Re. Jim Swan’s July 10 letter, headlined Christianity is the only religion that is true:
Let’s start with the fact that a bunch of men wrote the Bible. It is man made and the Bible has been re-written many times over the centuries.
If I was God, I would be very upset with anyone who took my book and changed it, and with the people who follow it and interpret it any way they like.
I do agree that mankind is flawed. But forcing people through fear into thinking a certain way has nothing to do with God or spirituality.
Does a small child born into a Christian family have a chance to decide for himself or herself what should be their life path? No. They are brainwashed into thinking a certain way, so they know no other way.
We are all searching for direction, and purpose and love. Some days we find it, some days we don’t. That is the learning curve of life.
If Swan truly believes we should live our lives according to the Bible, here are some excepts I want him to think about:
• In Deuteronomy 7, God speaks of destroying those who do not follow. Is this a loving God? I think not. It’s about fear and obedience. This is the basis of all religions: trying to control the masses by a small group of people who have prospered mightily through there doctrine and dogma.
• In Leviticus: 11: 3-8, the Bible says that it is an abomination to eat lobster or crab, etc. One can eat of the parted hoof, cloven hoofed and the cud chewer, except the camel, and the coney (whatever that is) and the hare. He chews, but is not divided of the hoof, so he is unclean. The swine is also prohibited because he is of divided hoof and cloven footed, but does not chew the cud. Does Swan follow this religiously? Sorry, I made a funny.
I could go on and on, but I think I’m in enough trouble already.
Whether one wants to face it or not, religion has some ugly history behind it.
Power, control, murder and oppression have all played an important role in the spread of many religions.
From the very beginning – when Moses ordered the Levites to slay the disbelieving who worshipped the golden calf – through the reigns of Alexander the Great, Ghengis Khan, the Crusades and Louis XIV, to today’s religious wars, history is rife with murder in the name of someone’s God.
How many millions of dollars has the Catholic church spent to settle lawsuits against pedophile priests? How many do we not know about?
It is a well-known fact that the Church knew about many of these offences.
Some bishops did nothing but shuffle these creeps into other parishes in silence.
How many more children were abused by these so-called men of God?
Swan should not insult Advocate readers with his self-righteous, narrow-minded drivel.
Mark Service
Red Deer