Dennis On: "The Lost Art of Saying "I don't agree""

"Let Every Man Be Persuaded In His Own Mind"

The Lost Art of Saying "I don't agree"

"Be sure to choose what you believe and know why you believe it, because if you don't choose your beliefs, you may be certain that some belief, and probably not a very creditable one, will choose you."      Robertson Davies,'The Deptford Trilogy ' (p477).

Early in life, people believe what they have been told and taught to believe by those who have been also so taught before them. For better or worse, most humans on the planet still believe what others have taught them from the beginning as if, by chance, they just happened to luck out and end up being born into a family that absolutely had the final truth on most topics already understood. Of course we know this is not really likely.

But humans are mostly content not to look out and wonder if what they have been told is really true. Most humans, it seems, are not so much interested in truths as they are with comfortable beliefs. Comfortable beliefs don't really have to be true, but they are satisfying as long as one does not think too deeply about them or question the facts or their presentation.

Truth on the other hand can be very uncomfortable and yet while true, pushes the person away from that set of beliefs they were given at birth and expected to abide by. This causes no end of drama, as those who are content with beliefs, do all they can to punish and coerce those who opt for truth over belief.

One of the pitfalls of sitting in just about any congregation of the Churches of God is the phenomenon of an entire congregation seeming to be in 100% agreement with what the minister is teaching and saying every week.  Of course, this is an impossibility in real life, but sometimes the COG experience does not take place in real life.  It can be somewhat surreal at times.  This is particularly true in RCG, PKG and PCG with assorting smatterings in UCG and LCG.  It is emotionally and literally impossible for any group to "all speak the same thing."  Truth or even beliefs simply do not work like that and are filtered differently by each and every member and minister.  All speaking the same thing usually means being in compliance with the ministers view of the world, who he thinks he is and where in the world of prophecy we are now.  Crazy stuff!  

They may over talk to them about how wrong they are, or not speak to them again to punish them for straying outside the tribal beliefs. In some pathetic cultures, they simply kill you and solve the problem of you're influencing others to rethink their own beliefs, given by the tribe. It is not nice to fool Mother Nature, but it is even worse to buck the tribal beliefs and wonder if maybe you have not been told everything.

Today we see that discomfort over beliefs vs. truths in the rancorous debates over evolution vs. creationism. While the facts of evolution are generally true, details to follow, creationism is falling quickly out of favor as the explanation of how life and mostly humans came to be on this planet. The people who defend creationism do so to defend their belief on how God did or didn't do something. Their belief is based on an ancient text. It is also based on the absolute need to defend the inerrancy of the text and reality of God as we have been taught "him" to be in Sunday School.

Science defends evolution based on evidence that there might be more to life than what is contained in ancient texts. They don't claim to understand it, but are willing to step outside a box that creationists aren't, because there is so much evidence that contradicts the Biblical account.

Now creationists are endeavoring to defend the text as being good science, but it simply can't be done anymore. Showing animals in Old Testament stories spotted and stripped poles before birthing so that they produce spotted or striped offspring is something even they will have to admit is not how it works. That's really bad science on the part of the Bible, but made perfect sense to them three thousand years ago. Modern genetics really is the answer to really bad biblical "science."

Other beliefs, based on biblical texts are falling out of favor due to overwhelming evidence that contradicts them. Most honest pastors and theologians know that the birth stories of Jesus are not literally true. Most know, the story of Jesus is not all that unique in human history and the archetype of a dying God/man, persecuted, crucified, dead three days and risen again is not a once told story of Jesus.

Most recognize that the Old Testament did not spring out of vacuum, but rather out of the pagan cultures and Egyptian influences that proceeded it. Most who take the time, realize the concept of God evolves even in the Old Testament right on through the New. The simple Christian, "loving father God" of today is not how it all began. Today we have a difficult time thinking an all knowing, all caring, all forgiving, all everything God would define himself as a "jealous God" who punishes generations of people for the sins of their great great grandfathers. Although literalist Christians are very comfortable with that because, "God says, I believe it, that settles it for me." Whatever is not comfortable to even a literalist is dismissed as your not really understanding the text, or that God, while jealous, is all the other good stuff too. I think if I hear, "for the wisdom of man is foolishness with God", "My ways are not your ways", or "God does not see as a man sees", one more time as a way to bale the literalist out of a pinch, I shall scream :)

With just a bit of time today researching a favorite topic on the Internet, one can find that there is much much more to the story, the facts and the implications of a topic than what they simply had passed on to them from mom and dad who got it from their mom and dad, who got it from ....

