Every so often, when controversy brings new minds to the thread, I feel the need to clarify my own beliefs and confusion so that waters are not muddied unnecessarily.
I am a firm and ardent believer in freedom of religion; Because this is under the umbrella of freedom of thought. I believe that for human beings--thinking is existing. Thus I equate freedom of religion with the right to exist.
I believe most religions have brought a mixture of good and evil to the world. But, overall, the history of Christianity is (I believe) a history of hatred, bloodshed, racism, war, and self loathing. Do I ask you to believe this? No, I do not. I ask people to investigate for themselves; I ask them to treat their minds with respect and integrity, and not to let the gift of free thought remain unused--not to let this opportunity be usurped, by those who would spoon feed you with their own self serving dogmas.
I ask others to dare to think, and to have the courage to discard that which they find false and indecent. To that end there are several thousand posts on this thread, which represent the efforts of a lot of good people (including devout Christians) to explore and to discover their beliefs, and then to own them with that special pride and dignity, that comes only to those that have earned the right to a constant awareness of integrity.
I have been called many names; But what is that, after all...if my arguments remain unanswered and inviolate?
Yes, I believe the Christian bible was written by primitive nomads wandering in the desert. Very few scholars (even Christian experts) disagree with this. The evidence has been placed on this thread, and it is an awfuly high wall, for even a fanatic to climb. What the bible states is a question of fact rather than belief. It is a history of primitive thinking, and the most incredible examples of injustice, infanticide, incest, and insanity.
All of these examples are in the bible. What the average person hears in church are a few selected good verses (and there are kind and good verses in the bible)--repeated over and over every Sunday. They are not exposed to the murders of innocents, to the pornography, to the slavery and misogyny, to the bizarre behaviour of God as drawn up by these illiterate people trying to survive in a harsh desert environment, and trying to win battles over their enemies by matching the magic of their supernatutal avatar, against that of the opposition.
Having said all that, I repeat. Freedom of thought is our most precious right. I do not denounce any person's right to what they choose to believe. I only assert my right to my opinion. I have earned my beliefs by a lot of hard work. And I defend my right to think, just as I defend the right of others to renounce that freedom for themselves. |
