Finding  God by Faith and Reason  --  Where religion meets reality --  
Where reality meets religion  --  Where mind, heart, the evidence, common sense, 
and God are equal partners  --  Where The God of Faith and Reason can be found.
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Religion and Reality -- Finding God by Faith and Reason     Visit  our  home  page° 

Imagine the God of 
Fundamental Christianity

What Characteristics Does He Express? 

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Page Summary

We all have beliefs about God.   Even atheists have beliefs about God.  But are most human beliefs about God accurate?   Are your personal  beliefs consistent with of contrary to what the evidence indicate as the most likely truth?    Do your personal beliefs  match our collective experiences of what reality most likely is,  or are they someone else's beliefs about reality that you have simple accepted and mindlessly made your own?   

Because, for each and every one of us, our beliefs dictate our behavior, the bottom line questions are:  "Do our beliefs lead us toward or away from the things and the experiences what we say we want?"  and  "If the evidence indicates that one or more of our religiously inspired cherished beliefs are false, how do we deal with that?    This page answers these questions. 

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Page Content

Resistance to Change`   ----------------    Although Change is the only thing in the universe that stay the same, humans can stand anything but change.

What Do You Know About God`   -------    How do you know that what you believe about God is true?

Some Conservative Christian Beliefs About God`   --   If what the fundamentalist Christian  leaders tell their followers is correct, then God has some very bizarre attributes.

God --  The Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction`   --   The God of fundamental Christianity is hardly a role model for moral behavior.   

An Alternative Perspective`      ---------    A description of some of the most likely theories, the most probable possibilities about:   How the universe functions -- about who and what a human being actually is --  about what God is and how He/She/It functions.   

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Bringing Christianity 
    into the Twenty-first Century

Please remember that pointing out the ancient follies in Christian theology is designed to modernize and rescue Christianity from the fate of the Zoroastrian religion.   Please also remember that there is a vast difference between the teachings of Jesus and the Christian hierarchy (the social structure) that attempts to tell you what his ministry means.   

We encourage you to support our work° and participate with us°  in bringing spiritual consciousness  into the twenty-first century.   Thank you.

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Resistance to Change

The Track Record:   When examining the religious beliefs and the descriptions of God that are, today, being given to the public by the ultra-conservative leaders of the Christian churches, one finds all of them to be at least fifteen-hundred years old.   A few of the original beliefs have been moved into the "Ignore This" file, but most are still taught to their followers and  to innocent, pre-age-of-reason,  young children as if  they were absolute truths.    

But are their teachings really irrefutable truths?   Do they represent reality, or are they simply ancient beliefs about reality.    For example, here are three beliefs that are no longer accepted as "The Truth."   

1)  The sun revolves around the Earth,  

2)   The Earth is the center of the universe,  

3)   The Earth is flat.    

And here are three stories peddled by the leaders  of fundamental Christianity that are extremely damaging:  

1)   The fundamentalist  Christianity leaders promote teaching  innocent, pre-age-of-reason,  young children that God created them inherently evil.  

2)   In direct repudiation of their own Bible,  and in denial of significant evidence, fundamentalist  Christianity leaders claim that humans are separate from God   and   separate from nature.   

3)    With absolutely no evidence to support their claim 
and 
in direct contradiction to the Christian Bible
and in denial of
the religious beliefs and religious rights of millions of people,  
the fundamentalist Christian leaders claim that 

every time of a human egg and sperm, God creates a brand new human being
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Why Change:   The beliefs that the Earth was flat and that it was the center of the universe were, at one time, core pieces of original Christian theology.   Why did the churches stop teaching these beliefs?   Because they were forced to by the evidence brought forth by investigators we now call scientists.   

Churches and Changes:   We say, "forced to change" because church leaders didn't say, "Thank you.  Now we have a bigger piece of the truth to teach our followers.   Jesus taught us,  'Know the truth and the truth shall set you free,'  so we really appreciate your adding to the truth."  Their response was exactly the opposite.  It was oppressive and violent.   

Copernicus, Galileo, and Tyndale:   For the heinous crime of  providing evidence indicating that the Earth revolved around  the sun,  Nicholas Copernicus was burned at the stake.   For confirming the findings of Copernicus, Galileo Galileo was imprisoned for life in his home and prohibited from making any further public statements.   

Tyndale    Tyndale       ...

When William Tyndale°  made the first English translation of the Christian Bible, did the church leaders say,  "Thank you?  Now the people can read the Bible themselves and don't need us church leaders to tell them what it means."   No!  They burned every copy of the translation they could find.  They hunted Tyndale down, imprisoned him and torture him for a while, then hung him until he was half dead and then burned him at the stake.   

To say the least,  church leaders don't like challenges to their power and control and they don't like the changes that are constantly going on in the world around them.   

