It gets deeper than this. Take jar and Biblical Christians, for instance. jar adamantly claims to actually read just what the Bible says...and from this has developed an entire belief system which he would claim quite rightly came from the Bible. His position is influenced by other beliefs than Christianity, however. For starters, his beliefs are rooted in logic, reason, and reality first. The Biblical Christians, whom jar accuses of being largely dishonest, base their conclusions on what is interpreted collectively from Western translations. You, on the other hand, favor non-western translations. So some questions:
Do you base your conclusions on the tradition of what was written? Or...do you base your criteria for honesty on logic, reason, and reality as jar does?
jar would claim that Jesus was born, lived, and died as a Jew. He thus wiould say that much of what Paul and the authors of the Gospel of John wrote were efforts to start a new religion. If so, do you agree? And what is it in the older texts that you favor is different?
Finally...what conclusions represent honesty? In your belief, who Was (and Is) Jesus?
Is the Westernized agenda of religion...driven largely by Martin Luther and John Calvin...a lie?
And where does the Roman Catholic Church fit into all of this?
Also the Eastern Orthodox?
Chance as a real force is a myth. It has no basis in reality and no place in scientific inquiry. For science and philosophy to continue to advance in knowledge, chance must be demythologized once and for all. —RC Sproul
"A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." —Mark Twain "
~"If that's not sufficient for you go soak your head."~Faith
You can "get answers" by watching the ducks. That doesn't mean the answers are coming from them.~Ringo