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and be free to go out and sin again, usually the same sin.
There are many diferent interpretations of God, in the usual sense of the word, as there are
types of people. The images run from a belief in a god who is some vague sort of "universal
cosmic mind" to an anthropomorphic deity with a long white beard and sandals who keeps
track of every action of each individual.
Even within the confines of a given religion, the personal interpretations of God differ greatly.
Some religions actually go so far as to label anyone who belongs to a religious sect other than
their own a heretic, even though the overall doctrines and impressions of godliness are nearly
the same. For example: The Catholics believe that the Protestants are doomed to Hell simply
because they do not belong to the Catholic Church. In the same way, many splinter groups of
the Christian faith, such as the evangelical or revivalist churches, believe that the Catholics
are heathens who worship graven images. (Christ is depicted in the image that is most
psychologically akin to the individual worshipping him, and yet the Chrisitans criticize
"heathens" for the worship of graven images.) And the Jews have always been given the
Devil's name.
Even though the god in all of these religions is basically the same, each regards the way
chosen by the others as reprehensible, and to top it all, religionists actually PRAY for one
another! They have scorn for the brothers of the right-hand path because their religions carry
different labels, and somehow this animosity must be released. What better way than through
"prayer"! What a simperingly polite way of saying: "I hate your guts," is the thinly disguised
device known as praying for your enemy! Praying for one's own enemy is nothing more than
bargain-basement anger, and of a decidedly shoddy and inferior quality!
If there has been so much violent discrepancy as to the proper way in which to worship God,
how many different interpretations of God can there be - and who is right?
All devout "white-lighters" are concerned with pleasing God so that they might have the
"Pearly Gates" opened for them when they die. Nevertheless, if a man has not lived his life in
accordance with the regulations of his faith, he can at the last minute call a clergyman to his
deathbed for a final absolution. The priest or minister will then come running on the double,
to "make everything right" with God and see to it that his passport to the Heavenly Realm is
in order. (The Yezidis, a sect of Devil worshippers, take a different viewpoint. They believe
that God is all-powerful, but also all-forgiving, and so accordingly feel that it is the Devil
whom they must please, as he is the one who rules their lives while here on earth. They
believe so strongly that God will forgive all of their sins once they have been given the last
rites, that they feel no need to concern themselves with the opinion God may hold of them
while they live.)
With all of the contradictions in the Christian scriptures, many people currently cannot
rationally accept Christianity the way it has been practiced in the past. Great numbers of
people are beginning to doubt the existence of God, in the established Christian sense of the
word. So, they have taken to calling themselves "Christian Atheists". True, the Christian Bible
is a mass of contradictions; but what could be more contradictory than the term "Christian
Atheist"?
If prominent leaders of the Christian faith are rejecting the past interpretations of God, how
then can their followers be expected to adhere to previous religious tradition?