> 1. Who is/was the Ayatollah Khomeini?

A religious leader in Iran, who had a great deal of political power because of his position. Of course, most of my information comes from Doonesbury.

> 2. Is there a difference between the Republic of China and the Peoples' Republic of China? If so, what is it?

Yes: The word "Peoples'", which incidentally has no meaning in this context. Again, I really have no idea what I'm talking about.

> 3. Is paganism a religion? If so, why? If not, why not?

I don't have a firm definition of religion set out for myself, so I'm going to have to pass on this one.

> 4. Was the Setpember 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the United States (committed by the Arab terrorist group Al Qaeda) a response to the United States' pro-Israel Middle East policy? If so, why? If not, why not?

I don't think this one can be answered with a 100% yes or no answer. I would say that the pro-Israel Middle East policy was very likely a contributing factor, simply because the people who have been presumed responsible for the attack are noted for their opposition to Israel.

> 5. What is the meaning of life?

I always think that this question is worded poorly--I would prefer "What is the purpose of life?". Of course, wording it like that would not make me any more likely to have a good answer that could be summarized in less than a page or two, and I need to go to bed, so that's not happening tonight.

Don "Despite the light-hearted responses, I am pretty serious about most of those" Monkey