I post a lot of apparently "anti-chrisitian" stuff on my Facebook page and I get a lot of different opinions about the stuff I post.
But I'm often a little ambiguous and leave a lot of wiggle room for those who have a firm belief in the "work of Jesus", and for those who have completely ditched the foundational beliefs.
I interact with a lot of "fundies" as well as liberals and atheists. I understand the need for religion. I've studied all the doctrines and know all the standard doctrinal and theological answers and all their variations.
I confuse a lot of people, for one simple reason - I refuse to fit into a box. Many think I've become atheist, or at least agnostic.
I will not be defined by any label, let alone a dogma. One thing I've learned above anything else is the absolutely essential need to ditch certainty, dogma, tradition, biases and subjectivity.
Exploration, uncertainty, questioning, re-evaluating, learning, challenging, "embracing the journey"... these are the things that truly make us humble and loving. When we realise that the only thing we know for sure is here and now, and that anything beyond that is conjecture, we begin to embrace the depth of life as it is.
Our life right now is all that matters, and when we live that with every ounce of integrity we can muster, then we can ask no more of ourselves. Whatever we may believe about the future and even eternity, is nothing more than an act of faith. It may help us bring love and life to the here and now, or it may not. Religion in all it's forms tends to bring death, separation, exclusion, division, bigotry and dogma.
For me to say I'm anti-religion is probably more accurate, but even then, many christians will agree without really understanding what I mean. Just for the record, I include ALL religious belief systems at their foundational level. I believe christianity, islam, whatever... are all reflections of the same human desire for certainty and control. They appeal to that part of us that wants to be exclusive - to believe that we have the truth and are better than others. Even the most caring christians I know still, at their core, believe they have the only truth and the rest of the world is doomed if they don't believe the same thing.
Religion, in any form, has proven to be the worst thing that the world has embraced. And yet we still persist in the vain hope that OUR religion will change the world for the better.
Ultimately, if your beliefs bring love, unity, compassion and empathy to the world, then go for it. But don't claim them to be the ultimate truth. Likewise, if your beliefs bring division, bigotry, hate, intolerance in any form to the world, then you desperately need to question them.
What do I believe?
As I've always said, no matter what - live loved. Theology and doctrines are interesting but nothing more than hot air. If you don't live in a state of being and giving love, then you are part of the problem no matter what you believe.
No apologies needed!
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