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(Written by a Christian, so this will be from the viewpoint of a follower of Christ, not any other religion. (not Catholic, not Protestant or any other label, just a believer in God and Christ))

It's funny you mention "evangelists" specifically... It's hard for me to understand them too. Especially the ones on TV begging for money from little old ladies barely getting by, while they are living in mansions, driving fancy cars, wearing expensive clothing, and covering their "stage" area with gold-plated angels and other ridiculous things. I can't empathize with those fake-Christians at all.

I can also understand feeling sorry for the people who buy into the whole TV-evangelist circus. Giving money to someone like that, when they could use that money to benefit local people who are truly needy... Yes, I think that's pretty misguided.

But if you are also having problems with ordinary people who believe in Yahweh (God) and Yeshua (Christ), I'm not sure why it should bother you, really. I mean, if they are preaching at you all the time, and you have told them over and over that you don't want to hear it, I can see how that would get annoying.

I have some help for you with that, though... You can basically use the Bible's own words to keep them from nagging you uselessly.

Get them to listen to this audio file:

http://www.dangernerd.com/kirkcameron.mp3

If they are an actual preacher/pastor, this one is geared more towards them:

http://www.dangernerd.com/raycomfort.zip

Send them the link, or burn it to CD and give it to them, whatever it takes. If they really listen to it, they should understand that annoying you isn't what they should be doing. You'll be helping them, and helping yourself at the same time.

On the other hand, if it's not a matter of them annoying you, but you unable to keep from telling them how stupid you think they are... That's something only you can deal with. Most people aren't going to react well if you tell them you think their beliefs are wrong or stupid.

Even amongst ourselves, Christians sometimes argue about whether certain beliefs are right or wrong, and nobody likes to hear they might be wrong. For instance, I catch a lot of flack because of my views on the differences between Catholicism and *exclusively* Bible-based Christianity. Catholics tend to be upset that I view many of the man-made Catholic doctrines as un-Biblical. But that's my opinion.

At any rate, you might be interested in this link:

http://www.doesgodexist.org/AboutClayton/PastLife.html

It's an absolutely fascinating read about a former die-hard atheist who was determined to write a book called "All the Stupidity of the Bible".

As a teacher of physics and earth science, he is a logical and analytical person.

He also looked into many religions and read the Vedas, Koran, Sayings of Buddha, writings of Bahaullah and Zoroaster.

If you read that with an open-mind, maybe some of his experiences might help you? At the very least, maybe your negative feelings towards believers will be mellowed and you will find it easier to understand them and get along with them, even if you still don't agree with them.

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Now this next part might not even apply to you, but in case you might be a former believer who has become disgusted by hypocrisy and "Churchianity", I urge you to read my answer to this question:

http://www.advicenators.com/qview.php?q=426757

Scroll down, my answer is the very bottom answer. It addresses some of the major problems with many "Churches" these days.

I hope something here helped. :-)

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I agree, it's stupid. Any girl who wears attention-getting clothing, and then acts outraged when she gets attention, is either faking the outrage, or a complete idiot. ;-)

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That's just a rumor that some people decided to spread. I wouldn't worry about it.

I don't think anything special will happen today unless somebody deliberately tries to go out and make something happen.

Some people are just in snit because the way we abbreviate today's date is similar (not even the same) to a Biblical prophesy number. But 666 is the number of a man, not the number of a date.

The number comes from the book of Revelation in the Christian Bible, chapter 13. It is describing the Anti-Christ and what will happen during the Great Tribulation.

The end of chapter 13 says:

"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six." (Revelation 13:16-18)


For those who might not know, a "score" is 20. So "threescore" is 3x20, or 60. Therefore, the number is six hundred, sixty, and six, or 666.

To read the rest of that chapter, you can click here: http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Rev/Rev013.html

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In trying to look at it in an impartial way, I suppose he could be a weird artist, who considers it art. Or he could be into concentual bondage or something... Or maybe a friend of his thought it was funny and left them at his apartment. I'm trying to give the benefit of the doubt up here in this section.

