Christians Divided: What Will Resolve the Conflict?

(Revised 7-4-2008, 4:58 PM, PDT)

Christians in America are sharply divided, mostly because of the aggressive and imposing political action of the arrogantly proud and militant "Christian Right," which rose to power in 1979, supporting Republican Ronald Reagan. And they have remained in power due to the political actions of "neo-conservative" members of local school boards, state legislatures and the U.S. Congress, and of the current Bush Regime.

They are so powerful now that being a Christian is a litmus test for becoming president. After all, John McCain has identified with the likes of Pat Robertson, John Hagee, James Dobson and Franklin Graham, calling this a "Christian nation." And Barack Obama has resorted to talking about the role his Christian faith played in his community work to "fulfill God’s will," and do "the Lord’s work."

This is pandering. It is in ignorance of the U.S. Constitution, and it betrays the intent of the founding fathers, who wanted to establish religious freedom, and freedom from religious bigotry.

In the late 1980s many people began to speak up against the religious bigotry and hypocrisy of the Christian Right. But, its leaders began to fend off criticism by claiming that they were "being persecuted, as the Christ Jesus prophesied." But that is a false claim, because Jesus was talking about the persecution of Christians during the first three centuries after the teachings of Jesus were first spread. And that persecution stopped in the fourth century when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

In the 1980s and ‘90s, and even well into this decade, good, humble, gentle, liberal, progressive Christians remained silent. They "render unto Caesar" what is Caesar’s, and they understand why it will be the loving, humble and meek who inherit the earth.

Now it’s time to understand the truth. For Christianity has been divided into different sects since the death of the Christ Jesus, because after his death even the original disciples of Jesus did not agree how he should be honored and represented, and subsequent followers disagreed even more. In fact, the disagreements continued for many generations.

Then, in the fourth century after the death of Jesus, there was a concerted effort spearheaded by the Roman Emperor Constantine, who thought he had seen the Light and wanted to consolidate "Christian" power and authority under one official church with one monarchial head, or pope.

Constantine didn’t succeed entirely, because not all Christians fell under the new order. But Constantine did establish a very powerful and dominant Roman church which called itself catholic (which means universal or worldwide). Thus, Christianity was significantly changed when it was established as the official religion of the Roman Emperor’s military empire. It had its own official canon and doctrines, which were expressed in the Nicene Creed and in the approved texts chosen to be the official canon and scriptures of the church.

However, all this happened gradually, in three steps. The first was the First Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., which came up with the Nicene Creed, which I will discuss below, and it settled a raging conflict about whether Jesus was "God incarnate" or not (and of course the Nicene Creed claims he was). The second was the Council of Laodicea in 364 A.D., during which members decided which of the many Christian gospels (and which versions of them) were to be accepted as official church canon and scriptures to be included in the Holy Bible, and which were not. And the third was the Second Council of Nicea in 787 A.D., which restored the honoring of church icons which had been suppressed by the Byzantine Empire some years earlier.

At any rate, the upshot, or the product of all these deliberations of church "fathers," is what Christians now know as the Holy Bible and the Nicene Creed, which Christians have honored ever since. (And, for those who don’t know, Protestant versions of the Bible include the same 27 books in the New Testament, as the Catholic Bible does. However, Protestant Bibles have only 39 books in the Old Testament, while Catholic Bibles have 46. The seven books included in Catholic Bibles are Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch. Catholic Bibles also include sections in the books of Esther and Daniel which are not found in Protestant Bibles.)

Fortunately, the Christian Bible does contain much of the divinely inspired truth that was originally communicated by the Christ Jesus. But, unfortunately, as you will see, the Nicene Creed and the Christian gospels in the Bible also contain errors and misleading concepts and claims, designed to create a doctrine of preeminence and superiority. And, as I will show you, that doctrine is erroneous. In fact, it is among the "doctrines of men" that Jesus warned us about.

We don’t really know if the errors and misleading concepts were created by the original authors who wrote their gospels from three to nine decades after Jesus died, or by copiers or translators during the second and third centuries, or by those who compiled the official canon and scriptures in the fourth century. However, whenever it was, the evidence is pretty clear that the Bible as we know it is not free of error.

That is why Thomas Jefferson, the great American founding father, author of the Declaration of Independence and the third U.S. President, said: "Among the sayings and discourses imputed to Jesus by his biographers, I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of the most lovely benevolence; and others again of so much ignorance, so much absurdity, so much untruth, charlatanism, and imposture, as to pronounce it impossible that such contradictions should have proceeded from the same being."

