Freethought
Engage the brain and think freely
By Troy Wittefreethinker n. A person who forms opinions about religion on the basis of reason, independently of tradition, authority, or established belief.
Go directly to the Freethought Zone or...
-- if your faith can take it --
read on...Christian but Religious Illiterate
If you're a Christian and have been most of your life, chances are very good that you have never read any material that could present arguments counter to your faith. Believers tend to be afraid that their faith won't withstand the arguments non-believers have against the Christian religion. This is why they are notoriously horrible defenders of their faith and typically get on the defensive with terse conversation-enders like "I know what I know, and that's it."
It's much more difficult to convince someone of a position when you don't know both sides. It's even harder when it's obvious your belief is based on a very shallow understanding. But this is common of God's followers. Most have been brainwashed that looking at the other viewpoint is like looking Lucifer in the face. They are masterfully hoodwinked by their church leaders and decieved so that they can be controlled, kept within the fold, forever in a state of fear of anything that might enlighten them.
While this is NOT a country founded on God and the Christian religion [1], we do live in a Christian culture. It's easy to label yourself a "Christian" and go with the flow. Why rock the boat? Why offend Grandma and Grandpa when you can just buy into the lies, the fairy tale and live in denial of the facts? Why pull the rug out from under your tranquil state of belief? If there was ANY chance that your belief in God and Christ had as much factual validity behind it as a belief in dragons and mermaids, would you want to go on without looking into it further? Few people indoctrinated into the Christian mindset have allowed themselves to study material outside their own church library. It's never even occurred to most to study information counter to their faith.
Christians Who Don't Know the Bible
But even more amazing than Christians not looking at those ideas that are counter to their religion is that relatively few are even aware of what is in the very book, the Bible, which supposedly they base their faith upon.
"Four out of five Americans believe the Bible is the inspired word of God. Eight out of ten say they are Christian, but only four in ten know that Jesus, according to the bible, delivered the Sermon on the Mount. Fewer than half of all adults can name Mathew, Mark, Luke and John as the four Gospels of the New Testament, while many do not know that Jesus had twelve disciples or that he was born in Bethlehem. A large majority of Americans believe that the Ten Commandments are still valid rules for living today, but they have a tough time recalling exactly what those rules are."[2] And, it's even more likely that they have no knowledge about who the Ten Commandments were given to -- after Moses got his hands on them -- and that they are a part of the Mosaic law and what the Mosaic law even was.
But even if you know all of the things listed above, it's a sure bet there's a significant amount about the Bible that agnostics and atheists could bring to your attention, that's if you're an average Christian. If you're a religious studies graduate from a major university, pastoring a church or in a position of influence at your church, you probably know all the horrifying realities around the Bible and the Christian faith, but don't have the courage to confess it to your underlings.
Ask Your Pastor, the Bible Scholar, to ConfessWilliam Edelen, in his article, "The Sin of Silence," discusses an amazing and pathetic reality:
Those graduating in religious studies from every major university in America, as well as every major theological seminary that is independent of Christian financial pressure, know certain facts to be true.
- The entire bible is saturated with common mythological themes, from the creation and flood myth to virgin birth and resurrected hero mythology.
- The stories of the patriarchs in the Old Testament are known as 'temple legends' to enhance the history of the Hebrew people and are mostly fictional.
- The gospels were not written by anyone who knew Jesus personally.
- The 'Christ' myths and formulas are direct copies of Zoroastrian myths adopted by the Jesus sect.
- These facts, with others, have been known for years, and taught by internationally respected scholars from major universities world wide."
Religiously educated clergy, through the sin of omission and silence, yet continue to promote superstition.
I lost count of the ministerial colleagues, in both the Presbyterian and Congregational churches, who said to me: "For God's sake, Edelen ... forget what you learned in seminary ... just play the game ... you get big churches that way." [3]
If you have the courage to respectfully stand up to your pastor, priest or minister; ask them if they could help you reconcile some of the above facts with what they have been teaching you in the name of honesty and truth.
Escape the Brainwashing Room
Consider freeing yourself from the mental shackles of organized religion and Christianity by taking that important step towards discovering what's outside the world of dogma and religious mantra. If you haven't done so, it's time to learn what freethought, secular humanism, agnosticism and atheism are all about. Why?
Only If Your Faith Can Take ItTrust me, if you have an open mind and really look into this stuff, you will be surprised to find out some shocking facts about Christianity. If you are saying to yourself, "I know they don't believe in God and that's all I need to know," I would beg and plead with you to listen to what you are saying. If you haven't read material by an agnostic or atheist or studied why they believe as they do, then you are blindly following your church. And if your faith is so strong, why are you afraid? Would you not just be better prepared to defend your faith if you know what the arguments are against it?
Don't be fooled. There are rational, logical, MORAL reasons why some have an issue with Christianity and organized religion. Do yourself a favor and seriously check it out.
Rather than duplicate what's already been done well, here is a link to the Freethought Zone. This is an excellent, concise web site to get quick access to the more important elements of freethought. Also, check out the links at the bottom of the Zone's home page to other related sites. This is a very well-designed resource of information.
Unless you want to maintain your state of denial, I urge you to check these resources out.
Troy Witte
[1] Is America s a Christian Nation? Freedom from Religion Foundation, Nontract#6[2] "The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You To Read," p.11, R.I.P. Religious Illiteracy, Source: The People's Religion: George Gallup & Jem Castelli, Macmillan Publishing CO. 1989.
[3] "The Sin of Silence," William Edelen.
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