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Aug. 15, 2006 Christianity is generally considered to be a religion of love, understanding, mercy and grace. Usually this is true in regards to most people. However, the fact that Christianity started as a Jewish cult still has implications in our modern age. In fact, the unequivocal U.S. support of Israel can be directly traced to a common religious heritage between Jews and Christians. Jesus was a Jew and it may be surprising to learn that some Christians continue to believe that the Jews were responsible for his death. Why this should matter is not clear, but it does. In fact, this belief is one reason why Christians have persecuted Jews for 2000 years. For the most part Christians also believe that Jews are destined for hell while at the same time they are "God's chosen people." Since Jesus was a Jew Christians also believe that God used the Jews to provide salvation to the entire world, including Muslims. If this all seems confusing to you, that's because it is. One of the main contradictions, of course, is that Christians should actually be grateful to Jews for killing God because without this perfect sacrifice, according to Christian doctrine, there can be no salvation. Yet the animosity between Christians and Jews while at the same time trying to "save" them is schizophrenic at best. In the middle of this 2000 year old conflict come the Muslims. The main difference between these three religions can be seen in the way they have influenced the world from which they came. Christianity has spread around the globe regardless of ethnic, racial or geographic boundaries. Jews and Muslims, for the most part, are Semitic and very few Asians, Europeans or other races ever convert to either Judaism or Islam. The exception, of course, is Africa where many blacks came under the influence of Mohammed and Indonesia where many Southeast Asians converted. In spite of that, Judaism and Islam remain largely Semitic religions rooted deeply in Middle Eastern culture and society while Christianity is much more cosmopolitan and sophisticated. These facts alone should convince the reader of the dangerous folly inherent in the blind faith of religious fanatics. For 1000 years European Christians persecuted and killed both Jews and Muslims and now Jews and Muslims are killing each other forcing self-righteous American Christians to choose sides in these unholy religious wars. When will it end? Peace will only come when we, as a species, realize the danger of blind faith. When people believe irrational things, then their actions will also be irrational. People who sincerely believe that their religion is absolutely true and that they are the only ones going to heaven have little tolerance for reasonable discussion, let alone compromise. When people are taught that faith is worth fighting for, that is exactly what they will do. Obviously this belief system is anything but civilized. It's absolutely fatal. Faith and fact are not the same thing. Faith often overrides fact by appealing to the irrational fears of the followers. The result is a conditioned response completely separate from hard reality. It's also been called "brainwashing." The antidote to these superstitious myths is an unwavering pursuit of cold, hard evidence and a courageous defense of reality. This can also be called a devotion to truth. Truth is that which corresponds to fact or reality. Facts can be proven and reality can be experienced, so there are no excuses for believing things simply because it's how you were taught. Our entire human history has demonstrated over and over again that blind faith and irrational fears contribute to self-induced disasters. The only solution to war, hatred, fear, famine, disease and other suffering is truth. Therefore, accumulate knowledge, wisdom and understanding and they will lead you to truth. When the majority of people everywhere pursue truth and nothing but the truth, we will be able to completely eradicate the tyranny of ignorance that restricts our progress toward a higher plane of existence. Oblivion or paradise, the choice is entirely up to us. ------------ About the author: Keith Cantrell lives in a small town in Oregon where he was a fundamentalist, born-again, evangelical Christian for over 35 years. After many years of questioning and research he has finally become an agnostic. He has written a book entitled "The World's Most Dangerous Book" and it tells the history and origins of the Bible. It's the only book on the market that takes the Bible from cover to cover, Genesis to Revelation and explores who wrote it, where it came from and how it all got put together. It's the 21st century. Isn't it time you knew the truth about the Bible? This book is available at Barnes and Noble, Borders, Waldenbooks and Amazon.com. Read it and tell me what you think! After all, I could be wrong! Email: kwcantrell@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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