I'm not sure why, but Dan seems to take pleasure here in quoting a fellow Atheist, bitter, twisted, and seemingly one who read a different Bible than the one "I've" got. Robert Ingersoll describes a completely different God, and their actions, than the God of the Christian and Jewish Bibles. I would be afraid of this God as well:
"When I speak of God, I mean that god who prevented man from putting forth his hand and taking also of the fruit of the tree of life that he might live forever; of that god who multiplied the agonies of woman, increased the toil of man, and in his anger drowned a world - of that god whose altars reeked with human blood, who butchered babes, violated maidens, enslaved men and filled the earth with cruelty and crime; of that god who made heaven for the few, hell for the many, and who will gloat forever and ever upon the writhings of the lost and damned."
Let me tear this apart for you. Those of you who have read the Bible probably did it in your head while reading the above statement already. But for those of you who haven't read the book, here it goes:
Ingersoll: "prevented man from putting forth his hand and taking also of the fruit of the tree of life that he might live forever; of that god who multiplied the agonies of woman, increased the toil of man"
The Bible: "And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." - Gen 2:9
The Bible: "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. " - Gen 2:17
The Bible: "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [shall be] to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." - Gen3:16
The Bible: "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life;" - Gen3:17
The Bible: "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:" - Gen 3:22
The Bible: "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." - Gen 3:24
Note a few things:
Adam and Eve have chosen to be evil and separate themselves from God. They now do not have the same protection from God if He were with them, the ground does not have God's help, the woman does not have God's help, men and women lack the help from God to be selfless and help each other.
If God were to leave men and women in this state forever, allowing them to "live forever" in their bodies now unprotected from God because they have separated themselves from Him, it would be cruilty. Their power would become so great, and their harm to one another even greater.
God made a better plan. He said to humanity that He would provide a way back! That they will have the choice to be reborn and not continue in their separtion from God. They will escape total separation when time ends, when they leave their bodies that are so far from God. Their death will be a release from this world, either to be alone without external harm, or to be with God, supplied with every good thing.
Hell is simply the lack of God, just like light and darkness. Darkness is not anything in itself, it is just the lack of light.
"But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." - Mat 8:12
"There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you [yourselves] thrust out." - Luk 13:28
Those who choose to continue to be separate from God will find themselves completely separate when they die. Don't be fooled because your loved ones and your enemies are gone. They are either closer to God or further away. Where you stand now is only a place for so many years. As we all know, standing here is temporal. We will either come closer to God or go further away!
In any case, enjoy how close you are to Him now. You're reaping his distant protection, His distant help, His distant love. I implore you, hold onto it if you can. He has offered His hand out to you. You may have more.
Ingersoll: "and in his anger drowned a world"
We can all assume he's referring to the great flood of the entire earth. Well, Mr. Ingersoll, if everyone was killing each other, sacrificing their children, having orgies, raping the inocent, and committing continual acts of hatred and backstabbing against each other, would you want it to continue? There was only one man who was not contributing to this chaos, Noah. God pushed reboot. It was more of a relief to the world than a punishment.
Ingersoll: "that god whose altars reeked with human blood"
I really have no idea what he's referring to here. There is no human sacrifice in the Bible besides Jesus Christ and those human sacrifices described in the Bible and committed by ungodly people. And technically Jesus was killed. There is only the place where God asked Abraham to kill his own son as a sacrifice to God to represent Jesus' death as a sacrifice. But God is not into human sacrifice. It was only a test. He did not require Abraham to go through with it. God gave him a goat instead at the end. The point was to raise the emotional response and trust that God would still continue Abraham's line of decent even though it was physically impossible that even Isaac was born, his son, because Abraham and his wife Sarah were too old. The point is, God went through a lot more than that to allow "His" son to be torchered by His own creation and put to death, for a moment tearing Himself in two, the Son from the Father.
Ingersoll: "who butchered babes"
God had babes killed, yes. Entire nations were destroyed at his command. If you hate God enough for having babes killed because they would grow up with emotional and physical ties to their relatives' evil deeds, God respects that to a certain degree and will allow you to separate yourself from Him. It's the whole deal of free will. He does not make you like Him.