Many today are coming to realize that the entire drama played out in the New Testament as the literalized story of Jesus was first played out in the heavens and still is today as the earth rotates around it's axis and around the sun. The rising and setting of the Sun of God in the heavens, which is literally the "light of the world" and literally as the sun, delivers us from darkness, and "in which is no variableness nor shadow of turning" is a type that literalists christians will someday have to come to terms with. It is no coincidence that when Jesus is said to have been born of a virgin on December 25th, at the end of the three darkest days of the year, Virgo, the Virgin precedes the sun rise and thus literally "the Virgin brings forth the Sun."

It is no coincidence that the Lamb is "crossified" in April when the Sun is in Aries,the Lamb, at the junction of the celestial equator and the sun's path across the heavens at the spring equinox (equal night). Humans have seen this story acted out for thousands of years. The entire circle of the zodiac, and the path the Sun/Son takes through it, tells the identical story of the life and death of Jesus and every other God/man in all cultures. The names have been changed to protect the innocent when it comes right down to it.

It has only been since the corporate and literalist church and church fathers demanded the allegory be believed as literal history upon pain of death that all the conflict and heartache of religion began. Taking an allegory and making it literally true is why the Bible seems to have so many problems and is not the harmonious piece of work that the Church would have one to believe. Many of them know it is not, but won't tell you because it does not keep the system alive if people think for themselves.

It is not to a literalist church's advantage for you to realize that a real God does not require you to go through anyone and certainly does not need you to show up at a specific building at a specific time where you learn specific and contradictory truths from the one true minister, and lose about ten percent of your annual income to boot. That's religion.

True spirituality is an inside job. What we see today in literalized Christianity is crowd control and a demand that people stay put in the box and reject any contrary facts in the name of Faith. Faith is what is demanded when the facts start to scare the powers that be. In truth, Paganism = truth when one understands Christian origins. The Christians met the pagans, and in spite of appearances, the pagans won.

So, back to original point.

Most of us had our truths pre selected for us and we simply were expected to carry on the traditions. But we live in a world where information is much more available to show that most likely we have not all been told the truth of many things. Frankly, most won't even bother to look outside their given truths. I know that. Some will look and in horror at being wrong, will retreat back to where it is safe and comfy. Some will be intimidated for a time to not look, though they want to.

Some ministers today are forced to warn their parishioners NOT to go on the Internet and research the real background of their church, religion or sacred story. Whatever you do, don't use the search words "Jesus mythology", or "pagan Christian origins", or "Astrotheology", "Errancy", "contradictions Bible" or a host of other words combined in such a way as to open your mind and infuriate everyone else who does not want you to learn one bit more than the guy, and it's mostly guys, who is the provider of his truth to you.

But go for it anyway, and remember...

"Be sure to choose what you believe and know why you believe it, because if you don't choose your beliefs, you may be certain that some belief, and probably not a very creditable one, will choose you."


Dennis C. Diehl
DenniscDiehl@aol.com

Harold Reimann: Armstrongisms' Biggest Racist and Bigot?

Harold Reimann was an employee in Pasadena who worked in landscaping for many years and then in the archives area after he had ticked of too many people with his weird rantings.  By exiling him to the archives he was isolated away from people.  The problem with that was, he had access to hundreds of thousands of Church documents that he went through during the period he worked there.  He was particularly interested in the Churchs'  use of doctors and medicine.

To Harold it was a sin that HWA let doctors treat Richard.  It was a sin that Rod Meredith let doctors treat his eye. To Harold it is a major sin to go to a doctor or use medicine.  If you do so, you are are faithless scum who have turned your back on God because of your unfaith.