Now for my gut response... I think if I saw something like that in somebody's apartment, I would be completely creeped out and wouldn't want to go back to that apartment. Ever.

It reminds me too much of a scene from a serial-killer movie or something. That is really, really creepy. I mean, body parts in the freezer creepy.

Then again, maybe that's the impression he is trying to give. Some people idolize wicked things and wicked people... These days it seems as if many people think Evil = Cool. In just about any crowded chat room, you will see the ones who pick names associated with evil, devils, demons, death, violent acts, serial-killer names, etc... They think it's cool. Maybe he thinks it makes him cool to decorate like a serial-killer might.

Even so, I wouldn't want to associate with anybody who thinks something like that is cool.

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I know a way you can find out if your boyfriend really loves you, and remove any pressure you're feeling to have sex with him, all in one swoop.

Tell your boyfriend that you have decided you don't want to have sex until you are married.

#1: Once he knows that, you don't have to feel pressured about it.

#2: If he leaves you or tries to talk you out of it, you know he was just hanging around waiting to use you, and he didn't really love you. A man who really loves you will wait for marriage (mine did!).

Kills two birds with one stone. ;-)

If you have sex with him, you will never know if he really loves you. Remember a LOT of guys will lie for sex, so just because he says something, doesn't mean it's true! Especially if it leads to him getting sex.

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I don't think anything special will happen tomorrow unless somebody deliberately tries to go out and do something bad to make something happen.

Some people are just in snit because the way we abbreviate tomorrow's date is similar (not even the same) to a Biblical prophesy number. But 666 is the number of a man, not the number of a date.

The number comes from the book of Revelation in the Christian Bible, chapter 13. It is describing the Anti-Christ and what will happen during the Great Tribulation.

The end of chapter 13 says:

"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six." (Revelation 13:16-18)


For those who might not know, a "score" is 20. So "threescore" is 3x20, or 60. Therefore, the number is six hundred, sixty, and six, or 666.

To read the rest of that chapter, you can click here: http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Rev/Rev013.html

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At first this may read like I'm answering a different question, but it all ties together, I promise. ;-)

I'm pretty sure you are thinking of these verses (and keep in mind, these particular verses are Christ's words being quoted):

Matthew 6:1-8

"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Therefore when thou doest [thine] alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."

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For those who might not know, alms = donations. The first part of these verses is telling us to make our donations anonymously, if possible, and don't tell *anybody*. That way we won't be tempted to feel prideful and want to have people tell us how great we are for our donation.

Personal opinion ahead: This is one of the reasons I believe it's wrong to pass a plate in church, where everybody can see if someone donates, and sometimes even how much they donate. Not only can that lead to prideful feelings from those who put more than others in the plate, it can lead to shamed feelings for those who can't afford as much, and dirty looks for those who don't donate at all.

I think, at most, a church should have a private place with a drop-box, like a voting booth. Even that is questionable, as people will assume someone is donating if they go into the booth, and we can't be totally anonymous. Perhaps the way to donate is a money order in the mail, or something like that. Again, this part is my personal opinion, others will have different ideas.

Of course there will be times when we can't necessarily give anonymously (say, meeting someone on the street who is in need of something), and in those cases my husband and I feel the right thing to do is to not make a big production out of it. To be humble, and direct any "thanks" to God and Christ, who provided you with whatever you gave.

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Sorry, I know that part was a bit off topic from your question, but I felt that those scriptures go along with the rest (which is why I included them), and I wanted to make sure anybody else reading this would understand what alms meant, etc.

Now, for the verses that address your question. It's the same principle, really. Sometimes people praying in front of other people, may feel prideful in a "look at how religious I am" kind of way. I think these verses are warning against that.

If you think about it, prayer is a personal conversation between you and Yahweh (God). Imagine you are wanting to have a conversation with your friend, and so you go to a building with a bunch of other people, and this guy up front tells you words to repeat to your friend... Not much of a personal conversation, is it?

Praying to Yahweh shouldn't be an event to be viewed by all, but a personal thing between the two of you.