But remember we do not receive audible commands from God anymore and He does not send us to destroy nations on His command anymore. Ever since Christ came those types of scenarios were closed. The Bible is written and completed. The Crusades were an evil act by power-hungry men, not God.
Ingersoll: "violated maidens, enslaved men and filled the earth with cruelty and crime"
Here again, I have no idea where Ingersoll is getting his data! God never commanded His people to violate women, enslave men, or ever filled the earth with cruelty and crime by His own hand. Yet you may say He was pushed away by people who wanted to do these things. When human kind separated themselves from God way back with Adam and Eve they also separated themselves from a lot of God's help. We're all doing it today. Our actions, our words, and our hearts are saying to God,
"Let me do what I want. I don't care that it hurts others. It feels good to me. Go away!"
And so He does.
Ingersoll: "that god who made heaven for the few, hell for the many, and who will gloat forever and ever upon the writhings of the lost and damned"
Now come on! Ingersoll. The entire Bible is the exact opposite of this. What are you smoking, man? God invites EVERYONE, no matter their past, to be with Him. He expressed this even by death! The greatest proof there is, that He would even suffer and die to make it possible for you to be with Him again. Jesus is bitterly torn about the decision of those who choose not to have Him, not to enjoy His creation, not to be protected from harm for all eternity (this is not to say He protects us from physical harm here on earth). He has done all that is required for you to meet Him. There is no gloating mentioned in the Bible about God and those being separated. There is no mention of size or vacancy of Heaven or Hell. God says "anyone" who entrusts their life in Him will be there with Him forever. That means Heaven is big enough for all of us, but so is Hell.
To be continued...
Monday, December 8, 2008
Ministers I Have Known
This chapter is focussed on exposing people who use religion to abuse others. I whole- heartedly agree with Dan that they're out there, and in great numbers! And not surprisingly the Bible talks about these people. Dan, have you been reading your bible?
"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." - Mat 7:15
"Beware of these teachers of religious law! For they love to parade in flowing robes and to have everyone bow to them as they walk in the marketplaces." - Mar 12:38
The odd thing is, Dan is trying to convince you that since crazy and evil people use religion to control and exploit others, the religion therefore is false.
For some reason Dan has gravitated toward the closed minded and confused... not to mention these evil preachers he describes. I have steered clear of these kinds of people. They are only distructive and I don't see myself currently fit in battling with them, if it's even a good thing to do.
"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." - Mat 7:15
"Beware of these teachers of religious law! For they love to parade in flowing robes and to have everyone bow to them as they walk in the marketplaces." - Mar 12:38
The odd thing is, Dan is trying to convince you that since crazy and evil people use religion to control and exploit others, the religion therefore is false.
For some reason Dan has gravitated toward the closed minded and confused... not to mention these evil preachers he describes. I have steered clear of these kinds of people. They are only distructive and I don't see myself currently fit in battling with them, if it's even a good thing to do.
When All Things Worked Together For Good
Dan describes a highly emotional (typical TV-Church) scenario he had experienced attending churches in his life. He describes the experience as "extremely confirming to the Christian life". Not I. My Christian "confirmations" come from verifying the bible against life as I see it around me and as I learn from those who study the world. "Who" judges ANYTHING by emotions alone!? I question whether Dan rejected Christianity or emotional hype.
In the end Dan labels Christians to be starving for miracles. I can't really argue here since I myself constantly wish for the highly unlikely to occur every so often. Yet rarely is it the case I see one. I "do" have one story though. I'm supposed to be completely blind in my right eye. Even the top doctor's of our world said so, 99.99% sure they were as they irratiated the heck out of it, cut it up, and lasered it. Heck, I came out of it with 20/20 vision! If you're wondering, I had cancer.
Even though I believe it was their extraordinary skills that did the job, it was no less a miracle.
