My Response:
Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge lest you be judged."
I suppose I can't blame you for emailing me, since I did request feedback on my web page. I also suppose I can't blame you for the type of feedback you did leave, because the feeling is genuine, if deeply misguided. However, I also believe people should be allowed to speak their own minds in return, and quite frankly, I doubt that you took the time to read my page at all.
Seeing as my site first became listed on Yahoo! today, I wonder if you are one of those people who lurks on the Wiccan/Pagan listings in order to spam newly listed sites with messages of Jesus' love. You see, I have this suspicion that you didn't even bother to read any of the material on my page, because although great deal of it pleads for religious tolerance from all, and from Wiccans toward Christians in particular, that fact seems to have bypassed you completely. Perhaps if you (re)read it and consider my message for a while, you will come to a better understanding of both my own faith and yours.
You seem to be a great one for quoting the Bible - but do you know that the Old Testament is nothing more than a record of tribal laws and moral codes - specific only to that tribe (the Jews) - and it was also meant to be replaced by Jesus' new Covenant, which comprises, in part, the New Testament.
John 14:2 "For there are many mansions in my Father's house."
It seems to me that you are hung up on a question of language. You say "Jesus" or "the Lord my God,” while I say "The Lord and Lady." Some people say "Allah," some "Yahweh," some "Wakan Tanka." You may not want to acknowledge it, but they're all names for the same great Being! Humans are wonderfully diverse; not all of us approach the spiritual in the same fashion. How dare you presume to understand Divine better than any other human being? I don't doubt that you have a relationship with Him/Her (for It is both), but please, remember that it is a personal relationship, not a universal one. God did not speak English when S/He created the world, nor was Jesus a white, upper class American. (He was actually a dark skinned, Middle Eastern Jew, if you're at all interested.)
Matthew 7:6 "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."
Please, take this quote from the Bible to heart. Address and improve your own faith before you lecture me on mine.
Now, to specifically address your email:
//Roma:14:11: For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee //shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Have no fear of that. I bow my knee to both the Lord and the Lady, and I’m a better human being for it.
//Be offended! These scriptures are true to a highest degree! Be afraid,
//tremble in the shadow of the LORD ALMIGHTY.
I’m not offended at all; in fact, I’m rather sorry that you live in such a frighteningly narrow world. It must be awful existing with so much fear and hatred toward people whose beliefs are topically different from your own.
Aside from that, what kind of Divinity requires fear from His/Her creations? Love, certainly, and devotion, but not fear - fear is a tool of Evil, not the Divine Good.
That “God” would require his children to fear “Him” hints at some insecurities on his part.
Finally, how can you be sure that the “scriptures are true to a highest degree,” as you put it? As a text, the Bible has been altered, retranslated, and rewritten so many times; how can you be sure if what you quote is the word of God, or that of mere man? What happened to the Gospels of Saint Thomas, once part of the Bible? Where did they go? They were part of the Scriptures at one point, why not now? Does the Word of God expire? And are you aware of the fact that in the earliest surviving texts of Genesis, God is referred to in the plural, i.e. "In the Beginning, the Gods created the Heavens and the Earth."? Perhaps you should consider these points for a moment. You know, the Church has a long history of holding meetings to determine what parts of the Bible need to be altered, removed, or added. So unless you were there personally, I don’t know how you can tell what is Truth, and what is the work of human hands.
//He loves you with a passion. Its a simple choice, heaven or hell. Eternal //flame, or eternal peace? It's not a hard decision.
See, you’ve lost me here. I don’t believe in hell. And yes, when I’ve evolved sufficiently as a human being, the cycles of rebirth and death will end for me. I look forward to that, but I hope I still have a few more go-rounds on this Earth - I rather like life.
Oh, and by the way, you used the possessive form of “its.” I believe you were looking for “it’s.” Just an aside, you understand.
//Do you know why Jesus died?
Yes, he bore the sin of mankind on his shoulders and on the cross, thereby redeeming us, or at least in your cosmology. In mine, He dies yearly on the Wheel around the Solstice - do you know why? I’m conversant in your cosmology, because in order to determine which faith best represented me, I became a student of all religions. Perhaps you might become more educated yourself before throwing the first stone.
It’s simple really. I try to plead tolerance from everybody, and that includes Christians, Wiccans, and myself. I don’t try to change your personal convictions, please leave me to mine. Both our faiths teach love and understanding. I leave you with the following:
John 11:35 Jesus wept.
Blessed be,
Morgan
And there is my response.
What do you think?
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