Jay,

You said "Just the same, I have an obligation to make folks aware that the truth is out there (gee, sounds like The X-Files), when the topic arises. Some are seeking for the truth, other could care less. I respect that, too."

Allow me to tread lightly yet honestly in response:

I understand that to "preach the Gospel" is part of certain Christian denominations and as long as it is done with respect and lack of any sense of spiritual superiority ("you not a child of God and are lost, I am and am not lost"), I'm all for it.

But unfortunately for some, there is no real "tactical' difference between taking that to its ultimate goal and that of extremist Muslim views -- that the world must become a Califate (everyone must convert to Islam). In Christian terms, the entire globe must become Christian, or else.

There is a small problem with that...

Other religions that have been around for as long and longer than the three Abrahamic ones. Why would God create them -- S/He must have since...

... they are also committed to living a virtuous life, charity, honor, honesty, kindness, compassion -- and yes, even 'salvation' (it's called enlightenment and other similar terms) only to have them all be converted later by either Christianity or Islam?

Have you read any of the Buddhist Sutras?
If you think the 10 Commandments are already tough medicine, try a Sutra or two.

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All that said, as Bob warned early on in this thread, discussions on politics or religion are in a sense futile for they will ultimately go nowhere in terms of changing one's core perceptions. Be it yours, mine or that of anyone else following this discussion.

The best we can do is share our views, our beliefs without trying to convince or even insinuate that others change theirs. And ironically, one could almost wish that one would apply the aforementioned original meaning of the millennia old Sanskrit greeting...

Namasté - "The Divine in me salutes the Divine in you." Whether clothed as..

...a Christian, an agnostic, a Buddhist, an atheist, a Jew, a Muslim or as any other human being on this planet. The Divine cannot be absent anywhere since the Divine is infinite and omnipresent everywhere, and hence must be present in everyone in some way.

And since that is true, how can any aspect of Divinity that is everywhere be "lost"? The mystical traditions of Christianity understand that and refer to that part in all as the Christos within all, Jesus called it the "kingdom of God is within." He didn't say "it will ."be within, he said "is within." That infinite, never lost, never not-been aspect of the Divine.

Even one nano-micro-quark of infinity is still... infinite.

Now, it is obvious to anyone that it can be at the very least obscured by all the human faults and atrocities -- that is what the ancient Buddhist and other teaching refer to as "illusion" or "maya." We are all living in an illusion of seeming separation from the Divine/Source/Truth.

But even simple logic shows that must be ultimately impossible. That which is omnipresent and infinite cannot be separated from Him or Herself. Be it as a nano-micro-quark buried way deep inside even the most heinous among us.

At some point, that part is going to wake up.
How long that takes is part of the whole ongoing mystery...

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Well, OK, fine, maybe I am trying to perhaps suggest or hint at a wider canvas of perceptions. But as you are entitled to your views, so am I :o)

Once again, the mundane bottom line for me is the above already quoted Golden Rule in all three Abrahamic traditions and all its variations around the world. One could also add as Mark Twain, the Dalai Lama and the Metta (Loving Kindness) Sutra put it...

"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." ~ Mark Twain~ Metta Sutra

All the rest is just commentary.
Including everything I've written at this thread.