j***@yahoo.com
2006-08-24 00:55:48 UTC
An alternative to word-for-word Christianity
This letter is ultimately about Thomas Jefferson and his religion.
Probably about 6 out of 7 Americans will find his ideas too
controversial to discuss openly. We are talking about the man who wrote
the Declaration of Independence - too controversial for Americans to
discuss. If you can't agree with the ideas of this letter, please have
the decency, the good citizenship, to pass it on for others to
consider. We have an election coming up in November. We have proposals
to change the Constitution in six states: WI, SC, TN, VA, SD, and ID.
Had it not required a two thirds majority vote, the current congress
would have already passed a resolution to change the U.S. Constitution.
We are at war in Iraq with no end in sight.
Religion is at the heart of American politics right now, and in the
heart of our president. But is it the religion that America was founded
on? Certainly, the founding fathers had a Christian heritage.
Politicians, especially of one party, are afraid to talk about it. The
future of our country is what is being decided on Nov. 7, 2006. A
little wisdom from Thomas Jefferson might guide us onto the right path.
Ask Americans if Thomas Jefferson was a great man and they will say,
"You bet." That's why he is on the nickel in our pocket, engraved on
Mt. Rushmore, and has a street named after him in about every other
town in America. Ask Americans what was Thomas Jefferson's church and
what would he think about the political influence of religion in
America today? You will probably get blank stares, or completely wrong
answers. That is the purpose of this letter, to teach us about the man
we think we know, and the wide variation of belief among Christian
churches in America. It begins with an excerpt from a Wisconsin
newspaper internet forum.
"Jesus, Homosexuality and The Marriage Amendment: Which Church is
Right?"
an OnWisconsin.Com forum hosted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www2.jsonline.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=3D36703&forumID=3D60&catI=
D=3D17
=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=
=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=
=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7
The Golden Rule All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to
you, do ye even so to them... Matthew 7:12
--------------------------------
"The Golden Rule means use your heart. Use your ability to feel. You
know your own feelings. You should imagine the feelings of others too."
--------------------------------
"=2E.. When faced with a moral dilemma, I struggle in my mind to feel
both sides. We face a moral dilemma right now in Wisconsin, and also in
the U.S. It has brought back a long past experience for me. I have been
trying recently to imagine the feelings of a schoolmate who committed
suicide when I was 16. I didn't know him. He hadn't a friend, to my
knowledge. How did he feel in those final weeks? Those final hours? Was
it because we called him a homosexual? Was it because he was a
homosexual? Who was the sinner? "
-T.J. (a Golden Rule Christian, from a debate with TreeGo, a Born Again
Christian)
then later in the debate, another quote from T.J.,
challenging the wisdom of unquestioned faith in
hand-me-down texts.
"I have some sacred texts of my own. But I know exactly who wrote
them, when, and for what occasion."
.=2E. All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the
will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be
rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal
rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate which would be
oppression.
- Thomas Jefferson, Mar. 4, 1801
first inaugural address
=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=
=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=
=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7
help TJ spread his message, same link as above
download a free flier especially important in WI, SD, TN, ID, VA and SC
http://www2.jsonline.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=3D36703&forumID=3D60&catI=
D=3D17
from Jean
------------------ End of Part I -----------------
Part II: The tough question about homosexuality,
and a tough to swallow Christian answer.
Rose, a good caring Christian with not a hint of prejudice in her
words, wrote back a long letter. The bottom line came down to these two
troubling verses: The same verses that must be troubling millions of
Christians in America.
to write this, knowing so many will be opposed,
but it's equally hard to silently watch people be
cruely hurt, based on verses that may be no
more related to Jesus than belief in the gods
Zeus or Thor. The last page of TJs flier gives
an option for Christians who believe as Thomas
Jefferson does. Belief is a choice,
I hope Jefferson's belief catches on.
Jean
Well Rose, I have a short answer and a long answer. The short answer is
I believe it is wrong to hurt, punish or condemn people who have
themselves hurt no other person. People who say God doesn't tolerate
this or that behavior which harms no other person, may be following the
advice of bigoted humans, falsely claiming to know the mind of God.
