From the frying pan into the fire

[Ken King]

Typically I stay detached from most of the religious discussions because it is one thing I believe that should be private and left to the individual to decide for themselves. Yeah, I know, why am talking about it then? Besides it being a characteristic of my opinionated self I find for unknown reasons that something has crept into my head and is driving me to voice my opinion on the matter. It could be the continued damnation of gays or that absurd ruling by the judge that barred a child’s parents from practicing Wicca or maybe I am being influenced by a power greater than myself to sound off on the matter. Who knows what caused it, all I know is that it is an abnormally strong source of motivation.

Just to make sure I am clear, as I suspect that I might offend a few of you, I’m not writing this to pick on, denigrate, to make light of what it is they believe or to tell anyone that they are right or wrong. You are free to believe anything you want on the matter. This is just how I feel and a small synopsis of what I believe.

To kick this off I will say that my own beliefs are such that I am probably not viewed as a Christian by those that find the need to classify others even though I try to live and believe in principals that are certainly Christian (not to mention that I consider myself Christian). It matters not to me if I am called a pagan or non-believer by many of you because I find myself in great company amongst other believing people of the world. I just don’t see it exactly the same as what some consider the “Christian way” and just because some don’t believe what I do doesn’t mean that they won’t get into Heaven.

I think the essence of being acceptable to Heaven is not in how or what you are taught but in how you live and act. My observation during my life has shown me that many Christians are most definitely not Christian by their actions. They don’t practice what the have been taught, use only fragments of the teachings to support their view while ignoring parts of religious laws that don’t quite fit their needs, and most specifically that they have no qualm about damning others that don’t think of like mind. To me this is all anti-Christian behavior from what I absorbed when it was taught to me and what I believe as my knowledge grows.

Rereading the books of Luke and Matthew (specifically Luke 6 and Matthew 5) you come across the “Golden Rule” and the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. These are profound in my mind in stipulating that it is what one does that determines his acceptance into Heaven and not merely what one claims to believe. It is my belief that if you live your life as a good person you will be accepted into Heaven based on that and that alone. That it is up to God to determine who enters and we mere mortals in no way can know what decision is held for any of us. If you think I am wrong fine, I have no problem with that and will think no less of you. If you think I will be damned for my beliefs all I can say is only time will tell and if I do end up in Heaven (as I think I will) I hope it will be an inclusive Heaven where God loves all his creations and not simply those that are of one mind that seem to think Heaven is exclusive.

Now shifting gears I want to jump to the Wicca discussions found on the site (as well as elsewhere) and speak to those comments that cry out that “America was founded for religious freedom”. If that is what you really believe, then fine. But I will ask you if you have you ever read the following phrase. When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. I suspect that many of you might recognize it and as such I ask if you care to speak more as to why the United States was founded? If you do then we can continue with the remainder of the above text and address our Declaration of Independence at length. It does a superb job of explaining why it is we chose to be free from Great Britain and their king.

The Wicca, as I understand them, are simply worshippers of nature and there are court decisions that give them status as a religion. And along with this religion you will find that there are many people that worship a God, the son of God, many Gods, there are some that worship nothing at all, then there are those that fall anywhere along the expanse of these differences, and I am sure that there are some that have beliefs consisting of combinations of these ideologies. The point is that we all aren’t the same and none of us can say our way is the only way or if any one way is right or wrong. It’s up to us as free-thinking individuals to decide that and we not only deserve but demand the freedom to do so.

I guess all that I am really saying is that because some are intolerant of differences in religions, lifestyles or beliefs that they consider counter to what they hold as the truth does not make their beliefs the truth. Our nation does give us the freedom to choose what we believe as to religious matters and as such feel free to believe what you want. In the end we each will face our judgment day in our own time and way. I suspect that we will be held to answer for what we have done, how we have lived and not on what we believe is the righteous path into God’s Kingdom.

[willie]

Amen

[Hello6]

Well said.

[Tonio]

Great column, Ken. I agree with almost all of what you said. I'm glad to read that someone besides myself believes that religious faith is a very personal thing.

Only one caveat--I don't believe the Declaration's references to Nature's God and the Creator should be interpreted to mean that America should be a "Christian nation." Nor should those references require preferential treatment for Christianity from the federal government or any state or local government.

[vraiblonde]

Allll...how kyooot! Ken's okay, we're okay



Personally I'm sick of all these weird made up religions and I refuse to give them credence. A true religion has a scripture and a divine figurehead. Wicca has neither and therefore isn't a religion - it's merely a club of hippie tree huggers.

Granted, they're not hurting anyone so who cares, but just because some court decided that they are a religion doesn't make them one. Some court also decided that partial birth abortion wasn't murder. Some judge derided a 12 year old girl because she was raped by an online predator - remember? "It takes two to tango"? I don't look to the judicial system to tell me what's right and what's wrong because most of the judges in this country have their head up their ass.

That said, mere mortals do not get to decide who goes to Heaven and who doesn't and anyone who tells you different is an idiot. And all these folks running around pretending they have the Golden List in their hand are full of crap. The Bible is pretty clear about those who try to play God and what will happen to them in the end.

By Biblical standards, King David should have burned in hell for his sins, but he didn't - he was chosen by God to lead. So at the end of the day, you just never know who's getting in the pearly gates and who's going to roast, and it's fruitless to try and guess.

So you're only part right - people should mind their business and quit slapping God in the face and trying to do His job. But made up crap is NOT religion.

[Triggerfish]

Originally Posted by Tonio

Only one caveat--I don't believe the Declaration's references to Nature's God and the Creator should be interpreted to mean that America should be a "Christian nation." Nor should those references require preferential treatment for Christianity from the federal government or any state or local government.

I'd like to add something to this. Not all the founding fathers were Christians. Many like Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were Deists. Would they have wanted the U.S. to have "religious freedom" just for Christians?

[Bustem' Down]

Originally Posted by vraiblonde

Personally I'm sick of all these weird made up religions and I refuse to give them credence. A true religion has a scripture and a divine figurehead. Wicca has neither and therefore isn't a religion - it's merely a club of hippie tree huggers.

I'm sure that the jews thought the same thing about Christians in the first century AD also. Only time will tell.

[Tonio]

Originally Posted by vraiblonde

Personally I'm sick of all these weird made up religions and I refuse to give them credence. A true religion has a scripture and a divine figurehead. Wicca has neither and therefore isn't a religion - it's merely a club of hippie tree huggers.

To be fair, I could make up a religion that would meet your criteria. I could spend a weekend writing a rambling 250,000-word holy book and install myself as the divine figurehead. That's what L. Ron Hubbard did.

[willie]

Originally Posted by vraiblonde

Allll...how kyooot! Ken's okay, we're okay



That said, mere mortals do not get to decide who goes to Heaven and who doesn't and anyone who tells you different is an idiot.

That's a better word than arrogant.

[Ken King]

Originally Posted by Tonio

Only one caveat--I don't believe the Declaration's references to Nature's God and the Creator should be interpreted to mean that America should be a "Christian nation." Nor should those references require preferential treatment for Christianity from the federal government or any state or local government.

Tonio, I wasn't saying that we were founded as a Christian Nation, but that if one actually read the Declaration they would see why it is we came to be and it wasn't simply for religious freedom.