Declaring A Truce

This was originally posted as a comment to The War at Home but I felt it deserved it's own post.
I was referring to GW, not you, when I said "religious". Who wrote the Bible is a good question and one that I will tackle as best I can. I assume that we are speaking of both The Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament consists of the histories, prophesies and wisdom literature. There has never been any agreement from either historians or theologians about who actually wrote them and exactly when they were written. The New Testaments are attributed to Jesus' followers, the Apostles. I do believe that the Bible is a book written by men and I also believe that humans are divine. Is it the word of God or of man? To me it does not matter, because either way it is divine.

As far as strangers guessing whether or not I was Christian-again who knows. I am not a perfect human being but I am a kind imperfection and I seek justice for all people, as much as possible in an imperfect world. Your statement makes me feel bad for non-Christians, what do they look like? It also leads me back to feeling like all religions are dangerous. The first rule of any religion is belonging and separation from others. I mistrust all things that seek to further divide humans. I want inclusion and religion by it's very nature precludes this.

George Bush is President of the United States today because the majority of Americans felt as you do now, that he knows best. It is much easier to think that the president, the pope, the pastor, our fathers, mothers, husbands etc. know what is "best". It takes away a lot of personal responsibility. I accept that it is the condition of most people to want to feel like someone smarter or stronger is looking out for them. It is a fallacy but a sweet one for many people.

I liked Christianity a lot better when Christians were held accountable for their actions. Of course, only God can judge us, but we at least believed that he would. Now all I need to do is accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and to hell with good deeds, kind words and genuine human compassion. I think you may be right about the BJ's in the Oval Office but I am not sure. We were all screwed by the current administration and we're still complaining.

Finally, as your sister, I want you to be happy and peaceful. I mistrust beliefs that alienate people from one another. I have faith that Jesus is within you and has always been there. That you were born indicates that you accepted him as your Lord, since it was he who allowed you to become human in the first place. He didn't send you here alone-you sprung from your mother and father, who also contained bits of Jesus. So do I. In the end what will matter is how you shared your days, your life, with those you chose (husband,friends) or who God chose (family) for you. Do we wake in the morning and thank him for the day, for our partner lying next to us, our children nearby and far away, for the fortunes we have and the burdens we carry? Do we do our best to be happy even when times are hard and to spread that happiness to those we meet but more importantly to those we live with? Are these "Christian Ideals" or just plain humanist thought? I don't know-either way I love you and want to always be that irritant just beneath your skin that keeps you scratching at the surface to reveal what is truly deep inside of you.