He was eventually fired because he was becoming extremely weird.

Reimann has had various blogs over the years where he has voiced his hatred for medicine and doctors.  His blogs also contained lots of racist comments.

Reimann thinks he is so enlightened towards the word of God that he thinks he could be Elijah III.  In fact, that is what he calls his blog.  It is a long screed against doctors, false teachings (according to him) by Meredith and the Church concerning healing.

He also still writes his racist comments with loads of bigoted and hate filled remarks against blacks and Mexicans.

If racist language bothers you then do not read the rest of this.  The reader should be aware that this is NOT an isolated case in Armstrongism.  While less and less people in the COG fell this way, there are still quit a few that do.  All thanks to the British Israel crap and being told for decades that the Anglo Saxons race is special above all others..

Here is a sample of the filth from him.

Day 7. There was a time when Anglo-Saxon Israelites in America were the head and blacks were the tail. The South before the Civil War. Blacks were commonly called niggers then. niger is latin for black. Now, it's worse than taking God's name in vain to use nigger. In fact you can be accused by a christian of taking GOD'S NAME in vain if you use nigger. The reasoning is Christ wouldn't use it so you say you are following Christ but are really not, taking his name in vain.

Now since i'm not disobeying God, i'm not under the curse of the tail becoming the head. I am the head, blacks are the tail. so i continue to use nigger.

One reason why is because blacks use nigger and say we can't. Blacks don't give me orders! Blacks and mexicans are the biggest racists and they are in abundance in OUR COUNTRY. this country isn't theirs. yet they have the GALL to call us racists in OUR OWN COUNTRY. they should be kicked out. all of them. and reparations should be given the South by God for losing its tail! Plus all the destruction incurred by the South from the North. In the White Throne Judgment it is my hope that those abolitionist basturds will be made slaves of Southern plantation owners for a good while.

Day Eight. 11-26-11. i like to show the comparison of America with Nazi Germany from time to time.
when i see BO smile, first i see a black man who should never be president of an israelite country. then i see abortion, sodomy, woman's lib and multiculturalism!

i see something worse then the Nazis ever were. the nazis had a German rule over them. they killed 6 million Jews. we killed 50 million unborn. God will resurrect the Jews. the unborn killed are gone forever. they persecuted sodomites. we marry them. men ruled the roost in Germany. we have been feminized, soft hearted and soft headed. also, just plain SOFT. and you can bet GERMANY WAS FOR GERMANS! no damn minority enemies living in their borders like the blacks and mexicans in ours. PLUS, they almost beat the world ON A BALANCED BUDGET! HAS ANYONE ELSE MADE THIS COMPARISON?

 You may need a mind washing after reading his blog: Elijah III

Women, Know Thy Place....

The Supreme Cult blog has an entry today about abuse in LCG of some men towards their wives.  I remember this same attitude being prevalent in Pasadena.  When ever a sermon was given for men to be rulers of their households, the women cringed.  They knew what was coming down the line over the next several weeks.  Their  husbands would be reclaiming their authority as rulers of the household.  Single men could be heard telling women that they wanted to date that the women HAD to date them because they were under men's authority.

The funny thing for me is that I know women in LCG who know their Bible better than a lot of the men and who could make better preachers!  That would go over like a lead  balloon though.

My husband went off to the sabbath today after threatening  me with a peace order whatever that is, and being arrested if I continue to “yell at him”.  I woke up this morning asking him to look at something that was malfunctioning and when I went to see why he wasn’t coming he accused me of ordering him and that he was the boss and he would not be disrespected. I was shocked and when I tried to explain myself that’s when it really hit the fan.  He has this weird idea that he is not the leader in the house and that I’m trying to take over, which couldn’t be further from the truth, however I can’t seem to do anything right, it’s like walking on eggshells.  He actually walked in the other day when my daughter and I were sitting together and stated that he was the boss and we were to obey him, he would not allow his God given authority to be challenged. My problem is that I’ve been married for almost 30 years, have no job, and no health insurance without him, so it’s really scary to think about leaving even though I think I’m being boxed into a corner.   He’s doing that living university college course and he is shorting his money in the stock market thinking the world is coming to an end soon.  That was working last year but now it appears he’s losing a fortune.

