Introductions

Hey,
I'm 13 and I love to read! My favorite books include Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Harry Potter, Seven Tears into the Sea by Terri Farley, and anything by Tamora Pierce.
Besides reading, I love to write and listen to music.

Hey
15 year old here.
Oh wow..... favourite books....
The Enheritance Trilogy
The Vampire/Witches Chronicles
Harry Potter
Wicked
Anything by Mercedes Lackey

I'm 15. Favorite books? Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Swordspoint, Harry Potter (of course), American Gods, Twilight,The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime,among other things...I'm an aspiring author, too. Nice to meet y'all.

Hello. I'm 15 years old and my favorite books are....
Twilight
Emma
Harry Potter
Peeps
and a whole bunch of other ones...I am also an inspiring author and just recently had something published...

I'm also 14, my favorite books include: The Amulet os Samarkand, and The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud, The Wee Free Men and The Bromeliad Trilogy by Terry Pratchett, The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle, Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde, The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis...

A lot of you say Harry Potter is a favorite, along with Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I haven't read Twilight, but I aim to. Harry Potter is pretty good series, but not one of my favorites.

There are also a lot of aspiring writers out there as well, and I do fall into that category.

Hi! I'm turning 14 really soon! My favourite book is The Book Thief. My fave author is Scott Westerfeld and my favourite series is Twilight. I also love the The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Meg Cabot, Justine Larbalestier, Maximum Ride, Tithe, Harry Potter, A Great and Terrible Beauty and tons of other stuff.

Hello! I'm 16, and my favorite books are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Little, Big, The Mists of Avalon, and Swordspoint.

Hello, world! I am fifteen, almost sixteen, and my favorite books are
Maximum Ride
Raising Dragons
The Candlestone
and I would say The Inheritance Trilogy but even though his style is good, the plot is such a rip off.
Though it already seems cliche I am also an aspiriing writer and have even had one of my poems published.

Hello,I'm 13,and my favourite books are Sunwing, Silverwing, and Firewing, by Kenneth Oppel, and The Hobbit, and well as The Chronicles of Narnia. I could go on and on about the books I like, but sadly, there's not enough space, so that's about it. My favorite author is Kenneth Oppel

Hey I'm 13 turning 14 on June 25(tomarrow).
My favorite books are:
Bleach by Tite Kubo (manga book)
The City of Ember by DuPrau, Jeanne
A great and terrible beauty and Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
Twilight and new moon by stephenie Meyer

Currently I am reading Blood and Chocolate, and I love it!!!!

Oh, I read Blood and Chocolate earlier this year. It was great! Or at least I thought so, I know quite a few people didn't like the ending. Unfortunately I had the ending ruined for me (someone spoiled it in a LT review).

Hey, my name is Jonathan and I'm 17! I'm pretty new to LT but I am already in love with it. :-D
Right now I'm working on:
Maps of Time: an Introduction to Big History by David Christian
Mathematics for the Nonmathematician by Morris Kline
A Philosopher Looks at Science by John Kemeny
Language in Action by S.I. Hayakawa
I'm not as brainy as you might think from those books. They aren't for school though.
Could someone friend me please? I don't have any LT friends yet (I have a lot of LJ friends - alas, one letter can be so important!). Can anyone explain the social etiquette on friending? Is it polite to randomly friend someone and comment their profile?

Hey, I'm 13 and I LOVE to read.
Here are some of my favorite books:
The Lord of the Rings by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
The Chronicles of Narnia by Clive Staple Lewis
Beowulf
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Artemis Fowl Series by Erin Colfer
The Left Behind Series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

But I am anti-Harry Potter, because of this one reason:
Deuteronomy 18 9- 13 says that: "When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God."

And this right here states that witchcraft is evil and detestable in the eyes of The LORD, and Harry Potter promotes witchcraft (and do not try to say that there is good witchcraft and bad witchcraft because there is only bad witchcraft). Therefore Harry Potter is Evil and detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Which since I am a Christian, I belive this in it's entirety.

And LOTR doesn't promote witchcraft? That ring is a "false idol" under your theology.

No LOTR does not promote witchcraft it does quite the opposite. LOTR it doesn't promote the ring, the only people that promote the ring are the evil characters in the story. Even Gandalf speeks of the people that worship the ring, and he says that they are evil and doing wrong. Therefore stating in itself that the ring is is evil.

Eggnoglover :
Okay, but how does HP promote witchcraft? Can you give an example of a Christian turning to witchcraft because of HP?
If reading HP would make a Christian practice witchcraft, then that Christian's faith and commitment to their religion must have been small to begin with.

It promotes in they books by saying how good witchcraft can be and how useful it can be and goes on and on about how good witchcraft is.
And I never said that reading HP would make a Christian practice witchcraft. I only said that HP promotes witchcraft and witchcraft is evil and detestable in the eyes of The LORD, and that therefore HP is evil and detestable in the eyes of The LORD.

>13 Eggnoglover: Why is Artemis Fowl better religiously speaking than Harry Potter? Artemis is a criminal mastermind, and one Amazon review refers to his butler as: "a loyal butler named Butler who just happens to be a killing machine." Glamourising killing is better than magic? And what about the faeries, don't they 'cast spells'? And back to LOTR, Gandalf is a wizard...

But if you're a strong Christian, a simple book like HP won't make you turn into a witch. According to you, God dislikes witchcraft, but where in the Bible does it say that God dislikes reading about witchcraft?
If you're anti-witchcraft, you'll never know what you're up against unless you read about it. It's easy to be against something you know nothing about. Atheists should read the Bible too.

That's not the point. The point is that Christians are supposed to be in the world but not of the world. If we as Christians fill our minds with garbage, then what good are we to Christ if all we are is garbage. Then we'd have to go through and clean up our act. I don't think reading HP willl make you evil, but it does help to stay away from that sort of thing. Also, if you want to know about witchcraft, read about it from a Christian perspective, that way, you won't be persuaded to change your thinking.
(Oh, and I'm sixteen now, pretty happy about that....)

Read about witchcraft from a Christian perspective?
http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=915
Google "Rowling Christian" and you'll find that she is a devout Christian and these novels are FULL of Christian themes. If HP is bad then Narnia (also written by a Christian author - to say Lewis wasn't Christian is to deny reality!) must be too, as it has lots of "witchcraft" and magical things.

