I'm not against Christianity.
I'm against the manipulation of Christians for political aims.
I'm against some “Christian” talking-head claiming that the most recent catastrophe, no matter how unrelated, is because everyone in his Church, in the Nation, or on the Planet hasn't done exactly what he's ordered them to (with the authority of God).
I'm against (total sell-out corporatist) politicians (such as Senator James Inhofe and Senator Tom Coburn) taking advantage of the gullibility of Fundamentalist Christians.
I'm against ignorance – because ignorance leads to misery.
So, it's time to shed some light on the subject. It's time to free some minds. It's time to confront the evil.
The Bible isn't literally true. The writers of the Bible told us so. Yes, it's in the Bible. In fact, you don't have to read more than the first few pages. The writers of the Bible wanted us know. And they let us know right away.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not claiming that the Bible is fiction. What I am claiming is that the Bible is often being misinterpreted for personal gain.
For example; Creation. There is nothing in the Bible that claims Evolution is false – if one reads Genesis as allegory. And if one reads Evolutionary Theory closely, there is nothing within it that claims there is no God. Which is why many Christian Religions have no problem accepting both.
However, there are a number of Fundamentalist Christian “leaders” who want us to believe that the Bible is literally word for word true. My first question to these aspiring religious rulers is; why? Why is it so important that every word in the Bible be literally true? The answer is obvious – and political. So that every word that comes out of their mouths holds the literal unquestionable weight of God. Don't even think of questioning what they say.
Tyrants have envied the power of the Church. This is why, in the past, Church and State have fused to form some of the most tyrannical powers in history. One thing we should never forget is that no organization is above reproach.
As we all know, these fundamentalist Christian “leaders” are not Gods. They are fallible humans, just like us. And their biggest fallacy is they crave power. (They wouldn't be where they are if they didn't.) And in order to get that power, they say what works to get them more power. What works for getting more power is the illusion of perfection. What works for having more power is the illusion that they have all the answers.
Personally, I wouldn't really care – if their actions didn't effect me. But they do. These Fundamentalist “leaders” would rather ignore science than do the right things.
Science is humanity's best interpretation of how our world functions. You may pray before you take a flight, but you wouldn't hire your minister to build the airplane. You want someone who knows Science. (And consider this; prayer may keep you from crashing, but it won't get you up in the air.)
This is Science we're talking about. And if people ignore some science; they're more likely to ignore other, even more critical science issues. We all realize that there can be horrible consequences for not facing reality. For example; when it comes to climate change, America now has the least logical political leadership in the World. (Even Muslims accept the reality of Global Warming. (Sorry Muslims. But it was just too good a jab to pass up.))
Why in the world would any caring observant leader wish to deny science – which simply relies on logical conclusions based upon overwhelming evidence? Why? The answer is simple; power.
If the Bible isn't literally true, then they can't claim ultimate authority.
As I stated earlier, not one phrase of Evolutionary Theory makes any statement about the existence of God. That's right, in one way this is all just a great big non-issue.
Let me say that once again; Evolution and God can coexist.
What Evolutionary Theory does, however, is show that the Creation story in the Bible isn't literally accurate. In other words, here is proof that every word of the Bible isn't literally true.
So, what's a power hungry Fundamentalist Christian “leader” supposed to do? Well, definitely not concede some of his power.
What it appears Fundamentalist “leaders” are saying is; “The Bible can't be wrong, Science must be.”
What more rational people hear is; “My interpretation of the Bible can't be wrong, the Universe must be.”
What I hear is; “Don't listen to those other people, just listen to me.”
But what does the Bible say?
Surprisingly, the authors of the Bible were very clear on this – they're not sure.
Genesis 1:27 states that God made man and woman together on the sixth day, after making the animals
Genesis 2:19 states that God made the animals between man and woman
Genesis 2:21-22 implies that God made woman sometime after the seventh day
Quite blatantly, the stories of Genesis 1 and 2 are two separate stories of Creation – that don't quite agree.
Why the contradictory stories? Simple, the compilers of the Bible didn't know which story was more true. So, they added them both. This wasn't the only story told twice in the Bible.
Those who wrote the Bible were just people too. Whether they were inspired by God or not, this is their story. They weren't exactly sure how Creation happened, so they left it up for us to decide.
Allow me to emphasize this; the authors and compilers of the Bible weren't sure about the specifics of Creation. They just wrote down the Creation stories that they had heard. And they wrote down two contradictory stories of Creation – ultimately to remind us that there was still work to be done to fully understand how we came to be.
Is the Bible wrong?
I don't think that's the right question.
(In fact, I don't think that's the right question to ask about all Religions.)
The best questions should be;
what can we learn from the Bible?
And; what can we learn from the Universe?
This is what the best Christian Leaders focus on.
The truth.
There is another reason why the bible is fundamentally inconsistent with evolution.
