Posted by
John Cord on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 10:31:04 AM
Bill O'Reilly's Christmas Crusade came to new life last week when he first reported about how Atheists setup a placard inside the Washington State Capitol to represent their beliefs. Governor Christine Gregoire approved for the placard to appear alongside the annual traditional symbols of a Christian nativity scene and a Jewish menorah. O'Reilly and other Christians are insulted and ticked-off, even calling the event an "Atheist Attack." Here we go again with Corporate Christianity playing victim over something that would be nothing had its churches and leaders taught the world to follow Jesus' Message of The Way of the Spirit of Selfless Love instead of separatist, fearful, superstitious, idolatrous, mystery-loving religion.
PART 1 OF THE ATHEIST'S PLACARD
At this season of the Winter Solstice may reason prevail.
Who would be offended by the desire for reason to prevail this season or any other season, except for minds enslaved to unreason?
The Bible's spiritual message—The Way of the Spirit of Selfless Love—is built upon reason and easily understood by minds set upon rational thinking. Those among Atheists who judge belief in God as "irrational" are themselves irrational by their belief in no God, as no definitive proof exists either way. If there was any such proof, no one would argue the matter. The next logical step is to understand the Bible's definition of "God." God is an invisible Spirit—the Spirit of Selfless Love, that lives and grows within all who produce the fruits of Selfless Love over selfishness.
PART 2 OF THE ATHEIST'S PLACARD
There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world.
The cornerstone teaching of Corporate Christianity is that only its members—the Christ-confessors—are guaranteed Heaven which means that, by default, everyone else is headed for hell, even though Jesus teaches otherwise. In Matthew 7:21, Jesus tells us: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. In short, not all Christ-confessors shall enter Heaven, but rather all who tread The Way of God's Spirit ('will of my Father'; Spirit of Selfless Love). Confessing in Jesus until our tongues fall out of our heads is meaningless if we live to produce the fruits of selfishness instead of Selfless Love. A tree is known by its fruit.
In Matthew 12:31-32, Jesus reveals: All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost (the denial of the Spirit of Selfless Love) shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man (referring to those who do not confess belief in Jesus, like Atheists and non-Christians), it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Here, Jesus makes it clear that denying Him is of no consequence in the lives of those who do not deny The Way of Selfless Love.
If not believing in Jesus is not a sentence to eternal damnation then neither is not believing in angels, heaven or hell. We are not known unto Christ by our religion or lack of, but by our devotion to personifying Spirit (Selfless Love) over anti-Spirit (selfishness). In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells us that He would rather we be heretics who pour out Selfless Love upon sufferers instead of priests and religionists who do not. His Message is clearly not about one's religion, but one's character alive in His Father's Spirit.
PART 3 OF THE ATHEIST'S PLACARD
Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.
This last part of the Atheist's placard is offensive because it is makes a judgment upon religionists that is not necessarily correct. The Atheist's need to change this sentence to read: Religion may produce myth and superstition that might harden hearts and enslave minds. Just because someone is religious does not mean they will fall prey to myth and superstition and even if they do it does not mean that they will not be beacons of the Light, pouring out the Spirit of Selfless Love.
Do not fear those who say the Bible is myth or insist it is the inerrant, literal word of God. It does not matter if its stories literally happened or not in the sense that even if we changed the character's names and set the stories in different cultures—and as long as the substantive meaning of the words were not changed—we would still have the same Message of The Way of the Good (God) Spirit.
The Way, Truth and Life of the God of the Bible is entirely about personifying Selfless Love over selfishness. Bible-believers insisting that The Way of God is something else are incorrect, as the One Way to Everlasting Peace comes by mutual companionship producing the fruits of Selfless Love. Crimes, divorces and wars are born of selfishness. If every Bible-believing Jew, Christian and Muslim followed just the First Commandment—to love God (Spirit of Selfless Love) before all else—then peace would reign among them.
John Cord is a non-Christian, independent scholar whose award-winning work proves how the Bible's message has nothing to do with one's religion but everything to do with one's character in the Spirit of Selfless Love. The great Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam have failed their God of Love by their greater love for religious separatism, superstition and mystery. John Cord's books and blogs deconstruct current religious fears.
To read the full article and comments, go to www.myspace.com/johncord2.