Ten things Jesus still can't say in church

This essay contains ten 'common sense' interpretations of some of the most cryptic and provocative sayings attributed to Jesus which exist in New Testament scripture.  These interpretations are actively suppressed within institutional Christianity in order to maintain fundamentalist Christian orthodoxy, which in turn supports oppressive political power world-wide.

Jesus lived in a time and place where speaking truth concerning religion or politics in mixed company was not just 'impolite' but perhaps the best way to ensure an immediate death warrant.  Therefore, Jesus hid his most scathing commentary of religion and politics within very carefully crafted allegorical sayings - 'for those with ears to hear'.  Jesus described his cryptic teaching as seeds, concise packets of allegorical information which after the metaphorical code is cracked and the sometimes equally mysterious topic of conversation is deduced, then bloom into insightful 'common sense' understandings of the nature of reality - particularly concerning religion and politics.  If you have ever read a saying of Jesus that seemed 'out of character' or left you simply scratching your head then chances are you have missed out on some of the most significant and self-empowering teachings of Jesus.

Like many who have experienced traumatic life-altering spiritual experiences I once sought to better understand my own experience through the lens of traditional religious teaching.   While traditional religious institutions provide the invaluable benefit of a supportive, like-minded community, these same institutions are often guilty of instilling dogmatic, irrational beliefs in the minds of young people ill equipped to foresee the grave danger embracing these beliefs can pose to their future mental health and their ability to acquire a fully informed, accurate and self-empowered world-view.

Fundamentalist denominations of Christianity, Islam and Judaism teach their followers to believe everything written in Scripture is truth - completely inspired texts which contain no error, contradiction or falsehood - books which speak as one voice - the voice of God.

This singular religious belief, more than any other religious belief, has the power to transform a person, once endowed with the virtue of common sense, into an irrational and disturbingly delusional individual, susceptible to all manner of psychological manipulation and mental illness.  No mind retains the ability to read and judge scripture soberly after embracing as 'insight' the belief that all scripture was inspired by the voice of truth and the voice of falsehood was somehow magically prohibited from the commentary.

Scripture contains wisdom and truth.   But scripture also contains contradiction and falsehood (both intentional and unintentional).  Those unable or unwilling to attempt to discern the difference and who spend a great deal of time studying scripture develop a distorted understanding of the nature of reality and are in danger of becoming enemies of themselves as well as enemies of truth.  Those who lack the benefit of a sound education in the history of world religions and the history of the creation of canonized scripture are at a particular disadvantage.

The promotion of the belief in scriptural inerrancy has always been institutional religion's greatest gift to sociopaths, hucksters and self-serving political manipulators - as well as the lessor angels of one's own mind.  No one who fully embraces this particular religious belief escapes the negative consequences and no one abandons this belief later in life without significant psychological scars.

Insight - Definition:

A small piece of information used by the mind to lead one to greater information and greater understanding.

Delusion - Definition:

An altered state of consciousness induced by embracing as 'insight' a false belief concerning the nature of reality.

Side effects include:
1.  Inaccurate perceptions of reality.
2.  Diminished ability for sound reasoning.
3.  Mistrust / fear of those not holding the false belief.

4.  Strong mental bias for thoughts supporting the false belief.

5.  Strong mental bias against thoughts opposing the false belief.

Below are ten Common Sense Interpretations of some of the more cryptic sayings attributed to Jesus found in the New Testament.

These interpretations have been derived from the following set of metaphor pairings - (Which can prove useful when attempting to interpret other allegorical sayings attributed to Jesus in the New Testament).