Now, having said that, I don't think there is anything wrong with like-minded people praising Yahweh and thanking Yahweh together, if they truly mean it and aren't just going along with the crowd. Notice the part of the verse that says "that they may be seen of men". To me it sounds like *intent* is important here. Is someone praying earnestly because they would pray exactly the same if nobody was watching? Or are they just wanting people to see them?

At any rate, your personal prayers will always be personal. Someone can't pray those for you. And of course it's best to pray those in private... There would be no reason for anybody to hear your private prayers (unless you wanted to show off).

Then there is praying in "vain repetitions". "Repetitions", of course, means "the same thing over and over". The definition of this that makes the most sense to me is a prayer that's just repeated over and over and over... I'm sure that over time, people who memorize these prayers just pray them automatically. They don't even think about the words anymore. The words of the prayer have lost any meaning. Whereas, if your prayers are formed as you think them, these prayers are from your heart.

Now, as to your question about going to church. I hate to do this to you, but I'm going to give you a link to another answer I wrote on the subject of "Churchianity". Mostly because I would be saying almost the exact same thing here, and I don't want to add to this already huge post. ;-)

See this question: http://www.advicenators.com/qview.php?q=426757

...and scroll down. My answer is the one on the very bottom. The first half of my answer there addresses the church and fellowship question.

Sorry for the novel, but I hope there was at least something helpful in it. ;-)

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I have always talked to myself, and had conversations with myself, for as long as I can remember. I still do, but only when I'm alone. ;-)

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The number comes from the book of Revelation in the Christian Bible, chapter 13. It is describing the Anti-Christ and what will happen during the Great Tribulation.

The end of chapter 13 says:

"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six." (Revelation 13:16-18)


For those who might not know, a "score" is 20. So "threescore" is 3x20, or 60. So the number is six hundred, sixty, and six, or 666.

To read the rest of that chapter, you can click here: http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Rev/Rev013.html

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If the kind of clothes you wear can mess up your social life, you have a crappy social life.

Sorry to be so blunt, but it's true. How can your clothes mess up your social life? Unless you never wash them or something and you stink, then I can understand. :-\

Friends who only like you for your clothes aren't your friends. If you could put Abercrombie on a mannequin and the mannequin could then join their clique, is that really a group you want to be associated with? Seriously?

Maybe you go to a school where there are a lot of rich kids whose parents are dumb enough to buy into that whole "expensive label" thing just so their kids can show off how much money they have to waste. Well you can give me 1's all you want, but that won't change the fact that people who would shun you because you didn't waste enough money on your clothes, AREN'T YOUR FRIENDS! If you can open your mind and realize that now, you will save yourself a ton of hurt and hearache in the future.

The reason your parents have money is probably because they aren't stupid with it. If a $20 shirt will serve the purpose as well as a $200 shirt, why waste money just to show off? They're smart. And they have the money to show for it. Good for them.

I agree with YG, though. Ask them if you can spend the money you earn at a job. You can say that if you earn it, you should be able to spend it how you want. But be warned, if you go that route, your parents could come back at you and say that if you want to have the responsibility of spending your own money, then you are ready to also pay them rent, or buy your own car (or pay your own insurance on it if you already have one), etc. Just a thought.

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For your first question... Just tell them. Gather them together, take a deep breath, and tell them. Yes, there will be drama. Yes, they will probably be upset at first. But these are the consequences you have to face. You have made the decision to become an adult before your time, now it's time to face the adult world... And in the adult world there is a lot of drama and upset and worry and sacrifice and responsibility. Welcome! Aren't you glad you hurried up to get here?

You chose this path. You knew the risks, you took them anyway because you thought you knew best. Sex is an adult activity. You decided you were adult enough to participate in this adult activity. Now you need to grow up and accept the consequences like an adult.

When you tell your parents, let them know you are ready to accept responsibility for your actions. That should go a long way in helping them with the news. Who knows, after the initial shock, they might even like the idea of having a grandchild.

As far as them "drowning" you in the "sex before marriage" stuff... Why do you think they are against sex before marriage? Could one of the reasons be because you might get pregnant!? It's too late now, so the whole "sex before marriage" speech isn't one that would do them any good to give you, since you obviously already made your own decision about that.