Jefferson was quite right about that, and he, like many other men of faith during the last sixteen centuries, agreed about the errors and exaggerated claims made in the Christian gospels. For example, in 1823 Jefferson wrote: "The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter."

In more recent times, many Christian scholars have come to the same conclusion. For example, John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal Bishop of Newark, NJ, wrote: "In time, the virgin birth account will join Adam and Eve and the story of the cosmic ascension as clearly recognized mythological elements in our faith tradition, whose purpose was not to describe a literal event but to capture the transcendent dimensions of God in the earthbound words and concepts of first-century human beings."

Many Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars have agreed, and that’s because some of what is in the Christian gospels as we know them did not come from the Christ Jesus, but from his early and/or later followers who either did not understand, or deliberately tried to embellish and exaggerate the story of Jesus.

They no doubt meant well and thought it would be good to establish the "one and only" religion founded by "the only begotten Son of God," and even "God Incarnate," and establish a firm threat of hell and eternal damnation for disobedience to the church and a reward of eternal heaven for obedience.

Obviously they also thought it was good to claim that Jesus will come again, next time as an Almighty God King, to rule the world, and that it could happen at any time. They thought it was a great plan, and admittedly it was pretty good, because Christianity is now by far the largest religion in the world.

But, what they did was establish and preach erroneous doctrines of men, which were perpetuated and are now still pushed by many Christians, and especially by the "Christian Right," as Jesus knew they would. That is why he said the day would come when they will cry out, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? Have we not cast out devils in your name? And in your name have we not done many wonderful works?"

But, the truth is that they serve themselves, not the Lord God, nor do they know or serve the Christ. For as Jesus said then, and as he now says through me (the current son of man), the fact is that they are hypocrites who "work iniquity" (do wrong). (And for further explanation about this issue, see the page on Real Prophecies About the Messenger.)

Jesus said: "When you pray, you should not do as the hypocrites do, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues [and churches and mosques] and on street corners, so they may be seen and heard by men. But I say to you that when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut the door, pray to our God which is in secret; and our God which sees and hears in secret shall reward you openly." (Matthew 6:5-6)

Even though there are many errors in the book of Matthew, that’s not one of them. That was what Jesus surely said, because our relationship with God is a private matter, between each person and God, just as Thomas Jefferson said, and as all truly humble, wise and faithful people know. But certain misguided Christians do not understand that, because they ignore all the true words of Jesus and instead focus on the misleading and erroneous doctrines of men.

That is why the Christian Bible and the Nicene Creed established in the fourth century perfectly suited militaristic, imperialistic patriarchs and monarchs. Consequently, what followed was about eleven centuries of theocratic tyranny, oppression and persecution, now called the "Dark Ages."

The erroneous doctrine of preeminence and superiority also caused the cruel Inquisition and the horribly bloody Crusades against Islam. And in the fifteenth century it eventually led to an inevitable attempt to achieve liberation through the Protestant Reformation.

Unfortunately, even though many Protestant Christians today believe that the Protestant Reformation cured and totally reformed Christianity, and that the Protestant version of the Christian Bible was true to the original teachings of the Christ Jesus, that belief is not justified and that is not the case.

Granted, it did stop some of the religious tyranny, oppression and superstition that the early Roman Catholic Church had spread, and it did put an end to the Dark Ages. Most countries in Europe formed their own kind of "Protestant" Christian denominations, and they were generally an improvement over the medieval Roman Church.

Even the Roman Catholic Church was considerably reformed, because the works of liberal and progressive Roman Catholics like St. Francis and St. Thomas Aquinas helped to finally bring back some of the real Christianity into their church, and get rid of some of the misguided practices.

In this freer, less inhibited and far less oppressive religious climate, the work of good Catholics and Protestants helped bring about the "Renaissance" (rebirth) of Greek literature, philosophy, architecture, art, and ideals that had been labeled as pagan by the Roman Church when it was first established. In fact, the Renaissance created a tremendous surge of freedom and creativity wherein beautiful new art, music, literature and architecture flourished all over Europe during what are called the Romantic, Classical and Baroque periods. Western academic historians even call that era "The Enlightenment," because it created so much positive change and improvement in the lives of all those living under Christendom.

