I am one of those who have a beef with Christianity.
I was a Christian for many years. Totally in love with Christ. However, I always had a sneaky suspicion that there was something wrong with my understanding, because I knew on a deep level that no loving God, least of all my Jesus, could EVER send people to eternal torment. Not for anything. Especially just because they didn't believe in Him.
Then one day my education began. I started finding out things about the terrible translational errors in the authorized versions of the bible. I found out how the whole doctrine of hell was concocted by man. I was so so happy to finally learn that in the end of time, God will be all in all. Nobody will be in hell.
I became what many call a scriptural universalist. I spent over a year, closer to two, debating this on Christian forums. During that time, I saw what I believe to be the coldest cruelest hearts on the planet. Every single one of the christians rejected out of hand, everything that was presented to them. All people with my beliefs were branded as heretics, demons, etc...
This is all just the short story. Anyway, since then, my belief in the bible as the sole truth has totally unraveled ( happily ) and I allowed my mind to become open to many many more things, realizing more and more about the nature of truth and how no person or group of people could ever have a 'LOCK' on it.
Concurrently, I started seeing christianity for what it was.
There are the conservative, fundy, evangelicals who are out and out blatant haters. they say their not, but they are. the people who would enforce christian rule on our country and the world if they only could. I cannot stand them at all.
Then there is the avg run of the mill christan , who, has been trained from early on, that the mind is evil. If ANYTHING. i mean ANYTHING, tries to open your mind to ANYTHING that would discount one single jot of the orthodoxy that they are taught in church, it is to be discounted as evil. Don't give it a foothold for a second. That is just cultish !!!!
These christians, when pressed or debated with, will never in a million years admit to themselves that there isn't an eternal hell that millions will suffer in for all of eternity.
I think the bottom line for me, is that any supposed god who would have that much hate and meanness as to maintain an eternal torture chamber for so many , just because the didn't believe in him, is a million times worse than all the world's despots put together. And those who defend such a position, I have very little use for. They are either mindless sheep, or blackhearted hatemongers. I can't see too much middle ground.
Mostly, I think the majority of christians are just trapped in the cult. But to the ones who defend so vehemently the eternal hell, they are more than just trapped. And to the pastors and preachers, and those who have been educated, and know better, yet still teach this horrible religion, I reserve the most of my contempt.
I don't go around thinking about these things, because you can probably tell from the tambre of my post that I would be dead from heart-ache if I did. That's why I got out of those forums. It's been a long while since I've made a post like this, and I guess it's pent up a bit. <snicker>
Sorry so long of a post. Hope I'm still welcome here after spewing all this venom at a whole group like that. But you asked.
