I read a great quote today

"What I noticed at grace-Calvary is the same thing I notice whenever people aim to solve their conflicts with one another by turning to the Bible: defending dried ink marks on the page becomes more vital than defending the neighbor. As a general rule, I would say that human beings never behave more badly toward one another than when they believe they are protecting God. In the words of Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas, 'People of the Book risk putting the book above the people.'" --Barbara Brown Taylor, "Leaving church: A Memoir of Faith"

I've watched people from all walks of life get pretty nasty when they defend their core beliefs or at at least the foundation of the box they've built for themselves to live in and view the world from. Atheists, Christians, XBOX fans, Playstation fans, Mac fans, Windows fans, it goes on and on. Most people, myself included, have a great deal of certainty that what they see, feel, and believe are all true things. For years I was certain that conservative Evangelical Christianity was the truth, that my theology, which was shared by many, was correct. After all, the Holy Spirit guided us into our belief, just as he guided those who penned the Holy Word of God and ensured that those 66 books would be collected together as we know them today, and that the false texts would be cast out.

After I lost my faith: yes, I know, I was never a true Christian, I was a false convert, I was pretending to be a Christian, but really living a life of sin, I was pretending to be a Christian to subvert the true message of Christ, I was a Sunday only Christian, etc., etc. all things I've been accused of since losing my faith; the one thing that came out of it all is that certainty can vanish in an instant, well usually not an instant, but it can seem so when it comes. My deconversion was a long drawn out process which involved major prayer and study of the Bible, but when the final moment came it was almost like a switch had been flipped.

Anyway, now I try to respect everyone's viewpoints and sometimes things can sound pretty crazy, but I know what I used to believe, and I know I could be completely wrong about what I believe now too. Is conservative Evangelical Christianity correct? I don't know. Liberal Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam? I really have no idea, they certainly couldn't all be 100% literally correct simultaneously, but parts of all of them could be true. What I do know is that we are all human beings struggling through each day on this planet and we have more in common than not. As Sting said some 20 years ago "We share the same biology, regardless of ideology.", but we sure can forget that rather easily.

I've actually stopped reading a few of the atheist blogs I used to read because they are so anti-religion. Sure, we all know about poison aspects of religion, but for the most part the positive wins out. I see people living wonderful, productive, vibrant lives, that include a full faith life as well, and I see no reason that they should not. Just as I see non-believers also living wonderful, productive, vibrant lives as well.

If my certainty in any belief becomes more important than my fellow humans then I'm guessing I'm doing something wrong...but I'm not certain. ;-)

The post and the quote can be found here: Which Comes First: The Book or the People?

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, Iranian Mother, could be put to death at any moment

Image by Robert Reed Daly via Flick

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, if you haven't heard of her, is the Iranian mother who could possibly be put to death soon. The charge is adultery, though after much public outcry they claim she is also being punished for her alleged part in her late husband's murder. There is a petition to be signed at the first site below and both are good for keeping up with the latest info.
http://freesakineh.org/

http://iransolidarity.blogspot.com/

Universum

Image by cesarharada.com via Flickr

From Wikipedia:

This is a modification of the Flammarion Woodcut is an enigmatic woodcut by an unknown artist. It is referred to as the Flammarion Woodcut because its first documented appearance is in page 163 of Camille Flammarion's L'atmosphère: météorologie populaire (Paris, 1888), a work on meteorology for a general audience. The woodcut depicts a man peering through the Earth's atmosphere as if it were a curtain to look at the inner workings of the universe.

I first saw this work when I read Brian's post entitled Panentheism. Then, today Joe used it in his post today entitled Omniscience and Omnipresence: is God's Nature Contradictory?. Finally, i saw it also today in GodlessGrrl's post entitled Motivations of an Apostate: Truth vs. Reality.

When I first saw the picture I commented that I liked it and then tried to find a print of it, but all I can find is the Wikipedia image, there seem to be no larger reproductions. I've decided that the picture must be following me though since it keeps popping up. ;-)

Gorgeous video! My Spirituality as an Atheist

Found via Luke @ http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=7322

Life at Beaver Lake

I haven't posted in a while, but I wanted to share a new blog with all of you.

My cousin Wendy and her husband Bob live in, what I always say is, a post card in Montana. They've started a new blog together combining Bob's photography and Wendy's words, intertwining and inspiring each other. Be careful or you may want to run off and live in the wild too!

Life at Beaver Lake

Christians and other believers wanted

I've been reading a blog called A Time To Rend (http://atimetorend.wordpress.com/) for quite some time now. It was created and is maintained by an ex-Christian who is chronicling his journey through life and his many observations. Recently his wife began a blog called A Time To Sew (http://atimetosew.wordpress.com/), she is still a Christian and will be blogging about their life together and life in general. There was a post on A Time To Rend about his wife's blog, but mainly atheists, ex-Christians, and skeptics read there so I wanted to try and spread the word so that she could get some readers with other viewpoints as well. Below is an excerpt from her introductory post on A Time To Rend.

"To all of you who are faithful (or sporadic) readers of my husband’s blog, I write this post to thank you and to introduce myself. Thank you for your comments, your listening “ears”, and your support of my husband through what we would both consider a “messed up year.” ATTR was up and running some three or four months before I knew about it. Even then, my husband was reticent to share his posts with me. Ouch! That was hard for a wife to take. I remember saying, “I thought we were friends.” Yet, some things were too hard to work through at the time. Thanks for being there for him when I couldn’t."

Check it out and give this couple some love! :-)

Would Jesus wash Osama bin Laden's feet?

John 13:1-17 (KJV)

1Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
2And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;
3Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;
4He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
5After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
6Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
7Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
8Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
9Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
10Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
11For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.
12So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
13Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
14If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
15For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
16Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
17If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

One of the things that has struck me for years regarding the canonized New Testament's portrayal of Jesus is his servant nature. I can just imagine the disciples reactions as this one who they revered knelt and performed what could be seen as such a menial task.

Matthew 5:43-44

43Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

As I listen to the talk in this country I hear many Christians spouting hatred, even against other Christians, some of the liberals hate the conservatives, some of the conservatives hate the liberals. Looking at the verses above, shouldn't they be praying for and serving each other instead of spewing vitriol?

Would Jesus wash Osama bin Laden's feet? Would Jesus wash President Obama's feet? What about George W. Bush, also portrayed in the painting above?

The picture above is a few years old, it portrays Jesus washing the feet of several world leaders of the time, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former English Prime Minister Tony Blair, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, US president George W Bush, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Jiang Zemin, former president of China.

As I understand it, the image was part of a series of posters promoting a conference presented by the Justinen Creative Group. I discovered it on a friend's blog, Mosaic Mercy, and it inspired this post.

Thoughts?