This belief comes from my heart, my conscience. I believe this more
than I believe any religious document you can place before me from any
source. Every religious document is written by human beings. Human
beings who claim, but cannot prove, they have spoken to God
The short answer is finished.
--------------------------------
Now for the long answer. Must I reject Christianity to hold this
belief? You tell me. Have I rejected the teachings of Jesus of
Nazareth? I have reasons to believe I have not. Have I rejected the
fundamentalist faith of Christianity in the Middle Ages? Absolutely, it
did some very bad things to innocent people. Partial apologies, such as
the centuries late admission that Galileo had the planets going around
the sun correctly after all, have been too few.
The life of Jesus of Nazareth is the the example upon which my
Christianity is built. Literal belief in every word of the Bible is not
required of my form of Christianity. In fact, I think literal belief is
a dangerously bad idea. An idea which perpetuates ancient cruelty and
ignores the accumulating wisdom of mankind.
How do I deal with scripture in Leviticus?. There is a theory of
evolution that fundamentalist Christians refuse to accept because it is
JUST A THEORY, never proven. There is theory of the infallible Bible
that is also just a theory, never proven. That is how I deal with all
scripture, including the Book of Leviticus. The only way that we know
Leviticus is the will of God is to believe it. There is not one scrap
of evidence outside of the Bible to show this is true.
Some guy comes up to you and says he heard a voice talking to him from
a burning bush today, we put him in a padded cell. Somebody makes the
same claim 2500-3000 years ago, and we believe it because people in
vestments at an altar tell us to believe it, not because it makes any
kind of sense at all. Are we willing to believe God wants us to kill
people for being gay on that kind of evidence? Not good enough for me.
People who believe something that flaky are the same kind of folks who
go around killing each other over religion in the middle east every
day.
I don't want America to become as full of murderous religious fanatics
as Iraq or Iran. I'm not talking about Muslims, I'm talking about
Christians, who read the Bible and see a green light in a single verse
"they shall surely be put to death." Any politician who supports this
kind of Biblical literalism is endangering the very foundations of what
made America a free country. They should be identified, denounced and
voted out of office immediately. The Bible is not the foundation of our
government, it contains cruel and dangerous instructions which must be
rejected by every patriot, every politician, the sooner the better...
or America is lost.
How can so much good and such cruelty come from the same Christianity?
Most people go to church because they want to be good. They want advice
and direction on how to be good. When you read something cruel or
senseless (try reading Leviticus all the way through, it is not the
story of a loving God). You have to say "wait a minute" is that coming
from God or human beings pretending to know God? Who picked the pages
and stories that got printed in this book?
The answer to who picked the pages and stories? Human beings of course.
Human beings who "thought" they knew the mind of God. We have every
right to question these human beings. Many people don't. Many people
just want life to be simple, so they believe all the answers are in one
perfect book. They are too simplistic, life is more complicated than
they want to believe. They may be kindly old grandmothers who hurt no
one. They may be kindly old grandmothers who vote the American
constitution out of existence. This is a crucial time for America. A
time to wake up and check the course we are headed on. If you measure
fundamentalism by belief in evolution vs. creation, America is now more
fundamentalist than every country in Europe except one, Turkey.
Surprised? See the graphic on this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/08/14/science/sciencespecial2/200508=
15_EVO_GRAPHIC.html
We are on a path back to the Dark Ages. Europe is what America once
was, the land of free thinking and enlightenment. What are you going to
do to change it? Teach, that's the only tool we have. Compete with the
fundamentalist to be the best door to door salesperson in America. Show
the fundamentalists a second choice of religion, just as loving without
the intolerance and rejection of science. (see TJs free flier) Question
every politician who is after the fundamentalist vote and say, "Explain
to me again, why do you say Thomas Jefferson was wrong."
What was Thomas Jefferson's religion? Skip over the next six paragraphs
if you want... I've got a lot inside that I need to let out.
I don't believe in a perfect book anymore. I stopped believing that
about the same time I stopped believing in Santa Claus. I found out
Santa was a tall tale based on the life of a real person named St.