Check out the entire entry for another small story from another woman: 100% of Living Church of God ex Goers Say Meredith Changed Their Lives

Another UCG Minister Goes Over To The Darkside

 Today, another UCG "minister" spills his guts on how he was brainwashed into coming over to the dark side.  This so called "minister" is Vidal Wachuku.

But before we get started, Davie is orgasmicly delighted at this latest revelation.  He writes breathlessly:  [The following letter, in its entirety, is a “must read.” - rcgtruth.com]  Strangely, this is the same thing he said about Schurter.  But Schurter then had to go and embarrass the hell out of him.

Before Vidal starts his story, he and RCG's PR department, want to make sure  that you are not being swayed by the rampant criticism of Schurter's mind washing that has spread around the world over the last week and a half.  Davie Pack and his Restored Church of God cult are circling the wagons in order to save the minds of people who have been turned off by criticism of Davie and Schurter. Schurter has come off looking like a complete fool with the things he has been forced to write about after he was exposed for  many of his aberrant beliefs that went against Davie's revealed knowledge.

Before telling the story of my previous affiliation with the United Church of God (UCG), I first want to urge you, brethren: do not allow slander and false accusations against Mr. David Pack, Mr. Dale Schurter or RCG to keep you from returning to the “faith which was once delivered” (Jude 1:3)!

Vidal/RCG PR Department goes on to write:

Have you ever considered that ignorant and mischievous people falsely accused Jesus Christ of all types of sins? True servants of God have over the millennia similarly been attacked, including Mr. Armstrong!

Since Schurter never once discussed Jesus in his letters and Davie is largely silent about the man, I find it laughable that Vidal equates pointing out the hypocrisy and lies of Pack and Schurter as persecuting Jesus. Plus, Schurter, Pack and you Vidal, are NOT true servants and in no way, shape, or form are anything like martyrs down through history.  Turncoats, backstabbers, and hypocrites, yes, martyrs no.

Vidal goes on to write:

To provide some brief background on myself, I am a Prince of the Royal Wachuku family of Nbawsi in Abia State of Nigeria. My grandfather was the Supreme Head of All Ngwaland, presently constituting 7 of the 17 local government Areas of the State. I come from a large extended family of lawyers, judges, doctors, engineers and other professionals. My legal career commenced under the tutelage of a late Uncle, Dr. Jaja Anucha Wachuku, who was Nigeria’s first Foreign Affairs Minister, the country’s first Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and First Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives. He later served two terms as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Over the years, I have also had the privilege of serving in distinguished capacities in my country.

So?  What's the point in all these personal accolades?  You sound like Davie who is the biggest narcissist in Armstrongism today.  There was a Prince in Ambassador in 1975 from Nigeria also. He too came from a large family with a father that had 20 some wives. So what! As Yoda says, "Not, we are impressed."

Vidal then goes on to throw more accolades around about his wife:

As an Attorney-At-Law (Solicitor & Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria), I was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in 1984. My wife, Christine, is a professional colleague who was admitted to the Bar in 1986. She served as a State Prosecuting Counsel for some years before joining me in private legal practice..

Davie must be soooooooooo impressed!  Yoda still is not.

Vidal then tells about how he also started a splinter cult in Nigeria called The Narrow Way Church of God.

In time, with the Church’s doctrines being watered down and eventually thrown out by apostate leaders, some members, including two other faithful ministers and I, later formed the Narrow Way Church of God (NWCG), with our base in Abuja, Nigeria.

Next Vidal  throws around a recurring phrase that Schurter and others have used, "anointing our eyes".  The paragraph he has supposedly written below sounds exactly like what Pack and others have repeated over and over.  Can these guys ever come up with an original thought that does not have Pack's hand all over it?

