I've talked in earlier post about the fact that I was brought up void of any religious training what so ever, but I'm not ignorant of the stories of the Bible. I mean in this country how could you be? I'm also familiar with some text from the Bible. Leviticus is one. I've read this section because it is used against Gay people so often. Most of Leviticus seems to be a kind of cook book. Eat this, not that. Kind of a dietary rule book. I see the Bible as a whole as an early tool to pass information and rules of conduct from one generation to another. Don't kill, don't steal, there is safety in numbers ... no that's not it... oh yea, Be fruitful and multiply, etc. Also as collections of stories, more likely metaphors about our beginnings or moments of decisive change or natural disaster. I also understand that religion is the earliest manifestation of power with in the earliest social structures. But more importantly The Religions of Man are just that "of" Man. They are build by men with all the weakness and corruptions of men. Religions hierarchical organization and requirements of blind faith and subjugation make it inherently evil. The reason I bring this up is because I recently watched the movie Jesus Camp. Which brings me to the evil of any of Man's Religions. The Holy Warrior. It's the self-righteous beliefs of the warrior that makes him or her so dangerous. Want to make the movie Jesus Camp a lot scarier? Replace the White Evangelical children with Arab Muslim children and the words Jesus or Lord with Alla. When we look at any of the man-made religions we see a host of positive concepts. Love, Honesty, Charity (just toss it in the tray on your way out) are a few that they all share. And it makes for a much more peacful community. But far to often a radical fringe minority takes these messages and twist them into Hate, Corruption and division. It's fine for people to carry the positive beliefs of their religion in their hearts but to put your faith in an organized religion can be a dangerous game.
