Seeing as how I have a very open, quite alternative, and admittedly somewhat fervent interpretation of the contents of the Bible, and seeing as how I therefore champion a God & a Jesus & a “Heaven” & a “Salvation” that are indeed VERY different from those championed by members of the traditional Christian church, more than a few folks have openly accused me more than a few times of being a “Christian basher” or a “basher” of Christianity itself.

Well, while the former couldn’t be further from the Truth, the latter is actually not that far off … You see, while I consciously & purposefully choose to adore ALL my fellow humans (and this, regardless of how intensely their particular religious beliefs happen to conflict with my own), I am also incredibly passionate about encouraging ALL of my brothers & sisters to live lives that are fully filled with the purest expressions of Justice & Compassion & Respect & Love … And because this is indeed the case, and because the entrenched dogmas of ALL the world’s religions tend to tempt those same brothers & sisters to believe in versions of God (and thereby live versions of life) that are unjust &/or callous &/or wrathful &/or petty, I have indeed been known to SEEMINGLY do some serious “religion bashing” in my day.

And it is important to note that I seemingly do so to ALL religions; that even though it might seem as though I “have it in” for Christianity because I mention it much more than all the other faiths combined, I do so NOT because I have a higher contempt for it. No, my Friends, I do so simply because I happen to have been raised in a primarily Christian community and simply because I happen to know quite a bit about the Bible that I wish to courageously share with others.

Simply stated, when it comes to religion (which I do often find to be a particularly dangerous force in the world), I am truly an equal-opportunity “basher” — Christianity just happens to currently find itself squarely in my “wheel house” … wink emoticon … Of course, such an aggressive boxing metaphor is not really at all accurate, for it is not out of hatred or even “self-defense” that I am often seemingly attacking the Bible (even though more than a few Christians have indeed verbally & spiritually & psychologically “attacked” me more than few times over the years). For in actuality I am not attacking Christianity at all — I am simply attempting to ILLUMINATE it …

… and I am doing so completely & fully from a place of LOVE.

That’s right, all you non-Christians out there, I am coming out right here & now to unequivocally & publicly profess my absolute ADORATION for the texts of the Bible, along with my absolute ADORATION for how Jesus Christ is portrayed in the Gospels therein … I have intensely studied the Bible’s texts for over ten years now — their finer nuances & their deeper meanings & their scintillating evolutions — and I have actively put thousands of different interpretations thereof radically to the test during that same period of time. And as I did so, I continually rediscovered more than few things that I sincerely believe could help Christians & non-Christians alike to live more Power-full, more Peace-full and thereby more Meaning-full lives … And so I decided some time ago to start openly sharing all that I have learned.

Now the traditional Christian interpretations of those same scriptures do indeed often directly contradict my findings, and so it might indeed seem that I am “bashing Christianity” when I share them. And yet it is important to realize that I am not actually “bashing” the Christian faith when I do so — as much as I am bashing the theological & dogmatic walls that are keeping so many goodhearted Christians (& non-Christians) from appreciating — and indeed from enlivening — those deeper Truths.

For if we are to ultimately survive as a species — if we are to one day become the Caring Stewards of the Earth that we were intended to become, then the walls that separate us will simply have to be torn asunder. And the degree to which any religion raises its particular followers up or casts the followers of other religions down is the degree to which it is acting as a massive wall keeping humanity from that ultimate Peace & Harmony.

Jesus was right when he told us that “The Truth will set us free” (John 8:32) … Of course, what he forget to remind us in that particular passage is that if the Truth is what sets us free, then all that binds us & all that separates us & all that divides us & all that walls us off from one another — is NOT the Truth!

I see religion’s walls, my Friends. I see them still rising strong & dark before us … And yet I also see that those walls are old & weak & cracked; that they are ready to be crashed & crumbled; that they are ready to open up before us; that they are ready to set us free.

Amen … Let it be so.

Filed under: My Favorite Verses by Scaughdt