Even though some followed his advice, the majority decided to individually investigate RCG, and came to the conclusion any discerning inquirer will reach: that in the cacophony of dissenting and disagreeing voices among the “COGs,” RCG, by its fruits, stood out (and still stands out) as the only genuine continuation of the Work led by Mr. Armstrong. For us, the process started with several days and sleepless nights of investigating the over 300 splinters and slivers on the Internet, followed by several weeks of intense study. Despite all the attacks launched against Mr. Pack and RCG, our studies revealed that it alone held to and taught the precision of doctrine as restored by God through Mr. Armstrong. In the circumstance, my wife and I, after anointing our eyes (Rev. 3:18), along with our children, became reconnected to what we once all knew and believed. So did more than two-thirds of the membership of the now defunct NWCG. This was a homecoming that immediately rejuvenated many who were beginning to be discouraged.

Vidal next writes:

I have first-hand knowledge of what Mr. Schurter and others are battling as they return to the Body of Christ. He looks forward to resuming his posts on this site, but as he continues to work intensively with members, I and other ministers will relate our own personal experiences. Recognize that deceivers (II Tim. 3:13), including many “long-time ministers” thought to be “faithful,” will do everything in their power to cloud the real issues and distract us from what really matters—truth, traditions, standards and fruits!

Translation:  I have seen first hand how Schurter got ripped over the coals by THE Mr. Apostle Davie and there is no way in hell I am going to write something here that would lead me into the same reeducation and mind washings sessions that Schurter is going through right now.  Please bear with us during this reeducation process, once he has been  mind washed completely he will return with glorious pre-chosen words from The Dear Leader.


He then goes on to smear United Church of God with rather angry words.  It looks like not all of his  small cult followers went with Vidal to RCG but stayed with UCG.  That was because these foolish members had NOT "anointed" their eyes.  They were too dumb and blind to see that the worlds largest and most important Church of God  on the face of the earth was calling them.

At the time we made contact with RCG, the aforementioned UCG minister immediately flew to Nigeria and came to Abuja to try to persuade us not to go with RCG. He and the former WCG minister (who had so recently passionately disavowed UCG) succeeded in convincing some (15 out of 55) who were not willing to study and anoint their eyes. The attacks on Mr. Pack got so personal that even the UCG Pastor in Nigeria sent text messages to one of my daughters, claiming that Mr. Pack would lead her astray and advised her not to follow us to RCG.

Vidal ends with :

I urge you to take time to find out what RCG is. Determine to dismantle the mythology that others have woven about Mr. Pack—just as my wife and I did, along with many others! There is not space here to tell you all that I discovered and how life has taken on a new meaning since we returned to God’s Church.

Thank God!  It would be hard to read much more of this kind of silliness.  The back stabbing and whoring out of ones self to Davie is appalling.  These letters just get weirder and weirder.  I can't wait to see who the next back stabbing UCG minister that has defected over.  Will his letter be just as dumb?  Will his be written and approved by Davie and RCG's PR Department too?

You can read Vidal's entire letter here.  Another Voice Speaks Out
There is more that was just to dumb to make fun of.

Guest Writer Andrew on "What Is Wrong with the COG's?" UPDATED

What Is Wrong with the COG's?

In short, the thing that is wrong with the COG's is they are crazy. Crazy does not describe the splinters themselves, so much as it describes what you become when subjected its many contradictions. When I say contradiction, I mean, when your senses, your instincts, and your innate intelligence all tell you one thing, and every human being you come in contact with offers a totally contradictory account of the same or similar experiences. You become divided, one half believing your observations, the other half believing the social proof. We have good reasons to believe both, even though we know, somewhere deep down, that both cannot be true simultaneously, nevertheless, we bend everything else around to rationalize them, to try to make them both make sense simultaneously. That is how people who are searching for something, can become more lost than ever. Organizations that they trust will help them make sense out of life, instead create environments that facilitate the twisting of young, naïve, or weak people's psyches until they resemble a carnival's hall of mirrors. For anyone who has seen the film, just like the talking computer HAL from Stanley Kubrik's "2001: A Space Odyssey," who went crazy from contradictory instructions, so too do we became "crazy" in exactly the same way.

