“I am now convinced that children should not be subjected to the frightfulness of the Christian religion […]. If the concept of a father who plots to have his own son put to death is presented to children as beautiful and as worthy of society’s admiration, what types of human behavior can be presented to them as reprehensible?”
– Ruth Hurmence Green, writer and freethinker in “The Born Again Skeptic’s Guide to the Bible” (1979)
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
About Ed Anderson
I am "non-religious", not an atheist as some suppose, since after reading what I have written many wonder if I believe in "God", I just don't have a name for the concept, "God", nor do I have an origination story or theological mystery tour to stretch your faith. (I have no proof of what I believe and I wonder if my belief in "God" is supportable as I have increasing doubts.) I just can't accept an inflexible point of view that says, "I know what you need, and I know what you should know and here it is, you can have it too." Religionists present yet another obstacle to finding "truth" as they claim to have succeeded exclusively in finding it.
Having been a part of the religious scene for years it is clear to me how easily duped we are to believe in something we have no proof of, has caused an abundance of divisions, and "territorialized" people into believers and non-believers.
Furthermore, my belief in "God" equates to the larger perspective which includes an awareness of "God" in everything. I speculate at times whether or not consciousness is "God" So, my belief in "God" does not necessarily match up to the Christian/Judaeo tradition of a being existing somewhere in the beyond or in one's "heart". If there is a "God" he/she/it could be anywhere and in anything.
Though I believe in God, it is not a belief in the God of Scripture. Too many “holes” in Scripture to satisfy my inquiring mind. It may indeed point me in the right direction but I find it not only unreliable but full of plagiaristic thought and re-writing of some of history’s interesting solutions. I much prefer to trust the minds of men and women who conjecture on the basis of what we now know of our universe than those men and women who trust the minds of ancient spiritual guides who, in turn, contributed to a book allegedly “inspired” by God. It is all unprovable, either side of this argument, but I prefer to invest most of my thinking in current ideas rather than those that show little support in logic. Do I hear an "Amen"?
View all posts by Ed Anderson
Thoughts on Thoughts 
April 11th, 2014 at 8:34 am
….and she’s a Christian….? The gospel is both beautiful and bloody. It’s a sacrificial gospel and that’s where the beauty of it lies. God “plotting” to put His Son to death makes out the Father to be deceptive and sinister when nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is that within the community of Holy Spirit love within the Godhead, between the Father and Son there was a plan made to save sinful humanity. Jesus willingly went to the cross, suffered and died for your sins and mine, because God so loved the world. This is how God demonstrates His love for us: while we were still sinners Christ died for us….
April 11th, 2014 at 8:47 am
…and being a Christian would make any difference as to the point of her statement?
April 11th, 2014 at 7:38 pm
Yes it would since Calvary and Christ’s atonement there is central to the Christian faith…
April 11th, 2014 at 8:53 am
The point of this statement seems to me to be more about the viewpoint of an innocent child rather than that of a person who can discriminate between sacrifice and violence as we might expect an adult to do.
April 11th, 2014 at 7:54 pm
The fact as stated in the quote has nothing to do with the veracity of “Calvary and Christ’s atonement…” You may believe that to be true, that is your choice, the claim that God sacrificed His son is a poor example of fatherly care.
April 11th, 2014 at 8:02 pm
You do not believe John 3:16? I am not being facetious, I am trying to ascertain your beliefs
April 11th, 2014 at 7:59 pm
If that’s the case then she’s not giving children enough credit. We have told our children everything about the truth of Christianitty right from the start, yes even the “hard” parts. Real Truth is the whole truth, not fragments or withholding the gospel from them altogether. The gospel of Jesus is reality and children know and appreciate truth when they hear it. Of course the truth of the gospel is the grace of God, you cannot have one without the other. “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”.
To believe that the Christian religion is frightful in the first place shows a lack of understanding about the Christian religion and about God’s nature and character. God is love and God is holy, if Ruth Humence Green had met Him she would know that.
I wonderif people who subscribe to her view are quite consistent then in making sure children never come across anything frightful in their lives – death, pain, suffering….. The gospel is REAL because it meets us in our pain and suffering and need.
April 11th, 2014 at 9:52 pm
You asked if I believe John 3:16… I do not take the Scripture as truth. Using the Scripture to prove itself is akin to doing one’s own brain surgery. I am a seeker of truth but truth, as stated and defended by many Christians, is not exclusively the domain of Christianity. Truth is truth no matter who discovers it. I believe there are many who are on a similar journey, looking for truth, and have found it wanting in the religion of their youth. God, if there is a God, can handle my doubts and questions about truth, after all, He is allegedly far stronger than I. Additionally, if He created all, He made the very brain out of which my questions and comments come. Any God who would put me down, ignore or put me in hell for asking questions or raising doubts out of the brain He created would not be one that I would choose to serve.
April 12th, 2014 at 6:14 am
Thanks for answering. I did have a look around your blog, but I couldn’t get into your Bio on your About page, so that is part of the reason I asked the question of you. Being a seeker of truth is a good thing I think. Many people, both Christians and non-Christians, are apt to believe everything they are told without finding out for themselves whether or not it is true.