Are Things Different Today?   Are church leaders leaders different today?   The evidence tell us the answer is, "only slightly."   The Christians extremists can no longer get away with murdering heretics while Muslim extremist still murder non-believers any chance they get.   In America, Christian extremists  have a few other restrictions, but they still  fight tooth-and-nail against change.   

Denial -- The Core of Conservatism:   Given the above context and because there is much research data available today that wasn't available when Christian theology was canonized,  the following question is appropriate:   "Is it possible that some of the beliefs presently being taught by the ultra-conservative Christian leaders are false?"   The evidence indicates the answer is yes.

Upon closely examining some of today's common beliefs, startling answers become apparent.   Many long-held Christian beliefs have no evidence to support them and many other beliefs are in direct contradiction to the presently available evidence.   However, the most important answer is that the majority of the conservative Christian leaders simply ignore a vast amounts of physical evidence and they also ignore several critical and life-altering Biblical scriptures.°    

Why?    Why do they do this?   Because, like most other major religions,  the survival of their church structures have taken precedence over the search for the truth.    The Christian church leaders don't realize that adapting to the inevitable changes will bring them increased power and prestige.   Instead they feel threatened, so they dig in their heels and fight to defend the un-defendable, to deny the undeniable and to attempt to prove the un-provable.  

Is This also a Problem Outside the Church?    Definitely yes!  Why?  Because beliefs control human behavior and some Christian  beliefs are fostering very dysfunctional personal and social behavior.   Probably the most obvious example of this is the fundamentalist Christian leader's  attempt to take control of the Republican party and thereby destroy the  delicate balance between  church and sate that our Founding Fathers so carefully set up.   It's not really possible to separate our spiritual nature from our governments (or from any other social structure),  so the real issue is to be sure that no religion uses secular laws, government property, or government money to enhance itself at the expense of other religious belief systems or belief structures.   

The religiously inspired story called The Rapture is fostering the second most destructive, Christian, behavior pattern.   For the how and why of this, see the page titled:  The Rapture.°

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Examining Some Obsolete Beliefs      ...

What Do Humans Know About God?    

Before you read any further on this page, there is one fact of life you should know:   Most religious scholars agree that the ultimate mystery that we call God is beyond all thought, beyond a physical human beings' capacity to know.    If they are correct, then  religious teachings are focused on that which is  impossible to know.   

Ecclesiastes 11:5  in the Christian Bible delivers the same message to those who are willing  to read it.  Here are four different translations:

RSV --  "...you do not know the work of God who makes everything.”

NLV   --  "God's ways are as hard to discern as the pathways of the wind..."

KJV  --  "... thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all."

NASB   --  "...you do not know the activity of God who makes all things."

The only thing we can say with certainty about God, is that whatever it is, it has a profound affect upon us.     Beyond that, what can we say about God with provable certainty?    NOTHING !   Readers are invited to read the page titled:  Spiritual Awareness.° and then return to this page.  

Here's another factor we'd like you to also be aware of:    Many American social, political, and economic structures and  many critical life-altering decision are based upon unexamined acceptance of fundamentalist Christian beliefs or upon atheistic rejection of all religious beliefs.    Thus, the examination of the fundamental Christian belief system is being undertaken as a matter of survival.   Readers are directed to the page titled:   Why Speak Truth?°  

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Examining Some Obsolete Beliefs      ...

Examining Some Conservative 
  Christian Beliefs About God

According to the fundamentalist Christian  leaders, God has some  bizarre attributes.   Imagine a God like this:

    The God of fundamental Christianity is a super-powerful human being sitting on a throne somewhere high up in the sky in the clouds where the birds fly  in a place called heaven.    According to the account of him strolling through the Garden of Eden, He's about the same size as you and me.

     According to Genesis 1:20 in the Christian Bible, heaven is in the firmament above the clouds where birds fly.   

    The God of fundamental Christianity is invisible to you and me.  He is Masculine.   He has a personality and a huge ego.   He expresses the following personality traits:   At times, He is angry, fickle, arbitrary, intolerant,  easily displeased, prone to violence, wrathful, vengeful, vindictive,  judgmental, and  jealous.   He is infinitely insecure, needing gobs and gobs of worship and adoration.   

    The God of fundamental Christianity has an ego so great that  he damans our worship,  a self-image so  small that he demands our obedience and is so weak that he needs human help to punish the unfaithful.

    The God of fundamental Christianity has a history of condoning  pillage, plunder, genocide, and mass murder.   (See the next section below:  God --  The Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction.`)   At one point, with the exception of Noah and his boat's passengers, he actually murdered every human being and every animal on the planet.   But for some unknown reason,  He didn't kill flies, mosquitoes, nats, rats, scorpions, and poisonous snakes.   Why did God save these creatures, while allowing or intentionally causing  the extinction of millions of other life forms?   We simply don't know.    Perhaps the common survival practice of first saving next of kin might offer us a clue to resolving this unsolved mystery.    

