Kindest Regards, Cage!
As noted by others, it seems you have come a long way since last we spoke. I am happy for you!
I think man speaks in error, and if you haven't noticed, the Bible was written, by man. Sure, it's inspired, but man is an evil breed, and our hearts aren't always in the right place. It only makes sense to take this into account when studying the Bible, imo.
I believe in free will, and God never interferes with a persons choice, imo. Why then would God interfere with the Bible, even if man got some of it wrong? Choice is our freedom, and that freedom was given in the beginning with Adam and Eve,
I'm a fan of Jesus, but since my views don't set well with the flock, I refrain from calling my self Christian. But, with your logic, one would have to agree with everything our governments do, and say to be called a citizen, or in my case, an American.
I'm just saying...
I've noticed that there are a number of sub-contexts going on in this thread, probably why it has taken off like it has. But with so many inter-related subjects going on it can be difficult to keep up. That said...
You have an interesting take on things here. I'm not fully certain I agree with equating citizenship with "belonging to" a religion, although I certainly see the similarities. And there is the historic interaction between government and religious institutions. Something seems to me missing in this assessment...and be darned if I can put a finger on it just now.
I don't know that I would call humanity an "evil breed," I really don't think we are by and large. If anything, I am thinking we are kinda neutral with potential to go either way, depending on our free-will and internal desires. Like any good hedonist, we seek those things that cause us joy, love, and happiness...even at the expense of health and possibly even salvation. One need only look to Adam following Eve's lead in partaking of the "apple."
We all, Christians and non-Christians alike, intuitively seek that which we innately understand as "good." Now, what you perceive as good may differ somewhat from what I perceive as good, but we both seek "good" just the same. Where we seem "evil" is when we deliberately go against what we are trained to perceive as good. And we all do, from time to time, and in greater and lesser degrees. Yet, how does someone justify to themselves as being good when acting evil.
Now, I know the Nazi's seem to catch hell for every bad example like this, but I will go here again because it is a fitting example: Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death. Now, post WWII and the Allied victory, this man is guilty of heinous war crimes, and rightly a pariah. Yet, to place him in context, and considering the important contributions this man made to Human Anatomy, specifically the mapping of the Human brain, seems to place him in a bit different light, depending on perspective. Yes, he butchered many hundreds, perhaps thousands of human beings. Yet, his contributions to science are with us to this day, and are drawn upon by millions of doctors the world over, without which our understanding of the brain would be decades behind where it is now.
So it really comes down to perception, particularly the perception of the victor. We are all sinners, yet we all strive to be saints. Some of us do better at it than others, but a big part of the whole judgemental shooting match is perception.
At least that's my (probably heretical) take on the matter.
