I quoted some passages from your post with you that I happen to agree with (well, sorta). You see, as a Christian, I see that the strict literalism of 20th century fundamentalism has produced these concerns that you write about. I too want to want to break the chains of religion from these people. As I have said, Jesus didn’t come to establish religion, but to rid the world of it; He is irreligion.

To answer your question from a Theist standpoint – I would say ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Fundamentalism is more damaging to religion and society than beneficial, so I would say that ‘yes’, I want you to break them free from the chains.

However, (and I’m sure you saw this coming), it is through breaking those chains of religion through realizing the spiritual truth of, say, God’s word, that we truly become free and an enlightenment to this world.

Good first post. God Bless.

Justin”

Hi Justin,

“Jesus didn’t come to establish religion, but to rid the world of it; He is irreligion.” Bit of doublespeak here, don’t you think? Christ came to save us by mandating we exalt him (admitting he is God and our only saviour… isn’t this the premise of religion?) then rejects religion in favor of… religion under guise of “spirituality.”

Also, this “spiritual truth” is in fact binding. We must accept a system of power that limits us as human beings. Sorry guy, but the religious teachings of Christ sound pretty restricting to me.

carrot and stick?

I call dibs on the slide! Oops – a slide in the devil’s playground probably goes way, way down …

And if this is Satan’s playground, then I demand a swing set.

I have to tell you David, that made me laugh. I am still smiling.
I know where you are coming from man, I was a born again, saved by grace, fundamentalist Christian for 39 years of my 49 years on this earth. I did just what you said; I asked Jesus to come into my heart, but real life, in the real world has a way of bringing you out of self induced comas like this.

David, I have to tell you, those little doubts which you, yes even you, have in your head didn’t come from Satan. It is your rational thinking mind wanting to be free David. Every Christian knows about them, those troubling verses which just can’t be reconciled with the God of love you believe in. Every Christian is told that to have doubts is from the devil and it will lead you to hell. Your in a cult David. That is what cults do. All of us Christians were in a cult. We practically drank the purple Koolaid of Christianity.

God did not move away from me David, and I did not move away from him. I just discovered that God had nothing to do with the Bible. It was so easy to see David, but very hard to get to this point. It is hard to come out of years of mind washing and indoctrination, and fear of hell. That is why people like you simply can’t do it.

I would only ask Christians to do one thing. Do a Bible Study, but not a directed Bible Study. I am talking about doing a study of the Bible itself, where it came from, how it came to be organized into one book, who wrote it, the scientific claims, the universe cosmology it presents, the views it really presents about women, war, genocide and even check to see if it is consistent in its message or even in the stories it tells.

I don’t want to evangelize, but how can we all stand by while hundreds of thousands, even millions of people are brainwashed every day into believing in morally repugnant fairy tales and then killing or hating other people for different beliefs. It is bad for them and bad for humanity as a whole.

That’s great, critical thinking is a great start, which inevitably leads to weak agnosticism, which combined with critical thinking again, directly leads to atheism. Putting forth critical thinking DOES put many on the defensive, as it directly contradicts their beliefs.

So, to clarify, I consider myself a critical thinker, lover of science, logic maven and theist. My own critical thinking has not led me to atheism, it has led me to another place. I believe knowledge of the true nature of God or the existence of said God to be unknowable. On my own blog under the tag “Don’t Be a Christian,” you will find some of my arguments, but I am still working this premise through…be kind.

I also am very leery of “them/their” language. I also think there is a justice issue when it comes to speaking about anyone else. Who are these people we must convert to Atheism/Agnosticism–or in my view–critical thinking? Many who believe in the God-view we find so suspect also do not have access to education, clean water, meaningful work, shelter, healthcare, etc. Whom else do they have? They do not have “us” if we continue to see them as other than ourselves. Flawed. Imperfect. Struggling. Trying. Getting it wrong. Getting it right.