Don't add another bad decision on top of the one you already made. Adults tell you things for your own good, not to "spoil your fun" or be "mean". Adults have been through crap and learned things the hard way, they are trying to spare you the pain of making the same damn mistakes!

For your question #2, I have the benefit of being able to see other questions that you have asked, and I see that you have asked how to MAKE yourself have a miscarriage, in more than one question. (those questions were rightfully deleted, of course, since doing that could kill you, along with the baby.) But that puts this question in a whole different light and urgency. You MUST tell your parents. Do NOT try to make yourself have a miscarriage. If you don't care about the baby, you should at least care about yourself. You could die if you try to force a miscarriage.

If you and your family are not in a position to take care of your child, there are adoption agencies all over the place. There are 1,000's of couples who can't have children of their own, and would give anything to adopt a little baby.

As far as, are you a horrible person? I think you are a horribly confused person. You messed up. People mess up. All of us mess up. It's what we do after we mess up that decides what kind of person we really are. Do we try to ignore our mistakes? Cover up our mistakes by making bigger mistakes? Or face responsibility and deal with the choices we made?

Remember, there is a tiny life growing inside of you now. Your choices don't just impact yourself, but your baby's as well. I hope you will pull yourself together and behave in a mature, responsible manner. More than your own life depends on it.

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I have an idea that will keep you from ever having this problem again. You will never have to worry about if a guy is using you.

When you find guys that you like, tell them you have decided to not have any more sex until your wedding night. If they really like you and didn't just want to use you, they won't have a problem with that.

If they leave, or they keep trying to talk you out of it, then they are only wanting to use you for a few convenient body parts that you and every other girl happen to have.

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LadyGoodman is exactly right. Your question is worded in such a way as to imply an insult to anyone who doesn't agree with your point of view, whether you meant it that way or not.

For instance: "I'm proud to be pro-choice & you'd think nowadays more women would be. Why aren't you?"

The way I read that statement, you are saying that all women should have your point of view and be proud of it, or else. And it seems to be completely the opposite of the statement you made before it, "I agree in having your own opinion, but never force it onto someone else."

Imagine if I changed just one word of your statement, so it read: "I'm proud to be pro-LIFE & you'd think nowadays more women would be. Why aren't you?" Do you see how that can be taken as sounding rather snotty and self-righteous? Which, ironically, is what most pro-life people are accused of sounding like.

But as far as your overall question goes, people are individuals who have different beliefs. Some of those beliefs are going to be different from yours. Whether a person is male or female doesn't automatically mean they will think one way or another. There are plenty of women who are pro-life (like me), and there are plenty of men who aren't.

And abortion is a topic that elicits very strong emotions from both sides. Pro-life people honestly and truly believe that it's murdering babies. And I'm assuming that you honestly and truly believe that women should have a right to do what they want to.

Just imagine, if you will, that you 100% believed that a baby's life was on the line, for ANY reason... wouldn't it elicit a strong emotional reaction from you? That's where pro-life people are coming from.

You ask: "If someone is considering an abortion, why talk them out of it, bringing it up as a sin and disgusting?"

I could ask: "If someone is considering an abortion, why talk them into it, bringing it up as a right and commendable?"

And the answer is the same for each question. Because when people ask for opinions, we give them our opinions. And if our opinion is that abortion is murdering babies, then that's what we will say. And if your opinion is that abortion is fine, then that's what you will say. It's not fair of someone to say it's ok to answer people's questions only if they agree with their own opinions, but others who don't agree should keep their opinions to themselves and not be allowed to voice them... And that works both ways.

I hope that answers your question.

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Do yourself and your fiance a favor and call it off with him right now. You are obviously not ready to be married.

You should never marry anybody who isn't your "one and ONLY". If you feel restless, or think about other men, or feel that treats you like crap, you shouldn't be with him.

Be honest with him and tell him you aren't ready for a real "till death do us part" relationship. Keeping him tied up with you, thinking that he is your "one and only", is very unfair to him, and you obviously aren't thrilled about it either.

