Former Christian apologizes for being such a huge shit head for all those years

January 28, 2010 by James Reyes | 120 Comments

As a former zealous right-wing Catholic who years ago ditched all that in favor of using the mind, in reading this, I felt I could repeat this almost word-for-word. So here it is with my emphases and commentary…

1. I apologize to all the homosexuals. I am sorry that I believed in a religion that condemns you. I am sorry that for many years I thought that the bible was right in it’s condemnation of homosexuality. I am sorry that when I no longer thought the bible was right about homosexuality being a sin, I did not raise a gigantic stink about it every Sunday right in the middle of the sermon… week after week after week… until the church issued a restraining order against me and I could no longer come within a hundred feet of the sanctuary.

This is a worse for me having tolerated the irrational moralizing and thrown stones and from the safety of the closet those years ago. I was a really big shit head on this one.

2. I apologize to everyone on the face of the earth that has not accepted Jesus christ as their personal savior because I believed that you were all going to hell. This includes Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Pagans, Environmentalists, Democrats, Movie Stars (especially Tom Cruise), Scientologists, University Professors, Physicists, Geneticists, Europeans, Women’s Studies Majors, Feminists, Millionaires, Billionaires, Hippies, Atheists, Agnostics, Astrologers, People who read their horoscopes, People who watch Bay Watch, Vegetarians, J.K Rowling, Bill Gates, All High-School Biology Teachers who teach evolution and P.E .Teachers who teach a yearly unit on sex-ed..

3. I apologize to all my former Sunday school students because I taught you that the bible was the word of god. I perpetuated a myth that the bible is a special book that should be regarded ‘much more highly than it ought’. I encouraged you to trust this book, to think this book contained sacred ideas about life and god. I made you think that the stories in the bible were intrinsically valuable and could teach you about how god works and who god is. I apologize for always referring to god as a ‘he’, thereby further anthropomorphizing a pretend deity and making you think ‘he’ was real and decidedly masculine. I apologize for teaching you to think that you were a sinner and that Jesus had to die for you when you are really just a beautiful child, perfect in every way from the minute you were born (except for when you aren’t). I apologize for telling you that Jesus conquered death and that you should put your trust in him when there is not a shred of evidence of the resurrection except for what is in the bible. I apologize for not respecting your intelligence and glazing over thorny issues and rationalizing all the bullshit that is so present at all times in ‘god’s word’. (I apologize for saying bullshit in this apology). I apologize for ever calling the bible ‘god’s word’. It isn’t ‘god’s word’. It’s just a book. There are a lot of other much better books. There are books that helped humanity move beyond misogyny and slavery and tyranny. There are books that led to scientific discoveries which led to medicine and helpful machines and made the world a better place. None of those books are in the bible. In fact, the bible helps people to justify misogyny and tyranny and slavery and the bible made church leaders fear science and so they burned scientists and doctors and smart people because what those smart people were learning was often in direct conflict with what the bible and the church taught. I apologize for not telling you that the bible and christianity are two of the main reasons that it took people so long to move from tyranny into democracy, from slavery to human rights, from cruel religious mandates to civil law. I hope someday you will figure that out for yourselves in spite of what I taught you..

When I was a seminarian I taught Sunday school, contributing to the corruption of young minds and demanded blind unthinking submission to the ‘infalliable’ Pope of Rome and the hierarchy united with him. The pope and bishops are an anachronistic institution that perpetuates the biggest scam in the world.

4. I apologize for giving money to the church. I apologize for helping to support and pay for a building that stands empty six days a week. I apologize for giving my hard earned cash to pay an enormous utility bill on a mostly empty church building. I wish I would have given all that money to alleviate real human suffering. To purify drinking water, to build a third world hospital, to educate a child living in a slum, to improve an orphanage, to further research on diseases, to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, heal the sick, reform the prisoners, but instead so much of my available funds have up until now, been sucked into a huge building that gets used once a week by wealthy over -fed Americans who get upset if the sanctuary is not adequately cooled in July.