However, the crucial part of this history, which unfortunately is not generally known, is that in spite of the Protestant Reformation and the Renaissance, many of the false doctrines about Jesus and the purpose of Christianity lived on in most of the Christian denominations and sects. And those false doctrines still exist today. That is why, with very few exceptions, organized Christianity has been "off track" ever since the fourth century. That is why there has been so much conflict and division ever since.

However, that does not mean that all Christians have been wrong for the last sixteen centuries, because many Christians have understood that the true fundamentals of Christianity have to do with universal love, peace, freedom, compassion, charity, inclusiveness, forgiveness, tolerance, and pacifism. They understand and honor the most important fundamental teachings of Jesus.

The trouble is that many Christians have not understood that, and many still do not understand. They mistakenly think that the fundamentals of Christianity have to do with aggressively trying to "convert all the people of the world to Christianity" believing or claiming they are "saving souls from hell." They don’t realize the folly and the arrogance of that strategy. They don’t realize that they push an erroneous, man-made concept of Christianity. And they ignore all the trouble that has caused in the world for the last sixteen centuries.

Today, especially in America, the most arrogant and self-righteous fundamentalist and evangelical Christians approach people they do not know and claim that you must accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and if you reject that idea they then threaten you and claim that you cannot receive salvation and are doomed to suffer in hell for eternity. They perpetuate the theocratic, imperialistic doctrine that plunged Europe into the Dark Ages sixteen centuries ago.

What many Christians do not realize is that they unwittingly worship an idol, and they do not know what God really is. They don’t realize how thoroughly they’ve been indoctrinated by the misguided doctrines of men that Jesus warned us about.

For example, the cross did not originally have the symbolic religious meaning it was given decades after Jesus was crucified, and it’s even possible that it did not have such significance until the fourth century afterward when the erroneous doctrine of preeminence and superiority was created (to justify military empires that became "Christian"). For the truth is that the death and martyrdom of Jesus was to set a perfect example as a loving, peaceful, forgiving pacifist and martyr. (See the page on The Martyrdom of Jesus.)

On the other hand, when Jesus had said: "Pick up your cross and follow me," he was actually demonstrating that he was a true non-violent political revolutionary. So, the true meaning of the cross is about non-violent, passive protest and martyrdom. After all, some of the main roads in Jerusalem were lined with crucified rebellious dissidents and agitators who dared to protest the rule of Roman occupation.

Jesus was beautifully unique, though, not only because he was a peaceful and loving pacifist, but mainly because he spoke with divine authority. But we need to understand how, and why.

In speaking as the Holy One and as the Ancient One (Oversoul), he did so for God the Holy One, and for the Ancient One. And the Ancient One is the "Word" which was in the beginning, who was with God and was and still is one with God, and is the human aspect of the Supreme Consciousness.

That, by the way, is why Jesus said: "Before Abraham was, I am." He was speaking as the Ancient One, for the Ancient One who is the Oversoul of all human beings, who is within and above us all.

In that respect, in serving in the role of a Christ-Avatar, Jesus was similar to other Avatars and Siddhis.

For example, It was in that role that the great Indian Guru and Siddhi, Meher Baba, said: "I am the Ancient One. I am the One so many seek and so few find. For no amount of intellect can fathom me. No amount of austerity can attain me. Only when one loves me and loses one’s self in me, am I found."

That is such a profound truth. Those words communicated by Meher Baba, like some of the words attributed to Jesus, are what the Holy One would say if the Holy One were a person. And they are words that the Holy One did say and does say through a Christ or an Avatar or Siddhi or other genuine servant-representative of God, being one who is fully enlightened and has been blessed with divine self-realization and knowledge that they are one with God and one with humanity.

As I said on the home page, that is why the Christ Jesus said, "I and my Father are one." That’s why he said the next son of man would say, "As you do unto the least of our brethren, so you do unto me." And that is also why Jesus said, "When the Spirit of truth comes to you, you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." You will know that we are all in fact One in the omnipresent Spirit of God.

That’s why the Christ Jesus taught the golden rule and the core universal principles and values around universal love, charity, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance and pacifism. But that is also why Jesus exposed and rebuked greedy money changers, greedy rich people, religious hypocrites, and self-important power-seekers. And, at the same time, he advised that all normal human beings should not judge others, lest you be judged in turn.

