Solon, If I have given you the idea that I am a bible thumper, I apologize, because my beliefs are quite the opposite. I deplore the damage that men have done to men because of religious zeal, and the wars between denominations. I agree that members of the Christian faith are as guilty in that regard as any other faith, if not more so in some cases.
By morality, I meant the same process that you call standards. In my view, they are the same thing. By morals, I do not approve of those that go around telling others that they are going to hell if they drink, smoke, gamble, or any other action that does not harm another human, or society as a whole. I will not tolerate the erosion of the individual independence that I have worked for most of my life, and no holy roller is going to take that away from me.
I still don't fully understand some of your wordage. I can assume that a "composite" Jesus, is some kind of figurehead that is made up from different parts of ideals. Well, there was a man of that era with the name of Jeshua, or Joshua, that was translated into Greek as Jesus. There are records written by individuals that were not his followers, and Roman records, that indicate this person went about teaching, and professing to heal the sick. No one can be totally sure that these events happened, but any religion is based on faith, and not fact. That is one of the major flaws in organized religions.
Nature is nature. All animals, of which humans are a member, have to eat, and do what becomes necessary to do so. Humanoid primates have eaten red meat for hundreds of thousands of years, and I have no intention of changing my appetite for a medium-rare rib eye steak.
My core belief is that there is some all power full element somewhere, that we call God, that caused the universe to be created, and the formation of the planet named Earth was part of that long lasting, and continuing, event. Even those that believe in the "big bang" theory, which makes sense to me, must admit that some power had to combine the elements, and provide the ignition source, to cause that explosion in the first place. Where any of these factors come from, is beyond my ken, but that doesn't bother me. No one else knows, positively, what happened those many millions of years ago. Among many people, there is a force for good. Exactly what it is, I, nor anyone else, can know for sure. If anyone wants to believe that force is an entity called God, that is their privilege, and in the course of a discussion, it is easier for me to use that name as the source of the force.
Who really knows, with absolute certainty?? Not one form of life on Earth can be absolutely certain of what happened long before history began to be recorded. Geological findings help, but cannot tell the whole story, and archeology adds to the mix, but the whole picture is not likely to ever be known. |
