need to ask me. But I also will never stand up on a soap box and pretend that I know everything and am perfect because I am an almighty Chrisitian. I have no right to judge. In my belief there is only one that can judge us . . . and it is definately not me. But there again that is MY belief.In closing I suggest that we all need to remember that our way, our beliefs, are not the only way. Be respectful of other people's opinions even if you don't agree with them. Debate is good and fun at times but not when it gets personal. We are all equal (again my belief) . . . so let's treat each other that way. Flame if you wish (it's your choice ).