Now Pennah,

We have had multiple conversations about faith, fundamentalism, and religion in general, so I will not bore you by reiterating my beliefs.

I do want to take this time as a Christian to say two things that are not specific to the masses, but specific to me. Here they are as follows:

1. I have never considered myself to be lucky to be right. I have always considered myself blessed (not right-- there is a difference). Period. Nothing more.

2. I have never thought that "my way" is the "only way", but that it is the "only way" for me. I do not have enough knowledge about other faiths or belief systems to impose that on everyone I know/do not know. I am not that smart.

If you are encountering folks who are snubbing you because of your decision to take another path, I hate that for you. Not all Christians have that attitude, especially this one. I love you no matter what and I cannot wait to see you this winter.

It is truly a shame to be able to make a generalization like that because you have seen this prevailing attitude. I wish you couldn't say that, but I am sure it is fact-based from your observations.

Ugh!

Love you much/miss you more,

K

Amazing how film has become our medium of expression, much as poetry was a century ago. Were I living in the 1800's, I would have thought to quote some passage from "Leaves of Grass." Now, I am more likely to quote Shamalyan or Kubrick. :)

I recently read a book that challenged me and my faith like no preacher or camp ever has. "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller. He's a west coast writer whose beliefs are so differant from Midwest churches. I loved it. I think you'd like it. Read if it you can. In Oklahoma churches, "liberal" is a dirty word. Miller made it beatiful for me.

I was handed "Blue Like Jazz" by someone who told me if I wrote a book about what I believed, it would be this book. We will see. ---

Almost 85 percent of the United States claims to be Christian. It's not a hard club to get into. It's like saying you are a bike rider just because you've worked at a bike shop once. You know what to wear or what to ride, but the bike is not an extention of your true self. It does not sooth the deepest and most inner parts of your soul like it does for riders who live it. The true riders know who they are on a bike, regardless of where they are, or what the terrain is. They would rather ride than do anything else. ---

15 percent of the 85 percent mentioned above are true "disciples" of Christ's teachings. You won't necessarily find these people in church. They are out being friends with people who need friends, helping people in need, and loving people who need love. Hypocracy isn't even an issue. If I said I aspire to be a Christian, this would be to set the bar low. I aspire to be a disciple. ---

You have been saying similiar things for as long as I can remember. I actually thought this may have been an old post. Stop pulling punches. Say you have a problem with Christians and your midwestrn up-bringin'. Or better yet, propose a solution so we can learn something new. ---

I have always wondered... Can you really have a problem with something you DON'T believe in? I mean I don't believe in werewolves, so I don't have a problem with werewolves. On a similiar note... Bigfoot is real.

I was raised Catholic. As a kid I never understood why the church kept referring to the Jews as "God's Chosen People". If they're chosen, they why are we Catholic? We should be Jewish, right?
There is an awful lot of fuss (gross understatement!) these days about how an individual chooses to connect with the divine. If you are a person of faith someone else's spiritual journey should not pose a threat to your own. And yet it seems when one of the flock begins to question it severely shakes the faith of others. Those earthquakes of the faithful are often initiated by those with the least confidence in their own faith. It is sometimes a case of "methinks thou doth protest too much".
My path is mine. Yours is yours. If we intersect at Kindness and Generosity then that is all that should really matter.

I can remember the exact moment when I realized that, despite its positives, I couldn't continue as a follower in the Lutheran church in which I was raised.

It wasn't quite when we were told that the only two things you had to do to go to heaven were 1) be baptized and 2) accept Jesus as your savior. It was immediately after when I realized that less than half of the world did so and I refused to believe in a God that only let 1/2 of the world's people into heaven.