And where did you establish that HP is "garbage"? Is Dawkins' work "garbage"?

Happy Birthday. :-)

I never said HP is garbage, I said witchcraft is. And though, from what I can tell, HP does have a lot of religious undertones, it's the witchcraft that bothers me. If you've read Narnia, then you know that witchcraft is always evil in C.S. Lewis' books. Anyway, I just joined this conversation because I had something to say, and I didn't mean to offend you. So I apologize for insinuating that HP is garbage, but I honestly don't agree with Rowlings method of going about it. A lot of Christians disagree with the content, I know that for a fact. I'm just trying to show you the other side of the argument, so thanks for listening.

Thanks for the Happy Birthday!!

I applaud you both (eggnoglover and razorgirl) for your apologetics (defending your faith)!!! Be proud of our faith!! Toodles!!!

Thanks, TaxGuy, but you should be thanking Librattyteen as well. There are two sides to be looked at. It's refreshing to have some one to argue with and challenge the way I think, instead of people just telling me why to believe this is true. I know the Bible to be true and still relevant, and it's always going to be my source for truth, but it's great to have some one making me think about why I believe what I believe. Kudos to you, Librattyteen, for challenging me.

(Oh and TaxGuy, what's with all the deleted posts?)

Razorgirl, I was about to ask the same thing.

Me, being a "mutt", I don't have a set religion. I like to read all kinds of things. I'm not well rehearsed in the religions, so help me out in the trickier spots.

You know, especially in the 7th hp book i think it's just like a major scaledown of Jesus. He sacrificed himself to save others, and that's what the fictional character Harry Potter did. The difference: Harry did it to save his friends-Christ to save the world
Harry came back to life completly-Christ did not come completely back to life

I DON'T MEAN TO OFFEND ANYONE!!! I'm really sorry if i do.

That's exactly what I was getting at, Always_Reading. Sure, HP uses magic, but he never considers himself the source of authority. His tough moral dilemmas are overcome with help from his mentors, like Dumbledore. You could say that Dumbledore is God for HP.
However, Voldemort is LITERALLY "Lord Voldemort." So worshipping Voldemort can easily be seen as "worshipping false idols."
And that is just one example of how HP series is truly Christian. Not to mention the fact that Rowling herself is Christian.

HP isn't "witchcraft." It's not Aleister Crowley or Gerald Gardner. It's just a bunch of entertaining stories written from a Christian perspective. Good triumphs over evil. Some people seriously seem to enjoy feeling martyred and special.

I'm not offending by your saying that HP was garbage. :-) I just think it's funny whenever a religious group (or an atheist group) says that it's bad to read anything that disagrees with their religious beliefs. I mean, you'd almost think that they don't want their worldview to be challenged, as if a new idea or two is just a horrible idea. Diversity in human thought - what a silly idea! Who would need THAT??? LOL

>28 TaxGuy: TaxGuy
"apologetics (defending your faith)"
Can I ask a question?
Why do you Christians call it apologetics? It makes it sound like you're apologizing for your own beliefs. For crying out loud, nobody should have to do that, people should be standing up for their beliefs!
(Or is that just my world root association?)

librattyteen-
You've nailed it. Especially with the apologetics part. I've never really gotten that either. People should change it to something more on the offense side, vs. a defense position.

Personally I'm Christian, and still a huge fan of all kinds of fantasy. (Realistic is, generally speaking, incredibly boring to me.) With fantasy, I think the important thing is that you don't actually believe that it works.

That's what I think too.
Nobody's making you read Lord of the Rings to believe that Balrogs do actually exists in mines made by dwarfs.
We know that, for instance, Spiderman and those guys are totally fictional, and I haven't met a single Christian that hasn't seen those kinds of movies, even though their parent's wouldn't let them read a book like that.
I don't get the difference between what's "okay" and "not okay" between books and movies.
In books, you're really using your imagination, in movies, your not.
And really, what happened to "seeing is believing"? I gues the religious fanatics (and I mean that respectfully) did away with that when animation and CGI technology came out.
Oh well, I'm not going to force anyone my way. Every one is entitled to their own opinions.

Another thing is that if reading something shouldn't be allowed, then what about thinking about it? On a cognitive level, are the two that different?

30: Cassandra Clare had the best comment on this. (from her livejournal- thegraybook)

"But, it sort of doesn't matter. Harry was always going to kill Voldemort using his power to love and to understand love, and so he did. "I was ready to die to stop you hurting these people...I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. You can't torture them. You can't touch them." So, in other words, Harry died for the inhabitants of Hogwarts, and the love he showed by doing so saves them. I was waiting for Harry to add, "Also, by the way, I'm Jesus," but I guess he figured that bit was obvious."

P.S. I'm sorry, if, as Always_Reading mentioned above, this happens to offend anyone. That wasn't the intention.

34: With the movie format, pretty much everything is delivered to you. Depending on how long it takes to read a book, the message stays with you longer and more thought has to be applied. (The reason my father allowed me to watch the daVinci Code but not to read it.)

35: The reading of something increases the thought applied and opens up new possibilities of thought on the subject. (In most cases, if not all.) For instance, books like Twilight and Peeps open up whole new processes behind how a vampire might work. (for a whole not more about how a Twilight vampire works, I recommend going to the Twilight Lexicon.)

And seeing as there's no actual way to really "control" thoughts, it can easily be considered that the best way not to think about it is not to have any sort of contact with it. (Personally though, the less I try to think about something, the more I do. Like spiders *shudders*.)

WFMV-
I totally agree with that reverse phsycology. It never works for me either.

btw, how do you get to the -Twilight Lexicon-?
I'll work on it.

>36 madeherselfqueen: waitingformyvampire (an interesting username which must have curious origins):

I see what you're saying. Still, I maintain that nobody has provided evidence in this thread that any Christian has actually become a witch because of harry Potter.
I also maintain that having a thought or two never killed anyone. The whole "well what if our thoughts are really from Satan?" argument doesn't stand up because if you can't trust your own thoughts then what can you trust?