The biggest example of crazy I have come to perceive within Armstrongism (the recognition of which has begun to shepherd me in the general direction of sanity) is as follows:

1) The only things that are recognized as sins in COG's are not tithing, not keeping the sabbath or holy days, keeping the world's holidays, eating unclean meats, murder (that's criminal), not showing sufficient deference and respect for a minister (the eleventh commandment), and sexual dalliances (although those are "private" matters, which should be covered up). And then there are the pet peeves that are splinter-specific, like sacred names, new moons, calendar, etc. Everything else is just a shoulder issue, like hair length, proper attire, substance abuse, or not praying and studying daily, which might be regarded as sin technically, but in practice no one ever makes a big deal about. That's the whole enchilada right there.

2) But by anyone's standard, you can lie, cheat, steal, and abuse others in COUNTLESS other ways, and no one is even going to raise an eyebrow, so long as you otherwise put on a show of niceness, reasonableness, and otherwise general respectability. The Golden Rule is, "Do unto others before they do it unto you." Even though the bible is pretty clear that these things are all sins too, (lying and stealing are part of the Ten Commandments even) the reason why this is not recognized as being sin within the COG's is because this type of behavior is the "minister's" bread and butter. They make their living off of abusing other people and making it seem "reasonable," and as a result, it becomes "normal" and "acceptable."

When we try to rationalize these two sets of facts, and force them to make sense in relationship to the bible, the result is we start to become "crazy." And rightly so, because if we succeed, then we have lost touch with reality. It doesn't matter whether you're talking about Armstrong, Meredith, Pack, Flurry, UCG, COGWA, or the bounty of self-appointed prophets and apostles. They are ALL like this.

But I wrote "by anyone's standard" because, if you go to any other religious organization, the Catholics or Protestants, or any other Christian outfit, some of the things in the FIRST paragraph are going to change, but NOTHING in the SECOND paragraph will change. (Notice that I numbered these paragraphs for easy reference. I will keep referring back to them.)

Jesus said that the pharisees were hypocrites because they tithed and were careful about all the nitpicky observances, but completely neglected "the weightier matters of the law." And that is my point. The FIRST paragraph is the obvious, but "non-weighty" portion, while NOT DOING the SECOND paragraph is the less obvious perhaps, but definitely "weightier" portion. If the general outlines I have laid out here are essentially correct, then Christians, by and large, are basically hypocrites. Using that definition, there are approximately 2 billion Christian "pharisees" in the world today. How sad.

But why stop there? Let's consider all the secular organizations too, including for-profit corporations, governments of all sorts, and, heck, why not even throw in the Mafia for good measure. Hey, there's honor, even among thieves. Just change the FIRST paragraph. Simple. Everybody does the SECOND paragraph. Everybody.

Christians are different though. No, it's true. Just not in the way that they would have you believe. They will TELL you they're different because they play by the rules of Jesus, instead of the world's rules. They would have you BELIEVE they are different UNDERNEATH. But this is just a charade. Certainly at the organizational level, if not the individual level, people don't play by Jesus' rules. The only thing that makes Christians different is the charade. The REAL difference with Christians is that they're the least likely to be HONEST about themselves. The real difference with Christians is the charade. Al Capone may have been a murderer, but one thing he wasn't, was a hypocrite. The bottom line is we're ALL the same underneath because we all do the SECOND paragraph. Yes, even Christians.

HWA and all the COG's trying to preserve his legacy have always thought of themselves as being so DIFFERENT from the rest of Christianity, but from this point of view, they are actually quite MAINSTREAM. Perhaps even ORTHODOX. From this point of view, there's just as much difference between a COG and the Catholics as there is between the Catholics and the Mafia. Which is to say, the differences between all three of them are superficial. When it comes to how they LIVE as opposed to merely what they preach, COG's have much more in common with everyone else in the world than they would like to believe. For example, during the process of copying and pasting the Evangelical's FIRST paragraph over to become WCG's FIRST paragraph (becoming "doctrinally" mainstream), the Tkach's made HEAVY use of the WHOLE SECOND paragraph as though there was nothing wrong with doing any of that. And no one even noticed.

