A Couple Interesting Points About Religion

[baggins]

i reconcile it thus:

i don't consider myself 'religious'. i don't perform a bunch of rituals and follow a bunch of rules in hopes that one day, when i die, i will have earned my way to a blissful eternity as opposed to a nasty torturous one.

instead, i claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ. I am not perfect, of course. but I don't follow blindly, either. I moved away from my faith and any church affiliation and involvement for a long time. and i ultimately came back to it.

i think Jesus came to do more than just offer us redemption for wicked hearts so that we can avoid eternal punishment if we just believe. I believe that God designed us a human beings in a certain way that our lives would be filled with joy and meaning and enrichment on many levels. and i believe that he laid out some pretty straightforward guidelines on how to best adapt our behaviors to maximize that joy and meaning and enrichment here in this life today. not just in some cloud-in-the-sky afterlife. i also believe that our hearts are created good, not fundamentally flawed. i believe that, in Theological terms, a discussion of the condition of the human heart (spiritually speaking) needs to examine that we were created in God's image BEFORE there was any sinful nature to us. we were created good. but god has his enemies, and the Thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. and we buy into the lies he feeds us.

i believe a lot more, but i am exhausted and will maybe post more tomorrow.