What’s funny is that at least in my circles, open charity was almost completely lacking. What a huge failure to live the legendary message of Jesus. “Amen I say to you, whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, you did it to me.” Matthew 25:40

5. I apologize for believing all sorts of mad things that are seriously messed up and incredibly hurtful to my fellow humans. Things like god causes the sins of the parents to punish the children and the grandchildren (which some christians use to explain birth defects). Things like excusing the extra creepy stuff in the bible (slavery, misogyny, genocide) based on ‘historical context’ instead of just insisting that it was wrong back then and it’s wrong now. I apologize for things like teaching the stories of big bible heroes like Abraham and Jacob and not insisting that taking a slave for a wife was a hideous violation of human rights because having a slaveand then raping a slave and then fathering children with a slave is no way for anyone to EVER behave even if you are a BIBLE BIGWIG. I apologize for thinking it is okay for god to ask a person (Abraham) to murder their child to prove their faith and even thinking that if I really loved god, I too must be willing to murder my child if god asked me. I apologize for things like thinking that I had ever done anything so terrible… so horrible.. so AWFUL to warrant someone else to have to die on a cross for me. (Hey! I am far from perfect, but no one should have to be tortured and slowly murdered for my eternal salvation).

It’s like I say, the Islamic-Judeo-Christian God needs therapy.

6. I apologize to my kids for being a passive aggressive christian mom. For saying things to them like ‘”if you are lying to me, god knows. He knows you are lying so you better not be lying because he knows. God knows everything. Are you lying? Because if you are lying god can tell. You can lie to your mom but you can’t lie to god. God sees everything. Are you lying? You better not be lying to me because even if I don’t know – god knows” … etc etc etc…

Well I was never a mom, but I did try to extract obedience by youth in my charge by blackmailing them with religious bull shit.

7. Finally, I apologize for allowing my faith to numb my response to the problems of the world. So when there was injustice, or crime, or pain, or hunger, or illness, or ignorance, or war, or greed, or tyranny, or slavery or abuse, or addiction, or pollution, or natural disasters – I believed that god was taking care of it and I didn’t really have to do anything… (except pray). Because it was god’s will… and god was using these bad things to teach me compassion… or patience… or that satan was ‘the ruler of this world’… or that we should forgive… or god was ‘perfecting’ us… or ‘disciplining’ us. (Boy! god sure disciplines the hell out of Africa doesn’t he?) I was taught that all you have to do to get into ‘heaven’ is accept Jesus as your savior. You can do good things if you want, but good deeds are not getting your ass into heaven. So why would I bother helping out? My ass was already saved!

Sadly this is also too true.

For all these things I am truly sorry and I most humbly repent…

AND plan to make changes, repair damages and do the hokey pokey and turn myself around.

So Be It,

Rechelle

By the way, Rechelle’s blog is pretty cool. Please pay her a visit at http://mysistersfarmhouse.com.

Author: James Reyes

Web architect, linguaphile, ever-aspiring polymath, political junkie, seeker of justice. Denver, Colorado, USA.

shanea

they didn't find evidence of Jesus' body because he rose from the dead. thereby achieving his purpose for coming to earth! to die for our sins, and conquer death in hell, rise from it all (he came back for forty days to walk and talk with his disciples) which gives a direct access to heaven, if we want to accept it. that was the WHOLE reason why God sent Him. to be the ultimate sacrifice for all of our sins. After those forty days He ascended into the sky and left us with the Holy Spirit. Through the holy spirit we can have a relationship with our Creator. The one who loves us and knows everything about us. What I want to apologize for is this person who was so wrapped up in religion and its “rules and regulations” that they forgot to go to their Father and talk about all their frustrations. Instead of loving those who don't believe in God, they persecuted them. Which is NOT what God is about. He is about restoration and healing. if they truly studied the bible and took it for what its worth, they would know this. GOD IS LOVE AND LOVE IS REAL.
drfoxdove

Send this apology to that bigot Catholic Nazi, Mel Gibson, maybe he will see light instead of the dark dementia of religious bigotry.
Ban Mel Gibson's movies.
jspayn

How about you be good for the sake of being good? How difficult is that? Is doing something good out of fear of a threat (burning for eternity) really good? Why in the bloody hell do you think the presence of a deity is necessary to be moral? That's quite depressing to be honest. You can't be good without some deity threatening your soul?

Free will doesn't exist without an omniscient being, and it certainly doesn't exist with an omniscient being. Free will is a greatly fabricated myth.