As far as getting together with the "other" man goes... If he has a girlfriend, you should probably forget about him and move on. If you don't, and you manage to get him to drop his girlfriend for you, congratulations, you have yourself a man who will drop you as soon as something better comes along, as he would have just proved.

My advice is to keep looking, as you obviously haven't found the one for you. When you do, you won't be thinking about other men.

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Naturally, atheists and agnostics will tell you that you should be one of those choices and that you won't go to hell because that's what they believe.

Christians will advise you not to turn away from God and give up your eternal life, because that's what we believe.

I have something for you to read that might be helpful to you:

http://www.doesgodexist.org/AboutClayton/PastLife.html

It's an absolutely fascinating read about a former die-hard atheist who was determined to write a book called "All the Stupidity of the Bible".

As a teacher of physics and earth science, he is a logical and analytical person.

He also looked into many religions and read the Vedas, Koran, Sayings of Buddha, writings of Bahaullah and Zoroaster.

I think you might be interested in his story.

Good Luck.

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This site was created by Spacefem. But last year she decided it was a bit too much to deal with, and was going to shut the site down unless someone could take the site over. DangerNerd offered to take the site.

Now the site is hosted on his server (so he pays the bills for it), and he is the one responsible for all the programming and changes and all of that. So yes, he is the current site owner.

I hope this answers your question. If you have any others, just let me know, because he's also my husband. ;-)

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If you get along well with your friends, it shouldn't matter how old you are.

As far as finding a 20 year old female attractive... I don't see anything wrong with that. I could survey 1,000 guys of every age and I'm pretty sure that most of them could easily find a 20 year old female attractive. That doesn't sound abnormal to me. As long as she is of legal age, I don't see a problem.

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Download Ad-Aware, it's free:

http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/

Make sure to update the definitions and then run it. That should help get rid of a lot of the spyware.

Also, if you have an anti-virus program, make sure you update the virus definitions and then run it.

If you don't have a program, you can get free virus scans at TrendMicro:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

I use them all the time.

Good Luck.

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There are actually a lot of different self-cleaning litter boxes these days, and more are being developed.

For the last couple of years, we have been using an Omega Paw self-cleaning litter box. (sometimes called the roll away litter box) Though it's not actually automatic, it does help. At least you don't have to scoop! The Omega Paw litterbox is made so that you roll the box over on it's top, and as it's rolled, the litter is sifted through a grate, and the clumps are deposited into a "drawer". Then you can just pull out the drawer and empty it.

It comes in 2 sizes, and I recommend getting the "large" size, as the grate in the box takes up quite a bit of space, and even the large isn't that large. Our 15+ pound cat can use it, but I know he would rather it were larger. The small size can be found in many pet store chains, but the large size is harder to find, and you may have to order it online like we did.

It's not perfect, and you do still have to do it yourself, but it's much better than bending over and searching for buried treasure. Also, you need to use clumping litter for this box to work. Here is a picture of the box, to give you an idea: http://www.omegapaw.com/RollAwayLrg.html

The main thing is that compared to other self-cleaning litter boxes, this box is cheap. I see the smalls range from $25-$29 and the larges from $33-$39.

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I have not tried a Littermaid, though we have been tempted to try it. Every time I am tempted, I start reading information and reviews about it and decide it's a bad idea. The vast majority of the reviews I read are bad. The tines rust and the waste gets stuck to them... The motor isn't strong enough to do a very good job, etc. That's the sort of thing I read about. And considering it isn't cheap and you have to buy the waste receptacles, that sounds like too much trouble for the money. And yes, those bad reviews are even including the new Litter Maid Elite.

If you want to read about it yourself, check out these discussions: http://www.litterbox-central.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=1dd729ca4fdce479563b80f83511a1ab

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And speaking of money... If we had the money, I can tell you right now which litterbox I would want. It's called the Litter Robot.

In a way, it's kind of like the rolling litter box. It's a big globe that sits on a base, and the globe turns and sifts the waste and clumps into a compartment. All of this is automated... It detects when the cat is in the box, and then waits a certain amount of time and then turns on. It doesn't require any special receptacles, you can just use small sized trash bags in the bottom to catch the waste.

