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I have always imagined that Paradise would be a kind of library.
Jorge Luis Borges

So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?
Saint John, Letter to Galatians 4:16

Freedom of Religion - Freedom from Religion - Freedom of Public Display of Religion and Traditions

We establish no religion in this country, nor will we ever. We command no worship. We mandate no belief. But we poison our society when we remove its theological underpinnings. We court corruption when we leave it bereft of belief. All are free to believe or not believe; all are free to practice a faith or not. But those who believe must be free to speak of and act on their belief.
--
Ronald Reagan (Temple Hillel Speech, 1984)

Friday, February 21, 2014

Deification of Jesus the Christ

This essay is not intended to denounce the divine purpose or the holiness of intent of Jesus of Nazareth, called the Christ. It is to segregate facts and intentions as gleaned from the quoted words of Jesus that has been interpreted and reinterpreted from the days of the apostles to the founding of the Church as a religious organization intended to replace the established synagogue of the Hebrews called Jews who have been named in the Old Testament as the Children of God, God's chosen people. Jesus was a Jew whose mission was to reform, renew, and do away with the old ways of sacrifice of the lamb in the name of God. He never intended to replace God, which he referred to as the Father nor do away with traditions like Passover that had been established by ancient holy men.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Homosexuality: Theological and Civic Issues

In the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, homosexuality is addressed and not accepted as practices, but instead unnatural sin. Examples of presentation is that homosexuality does not occur in nature, nor is it acceptable to God, despite not being part of the Ten Commandments.
OLD TESTAMENT
The first mention of homosexuality is in the Book of Genesis 18:16-19:29 that details an encounter of the people of Sodom, specifically in Genesis 19:4-13
Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; and they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them." But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, and said, "Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof." But they said, "Stand aside." Furthermore, they said, "This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them." So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway. Then the men said to Lot, "Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it." [wording is EMTV and not original King James version, but source link is directed to the KJV]