The purpose of your existence is the purpose you give it. Make your own purpose. I know it's a scary thought, but try it every once in a while…
singh_seeker

I'm with michaelwinn: just because there are many people using Christianity to accomplish terrible things doesn't mean that the tradition is fundamentally flawed. I'm not a Christian myself (though I was raised as one), but I've some Christian people espouse the beautiful message of charity, love, and compassion that I sincerely believe is the core of Jesus Christ's teachings. I respect you for coming forward to apologize, but not every person who considers themselves Christian needs to.
matthewramsey

READ CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD….

there is no hell as god loves us all and would not condem os for using what he gave us in the first place which is free will. the closest thing you will find to hell is the feeling you have inside for doing something moraly wrong.
and the natural order of life AKA (karma) will always teach you a lessonfor what you have done but that does not mean that you are bad. all you have to do is LEARN from your mistakes.
evans_user_name

As inconvenient as is may be to you, I cannot deny THE LORD and what I've learned about him. I believe in God because I KNOW GOD. It's almost never easy or convenient to be a Christian. It is absurdly called a crutch by some people. Drugs and alcohol are certainly crutches. More to the point, free will may seem like a myth to non-believers. Blindly following the world and its human traditions is an example of free will. God will not rain on your parade, I promise you.

So you don't know God? You could. Is the light shining in the darkness too much to comprehend? Humans have made a mess of the beauty of God. I think the light shines on our sinfulness (missing the mark of perfection). You can sincerely live however you want and believe what you want (free will) and I would be saddened that you never knew God. Even as a Christian, I could seriously do whatever I wanted, but I choose not to. I KNOW GOD.
evans_user_name

Reading the blog, I am becoming convinced that Rechelle is a nut.
evans_user_name

Reading other posts, I am becoming convinced that this entire blog is nutty, too.
evans_user_name

I also posted before I posted the one above:

By reading Rechelle's blog I am becoming convinced Rechelle is a nut.

Damn devil! Always messing stuff up.
http://www.pochoblog.com James Reyes

You've given us so much to consider. :: rollseyes ::
saywhatyouwanttosay

This piece really made me smile. It points out the ignorance and arrogance of many people who align themselves with Christianity. It points out the flaws in the system. Certain things may be tradition and the goodness and compassion of people may be the true heart of the religion, but religion is all about what people make it. And it's turned into something ugly. Yes, it does have it's merits, but doing things in God's name to avoid burning in hell for eternity isn't what should be done. Religion should be based on the goodness of humanity. We made God, God didn't make us. You can't “know” God, because it's one-way communication. He doesn't communicate back. Your version of God is different from everybody else's. We are each following our own God if you claim to truly “know” him.

At least, that's what I think. I, personally, don't know where I stand religiously. My views change every day. I'm naive and childish because I believe that people are good. And it has nothing to do with God. Is it wrong for me to have faith in humanity and not believe in a God? Yes, I'm young and have a lot to learn. I'm eighteen. But the more I look at the world, I see life as what we make of it, not some divine path designed by God.
jspayn

Why would it be inconvenient to me what you do in your life? I'm inclined to guarantee we'll never cross paths. You can do as you please, spend all the time you want in church. I was simply commenting on how illogical and depressing your worldview is. If you can't be moral without a deity threatening you, are you really moral? Are you only being moral because the deity threatens you? Wouldn't a deity that wants people to do good in the world actually want sincere followers, not people who are believing out of fear?

I don't know where you're from, but it's quite easy to be a Christian in the US. Over 80% of the population self-proclaims themselves to be Christians. If you live in the US, don't give me nonsense about persecution or intolerance. Christians in this country don't know the first thing about being victims of persecution and intolerance.

There cannot be free will with an omniscient being, unless you have an extremely poor definition of free will. If your god is omniscient, everything you've ever done and everything you will ever do in your life is predestined by the sheer fact of what omniscience means.

Billions of years before you were born, your god knew every single action you would take (if it didn't, it ceases to be omniscient). What your god knows MUST come true, no questions asked (or again, it ceases to be omniscient). There's nothing you can do to change what your god knows, and thus there's nothing you can do to change your future. There's absolutely nothing that can happen in this world without your god knowing about it beforehand. There's nothing you can do to change the omniscient knowledge of your god. You have no control over your actions, you're simply doing what your god knew beforehand, and it's happy chance that your ideas match up to put on the illusion that you made a choice.

Now, if that's free will to you, cool. But that's a pretty sorry definition of free will if you ask me.
http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/NTDASAVDMDYXHDYJFNAQCFPM6M Miglia

Well stop reading it if it's so nuts for you (or to smart for you).