1. Eye:  'One's perception, one's understanding of something'

2. Body:  'One's conscious and unconscious mind'

3. House:  'The beliefs governing one's mind, one's world view'

4. Kingdom:  'A philosophy or theology - a collectively held understanding'

5. Son of Man:  'The enlightened or evolved individual, future humanity'

6. Demon:  'Delusion, Consciousness controlled by falsehood' 

7. Angel:  'Benevolent Consciousness controlled by truth'

8. Unclean Spirit:  'Consciousness controlled by evil/unholy beliefs about God'

8. Devil/Satan:  'Malevolent consciousness controlled by falsehood'

9. Hell:  'A delusional state leading to mental and physical torment'

11. Heaven:  'The world as it should be, the future perfect world, the afterlife'

12. Kingdom of Heaven:  'The philosophy of the perfect world'

13. Kingdom of God:  'The philosophy of God, One's awareness of higher consciousness'

1.  Mark 4:24-25
Be very careful if you attempt to interpret cryptic sayings attributed to me.  The reasoning you use will be the measure of your success, and even more. Those who have sound reasoning will embrace rational assumptions and conclusions about me and my teaching, which will lead to deeper understanding.  Those who do not use sound reasoning will embrace irrational assumptions and conclusions about me and my cryptic teaching, which will lead to diminished understanding - and even more - will ultimately nullify the value of the teachings of mine they did understand.

NIV -"Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you--and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."

2.  Matthew 23:15

Woe to you who teach that God is the author of scripture, that scripture is God's Word. You hypocrites. You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have finally succeeded, you make them twice as delusional as you yourselves have become. 

NIV - "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

3.  Matthew 16:11-12

How can it be possible that you don't understand I was not talking about bread when I said, be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees?  Then the disciples understood that Jesus was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but instead to guard their minds against the many falsehoods taught by religious leaders who believe scripture was authored by God - which gives rise to delusional thinking, hypocrisy and political oppression.

NIV - How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

4.  Matthew 6:22-23
How you see the world illuminates your mind. If your perception of reality is correct your whole mind becomes exposed to insights. If your perception of reality is wrong your whole mind becomes exposed to fallacies. Embracing a fallacy as though it is an 'insight' makes the mind delusional. 

NIV - "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

5.  Matthew 5:29-30

If your spiritual understanding confuses or disturbs you, better to approach life with a world-view which is void of any settled spiritual understanding, rather than have your whole mind thrown into delusion, and torment.  If your first hand spiritual experience confuses or disturbs you, it is better to reinterpret or ignore that spiritual experience than to have your whole mind enter a state of delusion and torment. 

NIV - If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

6.  Mark 3:22-29

Prominent religious scholars explained, This man dispels demons by Satan's power.  So Jesus called them and answered using symbolic language: How can a delusion be dispelled by falsehood?  Theology that contradicts itself has no solid foundation.  If your world view contains contradictions your mind becomes unstable.  And if a falsehood is demonstrated to contradict itself this brings to an end that falsehood's power to delude the mind. The fact is you can't affect anyone's strongly held religious world view without first forcing them to examine their current understanding of God, then you can pick apart the various delusional elements of their world view.  The truth you need to know is this: The psychological consequences of any sin can be alleviated. But while one holds a false belief concerning the nature or will of God the psychological consequences of holding that false belief will always remain.

NIV - And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons." So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man's house.  Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin."

7.  Matthew 12:43-45

When the evil nature of a person's God becomes exposed that person feels the heat of inner conviction and goes searching for valid evidence to support their wicked beliefs concerning God, which they do not find.  Because of their lack of intellectual integrity they soon abandon their self-reflection and evidence seeking, desiring to return to their old way of thinking about God.  A close examination of their world view reveals their entire mental life has been consumed by their obsessive thinking about God, because once you extract their thoughts and beliefs concerning God there is nothing left, they are empty headed people whose minds are a clean slate.  To distract themselves from their intellectual dishonesty these individuals double down on their ignorance by embracing other false beliefs concerning the nature and will of God - each one more evil than the next.  The mental health of these individuals deteriorates over time as they become more and more delusional, self-righteous and hypocritical.  So it will be with this generation of intellectually dishonest religious people, the moral crusaders who embrace false beliefs concerning the nature and will of God - those who envision God as an instrument of judgment, oppression and destruction against others and use scripture as the voice of God to validate their wicked beliefs and actions.