Of course, as I said, there have been and still are some Christian sects that have recognized the core universal teachings of Jesus, and "separated the wheat from the chaff." They understand how and why the meek shall inherit the earth by abiding by the golden rule and universal divine imperative, treating others as they would want to be treated, loving their neighbor, and even loving their enemy. But many Christians do not understand that, and therein lies the conflict.

Right now a very significant division and conflict is in America, as I said at the top of this page, because aggressive, proud, militant right-wing "conservatives" on the so-called "Christian Right" focus on the man-made doctrine of preeminence and superiority, and they are opposed to the majority of good mainstream Christians who are humble, gentle, faithful, liberal, progressive, and peaceful.

Why? Because arrogantly proud and militant Christians "righteously" think they are "godly" and more wise than humble and meek Christians. But it’s the latter who are the true Christians, because they recognize the core universal teachings of Jesus that still shine through in the scriptures, despite the erroneous, contradictory, misleading, self-serving doctrines of men that Jesus warned us about.

This is an important distinction, because for the last 27 years in America, the aggressive and imposing political activism of the "Christian Right" enabled it to pretty much have its way in the political arena.

Boasting and claiming to be "the only true Christians," they became a successful political force in the 1980s supporting Ronald Reagan, as I mentioned. They were instrumental in establishing Republican control of Congress in the 1990s, and again early in this decade. They were the main reason George W. Bush received as many votes as he did in 2004 to maintain the power he had assumed and stolen in 2000, and they have been very influential in establishing and supporting the extremely divisive, highly partisan, nationalistic, anti-Christian right-wing policies and actions of the Bush Regime.

In early 2006, however, as it was reported in the Washington Post, some progressive liberal Christians had finally begun to say they have had enough, and they had begun to come together to refute the claims made by right-wing partisan extremists on the "Christian Right."

Liberal progressive Christians, who better understand the intent of the Christ Jesus, finally began to point out the fallacies in the claims of the Christian Right. They began to mobilize, and they were so successful that by November 2006 they were able to be very instrumental in getting Democrats elected so they could gain control of the U.S. Congress and force George W. Bush to at least begin paying lip service to "bi-partisanship" again. But, unfortunately, that didn't last for long, because militant right-wing ideologues like Bush are utterly convinced they are right and correct, even though they are terribly misguided and wrong.

The conflicting difference between the beliefs of liberal progressive Christians and right-wing conservative Christians is basically about the difference between the actual core teachings of the Christ Jesus, as distinguished from the dogma and doctrines of men who later established Christianity as an organized religion with its own official, canonized scriptures.

That is, it's the difference between true and universal divine intent, as opposed to the intent of "Christian" patriarchs who have sought and still seek worldly rulership in the name of religion, and live by the "sword" (gun and bomb) to gain or maintain worldly power, wealth, and domain.

Universal divine intent is expressed in the central core teachings of all the greatest spiritual teachers, including Jesus, and especially in the "golden rule" and universal divine imperative that he and all other true spiritual teachers have taught: that we should do unto others as we would have others do unto us, which is to say we should treat others as we would want to be treated if we were them.

Jesus said it is the overarching commandment, and it is in fact the universal divine imperative common to all religions. It is not only at the very core of the Christ's teachings, it is related to the core universal principles that Jesus and all other true spiritual teachers have taught regarding universal love, peace, freedom, compassion, sharing, caring, charity, humility, inclusiveness, forgiveness, tolerance, and pacifism.

On the other hand, "Christian" canon, dogma and doctrines of men are those which are more or less summarized in the Nicene Creed, which, as I said, was established in the fourth century after the death of Jesus.

As you may know, the Nicene Creed declares that Jesus is (to paraphrase): "the only-begotten Son of God, God of God, being of one substance with the Father; who, for our salvation, came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified for us, and on the third day rose again and ascended into heaven, and shall come again."

Almost none of that is true. It is true that all human beings are of one substance with God. But the rest of it is false, man-made doctrine. But, even so, I concede that there would probably not have been much of a problem with that if everyone who believed in the Nicene Creed also believed in and followed the core universal teachings of the Christ Jesus. However, history shows very clearly that has not been the case, and it is not the case now.

You see, Paul got it right when he said that evil loves to masquerade as good, because the world is the way it is largely because of greedy, corrupt men who have claimed to be Christians. Ever since the fourth century they’ve been waving their flag, thumping their bible, and rattling their sword, and they’re still doing it today.

