Paula L.

Hey Paula, How are you? Thank you for your kind comments, they are truly very encouraging. I admire and envy your spirituality and love for God. It shines through your work. By the way what is an independent Christian? I have a few friends who are either Catholics or Protestants and even Mormons but I haven't yet heard of Independents before.

My Respects!

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Hope you are having a great day! Don't forget to swing by and check out my content! Have a great night!

~Christy F.

JUST realized that I had somehow pinged this to MYSELF ! GRrrrr ! !

Anyway in the sake of open exchange, I wanted to correct it and ping it here. .

Yeah, BUT Darwins realization is similar to Newtons realizations of gravity, the discovery of atoms, or the development of vaccines. all steps in man's advancement of scientific thinking.

AND for the biblical references to have credence requires that one first believes, there in lies the conundrum. Its a chicken or the egg thing, You cant use the bible as proof until the other person believes, BUT the other person prolly wont believe til they also accept the bible without proof.

BUT again, I respect and accept your views as yours.

I dont feel that I created my own religion, I just came to be honest with myself as to what I actually could believe and what I wasnt able to swallow.

I consider myself one of those " spiritual but not religious " people in that regard. I fear that whenever you place another human being in a position of " shepherd " he or she can lead you astray of where your center beliefs are along with the other sheep. ( Sheep being a bad thing to be, in my circle ) I have a best friend who is wiccan/shaman/hindu mix and she and I are always joking about how so many people fall into the herd and flock together wherever the crowd runs. BUT her and I are more like a wolf and a rhino ( guess which is which ? LOL LOL ) SHE runs in small packs and preys on the crowd mentality, while I plod around in the bushes,
alone and strong, while not being " like " the other critters.

Feel free to pray for me in my lifes difficulties, ( NEVER hearts to have good vibes from folks, regardless of the actual beleifs. )

First, while I admit that much of the bible is based in facts of events like the empires of Rome and Egypt and their cultures, I also believe that the bible " straddles " fact and fiction. I beleive that there was a man named jesus and that people at that time were much more gullible and uneducated than now and so they easily bought into the stories.

ACTUALLY I DO believe in something.

I believe that an invisible force of nature exists about which we know nothing for certain, as yet, which was created by the existence and presence of consciousness in humans. This force interacts with people in many varied ways and reacts to acts of good and evil, peace and intolerance, anger and love, charity and envy. I beleive that when a person dies if they lived a life true to themselves ( either free of or having overcome their inner struggles ) and in a peaceful, kind manner, then their consciousness ( soul ) joins with his force and makes it stronger.

AND actually, the behaviors of evolution and creation are NOT mere accidents, but occurences that act, and acted in specific ways obeying a set of natural laws and which have thus far survived objective scientific examination. ( See the scientific method )

Viruses and bacteria have been even forced to evolve thru lab processes.



WHEREAS, from a purely logical and provable standpoint biblical creation fails almost immediately.

FAITH is just that, faith, because it cannot be proven. You must believe on the basis of it being taken as such without hard evidence, or observed facts.

I somewhat envy people who are able to have such a feeling. My Gramma was perfectly comfortable and secure on her deathbed, knowing in her heart , if not in her head, that heaven awaited her.

THAT level of faith is an amazing thing to see.

UNFORTUNATELY, someone whose mind is based in purely logical thought, and observable facts, is left without the capacity for such faith.

I beleive that the desired behaviors that christianity puts forth ( generosity, kindness, love, thoughtfulness, charity, etc etc etc surely benefit mankind.

For example a purely christian neighborhood, would be low crime, cooperative, helpful, and a pleasent place to live in many ways. BUT the " mission " of converting everyone is the single only unacceptable behavior put forth by the teachings..

I truly dont wish to upset you. This kind of exchange can really help people understand one another. Its the very reason I read gather postings and interact online, to gain understanding of other people.



It just loses me in the literal telling of those tales.

I am sorry, Bt I got off track before - NO I havet read that author, although I read a ton of books frm al angles of culture. Liberal and conservative, atheist and devout, rich and poor.

My feelings and beliefs span the spectrums above.

BUT I also dont agree that my soul longs for some imaginary friend, it longs instead for REAL friends, and a good woman at my side and in my bed for a life committment.

It also longs for some better prosperity and understanding as well as a general environment of acceptance of people as they are not as others would have them be.

By The Way, my 2nd grade memory has been an issue of my thoughts lately and I spoke to my mom about it and we came to the correction of the grade and song. ( ha ha )

AGAIN, I appreciate your openness as that is what I found gather desireable for.

Sorry , but NO it wont work. I was raised VERY devoutly lutheran and surrrounded by followers of christ. BUT I also distinctly remember in 2nd grade while singing " This little light of mine " wondering in my mind if grown-ups REALLY beleive this crap. ( walking on water etc etc etc )

I have rea th bible cover to cover 4 times and have had many years of " indoctrination " training, BUT still just can't accept a supernatural mythology as truth.

I belve there is a force in the universe that interacts with us in good/evil urges but that NO MAN alive ever knows how it works or why it affects us.

Its not just christianity, but judaism, hinduism, muslim, etc etc that I think are man made fables to explain the UNexplainable.

BUT I also wish you the best. AND I am glad that this classic story brings you peace and comfort.

Hope your Gather day is going well! Enjoy your day!

Hope your week is GREAT! :D