10binary

My opinions are relevant to my life if they affect my actions. However, most of my opinions I have written about in this book have no relevance to the things I do each day.

I also know that my opinions are irrelevant to the majority of the world. This doesn't stop me from writing them. I write my opinions down because even though my thoughts may be irrelevant right now, there may come a time when they are relevant.

If you live in the same apartment with someone, or you work with someone, or in the worst case scenario, you die and then get stuck with them in your afterlife for all eternity, then all of a sudden, most of what that person does or says becomes very relevant!

What most people do in their own lives is none of my business. No one is hurting me by the food that they eat or the books that they read. I do not desire to control the lives of other people.

But whenever someone decides to murder, rape, steal from, or lie to someone, it becomes extremely relevant that someone finds out what caused the problem. When this happens, it has moved beyond the realm of my opinion.

When damage is done, it is often too late to fix something. I think that prevention of this is the best cure.

When I refer to God as "it", please understand that I am simply not using male pronouns to refer to God, because I feel as though this is placing a limitation on what God can or cannot be. It is not my place to assume God has a penis. People make many assumptions without any reason. They say that God is supernatural, omnipotent, or omniscient. I am not impressed by people using words that cancel each other out.

The word "God" is rather meaningless. People may ask someone if they believe in God, but they assume that the person has the same definition of God that they do. Many people who do believe there is a God have different opinions on exactly what defines it. A definition must be given before someone can even think about it. Atheists can disagree on exactly what it is that they don't believe in.

As an example, if someone were to define God as the creator of the universe, we would still be left with many questions. How did God create it, or more importantly, why? These are some good questions that people may ask. My own question though is: Do I even know what the universe is? Can I believe in something when I am still unsure of what it is? Does God depend on its own creation to believe that it exists? God can exist, whether or not I believe or approve of it. It is not as though belief in something makes it true. A lack of belief doesn't make it false.

If you don't believe in God, it is not really the job of any human to try to convince you that it exists because, obviously, they don't think it can show itself to you if it wanted to. If you do believe in God, then maybe you have a reason for it. No one should try to force you to give up your faith, knowledge, or experiences that led to them. If we were created by God, it obviously gave us brains. What harm can come from asking questions, reading books, or talking to others about what they believe? Why would God be angry at people for trying to learn?

Imagine if Steve were to ask Mary if she believed in Chandler Klebs. Mary would probably ask for a definition. Steve could say "A crazy man who writes about subjects he knows nothing about". Mary could say, "That doesn't make any sense! I don't believe in Chandler Klebs!". Steve would be giving a correct definition but Mary is also correct in that the definition doesn't make sense. The trouble comes from the fact that Mary is assuming that people know what they are talking about before they write it down. I wouldn't blame Mary for saying that the definition makes no sense but Mary assuming that I don't exist also doesn't make any sense. I am also unsure whether Steve and Mary exist or whether they believe in me or even talk about me. I doubt it, but I also cannot disprove it. It is entirely irrelevant to me whether they believe that I exist.

You can decide for yourself what your God is and if it is relevant to your life.

It is relevant that I explain exactly why I spend as much time as I do on talking about religion. When I use the word "religion", I am talking about it as the abstract concept which confuses people. I challenge religion not because of my disagreement with certain religions or people but because it hurts people and makes them feel guilt and shame when they cannot please other people.

There are countless messages that people are given. Things such as "God is good but EVERYTHING HE CREATED IS EVIL!", "God loves you unconditionally as long as you DO EVERYTHING HE COMMANDS WITHOUT QUESTIONING!", "Jesus had to die for you because you were born a sinner. HOW DARE YOU BE BORN, YOU EVIL CHILD OF GOD!", or "Sex is a gift from God but if you EVER EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, THEN YOU WILL GO TO HELL!". These messages continue to be given to people even though they make little sense. Worst of all, it is the children who are told such things while they are curious and learning about the world. If I were to quickly describe religion, I would call it mental suicide.

The greatest challenge I face is that while I want to undo the damage that religion has done to me and others, I do not yet know the best way to do it. My current way is to try to separate the things that I like from the other things which I want no part of.

