I have rebelled against "organized religion" even back before teen-age times, because...
(More from Emmet Fox's classic The Sermon on the Mount: The Key to Success in Life.)
"Glimpsing one tiny corner of the universe, and that with only half-opened eyes, and working from an exclusively anthropocentric and geocentric point of view, men built up absurd and very horrible fables about a limited and man-like God who conducted his universe very much as a rather ignorant and barbarous prince might conduct the affairs of a small Oriental kingdom.
All sorts of human weaknesses, such as vanity, fickleness, and spite, were attributed to this being.
Then a farfetched and very inconsistent legend was built up concerning original sin, vicarious blood atonement, infinite punishment for finite transgressions; and, in certain cases, an unutterably horrible doctrine of predestination to eternal torment, or eternal bliss, was added.
As Dr. Fox points out, "No such theory as this is taught in the Bible." But that's the message I got. You? Where'd that come from...?
What bugs me about that— and it's now a very small NOT really annoying little gnat— is that's one thing that kept me away & apart from having a "Spiritual Experience" until now. I SO fully & completely appreciate, "GOD as we understand Him." So much room FOR ME to play— develop & grow as a human-siritual being— there.
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Please, let me know what you think & feel in the Comments box...
Thanks.
I appreciate you!

John... I was raised in a Evangelical, Holy Roller, Preacher shouting church and who believed, as most religions did, that they were the only church! I was confused and as a child would go to church with a pen and paper hidden in my little purse so I could draw and imagine my life when I grew up and NOT having to listen to the preacher or all of the negative sinner, terrible people we all were born as and still were! I grew up in total fear, so did my parents. To make things more confusing, I was sent to Christian school, non-denominational and wondered why those children could do things I couldn't and still be good Christians! HA!
Our family left the church when I was 17 never to return to organized religion. That being said, I never lost faith in God because I always knew in my heart, even at age 4 that he was not like they portrayed Him to be. So I set out to be the kind of person I thought would make Him proud in my own way. End of that story...
My first venture with being spiritual (which is really what I had become in my heart without knowing it) was around 1990 when I accidentally ran across Deepak Chopra while surfing the TV channels for another show. I sat in awe of what he was saying and it resonated in me like nothing ever had. I thought he had read my mind!! Since that time I have listened to and become knowledgeable about being our own person and connecting with God on our own terms and not the terms of others.
I was once asked jokingly from a neighbor if I was an atheist because I didn't attend church... I told the person that I am closest to God in my garden and Nature where I believe he really is!!
It's great when we don't judge each other on how or why we find God but that we allow each other the room to believe the way we feel inside just as he allows us that free will!
Thanks for letting me share!
Posted by: Charlene Taylor Nitke | August 09, 2012 at 15:55
Well, after studying the Bible for many years, I can tell you that many of the things that religions attribute to the Bible are not found in it and not part of its teachings.
Most religions that make up Christendom dating back to the centuries after the Apostles died have been the Bible and God's worst "friends" and number one sponsor of agnosticism and atheism. Many things that have been said and done by religion in the name of God cannot be backed by the Bible. The churches say something that goes beyond what it written, people hear it and know in their heart that it does not sound right, but they link the source of what it said to the book they claim to represent. But this is not always the case.
Many things that are now considered "orthodox" Christian doctrine are nothing but pagan influenced, man made dogma. And while all of this was foretold thousands of years ago, it also was foretold that the truth would be there to find for those seeking to find it. And that those who are the true representatives of God's Kingdom would be known by their positive fruitage, primarily having love among themselves and living in harmony with God's commandments to the best of their abilities and doing so, not because they are compelled to do so or to get some reward, but because they have love for God and want to please Him.
Posted by: Jeremiah Charles | August 10, 2012 at 02:16