Nikolaus, a Greek Bishop born about 300 years later than Christ. Over
time the original story of St. Nikolaus the good man, became an almost
completely make believe story of the immortal Santa Claus. A tale told
to trick children into being good to get a reward. Now that I'm grown
up, I don't need to be tricked into doing good. I want to do good to
make the world a kinder, safer place for everyone. For myself, my
children and my neighbors, others too if I can manage it. There is
something in it for all of us. I am not being good just to get a reward
for selfish little me, not to get a new dolly from Santa at Christmas,
not to earn a place in Heaven with Jesus when I die.
I believe in Jesus... I think he was a real person who taught values
and tried to make the world where he lived a kinder and better place. I
don't think he died on the cross for my sins. I think he died on the
cross because he was getting too popular and encouraging Jews to resist
Roman occupation of the Jewish Temple and lands. That would explain why
Pilate wrote on the cross... "King of the Jews" Matthew 27:37, Mark
15:26, Luke 23:38 and John 19:19. The message on the cross was a Roman
warning not to resist: a graphic way of saying... "This is what happens
when you choose your own leader." The Bible we have today was put
together hundreds of years after Jesus died. The writing on the cross
is one of the last bits about Jesus that is consistent from one source
to the next.
People could make up any story they wanted about Jesus after he was
dead. Remember all those Elvis sightings in the 70's and 80's? I don't
think the world was any different right after Jesus died. People make
up stories about celebrities and they get passed along. People who were
devoted followers of Jesus had hoped for the day when Jesus would throw
the Romans out. They were in shock following the crucifixion. "This
can't be true." "He can't be dead." "His crucifixion was only the
beginning." "He's coming back." "He's coming back real soon and in the
second coming he will be King." People haven't changed much. Whether
the King was Jesus or the King was Elvis, fanatic fans of celebrities
can't let go.
It has been 2000 years since Jesus was crucified... there are no longer
Romans to defeat. Jesus hasn't come back. All that has happened is his
life has been turned into a legend. So many claims have been made about
Jesus that you have to look at lots of different stories and compare
them in order to sift out what is probably the truth. For over a
thousand years there were only four stories to compare: Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John, plus stories about those stories... the rest of the New
Testament.
In 1945 a pottery jar with a different story about Jesus was found by
an Arab farmer digging at the base of a cliff near the Dead Sea.
Everything changed... we have a fifth story. A story that was
absolutely frozen in time from the day it was buried until the modern
age of cameras. A snapshot deep into the past. Archeologists who have
studied the Dead Sea site now think the jar was one of several used as
a temporary way to stash precious documents for safe keeping, but the
jars were lost or the people who buried them never came back. The
reason? They were fleeing from a war with the Romans. The war in which
the Temple in Jerusalem was burned and reduced to the ruins that remain
today.
The date was about 65 years after the crucifixion of Jesus. The jars
contained many pages from the Old Testament plus a long story about the
life of Jesus that didn't say anything about a single miracle. He was a
good man. An example worth remembering, who taught morality to his
people. Not the son of God, never walked on water, never performed any
miracles, just tried to teach people to treat other people better. It's
called the Gospel of Thomas... I read a fascinating story about it on
the internet.
http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2005/Jesus-Without-Miracles1dec05.htm
Just last week (Aug. 2006) the story was in the news again, Israeli
archeologists Yizhak Magen and Yuval Peleg discussing their newest
archeological evidence from the site where the Gospel of Thomas was
found.
A Jesus who performed no miracles is the Jesus I believe in. But there
aren't any preachers teaching that Jesus. So it hasn't caught on. Now
here's what is amazing. Thomas Jefferson believed in the same story of
Jesus. No miracles, just an influential teacher with the best morality
ever taught. If we believe in that Jesus. Does it mean we can't call
ourselves Christians?
Thomas Jefferson said he was a Christian, that Christianity was at its
heart practicing the morality of Jesus. The miracles were an
"artificial scaffolding" that added nothing of value to Christianity,
as was the ancient saga of the Old Testament. He believed the true
message of Jesus would endure as advancing scientific knowledge
stripped away the scaffolding. Jefferson reached this conclusion after
reading the scriptures in English, French, Greek and Latin. He was an
incredibly forward thinking person. The Gospel of Thomas was still
buried in a jar. The theory of evolution hadn't even been proposed.
Jefferson read the Bible and he saw right through it. The evidence to
back him up is unfolding two centuries later.
