Andie - I didn't mean to imply that I hate you at all (if that is what you meant) and I don't think anyone on here does. What I meant was that books are precious things and should never be destroyed or censored and condemned just because some people think they're wrong for some reason, or are sending out the 'wrong' message and spreading new ideas that could be good for people to know about.
The Bible, as you're saying, is a good case in point and people
should be free to take what they want from it, if it gives them comfort and shores up their own beliefs and helps them make sense of the world and how to live in it. I don't personally agree with or believe
everything the Bible tells us, but there's a lot of history and cultural richness in there that's interesting and useful too, and the message of the Gospels is something that has sustained people for 2 thousand years and taught them to love and appreciate others. It's caused a lot of conflict too, but the core message is one I think very few sensible people (and despite appearances there are a lot of them on this forum) would say the Bible is a bad book, or that any Christian is bad person just because they believe in Jesus and his teachings.
I don't think you've been rude or offensive at all in this thread or any other come to that - you've brought up a lot of interesting points which is something we enjoy debating on this site. I'm sorry if you thought I was reacting badly to your remark about having to be careful what you wrote about the classics when you were at school. What I was trying to say was it's sad you had to be careful what you said in case you upset the people in charge - they were the ones at fault, not you at all.