Really enjoyed reading this. Thank you!
http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/NTDASAVDMDYXHDYJFNAQCFPM6M Miglia

Well stop reading it if it's so nuts for you (or to smart for you).
evans_user_name

Touché. But hardly too smart.
evans_user_name

God (Jesus, The Father and the Holy Spirit) is/are my friend(s) and in no way is an oppressor. He helps me out much of the time. God only really wants to help us out, if we let him.

I'm “permitted” to do anything my heart desires. I choose not to do those things like go to the bar and drink, etc. It just makes me feel bad later. The party ends, and then where are you? It's true that I want to follow the “straight and narrow path (that leads to salvation)” and it works for me. That could be interpreted as having little or no free will. Granted.

Besides, the whole idea is a relationship with God, and not just going to church all of the time. A person can go to church for years, (Rechelle) and never get the right idea and then bail. It's not about accusing people of sin and condemning people to hell. We do hope that those people come to know God like we legitimate believers know him. To be found is peace, love, community, and answers to the mysteries of life and why the world is the way it is.
gw49

James, I am passin' through Denver at the end of the month, lets have a beer and a discussion as to why you cut old friends off. Obviously, you are afraid of something, hmmm, what could it be… Are you far away from the safety of your closet?
GW
someonedifferent

remember… Christianity is not a religion, not a set of rules set up for us to achieve a comparable state with God…
Christianity is a choice, a relationship, to be enjoyed. not a list of “must dos” only one. One choice.
Chose Jesus as the son of God, and that is all that's required. the rest… is up to you… a choice.
Of course you can choose not to be a part of our religion, the real Christians understand that you see hypocrites in our churches… we chose to influence them as well. I can't speak for all Christians everywhere, no one can… except God.
We're not forcing you to do anything we would love it if you joined our family, but I would sooner kiss an (donkey) then try to force someone to chose because it can't be done.

have a wonderful day, peace to all of you.
Anonymous

Rebuttal:
“Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words,”- St. Francis of Assisi.
ARollinStone

Rebuttal:
“Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words,”- St. Francis of Assisi.

see ya anyone who proselytizes.
tabix

I feel the same when it comes to trying to decide what the hell I believe in, religiously. I never really thought about it until people started asking me. I don't think you are childish for believing people are good. I believe people are good, and that people make mistakes, and lose their way. It is that belief that led me away from my childhood church. Once people start blindly accepting ideas, act out of ignorance and fear (and moreover, choose ignorance because of fear), and control and threaten their way through life and call it “god's will” or “the greater good”, they are so hopelessly lost, I knew I could never grow into a good and just person amidst that deep level confusion. Whatever conclusion you come to, I wish that you (and myself as well) can undertake the journey with a brave heart and an open mind. Good luck!
septissime

I find the original text very interesting but I don't see how your commentaries are in anyway useful to its comprehension. Even more, I find them, at best, misplaced (and badly written).
The idea was good though
firstblast

'm not a Christian myself (though I was raised as one), but I've some Christian people espouse the beautiful message of charity, love, and compassion that I sincerely believe is the core of Jesus Christ's teachings.

I'm with michaelwinn: just because there are many people using Christianity to accomplish terrible things doesn't mean that the tradition is fundamentally flawed.

I respect you for coming forward to apologize, but not every person who considers themselves Christian needs to.

http://www.firstblast.info
http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/IDCQU4U5JUJ7KEUU5AWROTJ4D4 Macklyn

someonedifferent: what do you think happens to people who don't choose Jesus as the son of God?
gw49

Jimmy, your mouth is open…
http://www.facebook.com/gavindangermorrice Gavin Morrice

Brilliant!

I apologize to all of my high school girlfriends for not having pre-marital sex with you because back then I believed it was wrong!