I trust Jefferson. What he says makes sense. No make believe. Just find
a way to make the world better for the people around you. It isn't just
what Jefferson believed that I admire. It's what he did with his
beliefs. Jefferson was President for two terms, Which war is he famous
for winning? None, Eight years of peace with all nations. A quarter
century earlier... he had founded a great nation. A nation of Liberty,
where government could no longer claim anyone's holy book as a basis
for laws. Laws were to be written to protect the people, not to
oppress, not to please some people's God at the expense of someone
else's liberty. Have we forgotten that? I think we have.
If you believe Jesus was sent by God, as his own son, to die on the
cross for your sins, throughout your life you will always have a big
crowd who share your beliefs. It will be a big crowd of caring people
going to the best church they can find. I've got nothing against them
or you. But I do think it is sad and tragic when people who are
attracted to Jesus end up citing verses from Leviticus without reading
the entire book of Leviticus and thinking about who wrote it. Leviticus
is cruel and demeaning to women, and as compassionless as the darkest
bigot in its ignorant treatment of homosexuality. I don't believe the
Book of Leviticus represents any god I am willing to worship. Ditto
with the Book of Job. God kills Job's servants and ten of Job's
children to win a bet with Satan, then lets Job's wife churn out ten
more children to make it better? I will not worship a god who commits
mass murder.
I don't think the Old Testament and story of Jesus belong in the same
binding. These are two different versions of God, from two different
ages, slapped together to get people to transition from one belief to
the other. The Mormon's have done the same thing since 1830. Slapping
their book of Mormon onto the end of the New Testament and trying to
convert believers in Jesus to their new church. We don't have to
understand ancient history... religions transform from one belief to
the next right before our eyes.
The question is, are Americans transitioning back to the Christianity
of the Middle Ages? Absolute faith in the Bible. Punish or kill anyone
who disagrees. Teach children not to believe in science but always
believe every word of scripture. That's the growing trend in the U.S.
We are electing government officials who support this trend.
Fundamentalist home schooling is teaching children to vote for more Old
Testament, less science. Televangelists are taking in millions with the
same message on T.V. and passing the cash on to their favored political
causes.
Is this what America is going to become, a dogma dominated, intolerant
nation that is the very opposite of Thomas Jefferson's plan laid out in
the Declaration of Independence?
Or are we going to open our minds, wake up to the world of new
discoveries since the Bible was written, and make the best world
possible building upon the example Jesus laid out for us so many years
ago?
That's a long answer to a short question about two verses in the Bible.
You have just read the definition of a liberal Christian. Liberal as in
Liberty. These are the reasons for my beliefs. We each have our own
reasons for our beliefs. I don't want to put people down, but I suppose
just saying what I believe comes across that way. The only other choice
is to say nothing and remain silent while America wanders farther from
the dream of Jefferson. I'm almost alone in my beliefs. Unitarians are
liberal Christians, but there are very few of them. It's not an
acceptable church in most small towns. Thomas Jefferson was a liberal
Christian, also called a Golden Rule Christian. His beliefs are given
in his own words in the flier by T.J. in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Forum. (follow link below)
If you are an average American, you are probably a nice person who
believes in Jesus because you want to do good in your life. That
category fits the majority of Americans. I know I said a lot that is
the opposite of what you learn from your church. I'm sharing one
minority belief, but it's not a new belief. It's the belief that was in
Jefferson's heart when he wrote our Declaration of Independence. I
believe it too, with all my heart. I've had no intention to say
anything hurtful. I'm sorry if I could not find kinder words make this
belief less controversial.
Best Wishes
Jean
quick connect to links in text:
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel forum, with TJs Golden Rule Christian
flier
http://www2.jsonline.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=3D36703&forumID=3D60&catI=
D=3D17
Figure of US belief in evolution vs European countries
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/08/14/science/sciencespecial2/200508=
15_EVO_GRAPHIC.html
Gospel of Thomas article:
http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2005/Jesus-Without-Miracles1dec05.htm
This letter is ultimately about Thomas Jefferson and his religion.
Probably about 6 out of 7 Americans will find his ideas too
controversial to discuss openly. We are talking about the man who wrote
the Declaration of Independence - too controversial for Americans to
discuss. If you can't agree with the ideas of this letter, please have
the decency, the good citizenship, to pass it on for others to
consider. We have an election coming up in November. We have proposals
to change the Constitution in six states: WI, SC, TN, VA, SD, and ID.