Barker also comments on prayer. It's almost pointless to attack this since it's entirely a type of communication between a person and God. And how can you test it if it's up to God what the outcome is? The point is to be talking to God and expressing your concerns to Him. We all know He can read minds already, but how can you be friends with someone who only reads your mind all the time. Doesn't really work well. Then reading the bible tells you about Him and what He thinks about things.
You may ask then, "Why even ask Him for anything at all?"
It's a relationship. It's a verbal (or mental) acknowledgement that He is the one who can help when things are hard. Oddly enough, it even helps you realize or prioritize your "own" concerns. It's a pretty nifty setup, even "if" it's nearly impossible to know if God specifically acted on your requests or reacted from your expression of delight.
It's quite amazing as well when you see your prayers and your reactions to the bible influence your decisions and cause extremely awesome outcomes. Yet again, if you're mixing the bible with conflicting desires or getting pissed off because God isn't doing something specific for you in a certain way, your actions can become quite hostile. This is why people need people. We really need to keep each other in check. It's easy to go crazy when you don't talk to anyone who sees things from an outside perspective. Since God gave us each other I sure hope we'll accept that gift.
In the end Dan labels Christians to be starving for miracles. I can't really argue here since I myself constantly wish for the highly unlikely to occur every so often. Yet rarely is it the case I see one. I "do" have one story though. I'm supposed to be completely blind in my right eye. Even the top doctor's of our world said so, 99.99% sure they were as they irratiated the heck out of it, cut it up, and lasered it. Heck, I came out of it with 20/20 vision! If you're wondering, I had cancer.
Even though I believe it was their extraordinary skills that did the job, it was no less a miracle.
Barker also comments on prayer. It's almost pointless to attack this since it's entirely a type of communication between a person and God. And how can you test it if it's up to God what the outcome is? The point is to be talking to God and expressing your concerns to Him. We all know He can read minds already, but how can you be friends with someone who only reads your mind all the time. Doesn't really work well. Then reading the bible tells you about Him and what He thinks about things.
You may ask then, "Why even ask Him for anything at all?"
It's a relationship. It's a verbal (or mental) acknowledgement that He is the one who can help when things are hard. Oddly enough, it even helps you realize or prioritize your "own" concerns. It's a pretty nifty setup, even "if" it's nearly impossible to know if God specifically acted on your requests or reacted from your expression of delight.
It's quite amazing as well when you see your prayers and your reactions to the bible influence your decisions and cause extremely awesome outcomes. Yet again, if you're mixing the bible with conflicting desires or getting pissed off because God isn't doing something specific for you in a certain way, your actions can become quite hostile. This is why people need people. We really need to keep each other in check. It's easy to go crazy when you don't talk to anyone who sees things from an outside perspective. Since God gave us each other I sure hope we'll accept that gift.
From Martian to Earthling
In this chapter Dan just bashes the Christian idea of becoming a citizen of God's spiritual country, pretty much assuring yourself a place to live after your body dies. What's odd is that he thinks bashing something because it sounds weird, and therefore in his eyes stupid, will really help someone make up their mind about it. If it's true, it's true no matter if it sounds weird or not. I'm sure the earth being round and electrons and atoms swirling within you and radio waves passing through us constantly all sounded and actually still does sound weird when it's introduced as a possible truth.
"Why do intelligent poeple believe? They believe by default."
It seems Dan is saying people who become a Christian do it by default, without thinking, without considering the world around them. It is by these things, thinking, reasoning, considering the world around me, history, science, biology, intropy, psychology, myself, and others that I have come to the conclusion that the bible is true.
"Why do intelligent poeple believe? They believe by default."
It seems Dan is saying people who become a Christian do it by default, without thinking, without considering the world around them. It is by these things, thinking, reasoning, considering the world around me, history, science, biology, intropy, psychology, myself, and others that I have come to the conclusion that the bible is true.
Standing On The Premises
Here Dan basically tries to say the bible is full of contradictions. I'm not sure if he's trying to make stuff up for people who don't read the bible or if he really believes these are contradictions.
Some things Barker talks about really don't make sense, such as the statement about a helper.