They brought about centuries of oppression in the Dark Ages, and they brought about most of the military imperialism, colonialism, and genocide during the last sixteen centuries. And that's an especially big problem that has arisen again during the last twenty-seven years, due to the arrogantly proud, hypocritical, militant leaders of the "Christian Right" in America. And that includes Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, and all the "conservative Christian authorities" who have advised and supported them.

Now it is important to realize that the imposing and aggressive political activism of the Christian Right was in large part enabled by the silence of true Christians and all other truly faithful people who are humble, compassionate, forgiving and tolerant. After all, when good people keep silent, it enables self-centered, greedy, corrupt, self-important, self-righteous people to gain and abuse power.

I tell you that true Christians, like true Jews, true Muslims, true Hindus, true Buddhists, and all other people of real faith, understand that it will be the humble peacemakers and the meek who will ultimately inherit the earth. And, whether or not they believe in the Nicene Creed, true Christians understand that it is more important to follow the actual core teachings of Jesus which are universal and common to all religions.

True Christians understand that we should do unto others as we would have others do unto us, because we reap what we sow. They understand that we should judge not, resist not evil (if we are tempted to judge), overcome hate with love, overcome evil with good, turn the other cheek, forgive and love even our enemy, and care especially for the poor, the disabled, and the least of our brethren. Those teachings are universal and common to every religion.

Unfortunately, proud, militant, right-wing militant zealots who boastfully claim to be Christians tend to merely pay lip service to the golden rule and the fundamental, core, universal teachings of Jesus. They instead believe that the core principles of Christianity are in the Nicene Creed, especially the part about Jesus being "God Incarnate," dying for our "salvation," and "coming again." And, while that wouldn't be so bad in itself if they abided by the real core teachings of the Christ, they instead focus on the ideas in the Nicene Creed, and they carry it to self-righteous, aggressive, imposing extremes.

That is why the emphasis of the leaders of the Christian Right is in recruiting and converting people to their brand of Christianity. They believe they must convince you that you must be "saved," claiming that unless you profess that "Jesus is The Lord God and Savior" (and believe as they do) you will be condemned to hell for eternity. It’s the same old false story that hasn’t changed for sixteen hundred years.

That's the problem. And now it is time for everyone to recognize that is erroneous doctrine, which was especially designed to ensure ongoing obedience to theocratic "Christian" patriarchal authority, by promising eternal reward in heaven for obedience to the church, and threatening eternal damnation and punishment for disobedience. That's what the Nicene Creed was really designed to establish, albeit indirectly.

Now, admittedly, it is based on certain words in the Christian New Testament of the Bible that would seem to justify it. But those particular words are misguided and erroneous, because they simply ignore many facts and truths in the Judaic "Old Testament," and they also ignore and even deny crucial truths about the Christ Jesus and his actual core teachings.

Forgive me if I belabor the point, but the truth is that arrogantly proud, militant, right-wing "conservative Christians" follow a terrible precedent that has suited the military imperialist purposes of "Christian" popes, emperors, kings, prime ministers and presidents. As I said, it was initially used to justify the theocratic tyranny and oppression which plunged Europe into the Dark Ages for centuries. And in the many centuries since then, European and then American "Christians" have imposed on and confronted people all over the world, ostensibly claiming to be "spreading God's word" and "saving humanity from hell and damnation."

The false man-made doctrine of preeminence and superiority has been used to justify all the imperialism, colonialism and even genocide, along with many other impositions, incursions and offenses that were perpetrated in the name of "spreading Christianity" and converting the "godless heathen."

I have to tell you that it was, and still is, the blatant, presumptuous arrogance of men, who found a way to justify their military imperialism. And George W. Bush was the latest in a long line of "Christian" monarchial heads of state who have carried on that tradition.

Of course, throughout history to the present day, men have perpetrated countless atrocities in the name of God, whatever their religion and whatever their name for God might be. But, the fact is that many Christians during the last sixteen centuries weren't much better. Many offenses and crimes were committed against many native indigenous peoples all over the world, especially in Africa, Asia, South-East Asia, the Mid-East, and North America, Central America, and South America.

A true and accurate historical account will show very clearly that the European and American "Christians" responsible for all those offenses certainly did not do unto others as they would have had others do unto them. They simply ignored the Golden Rule. And the fact is that the full impact and legacy of "Christian" European and American imperialism and colonialism is still causing problems in the world.