Had it not required a two thirds majority vote, the current congress
would have already passed a resolution to change the U.S. Constitution.
We are at war in Iraq with no end in sight.
Religion is at the heart of American politics right now, and in the
heart of our president. But is it the religion that America was founded
on? Certainly, the founding fathers had a Christian heritage.
Politicians, especially of one party, are afraid to talk about it. The
future of our country is what is being decided on Nov. 7, 2006. A
little wisdom from Thomas Jefferson might guide us onto the right path.
Ask Americans if Thomas Jefferson was a great man and they will say,
"You bet." That's why he is on the nickel in our pocket, engraved on
Mt. Rushmore, and has a street named after him in about every other
town in America. Ask Americans what was Thomas Jefferson's church and
what would he think about the political influence of religion in
America today? You will probably get blank stares, or completely wrong
answers. That is the purpose of this letter, to teach us about the man
we think we know, and the wide variation of belief among Christian
churches in America. It begins with an excerpt from a Wisconsin
newspaper internet forum.
"Jesus, Homosexuality and The Marriage Amendment: Which Church is
Right?"
an OnWisconsin.Com forum hosted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www2.jsonline.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=3D36703&forumID=3D60&catI=
D=3D17
=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=
=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=
=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7
The Golden Rule All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to
you, do ye even so to them... Matthew 7:12
--------------------------------
"The Golden Rule means use your heart. Use your ability to feel. You
know your own feelings. You should imagine the feelings of others too."
--------------------------------
"=2E.. When faced with a moral dilemma, I struggle in my mind to feel
both sides. We face a moral dilemma right now in Wisconsin, and also in
the U.S. It has brought back a long past experience for me. I have been
trying recently to imagine the feelings of a schoolmate who committed
suicide when I was 16. I didn't know him. He hadn't a friend, to my
knowledge. How did he feel in those final weeks? Those final hours? Was
it because we called him a homosexual? Was it because he was a
homosexual? Who was the sinner? "
-T.J. (a Golden Rule Christian, from a debate with TreeGo, a Born Again
Christian)
then later in the debate, another quote from T.J.,
challenging the wisdom of unquestioned faith in
hand-me-down texts.
"I have some sacred texts of my own. But I know exactly who wrote
them, when, and for what occasion."
.=2E. All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the
will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be
rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal
rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate which would be
oppression.
- Thomas Jefferson, Mar. 4, 1801
first inaugural address
=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=
=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=
=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7=B7
help TJ spread his message, same link as above
download a free flier especially important in WI, SD, TN, ID, VA and SC
http://www2.jsonline.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=3D36703&forumID=3D60&catI=
D=3D17
from Jean
------------------ End of Part I -----------------
Part II: The tough question about homosexuality,
and a tough to swallow Christian answer.
Rose, a good caring Christian with not a hint of prejudice in her
words, wrote back a long letter. The bottom line came down to these two
troubling verses: The same verses that must be troubling millions of
Christians in America.
*Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with
womankind: it is abomination.*
Leviticus 18:22.
*If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth
with a woman, both of them have committed
an abomination: they shall surely be put to
death; their blood shall be upon them.*
Leviticus 20:13.
Just because Jesus didn't say anything about
homosexuality, doesn't mean that the bible
doesn't. How do YOU deal with this
scripture in Leviticus?
My reply to Rose follows to the end. It's hardwomankind: it is abomination.*
Leviticus 18:22.
*If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth
with a woman, both of them have committed
an abomination: they shall surely be put to
death; their blood shall be upon them.*
Leviticus 20:13.
Just because Jesus didn't say anything about
homosexuality, doesn't mean that the bible
doesn't. How do YOU deal with this
scripture in Leviticus?
to write this, knowing so many will be opposed,
but it's equally hard to silently watch people be
cruely hurt, based on verses that may be no
more related to Jesus than belief in the gods
Zeus or Thor. The last page of TJs flier gives
an option for Christians who believe as Thomas
Jefferson does. Belief is a choice,
I hope Jefferson's belief catches on.
