I have no problem going any way you want with this thread. I don't mind a little proselytizing! If I couldn't stand exporsure to other ideas I wouldn't be much of a free-thinker would I?
As to what my beliefs actually are. I might be considered more of an atheist. However, I do not disbelieve in the concept of a god, I simply don't buy any of the ones that have been presented to me. I used to be more of a deist... but eventually I realized that belief in a god(s) was irrelevant and settled on atheist/agnostic.
Interestingly enough, the bible has only made me less of a believer. It seems ridiculously contradictory... In addition, I am against organized religion... in fact, I think organized religion is all about taking the god out of spirituality. I have also read quite a bit about the existence of a historical jesus and found little to no evidence.
To me religion is just something that people created to control other people..... So that was very rambling and probably not well written, but you get the idea.
I would say, the only types of things that have ever made me really wonder about a god(s) are books like "A brief history of time" by hawking. I see far more sprituality in relativistic physics and evolution than I do in religious texts.
To get back to the OP:
My thought is, if god(s) is/are truly unlimited and beyond our understanding why couldn't it/them reveal itself to different people in different ways. We may think it illogical for judiasm and christianity to both be true, but god(s) is/are by definition beyond human logic and rules....
I had a conversation with a good friend the other day that your post reminded me of. He used to be a reasonably devout catholic growing up. Now he is more of a liberal x-tien or deist. We were discussing the lack of evidence for the existence of a historical jesus. He told me, "Honestly, whether he was the son of god or not, or even existed... it doesn't matter to me. What matters to me are his teachings and that following them is the right thing to do."
He is of the opinion that following the golden rule as jesus taught is what matters..... not arguing over whether a bunch of obvious parables are really true.
This message has been edited by Mini_Ditka, 01-03-2006 07:02 PM
This message has been edited by Mini_Ditka, 01-03-2006 07:03 PM