NIV - When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.  Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' on its arrival it finds the house vacant, swept clean and put in order.  Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and dwell there; and the final plight of that man is worse than the first."  So will it be with this wicked generation.

8.  Matthew 5:17-20, Matthew 16:19

Don't just assume that I have come to abolish scripture because you have heard me contradicting scripture and exposing the delusions and hypocrisy of those who teach you that God is the author of scripture.  I have not come to abolish scripture but instead to fulfill scripture's apocalyptic expectations. Because the sad truth is until there becomes no distinction between heaven and earth in the minds of those who have become delusional reading scripture those poor people will continue to live in obedient fear of the wicked God of scripture, constantly attempting to establish even the most trivial minutia of scripture as the law here on earth - that is until they have become convinced that the messiah has come and the foundations for a new world have been established.

Because of this sad situation, if an enlightened person attempts to abolish scripture by setting aside one of the least significant of the commands existing in scripture and teaches others to do the same, that person will be labeled by religious zealots as someone who is an enemy of God, someone who has little understanding of how God's perfect world should operate.  But the person who practices and teaches all the irrational and burdensome commands of scripture will be labeled by the same zealots as someone who is a visionary who has great understanding of God and how to live and act in a perfect world.   

What I have been telling you is this, unless your intellectual integrity surpasses that of those who believe and teach that God is the author of scripture you will certainly not acquire any real understanding of the philosophy of the perfect world.

I will give you the foundational principals of the philosophy that will establish God's government on the earth - the perfect world.

Note: (i.e., Love your fellow man as you love yourself, treat others as you yourself want to be treated, demonstrate your love by doing good for even your enemies, don't fear and envision God as an all-powerful judge but instead envision God as love, the father of benevolent consciousness, capable of only good) 

The philosophy that governs human behavior, the laws and institutions that you yourselves establish on earth will determine whether or not heaven is established on the earth.

NIV - "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.  

Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  

For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

I will give you the keys to the kingdom.  Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

9. Mark 14:61-62

But Jesus remained silent and did not answer.  Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the chosen one, the son of the blessed one?  And Jesus said, I am, and you will see other enlightened individuals securing first hand knowledge of established power and coming to shine their light on those things that keep people from understanding the world as it should be.

NIV - "But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One? And Jesus said, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."

10.  Matthew 24:27

For as great flashes of insight become understood around the world, so will be the evolution of humanity.

NIV - "For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."

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Final thoughts:

Peace, prosperity and enlightened democratic government will never be fully realized without meaningful intellectual reform within institutional Christianity, Judaism and Islam.  As long as churches, mosques and synagogues continue to promote the belief in scriptural inerrancey institutional religion will continue to unwittingly inspire self-destructive apocalyptic world-views in believers and retard the progress of positive social and economic change.  Corrupt political power will continue to utilize scripture and the fear of God as a weapon of choice to maintain control of the political thinking of those who have already been captured by the destructive power of religious fundamentalism.

Author's notes - for those with ears to hear

Voices other than the voice attributed to Jesus found in New Testament scripture teach that we are sinful fallen creatures (rather than evolving creatures) who must be saved from the coming wrath and judgment of God.  However, Jesus clearly taught in New Testament scripture that both he and his father (His God) judge (condemn) no person. A clear contradiction.  

For this reason (and others) I believe, as did early Gnostic Christians, that the fundamental 'salvation' teaching of Jesus could be summed up in this way: People do not need to be saved from the wrath of a jealous, judgmental and vengeful God, but instead need to be saved from a perverse understanding of the nature of God - to become self-aware of the destructive psychological consequences of attributing false and negative attributes to one's God.  The mind - and by extension your life - manifests and is subject to the God you yourself have envisioned or been taught to believe in.

Fundamentalist Christians who embrace Jesus as a savior (as I once did and do) believe they have been delivered from the wrath and judgment of a wrathful and judgmental God - a round about method for coming into a state of believing God is no longer one's enemy nor one's judge but instead a friend.  This is a positive change of mind but not an accurate understanding of the true nature of one's condition.