The problem is the imperialists pick and choose which verses from the Bible to focus on, and those they focus on are inaccurate or erroneous. That's why their favorite Bible verses tend to have to do with preeminence, superiority, domination, threats of hell and damnation, militancy, force, aggression, control, etc. They think they are the true "Christian Fundamentalists" and "Evangelists." But the truth is that they are really fundamentally wrong, and for the most part they ignore the true fundamentals of Christianity.

I tell you that a true evangelist should now be just a teacher who helps those who ask for information and want to learn, and a true servant of God does not resort to imposition or coercion, nor do they wear their religion on their sleeve. True servants of God are meek, which is to say they are humble, loving, gentle, tolerant, peaceful, and faithful. They serve as examples of how to behave, rather than arrogantly try to impose their beliefs on others.

All fair, caring, understanding, considerate people realize that in social situations and at the work place it is not polite to assume that everyone else holds your political and religious beliefs, or to assume that they should.

I am duty bound to tell you that the arrogant leaders of the "Christian" Right DO assume and believe that. In fact, in their preaching, they insist that their efforts to impose their political and religious beliefs are "God's Will" and justified by "God's Word." Thumping their bible, waving their flag and rattling their sword, they believe that they should rule by "Divine Right" as the "True Christians," and that living by the sword (gun and bomb) is necessary to deal with "godless unbelievers" and establish their brand of Christianity as the dominant, controlling force in the world. That's really why Pat Robertson and George W. Bush have done what they’ve done, not realizing that they are no better than misguided Muslim extremists who try to do the same thing.

Granted, there are many well-meaning Christians who believe in the false doctrines but aren’t quite so aggressive and pushy about it. They focus on words attributed to Jesus like, "Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go there. But strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)

Many good Christians take that for what it truly means. But, to be very frank, I think most right-wing "conservative" Christians like that because it justifies their prudishness and self-righteousness, and it gives them license to preach in self-serving ways. And they focus on words attributed to Jesus like this: "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father, but by me." Right-wing preachers essentially use that to give the impression that you cannot understand God unless you believe them.

Self-righteous, self-important preachers like that because, as I’ve said, they’ve been led to think they’ve been "saved by professing that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior." But they do not realize the true role of the Christ Jesus, nor do they realize what the Christ -Avatar - Siddhi function is. As I explained above, it is to serve as the Ancient One, for the Ancient One who is with God the Holy One in heaven.

Many Christians also believe in the doctrine that proclaims that God gave this world to Satan, while giving heaven to the Christ. The idea is that this world is therefore a "testing" place, a realm of temptations and trials and tribulations which a Christian must overcome in order to earn a place in heaven for eternity. But, while that’s not a bad way of looking at it, in my view it is based on ignorance of many universal truths, an erroneous idea of what Satan is, and an erroneous idea of what the Christ is. "Satan" is the reflection of egocentric delusion, self-importance, self-righteousness, hate and greed, while the Christ is the reflection of love, empathy, equality, compassion, forgiveness, and charity.

The erroneous ideas of religious bigots are part of the overall doctrine of preeminence and superiority that misguided Christians buy into, but it’s a false doctrine that can appeal to the ego, and justify aggression, imposition, presumptuousness, and even militancy.

For example, the arrogantly proud and militant leaders of the Christian Right love to cite Matthew 10:34 where it states that Jesus said he came "not to bring peace, but a sword."

That is very telling, because it conveniently ignores that the earlier book of Luke (12:51) records Jesus as saying he came "not to bring peace, but division."

That is very different, and more literally accurate, because Jesus ushered in the passing age which is symbolized by the two fish that seem to be swimming in opposite directions, and Jesus said that knowing it would tend to be an age of division. He knew that erroneous doctrines of men would cause much conflict and division. That's why he foretold that a big change would come at "the end of the age" (aeon). And, by the way, that word, aeon, which means age, was replaced by misguided Christians who wrote it as "the end of the world."

The Christian Right misunderstands the prophecies of Jesus, and they misunderstand the symbolic comment about the "sword," because they ignore clarifying statements that still remain in the Christian gospels. For example, it is written that we should "take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God," and "the weapons of the Lord are not carnal (or lethal) but are mighty through God for pulling down strongholds," and "I will fight them with the sword of my mouth," and "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

Furthermore, the Hebrew Psalm 45 states that God's "tongue is the pen of a ready writer." That is confirmed also in Psalm 103:20, Daniel 10:6, Daniel 10:9, and other scriptures that refer to the true, divinely inspired written word being the "voice of God's word" and "the sword of my mouth."