"Servants are inferior to their masters. Woman was created from Adam's rib to be a helper to man. Woman is a servant, therefore inferior to man."
Unless I'm losing his meaning here, he's saying helpers are inferior to those whom they are helping. I've been helped by many who are superior to me, especially teachers! The original Hebrew meaning for helper here is "one who helps", which is the same word used for God when "He" helps us.
Exd 18:4, Deu 33:7, Deu 33:26, Deu 33:29, Psa 33:20, Psa 70:5, Psa 115:9, Psa 115:10, Psa 115:11, Psa 121:2, Psa 124:8, Hsa 13:9
Dan also tries to say Christians dismiss their doubts and questions, that they just accept what they are told. I think this is half true. Once you see the proof of the bible the answers it gives to questions unanswerable by science, such as can God really save your soul, can easily be taken as fact. We've gained trust in God now to the point of accepting this promise. No one else can actually give an answer to those questions unless you claim equality with God.
I believe questioning "why" something is wrong or "why" God tells us something is the way it is, is a GREAT way to learn more about God and yourself! How much more would we love God if we knew more about how He thinks? Some people say the more you get to know someone, the more you hate them. Really, you're just getting to know more of the sucky things about them. With God, since He's perfect, you learn that the things you thought were so horrible about Him actually are freakin' awesome! Pretty cool, hu.
It's easy to say I've often been frusrated with God and His ways, but when I study the act or situation, I soon learn He's got a point, and a good one at that. Not only does He have a point, but it really shows how much He cares and loves the people He's created.
Moving on...
Dan asks the question, (paraphrased) "do we really need to ask all of these questions?"
For example, "Is there meaning to life?"
I think the reason people ask this is because if there "is" meaning to life we sure would like to find it out. Due to our lack of power and life span, settling with our own meaning to life is not very exciting, so people tend to abandon the thought of it.
In the end, using Dan's logic, we can all just assume there is no meaning to life rather than hope there is and try to find it... or assume the real meaning to life is your day to day activities. Just turn off your brain and stop searching. Have some icecream.
Some things Barker talks about really don't make sense, such as the statement about a helper.
"Servants are inferior to their masters. Woman was created from Adam's rib to be a helper to man. Woman is a servant, therefore inferior to man."
Unless I'm losing his meaning here, he's saying helpers are inferior to those whom they are helping. I've been helped by many who are superior to me, especially teachers! The original Hebrew meaning for helper here is "one who helps", which is the same word used for God when "He" helps us.
Exd 18:4, Deu 33:7, Deu 33:26, Deu 33:29, Psa 33:20, Psa 70:5, Psa 115:9, Psa 115:10, Psa 115:11, Psa 121:2, Psa 124:8, Hsa 13:9
Dan also tries to say Christians dismiss their doubts and questions, that they just accept what they are told. I think this is half true. Once you see the proof of the bible the answers it gives to questions unanswerable by science, such as can God really save your soul, can easily be taken as fact. We've gained trust in God now to the point of accepting this promise. No one else can actually give an answer to those questions unless you claim equality with God.
I believe questioning "why" something is wrong or "why" God tells us something is the way it is, is a GREAT way to learn more about God and yourself! How much more would we love God if we knew more about how He thinks? Some people say the more you get to know someone, the more you hate them. Really, you're just getting to know more of the sucky things about them. With God, since He's perfect, you learn that the things you thought were so horrible about Him actually are freakin' awesome! Pretty cool, hu.
It's easy to say I've often been frusrated with God and His ways, but when I study the act or situation, I soon learn He's got a point, and a good one at that. Not only does He have a point, but it really shows how much He cares and loves the people He's created.
Moving on...
Dan asks the question, (paraphrased) "do we really need to ask all of these questions?"
For example, "Is there meaning to life?"
I think the reason people ask this is because if there "is" meaning to life we sure would like to find it out. Due to our lack of power and life span, settling with our own meaning to life is not very exciting, so people tend to abandon the thought of it.