How come? Because Christians, not just the leaders, but the lay members too, think the stuff in the FIRST paragraph is ALL there is to being a Christian. They are literally BLIND to HALF, the more IMPORTANT half, of what SHOULD BE their doctrine! Maybe it's not half, but let's just say half for simplicity's sake. Anyway, because they are blind, they cannot see anything wrong, AND because of their blindness they DECEIVE themselves into believing they can see BETTER than anyone else! Tragic really.

I could here use the bible to eviscerate not just the COG's, but also the entire establishment of Christendom regarding blindness, being deceived, Laodicea, Emperor's new clothes, and so forth, but will limit myself to the earlier statement of Jesus that I have already cited, regarding hypocrisy, which is my point.

Not being distracted by all the petty "doctrines," non-religious people can see both halves clearly, but generally think that avoiding doing the SECOND paragraph is the only part that is important, and so they merely DISPENSE with the entire FIRST paragraph. Not coincidentally, while that wasn't exactly what Jesus said to do, it might be CLOSER to what he said than what Christians do.

Is it possible that non-believers who don't participate in formal religious observance, but nonetheless make a good faith effort to live moral and ethical lives, are actually better at practicing the teachings of Jesus Christ than those who profess to be Christians? I didn't say they were perfect. True, they don't tithe on their mint, anise, or cumin. Also, don’t forget that everyone practices the SECOND paragraph. But here's the rub: non-believers don't have the same vested interest in being DISHONEST about that fact.  Unwittingly, they are free to be MORE observant of the "weightier matters" both because they are not blind to it, and because they believe that is where the emphasis should be placed. I suppose there remains the issue of faith still to be resolved. I wouldn't expect even a "good faith" non-believer to claim faithfulness. On the other hand, are they any LESS faithful than the pharisees? If we just called that particular death-match a draw, it seems that the "good-faith" non-believer comes out ahead of the average professing Christian by a fair margin. Notice, I stopped short of declaring any "winners" here though.

If it were not for this terrible example of hypocrisy that Christianity sets, there would probably be a lot fewer atheists and agnostics. Christianity certainly puts a lot of wind in their sails. I am sure part of the calculations of the typical non-believer include the fact that they find the abuse in religious institutions morally and ethically objectionable, and can't fathom that any higher power could possibly be at work there because the whole thing is so sickening. That sickening feeling may be the foundation upon which they then conclude that the religious are silly people who will believe anything without good reason, atheism's major talking point today. Or maybe it's just the main reason why people wind up leaving Christianity to become non-believers.

Despite all the money Christians spend trying to get out the "gospel," their example powerfully negates their message. What a waste! How counterproductive! But isn't that exactly what we should expect from people who are so deeply divided within themselves? Shouldn't we expect self-sabotaging behaviors to be among the symptoms of being diagnosed as a certifiable Christian?

Whenever people form any organization, secular or religious, the scum always seems to rise to the top. Everyone else either follows or they get forced out, thus purifying and concentrating the scum. But only the Christian variety of scum claims that the only suitable preparation for an environment (heaven) where no "sewage" can seep in, is to spend the rest of your life soaking together in "sewage!" But then the COG’s declare that not just any "sewage" will do. No, it must be THEIR specific concoction of "sewage!" Did I say crazy already?

If Jesus is who he said he was, then I cannot imagine that he would sponsor ANY Christian organization, because such organizations don't seem to be able to stop themselves from teaching through their example that a life of systematic lying, cheating and stealing is "God's way." They don't seem to be able to help but to lead people AWAY from what everyone EXCEPT Christians intuitively seems to know are the weightier matters of life. Organizations always seem to be hostile environments for practicing the teachings of Jesus Christ. They're great places for practicing Christianity though. Isn't it crazy that those two should have so little in common?

Crazy, yes, but when you are finally able to sit down and think it all through clearly, and in the proper context, it all winds up making perfect sense. That's when the confusion subsides and you can begin moving to the next stage of the grieving process: anger.

"Men go crazy in congregations, they only get better one by one." -Sting, "All This Time"