I was raised in an ultra Christian household with parents who felt that all other religions had it all wrong. It was only through Jesus that you would be saved and ultimately go to heaven. And being a devout church attendee I never questioned their views, they just simply became my own. It was a long time before I started to notice, let say late teens, that this religion was not working for me. And when I attended college it became clear to me just how closed minded the people of this faith are.
So, what about the millions of people who have spent a lifetime adhering to the beliefs and practices of their religion. Buddhist, Muslims, Taoist to name a few. Is it impossible to comprehend that God would condemn these people to eternal damnation because they do not acknowledge Jesus as the savior? What kind of God would allow such an atrocity?
And what about the central work of the Christian faith? The Bible and in particular the Old Testament. Many of the stories are excellent literary works that make for a very interesting read. The tales are exciting and often times amusing, but if you are a Christian you take this book as fact and directly from God. But how can people blindly believe such fictional accounts. Don't all religions have similar stories? I believe nearly every major religion incorporates such tales into their history and the interesting detail here is that many of the stories are strikingly similar to those in the Bible. Several religions talk about floods, magnificent after lives, fiery purgatories etc. I just have difficulty believing that their version is the correct one and the others are incorrect.
I can't be the only one that noticed the magnetism of this religion to freaks and assorted social outcasts. From my own personal experience, I can recall a plethora of whacko that I come in contact with who has essential roles in local churches. It just seems that such an all-powerful religion would attract some normal people; there are just too many oddballs in that faith.
I will end here for tonight because I believe this post is starting reflect how angry this topic can make me and I want to begin a more upbeat and postive article for later.