I read through the first two paragraphs of the two articles on this subject, and, quite frankly, didn't find them as appalling as I did, well, ridiculous, and possibly the reason why 51% of the American people voted George W. Bush back into office in 2004. They're acutely ignorant, without study, and lacking imagination - at least in their views on religion.

Now don't get me wrong. I strongly believe that religious zealots are an immense negative in any society. But, don't forget. Religious zealots, criminals, and a smattering of those who believed in true freedom comprised the passenger list of the Mayflower, and the pioneer, and slave carrying ships that followed. Very bad people, and mostly misguided leaders and followers, have used Christianity to commit atrocities that can be likened to raping a six year old child after skinning it alive. But calmer, more tolerant, and more intelligent minds prevailed, and are still attempting to prevail.

Both of my parents are retired Baptist minister who went into their respective ministries just before middle age, and had experienced life in Central Indiana well before the Civil Rights Movement in the Sixties. Never have they used The Bible as a weapon to knock anyone unconscious in the hope that the offended would awaken into a new light of Christian enlightenment. They merely tried to slip Christian bookmarks into the book of an individual's life, in hope that that person would see the light as they saw the light.

Personally, I believe in reincarnation. Yes, there's a God to help guide us, and I believe that Jesus Christ's missing was to be in millions of places at once to answer our true needs. You know, God is omnipotent, but he needed a son of human flesh and sacrifice to take a little bit of the load off of him. I'm more on the Sylvia Brown track that says that Heaven is simply another dimension that puts humans ( or, perhaps even others ) on t a plane with God that allows us to feel pure joy as we continue our learning to properly ( for lack of a better term ) become one with him.

When on that plane, we're in school. The individual spirit decides whether or not to re-inter the earthly plane for more intense learning, to remain in the spiritually realm for further learning, or to simply join God with less learning than they could've gotten. Aren't those glorious choices? The only ones without glorious choices are those who choose to commit suicide in their earthly ( or other earthly ) realms. Those individuals are shipped like caviar to the obscenely wealthy back to their earthly realms.

The bottom line is that there is no black and white here. Life can be reduced down to a series of decisions. All of those decisions are part of the massive education needed to return to God in the most, or least, glorious capacities. We all return to him.

Learn more about this author, Edward Neville.
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