Medicine Woman said:
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M*W: I don't claim to be an "expert" on drug dealers in church. That is not something I would want to be associated with. However, studies have been done on the Texas prison system and its lack of rehabilitation of drug dealers/users. I don't know what the prison system is like in your state, but in Texas, religion and religious paraphanelia (bibles) are readily available for inmates. There is much organization of religious groups on the inside. What else do they have to do to make the time go by faster. It's a joke in Texas prisons. Everyone has a bible given to him/her, and they read it religiously, but there is a big barrel drum trash can right outside the exit door, and as soon as they step foot out that door, the bible goes into the trash. It's been photographed and videotaped showing how the inmates toss it when they get out. There may be a slight percentage of inmates who want to go straight, and churches on the outside may offer them the strength they need to stay clean, but that's a very small percentage.
We have every reason to fear religion, especially in the wrong hands. This is an example of bad religion. The Bible says that 5 out of 10 COMMITTED Christians will be left behind. Being religious is one thing, having faith is another. You have given an example of people using religion as a means to an end. This is not news to anyone, but merely shows the wayward heart of mankind to survive with the least amount of pain possible, at whatever cost. I disagree with Texas, Christianity is not something to be shoved down the throat or used as a get out of jail card. It should be made available, but not given to everyone. What a waste of time and money!
Medicine Woman said:
M*W: Don't be saddened on my account. I have experienced God, and I have experienced religious organization and fellowship. Once I was the pillar of my religious organization, so I've seen both sides, and I am happier in my knowledge now. Religious life is phony. God is phony. Fellowship is phony. All those truths I believed on faith to be true were phony. I think my church just wanted to see how long it could pull the wool over our eyes. I still have friends from my xian days, and they are still going through all those phony motions! I don't see where the church helped them through divorce or set their children on the right paths. They're much older now as am I, but they are still clinging to their faith that god will take care of everything. They still don't understand that there is no god to help them. It's as if they're all still waiting.
Medicine woman, you speak of the stained glass masquerade.
"...everbody seems so strong, I know they'll soon discover that I don't belong. So I tuck it all away, like everything's okay. If I make them all believe it, maybe i'll believe it too. So with a painted grin, I play the part again. So everyone will see me the way that I see them. Are we happy plastic people under shiny plastic steeples? With walls around our weakness and smiles to hide our pain. But, if the invitation's open to every heart that has been broken, maybe then we close the curtain on our stained glass masquerade."
Religion is a masquerade and is phony. I get sick to my stomach when I hear my pastor, but especially the pastor's wife talk sometimes. It's not real.
There is only God's truth, and everything else is commentary contributing to the disscusion.
You say you experienced God, but you know that you didn't because you know there is no God. So, how could you have experienced God in the first place? If you truly did, I don't think you would be saying that there is no God. I say this from my own perspective. I hang on a strand with my faith, but I will always leave the door open for God to surprise me and prove my doubts wrong. No one inspires me to believe more than those who became Christians later in life. I continue my race because I have experienced God in a real way that I could see his handiwork. If I had not experienced God in this way, I would be like you and say God does not exist and that the Bible is nothing more than a story.
Medicine Woman said:
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M*W: You know as well as I do that no god or any other "being," except for maybe a bird, will come down from the clouds. That "holy fire" you say that will burn me is nothing more than the heat of the sun -- the first god. That I can understand. That's where your god came from -- the sun. I don't fear the sun, I respect it, but it doesn't make me believe in a god. But to answer your question, if I did happen to see a god coming down from the clouds, I would hope someone in my family, or anyone for that matter, would call 911 and take me to a mental hospital, because that's where I'd belong. So, experiencing "god" does NOT make one believe. It was your god who made me realize it was all a farce.
No, I at least do not presume, so finitely, to know the laws of the universe to say for sure if any being will perform such an act in the future. So, I cannot say for sure what the future holds. By the way, if anything, I would be called a Christian, but I say that I am not one. But, you cannot say that the Christian faith stems from, or is that of the illuminatae religion. Christianity stems from the Jewish faith
You answered my question, and you say you would belong in a hospital, so answer is yes then? If you knew that you saw God to the point of delusion, and were told by others you belong in a hospital. In your mind, would you believe that you saw what you saw?
The point is that seeing is believing, regardless of if it is reality.