I've Been Reading The Bible

I saw this hand carved cross in Marathon, Texas. It is one of the cooler crosses I have ever seen.

My usual method of reading the Bible, I must confess, is to look at what some fundamentalist has said and try to find something that directly contradicts what they said. Usually this is an relatively easy process because those assholes really are only Christian in name only.

Lately, however, I have had occasion to sit down and really read some of the Gospels out of the New Testament. I have to say to my fellow Pagans out there: hey, this Jesus dude is pretty fucking cool. We really should not have nailed him to a tree; especially not when there were so many perfectly good Pharisees and Saducees who we could have nailed to a tree instead. But hey, I guess all the Pagans did was take the word of the Pharisees etc. that Jesus was a bad guy, wash our hands and let our foot soldiers do the actual whipping, crowning with thorns and nailing. So, we weren't that involved in the matter anyway; no more so than our new Attorney General Abu Gonzalez was involved in say, waterboarding, sodomy or murder at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay.

Anyway, if I had to boil down the message that Jesus carried into just five points here is what I think they might be:

Honor God first and foremost always

Treat everyone else as you wish to be treated

Tend to your spiritual growth, don't worry about the spiritual growth of others

Lead by example-deeds, not by words

When others are down and out and you are not, help the down and out folks!

These points seem to stay the same whether or not I read the King James, NIV or the Jerusalem Bible. The words of Jesus are essentially the same and there really is not much room for interpretation. Remember, I am only looking at the words spoken by Jesus. I don't really care what Peter, Paul and Mary were whining about after Jesus was gone or what they were whining about in the Sixties. Only the words attributed to Jesus himself.

Sorry man, but I don't see any Christ in many of the present day "Christian" churches. Instead they remind me of college fraternities where a select, chosen few are welcome and the rest are turned away at the door. I think of the megachurches (here in Dallas there is a church that is commonly referred to as either Fort God or, if they have a festival going, Six Flags Over Jesus) and am forcibly reminded of Jesus throwing the moneylenders out of his Father's house.

It really makes me tremendously sad actually. It's like there is something in humans that makes it impossible for us to grasp this simple message no matter how or who delivers it. I'm surely no role model here; I fall short all the time. I think it is simply selfishness that leads us away from this message.

I'm not a Christian so if I have mangled something or left something out, I am open to learning from those who practice the faith. Please let me know. May your God go with you today.

It's time for me to hit my knees and ask my Goddess to help me stay sober one more day and give me opportunities to do Her will throughout the day.

Pax.