I've heard tons and tons of good reviews about the LitterRobot. And the makers stand behind their product 100%. They offer a warranty that's transferrable, and I've heard of people who have called their support to get a replacement part for an older unit, and have the part shipped to them free, even though they were willing to pay for it because the unit was older and they were the second owner. The makers really seem to go out of their way to help their customers.

The down side? It's really expensive!!! It's $329.00 plus shipping! And even the ones that sell on eBay (and I have new litter-robot auctions mailed to me whenever one gets listed) sell for $250+ used! And that's because it actually works, and the makers stand behind their product.

Find out more about the Litter Robot here: http://www.litter-robot.com

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The other litter boxes that I have heard of, I don't know as much about... But here is a short list:

LitterFree (now known as CatGenie): http://www.catgenie.com/ Uses special washable granules instead of regular litter. Requires that you hook it up to a water source. It's a kitty "toilet". They're offering an introductory price of $300.

LitterSweep (aka Litter Roundup, aka Stylette Litter Sweep Ultra): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009YUHCI/002-5494020-8842445?v=glance&n=284507 I see this one in discount stores sometimes. It's a round shaped box instead of rectangle, and has a rake system rather like the Litter Maid. It hasn't gotten the best reviews in the world, but it's relatively cheap around the $60 to $80 range.

Petmate Purrforma: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007NWNJQ/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_1_txt/002-5494020-8842445?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=284507
Works similar to the Littermaid with the rake system, and like the Littermaid, gets some underwhelming reviews. Not cheap, between $160 - $200+ depending on size.

ScoopFree: http://www.scoopfree.com/ Designed to be used with only Fresh Step crystals, not regular clumping litter. It still uses a rake system, but doesn't have to move clumps. It only rakes the solids, the liquids apparently get "locked" inside of the crystals. Requires cartridges, but supposedly you only have to change it about once a month per cat. The box itself is about $140.00 not including a hood. The part where they get you is the cartridges. It's $50 for a pack of 3 cartridges. So if you have one cat, and they are telling the truth that you can go 1 month between changing the cartridges, that's $200 a year in cartridges. Still, I guess clumping litter isn't exactly cheap... And it's possible that $50 for 3 months isn't that out-of-line, compared to what one would have spent on litter... It just seems that way to me for some reason.

Litter Revolution: http://www.litterrevolution.com/products.html This one is more like the Litter Robot, in that it has a moving globe-like top on a static base, and the waste drops down into the base. It's not available yet, but it's supposed to give the LitterRobot a run for it's money when it comes out. I have no idea what it will cost, but if it's not much cheaper than the Litter Robot they may have trouble finding buyers, as the robot is already a very good product, just expensive.

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And finally, reviews and discussions of all these products can be found at Automatic Litterbox Central: http://www.litterbox-central.com/forum/index.php

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From you comment about worrying that God will do something bad to your family, I'm assuming that you may have heard that masturbation is a sin.

To the best of my knowledge, this is the scripture that many people point to in order to say that masturbation is a sin:

(Genesis 38:8 - 10) "And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled [it] on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also."

See, Onan's brother was dead, but Onan was supposed to marry his brother's widow and make her pregnant and the resulting baby would be raised as his brother's baby, not his. Some people translate these passages as saying that instead of making her pregnant, he masturbated, then got killed for it because he "spilled [it] on the ground" (his seed).

If you read it, it's pretty obvious that's not what happened because it first says "he went in unto his brother's wife". So basically, he had sex with his brother's wife, then pulled out at the last second in an effort not to make her pregnant. He didn't want to "donate" his seed to his dead brother, but he still went ahead and had sex with his brother's wife, you see?

It had nothing to do with masturbation. That's the way, I read it, anyway.

If, however, you are a Catholic, there may be some other reason why the Catholic Church thinks it's a sin. If they have a different reason, it might be from one of the exclusively Catholic doctrines.