If I could do it all again…
Anonymous

Sorry about that. I wasn’t aware, and will look into it. Thanks for letting me know.
adamsolegggiiiio

I forgive you.
golflouis

There is a liberation in the exercise of observing and seeing the truth by shedding preconceived ideas and “authorities” of the mind; sins, forgiveness and remorse on the other hands tells me that Rechelle still has remnants of the way of thinking she wants to get rid of…this duality of the good and the bad is specific to christian paradigma…when there is true love and compassion towards life, people and nature this duality vanishes.
mosie1944

Her blog is gone; I imagine she'll resurface anonymously somewhere. Her outspokenness probably started to affect her husband's practice; it's a small town, after all.
margaretboyle

Wonderful! And I apologize for being a gutless wonder and not sending this to my brother (we were raised Catholic, up until the day our dad left us for his secretary….and he a deacon!) who is now a “Christian”, whatever that nebulous term involves. I do not send it to him for the sake of our elderly mother, who doesn't need to hear about two of her kids fighting/not speaking, in her declining years. Bravo, Rechelle. Better late than never, eh? I always did think that the Catholic religion – and all other Judeo/Christian ones – were a load, cuz of the stance on animals. Namely, that they don't have souls. Dear (well, not “God”) whatever….if anything deserves a place in heaven, it's animals; the ones that are tortured and/or killed in the name of “sport”, the ones who are tortured/killed for fun, the ones who live hideous miserable lives so that we can eat 'em eventually, and the ones that give us such joy (i.e. pets).
margaretboyle

The same thing that happens to people who do (and I assume you mean after they die)….absolutely nothing. No heaven, no hell, no awareness, nothing. Dead is dead is dead, Macklyn. Or how about this? Why don't you ask that of people who believe in a different god than you? They will say YOU are doomed. Why are they wrong and you are right? At best, it's a draw. People love the idea of an afterlife, or of confessing one's sins and being forgiven, cuz then they can act like jerks and just *poof!* be forgiven! Know what's LOTS harder? Just being nice to each other, for no other reason than it's the right thing to do, without expecting any payback. Actually, I take that back…that's pretty easy. You might want to try it, without worrying if you are racking up brownie points with The Big Guy (you probably figure it's a male, right?). Yeah, I figured as much.
margaretboyle

What….only “Christians” espouse this message? I espouse that message and I don't need to say that it comes from Jesus. I say it comes from being a decent human being.
margaretboyle

Interesting – I like the part about how we made up God! Maybe here's what happened: a bunch of decent folk were sitting around their campfire, and saying “Ya know…we treat each other and strangers well, because it makes us feel good and it's just the right thing to do…shoe on the other foot and all that [though probably they didn't have shoes]…but then we have other guys that act like total assholes [for sure they had those] for no reason! How do we get them to chill? Hey! Let's invent an all knowing, all seeing, punishing guy-in-the-sky, who will make them miserable if they don't play nice!! Maybe that will work!”. And “BINGO” (Catholic joke, there)….religion was born. Meaning, every religion is just a way of controlling society/people, of finding ways to make us play nice. Then there's the money, but I don't have all night.
saywhatyouwanttosay

That's not at all what I meant. You have to look at the evolution of man scientifically. When we couldn't explain things, we looked to the “supernatural.” God is supernatural. People were naive and ignorant and it was an easy wat to explain things away. That same concept doesn't mesh with our society today at all. Every civilization has the same stories. Do you know why? Because we love stories and it was a way for us to evolve, because it gave us what we thought was a definite explanation to what happened. People didn't question it back then. Not because it was fact, but because it was easier and they didn't have any way to disprove it. And it all just went from there.

This is the type of thing I plan to study. I'm majoring in Anthropology. The study of man. Do you believe in aliens? How do you know God isn't an alien? There could be all-knowing/seeing beings out there. You can't disprove that, nor can you prove it. So let's say I believe in aliens. Am I crazy? Well, you believe in God.
margaretboyle