To put it simply, I no longer accept that I must "take the bad with the good". I dislike words such as "good" and "bad" because these words have been abused so much that they have no meaning anymore. Instead, I now decide which things are relevant or irrelevant to me. These words are much more relevant to me.

Religion is just one of those things that is irrelevant to me. The fact that it is relevant to others is the reason that I write about it. I do not want anyone to think that just because I hate religion that I am somehow against God or even the people who believe things which I disagree with. If it were not for the fact that so much of religion is used as an excuse for murder, rape, sexism, racism, or any thing else, then there would be no need to say anything.

I think that the subjects of God and sex are irrelevant to religion. They are entirely different. The goal of most of my writing is to disarm some of the dangerous religious people of the weapons they use. When they no longer can use God, sex, hell, or politics to control people, they will be forced to admit that they are accountable for their own actions. When that happens, religion will permanently be IRRELEVANT!

Personalization and Blame

I've learned many things lately. Part of it has been learning about the cognitive distortions. I go to a group where this is taught. What I've noticed is that personalization and blame are the most common problems people have.

In one of my videos, I talked about how men have been either blaming God or blaming women. This pattern started with the first man Adam when God questioned him about the fruit. If he had just admitted that he ate the fruit, I have a feeling the world would have turned out very differently. Instead, he blamed the woman for giving him the fruit and also blamed God for giving him the woman.

Genesis 3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. 3:9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" 3:10 The man replied, "I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid." 3:11 And the Lord God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" 3:12 The man said, "The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it." 3:13 So the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman replied, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."

I think that it was Adam's blaming that ruined his relation to God as well as his wife. God couldn't help Adam if he was going to place the blame on others. Sadly, I think that the reason men still hate women is because Adam taught his children to blame women the same way he did. On top of that, people are still blaming God for all kinds of things that he had nothing to do with.

Unless people wake up and start choosing different actions, the same pattern repeats. I think that most often, Christians teach that people are all sinners and in need of Jesus as their savior. Yet often they are also taught that they don't have the power to fix themselves and can't help but do the things they did. The teaching of original sin makes no sense at all to me and I don't believe it. People are falsely taught that they are born sinners because Adam and Eve ate a fruit. Sin is not genetic. If it was, wouldn't we all be sinning equally? People's actions are different based on what they learn by the words and actions of other people. However, I still believe we have a choice to either copy the actions of others or to reject them and do the complete opposite.

In my case, I learned to follow the example of my mother and reject the example of my father. I feel bad knowing that there are people who didn't have at least one loving parent in their lives. It is for this reason that each one of us must be a good example of how to live. Jesus was the first example of how a human should live. I think that there is much to be learned from him. We may never love as perfectly as he did but we still need a target to shoot for.

Every person is setting an example whether they realize it or not. Just because I may not be a parent for example does not mean that children who are around me don't try to copy me. Also, I kind of make my life very public through my blog and youtube channel.

People also set an example by what they are not doing. People may talk about living like Jesus on Sunday morning but then the rest of the week they are rude to everyone they meet. They talk about witnessing and making sure that people don't go to an eternal hell, but then they are just watching TV most days and not even interacting with people.

Most of these so called Christians pick on people and blame them for their sins. People get this idea that God is angry at them and that they must first be perfect in order to please him before he will forgive them.

People have long forgotten that God created everyone and loves them. God did not turn against humanity but humanity has turned against God.

My life has changed completely after I stopped blaming God for the abuse that happened to me as a child. After I learned that it was not "God's sovereign will", I no longer hated God. I also don't hate humans for what they have done to me. I understand that often they don't know better and I feel sorry for them. That being said, that doesn't mean that I will continue to let them hurt me. It is for that very reason that I was forced to leave every type of "church" organization. The type of God they describe doesn't sound very nice or fair. I found that through reading,listening, and thinking on my own, I learned more who God really is.

I wish I was able to fully explain what's happened to me and who I think that God is now. Sadly, some things can't simply be described in words. However, if you watch my videos or read my blog posts, you'll get a basic idea of what I think.

I would also encourage people to listen to Joshua Tongol. He makes a lot of sense and presents a loving God which is very different from what you may have heard from a traditional preacher.

