Conversations with a Believer (1): Rant about the Bible, Church and Religion

 Q:

I have degrees in both biology and religion.  While biology may appeal to you more, and perhaps you understand it better, to be honest, I am at present more confident in my understanding of religion than in that of biology.

A:

I'm curious....a degree in religion or religions? Understanding of one religion or all religions?

Biology appeals to me even though I have a limited knowledge of it. Like you, I'm more confident in my understanding of religions and the thing they all have in common. I admit my ignorance when it comes to the bible though.

Q:

But I think your issue with understanding what I posted above is not even so much with what I said, or how I said it, as it is with your prejudice against believing that Satan exists.

A:

No, I have an issue with your interpretation of a book. A book that you obviously take literally, a book that has seen so many modifications and self serving additions that sieving out the original message has become a life long endeavor with an evidently dubious outcome. A book that promotes the notion of salvation, but only for a few selected. A book that promotes divisions among humans: Christians get to pass, but gays and divorcees don't make the cut apparently. Nor do unbaptized children, and anyone that is not Christian, including saints from other religions. And this is just from the top of my head.

If one can find personal direction and support in the words of the bible, no problem at all. It's when this book gets elevated to the status of absolute truth and taken word by word without the maturity of interpretation that comes from self inquiry, THEN I have a problem with it. Not because you believe in it, but because you propagate corrupted data that is the opposite of God's message. God IS and calls for unity, he loves ALL of his children equally: gays, Muslims, Jews, sinners and saints.

To claim otherwise is the true sin!

I really think the church should write a new New Testament, because the old New Testament is clearly well behind the times. It's no surprise nobody goes to church anymore and many parishes can't find priests anymore. Not because people are now all atheists, but because they feel disconnected on a spiritual level. They instinctively feel that the stuff taught by the church is not true to its source. The church has to either evolve fast, or die out. As simple as that.

I will ask you again. A person like the Dalai Lama, who spent his life teaching compassion, and brotherhood among all religions,....will he be allowed to enter your paradise or not? After all he's not baptized nor Christian. Will he burn in hell like the rest of us? Or maybe be suspended in limbo until he 'repents'?

Q:

If Satan could temp Christ by appearing as one of those angels of light, and if Christ was unable to see through the disguise (in His humanity), we will not be able to perceive otherwise either.  We must not trust our senses, but must know the truth of what is coming.

A:

What you call Satan and Christ are aspects of our own nature. True, we must not trust only our physical senses, but we have to refine the ability to discern between what is true and what is illusion by going within and practice self inquiry. Books or degrees will not help you with that. 

Rant over.