I told him that I don't "do church" anymore, as I no longer have any interest in attending. Of course he wants to know why and my response was, without going into a long story, "just research the history of religion, specifically Christianity, and maybe you'll see why I no longer subscribe to religion."
The neighbor then asked me if I believed in God. I told him that I do not identify with Atheism, but whether or not there is a "Divine Presence" that orchestrates the universe, I have no idea. What's written in the various holy books, comes straight from man, and no matter who wrote it, they have no clue.
The neighbors response, "so you believe in God?" I stated, "you can call it what you want." He says, "no, it's God." His statement ignited the fuse which forced me to share my perspective regarding religion and Christianity.
He attempted to quote Bible scriptures to me and I told him that I'd read the Christian holy book, that I grew up in the Christian faith, that my mom and dad were devout Christians, thus, there's no need to recite archaic, primitive scriptures to me.
I told the guy that Christianity never set well with me, it never resonated, so I began to study independently, over 30 years ago.
The rest of the dialogue went something like this (my neighbor, we'll call him Bob):
- Bob: Was it one event that led you away from the church?
- Me: No, just an accumulation of evil, going back to the Crusades, the Inquisition, and a plethora of other sinister events throughout history. Also, consider this Bob, our ancestors that were brought over on slave ships, Christianity was forced on them and the institution of slavery itself was supported by Bible scripture.
- Bob: But the Bible says ...
- Me: Bob, the Bible is not the 'be all that ends all' in evangelical debates, as you and most Christians believe it to be. If you study biblical history objectively you'll see that approximately 40 men wrote the articles that would later become what we know as the Holy Bible.
First of all, the men who wrote these manuscripts pertaining to wisdom, poetry, history, law, and other genres, were not writing these particular articles to include in a holy book. The myriad articles that make up the 66 books of the Bible, were written over a 1500 year period. Furthermore, everything that the protagonist of the Christian story purportedly said is hearsay. There were no witnesses to tell you exactly what Jesus said; there aren't any witnesses to the witness, it's only apocryphal stories passed down and first chronicled at least 70 years after the fictitious life of this "savior of humankind.
These plethora of articles were collated in 325 AD by 300 or so churchmen (bishops) at the Council of Nicaea. The meeting was presided over by Emperor Constantine I.
Second, the men who wrote these articles, thought planet Earth was flat; thought our planet was the center of the universe, when it's not even the center of its own planetary system.
Third, when astronomers like Galileo Galilei and Giordano Bruno, from their cosmological findings, pointed out this major discrepancy, which was in stark contrast with the Church and the Christian Holy Book, Galilei was censored and placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life and Bruno was burned alive.
Research the Crusades, the Inquisition, and on up through the 21st century and you will see nothing but evil associated with your religion. You've been religiously conditioned since birth. In other words, you have been brainwashed to the highest degree.
I told Bob, we could go on and on, all I ask is that you do the research. I'm not trying to proselytize to you, not trying to steer you in one direction or the other, all I ask is that you research independently as I've done for the past 32 years.
Fundamentalist believers are so benighted by blind faith and utter ignorance where metaphysical matters are concerned, that it will take another one or two incarnations before they begin to see the real truth about our amazing universe and who we really are as energetic, thinking beings.
The two quotes below are for all the Bob's and Bettye's out there:
"Do not believe in the strength of traditions, even if they have been held in honor for many generations and in many places; do not believe anything because many people speak of it; do not believe on the strength of sages of old times; do not believe that which you have yourselves imagined, thinking that a god has inspired you. Believe nothing which depends only on the authority of your masters and priests. After-investigation believe that which you have yourselves tested and found reasonable and which is for your good and that of others."
~ The-Buddha
"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
~ Martin-Luther-King ..
© Copyright 2014 - All Rights Reserved. Author, Taskeinc
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