I’ve read the Bible cover to cover multiple times. There’s a lot of interesting stuff in there, things that don’t make sense in modern times, things that are practically infeasible in the modern world, miracles that haven’t been repeated or verified by any measure.

I have many criticisms of modern Christianity, but I still believe in the basic tenets.

Do unto others as you would have God do unto you, or rather (do unto others as they would have done unto them the way that you would have God do unto you, e.g. treat people the way they want to be treated so that you have justification to be treated the way you want to be treated)

Psalms 1: “blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the council of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sin”. To me, that reads as “you’ll be happier if you keep your nose clean and mind your own fucking business”.

However, I cannot abide the concept of original sin. It’s absolute baloney. If we are little gods and we are made in the image of god, we are pure beings born into a corrupt world, not corrupt beings living in what should be a perfect world.

However, that does not diminish the sacrifice of Jesus christ, he died to “cross the gap” for us between where “the rising ape meets the falling angel”, so to speak, but we are all charged to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

I believe that there will be people of all races and religions (and absences of religion as well) in heaven, because I believe that God cares a whole lot more about what you do than who you love or what you worship.

My argument for that belief is that modern Christians believe that if you do not accept Jesus Christ you definitely go to hell, no ifs ands or buts.

I’m native American. There are at least 1500 years of my ancestors who never heard of Jesus, never had the chance to hear of Jesus.

If Jesus is the only way then God condemned 1500 years minimum of every single one of my ancestors to eternal hellfire for failing to meet his command when they literally could not meet his command under any circumstances whatsoever.

That would be the act of a monster that must be destroyed.

And forget mormons, they’re just making stuff up, Jesus didn’t come to America.

Therefore I go back to Paul who said that those who do not have the word will be judged by the tenets of their own heart. I also go by the words of Jesus who, in Luke 16 told us to go and make ourself friends of other religions so that when we fuck up we’ve got a fall back plan, and if we do that when we meet God in heaven he’ll say “good job on getting in my dude”.

So yeah, I said all of that to say I’m a fairly heretical Christian but I have read the Bible multiple times back to back and working out my own salvation with fear and trembling has led me here.