I guess the question then becomes – when a truth is discovered/believed what is the measure of its veracity? It probably wouldn’t surprise you to hear that I, being a Christian, hold to the position of an objective absolute truth and reject relativism in all its forms. Each individual has the right to reject belief in God and/or Christianity and its claims of absolute truth. However it then becomes necessary for the individual to decide their own method of measuring and quantifying truth, which is purely subjective.
Some people are happy with merely subjective truth but I personally don’t find it satisfactory in terms of logic.
I agree with you that God can handle your doubts and questions. He is not shocked, surprised or offended by honesty. In fact, that’s what He wants. He seeks those who worship Him in spirit and in truth (to quote scripture!).
Perhaps you could try bringing all your questions and doubts to Him and laying them all out before Him…? I have done that myself. If He doesn’t exist then you’ve lost nothing in the process, and if He does exist then He will meet with you in honesty.
Anyhow, bless you
April 12th, 2014 at 8:31 am
Your comments presuppose you are right, especially when it comes to the idea of God. (Check out my most recent jpg. posting.) Where did you get your information? Was it an emotional experience or does it have a provable source? Imagination does not count here and subjective experiences are suspect.
April 12th, 2014 at 10:42 pm
This is the way it goes… a promise and a default to the same old, same old. It’s because there are no answers to my questions besides a little cheer leading and a “perhaps you ought to take it to God”. How self-serving and circular is that reasoning? I don’t want to get into a brawl over this but it sometimes seems that a street fight may be the only way something like this can be settled. The facts point to the idea that what one believes has much to do with the environment one grew up in and an innate desire to make it true because one wants it to be true. The fantasy can’t be true, its a fantasy. The greatest scam the world has ever seen. And I was part of the scam, big time. How dreadful to recount is that?
April 13th, 2014 at 6:02 am
I actually think that’s really sad. I really do, and I am really sorry that you feel that way. If you’re interested, I will tell you a little of my story. I was brought up a Christian, you are right about that. I was actually brought up in a Christian cult. Many, many things happened there to me and my family members that were abusive and wrong. Many of my friends from there have since turned away from God and gone their own way and I do understand why they’ve become disillusioned. I have reason myself to be bitter if I let it consume me, but God reached down to me in His grace and pulled me out before a root of bitterness really took hold. Even though I was always a “Christian”, it wasn’t until I met Jesus personally that everything changed.
I do have empirical evidence that God is real and that is the state of my own heart. I was hard-hearted and cold. I hated people. I used to say “I hate people but love animals”. I had no compassion for others and was selfish. One evening when I met Jesus I saw my sin, the things I had done wrong, I saw the things I should have done and didn’t – and I was utterly broken. I died to myself that night and was “born again” anew. God gave me a new heart of flesh as He promised He would in His Word. My husband, my mum, my dad and sister can attest to the fact that I am a new person.
This wasn’t what I did to myself in some self-improvement effort as I had previously had no idea that anything even was wrong with me, or needed “improvement” – and thats the truth. This wasn’t simply an emotional experience, nor a fantasy because I am just simply not the same person I was before. No fantasy has the power to utterly turn me from one thing into another.
I guess it’s your choice whether to believe me or not, you don’t know me, I could be talking bull as far as you know. I hope that there is a ring of truth to my story though that will attest to the fact that it’s true and that so is God. Don’t give up, He hasn’t given up on you yet.
April 13th, 2014 at 9:23 am
Thank you for taking the time to create an answer. I have read your response and am more than willing to accept it as your own. Even William James in “Varieties of Religious Experience” would support your view and right to that view. What he and myself cannot accept is to universalize one’s experience and make it part of a system that proposes a truth that is exclusive to a single religion or belief system. That is arrogant, in my opinion, while lacking tolerance and an attempt at truly understanding another’s point of view.
Once I gave up my Christianity I felt liberated. I no longer seek acceptance from another world and I behave as a mature adult because I desire to do so not because it will bring me credit in heaven or approval from a divine being. I live for this day, it is all I/we have. Tomorrow may never come. For me, there is no “after” but this moment. I do not long for a heaven or fear hell. Those are far too contrived motivational tools used by the church over many years to create conformity. I want nothing of that.
I am not inclined to reject what for you is real. Just do not expect of me, or anyone else, that they take on the same God you worship as if there were no other reality but yours and your fellow believers. Stay true to yourself, not a religion or faith. That would be my word of encouragement to anyone, Christian or not.
April 14th, 2014 at 3:02 am
I agree we are all entitled to our own beliefs. I appreciate that you have not arrived at yours lightly. I will leave you to your beliefs now. Thank you for the conversation and all the very best. 🙂
April 14th, 2014 at 7:49 am
Thank you for your charitable approach to my issues. It doesn’t take long before the washed disappear into their mode of religious ideations again after combatting the dregs of evil that Ed Anderson puts forward. It appears my remarks of doubt are shrouded in too much mystery for most and it becomes much easier to walk away than to deal with debate that calls to question basic assumptions. Each time this occurs gives me ample reason to plod forward in the same direction.