In addition to the attributes mentioned above in which God is viewed as a super human being,  there are numerous other beliefs in Christian theology that seem to beg for reevaluation.  Readers are directed to the page titled:  Some Alternate Perspectives on Christian Theology°   The page lists some conservative Christian beliefs along with an added perspective on each belief listed.   Our intention is to offer readers some expanded views and additional  possibilities on several beliefs of Christian theology.   

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The God of Fundamentalist Christianity --  
  The Ultimate Weapon  of Mass Destruction:   

    The God of fundamental Christianity is hardly a role model for moral behavior.   He is angry, jealous,  intolerant, easily displeased, vindictive,  prone to violence,  rigid, fickle, needy, geedy, brooding, hypocritical, unforgiving completely unfair, fundamentally evil, merciless, lacking in compassion, and has a history of committing genocide.   He's also known for sending his believers out rape, rob, pillage, plunder, and murder those who believe in a different religion.   According to the Bible, the God of Christianity has ordered and/or condoned mass murder, slavery,  religious intolerance;  the torture of prisoners; the treating of women as property, and the killing of innocent babies.   He still, to this day,  requires the execution of non-virgin brides, witches, gays and any woman who commits adultery.  (Somehow He forgets to condemn the men involved in this heinous crime of lust.)  He also condemns to death any child who willfully disobeys and curses a parent.   

He advocates genocide,  sexism, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and has condemned the entire human race the status of "inherently evil" simply because a long-dead ancestor (Eve)  ate an apple from the wrong tree --  a tree which, by the way, He intentionally set right in front of her nose.   And if the Fundamentalist Christians are correct about God's Conception Magic Act, He's also the world's cruelest and most evil baby murderer.   

Is this the same God who sent Jesus to Earth to preach forgiveness and then to get tortured and murdered?    And if all this is not enough, He demands to be worshiped under threat of eternal damnation for those who don't comply.   The Biblical passages below represent just a small sample of his terror-provoking, criminal behavior:   

Deuteronomy 7:1-2: 

"... the seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them."

Joshua 6:21: 

"And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword." 

Joshua 10:40-41: 

"So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded. And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon." 

Exodus 12:29-30: 

"And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead." 

    And if you're concerned about "Family Values,"  you'll surely love this passage. 

Joshua 7:20-25: 

"...Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel... And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones."

    God  even commits the ultimate act of genocide.   Except for Noah and his seven family members, God murdered the entire human race. 

Genesis 6:5-9: 

"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God."

    Does this mass murdered consciousness -- the mass murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children --   make you  wonder if this character who passes himself off as God is somehow related to Stalin, Hitler,  and  Saddam Hussein?)*   

*Reference:    Do you suppose humans could have been been duped by a make believe god?°   

    The above-mentioned passages are only samples taken form an extensive criminal record.   For a more complete list of God's murderous rampages, readers are referred to the Religious Tollerance.org web site page:    http://www.religioustolerance.org/imm_bibl1.htm.°   

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And think about this for a moment:   The above Biblical passages list only a portion what we know about God's "life of crime."     Imagine what he has done that we don't know about.°  

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An Alternative Perspective      ...

An Alternative Perspective

The Above attributes are just a few of the fundamental Christian beliefs about God.   Fundamentalist Christian leaders have expressed many more characteristics, and for those interested the list continues on a second page of attributes.°  

However, those who choose to bring our minds into the picture , enough is enough.   It's time to examine the alternatives.   As the next step, readers are invited to read these two pages:

 There is Another Perspective°

 Do you Believe in God?°

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Will You Help Us Help 
  Your Children, and Your Grandchildren?

1)    Become One of Our Team Members:°    Join us as we become one of the most potent forces in the fast-growing community of dedicated individuals and organizations working diligently to reverse Global Climate Change.   

2)    We are looking for maps, drawings and other depictions of well known objects seen in the year 2099 that will, if the ice caps continue to melt at the present rate, be under about  forty feet of ocean water.  (For example, a picture of New York harbor with the water forty feet deeper.)   
If you are a source or can connect us to a source, please call us immediately at:    1-818-727-0727       1-800-488-9930.

3)    There are at least a dozen ways you can participate in resolving these two major problems.   Please see the page titled:   How You Can Help Us Help You.° 

4)    Your financial support would be tremendously helpful to us in finding, and/or creating these graphic depictions.   Please go to our donations page.°

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Your Financial Support

Our work cannot continue without your financial support.   To those of you who are and/or have supported our work, we are extremely grateful.   For those of you who are willing to assist us financially by sending money or  items of value that we can use or sell, please see our Donations Page.°   

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A list of several ways you can participate. 

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The God of Faith & Reason

Finding God 
By Faith     And      By Reason

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Copyright © 2001 --  Revisions Copyright 2001-2006     Robert E. Coté    The Life Center

All rights reserved.     See:  Terms of Use° 

31    ---  Imagine the God of Fundamental Christianity

http://www.religionandreality.com/31-imagine-god-1.html

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