I've got news for you, Melinda, God is made in the image of People. How's that for simplicity? And heresy, too. This idea is simple AND helpful. It clears everything up. Take a person, any person. Make that person God or godlike: you get instant fascism of all kinds, including kings, priests, white nationalists, MAGA, cults, gangs and so…
I've got news for you, Melinda, God is made in the image of People. How's that for simplicity? And heresy, too. This idea is simple AND helpful. It clears everything up. Take a person, any person. Make that person God or godlike: you get instant fascism of all kinds, including kings, priests, white nationalists, MAGA, cults, gangs and so on. All are based on erroneous definitions and false authority. That's why so much harm has been done in the name of religion, and why the founders insisted on keeping it out of government. We the People have got this, assuming truth remains the highest mandate, and lies the ultimate heresy. We let down our guard and now we have an Internatioinal Nazi movement to eliminate. It never should have happened in the first place. Lessons must be learned and relearned. It's just human. And the millions upon millions killed in 20th century wars were not sentenced to death by any god. Only man, and woman, can pull that off.
Thank you, James. That we shape God or gods according to what we can understand or want is certainly true. The deal with that Jesus figure, however, is that he challenges that tendency. He didn't engage in retribution or use force to take power or manipulate people. He blessed them. That instead of violence, he let himself be sacrificed is a mighty challenge to us self-protective humans.
A vast network of churches has been built on the 'Jesus figure', entirely political in nature and dependent upon the psyche. His story held out no deals concerning God. That idea is set in stone: God is the authority that permits 'retribution or force to take power or manipulate people' 'according to what we can understand or want'. God's mercy is just another myth, a false claim of salvation. Jesus may have blessed the people. He may have been a pacifist. He may have sacrificed himself or simply been murdered. But the imaginary authority vested in 'God' by people of all faiths is the root of all error, all evil. I say this from the political perspective, not the psychological perspective, which is the proper province of all religion. Authority is vested in the people, exclusively. We make of it what we will.
I've got news for you, Melinda, God is made in the image of People. How's that for simplicity? And heresy, too. This idea is simple AND helpful. It clears everything up. Take a person, any person. Make that person God or godlike: you get instant fascism of all kinds, including kings, priests, white nationalists, MAGA, cults, gangs and so on. All are based on erroneous definitions and false authority. That's why so much harm has been done in the name of religion, and why the founders insisted on keeping it out of government. We the People have got this, assuming truth remains the highest mandate, and lies the ultimate heresy. We let down our guard and now we have an Internatioinal Nazi movement to eliminate. It never should have happened in the first place. Lessons must be learned and relearned. It's just human. And the millions upon millions killed in 20th century wars were not sentenced to death by any god. Only man, and woman, can pull that off.
Thank you, James. That we shape God or gods according to what we can understand or want is certainly true. The deal with that Jesus figure, however, is that he challenges that tendency. He didn't engage in retribution or use force to take power or manipulate people. He blessed them. That instead of violence, he let himself be sacrificed is a mighty challenge to us self-protective humans.
A vast network of churches has been built on the 'Jesus figure', entirely political in nature and dependent upon the psyche. His story held out no deals concerning God. That idea is set in stone: God is the authority that permits 'retribution or force to take power or manipulate people' 'according to what we can understand or want'. God's mercy is just another myth, a false claim of salvation. Jesus may have blessed the people. He may have been a pacifist. He may have sacrificed himself or simply been murdered. But the imaginary authority vested in 'God' by people of all faiths is the root of all error, all evil. I say this from the political perspective, not the psychological perspective, which is the proper province of all religion. Authority is vested in the people, exclusively. We make of it what we will.