I also think it is damned hilarious that EggNogLover stopped replying here eons ago. Maybe we were espousing too many Satanic opinions, or saying offensive things, or just plain thinking too much. lol

I'd say thinking too much...

37: It's twilightlexicon.com

awesome, awesome site.

39: I totally agree with you about the whole "it never turned anyone to Satan" thing, as well as your killing people example. I don't think it's so much our thoughts are from Satan, but he provides their origins, and puts those origins in your path. Which is why I can understand the avoiding. But, seeing as I have a strong love for fantasy (as my father before me) I see it as more of a creative outlet, as opposed to actually believing in it. This is why I actually appreciate it more. God is the ultimate creative genius, and when people, who are made in the image of God, are blessed with creativity, I don't see the point of ignoring something they don't even claim as fact. It's a book.

As for my username, it's more of joke, growing from my love for Twilight. But I seriously have a love for paranormal creatures in general and paranormal guys are in general better than the real thing. {I judge by the pigs that were at my last disco *pukes*} I'm reading Ironside at the moment, and have decided Roiben is seriously competing with Edward as Favourite Fictional Book-Crush.

And, with the thinking (judging by the length of this post, I do that a little too much too), I love it. To take a Eclipse example, questioning how she wanted to spend the rest of her life made Bella's relationship with Edward stronger, it's kinda the same for a relationship with God. Find truth to make it stronger. But that's getting seriously off-topic.

You know, we could really start a group debate about religious books...It'd be a lot of fun, you know? Not to offend anyone at all, that's not the point (as mentioned above). The point is to learn from one another, and I think we could definetly learn a lot by doing this.

I dig, waitingformyvampire. :D

And Always_Reading, what kind of religious books? Religious or Christian in particular? Religious fiction (ewww, "Christian fiction" really sucks from what I've heard, feel free to tell me if I have heard wrong)? Religious scriptures?

Hey.! I'm 15. and enjoy reading a lot.! =
I like to read books of fantasy..Something along the lines of Stephenie Meyer.
I love The vampire Chronicles.
Im sort of new at this..so send me a message. =

What is Christian Fiction?

mcgutie1, I'm warning you that waitingformyvampire, Always_Reading, and I have totally hijacked this thread!

Always_Reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_fiction
A lot of it is really moralistic and in some of the really conservative ones, any kind of bad thought is like "OH NOES! BAD!"
I guess for me, reading Left Behind would feel like going to see a passion play at an Evangelical church. Just not comfortable. (I've done it, it was fear propaganda.)

However, I'm sure that there is good Christian fiction, I just haven't taken the time to discover it yet. ;-)

"He's commandeering the ship!"

Go for it, I say!

Woopsie Daisy. This really has gotten off the topic, hasn't it. Should a new thread be made?

I have to say, I don't read much (if any) Christian Fiction, though I'm planning to eventually pick up Chronicles of Narnia (I had to read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe for school once, but that's it). I've started reading some non-fiction which is pretty good though. If anyone has good Christian Fiction for teens, do share (I'm quite curious).

And I wouldn't mind getting into discussions here. Sounds fun actually!

Oh, and a big hello to mcgutie1!!! (Yay for Fantasy!!!)

I'm not into Christian fiction or music - well unless you count Gregorian chant, Handel's Messiah, stuff like that.
Actually, lately I've been reading some Russian lit from Stalin's reign. A lot of it's very atheistic (is that a word?). The Master and Margarita is a BRILLIANT book. In it, Satan comes to earth and works black magic - I suppose it might be more scary if the reader thinks Satan is real.

I like some Christian music (Flyleaf rocks, and Fireflight is pretty cool too). Dunno if "atheistic" is actually a word. I've heard the word "secular" used for non-religious things before. {definition on http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/secular }

The book (judging by the stars given on LT) looks like it's really good. May I ask, did you find it that scary? I've never actually read fiction with Satan actually "in" it, so I'm curious.

Not too scary, since I know it's not real. it's more fantasy-like than something like Stephen King, who can be very scary, or any horror movie. I'm waaaaaay too wussy when it comes to horror movies. I can't take all the blood and guts.

Isn't it funny that the music that Christians used to criticize is now adopted by Christians? First it was jazz, then rock, now they're doing Christian rap even. It's funny how there can be such a WIDE variety of opinions even within a group that has a common basis (Bible, Jesus, etc.)

Sounds cool. There's actually a C.S. Lewis book I'm interested in reading called The Screwtape Letters, which is a bunch of letters between demons, rather than Satan himself, trying to get a human to sin, or something, which seems slightly similar.

Yeah, over time, we get fairly self contradictory. It depends so much on your interpretation of the Bible (as demonstrated above), as well as how that should affect the rest of the world. It's interesting, because the factors you mensioned above remind me of a Christian book I was reading last night {What's so amazing about grace?, if anyone's interested.} It discussed the difference between "looking" Christian and actually feeling, acting and believing Christian.

In terms of views, it's incredably odd, escpecially because most beliefs end up being so judgemental. {If you do this you are going to HELLLLLL!!!!, and the like.} As a Christian Feminist, it sometimes feels odd to see the conflicting opinions. (For instance, personally, despite the fact I would never myself have an abortion, I am pro-choice. I know of some Christians who agree with my point of view, some Christian feminists who are pro-life, and then the Christians who believe that women are second-class anyway *pukes*.) The conflicting opinions aren't great because they seperate Christians. We all have the same basic beliefs, but live them out, and form them in our minds because of our past experiences, etc.

Speaking of people who think women are second-class...
You should see a man I know. I'm looking to press formal charges against him.

Yeah, wfmv, you'd get along with him just swell. Yeah. Right.
I also share your stated views on abortion. Never having needed one myself, I believe that women should definetly have the right to choose. I mean, what if they didn't have a choice? Ever read It happened to Nancy? If you have, just pretend she got pregnant, instead of contracting HIV. Sad stuff there.

But it's nice that even though you don't want abortion for yourselves, you're not going to be asses and act morally superior to other around you. I HATE HATE HATE that.

It's like Marxism - there are a million groups all declaring that they're "true" Christians. But nobody knows exactly what Jesus stood for (if he existed - I'm not sure of the evidence on that), since the Bible is a second-hand source and it's been translated a few times.
It's also very possible that the disciples had reasons to bias what Jesus said, not to mention that their memories weren't perfect. But every time I bring this up, the standard response is "Well, I trust God that they didn't bias anything" which basically amounts to "I don't have a good answer to that."