That is also confirmed in Daniel 2:35 where the great prophet foretells that the "stone" of truth shall "shatter the image of the King of Babylon and become as a great mountain that shall fill the earth."

That's because the stone is an esoteric symbol for divine truth expressed in the divinely inspired written word. And, by the way, the symbolic term "King of Babylon" is explained more fully in Chapter 6 of Memoirs of a Prodigal Son of Man and previous books, and also on other pages on this web site, because even though the term does not describe a specific man, it is epitomized by leaders such as Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, who have served as the champions of the Christian Right and the wealthiest few.

The Christian Right also focuses on misguided beliefs about "Armageddon," and about "the wrath of God" being "poured out" upon the earth. They do not realize they simply misunderstand and misinterpret symbolic prophecies in order to justify their hate and their desire for dominance and military victory over their enemies. They ignore the fact that Jesus said we should love even our enemies, because our enemies are usually a reflection of our selves. So, in that respect, the leaders of the Christian Right are much like the religious bigots and hypocrites who call themselves the true Jews or Muslims. They are all wrong.

They believe they are absolutely right, of course. And they believe the "Word of God" in the Torah or Bible or Qur'an justifies them. They do not realize that even though many words in scriptures are indeed divinely inspired, some are not, and many are misinterpreted and misunderstood.

Another example of that is when the leaders of the Christian Right thump their bible and claim it justifies their worshiping and idolizing Jesus as "God Himself." They love to cite Isaiah 9:6, which says: ".. a son is given" ... "and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father..." That's one of their favorite verses in the Old Testament, and they claim it was fulfilled when Jesus said: "My father and I are One."

The trouble is, they do not understand that we are all one with God, and they do not consider the book of Isaiah in context. They ignore all the other passages in the book of Isaiah, particularly those in chapters 42, 43, 53 and other chapters where Isaiah provided clarification by explaining how it is the son of man and "the stricken and afflicted witness and servant of God" who is first rejected who fulfills prophecy.

As I've explained on the home page and other pages on this site, as well as in the books, they ignore that Jesus said: "Don't call me good, for there is only one who is good and that is God," who is "greater than I." They ignore that Jesus said he was a servant of God and that a servant of God is not God. And they ignore that in the Old Testament, Moses and David said: "God is not a man, nor a son of man," and "Do not rely on princes nor in the son of man, for he holds no salvation."

They ignore or deny that the reference to Isaiah 7:14 in the Christian gospels which state that "a virgin shall conceive and bear a son called Immanuel," is actually misrepresented and is not about Jesus, as is explained in the books and on the issue page on this web site about The Virgin Birth Story.

As I said on the home page, they ignore that Isaiah wrote, speaking for God: "He is my witness and my servant whom I have chosen, so you may know and believe me, and understand that I am the Holy One. Before me there was no God formed, and neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord God, and beside me there is no Savior." (Isaiah 43:10-11)

The truth is that only God is God, and only God is the Savior and Holy One.

That is specifically stated throughout the Bible, particularly in Isaiah 43:10-11, Isaiah 45:15 and 21, Isaiah 49:26, Hosea 13:4, Luke 1:47, and 1 Timothy 2:3-5. It is made very clear, but it is ignored by those who insist that Jesus is God the Savior. They simply do not understand that Jesus was a son of man and the sacrificial lamb of God, and they don't even understand the reason for his sacrifice. (See they page on the real reason for Jesus' martyrdom.)

The current son of man is the witness of God, and he is the faithful servant of God and the Spirit of truth according to Judeo-Christian prophecies. And, because the message from the Spirit of truth is universal in its truth, it serves to fulfill the prophecies of all religions.

Those who have divided and led so many different people astray can thank God that the Spirit of truth is sent not to condemn, but to educate; not to punish, but to correct; and not to destroy, but to save.

The day will come when real prophecy is fulfilled, when Christianity will be reformed and all the different denominations and sects will be reconciled. And they will also be reconciled with Jews and Muslims, as well as with Buddhists, Hindus and members of all other major religions, and with all humanity.

I tell you the truth, that we are all One with God, One in Spirit, and One with all humanity. And we all just need to start acting like it.