Religion is not the Problem: But is it the Answer...?

[Tigress DEM]

71. He is documented historically. That Jesus lived is a fact. It's been investigated ad naseum.

That a person named Jesus was born to Mary from the lineage of David and Joseph a carpenter in the town of Nazareth at the time of the census is a documented fact. I mean there is the census and the Jewish records of their ancestors that prove he existed.

Don't come to a war of wits without ammunition.

Many of the mystical or miraculous things attributed to him by religion are in dispute. I'm not a Mormon. I don't have any magic underwear. My faith isn't shattered if someone challenges a particular facet of the life of Jesus or has a different idea about what faith means to them. I'm open minded and curious about what other people think.

What makes MY particular faith less "whacked out" than the Phelps clan is that my faith is "inclusive" not exclusive.

My faith is based on Jesus saying to "Love one another as I have loved you." This includes people who are "my enemies" and it's a hard thing to do some days. His death was meant as an atonement for the sinfulness of others. You don't have to believe that, but it is a HUGE example in teaching people to accept forgiveness and leave their old ways behind and live a healthier life based on kindness and self sacrifice.

My faith is based on Jesus saying to "Do onto others as you would have them do onto you." THESE beliefs are incompatible with whack jobs like Phelps because they are doing onto others as they feel obligated to do by two lines written by some minor prophet in Old Testament (Leviticus) and a sense that "gay men" were what went wrong in Sodom and Gomorrah.

I KNOW different because I've studied the history and I've met enough gay people to know they have good hearts and some bozos in their midst, just like any other group.

My faith isn't whacked out because I'm in a church that works for "Peace and Justice" issues and has been since they were part of the movement against slavery. My church helps me live a solid and meaningful life by challenging me to think about things differently. It doesn't tell me "what to think" but it encourages me to rise above limiting behavior and do my best to live up to Christian ideals rather than take the easy way out and live only to please myself.