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Poster: John West
Caption: Applause to Ms Provoost. I sense that, unknown to her, she is Buddhist: possibly rencarnated. It is impossible to practice the teachings of Christ as long as an us and them attitude exists. I especially enjoyed listening to her express her views and sharing her insights. Wonderfully refreshing. Thank you.

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Poster: Jill Dyer
Caption: All are chosen. God gives us the free will to respond to him or ignore him.

Poster: Ann Marie Waterhouse
Caption: I am touched by the honesty of all the guests I've seen so far, but particularly Anne Provoost this evening. She raises some issues I've never thought about like the people who were left behind when the ark was built. Where would I have been, I wonder? In the shadow or on the ark? And what would I have done in that fatal instant (as she calls it) that changes me forever...would I have chosen to build another ark? Would I have given up my place for another? Would I have been glad to have been chosen? And now, I must ask myself, since this is, I assume, the point of this series...how do these questions relate to my life today? Am I one of the chosen? What burden does that present to me? What opportunities?

Poster: L. Blaser
Caption: The Jews are God's chosen people (and no, I am not Jewish). They did not choose themselves. God chose them. The Son of God, Jesus Christ became man when he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Jewish virgin, Mary. And Jesus gave His life that man might have eternal life. In doing so, Jesus formed a new covenant with man. That is love, that one without sin should give His life for the salvation of all people. I beg your forgiveness if I am wrong, but I got the distinct impression from the interview that you (Bill Moyers) and Anne Provoost both think each man is in charge of himself...choosing another god if you don't like God's justice. This does not change the fact that God is God. The evil in the world is due to man choosing his own will rather than choosing to follow God's laws. And it is not always the guilty that pay. There are many innocent victims, for example; aborted babies are innocent victims when people choose to disregard God's commandment, “You shall not kill.” Anne Provoost said that a person's internal ethics is the answer. Yes, as long as we strive to follow God's ethics, not ethics of our own making. God’s natural law is written on the heart of every individual, but sin darkens the intellect preventing one from seeing the truth even if it were staring one in the face. God is a merciful God, always ready to forgive when we make wrong choices. We must prayerfully ask God for His mercy and for the grace to follow His laws. We must also prayerfully ask God for faith and trust in Him. Faith and trust in God are gifts from God.

Poster: kevi meru.
Caption: I think the chosen in the biblical sense is talking about God wanting to reveal Himself to mankind by selecting a race, not because that race is necessarily better than others. God had to start somewhere and He chose Abraham and his descendants. For all we know, God could have chosen the Chinese, or Persians, or some Europeans. So after the mission has been accomplished, the Bible has become a universal book and universal property, where people of all race can investigate God and His ways. When someone is chosen (or called), it is done so for the benefit of mankind, as God is the most unselfish in the universe. A modern adaptation of the word would be privilege. For example, Bill Moyer is privileged to be the host of Faith and Reason, which comes with earnings and popularity, and the satisfaction of interacting with interesting people. This is all for the benefit of the viewers --- but many would like the position of the host if given the choice. The chosen.

Poster: Walter Creed
Caption: But most people who say they've been chosen don't feel any burden. They feel only the power that they've conveyed on themselves--the power to attract others to their conviction, the power to make those who doubt bend to their will. Saying you've been chosen can and often does lead to arrogance, to hubris, to believing that the ends justify the means...

Poster: Ev. Tommy Martin
Caption: It is a simple fact that people cannot see as God sees. When the Bible talks about being chosen, it does not discriminate. God only knows who will serve and worship Christ throughout all eternity, this is why he knows who to chose and who not to chose, if you could see as God sees, you too would only chose certain ones to carry out your plans for the future. God sees everything thing in the present, we see things as they happen, plain simple truths. God did not just up and kill evil people during the great flood in Noah's day, Noah preached repentance to those evil people for about 120 yrs. they were like many today, they refused to turn their hearts over to God through repentance and trust him completely with their lives and they continued to rebel (like many of us) and God saw fit to take them away. He will do the same when he comes again in Christ. Just plain simple truths. One of the reasons that Noah got over intoxicated was the fact that he probably did not even know that grape juice spoiled would even cause such effects on the human brain. Just plain simple truths. God always gives true heart assurance that we are his when we have experienced the new birth. This is how we know when we are his and been chosen. (1Jn.5:13)

Poster: Steve Buck
Caption: Anne must not have read the Bible about the Ark. Everyone was given an opportunity to be chosen. All they had to do was repent and follow God's guidelines to be one of the chosen righteous.As the ark was being built Noah still was telling the people of the coming judgement; repent before it is too late

Poster: E.K.
Caption: A lot of brainwashing has been going on in history. As a result, there are masses of people who believe that only certain communities have been chosen to enjoy the benefits of heaven and earth. The so-called chosen ones have also been brainwashed and have become victims of their own making. They still think they can thrive wherever they are by intentionally ignoring the plight of others or creating conditions to legitimize their anguish. Without the proper awareness of human decency, any feeling of loads of very heavy burden will continue being a foreign experience to them.