The convoluted doctrines of fundamentalist Christianity offer only a partial cure for the mental illness that fundamentalism inspires in believers by teaching followers to envision God as an entity with negative and false attributes. 

If God is 'Good' as Jesus declared in New Testament scripture then God is clearly not all powerful and God is clearly not the creator of all things. Historically, religions with ties to government have defined God with false attributes to attempt to control human behavior - by instilling a fear of God in believers. The question of whether or not an all powerful God exists is a moot and unproductive question.

A more productive question is whether or not all our thoughts are our own - and if not what is the significance of that fact?  Do all our experiences of consciousness originate from within our own brains or is human consciousness an electromagnetic phenomenon residing at the quantum level and therefore entangled with other consciousness?

In America a majority of those who embrace the God of religious fundamentalism in their youth fall away from fundamentalist faith later in life out of their need to secure and maintain a modicum of intellectual integrity.  Most all who leave fundamentalist faith leave confused and alienated and still haunted occasionally by the voice of the God of fundamentalism they have betrayed.

The God of Jesus is perhaps best described in modern terms as 'benevolent consciousness' - traditionally known as the Holy Spirit - a God that Jesus described as a loving father, an observer of mankind, capable of only good - a God which passes no judgment on mankind.   

Old Testament scripture makes the claim that the fear of God is the beginning of spiritual wisdom.  I myself would say the loss of fear of God is the beginning of spiritual wisdom.  Even the atheist greatly benefits psychologically from having no fear of God.  The wisdom of Jesus says, those who fear God do not know God and those who do not love God do not know God.

The God of Jesus described in scripture does not seek fearful servants bound to obedient belief in scripture.  The God of Jesus seeks like-minded friends to share in the trans-formative experience of fellowship with benevolent consciousness.

Universal Basic Income - A Second-Coming Revolution

But Jesus remained silent and did not answer.  Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the chosen one, the son of the blessed one?  And Jesus said, I am, and you will see other enlightened individuals securing first hand knowledge of established power and coming to shine their light on those things that keep people from understanding the world as it should be. - - For as great flashes of insight become understood around the world, so will be the evolution of humanity.   (Mark 14:61-62 and Matthew 24:27)

Henry Ford Sr. once said, " It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking or monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning."   

Indeed, everyone needs to fully understand the flawed nature of our immoral and highly ineffective monetary system - the root cause of all senseless human suffering.  Now is the time for insight concerning the Universal Basic Income - how and why the Universal Basic Income can fix what ails our current monetary system and why implementation of UBI will lead to an evolution in our 'humanity'.

What is UBI?  Universal Basic Income is a set amount of income given freely to every adult citizen  - enough income to cover the basic necessities of life - food, shelter, clothing, medical care, etc - based on the current minimum acceptable standard of living of any given area in the world. Implementation of UBI will serve as the foundation of a reformed monetary system – a new system which at long last acknowledges the intrinsic value of every human being, regardless of their current situation or station in life.

How will UBI be paid for?  Enacting UBI will require a simple but elegant change to the world's current monetary system.   UBI will overturn the 'immoral' aspects of the current system.   Specifically, UBI will become the new process by which all NEW money is allowed to come into existence – the method by which the money supply is expanded.

To grasp the power and promise of the Universal Basic Income requires a basic understanding of why our current monetary system is an inefficient and grossly 'immoral' system and therefore, quite logically, a system destined to create ever-expanding economic inequality  - which in turn promotes civil unrest, crime, hunger, and war.

Perhaps you have heard the old saying, "Money doesn't grow on trees".   True, money doesn't grow on trees, it is instead created out of thin air, by a system known as Fractional Reserve Banking.   Fractional Reserve Banking is the current means by which all NEW money - money that never existed in the world before - comes into existence.   It is this aspect of the monetary system which is intrinsically 'immoral' and must be reformed in order to facilitate true economic prosperity and economic justice in the world.

