Shelby,
You are such a sweetheart and you have such a nice way of posting your personal thoughts. I find it very hard to tell you that you have the same message as the JW's only wrapped in a different package. We have heard it all before and just because you change a few of the words and say it a bit different the message is still the same. Buy my God and win a free trip to La La land.
You are a "God" person, many of us are not. Respect our decision to use our own brains and our own path in life to live and get along with others. We are not slaves to anyone. We can care about our fellow humans and be as understanding and loving as anyone else on the earth without buying into any religious philosophy. As in most all religious theology if you choose one side that means you reject all the others. As one time JW's we are tired of having to reject others and setting ourselves up to be rejected by others. Non religious people have the freedom and human kindness to embrace the thoughts and love from people from all walks of life, religious or non religious. We have no boundaries for love of our fellow human and we follow no command to be a slave to anyone. It is call true freedom which is granted to us, by us and has a broader scope of love and kindness that can ever be shown by the confines of a particular religious doctrine.
Unlike Christians we care for Buddhist, Hindus, Muslims, Shinto's etc, etc. We do not conditionalize our love by a religious sects teaching that their interpretation of God is the only right one and the billions of our fellow humans who do not agree with Christianity are all followers of a pagan and evil God. It is humans who have divided God up into little bits and pieces of particular theology and have given their followers restrictions on how to think and love others who do not interpret their concept as the only right way to think and or believe.
It seems on the surface that all religions teach that God is love but it is also those religions who make up the rules of who their interpretation of God choose to love best. Love is not something you divide up and give larger portions to others and little portions to the remaining. Religion has destroyed any real concept of a supreme being for their own selfish gain. I personally think that if there is a God he laughs at religion and shakes his head because of the selfish way people have turned his existence into a product to be sold.
So, peace back at'ca woman. Love is not exclusive to your philosophy nor is it salvation for ones own existence and search for happyness.
A slave of no one.
Dave