I don't believe in “God” at all. So while I may have written it differently than you, and did not read your post more closely, I think we are on the same plane? And let me say, too, that I envy you: I am 49 and a legal secretary, but I always wanted to be an anthropologist (I love Margaret Mead, partly because we share the same name!) OR a librarian. Sigh. Well, maybe someday. Heck, if I can write this much to reply to an email, just think how long my thesis would be! )
Now, here's an interesting thing, re your posit that societies have supernatural stories as a way to explain things (and of which I wholeheartedly agree):
Vampires, werewolves, and serial killers. What do they all have in common? A way to explain how something could be right in the midst of a village/town/city, killing innocents, but go unnoticed. And not just killing, but horribly mutilating the victims. How could any HUMAN do this? Well, before the advent of modern pyschology – or whatever you choose to call it – it was unthinkable that another person could perpetrate this sort of ghastly murder upon another human, time after time, sometimes seemingly in rhythem with the moon, (better light at night for killing/seeing, not cuz of any “gravity pull” – the pull of gravity by the moon is as close to being non-existent as possible! Measurable with instruments,but upon the human, nope) therefore, the perp must be non-human. Not inhumane. NON-human. But human enough to be able to blend in. So, what's the explanation? Some otherwordly creature! Some THING that could walk among us during
the day, but at night would turn into something else. People couldn't “wrap their heads around” the fact that yes indeedy, humans (males, 99% of the time) could most certainly do these awful things. AND be clever enough to escape attention. At some point, it must have been discussed that gee, maybe it's a human…but any human that would do this would be so grossly malformed (ugly is as ugly does) or so nutty that there's just no way they could “blend in” with the rest of us folks. WRONG, as we all know. In fact, serial killers – the organized ones, that can kill for years, & get better at it each time – go undetected for many years, most even failing ever to get caught for their crimes. Check out how many unknown serial killers that the FBI believes are operating in the US right now, to keep you awake at night, and double lock (heck, triple lock) your doors!! And that's just the USA!! They might get arrested for something else; but for all
the trendy hubbub about profiling, it's usually a fluke that these men ever get caught. They get sloppy, i.e. Bundy, Gacy, BTK, Green River, Hillside Strangler (only 1/2 of the “team”, Kenneth Bianchi, who was not nearly as smart as his cousin, Angelo Buono; but luckily, stupid enough to rat him out. For a good laugh, watch on You Tube the footage of a psychologist PERFECTLY setting up Kenneth; he pretends to buy into K's story about multiple personality; introduces K to his multiple, or an invisible friend – or something like that – and K plays right along, even “shaking” the IP's hand. But herein lies the rub: a real psycho wouldn't buy into yours/my hallucination; they'd say…”What are you talking about? There's no one there!” But K thought that's how a real split/pyscho SHOULD ACT; and therefore, plain as day, just blew his own case outta the water!); and that's how they get caught….for something else. Then their background is
examined and hopefully, the rest is history. But don't you think it's really cool how we came up with vampires and werewolves, to explain man's inhumanity (literally!) to man? Now that's worthy of a thesis…or at least a pop quiz essay! You have chosen a fascinating subject for your thesis and I wish you all the best!
Sorry; I'm infamous among friends/family for my overly long emails. I write like this when I get really into a subject, with someone who seems smart enough to follow, and you certainly do! Let me know your thoughts! I don't look at this as who's right or wrong (but I'm right – har !); rather, as an exchange of views.
But there is no God, to my belief. Or if there is, it is so far above and beyond anything us feeble humans could devise, as to be totally unknowable, in any shape or form, using our little bitty brains. So, therefore, this “God” knows we cannot begin to fathom it, and it doesn't mind! We are sorta like kittens; cute, furry, sweet, and totally useless. And it's when we get older, we get into trouble. But if there is a God, it already knew this, right? So how can we be punished for it? FATE. I like that. Predestination…sorry I hit your car, but it was fate. Sue God, not me.
M

________________________________
http://www.facebook.com/Flanclanman Emily Freeman-Bell

This is brilliant. I accept your apology wholeheartedly, and I forgive you.
carmencuellar

Welcome to the Club.

I think the pre-marital sex thing is still not good to do though because once you choose the person you want to get married with, somehow it's specialer the first time cause it's all new. like everyone acts diffrent the 1st time they go to DisneyLand?

I'm an aithiest soo this is not religious. lol
but for whoever, w/e.
http://www.facebook.com/appleguy86 Van Richardson

You're missing the point!….Read it again!
http://twitter.com/hyperlocavore Liz McLellan

Wow Rechelle – That is really impressive. It's rare that anyone comes clean with all the wrong they promoted. Respect!
http://www.facebook.com/morgan.terry Morgan Terry

I know that you are upset that you have denied the people who most need you to recognize that they are Your Species, your self can now see yourself in their lives, their needs, their eyes are your own. What comes out of a person defiles them, not what goes in! Bless you child, I love you now that I can begin to love myself. I/we share this pattern of life with those who also can bear witness to us of our humanity, our shared insanity, a new sense of inanity.
thanks for putting up with me, bless you
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1310463182 Bruce Johnson