Sorry if I just totally burst your bubble, anyone....

lilbrattyteen, I totally agree with you. Even though there are some things so strict in the Bible, that's not what they necessarily mean at all! I mean, song, for example, has multiple different meanings!

I do believe there was a man named Jesus, I just do not believe that he was the mesiah for mankind.
Now, the man that created antibiotics...he came closer to that.

I do believe there was a man named Jesus, I just do not believe that he was the mesiah for mankind.
Now, the man that created antibiotics...he came closer to that.

Or Socrates...

Always_Reading, what grade are you in anyway, if I may ask?

Whoa, I get off for a while, and suddenly everything's turned anti-christian! Seriously guys, I didn't bash you, (at least not intentionally), and all of a sudden everyone's out ot get the christians.
Anyway, I want to know how many of you have actually read the Bible? there are two different parts to it, the New testament and the old. The New Testament is where Jesus came on the scene, and that changes everything about the entire faith. Read the NEw Testament before you read the old, because then you'lll really get a feel for how the faith is supposed to be like. Also, the Bible is NOT a second-hand source. It was written by people who were actually there, who actually saw the crucifixion. And, Jesus said that He came to provide the way to enternity. Period. I know there are a lot of hypocrites within the church and that all the fighting between the denominations is totally retarded, but when you get the message and it changes you, then you "get" what it was supposed to be about. The greatest command in the Bible was to love the Lord with all your strength and all your might and with all your mind, and the second was to love your neighbor as yourself. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in the church who don't understand that.
Anyway, sorry for posting a big long message, but I've been so busy because I had to move that I haven't been on here in forever and since eggnoglover hasn't been posting anything, I thought I should just give the Christian perspective on all these arguments. I hope you actually take the time to read this.

Hello, I am a librarian that has to do a paper on teen series. I didn't know Twilight is a series. Can you tell me what it is about? Also, what do you think are the best series for teens? This is my first message on LibraryThing and I want to see how this works. Thank you!

Heck yes, Razorgirl, I totally read the post. So good. I may actually read the testaments now. And by the way, even though the Bible could have been written by eye witness accounts, translations have been done so many times that the words have lost their true meaning. I think I've mentioned that before. Anyway, it's just something to consider.

Not meaning to offend anyone, sorry if I did.

Okay, Razorgirl, you're right. (http://www.princeton.edu/~refdesk/primary2.html)

However, the Bible is different from other historical documents in that:
- it's been translated a few times to get to English.

- while every historical primary source has a bias, the New Testament is not only biased by the author's subconscious biases but also by the fact that it was written with a persuasive purpose. There are testimonies left out of the New testament which you get. Even if it was divinely inspired, you have to read it with a grain of salt because the original authors probably biased it.

- that whole resurrection thing? It's a scientific view that to prove a very well accepted theory wrong, a very very large burden of evidence is needed. If someone walked up to you on the street and told you that Newton's laws of motion were wrong, would you believe them without further inquiry? Of COURSE not! But this book says that a dead person was able to come back to life, and you believe it. We need more evidence to believe something that extraordinary.

And don't even get me started on the whole God-is-perfect thing. Hell, if God is perfect and the Bible is God's word, then why the hell is the Bible so ambiguous and full of contradictions? Doesn't sound like a perfect way to present one's thoughts.

Also, rg,
What about all those books where the main character comes back to life? (Harry Potter, for example.) Couldn't that then be theoretically true? I mean, if Jesus did it, why can't it happen as a miracle now too?

And lilbrattyteen, I agree with you all the way, but there's really no need to get that excited in the last paragraph. Sorry about that.

Well, since everyone is talking about how the Bible is translated into English, and that's diluted the meaning, well, I have to disagree. There are several ways to tell if how accurate an ancient manuscript is, and one is to compare the same manuscript from different time periods and see if they are the same. Ever hear of the Dead Sea Scrolls? Those were from about 400 years ago, and compared to what we have today, there were virtually no inconsistencies, except for where names were spelled differently.
Also, numerous people have tried to find mistakes in the translations of the Bible, and basically, they found only disagreed on a handful of words that don't even change the meaning of the message.
As for the resurrection of the dead, people are saved by defibulators every day after their heart stopped.
Now, this is an argument for Christianity, in fact, it's one of the ones that lead to me becoming becoming a believer, which is if everyone has been attacking it for thousands of years (Romans, Islam, and even today, when we have freedom of religion in N. A, we aren't allowed to pray in school) why is it still around? Has any other religion on earth faced that much oppression and survived? Why aren't you out telling Hindus or Muslims that their religion is bogus? Why are there so many "is christianity real" discussions on the internet?

Oh, and librattyteen, if you'd like to point out places in the Bible where there are inconsistencies and where it is ambiguous, I'd like to read those passages.

What up all?
I am 16 turning 17 quite soon.
My favorites are:
Harry Potter (a-duh)
Anything by Nicholas Sparks i.e the notebook, the gaurdian, the wedding, a walk to remember and message in a bottle.
The Wish Giver
Where the Red Fern Grows
Holes
The Series of Unfortunate Events

and I am looking forward to reading Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell as I have heard so many good things about it.

Well I get the feeling that this is a British website because you all spell favorite with a "u"....thats awesome I really want to take a trip out there.

Well nice to meet you!

BookLover08, you've just entered a hijacked thread...this WAS all about introductions but I made it a theological debate FTW.

Razorgirl, I don't even know what to say. I'll try to explain.

Translation issues: you're way oversimplifying it. It's not that there are "mistakes" in the translation of the Bible, it's that languages don't really have words that mean the same thing with the same connotations. Even if the literal meaning is correct, the connotative meanings can be very different. Languages also have words that other languages don't even have words for. It's impossible to translate something and keep exactly the same meaning.
So even if the Bible is complete, the Bible that you read has changed a bit from the original.

Has any other religion on earth faced that much oppression and survived?
Actually, yes. And all the oppression you reference is in the past. You are perfectly allowed to pray in school - that Supreme Court decision was referring to school-led prayer, not prayer in school. High schools often have Christian clubs or Bible study groups.

