banana: first of all, I was referring to Sandy’s comments, which I find disrespectful, even if one is an atheist. I would never make such comments for Mohammed’s mother, or Buddha’s mother, or your mother for that matter.
secondly, I am not particularly religious. But either you discard the Bible, or you accept it. In either case, there is no evidence (fabricated or not) that ever says Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. And there is nobody else in the history of Mankind for the past 2000 years that has made such allegations against Virgin Mary except Sandy, in this thread. So unless Sandy is over 2009 years old and knows something we don’t, he’s just being disrespectful towards a person he doesn’t know without reason.
Thirdly, you missed the argument itself due to not reading carefully, but if you want to talk about Mary Magdalene, then quote ANY source (religious or otherwise) you want. I’m willing to discuss this on any terms. The slander against Mary Magdalene actually came from the church itself, in my opinion accidentally, so it has nothing to do with pagans.
And finally, I never said anything against sandy’s faith, if there is one. I am an agnostic myself, though leaning towards believing in God. But just because I don’t take the Bible literally, doesn’t mean the people described in it are all prostitutes. I agree with you that perhaps they had no divine connection. And that perhaps Virgin Mary was not a virgin at all (actually it never says she was a virgin in the Bible). But that doesn’t mean that “God paid her to have sex”.