10-trsm-06 - Conflict of Ideas and Beliefs

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Finding God

By Faith And By Reason

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How to End Religiously Inspired Violence

Page Six

The Real War
On Planet Earth Today Is
A Battle of Ideas and Beliefs.

People are killing each other over beliefs that are hundreds, even thousands of years old -- over beliefs handed down from generation to generation without question from highly superstitious men who also believed the Earth was flat. People are killing each other over beliefs that have no evidence to support them -- over beliefs that defy common sense -- over beliefs that are in sharp contrast to, and is some cases, directly contradictory to beliefs of other religions.

Each side is these conflicts claims exclusive access to God -- exclusive access to the truth -- exclusive access to a mythical place above the clouds of planet Earth called heaven.

Neither side will compromise. Neither side will acknowledge that it could be wrong about its knowledge of God. Neither side will acknowledge that there could be more than one path to God. Both sides are willing to go to war and even die to defend its beliefs.

Now, add chemical weapons, biologic weapons, nuclear weapons, and suicide bombers to the above mix. Be sure to allow room for tanks, guns, automatic weapons, airplanes, rockets, and the like. Throw in the a few million, mindless, religious true-believers. Add the egocentric atheists who are making millions selling weapons. Fold in gross overpopulation to the point of massive destruction of our natural environment. Bring in the Bush and Company's denial of reality. And remember to include the Christian fairytale called "The Rapture " and top it of with Islamic jihad. As a bonus, note that, if left unchecked, the already-in -process, Global Climate Change will, all by itself, destroy most of the life forms on Earth and make the planet all but uninhabitable. Let the entire mess be run by agents of The Great God Money and you have "Life on Earth - 2006." (And still today in 2010)

So where do you go to untangle a mess like this?
The first step is to end Global terrorism:

Page One -- Analysis and Assessment°

Page Two -- Examining Some Basic Concepts°

Page Three -- Combating Terrorism Using a Non-traditional Approach°

Page Four -- Getting Beyond the Impasse -- How to End Terrorism°

The second step is to face and resolve the Global Climate Change problem:

Climate Change and Human Survival°

The third step is to examine religion and reality and see how they relate. Readers are directed to the main content of this website. Begin with the following question on our home page: Do you believe the following statements are true or false?° This question is the entry way into the Religion And Reality website. It will take you on a journey into spiritual consciousness. But before you step onto this path, please be aware that you can't unlearn what you'll learn there.

Additional steps will become obvious if and when we face Global Climate Change and Global Terrorism, and as we become familiar with how the universe appears to actually function.

Mindlessness Just Might Be Waking Up

Fundamentalist Christians are notorious for being mindless -- for refusing to think for themselves on any topic where thought and behavior are dictated by their church leaders. Readers who doubt the reality of this statement are directed to a clear documentation of this behavior. Please view the PBS television program titled: "Is God Green." This program is part of the series titled: "Bill Moyers on America." It aired on KCET in Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 11, 2006.

On the issue of Global Climate Change, the fundamentalist Christian leaders have been (and most still are) adamant that this issue is a liberal, hippie, tree-huggers conspiracy to interrupt free market business of, as the Christian Bible puts it, "subdue and conquer the Earth." For these leaders, the environment is of no concern because the end of the world is coming any day now, ( The Rapture°) and thus, in the mean time, jobs are important and destruction of the Earth is irrelevant. Fortunately, the usually sheep-minded followers are not buying the "it's-OK-to-destroy-the-Earth" message of their leaders.

This marks a totally now dimension in Christianity, particularly in fundamental Christianity. It also demonstrates the vast difference between the mindlessness demonstrated in the countries controlled by Islam and mindlessness of the fundamentalist Christians in America. Because of the diversity of beliefs in America, the people here have a far greater chance of waking up -- a far better chance of seeing the truth.

One still has to approach the fundamentalist Christians in Biblical language or they won't listen, but how about asking these questions:

The leaders in whom you put your blind faith have turned out to have been hopelessly wrong on the environmental issue. For years, you let go of your own mind and ignored your own personal connection to God in favor of following their authority, and now you find them to have been adamant and completely wrong about an issue that threatens the very existence of all humanity.

Is it possible that the fundamentalist Christian leaders could be wrong on other things they tell you with this same, unyielding and arrogant hubris? They have clearly demonstrated that they could be wrong. What else do you suppose they are wrong about?

And why have they so cleverly ignored these Biblical passages: Luke 17:21, John 10:34, 35, Isaiah 41:23, John 14:12, Mark 10:27, Mark 9:42, Genesis 2:7, Ecclesiastes 11:5 Ecclesiastes 3:11 1 Corinthians 2:14 Matthew 7:15-16, et cetera. For the text of these passages and others, see the page titled: Born Again Bible.

And why do the fundamentalist Christian leaders claim that lies of commission so bad and, at the same time, use lies of omission as if they were God-commissioned sacraments? Deception is still deception regardless of the technique used. (See the page titled: The Biggest Lie About Lies.)

Because life is not what we've been led to believe it is by those who claim to know, each and every one of us has been (and still is) making critical, irreversible, life-altering decisions based on false, incomplete, and/or intentionally deceptive information. It's possible to change that now. (See the page titled: It's Wakeup Time. and the page titled: Voting for God.)

A War of Beliefs

The real war on planet Earth today is a battle of ideas and beliefs. It's here and only here that the final battles in the war on violence and divisiveness will be won. As you have probably already figured out, the best way to win a war of beliefs (or any war for that matter) is to never start fighting in the first place.

The truth is the only weapon required. Why? Because it's impossible to stop something as complex as religious violence with physical barriers only. One must also work to undermine the support for terrorism: 1) by reaching into the source of beliefs that produce terrorism, 2) by open public discussions of the religious beliefs of every religion, and 3) by open public discussions of how religious beliefs affect the entire planet.

Because of the vast differences that will show up in open discussions of religious beliefs, it will soon become obvious that that no religion has both the complete and accurate truth, and that we must allow those with beliefs different from our own to approach God any way they choose. This topic is at the core on human survival. Much of this website is devoted to this issue. Enter Here.