Why aren't you out telling Hindus or Muslims that their religion is bogus?
Could you find where I said that Christianity is bogus? I'd like to see a quote.

Why are there so many "is christianity real" discussions on the internet?
Because people ask questions before they blindly believe? Because some Christians like to use their critical thinking capacity? What kind of a question was that?

As for the resurrection of the dead, people are saved by defibulators every day after their heart stopped.
"According to this definition, a person is brain dead when he or she has suffered irreversible cessation of the functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem."
Suffice it to say that there's a big difference between having your heart stopped for a short amount of time and being nailed to a cross and left to starve and bleed to death.

A few "oppression" facts about our country:
- our President is Christian, or at least identifies as such. You will not find too many politicians who openly identify as atheist; if they did they would never be voted in.
- According to a recent Pew Survey (http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=358), 53% of Americans said that they had an unfavorable opinion of atheists. Only 19% said they had an unfavorable opinion of Evangelical Christians. The only Christian group that was surveyed about that had a good amount of unfavorable reactions was Mormonism - but then again, many people don't even consider them Christian, and even then they had at least 20% less unfavorable responses.

Oh, and librattyteen, if you'd like to point out places in the Bible where there are inconsistencies and where it is ambiguous, I'd like to read those passages.
Ummmm...have you READ the book of Leviticus lately? are you anti-homosexuality?

Actually, no, all the persecution Christians face is not in the past. Even today, people are being killed because of what they believe. In 1999, an estimated 164,000 Christians were martyred, which was up from the 1998 number of 156,000. China, Columbia, Laos, Nepal, North Korea, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, all these are places where Christians have been actively persecuted in the last decade. So, since you've been alive, there have been quite a few Christians martyrs. Also, if you try to pray in school, you find that you'll face a lot of peer pressure and ridicule.

Oh, and I don't live in the U.S, I live in Canada, so things are a little different here.

Okay, I admit, the defibulator argument was dumb, forgive me, I was tired.

The point of the Why are there so many "is christianity real" discussions on the internet? question was to point out that it's extremely controversial. In Canada, we just had an Ontario election, and the big issue was whether ot not to provide funding to faith based schools, even though it was a small point of the campaign. I have not run across half as many convos on Is islam real? I wasn't trying to insult your intelligence or mine. I meant, Christianity has been around for two thousand years, and it's still a huge debate. Also where did I say you specifically told me Christianity was bogus? I meant the world in general, not you.

As for the translations of the Bible, you can get the original Hebrew and Greek versions, but I doubt they'd do you any good, considering those aren't common languages to the youth of America.

Where in Leviticus? It's a pretty big, long and boring book of the Bible :) And yes, I am against homosexuality.

Oh, and welcome Booklover08. It's nice to see an actual introduction on here.

Actually, no, all the persecution Christians face is not in the past.
I only said that the persecution you referenced was in the past. Depending on where you live, it's different, and there are all kinds of persecution. I've never heard of an atheist group being persecuted en masse for their lack of beliefs but I don't doubt that it's happened.
Still, in America, Christians have the upper hand. It's not like you're Scientologists *shudder* or anything. And what is the logical connection between the fact that many people are and were Christians despite persecution and the actual authenticity of the religion?

Also, if you try to pray in school, you find that you'll face a lot of peer pressure and ridicule.
In Canada? That's sad. I agree, that's stupid, but young people have been doing stupid things since forever. It goes the other way too - I was very uncomfortable when visiting conservative, Southern Baptist relatives this summer. (FYI, Southern Baptists are VERY conservative, often fundamentalist - they're not the same as regular Baptists.)

I'm glad Christianity is in debate. If society was really 100% sure on a question like that, that would be sad....

I don't think Christianity is completely, 100% bogus. Just this morning I went to church with my mom. We don't go often (Episcopalian) but it's a very liberal, freethinking church that accepts others without proselytizing. Also my girlfriend and her family are Catholic. There's definitely an aesthetic beauty to the church services - probably much greater for those who believe in it. I don't hide my non-religiousness. I take it with a huge grain of salt.

Leviticus is full of wonderful burnt offerings, animal sacrifices, bloodlust, stoning religious dissenters to death, stoning adulterers to death, stoning rebellious children to death, etc. - all endorsed by God. I've never heard a Biblical justification for anti-homosexual ideas that wasn't from Leviticus - please tell if you know of one that is commonly used. It's funny how fundies will be anti-homosexuality but don't seem to have as much interest in animal sacrifice. Did Jesus not promote acceptance, tolerance, and love? Even if you don't think gays should get the full religious marriage rites, is there any reason why they shouldn't get the EXACT same legal rights under civil unions?

Hmm I wasn't planning on posting on this topic, but when Razorgirl made Ontario sound like we persecute everyone in schools, I had to speak up. "Facing peer pressure and ridicule" all depends on who you hang around with, and is not really the norm. I have friends who go to clubs like "Impact" (the Christian club at our school, I forget what it stands for) and "MSA" (the Muslim Students Association) without any such ridicule. And, the reason that faith-based funding came up in the election coverage is because we have public funding for Catholic schools as a holdover from long ago when it was written into our consititution, so people wanted to make this fairer to others, either by funding all religion schools, or eliminating all public religious schools. And in fact, much of the discussion did focus around Islamic and Jewish schools as well, so it was not only Christian schools questioned.

Okay, so basically, I was trying to say that I personally have faced ridicule for my beliefs. I now go to a Christian school, and it's way different. Also, I can see that I've made some pretty stupid arguments lately, but I'm only human and I only have a few minutes online everyday.
About Leviticus. It happens to be in the old testament, under the Jewiah laws or Torah as I've heard it called. Which means that it is the history preceding the advent of Christianity, which comes around in the new testament. It's not that the old testament is totally out, but the law books (the first five books of the Bible) serve as a kind of signpost to what God wants and cares about. You have to take these things in context.
I did not say anywhere in my text that it was because I live in Canada that I am ridiculed! It's just that because so many people believe in tolerance and are willing to go to such lengths to protect it that they don't want to let you talk about what you believe in.
Also, is it wrong to have a moral standard? In Canada the definition of a family is under attack. Now you can have two fathers and a mother or vice versa. Just because something's new doesn't make it good. About civil unions....I'm sorry, but I don't like the idea of civil unions in general. No, I'm not sorry actually. I know alot of people in civil unions and all they do is bring strife to the entire family. (I should know, I had my cousin/sister taken away from our family once her mom found a new boyfriend to live with)

Razorgirl, what exactly *IS* your definition of a family?
And how is it "under attack"? Since when was any kind of change an attack?