Jean
Well Rose, I have a short answer and a long answer. The short answer is
I believe it is wrong to hurt, punish or condemn people who have
themselves hurt no other person. People who say God doesn't tolerate
this or that behavior which harms no other person, may be following the
advice of bigoted humans, falsely claiming to know the mind of God.
This belief comes from my heart, my conscience. I believe this more
than I believe any religious document you can place before me from any
source. Every religious document is written by human beings. Human
beings who claim, but cannot prove, they have spoken to God
The short answer is finished.
--------------------------------
Now for the long answer. Must I reject Christianity to hold this
belief? You tell me. Have I rejected the teachings of Jesus of
Nazareth? I have reasons to believe I have not. Have I rejected the
fundamentalist faith of Christianity in the Middle Ages? Absolutely, it
did some very bad things to innocent people. Partial apologies, such as
the centuries late admission that Galileo had the planets going around
the sun correctly after all, have been too few.
The life of Jesus of Nazareth is the the example upon which my
Christianity is built. Literal belief in every word of the Bible is not
required of my form of Christianity. In fact, I think literal belief is
a dangerously bad idea. An idea which perpetuates ancient cruelty and
ignores the accumulating wisdom of mankind.
How do I deal with scripture in Leviticus?. There is a theory of
evolution that fundamentalist Christians refuse to accept because it is
JUST A THEORY, never proven. There is theory of the infallible Bible
that is also just a theory, never proven. That is how I deal with all
scripture, including the Book of Leviticus. The only way that we know
Leviticus is the will of God is to believe it. There is not one scrap
of evidence outside of the Bible to show this is true.
Some guy comes up to you and says he heard a voice talking to him from
a burning bush today, we put him in a padded cell. Somebody makes the
same claim 2500-3000 years ago, and we believe it because people in
vestments at an altar tell us to believe it, not because it makes any
kind of sense at all. Are we willing to believe God wants us to kill
people for being gay on that kind of evidence? Not good enough for me.
People who believe something that flaky are the same kind of folks who
go around killing each other over religion in the middle east every
day.
I don't want America to become as full of murderous religious fanatics
as Iraq or Iran. I'm not talking about Muslims, I'm talking about
Christians, who read the Bible and see a green light in a single verse
"they shall surely be put to death." Any politician who supports this
kind of Biblical literalism is endangering the very foundations of what
made America a free country. They should be identified, denounced and
voted out of office immediately. The Bible is not the foundation of our
government, it contains cruel and dangerous instructions which must be
rejected by every patriot, every politician, the sooner the better...
or America is lost.
How can so much good and such cruelty come from the same Christianity?
Most people go to church because they want to be good. They want advice
and direction on how to be good. When you read something cruel or
senseless (try reading Leviticus all the way through, it is not the
story of a loving God). You have to say "wait a minute" is that coming
from God or human beings pretending to know God? Who picked the pages
and stories that got printed in this book?
The answer to who picked the pages and stories? Human beings of course.
Human beings who "thought" they knew the mind of God. We have every
right to question these human beings. Many people don't. Many people
just want life to be simple, so they believe all the answers are in one
perfect book. They are too simplistic, life is more complicated than
they want to believe. They may be kindly old grandmothers who hurt no
one. They may be kindly old grandmothers who vote the American
constitution out of existence. This is a crucial time for America. A
time to wake up and check the course we are headed on. If you measure
fundamentalism by belief in evolution vs. creation, America is now more
fundamentalist than every country in Europe except one, Turkey.
Surprised? See the graphic on this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/08/14/science/sciencespecial2/200508=
15_EVO_GRAPHIC.html
We are on a path back to the Dark Ages. Europe is what America once
was, the land of free thinking and enlightenment. What are you going to
do to change it? Teach, that's the only tool we have. Compete with the
fundamentalist to be the best door to door salesperson in America. Show
the fundamentalists a second choice of religion, just as loving without
the intolerance and rejection of science. (see TJs free flier) Question
every politician who is after the fundamentalist vote and say, "Explain
to me again, why do you say Thomas Jefferson was wrong."
What was Thomas Jefferson's religion? Skip over the next six paragraphs
if you want... I've got a lot inside that I need to let out.
I don't believe in a perfect book anymore. I stopped believing that
about the same time I stopped believing in Santa Claus. I found out
Santa was a tall tale based on the life of a real person named St.
