Well said, mm, one can adhere to the saying to "do unto others as one would have others do to you ...." without a lot of 'supernatural world' baggage and threats of hell and other negativity and accusations. :D

As a Gnostic I have a very different understanding of the different religious texts. I don't see them as literal history. In fact I see literalism as the lowest level of understanding re what was once a mystery teaching with multiple levels of symbolism and hence no single correct way of interpreting and understanding them. Being that there are a number of possible right ways of viewing I don't look down at those who disagree with me. In fact there's always something more to learn and even the student can be the master as it were. The word "Gnostic" simply means "knower" and is indicative of how I live my life. I don't simply take a persons word for something. I'll perform the Gnostics three R's, reproof, reproof, and yet more reproof ;) A Gnostic can be within any religion or not in one at all, i.e. can be Jewish, Buddhist (Buddha means the same as Gnostic), Islamic (Sufi), Hindi, Christian,.