APOLOGIES AHEAD OF TIME FOR THE LENGTH OF THIS RANT PLEASE READ IT ANYWAY I felt compelled to leave a comment on this. I’ve been Googling Anti-religion, pro-spirituality; anti-Christian, pro-Christ and the like to see what came up. I stumbled across an article about “Christianity dying” on huffingtonpost.com and read it. I’m glad that I did (in a way). What you’re doing is what I’d like to do. It’s what I’m doing searching the topics I’ve been searching. I think that the avenue that you take by saying “New Christians” has a more attractive sound to it to open more people’s ears, and hopefully, minds, since a third of the Earth’s population are Christians. I don’t consider myself a Christian and haven’t since I’ve been about 12 years old. What I was attempting to figure out was how to appeal to the different religions while trying to intermingle Taoism (which doesn’t bother with the unknowable questions; where we came from and where we go after our body dies) and Buddhism, practices that focus on treating each other as we’d like to be treated. My goal is to experience what the world would be like if God existed as its meant to be; the universal spirit of mankind living for each other, as one. I understand full well that that is impossible to achieve in my lifetime (I’m 33) given the state of the world as it is, but I want to help, and I feel that I’ve been gifted with a kind of open-mindedness that not too many people have. When I was 12 I actually stopped believing in God on account of my seventh grade curriculum. The topics were Greek and Roman “mythology”. What I surmised was that those people believed with their hearts and souls that their Gods were real. To us, on the other hand, they were nothing but myths. Yet, our God was real. Well, I didn’t, and don’t buy that, just as I don’t believe that Muslims, Jews and Christians pray to different Gods. That’s when I stopped believing in God as a creator, and I’m glad that I did, because that was what made it possible to start a search for what God really is. Though my search didn’t start until I discovered Taoism, I’ve learned that my understanding and ideas of what God is are ever changing and evolving, and I believe that that’s the way it will always be. What doesn’t ever change is my idea of what good is. What morality is. What never changes is the idea of treating people the way that I want to be treated. I believe that if people would toss all of the unimportant stories and magical BS that litters the Bible (because they get people focusing on differences rather than the similarities we all have) and focus on the moral teachings of Jesus we’d be that much closer to experiencing spiritual unity (AKA-God). I think that Jesus, the Dali Lama, Gandhi, Muhammed(sp?), the Buddha and any past spiritual leader/prophet all taught basically the same thing; Be good to each other. Any-old-way, if you could give me any feed back, any suggestions, any… thing, I would greatly appreciate it. And please let me know if what I said is nonsensical gibberish, or if I may be on the path. If everyone tapped into the God within themselves, the God that would connect all people would cause something unimaginably great. That is what I believe to be the next evolutionary step. I hope that I didn’t sound like a crazy person and you took it seriously. Apologies for my lack of grammatical skills. Thanks, Jonathan Porter
Jonathan I am so glad you found me and that you’ve written me, too. Look, you say many things here and I’m not absolutely sure what you’re asking me to respond to but I will say this much. I love the approach you’re taking. I’m a very open person who believes that the universe will guide every soul who searches for truth and, where you end up is exactly where you’re supposed to end up. I agree that God is in us and we are in God and it’s hard to tell the difference. Please stick around and, if you have another question I’m not answering here, please clarify. Meanwhile, my sincerest blessings.