I suppose now that the word frindle is an "attack" on "traditional" definitions. lol

Wow, so much has happened since I’ve come! These are my basic responses to everything. (I’ll quote so you don’t have to scroll up & down.)

54: But nobody knows exactly what Jesus stood for (if he existed - I'm not sure of the evidence on that), since the Bible is a second-hand source and it's been translated a few times.
It's also very possible that the disciples had reasons to bias what Jesus said, not to mention that their memories weren't perfect.

Jesus, in my mind at least, pretty much stood for love, in pretty much every single way. And apparently, there is more evidence for his existance than for Julius Caesar's. Though, I wouldn’t say the Bible is a second hand source, or at least not entirely. A lot of the documents were written by people who were there at the time, who saw what was written about. As for the translations, as RazorGirl states above, you can get the originals, though I believe it’s mainly Biblical Scholars that use them. As for the biasing, I don’t quite understand what you mean. Yeah, there memories wouldn’t be perfect, but you don’t need a brilliant memory to notice that someone who was born blind received sight, or what ever. The crucial stuff isn’t that small or insignificant that it could be forgotten.

55: Even though there are some things so strict in the Bible, that's not what they necessarily mean at all!

This is the main reason for different denominations. The Bible can very easily be interpreted differently. That’s why you get different perspectives- anti-feminist vs. feminist, anti-homosexual vs. homosexual Christians and those who support them, etc. Most issues are not clear-cut.

I do believe there was a man named Jesus, I just do not believe that he was the messiah for mankind. Now, the man that created antibiotics...he came closer to that.

I do find that slightly offensive, though I can understand that is not your intention. The fact is though, this is someone who is somehow entirely God and entirely human, who died a horribly shameful and painful death for our sins, purely out of love for us, and hoping to make humans able to have a personal relationship with God. The man that created antibiotics, as great as his gift to humanity, doesn’t provide support, comfort, love and happiness in all the circumstances of my life. That would be Jesus.

57: The New Testament is where Jesus came on the scene, and that changes everything about the entire faith. Read the NEw Testament before you read the old, because then you'lll really get a feel for how the faith is supposed to be like

*smiles* I actually read the end of Matthew recently where Jesus stated that the temple would be destroyed and built again in 3 days. It is wonderful imagery of the impact of the crucifixion on the faith.

The greatest command in the Bible was to love the Lord with all your strength and all your might and with all your mind, and the second was to love your neighbor as yourself. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in the church who don't understand that.

Thank you! Agreed times some never ending numeral.

59: And by the way, even though the Bible could have been written by eye witness accounts, translations have been done so many times that the words have lost their true meaning. I think I've mentioned that before. Anyway, it's just something to consider.

Hence the importance of the original Greek and Hebrew. Though the basics of love haven’t been washed out, which is the most important. If something doesn’t seem to fit, then you just research it more, to try and see what the original meaning is.

60: while every historical primary source has a bias, the New Testament is not only biased by the author's subconscious biases but also by the fact that it was written with a persuasive purpose

Though this is what you have to consider when you read- culture, bias and such. It doesn’t discount the whole thing, you just have to use your mind while reading it. Not try to disprove but consider everything, pray, and attempt to figure out if it is truly something purely form God, or something affected by other factors.

that whole resurrection thing? It's a scientific view that to prove a very well accepted theory wrong, a very very large burden of evidence is needed

I have to admit, I laughed a little when I read this. Considering we’re talking about GOD, that’s the point. If there was a resurrection, then there shouldn’t need to be scientific proof. The Lord can do everything, and considering that Jesus rising from the dead was sorta supposed to prove He was God, you aren’t gonna get much science.

61: What about all those books where the main character comes back to life? (Harry Potter, for example.) Couldn't that then be theoretically true? I mean, if Jesus did it, why can't it happen as a miracle now too?

Sure, if you want to believe in witchcraft. The question is the means. And the means, if you believe in Jesus, is that He is God. I actually think there are certain programs that show present-day miracles. I saw one last year in my Christian Studies class, but I can’t remember what it was called.

62: Also, numerous people have tried to find mistakes in the translations of the Bible, and basically, they found only disagreed on a handful of words that don't even change the meaning of the message.

Some words do change the meaning sometimes, but then again it’s usually more of a difference in interpretation.

Now, this is an argument for Christianity, in fact, it's one of the ones that lead to me becoming a believer, which is if everyone has been attacking it for thousands of years why is it still around?

I’ve actually heard a fairly similar argument recently. Every event meant to destroy the faith makes it grow stronger, which is an amazing example of God working through the bad.

64: Welcome BookLover08!! Sorry for all the off-topic conversation.

65: Translation issues: you're way oversimplifying it. It's not that there are "mistakes" in the translation of the Bible, it's that languages don't really have words that mean the same thing with the same connotations. Even if the literal meaning is correct, the connotative meanings can be very different. Languages also have words that other languages don't even have words for. It's impossible to translate something and keep exactly the same meaning.

Which is why people research. Some people aren’t too fussed, but others dig deep to find out the exact meaning, looking at all the factors I mentioned above. Those studies are hugely insightful, but it’s a very individual thing to look at.

So even if the Bible is complete, the Bible that you read has changed a bit from the original.

Well, the core message is love, and that hasn’t changed that much. But again, it comes to looking deeper.

Could you find where I said that Christianity is bogus? I'd like to see a quote.

Saying that Jesus didn’t exist/ wasn’t the Son of God/ didn’t rise after the crucifixion might be seen as essentially the same thing as saying it’s rubbish, seeing as He is the centre point of Christianity.

Why are there so many "is christianity real" discussions on the internet?
Because people ask questions before they blindly believe? Because some Christians like to use their critical thinking capacity? What kind of a question was that?

