Tag: Christianity

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A Billboard – Somewhere in Georgia

First of all, the shear hubris of this billboard is more than I can fathom.  Then the divisiveness promoted by this sign, surely placed by a religious organization or person, is the exact opposite of what religion should be doing.  Historically, however, Christianity has not be an inclusive religion, except by force, nor has it been an agent for tolerance and acceptance of people who believe or think differently than themselves.  IMHO, this attitude continues today in many branches of Christianity.

On the other hand, I have been and am certainly demonizing MAGA Republicans.  For me, they are espousing the worst side of humanity.  Why so many Christians, especially Evangelical Christians, are so adamantly onboard with the MAGA crowd is mystifying.

That persons like tRump, Putin, Maduro, Kim Jung-un, Netanyahu and many more of that ilk are in positions of power is proof that a god does not exist — at least the god as detailed in the various religious texts, or if he does exist, he certainly does not love humanity.

Oh well.

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All Christian denominations explained in 12 minutes | A short video

Many moons ago I worked with an Egyptian Database Administrator at the Saks data center in Jackson, MS. Besides Arabic, he, obviously spoke English, but his English was better than 99%of the native speakers in America.  He also spoke German as his parents, two college professors, had taught in Germany for many years.  He was and is a very bright man in many ways. He originally trained as an engineer, but discovered better money in administering huge corporate databases.

I was reasonably friendly with him, to the point of eating dinner at his house.  He was secular, but his wife was a very devote Muslim. I remember asking him if Muslims believed in hell. He responded adamantly with, “Oh do we ever believe in hell.”  And a tough hell it is, but you can get out of it, unlike Christian hell.

One night, at her request, I attempted to elucidate to his wife the various Christian denominations. I gave up in a short while as it was very tough slogging.  I did gift her a book on the various branches of Protestantism from either the Dummy series or Idiot series of books.  I really does boil down sometimes to how many angels are dancing on the head of a pin.

I wish I had had this little video to point her to.

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My Path to Atheism by Annie Besant

A more descriptive title for this book for today might be My Path from Christianity to a New Age Religion.pathatheism_1311

Ms. Besant had a well documented intellectual journey from evangelical Christianity to Victorian Atheism to Theosophy.  Quoting from Wikipedia defining theosophy:

“Theosophy refers to systems of esoteric philosophy concerning, or investigation seeking direct knowledge of, presumed mysteries of being and nature, particularly concerning the nature of divinity.

Theosophy is considered a part of the broader field of esotericism, referring to hidden knowledge or wisdom that offers the individual enlightenment and salvation. The theosophist seeks to understand the mysteries of the universe and the bonds that unite the universe, humanity, and the divine. The goal of theosophy is to explore the origin of divinity and humanity, and the world. From investigation of those topics, theosophists try to discover a coherent description of the purpose and origin of the universe.”

Reading her book I was never convinced she was an atheist in the modern sense of the word, a rejection of belief in deities.  What she was rejecting was Christianity, Continue reading “My Path to Atheism by Annie Besant”

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Show Down at the Shariah Corral

Oklahoma is generally thought of as a backwater by the rest of the country and I suspect big parts of the industrialized world.   Oklahoma State Question 755 passed with 71% of Okies voting for it.  It bans state judges from considering Shariah or International law when deciding cases.  I’m not sure what problem they were trying to solve…even preemptively.  It is currently in suspension awaiting legal action.

In this Bible Belt state you have got to wonder where acceptance and tolerance  have gone.  My reading of the Bible leads me to think that they should be the backbone of Christianity.

Shariah at the Kumback Café Frank Rich Editorial at The New York Times

From the article:

‘To understand U.S. politics today, try “It’s the fear element, stupid.”’

This seems to be part of a bigger movement to breed fear and paint our President as “un-American”.  I’m not sure what an “American” is except one of a group of immigrants living in a common land, hopefully with some shared goals.

Apparently tolerance for differences is not one of those goals.

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Rev. Joe stumbles

I am not religious.  I do not even consider myself spiritual.  I made the last comment a while back and I had a couple folks arguing with me as they thought I was very spiritual.  One problem with the word spiritual is that it has an old school dictionary definition, and common usage that is of a more new age derivative.  The dictionary definition, to me, is not that much different than the dictionary definition for religious . Spiritual in this context seems to imply a less structured version of religious.  I have trouble getting my head around the new age definition.  It is very much like E=mc2.  I understand the parts, but the whole is another matter.

My goal is to live an ethical and a genuine life.  However, most of the time I fail miserably at these tasks.  Continue reading “Rev. Joe stumbles”

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The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Islam

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Islam by Yahiya Emerick available at Amazon.com

ig_islamI read this book for two reasons. First, I’ve appointed myself the task of learning about the various world religions. Secondly, I have an Arabic friend (stay away Homeland Security) who is Muslim, and I wanted to understand where he was coming from a little better.

I wanted to give this book 3 and half stars, but that is not an option. I gave it four because the author fulfilled his primary mission of teaching the reader the basics of Islam. He also threw in a brief history Islam and Arabs that was interesting. When they talk about Sunnis and Shiites on the news, now I understand the difference. Continue reading “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Islam”

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What I Believe

A friend recently asked me to write about what I believe for a religious studies class she was taking at her local Catholic church.   I believe she asked as she knows that I am a little ways from center in my beliefs. 

I came across the following quote that seems to summarize my beliefs:

We believe in the formless and eternal Tao, and we recognize all personified deities as being mere human constructs.  We reject hatred, intolerance, and unnecessary violence, and embrace harmony, love and learning, as we are taught by Nature.  We place our trust and our lives in the Tao, that we may live in peace and balance with the Universe, both in this mortal life and beyond.  ~~~~ Creed of the Western Reform Taoist Congregation Continue reading “What I Believe”