Nikolaus, a Greek Bishop born about 300 years later than Christ. Over
time the original story of St. Nikolaus the good man, became an almost
completely make believe story of the immortal Santa Claus. A tale told
to trick children into being good to get a reward. Now that I'm grown
up, I don't need to be tricked into doing good. I want to do good to
make the world a kinder, safer place for everyone. For myself, my
children and my neighbors, others too if I can manage it. There is
something in it for all of us. I am not being good just to get a reward
for selfish little me, not to get a new dolly from Santa at Christmas,
not to earn a place in Heaven with Jesus when I die.
I believe in Jesus... I think he was a real person who taught values
and tried to make the world where he lived a kinder and better place. I
don't think he died on the cross for my sins. I think he died on the
cross because he was getting too popular and encouraging Jews to resist
Roman occupation of the Jewish Temple and lands. That would explain why
Pilate wrote on the cross... "King of the Jews" Matthew 27:37, Mark
15:26, Luke 23:38 and John 19:19. The message on the cross was a Roman
warning not to resist: a graphic way of saying... "This is what happens
when you choose your own leader." The Bible we have today was put
together hundreds of years after Jesus died. The writing on the cross
is one of the last bits about Jesus that is consistent from one source
to the next.
People could make up any story they wanted about Jesus after he was
dead. Remember all those Elvis sightings in the 70's and 80's? I don't
think the world was any different right after Jesus died. People make
up stories about celebrities and they get passed along. People who were
devoted followers of Jesus had hoped for the day when Jesus would throw
the Romans out. They were in shock following the crucifixion. "This
can't be true." "He can't be dead." "His crucifixion was only the
beginning." "He's coming back." "He's coming back real soon and in the
second coming he will be King." People haven't changed much. Whether
the King was Jesus or the King was Elvis, fanatic fans of celebrities
can't let go.
It has been 2000 years since Jesus was crucified... there are no longer
Romans to defeat. Jesus hasn't come back. All that has happened is his
life has been turned into a legend. So many claims have been made about
Jesus that you have to look at lots of different stories and compare
them in order to sift out what is probably the truth. For over a
thousand years there were only four stories to compare: Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John, plus stories about those stories... the rest of the New
Testament.
In 1945 a pottery jar with a different story about Jesus was found by
an Arab farmer digging at the base of a cliff near the Dead Sea.
Everything changed... we have a fifth story. A story that was
absolutely frozen in time from the day it was buried until the modern
age of cameras. A snapshot deep into the past. Archeologists who have
studied the Dead Sea site now think the jar was one of several used as
a temporary way to stash precious documents for safe keeping, but the
jars were lost or the people who buried them never came back. The
reason? They were fleeing from a war with the Romans. The war in which
the Temple in Jerusalem was burned and reduced to the ruins that remain
today.
The date was about 65 years after the crucifixion of Jesus. The jars
contained many pages from the Old Testament plus a long story about the
life of Jesus that didn't say anything about a single miracle. He was a
good man. An example worth remembering, who taught morality to his
people. Not the son of God, never walked on water, never performed any
miracles, just tried to teach people to treat other people better. It's
called the Gospel of Thomas... I read a fascinating story about it on
the internet.
http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2005/Jesus-Without-Miracles1dec05.htm
Just last week (Aug. 2006) the story was in the news again, Israeli
archeologists Yizhak Magen and Yuval Peleg discussing their newest
archeological evidence from the site where the Gospel of Thomas was
found.
A Jesus who performed no miracles is the Jesus I believe in. But there
aren't any preachers teaching that Jesus. So it hasn't caught on. Now
here's what is amazing. Thomas Jefferson believed in the same story of
Jesus. No miracles, just an influential teacher with the best morality
ever taught. If we believe in that Jesus. Does it mean we can't call
ourselves Christians?
Thomas Jefferson said he was a Christian, that Christianity was at its
heart practicing the morality of Jesus. The miracles were an
"artificial scaffolding" that added nothing of value to Christianity,
as was the ancient saga of the Old Testament. He believed the true
message of Jesus would endure as advancing scientific knowledge
stripped away the scaffolding. Jefferson reached this conclusion after
reading the scriptures in English, French, Greek and Latin. He was an
incredibly forward thinking person. The Gospel of Thomas was still
buried in a jar. The theory of evolution hadn't even been proposed.
