It was someone else, Lutheran for about 14 years, then I was upset with Martin Luther's little anti-semetic episode near the end of his life, so I personally and privately became a literalistic christian going by nothing but the bible for 3 or 4 years. I do not know what is beyond the gate, what awaits everyone beyond life, but I'm not expecting something, and I'm not certainly presupposing that there is something. By all means what is here, is what is natural. My agnostic atheism and evolution have nothing in common, and neither depend upon the other (though theists and non-theists alike seem to think otherwise at times). And when I say I am an atheist, I say it tentatively, I understand that -Isms, whether it be theism or otherwise, may put blinders as to what we allow ourselves to believe. That's one of the reasons I'm considering attempting to simply unlabeled when it comes to religion. Religion is almost inescapable, it took me a year to reconsider my beliefs, because, (if you've heard of the superstitious pigeon experiment), people who are in a religion actively look to attribute natural occurrences in life to their god, and although most if not all people on this forum are nice and moral, most if not all only see the world through the lens of their religious views.
Jesus went against those religious leaders of his day, and exposed them, with truth about them, and they hated it.
Religion is what am I doing to get God to respond to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God is the creator not the creation, therefore I do not see God ever responding to me by what I do or not do, since I know I am not the creator, yet have been taught by this world to be one, as what this world teaches.
If you do good God will reward you, you do good and people reward you, not God, then one sees the truth about people and even of ourselves doing bad to others for self-gain and we turn from wanting to know who God really is, walking away from religion
And I am elated over those who do walk away from trying to get God and people to respond to them by what they do or not do.
See if you made a glass to be used for drinking, water, or whatever liquid you choose to, you would be the master of that glass would you not? And you since you are the master of that glass you will use it as you choose yes?
Now if by chance you were able to breath life into this glass and this glass comes alive, then would you not need to then free it to know right and wrong? poor example I see.
But this is what God did for us. So we could choose, and the bottom line is either we appreciate god for this awareness and then see truth and love our neighbor as God does love us all.
But the ones that are out for themselves hurt the wheat, and cause the dysfunctional family that is all around us today.
Now this includes oneself, to become no more dysfunctional through going to God to know God for one reason only
"Comfort God by letting God know that you would see God just to dwell in God's Presence. Not for teaching, not for material gain, not even for a message, but for God. The longing of the human heart to be loved for itself is something caught from the Great Divine Heart."
forget about the people and all their errors, ask God to first correct yours?