A Theologian's Confession

A THEOLOGIAN’S CONFESSIONS
Hi everyone - and greetings from Denmark!
I am a theologian by trade and have always had a keen interest in the relation between faith, science and reason.
So, the obvious question to ask is: “Do you believe in God then”? Many would probably think I would answer YES, but in fact the answer is NO!
I have come to realize - and that is my confession - that religion is the source of so much evil in the World - both inside and outside the different religions.
Therefore, it’s a great pleasure for me to have found this foundation in order to promote science and reason over subjectively religion.

Welcome.
Have you ever heard about the Clergy project?

Looking forward to your posts. I was once called an “amateur theologian” by Tracie Harris from the Austin Community of Atheists. I would call myself an a-theologian now, still amateur though. I’ve thought about becoming a secular celebrant. I’m not so sure I’d be good at the counseling part of the job.
Mind if I ask exactly what kind of job title you had?

Besides being a theologian, I was a teacher, preacher with the official title of “Brother”. I was member of a religious congregation within the Roman-Catholic Church calling itself for the one and only true Church. But I came to realize, that claiming to be the only TRUE Church was a bold and self-centrered statement which excludes all other churches and sciences. In my opinion, the truth is always inclusive and not exclusive towards other life approaches meaning, that we should be open for discussion and trying to understand the opponents perspective. Such an approach does not go well with the understanding the Roman-catholic church has of itself.

Such an approach does not go well with the understanding the Roman-catholic church has of itself.
That was basically my conclusion. Regardless of any other argument for or against gods and goddesses, religion is designed to make inquiry difficult. Even the Dalai Lama, who said a long time ago that if science was found that contradicted his beliefs, he would have to re-examine his beliefs. Well, come on Mr. Lama, what are you waiting for? Thich Nhat Hahn is the only one I know of who took the real step of publicly saying, "You are not special" because you now have learned the Buddhist practices he teaches. You can do the practices or not, it does not make you special or better.
Regardless of any other argument for or against gods and goddesses, religion is designed to make inquiry difficult.
Religion in general does not offer an opportunity to discuss certain matters - you simply have to believe it, or you are out! Unfortunately, many people have left their brains at the alter of their god and have stopped thinking themselves. For many people, it is so much easier to learn what a teaching authority within a religious system says and thinks than to ask the questions yourself. My argument - when I was still in the religious system - was always: "God has given us a brain, so why don't we use it more often?" That didn't go down that well within the tired and old religious system.

When I went looking for a church as an adult, I found one that was using books from Crossan and Borg. The Jesus Seminar was big at the time. It took me a while to realize that those authors didn’t go far enough. I would set the bar at Bart Ehrmann today. In my last years at church, I saw things like a pastor reporting that she had a conversation about homosexuality with other church leaders. She hadn’t concluded anything and didn’t suggest changing anything, she just had a conversation. This made at least one guy go completely bonkers and leave the church. This is what pastors have to deal with. They can’t lead people to even have a discussion. It’s kind of difficult when you mission is upholding traditions.
I listened to a recent Humanize Me podcast with a Rabbi. He now considers himself a secular Jew. He said he realized he was only focusing on maintaining the tool of Judaism and was not trying to build anything.

A THEOLOGIAN'S CONFESSIONS Hi everyone - and greetings from Denmark! I am a theologian by trade and have always had a keen interest in the relation between faith, science and reason. So, the obvious question to ask is: "Do you believe in God then"? Many would probably think I would answer YES, but in fact the answer is NO! I have come to realize - and that is my confession - that religion is the source of so much evil in the World - both inside and outside the different religions. Therefore, it's a great pleasure for me to have found this foundation in order to promote science and reason over subjectively religion.
Congratulations. Now it’s time to study Humanism and the history of religion from a secular standpoint, Lois
Henrik-Kostow - 19 March 2018 10:43 AM A THEOLOGIAN’S CONFESSIONS
Welcome Henrik. Breaking the bonds of Theology needs no confession........ :) I see it as a step towards Rational Clarity. Congratulations!

Welcome, and the next step for you is to realize a few things. Believers generally don’t even know what they mean by the word god. Or their definition is just a personal one they’ve been brainwashed with since childhood. Also that the concept of a god has nothing to do with religion. Religions are social psychological things, including emotional. They’re really just cults/social institutions that have been around a long time. And the final thing, and I think this is important for Humanists and Atheists, is that it’s ok to admire Jesus and other figures. Assuming they exist at all, and that’s okay to do too, they were just people with some good ideas, some bad ideas. I would even go so far as to say Jesus in particular had some great humanist ideas and that we should rescue him from the Christians. But anyway, you’re on to a nice journey.

“religion is designed to make inquiry difficult.”… Whenever a ‘religion’ makes inquiry difficult, one can assume that there are flaws in that ‘religion’ - at least from a Christian perspective. The Berean Jews were said to be ‘more noble’ an award given because they were known to ‘search the scriptures daily in order to see if what they were being taught was true’. If there is any difficulty involved - it would be that the scriptures are very complex - and go ‘unrevealed’ to someone who does not possess the [Holy] Spirit, which can be effectively ‘blocked’ if the person is skeptical of what it is they are attempting to read - perhaps due to presuppositions. The message the Bible starts off with a break down of ‘trust’ - in that they [Adam & Eve] are told what it was that they shouldn’t do… they did it anyways, and due to, begins the story of God attempting to show that He can be trusted - and that story line repeats over and over again, until Jesus shows up and states plainly - whoever believes in Me (trusts) will have everlasting life - the exact <thing> that was lost in the garden of Eden. With regard to that nasty word ‘sin’… much of what is expected, and often presented as 'rules - are little more than and - synonymous with - the guidance of a loving parent. Somewhere in here, someone made a mention of a homosexual person and an issue with the church, so I will use this as an example. Man was told to go forth and multiply, which is the expansion of one’s family. The ‘sin’ part of same-sex relations is that they cannot reproduce and their bloodline ends. Another simple example would be having idols - money as an example. When someone has money - they can get a lot of “stuff” - and typically find themselves worrying about that ‘money’ and usually wanting even more of it. So I’d offer this as a consideration. Who is better off? A person that has little but is completely satisfied with that - what they have? Or a person who has much, and yet cannot quench a desire to have more? Yet another comment in this thread mentions the Dali Lama - who said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Sadly - even as a Christian - I would tend to believe with the Dali Lama. I find that although God is supposed to be the ultimate judge, there is a lot of judging that would make any sensible person want to steer clear of them [Christians]. And though Jesus said, “Be anxious for nothing”… everything is worried about and stressed over - nothing is [means]… NOTHING. And then there is the love you enemies command/expectation. Fail, fail, fail… is all that I see. What is not understood - or taught in a way to express the importance of - is that evil will fall at the hands of love every time, especially if evil is done to YOU or I… and instead of choosing to propagate it - we stop it in it’s tracks by responding with love and forgiveness instead.

Welcome. Glad to have you here.