I’m supportive of religious people because I think it’s great to see people believing passionately in something (as a struggling writer working for success in the publishing industry, I’d be a bit of a hypocrite if I wasn’t). On the other hand, I really don’t dig those religious that keep people down or hurt them, or religious that are really about segregating people from others because they don’t feel the same way. Which, I realize, accounts for a lot of religious out there. :)

Funny story about the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Back when I worked at CNIB, there was a young boy from somewhere in the Prairies who was being used as the face for the new Digital Library and Children’s Discovery Portal. He was the one they showed in newspapers using it, promoting it, etc.

Anyway, one of the big corporate sponsors of the Digital Library/CDP was Microsoft, and one year Bill Gates actually came up here for some reason or another. So the CNIB trucked the kid out again for the photo op, they have him there with Bill Gates playing with the CDP, and as a gift Mr. Gates presents the kid with the latest Harry Potter book in audio format (I can’t remember which HP book it was, number five or six). The kid then tells Mr. Gates, very politely, that he’s not allowed to read Harry Potter because he’s Jehovah’s Witness and his parents say Harry Potter is bad.

I wasn’t actually there for the event, but the story was passed along by everyone who was there that day. It’s like something out of a movie and never fails to make me giggle.

I loved your phrase “very lapsed Catholic”, that would be me too. I’m sure my old teachers would feel that some kind of hell awaits me - so the reading of some book shouldn’t add much more fuel to the waiting fire. This story reminds me of a Jehova’s Witness follower Chris and I worked with for years. He used to go off on us at the mention of Harry Potter books or movies. In his mind we were corrupting our children with witchcraft and black magic, - “cool!” I’d say. Of course this only made us want to talk about it more whenever he was around, that and blood transfusions. That’s another story, where would Chris be today without blood transfusions, and this idiot would argue with him about it.

I got a Wii for Christmas, what a riot that thing is. It’s currently corrupting my wife and children, God love them.

Great posts as always - best of luck to you and Katherine in 08.

S:)