Under the current monetary system private lending institutions have been granted the God-like power to create all NEW money – money that never existed in the world before. However, by the rules of this system NEW money can only be created when people are willing and able to take on new debt. People borrow newly created money from lending institutions and then spend that money into the economy for whatever purposes they have chosen – thus stimulating and expanding the economies of the world. However, that NEW money must ultimately be paid back to the bankers - along with interest.  So banking institutions ultimately become the true beneficiary of the expanding money supply through the collection of interest on that money.

This method for creating NEW money is immoral because it ensures ever-expanding wealth inequality - by design - since only a small percentage of people are allowed to share in the profits generated by the process of money supply expansion. Everyone should be entitled to benefit from an expanding money supply. Everyone should own a share of any NEW monies created through the money creation process – not just a few.  Rather than allowing NEW money to come into existence through DEBT owed to a small percentage of individuals, all NEW money should come into existence by way of a Universal Basic Income.  The world population as a whole should be the true beneficiaries of all newly created money – not just bankers.

  

Implementing UBI will also prove to be the most efficient way to manage and expand the economies of the world. The current system – by design – also creates boom and bust cycles which wreck havoc on economies – often with little warning. The current system almost always fails to put money into the hands of people when they need it most - those currently without jobs or with incomes below the poverty level.

Developed nations do not need, nor can they continue to sustain, vast sums of NEW DEBT in order to stimulate and maintain their economies.   Developed nations need populations with adequate and predictable quantities of money to spend - which in turn causes existing and newly forming industries to prosper and expand globally - ultimately bringing prosperity to the entire world.

Banks don't need to be capitalized by repayment of debt along with the interest they charge - banks need to be capitalized by increased deposits  - which UBI will provide. It is absurd to believe the world money supply can be adequately expanded into areas where it needs to be simply by interest rate adjustments enacted at the whim of federal reserve bankers. The money supply should be controlled by regulating the amount of UBI available each year along with intelligently structured taxation systems designed to remove excess money from any economy facing the danger of a significant inflation.

As multi-national corporations, which supply the bulk of the world's essential products and services, become more and more automated the trend will continue to be the loss of good paying jobs world-wide - particularly in highly developed areas of the world.  UBI will serve as the catalyst for another highly beneficial phenomenon which will address the issue of job loss and wage decline.  UBI will facilitate the birth of a much more 'humane' form of capitalism.   Voluntary Capitalism (True Capitalism) will begin to augment and eventually replace the current version of capitalism – which is a 'Forced Capitalism' – a form of modern day slavery.    Voluntary Capitalism is capitalism which is financed – not just by bankers – but by UBI. Voluntary Capitalism is born from an individual's desire to provide some unique product or service to the world - but does not require the high degree of financial success currently necessary to sustain modern day dog eat dog capitalist enterprises.

Consider the millions of family run businesses lost in developed nations in the last century due to an inability to 'compete' with huge multi-national corporations.   Many of these small businesses would still be here today had UBI been able to augment the incomes of those small business owners.   Many people have a strong desire to work for themselves, to be unique independent productive members of society - or to work for a small family owned company.   However, the need to compete with giants while maintaining a 'livable' level of financial success has deprived many of their ability to work in the professions of their choice.  The loss of small family run businesses in the developed world is a cultural tragedy as well as an economic tragedy.   Family run enterprises knit families and communities together and create the ideal atmosphere for raising children blessed with hope and optimism for the future.  UBI will provide the income foundation necessary for anyone to pursue the profession or business of their choice and will restore financial and cultural health to communities.

It is perhaps impossible to list all the benefits of UBI, because the implementation of UBI will alter the very nature of our humanity.  When the life-long struggle to compete with one another just to survive has finally been lifted from citizens the mental health of the entire world will be greatly elevated - we will become much more empathetic human beings. This will inspire the type of cooperation necessary to achieve things currently deemed impossible. Indeed, even world peace and the elimination of dire poverty will eventually follow the implementation of UBI.

When will UBI be implemented? When grassroots political movements are able to force their governments to act.

