Your Being Here - The questions at the heart of the wars between fundamentalism and modernity.

[tinmar]

1. Growing Up with Hellfire and Brimstone

"Growing Up with Hellfire and Brimstone," it took me many years to arrive at Christian Deism. In my current writings, I explain that It is impossible to be anti-Christian if you look at the definition of Christian in the Merriam -Webster dictionary. "1a: one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus." Jesus taught that we should honor the Creator and follow the Golden Rule. In my view, Jesus arrived at this conclusion through the use of reason. We observe nature's common blueprint and understand the oneness of the Creator. We conclude since all of us have been created by the same first cause, we should respect all of our fellow human beings especially the poor. When we make personal attacks on others, we are dehumanizing them to make ourselves feel superior. We need to make it clear that we accept all people as fellow human beings; but, we can disagree with their conclusions or opinions. There is a huge difference between the words, Christian and Christianity. Christianity, especially since the fourth century, has developed creeds, doctrines, traditions, rituals, myths and superstitions which have become meaningless to me. We all can act morally by the use of reason alone.