“what do you think happens to people who don't choose Jesus as the son of God? “

They have a lot more free time? They grow old and die just like the Christians do, and more than likely cease to exist. Like the flame of a candle blown out by the wind.
EsterKerwer

The contents of the bible are not the same as the interpretations that religion (as it is imperfect and created by man) made to try to understand it. First of all, the bible says it is a sin to practice homosexual acts, because as in all things the bible as God himself, promotes the perpetuation of human life and this, between a man and a woman, which was the way He intended it to be. I'm sorry for all the homosexuals out there, I don't think you are freaks, I don't think it is your fault, most of you where born this way and live according to your feelings. But, as Darwin said, “in nature, there are forces that move towards creating new life and there are forces that move against that. Homosexuality is an error of nature, because it is not natural”. God does not intend anyone to be condemned just because of their sexual orientation. He simply sais that it is wrong because it impedes new life in a natural way between that special someone that He made for you and yourself.
The concept of faith is that you believe before you see. Therefore, the fact that you need proof that god resurrected suggests that maybe you where never saved, because you don't believed. I don’t need to see God to know He exists. I just have to look around. If God doesn’t exist, then there is only chaos. And the mathematical probability that chaos produces a perfect, healthy human being such as yourself is minimum. And where are all the errors that lead to creating you? If there is only chaos and no natural order in the universe, we should be stomping around the huge number of abnormal human beings and animals that it would take to have created us.
In addition, if you have read your bible you will know that you give 10% of what you earn because you reap what you sow, call it karma if you will, it is not as if that money was forever lost to you. What it says on the bible is that because of those 10% you put aside for Him, God will multiply your assets and your barns will never be empty. Besides, it’s tax deductible. And now that you mention it, I’m really sorry that your church is only used on Sundays, because mine is always full, you see, God isn’t someone you can leave behind in all the other days of the week and it’s not his fault that you are a catholic who was taught by religion that you should only take care of your soul on the weekends. But moving on, I’m sorry that the fact that you gave money to build your church made you so terribly poor that you were not able to still help others and make the world a better place, but you see my bible says that when you are really transformed from within you feel the need to do something for someone that needs you, and I’m wondering why you only felt that need now, but just in case, is your bible any different than mine, because my church is associated with a charity mission created precisely because we know the content of Matthew 25:41-46 and so we felt the need to do something about it, why hasn’t you church leader?
I have never read anything in the bible that suggested that God punished the sins of the fathers on the children. Again, some Christians are indeed misinterpreting, or just making stuff up! I insist on this: it is not excusable to take a human life because we do not own it and according to the bible the only one who gives life is the only one who can take it, and so whenever someone was killed, it was because they had betrayed God or their prophet or their entire people (read Joshua 7:11-20). Other than that, when did God’s people ever commit genocide? And where does it say that the slave was raped? As you probably know, at that time, whenever a city was conquered everyone in it became a slave, who could be bought as a servant by anyone. The bible does not say anything either bad or good about the subject because it simply does not mention it and as you know, slavery started long before the bible was ever written and lasts until today. What I can tell you is this: all of the commandments in the bible where put there for a purpose and that is to promote the perpetuation of life, and if God commanded me to love my fellow man as I do myself, would I rape him? Furthermore, as you probably where able to tell God did not allow Abraham to murder his son because his life was not for him to take, but of course you know that.
Jesus didn’t die just for you, but for all humanity that came before you and that is still to come. In the spiritual world the price to pay for sin is death and that is why, there had to be someone, one who had never sinned, who would come forward to pay that price for all of us so that we could be saved, but as I see you don’t want to be saved because maybe you think that your life is not meaningful enough for someone to die for.. But I guess Jesus disagrees with you and came here anyway, so you could have a choice. Let’s put it this way: Wouldn’t you do anything for your kids? I know I would! If I know that they were about to be condemned I would sooner rather dye myself as I’m sure you would too. You see, God sees you as his child. I find it only natural that He would do anything for me, because He loves me, as He does you.
I’m sorry that you ever said that God sees everything to your kids so that you wouldn’t have to deal with the issue, but one of the 10 commandments is to honor and cherish your parents. Maybe a better approach would be to teach them about the value of having a family that you love and respect and about the importance of not becoming a liar so that you will not hurt those around you. And finally, the bible never said that you should wait for God to come here and start healing the problems of this world, what it does say is that it is not God the one who delivers evil so that we will suffer. It says in John 10:10 “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy but I have come so that you will have abundant life”. We shouldn’t blame God for natural disasters or wait for him to come and clean it up. It is up to us to help others, because this world was given to Adam and Eve when God created them, and so it is ours to care for.
I find it extremely disturbing that you would consider not helping someone just because you are already saved and that it is not your obligation to do everything in your power to help those around you! I’m sorry to tell you that you are wrong. If you read Mathew 25 again, you will see why. You know I don’t think the problem isn’t God. The problem is in the things you believe in…that aren’t consistent with what the bible says and therefore when speaking in the matters of God couldn’t be true, considering that the bible is the word of God. That having been said, I strongly advise you not to go to church. Just stay home and read the bible. You can only say that you don’t believe or want something that you know about, at least that’s my opinion. Most importantly, first, read the gospels (from Mathew to John in the New Testament). When you do that, if you have any questions feel free to ask. And maybe it is time to look for a new church, you know, one that doesn’t focuses so much on the religious part, but more on the spiritual, inlightning and question-answering part. Don’t throw god aside just because your religion sucks. Change your religion.