In the end, using Dan's logic, we can all just assume there is no meaning to life rather than hope there is and try to find it... or assume the real meaning to life is your day to day activities. Just turn off your brain and stop searching. Have some icecream.
I Just Lost Faith In Faith
Dan starts out describing religion as a trap and a miserable experience. If you're a Christian and this is true, I'd consider what you believe, and question your facts, because the bible explains that God desires you to live life, and to live life to the fullest. It says that you will be filled with joy. I wouldn't ever tell anyone to force themself into joy, it should come as a consequence of what God shows you.
John 15:9-11 (NLT) I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in his love. I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
Dan further defines his "Christian" accomplishments and tells us that he "pretended to love all individuals". I hope none of us act in this same way, to work for Christian accomplishments and to pretend to love things. Our works are out of faith that God has designed this world to work best under His ways, and that He is pleased when we work according to His ways which are natural and good for creation, for us. I hope none of us go on pretending to love, but to actually love by act. Your heart, or feelings, can drive acts of love, but it is your faith in what is true that can be even stronger and long lasting when you work to love others. Our Christian accomplishments should stem from love for God and others. They should not be empty, or for one to gain or save their own life.
Mark 8:35 (NLT) If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life.
James 2:22 (NLT) You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to do. His faith was made complete by what he did—by his actions.
Matthew 22:37-40 (NLT) Jesus replied, " 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."
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Dan's first sentances in this chapter are quite poetic,
"It is the siren who entices the wandering traveler with songs of love and desire and, once successful, turns a mind into stone."
I wondered while reading this how Dan stands now as an atheist. Has he been turned to stone; is he entrapped by the enticements of atheistic "freedom"?
Now this next quote actually hurts. Not in the sense of taking an offense, but hurting "for Dan". How can he write a book like this and be so off base!
"My folk's sprituality was so strong that they often found it hard to find a church that met their needs. So we church-hopped for many years."
Wow Dan! Your folks must have been so spiritual that they needed to be served by churches! And oh, of course, they must have been so far above them all that it was just pointless to help anyone in the church out. Too bad; it's a shame.
Later in the chapter Dan tells us that Christians feel their life is better with their faith. I would disagree... if Jesus is not God and did not rise from the dead to save us from separation. I can't just do whatever I want. I have to deal with being out of the crowd. I am labeled as a Christian crazy because there are so many out there that claim to be Christian and ARE crazy. I have to deal with crazy Christians! And if I were in another country, for now, it would be much worse! Some are killed, some have their children killed in front of them, some are torchered, some are imprisoned, etc. etc.. The Christian life has been horrible throughout history! There MUST be some underlying joy and peace that keeps people from abandoning their faith when their families and lives are at stake. But, then again, most religions hold followers who go under torcher and do not repent from their beliefs. So it's not that our current life is better, but we believe our futures are better.
John 15:9-11 (NLT) I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in his love. I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
Dan further defines his "Christian" accomplishments and tells us that he "pretended to love all individuals". I hope none of us act in this same way, to work for Christian accomplishments and to pretend to love things. Our works are out of faith that God has designed this world to work best under His ways, and that He is pleased when we work according to His ways which are natural and good for creation, for us. I hope none of us go on pretending to love, but to actually love by act. Your heart, or feelings, can drive acts of love, but it is your faith in what is true that can be even stronger and long lasting when you work to love others. Our Christian accomplishments should stem from love for God and others. They should not be empty, or for one to gain or save their own life.
Mark 8:35 (NLT) If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life.
James 2:22 (NLT) You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to do. His faith was made complete by what he did—by his actions.
Matthew 22:37-40 (NLT) Jesus replied, " 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan's first sentances in this chapter are quite poetic,
"It is the siren who entices the wandering traveler with songs of love and desire and, once successful, turns a mind into stone."
I wondered while reading this how Dan stands now as an atheist. Has he been turned to stone; is he entrapped by the enticements of atheistic "freedom"?
Now this next quote actually hurts. Not in the sense of taking an offense, but hurting "for Dan". How can he write a book like this and be so off base!
