This old joke shows the attitudes perfectly:
An Army grunt stands in the rain with a 30 pound pack having marched 15 miles and says “This sucks.”
A Marine stands waist deep in the water with a 60 pound pack having marched 20 miles and says smiling “This sucks just fine!”
A Special Forces soldier lies in the mud with an 80 pound pack after running 20 miles through enemy territory and sloshing through 10 miles of swamp, and he laughs “This really sucks and I wish it could suck some more!”
An airman sits in his air-conditioned quarters and says “The cable’s out. This sucks!”
A seaman looks to the shore and says “It sure sucks over there.”
The rivalries are fine. The important thing to remember is that we’re on the same side.
Point taken. Don’t worry, I was half kidding the whole time :o)
That's right. We all bleed American red.
I was a Marine, Dad was Navy, my cousin was Army. Good natured joshing, nothing to try to incite a fight within the family. I would hope FReepers are similarly family.
I have faith, because I choose faith. I don't ask God or Jesus for trivial things, the one time in my adult life that I really needed, Jesus answered my prayer and came through with a solution almost immediately.
The math doesn't lie - there IS God...and there ISN'T God. You choose through free will which gate you pass through - eternal life or oblivion.
The caveat to taking the Bible literally is that it has been tranlated several times, first through the mind of man and then from one language to another. There's a lot of unintended error in that process...and I won't even comment on the latest "gender-free" abomination, lest I get zapped for the use of profanity.