I think RazorGirl is talking about more hostile agruements, where the point is basically to find it false. Though I agree with not going blindly into it. I actually found this great website recently through LT (skepticalchristian.com) which really delves into everything. I recommend the site and podcast, cos they’re both brilliant. (Disagree with the dude’s points on abortion, but whatev.)

66: Where in Leviticus? It's a pretty big, long and boring book of the Bible :) And yes, I am against homosexuality.

Somewhere near the beginning of the OT I think.

I wouldn’t say I’m against homosexuality 100%. Personally, I’m not homosexual, but this, like so many other issues, has so many stand points. And also, the Bible never actually condemns homosexuals, but homosexual sex. I actually found this great, really informative website recently (http://www.gaychristian.net/community/help.php) that goes through the basics of homosexual Christians and really opens your eyes up to their lives. Because I don’t believe it’s a choice, I don’t feel I can condemn them, and if they can find a way where they believe it doesn’t conflict with the Bible, then I truly have no problem with it. Although, as I said, I’m not a homosexual, so I haven’t felt the need to delve too deeply into the subject, but on a basic level I don’t feel it’s “wrong”.

67: I've never heard a Biblical justification for anti-homosexual ideas that wasn't from Leviticus - please tell if you know of one that is commonly used. It's funny how fundies will be anti-homosexuality but don't seem to have as much interest in animal sacrifice. Did Jesus not promote acceptance, tolerance, and love?

I heard recently there’s some in the NT, something of Paul’s writings, though personally I haven’t read it. In terms of this, it’s funny cos it’s the same people who are pro-life. So they fight for the right of the fetus (something not EVERYBODY agrees is human) to live, yet when it comes to homosexuals, some will do a complete turn around and tell them they don’t even have the right to live. As if that’s the love of Christ. I found a humorous icon on Livejournal that says Leviticus also forbids shaving and the eating of prawns and juxtaposing it with homosexuality. You exactly right on with what Jesus stands for. That totally needs to be played out more.

69: In Canada the definition of a family is under attack. Now you can have two fathers and a mother or vice versa. Just because something's new doesn't make it good.

Just because something’s new doesn’t really make it bad either. I don’t think we can decided bad or good until we see the affects. I don’t really see how having parents of the same gender can really have that negative an effect.

70: Razorgirl, what exactly *IS* your definition of a family?
And how is it "under attack"? Since when was any kind of change an attack?

I think that model of family has a name. Nuclear, or something. Under attack would mean people are moving into other models, such as two parents of one gender. Though that would also include single parent families and stuff.

Sorry peeps, this was a way long response! There was so much to say.

No problem I find in depth discourses intreguing and am inthrawled to have stumbled upon it.

No problem I find in depth discourses intreguing and am inthrawled to have stumbled upon it.

Well, I myself am..(insert youngish age here since my parents would roast me and ground me for life if I posted it), and I'm a total bookworm, and doctor who freak. *coughtorchwoodcough*

---

But, indeed, this looks like a reasonable group..

---

Some of my favorites would be..

Artemis Fowl
Doctor Who Novels
Warriors
Indian Captive
Mayan Nonfiction and Historical Fiction

BookLover08: Yay! Good to hear we're not torturing anyone.

Lillytail: Welcome! I know the feeling of having protective parents. Though mine are a bit annoying at times.

My father enjoys Torchwood. I haven't had a chance to watch it myself.

Hah! I used to be obsessed with Artemis Fowl. It was ridiculous, but huge fun!!

Sorry this took a while, I've been gone.

Razorgirl, I ask again: what exactly *is* your definition of a "family"? After all, you can't say that "the definition of a family is under attack" unless you have some definition which it should be.

As for waitingormyvampire:

that whole resurrection thing? It's a scientific view that to prove a very well accepted theory wrong, a very very large burden of evidence is needed

I have to admit, I laughed a little when I read this. Considering we’re talking about GOD, that’s the point. If there was a resurrection, then there shouldn’t need to be scientific proof. The Lord can do everything, and considering that Jesus rising from the dead was sorta supposed to prove He was God, you aren’t gonna get much science.
Let me get this straight: you don't need proof because it's from God, and because it's from God, you don't need proof?
Look at it this way: God sending a half-God, half-man person down to earth is definitely not an everyday event. So if someone told you that it happened, you'd want some good proof. But the only proof you have of Jesus being God's child is some writing. So what if a modern-day person said that they were the modern-day Messiah? Would you believe that they were if a few other people told you?

Another way to look at it: if some dude came up to you on the street and said that his sister died last week and came back to the dead yesterday, and that during her life she had performed all sorts of miracles that scientists couldn't explain, and that God had told him that she was the new Messiah - would you believe him?

Saying that Jesus didn’t exist/ wasn’t the Son of God/ didn’t rise after the crucifixion might be seen as essentially the same thing as saying it’s rubbish, seeing as He is the centre point of Christianity.

I just read every post on this page by me and I didn't see anything like that. I've mostly been asking questions. Can you find where I said that?

I found a humorous icon on Livejournal that says Leviticus also forbids shaving and the eating of prawns and juxtaposing it with homosexuality.

LJ FTW! XD

Under attack would mean people are moving into other models, such as two parents of one gender. Though that would also include single parent families and stuff.

This made me laugh. How can you attack a word? Can you attack a phrase too?
Single parent families aren't necessarily any worse. And not all of them involve premarital sex either. I suppose a widow with children at home is "attacking" the definition of a family? Or an adopted child with a single foster parent?

Well, I guess it helps that that's the way I've always lived my life. But I'm definitely planning to look into it further. I've heard that Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ investigates the matter. And the Skeptical Christian podcast I mentioned earlier also brought something interesting up along the same lines.

In terms of the example, it would depend. Jesus taught opinions radically different to the time, and we were told he'd come in the OT. (Of course, it depends if you trust that.) And the whole fact the Christian Church boomed so soon after the Crucifixion and all the different, but same accounts. I dunno, it just fits for me. Of course, it probably fits because it’s been all I’ve known, so I could see if that was kinda doubtable by others. And Jesus said himself that he was Son of God, so yeah. (There’s this whole thing behind that. I’m not trying to pull a “Jesus Said, so THERE!!!!111!!!” but there was some sort of logic behind it.)