But in the end, it is not what I say or what Joshua Tongol says that will decide what happens in your relationship with God. It is between you and God and is none of my business unless you choose to tell me. God can show himself to you without my help, but I like to challenge common beliefs that I think are false to help you question what you've been taught and decide for yourself what you believe. Anyone who is trying to force you to believe their way is a control freak.

Gender and Religion

As long as I can remember, men and women have always been treated differently. As a child I was extremely confused by this fact. Back in the days when I was in public elementary school for a short time I always wondered why the people with long hair were called girls and went to a different bathroom. Now I'm an adult and I still have trouble understanding why men and women are treated differently when there is no need. I can understand why it's often better to have men like me who work at HyVee bring in the carts, based only on the physical strength advantage, but often they are separated in a way that makes no sense such as the fact that men are expected to know everything about cars or sports and women are expected to be silent,stupid,submissive,weak,skinny, and blonde.

At least in the United States of America, women are finally allowed to work jobs and vote. I hope that as time goes on, the social differences between men and women will erase completely. However, I believe the largest enemy which hinders this progress is religion.

Since I grew up a Christian, I've read a lot of the Bible. I will quote stuff from the Bible to show exactly the link between Christianity and the treatment of women. Other religions can be equally sexist but I'm speaking from my own knowledge and experience.

Unless otherwise stated, I'm quoting from the netbible.

First, it's clearly stated in Genesis that men and women are both created in God's image.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth."
1:27 God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.

Second, it's obvious that both the first man and woman are made of dirt. God formed the man out of dirt.

Genesis 2:7 The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground  and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Then he took part of the man's side and made a woman. If the man was dirt then the woman was also dirt.

Genesis 2:21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man's side and closed up the place with flesh. 2:22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 2:23 Then the man said, "This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man."

Also, my favorite verse in the new testament shows that all Christians are equal no matter their gender,race, or whether they are a slave or free.

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female – for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Just these few verses I've quoted can easily explain how I feel about the equality of men and women. I agree with them completely, but more importantly, if the Bible is "God's word", then it should explain how God feels about it.

But, unlike most Christians, I don't believe that the WHOLE Bible is the word of God. It's actually not even one book but a collection of 66 different books. The authors of some of these books isn't even entirely known or stated within the books themselves. Since there were a variety of authors, they had different opinions on women than I do.

Below are the most commonly used verses used to keep women from doing anything.

1 Corinthians 14:34 the women  should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak. Rather, let them be in submission, as in fact the law says. 14:35 If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home, because it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.

1 Timothy 2:9 Likewise the women are to dress in suitable apparel, with modesty and self-control. Their adornment must not be with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive clothing, 2:10 but with good deeds, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God. 2:11 A woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness. 2:12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. She must remain quiet. 2:13 For Adam was formed first and then Eve. 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, because she was fully deceived, fell into transgression. 2:15 But she will be delivered through childbearing, if she continues in faith and love and holiness with self-control.

Those verses are used by Christians today to control how women dress, make them submissive and quiet, and forbid women to teach men. I cannot accept these statements to be part of the written word of God. It was obviously written by a misogynistic man.

If my mother had been "quiet" and hadn't taught me(she taught a man!) the Bible and about Jesus, I would indeed probably be an entirely opposite person of the one I am today. When I was 4 years old, I asked Jesus to come into my heart at night while everyone else was asleep. Back then I knew very little about the bad parts of the Bible, and I don't remember even knowing about hell. Somehow, with some help from my mother, I had some general idea that Jesus died for us because he loved us and that I needed him in my heart.

Now, over 20 years later, I don't really think that I understand more about Jesus than I did back then, but I can at least see that I'm different than other people. I don't share the same sexism and racism that other people do. For now I can thank God for that. It's the best evidence I have that there really is a difference in my heart.

I don't see how someone can claim to love God while at the same time they can hate women,jews,blacks,gays,muslims, or any other group of people. If you find people who call themselves "Christians" who act like this, please don't assume that I'm one of them. I try to love even my enemies as Jesus taught.

Matthew 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor' and 'hate your enemy.' 5:44 But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, 5:45 so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don't they? 5:47 And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do? Even the Gentiles do the same, don't they? 5:48 So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.