Religions didn't invent truth!
By Dano ~
I don't hate anyone, not even Christians. That said though, I do hate things, and the number one thing I hate is dishonesty.
Image by southerntabitha via FlickrNow I am not, and don't claim to be intellectual in any sense of the word, but for the sake of clarity I will try very hard to not sound too dumb here, and I will use spell check. That's about the extent of my intellectual ability.
I repeat. I don't hate Christians, or anyone else for very long periods of time because it takes too much energy. Energy that (at my age,74), I could be using for more satisfying pursuits, but as in my opening statement, I do hate dishonesty, because it defiles the dignity of what we have so arduously become as Homo Sapiens, and the most insidious form of dishonesty is self delusion.
When you are dishonest with yourself, it cheapens and diminishes the whole 'Life" experience. I know physically beautiful people who habitually lie about everything. One lady I know can not tell the truth about anything. She will lie when the truth would be better. She has lyeing down to an art form, and it makes her an ugly shell of a person. I'm sure you know people like this.
What I hate most about dishonesty is what it has done to our society. The American way used to have a hallmark of honesty and hard work, now we are rotten liars from the president down to the ditch digger. (except for me and you) The advertising, and practices, of our once great companies, wreak of dishonesty and deception, and people accept it as the norm. America is becoming a third world country because of it.
The fact that you cant get elected to any political office, unless you lie through your teeth and adhere to absolute political correctness, and say that you are a god fearing Christian, is disgusting. I know there are a few exceptions to this by people who have great charisma, and run unopposed.
Imagine a country that was formed mostly by straight shooters and talkers, who considered their personal integrity the most important thing they owned, and would fight a duel to the death with anyone questioned it, turning into one where you have to pretend to give up all rational, logical thought, and say that you believe the bible to be the word of God. Hypocrisy is no longer recognizable as such, because every day we see another politician railing against some particular form of dishonesty right before he is caught doing exactly what he rails about.
We need to get rid of the idea that morality starts and ends with Religion. Christianity didn't invent truth and personal integrity, it was around thousands of years before Christians claimed that it was supposedly written about on a rock,and given to them by God.
We need to learn, and teach our children, not bronze age mythology, but that trust was bred into us over millions of years of evolution as the glue that holds a workable society together. If we cant trust anyone, we have retrogressed back to a tooth and claw existence where civilization falls apart and we live in fear. We need to teach our children that moral ethical behavior is not something you go to church once a week and talk about, and then forget about for the rest of the week, but is absolutely necessary for living a good life.
I don't hate anyone, not even Christians. That said though, I do hate things, and the number one thing I hate is dishonesty.
Image by southerntabitha via FlickrI repeat. I don't hate Christians, or anyone else for very long periods of time because it takes too much energy. Energy that (at my age,74), I could be using for more satisfying pursuits, but as in my opening statement, I do hate dishonesty, because it defiles the dignity of what we have so arduously become as Homo Sapiens, and the most insidious form of dishonesty is self delusion.
When you are dishonest with yourself, it cheapens and diminishes the whole 'Life" experience. I know physically beautiful people who habitually lie about everything. One lady I know can not tell the truth about anything. She will lie when the truth would be better. She has lyeing down to an art form, and it makes her an ugly shell of a person. I'm sure you know people like this.
What I hate most about dishonesty is what it has done to our society. The American way used to have a hallmark of honesty and hard work, now we are rotten liars from the president down to the ditch digger. (except for me and you) The advertising, and practices, of our once great companies, wreak of dishonesty and deception, and people accept it as the norm. America is becoming a third world country because of it.
The fact that you cant get elected to any political office, unless you lie through your teeth and adhere to absolute political correctness, and say that you are a god fearing Christian, is disgusting. I know there are a few exceptions to this by people who have great charisma, and run unopposed.
Imagine a country that was formed mostly by straight shooters and talkers, who considered their personal integrity the most important thing they owned, and would fight a duel to the death with anyone questioned it, turning into one where you have to pretend to give up all rational, logical thought, and say that you believe the bible to be the word of God. Hypocrisy is no longer recognizable as such, because every day we see another politician railing against some particular form of dishonesty right before he is caught doing exactly what he rails about.
We need to get rid of the idea that morality starts and ends with Religion. Christianity didn't invent truth and personal integrity, it was around thousands of years before Christians claimed that it was supposedly written about on a rock,and given to them by God.
We need to learn, and teach our children, not bronze age mythology, but that trust was bred into us over millions of years of evolution as the glue that holds a workable society together. If we cant trust anyone, we have retrogressed back to a tooth and claw existence where civilization falls apart and we live in fear. We need to teach our children that moral ethical behavior is not something you go to church once a week and talk about, and then forget about for the rest of the week, but is absolutely necessary for living a good life.