Great resistance will be offered by powerful forces to keep UBI from becoming a reality.   Disinformation, fear and force will be utilized to try to stop the implementation of UBI.   UBI will be branded as 'unfeasible' by the ruling banker class through their puppet economists, politicians and corporate media outlets.   Spurious arguments such as, "If UBI is enacted everyone will simply stop working", will be advanced.   

Surveys have already demonstrated that when people are asked the question, "Do you think large segments of the population would stop working if UBI were enacted?" - those survey respondents overwhelming say, "Yes, large segments of the population will simply stop working if UBI is enacted".   However, in those same surveys, when those same people are asked this question, "Would you yourself stop working if UBI were implemented?", the overwhelming response is, "No, I myself would not stop working if UBI were implemented".   

The truth is, it is the rare individual who does not wish to engage in meaningful work throughout their lives and the vast majority of us hope to prosper well beyond the basic necessities of life that UBI will provide.

  

Another predominate argument against the implementation of UBI will center around the belief that large injections of cash into economies 'logically' creates runaway inflation.   While there is some truth in this argument, in some instances, this argument ignores the fact that all forms of inflation can be regulated out of existence by any government willing to put the brakes on greed based inflation within their economies.   The only 'true' and therefore unavoidable type of inflation is inflation caused by scarcity. 

Fear is the primary driver of all catastrophic inflation - when a population suddenly loses faith in the value of its own currency. Fear will very likely be the weapon of choice in the fight against the implementation of UBI.

  

Citizens of the world would be wise to heed the wisdom of Thomas Jefferson when considering any argument advanced by the banking industry and their mouthpieces opposing the implementation of UBI.   In a letter to John Taylor written in 1816 Jefferson wrote, "I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."

Money is faith concept.   A nation and world willing to retain faith in the value of its currency can and will work miracles. A Universal Basic Income is a foundational principle of the world as it should be, a second-coming revolution.

The cruel, irrational God of the pro-life advocate

There have been some unspeakably wicked things done in the name of God over the centuries. In my lifetime I can't think of a more wicked act done in the name of the Christian God than the nefarious campaign to teach Christians that God opposes abortion.

In Frank Schaeffer's autobiographical book - “Crazy For God” - Frank reveals that his father, Francis Schaeffer (the defacto father of the pro-life movement) came to regret his participation in the politics that would spawn the pro-life movement within the American Republican Party. In Frank's later book - “Sex, Mom and God” - Frank illuminates further the corrupt politics that brought regret to his father's last days. Both of these books, as well as Jonathan Dudley's book 'Broken Word: The Abuse of Science and Faith in American Politics' are excellent resources for anyone interested in knowing the full convoluted history of the anti-abortion heresy being taught in Evangelical churches today for the purpose of maintaining political power in America.

People of faith have wrestled for years with the abortion arguments. Only in the last few years have I come to fully understand the deeply flawed and socially destructive nature of the anti-choice argument.

Safe medical abortion is a relatively new phenomenon in the world. When this procedure was unexpectedly legalized, in 1972, many in the Evangelical Christian world began to wonder out loud where Jesus might stand on the issue of abortion. There were no centuries old church decrees concerning abortion in existence, so the responsibility initially fell on the individual believer to decide for themselves what the 'will of God' might be concerning abortion. 

Although abortion was widely embraced as a godsend by many respected Christian thinkers during the 1970's, including Southern Baptist theologians, opposing forces soon emerged intent on re-shaping the layperson's understanding of abortion - for political purposes. Certain Christian anti-abortion activists and authors such as John Rushdoony and Francis Schaeffer began teaching that abortion is an unprecedented form of last days evil and those who practice it commit murder.

With doctrinal uncertainty brewing in Evangelical America, some leaders within the Republican Party saw an opportunity to seduce a larger segment of the Evangelical voting block away from the Democratic Party by making abortion rights a hot-button political issue among politically minded Evangelicals. Frank Shaeffer and his father were commissioned by Republican political operatives to create several films designed to teach American Evangelicals that God opposes abortion – that abortion is nothing short of murder. These films were then aggressively shown in Evangelical churches throughout America.