The Catholic Church believes that the Bible is not the only authority. Their teachings include such documentation as Catechisms, and Papal Encyclicals (defined as "authoritative teaching instruments from the Vicar of Christ" (the Pope)) which have been written and added to throughout the years of the history of the Catholic Church.

Because of this, the Catholic Church has many teachings, beliefs, and traditions which are different from a Christian who believes the Holy Bible is the exclusive authority of Christianity.

Their belief that masturbation is a sin may come from one of these other authorities, rather than the Biblical scripture I quoted.

For more information about the differences between Catholicism and *exclusively* Bible-Based Christianity, see the following link:

http://www.russpickett.com/apolog/catindex.htm

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I'm DangerNerd's wife. We met on an internet personals site back in December, 1996. He flew across country to meet me for the first time in late February of 1997, and we were married a few weeks later. We've been together 9 years now. :-)

If you want to mail me, my email is DangerWench@gmail.com

Yes, I do sometimes copy and paste my own answers to answer different people's similar questions. I still personalize/edit them when necessary... but for instance, my advice about diet and exercise it going to be pretty much the same every time, and that's a very common subject for questions here... so there's no point in typing the same thing over and over and over again. ;-)

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Yes, hubby and I were both virgins on our wedding night, at the age of 26. Yes, we are both Christians, but we greatly dislike what "Christianity" (or "Churchianity") has come to represent in many people's minds these days... Hypocrisy, greed, pride... Things which the Bible says we are NOT supposed to do. We are supposed to be a good example, not a bad one. :-(

If you have a Christian acquaintance who is hitting you over the head with "Jesus will bring you peace and joy and happiness" tell them to listen to this:

http://www.dangernerd.com/kirkcameron.mp3

(It's 9 megs, so it may take a bit to download)

If you can't download MP3's for some reason, you can download the zip file.

http://www.dangernerd.com/kirkcameron.zip

If they are an actual preacher/pastor, this one is geared more towards them:

http://www.dangernerd.com/raycomfort.zip

Send them the link, or burn it to CD and give it to them, whatever it takes.

If they really listen to that, they will see how the Bible itself says the way they are annoying you is wrong. :-)

If you are a Christian, please listen to it, even if you aren't beating people over the head with Jesus. I promise you, it will give you a new perspective. It's totally awesome.

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I'm also fascinated by prophesy, and I do think we are living in an age where we are seeing many things come true that were prophesied 1,000's of years ago.

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There has been a lot of hubbub lately regarding my views on the differences between Catholicism and *exclusively* Bible-Based Christianity... Mostly due to my not making myself clear. I did have a big long explanation here, but this time I will opt for the KISS method (Keep It Simple, Stupid). Yes, the following is the simplified version. ;-)

The Catholic Church believes that the Bible is not the only authority. Their teachings include such documentation as Catechisms, and Papal Encyclicals (defined as "authoritative teaching instruments from the Vicar of Christ" (the Pope)) which have been written and added to throughout the years of the history of the Catholic Church.

Because of this, the Catholic Church has many teachings, beliefs, and traditions that are different from a Christian who believes the Holy Bible is the exclusive authority of Christianity.

A Catholic Christian believes in the Catholic doctrines, teachings, and traditions which include, but are *not exclusive to* the Holy Bible.

Most non-Catholic Christians believe the Holy Bible is the *exclusive* authority of Christianity... No other documents.

Much argument comes from this, as quite a few non-Catholic Christians (myself included) believe many of the man-made Catholic doctrines to be un-Christian and not corresponding with Biblical scripture. And obviously, Catholics disagree.

For more information about the differences between Catholicism and *exclusively* Bible-Based Christianity, see the following link:

Roman Catholic Doctrine vs. The Holy Bible

And a final note about that link... That e-book isn't written by Jack Chick, I have a lot of problems with Mr. Chick. Some of his tracts are great, and some of them are way "out there" if you know what I mean. I do not support Jack Chick. This e-book is written by Rick Jones, who was a Catholic for many years, not Chick.

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"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (2Timothy 3:1 - 7)

"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring..." (Luke 21:25)

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Yahweh is my God, Yeshua is my Savior.

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