"I've found that even the Quaker faith, as unorganized as it is, is too organized for me. It's not that i don't enjoy a sense of community, quite the opposite -- I miss it terribly sometimes. It's just that any time we create an organized faith we leave people out. I've been on the outside looking in at times and it's no fun. And the idea that all people are welcome is bull shit. They're welcome as long as they adhere to the group's beliefs, otherwise their sinners, or heathens, or infidels. I find it very telling that the most influential people in history didn't adhere to group think. They were individuals.
This isn't a slam on any one religion or even religion as a whole. If it gives you comfort in a time of hardship, then I'm all for it. But the older I get the more I believe George Fox was right that God lives within each of us, all we have to do is listen. I just worry that with so much other noise going on around us that many times we can't hear God speaking. That's enough of that. As i told Dave, my new motto is all things in moderation.So, staying on religion but changing the subject to something even more controversial... do you ever think that Christianity has put so much emphasis on Jesus and Satan that we've turned it into a poly-deistic religion? I've been struck by the southern Baptists and other evangelical faiths that say "Jesus is Lord" or assert that Satan is roaming freely among us with almost god-like powers. There are other examples, such as Catholicism's elevation of Mary to almost deity status. Anytime you pray to someone, be it Jesus or Mary, doesn't that elevate them to deity status? If not, why not? I'm looking to you, Scott and Dave to set me straight. Or at least get me to think about things in a different way."
Peace
J
On Monday, April 18, 2005, at 08:53 PM, Bray, Jeremy W. wrote:
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