Poster: L.C. Smith Jr.
Caption: You cannot proclaim one'self as being chosen it has no validity so then yes it is self-defining. When Jesus proclaims you chosen it matters not what anyone thinks or does and there is no burden.

Poster: Pat Mason
Caption: I actually want to respond to Anne's statement concerning ethics. From what I understood, she said ethics is what we should live by. I believe morals and ethics change from society to society. They do not necessarily reflect the teachings of Jesus. Morals and ethics are a mixture of truth and lies or traditions and ordinances created by man. Morals are like laws that are made to restrain your natural instincts and make adjustments to your behavior patterns, but they don’t transform you. They do not create a new heart in you, and a new heart is what’s needed to be in the perfect will of God. If we live by morals and ethics, we are removing the Christly element from our lives and that takes away the sense of compassion that we all must have in order for us to live a Christly life. We need constant Divine intervention in our lives while making our daily choices and decisions and just “living” our daily lives. Because morality is man’s idea of righteousness, there is room for sin

Poster: R. Carpenter
Caption: Agreed, I don't think I could appoint the state of chosen upon anyone other than myself. I believe that choice could appear to myself or another person to his or herself. If one believes in God or a higher power, it is probable that God would choose tasks for the chosen. Someimes feeling chosen (or on a bad day having pulled the short straw), I have felt not so much the burden but a lightness, a stronger identity, purpose and urgency that I did not have before serious chronic illness came to me. I believe in a gentle spirit who doesn't need believers in order to exist. Perhaps that makes my life easier because there are no marks and no grades. Anything I learn and any good I convey by existing has value. My contribution isn't grand- my effect on my environment is subtle. Chosen to still be alive, present and active with great physical limitations,I believe I am to be an example. How to live is my choice. Most of us have choice and our daily action or inaction makes our lives important for the time we are here. To learn and lead from choice is the purpose of anyone felt chosen. Short life or long life, how you live it that life- we all have the same duty.

Poster: Forrest Howe
Caption: I don't agree with this completely. Many times Christians see the ancient nation of Israel as God's chosen people not themselves.

Poster: Carlo Vitale
Caption: To declare oneself chosen is not that important per se, however, to insure one remains chosen is the real historical point.

Poster: Lee R
Caption: I agree. If those who are so proud to be chosen were relistic they would see themselves as bigots. All people are equal and those who cannot understant this are delusional

Poster: Barbara K
Caption: Not only is it a burden to perceive oneself as chosen, it is dangerous because it creates a perception of superiority which always breeds resentment and invites antagonism by the other who is not chosen.

Poster: RICK HENRY
Caption: Once god was created through our symbolic language and art to resemble mankind both in appearance and values, he became the property and mirror of every culture, so that he would reflect thier values and morals. God will always be thought of and worshipped in the image of the people worshipping him. Every culture believes that god is on their side, and why shouldn't they? He has been properly clothed with thier prejudices and world view. An individual is right in believing that he/she may have been chosen when they see the image of god in themselves. The only difference between the individual and the collective body of believers in becoming mystics is a personal narcissm. This explains why so many times those who have been mystically chosen did not seem to have the characteristics that would seem to reccommend them as cadidates for special consideration. Being chosen is a way of expressing love of ones self. If we find others who believe in our personal experince, they become disiples because they then become chosen as well through association. We all want the mystical experince but if we dont get it directly we can be chosen by the chosen.

Poster: Victim of the chosen ones
Caption: A lot of brainwashing has been going on in history. As a result, there are masses of people who believe that only certain communities have been chosen to enjoy the benefits of heaven and earth. The so-called chosen ones have also been brainwashed and have become victims of their own making. They still think they can thrive wherever they are by intentionally ignoring the plight of others or creating conditions to legitimize their anguish. Without the proper awareness of human decency, any feeling of loads of very heavy burden will continue being a foreign experience to them.