Elephant in the room - accusation of judging

[shazeep]

well, that is possibly because i have been engaged with someone obviously in denial, but it may also be that you crave a religion, which is what men have established to seek God. As we have seen, religion means different things to different people, even within one religion; and we have many. Many sects of Christianity, all proclaiming that they are the way, generally excluding the others over doctrinal differences; yet there is only one Christ. Even more subsects of sects, splintering again, all looking for a better way.

Now this does not describe all religious people--even if it does encompass them--and for better or worse, when one contemplates getting closer to God, one thinks of what we now call church, and religion, as representative of God, and seeks them out as a guide. The fact that these represent men, and not God, is not immediately apparent, even if it is written in many places in Scripture, and further revealed by those--innocently or not--proclaiming others "lost" whom they have not rightly judged, oblivious of how this will be used against them for political purposes, pretending some separation of church and state.

"Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means." Mahatma Gandhi

And so frankly on this basis alone, i am justified in my comments here, even had i offered no better answer than religion--but that is hardly true, as i have suggested a better concept of Christ at every turn. One that will surely bring one into some conflict with their religion, to be sure, because religion is conflicted at its core; an institution of men, with standards, rules, and codes for seeking God.

So i am not discounting your religious experience, i think it was great. I had a similar experience, and had my fleece wetted and dried also; funny how God comes to us where we are, huh? I'm sure we both would consider that a sin now. An even greater one, imo, is teaching what one does not know, where God is concerned, and while i won't claim to know many answers, i reserve the right to point out that your religion will kill you, and you are in fact already dead, and worse off than before, if all your religion did was ensconce your prejudices under some flag that you wave "under God."