A. We're a combination of '70's Glam (Bowie, T Rex), 70's Punk Rock (X-Ray Spex, The Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols), New Wave (Elvis Costello, Blondie, Devo, Nina Hagen, The Cars, B-52's), Fringe stuff like Adam Ant, Bow Wow Wow, harder Punk Rock (SS Decontrol, Rudimentary Peni, Crass, Bad Brains), Post Punk (Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy) 80's Retro from 81-83 (Echo and the Bunnymen, Killing Joke, Altered Images, Dream Academy, Heaven 17), real Ska like the Specials, Madness, English Beat/Beat, then the '90's stuff like STP, Jane's Addiction. You can also throw in Dead Can Dance and Sade... we're a mess.

A. Yeah, we're really Christians. The difference is we're not afraid of the world we live in, the world around us and we're not blinded by religion.
True Christianity doesn't mean you're suppose to be a respecter of persons or judgmental against what others believe or think. We're not threatened by the differences between people or belief systems. You don't believe what I believe? Cool...
Real Christianity is a progressive thing it's not an "I'm a Christian so now I'm better then all of you poor sinners". No, it's actually "I'm a Christian, how can I serve those around me?" The last thing real Christianity promotes is a closed and bigoted mindset.
Real Christianity promotes serving the world around you in practical ways first. Why are you going to listen to me about this "great God" of mine if I treat you like shite?

A. No.
Man in his infinite religious wisdom said that. Religion says don't smoke because your body is the temple of God. The Bible says, in regards to sexual immorality (fornication, adultery), that sexual immorality is a sin you commit against your own body, and since as a believer your body is the temple of God . . .
I'm not saying to go out and start smoking. There are lots of good reasons not to smoke and you know them all. What I'm saying is religion uses scripture for their own agenda. I can't count the number of times religious people have bagged on me for smoking using this scripture to support their argument and they were well over their ideal weight... go figure.

Regarding drinking: Scripture plainly states that drunkenness is the infraction, not drinking. I can drink and not get drunk. Maybe they can't. That's another issue...

And one of my favorite clueless arguments: tattoos
In the Old Testament the Bible says in Leviticus 19:28 that we are not to cut our flesh for the dead or tattoo/mark ourselves. I have never tattooed or marked myself for the dead.
But here's the thing, the verse before that, 27 plainly says "You shall not shave around the sides of your head nor shall you disfigure (cut, trim, shave, etc) the edges of your beard. Clearly, the guy busting on my tattoos is a well groomed WASP.
In Ezekiel 9:3 God tells a man dressed in linen who had a writers inkhorn at his side to go and mark/tattoo the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are being done within the city, mark/tattoo them on their foreheads.
Contradiction? No. They weren't marked/tattooed for the dead. They were marked/tattooed so they would be set apart from the wicked who were about to get a medieval ass whooping.

Oh, by the way, the ass whooping started in the temple with the religious church elders.

A. First of all, we genuinely love our children. We also genuinely love them as people, young adults.
It takes lots of communication, flexibility, common sense and you have to be able to admit you can or have made a mistake and say you're sorry. I have never met a parent that hasn't made a mistake. I have met many a parent that couldn't say "I'm sorry".
We have always treated our children like humans; people and not things, especially not dumb things.
As parents, we still remember what it was to be their age. How do you forget that? We also never wanted to instill our fears and insecurities in them. They're going to have their own problems, why burden them with more baggage?
We have cool kids.

A. In late January of 1980 Allan was sent to live with a missionary uncle in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Central America. He was sent by his parents under false pretenses and with a one way ticket. Allan was one month shy of his 16th birthday.

Cristina, who was born to missionary parents in Guatemala City, but raised in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and in the US of A, found herself back in Guatemala City in 1979. She was 13.

They met at the private school for American missionary kids they both attended. They met on Allan's first day at school. It was his third day in Guatemala.

Cristina lived less then a full block away from Allan's uncle and upon Allan's first after school visit she was quickly discouraged by her mother to associate with him.

They became good friends and only started dating after Allan graduated in the summer of 1982. In 1985 they started living together and married in 1988 after the birth of their two oldest children.