Happy Holidays!

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." --Mohandas Gandhi

I am not a Christian. Not long ago, it broke my heart to say that. I cannot testify with any conviction that Jesus Christ, son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary to absolve me of my sins on the cross. I wasn't there, and there's a disturbing lack of evidence aside from a book written by a bunch of guys who were 'divinely inspired'. I tried to believe. I really, really wanted to, but the empirical data to the contrary was overwhelming. It was hard for me to do this, and a journey that I neither wanted nor chose, but was compelled to undertake, nonetheless. I've devised my own simple theory, which I will not go into detail about here. I believe in Christ's example as much as any Christian. I believe that his message and actions provide an excellent example of the only hope for salvation that humanity has; however, I believe the same of several other people. It's hard to keep this post from digressing into an assault of the beliefs of those who would seek to discredit my own. I've heard so much criticism of the ideas that I hold closely and quietly to myself, especially during this holiday season, which by the standards of any religion is set aside to celebrate love and salvation from darkness. Fir trees were not created for the express purpose of being adorned with lights and ornaments and hovering over mountains of gifts in celebration of the virgin birth of Christ, Savior of Mankind. Peel any religion to the core, and you find love, tolerance, forgiveness and peace. But the most often overlooked word of caution in many followers' zeal to save the poor sinners, is to "judge not lest you be judged." It has to be understood that even if a belief system is unnamed, so long as it has truth at its core, it is no less valid than the one given credence by the Pope. Each individual can only come to 'God' in a way that he or she understands, and forcing it down anyone's throat is counterproductive, at best. Let your example be your testimony.

"We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart." --H. L. Mencken