"My folk's sprituality was so strong that they often found it hard to find a church that met their needs. So we church-hopped for many years."
Wow Dan! Your folks must have been so spiritual that they needed to be served by churches! And oh, of course, they must have been so far above them all that it was just pointless to help anyone in the church out. Too bad; it's a shame.
Later in the chapter Dan tells us that Christians feel their life is better with their faith. I would disagree... if Jesus is not God and did not rise from the dead to save us from separation. I can't just do whatever I want. I have to deal with being out of the crowd. I am labeled as a Christian crazy because there are so many out there that claim to be Christian and ARE crazy. I have to deal with crazy Christians! And if I were in another country, for now, it would be much worse! Some are killed, some have their children killed in front of them, some are torchered, some are imprisoned, etc. etc.. The Christian life has been horrible throughout history! There MUST be some underlying joy and peace that keeps people from abandoning their faith when their families and lives are at stake. But, then again, most religions hold followers who go under torcher and do not repent from their beliefs. So it's not that our current life is better, but we believe our futures are better.
Ripples: From Faith to Reason
Dan attacks blind-faith and nonrational thought. He shows a few examples of believers who convince themselves that the Bible is telling the truth, or "pretend that Jesus is real". He also shows some dialogue with a couple believers who are not comfortable with the brutality and destructive power of sin.
Further in the chapter Dan describes another situation between a crazed lady, a supposed believer, and his mother, whom had just left the faith.
Many of us may well know throughout all human history you'll find countless examples of irrational, crazy people, pretenders, and just the plain stupid in just about any religion or any non-religion. This doesn't make the teachings of the religions themselves any less or more valid. It's the teachings that need to be analyzed with life. We don't believe in people specifically, we believe in God. People will make mistakes, but the bible will remain true and accurate. Even "if" we mis-translate it, sometimes, the core meaning is always there for others to find.
In this chapter I was reminded once again, be careful of religion, but never abandon truth and what you know. Religion can force you into a practice that you have not given reason to. Does anyone want to follow a blind lead? Of course not! Does anyone question those who lead them, at least in the beginning before gaining trust? I hope so!
Further in the chapter Dan describes his own definition of love. I thought this was interesting, that Dan has positioned himself as god, and not only himself, but all mankind, as mini-gods. He believes that we are all able to define such things as love and goodness by our own logic. Dan likes to define love and goodness as things that make people in one setting most happy, that these definitions "know no barriers". But what happens in a setting where one act makes one person happy and another upset or harmed?
1 Cor. 13:4-7 (NLT) Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Another comment I thought funny was when Dan describes getting "the religious monkey off [his] back". Something we might all want to do sometime, and think about what we believe in or are doing.
Further in the chapter Dan describes another situation between a crazed lady, a supposed believer, and his mother, whom had just left the faith.
Many of us may well know throughout all human history you'll find countless examples of irrational, crazy people, pretenders, and just the plain stupid in just about any religion or any non-religion. This doesn't make the teachings of the religions themselves any less or more valid. It's the teachings that need to be analyzed with life. We don't believe in people specifically, we believe in God. People will make mistakes, but the bible will remain true and accurate. Even "if" we mis-translate it, sometimes, the core meaning is always there for others to find.
In this chapter I was reminded once again, be careful of religion, but never abandon truth and what you know. Religion can force you into a practice that you have not given reason to. Does anyone want to follow a blind lead? Of course not! Does anyone question those who lead them, at least in the beginning before gaining trust? I hope so!
Further in the chapter Dan describes his own definition of love. I thought this was interesting, that Dan has positioned himself as god, and not only himself, but all mankind, as mini-gods. He believes that we are all able to define such things as love and goodness by our own logic. Dan likes to define love and goodness as things that make people in one setting most happy, that these definitions "know no barriers". But what happens in a setting where one act makes one person happy and another upset or harmed?
1 Cor. 13:4-7 (NLT) Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Another comment I thought funny was when Dan describes getting "the religious monkey off [his] back". Something we might all want to do sometime, and think about what we believe in or are doing.
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