ReplyDeleteThe story of the bible (ie how and why we're all here) starts with Adam & Eve (obviously).
Adam & Eve are *perfect* humans, living in the Garden of Eden and they never grow old or get sick.
Then Adam eats the forbidden fruit from the "tree of knowledge of good and bad". God is angry and cast's him and Eve out of the garden. Part of God's punishment is that A&E will now get old & sick and eventually die. However, they still live for a very long time - like over a 1000 years.
A&E's offspring are all mortal but still live for a long time, but each subsequent generation being further separated from A&E is less perfect, is more prone to disease and has a shorter lifespan.
This is the reason, as told to me by a knowledgeable Jehova's Witness, that fundamentalist creations refuse to believe in evolution. ie the bible says that man was created perfect and is deteriorating over the generations. evolution is basically that man evolved from a "lower" life form and is improving with generations.
If this part of the story is not true then the rest of the story *cannot* be true either, which obviously causes a bit of a problem for some.
The "rest of the story" being based on the idea that God says that man does not know what is good for himself, is not capable of governing himself and that therefore we should submit to his rule.
ReplyDeleteAdam rejected Gods rule when he ate from the tree of knowledge of good and bad.
We are all now here to learn the truth that we are not capable of governing ourselves.
The reason for Jesus coming to Earth was apparently to prepare our souls for salvation.
Since Adam committed the original sin, all his descendants (ie us) are all automatically born with this sin. God would like to forgive us, but it isn't that easy. Something of equal value *must* be given in return.
For such a serious crime as disobeying God (ie eating from the tree of knowledge of good and bad) serious reparations *must* be made. Turns out this must be the soul of a "perfect human".
God loves us so much, that in order to be able to forgive us, he puts is own son in perfect human form on Earth to suffer and die on our behalf, thus giving his soul to God to make up for Adams original sin.
Make sense, right?
So, if we've been forgiven, shouldn't we be back to living forever and not getting sick?
Afraid not. Jesus' sacrifice just paves the way for our forgiveness, later in the story. A few other things have to happen first.
Firstly, Jesus is to have a battle with Satan in Heaven. Satan will lose and will be cast down to Earth.
Jehova's Witnesses believe that various "signs" pointed to in the bible mean that this battle actually took place in the early 1940's
Next is that Jesus (who is the same person as the Archangel Michael) will come to Earth for a final battle with Satan. This is the time described in Revelations as "the great tribulation" or as most people know it "Armageddon".
After the final battle at Armageddon Gods kingdom will be established on Earth, everyone who has *ever* lived will be resurrected and given a second chance to live according to Gods rules. This second chance will last for a 1000 years and ends on Judgement Day when people who still refuse to live according to Gods rules will finally be killed forever.
Interestingly, there is a crucial exception to those who will be resurrected.
Those people alive today, who are killed during the great tribulation and have not already accepted and lived by Gods rules will not be resurrected. This is because they (apparently) have already had the chance to "repent" in full knowledge of the consequences and have already chosen not to do so.
Revelations makes it pretty clear that "the great tribulation" isn't going to be a pleasant experience. Without God's intervention "no flesh will be spared".
Jehovas Witnesses believe that the great tribulation will happen in our lifetime and that therefore if you don't understand and accept Gods rules now(ish) you will be killed and miss out on being resurrected into Gods kingdom and essentially living forever.
This is the reason why Jehova's Witnesses for example are so enthusiastic about knocking on peoples doors and trying to teach them about the bible. They are trying to make sure as many people as possible are resurrected into Gods kingdom.
So, what are Gods rules that you *must* live by or be killed and miss out on eternal life?
1. Love God
2. Tell others about God and make them love God too.
Slick huh?
I'm not sure if this is the best explanation possible and I've missed quite a few details, but if you were to accept evolution as true, all the rest of the story starts to unravel.
The "rest of the story" being based on the idea that God says that man does not know what is good for himself, is not capable of governing himself and that therefore we should submit to his rule.
ReplyDeleteAdam rejected Gods rule when he ate from the tree of knowledge of good and bad.
We are all now here to learn the truth that we are not capable of governing ourselves.
The reason for Jesus coming to Earth was apparently to prepare our souls for salvation.
Since Adam committed the original sin, all his descendants (ie us) are all automatically born with this sin. God would like to forgive us, but it isn't that easy. Something of equal value *must* be given in return.
For such a serious crime as disobeying God (ie eating from the tree of knowledge of good and bad) serious reparations *must* be made. Turns out this must be the soul of a "perfect human".
God loves us so much, that in order to be able to forgive us, he puts is own son in perfect human form on Earth to suffer and die on our behalf, thus giving his soul to God to make up for Adams original sin.
Make sense, right?
ps: you could remove my third comment which is a duplicate of the first half of my second comment. if that makes sense :)?
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