This is a thumbnail history of how many Evangelical Christians were first taught to believe God opposes abortion. 

This essay will attempt to expose why the pro-life argument is flawed from both a 'Traditional' and a 'Non-traditional' Christian perspective.

First, what's wrong with the pro-life or 'anti-choice' world view – From a traditional Christian perspective of God?

If it is true that all conception is the will of God, then the pro-life position remains somewhat logical from a traditional Christian perspective.   But if one believes that not all conception is necessarily the will of God - such as conception from rape, incest or uncommitted sex, then the pro-life position quickly becomes irrational.

The logic of the pro-life world view also begins another trajectory off the rails by denying that the creation of human life is an extended process initiated - not by God - but by the will and actions of human beings.  Pro-life advocates declare that 'human life' begins at conception.  A similar statement of false logic might be: A stack of lumber is a house. Pro-life believers stray further from logic by insisting that the soul – or one's self-awareness - comes into existence at the moment of conception.  But perhaps the most illogical aspect of the pro-life argument occurs with the irrational assumption that it is God's universal will and desire that all human conceptions result in live birth.

The belief that God desires all conceptions come to term simply because men and women have managed to produce a conception is illogical because it strips both God and women of autonomy of will.  Regardless of will of God concerning the circumstances surrounding conception, whether that conception came about as the result of rape, incest or sex between partners unfit to be parents, the pro-life advocate strips God of free will once a conception has taken place by declaring that God automatically desires all conceptions to come to term.  God's hands are tied.   A similar statement of false logic would be: I successfully robbed a bank against God's will so now I should assume God wants me to keep the money.   

It is illogical to think that just because a man and woman have managed to mix an egg and sperm together it must therefore be God's will that a child be born in the world.  In humanity's distant past conception might have been considered an act of the will of God, but doctors today can produce conception on demand in the lab by simply mixing the correct ingredients. Humans and humans alone are who have been given the right to bring forth conception from the void - not God - the will of God need not be consulted nor does the will of God ensure that conceptions do not take place.   Any mad scientist can mix the ingredients which starts the process that leads to the creation of human life.

The anti-choice worldview is promoted in our Evangelical churches by means of very powerful manipulations of the emotions, along with a preference for some scripture verses over other scripture.   A well reasoned, common sense approach to human reproduction is denounced as dangerous heresy by pro-life zealots.  Fear and ignorance is the real foundation of the anti-choice argument.

Fundamentalist Christians would do well to settle all the conflicting scriptural arguments concerning human reproduction with the only passage of scripture describing the creation of human life. Genesis 2:17 (KJV) “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” 

This passage of scripture states clearly that the creation of a living soul is a process and not an instantaneous event.  The human soul – one's self awareness - does not come into existence until after the breath of life has entered the body and yet the pro-life advocate declares that a human soul, one's self-awareness, comes into existence at the moment of conception.

Scientists now understand, in part, why nature often aborts a partially developed fetus through miscarriage.  Chromosome damage is routinely discovered in the autopsies of miscarried fetuses.  Chromosome damage leads to DNA replication errors, which causes birth defects.   Evidently nature is much more concerned about ensuring a healthy body for a potential human soul than it is about the destruction of a fetus through miscarriage - because nature is by far the most prolific abortionist of all.  Researchers currently estimate that well over half of all human conceptions end in spontaneous abortion.   Some conceptions don't implant in the uterus while others detach after an extended period of gestation.  Why, dear pro-life advocate, is nature involved in such murderous behavior?

Our evolving understanding of miscarriage reveals that nature is at work using her particular brand of wisdom to ensure that not all conceptions result in live birth - attempting to create the perfect human body - for the sake of the soul which will ultimately be required to inhabit that body.  Humans must use their own evolving understanding of reproductive biology in a similar fashion – to abort when necessary - to ensure that no child is born with a defective body needlessly.