That having been said, please don’t take this the wrong way. I just found it so troubling to see someone saying such strong words about what believe in that I just felt compelled to try to explain your focus points with what I’ve learned from the bible. I hope this means something to someone and it might not mean anything to you, but I’ll be praying for you…
oh, and just in case you are wondering…I'm a protestant.

Ester Kerwer
http://www.facebook.com/soulwrath Pedro Santana

Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.
-Mohandas Gandhi
http://www.facebook.com/soulwrath Pedro Santana

Does the chaos within nature appear only when there is no God?
I see the harmony within all nature, and more so beautiful I see no ruler among them.
Only the free, and the wild.

This thing is greater than God. It is greater than words.
Anonymous

Has it ever occurred to you, that homosexuality may have been troubling in a time of plague and famine but with the earth’s population exceeding 6 billion, why does the reproductive stance hold any steak any longer? The law of Leviticus was intended for the preservation of the Jewish population. It no longer holds relevance, which is logical people do not believe it is wrong to eat shellfish, or shave or take a same sex partner.
And miss, what about the millions of displaced or abandoned children same sex couples can raise? If your logic follows, homosexuality is a good thing- the current demand is for more FAMILIES, not more children.
By the way, Darwin also made some appalling racist comments. He has since revoked these. Do your homework if you’re going to cite scientists.
More over, “natural” is defined as “present in or produced by nature”. Please cite examples of homosexual pairing and sexual behavior in many animal species, especially mammals like hyenas and goats. It is indeed “natural”, and prevalent in many animal species in similar proportions of the population as it is humans.
Is it not contradictory to say that people are born gay and live according to their feelings and yet, homosexuality get in the way of meeting that “someone special” God made for you? Indeed, if God made a man for me, I wouldn’t have feelings for him. That doesn’t seem like a divinely inspired union. The former is true, I was born gay and I date those individuals whom I fall in love with. I think that’s what God intended.
Don’t be sorry for me. Being gay has no way impeded me from having a great job and education, a beautiful relationship, great familial relationships, giving back to others. I hope most Christians can say the same for themselves.
Anonymous

Personally I agree with you. The bible isn’t necessarily bad nor the faith, but what it has turned into is. People are blind to what is right infront of them. And i say well done for speaking out!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mellisa-Jones/100001568022073 Mellisa Jones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkCa4ihKLbE
http://twitter.com/aarongonzalez Aaron Gonzalez

That’s the entire point of Christianity. Being decent to one another. Knowing you mess up because humanity is imperfection.

A pencil is not to blame for bad grammar and misspellings. The hand that utilizes it is the one to chastise.

Christianity isn’t to blame for the wrong doings. Individuals are. There has been just as much, if not more harm done in the name of secular ideas in the last 100 years.
http://twitter.com/aarongonzalez Aaron Gonzalez

There are multiple perspectives in any given topic and, especially in the case of religion, many strong feelings surrounding them.

I apologize to you for the thousands of misguided Christians who swayed you into believing what you are now apologizing for; a doctrine of hate and oppression. This is NOT what Christianity or the Church teaches by any means.

The Catechism directly contradicts almost every assertion in this blog…

I am sorry that those around you have been absent of such love, and that this has caused you to feel this way.