Over my 65 years I have heard many fancy speakers who said nice sounding words.
People can say nice sounding or flattering words. However, watch their actions, see what they have done. See if their track record lines up with the words that they speak.
Religion can be so destructive to relationships. It says, "you have to believe like I do or we can't be true friends." Religion sets up the barriers to friendships, "saved versus unsaved, or lost" heaven or hell
How many people have been griefstricken for countless years for fear that their friends or relatives are going to hell? How much better could their time have been spend on just spending time and interacting with each person? However, the religious mental barrier keeps telling the religious person, "he is unsaved, what can I go to get him saved" or .......
I recently was watching (or rather listening to) a you tube video.
He made this statement
"Belief is not knowledge. Belief is simply an assertion.... Belief is not evidence. Any time you have to accept an assertion by faith, you are admitting that assertion cannot be accepted on its own merits. It doesn't have the strength to be accepted as perhaps any other scientific hypotheses would be taken." Dan Barker
I was raised as a Christian and thought of myself as that for many years. However, in recent years the "Christian" identity of God has changed and expanded for me. I have liked the way that Bishop Carlton Pearson said it in the title of one of his books: "God Is Not a Christian, Nor a Jew, Muslim, Hindu...: God Dwells with Us, in Us, Around Us, as Us"