So, what's wrong with the pro-life argument - From a non-traditional Christian perspective of God?

A majority of people understand it is illogical and highly counterproductive to oppose reproductive choice.  Abortion is often the most rational course of action for the sake of the woman, her family and the potential child.  Those of us who do support reproductive choice need to better understand how people involved in the pro-life movement begin to become incapable of thinking rationally about the abortion issue.

The answer lies in the psychology of belief in God and the psychology of delusion.  Delusion is a powerful state of mind which when induced divorces one from certain aspects of reality and restricts one's ability to think rationally.  A delusion is induced by embracing any significant 'false' belief concerning the nature of reality, or as Jesus explains in New Testament scripture, "If the light within you is darkness, then great is that darkness." 

Jesus also teaches in New Testament scripture that there are lasting negative psychological consequences for anyone who believes something false about the 'nature' of God.  Jesus called the induction of this particular delusional state, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (The unpardonable sin) - being in a state of believing something untrue concerning the 'nature' of God - ascribing wicked attributes to one's God.

Leaders of the pro-life movement unwittingly ascribe wicked attributes to their God when they teach their followers that it is the 'nature' of God that God desires women participate in the creation of life process against their will.  The pro-life advocate teaches that God does not wish for human beings to retain free choice or exercise their own wisdom as to whether or not they become parents once a conception has occurred. 

This 'unspoken' teaching is the perverse theological foundation of the pro-life argument once you strip away the emotionally charged false narratives about person-hood that pro-life advocates employ to snare their prey.  The 'nature' of the pro-life vision of God becomes no different than that of a super villain in a horror story, a mad scientist who captures women to use as his breeding stock, forcing them to bear the children of his reproductive experiments against their will - because he loves them so much.

Nature is by far the most prolific abortionist, utilizing her own rudimentary wisdom to ensure the viability of a fetus before birth takes place.  The God envisioned by the pro-life advocate denies that humans should use their own wisdom in a similar fashion, to ensure that no child is ever born unwanted, unloved, severely handicapped or without the vital resources to thrive – the most crucial factors that ultimately ensure the viability of a child. 

A fetus is not a child. A fetus is a potential child.   Those who deny this reality endanger their own mental stability when contemplating the abortion issue.

The God of the pro-life movement has been envisioned by those who unwittingly or recklessly blaspheme the Holy Spirit - by attributing wicked and irrational attributes to the 'nature' of their God.  Those who come to believe in this vision of God are stripped of their ability to think rationally about abortion.

Women contemplating giving birth because of their fear of the pro-life vision of God would be well served to discard their fear – which is not of God – and be sober and circumspect while making their decision, because every newborn child will be subjected to the circumstances of their birth.  Only the individual woman knows if she should allow a conception to come to term.  Pro-life advocates are engaging in the worst kind of subversion of individual will when they attempt to limit reproductive choices.

Jesus said when speaking of his disciple Judas and future humanity,  "It would have been better for the future of humanity had he never been born".  Judas was a man described in New Testament scripture as a common thief.  However, Judas was also the only person in New Testament scripture Jesus specifically calls his 'friend'.  In speaking this way about Judas, Jesus was acknowledging the terrible reality haunting the world today.  Our prisons are full of common thieves with one highly significant thing in common, they were born unwanted or into a desperate poverty. Sadly, it is often the heartfelt testimony of such persons to wish they had never been born.

The pro-life advocate has lapsed into a delusional state of mind by embracing fundamental falsehoods concerning the nature of reality - as well as fundamental falsehoods concerning the nature of God. For this reason the pro-life advocate seeks to fulfill the perverse desires of their perverse vision of God - a God who demands women bear children against their will and against humanity's best interests, and with no regard for the ultimate well being of the potential child.

Until institutionalized fundamentalist religions undergo significant intellectual reformation the world will remain at war with itself politically over the issue of abortion and children will continue to be born into environments unfit for the well being of their souls and all of mankind will suffer for it.