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July 17, 2006 My wife, Kathy, is one of my strongest critics and she is the one who cautions me to stick to the facts and to be careful about getting off track. Even though I am agnostic, she retains her strong faith in God. She has modified her belief and specific doctrines over the years but she has never lost her faith in God. So, needless to say, when I began questioning my belief in God she became alarmed. She was worried that I would completely change and become a different person full of anger, hatred and bitterness. And at first, she was right. When I began my search I did feel a sense of bitterness at being taught things that simply were not true. I felt betrayed by my teachers and pastors and other adult leaders of my youth. Only later did I realize that they were sincerely teaching me what they really believed to be the truth. They may have been naive or gullible but they were not intentionally leading me astray. This realization helped me come to terms with the real nature of my search. I wanted to find the real truth, not seek vengeance on false teachers. If I could somehow save others from wasting time and energy on things that were simply not true, it might go a long way toward making this world a better place because then more people will be able to spend that energy on things that really matter. But to get back to my wife, she made it clear that the best way to get people to change is through love. When I heard that I quickly reassured her that I felt no animosity toward anyone. She was emphatic that the message of love was not getting through. She reminded me that people don't care what you know until they know that you care. This is true. So, I'm going to try to emphasize love and understanding over anger and rejection. This will be hard because our natural human tendency is to be harsh and critical towards those who disagree with us. This attitude, of course, is fatal. It can kill serious and sincere inquiry and any meaningful discussion quickly gets lost in the clash of negative emotions. In the spirit of love, respect and understanding I hope to emphasize the positive aspects of our mutual search for sovereign truth. Furthermore, I welcome constructive criticism from anyone who truly senses an attitude of arrogance, intolerance or anger in the words I write. I will sincerely try my best to pursue truth with the highest possible level of respect and tolerance for opposing viewpoints. What I won't tolerate, however, is someone attacking my character simply because they don't like what I'm saying because that is the epitome of disrespect. The only way truth can be discovered is in an environment of love, understanding and mutual respect. This allows both sides to benefit from the hard work that goes into eradicating ignorance and developing an evolutionary advancement of knowledge. Then everyone will be able to equally experience any shift in paradigm that enhances our understanding of our place in the universe. In the long run our survival as a species depends on it and I have my wife to thank for altering my perception of the role of love and understanding in my search. I love you, Kathy. ------------ 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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