In article <watson.735759766@mariner.sce.carleton.ca>, watson@sce.carleton.ca (Stephen Watson) writes: > Question for those of you who seem to be fundamentalists (Stephen > Tice, the Cotera, Joe Gaut, et al)(apologies if I've mislabelled any > of you, I've only started reading t.r.m since the BD disaster.  But I > know the Cotera is a fundy) and are defending Koresh and his beliefs > as an example of True Christianity under persecution from the the Big > Bad Secular State: what is your opinion of his reported sexual habits? > If the reports are accurate, what IYO does this say about the quality of > his Christianity?  Or are the allegations just part of the Big > Cover-Up?  Thank you, Steve.  It is refreshing to have someone accuse me of being a Christian.  I only hope enough evidence can be garnered to get a conviction.  I am not certain what you mean by the "fundy" part as the term fundamentalist has a wide variety of uses.  If you refer to those who actually believe Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God and wish to follow in his way, then I plead guilty.  But what does it matter what I think.  The Roman circus is over.  The lions have been satisfied -- for now.  The Emperor, after the long and gruelling struggle, sensed the crowd was tiring and gave thumbs down.  With respect to my previous comments about David Koresh, I urge you to re-examine my previous posts.  I believe you mistakenly assume that defense of Koresh' right to his own personal beliefs and his right to express them to others implies agreement with Koresh' theology.  Actually I understand little about the details of Branch- Davidian teachings and regret so many are hung-up on that aspect of the tragic events of the past few days.  Nor do I think Koresh' sex life should be of any interest to the federal government.  Of course Hillary says he had been molesting infants so it must be true even though such allegations do not fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government; they are state and local matters and have been thoroughly reviewed at the local level by proper authorities with no successful charge having ever been levied against him.  Under American law, he was innocent as Americans are presumed innocent until proven guilty.  At least that's how it is suppposed to be.  But he was demonized and propa- gandized against by a powerful machine to have him appear as a lustful beast and therefore deserving of every ill the fates might bring upon him.    But evidence trickles in that the twenty-one children, who left the building in the early days of the siege,  were carefully examined by qualified authorities for evidence of physical or sexual abuse and none was found.  DeGuerin, one of the attorneys who met with Davidians several times before the conflagration, reported that the children seemed well adjusted and showed no sign of abuse.  Ultimately, Steve, what I think about the heart of David Koresh is quite unimportant.  Today he is in the benevolent hands of a most wise and merciful judge who will one day surely judge us all. So I withhold any judgment of David Koresh and defer to the One who has all knowledge.  Meanwhile, let's clean up the mess left on earth and keep this from happening again by sending a strong message to the government to respect the inalienable rights of the people it serves.  --Joe Gaut