Jefferson read the Bible and he saw right through it. The evidence to
back him up is unfolding two centuries later.
I trust Jefferson. What he says makes sense. No make believe. Just find
a way to make the world better for the people around you. It isn't just
what Jefferson believed that I admire. It's what he did with his
beliefs. Jefferson was President for two terms, Which war is he famous
for winning? None, Eight years of peace with all nations. A quarter
century earlier... he had founded a great nation. A nation of Liberty,
where government could no longer claim anyone's holy book as a basis
for laws. Laws were to be written to protect the people, not to
oppress, not to please some people's God at the expense of someone
else's liberty. Have we forgotten that? I think we have.
If you believe Jesus was sent by God, as his own son, to die on the
cross for your sins, throughout your life you will always have a big
crowd who share your beliefs. It will be a big crowd of caring people
going to the best church they can find. I've got nothing against them
or you. But I do think it is sad and tragic when people who are
attracted to Jesus end up citing verses from Leviticus without reading
the entire book of Leviticus and thinking about who wrote it. Leviticus
is cruel and demeaning to women, and as compassionless as the darkest
bigot in its ignorant treatment of homosexuality. I don't believe the
Book of Leviticus represents any god I am willing to worship. Ditto
with the Book of Job. God kills Job's servants and ten of Job's
children to win a bet with Satan, then lets Job's wife churn out ten
more children to make it better? I will not worship a god who commits
mass murder.
I don't think the Old Testament and story of Jesus belong in the same
binding. These are two different versions of God, from two different
ages, slapped together to get people to transition from one belief to
the other. The Mormon's have done the same thing since 1830. Slapping
their book of Mormon onto the end of the New Testament and trying to
convert believers in Jesus to their new church. We don't have to
understand ancient history... religions transform from one belief to
the next right before our eyes.
The question is, are Americans transitioning back to the Christianity
of the Middle Ages? Absolute faith in the Bible. Punish or kill anyone
who disagrees. Teach children not to believe in science but always
believe every word of scripture. That's the growing trend in the U.S.
We are electing government officials who support this trend.
Fundamentalist home schooling is teaching children to vote for more Old
Testament, less science. Televangelists are taking in millions with the
same message on T.V. and passing the cash on to their favored political
causes.
Is this what America is going to become, a dogma dominated, intolerant
nation that is the very opposite of Thomas Jefferson's plan laid out in
the Declaration of Independence?
Or are we going to open our minds, wake up to the world of new
discoveries since the Bible was written, and make the best world
possible building upon the example Jesus laid out for us so many years
ago?
That's a long answer to a short question about two verses in the Bible.
You have just read the definition of a liberal Christian. Liberal as in
Liberty. These are the reasons for my beliefs. We each have our own
reasons for our beliefs. I don't want to put people down, but I suppose
just saying what I believe comes across that way. The only other choice
is to say nothing and remain silent while America wanders farther from
the dream of Jefferson. I'm almost alone in my beliefs. Unitarians are
liberal Christians, but there are very few of them. It's not an
acceptable church in most small towns. Thomas Jefferson was a liberal
Christian, also called a Golden Rule Christian. His beliefs are given
in his own words in the flier by T.J. in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Forum. (follow link below)
If you are an average American, you are probably a nice person who
believes in Jesus because you want to do good in your life. That
category fits the majority of Americans. I know I said a lot that is
the opposite of what you learn from your church. I'm sharing one
minority belief, but it's not a new belief. It's the belief that was in
Jefferson's heart when he wrote our Declaration of Independence. I
believe it too, with all my heart. I've had no intention to say
anything hurtful. I'm sorry if I could not find kinder words make this
belief less controversial.
Best Wishes
Jean
quick connect to links in text:
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel forum, with TJs Golden Rule Christian
flier
http://www2.jsonline.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=3D36703&forumID=3D60&catI=
D=3D17
Figure of US belief in evolution vs European countries
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/08/14/science/sciencespecial2/200508=
15_EVO_GRAPHIC.html
Gospel of Thomas article:
http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2005/Jesus-Without-Miracles1dec05.htm