54: if he existed - I'm not sure of the evidence on that

It’s a totally valid point. Even Christians have doubts, but I’m just trying to point out what could be seen as an attack on Christianity.

For the record, I totally agree when it comes to the concept of family. Also it’s kinda none of the church’s business what people outside the faith are doing in their personal lives. This type of thing is just a bit ridiculous. God be with the homosexuals who do consider themselves Christians.

Love love love lj. Love.

Single parent families aren't necessarily any worse. And not all of them involve premarital sex either. I suppose a widow with children at home is "attacking" the definition of a family? Or an adopted child with a single foster parent?

No, we feel sorry for widows (just nobody else ;)) Can children be adopted by single parents. Whatevs. Regardless, I generally believe that along as it’s a loving environment, it’s fine. Better a happy homosexual couple looking after a child than an abusive heterosexual one.

Oh, and I thought I'd mention:

God sending a half-God, half-man person down to earth is definitely not an everyday event.

Most Christians would say 100% human, 100% God. Fully of both. But whatevs, it confuses me a bit. (Kinda like the trinity: 1 + 1 + 1 = 1. Considering, I should be used to it.)

(Sorry for the double post. I would've edited my previous one, but LT was being funny.)

Wow...
you wonder if we're EVER going to tire of this debate. as a human race.

Oh yeah. People get all obsessed and picky about religion. Salvation, and all..... ;)

I don't get what the big deal is. I find theology to be intensely interesting, but it's a guilty pleasure because it's such a useless subject that seems to have no relevance to reality (or at least MY reality).

I don't see much difference. For the most part, people are just people and they/us try to lead good lives. I don't see religion as a problem in itself, it's the arrogance/small-mindedness that it is often full of that causes problems. But atheists can have that too!

I bet if we got a bunch of people from different spiritual traditions (and lack of spiritual traditions) to sit down and yap for a while, there wouldn't be much difference in the end. The word "God" is so incredibly vague that you could say almost everyone has a God of some sort, whether it be altruistic principles or a more anthropomorphic personal God.

waitingformyvampire -

I like your post, probably because we agree on a lot :-)

I was asking about the whole "definition of family" thing because I'm adopted. My foster mom is unmarried. There are adults who are unrelated to me that I consider much closer than many of those in my birth family. Whenever I hear the phrase "traditional family," I cower. Not everyone knows that we create our own families.

On LJ I am also lilbrattyteen, feel free to friend me.

Maybe. Though, if you are interested in discussing it on lj, Christianity is good. It's more discussion than for just Christians.

Exactly, the problems come generally from the people themselves, usually when they wish to use religion for their own end instead of, for example, living their lives for Christ.

I bet if we got a bunch of people from different spiritual traditions (and lack of spiritual traditions) to sit down and yap for a while, there wouldn't be much difference in the end. The word "God" is so incredibly vague that you could say almost everyone has a God of some sort, whether it be altruistic principles or a more anthropomorphic personal God.

I think God is more personified. The problems come when objects are God.

I have to go, I'll continue later.

And onwards...

Thanks you! I actually just went back and read a bit of previous posts and noticed what I said before: Can children be adopted by single parents. And I was like, wait a minute...

So, I'm psychic, or just plain weird. I phrased it a bit oddly too. It wasn't supposed to give off any air of disapproval at all, just posed as a question that some people do ask.

In terms of what you said about family, I though I'd post a link it this. http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_life_of_jesus/jesus_and_his_family/mk03_20....

I was planning to post a passage, but I found this in my bookmarks and thought it perfect (even if you don't believe it happened, the presentation is dang cute!) It's part of Jesus' life which does question the views of family.

I recently made a new account, so your now added. (I had stopped using LJ *gasp* ages ago and forgot the password. Then I started lurking again, and desperately wanted to comment. Addiction is painful to the soul.)

Also, with what you were saying before about Christ, I thought I'd bring up this. http://skepticalchristian.com/podcast

Look at 12. You can either read or listen, but it presents the arguments really well for the Resurrection. The other podcasts are great as well.

btw, anybody who decides to comment in response to this, make a new thread. The newbies are getting lost in our debating....

Let me know what the new thread is!

I find this really good for the brain. And,

I agree, do we really need God? In the sense that he is the same thing to everyone? For me, I do not see a need for people to "see" the same God. I see a need for a "higher being", but only for those few people that need that feeling of direction. I personally do not feel that arguments, let alone WARS should be fought over this.

Just my thoughts here...

It's under the "Moved Religion Talk" heading. I'll post my reply there.

I thought I'd return to the original topic for a minute and introduce myself.
I'm Doro and I turned 18 not long ago, so I'm still busy trying out all my new privileges. Voting is on next week. ;)
Apart from that I'm finishing school this year. My main subjects - you get to choose two here - are Religion and English, which is also why I'm itchy to get into the discussion above, but I'll restrain myself. It's past midnight and the thread has been dead for months...

Right now I'm reading Work Your Way Around The World because I'm going to New Zealand in September. This book is great daydreaming material...
I'm rediscovering short stories these days, thanks to a friend of mine and I like, among other things, Harry Potter, Astrid Lindren, Michael Ende (the old favourites), Patrick Süskind, Jonathan Safran Foer and, um, dystopias in general it seems.

Hi!
I'm completely new to this site, but so far I really like it. Some of my favorite books are Twailight by Stephenie Meyer, Sabriel by Garth Nix, The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, The Demonata and Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan, and Demon in My View by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. I love to sing (classical music mostly) as you can probably tell by my name. I also love learning about ancient Egypt.

Hi! I`m new, 15 years old and from Norway.
My favorite books at the moment is Charlaine Harris "Southern Vampire Mysteries", Stephenie Meyers "The Host" and and a couple of other fantasy books:P

Hello World! As should everyone, I adore reading! My library does not contain what the average teenage girl's does. I love Robert Bloch, Alfred Hitchcock, and Edgar Allen Poe. My favorite book at the moment is To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

Hey there guys. I am 16. I love music of just about all kinds, but I am a rocker at heart.
My favourite books, hmm, let me see:
Spice and Wolf vol 1
The adventures of Tom Sawyer
To Kill a mockingbird

Add me, anyone.