I guess my viewpoint can be summed up as yes, I believe in God, but no, I don't believe in all the different rulebooks (bible, koran, torah, etc etc)...they appear to me to have been written by man. There are many different creation stories and always have been...humans have always been faced with the Mystery, and have always feared the Unknown, so great lengths are indeed what many have gone to in order to have some sort of certainty about the Unknown. But to me, the mysteries and challenges of the Creator seem to have a more obvious presentation that is too easily overlooked. It is the Square One Choice that humankind has always been faced with: deciding our purpose, how we choose to live our lives, how we treat each other, how we view the difference between positive and negative, creation or destruction, love or hate, war or peace.

So why would I believe in a loving God, but not in the bible? Am I nuts? I don't think so. There have been children born into places and into religions that prevented them from ever getting to see or know about a Bible...and yet I am given to believe they will not go to Heaven because they did not accept Christ in their hearts? I just don't buy the dogma, and I do not believe the Bible was written by God, but by people needing faith to guide and govern wayward anarchic selfish masses, and as a salve for the unbearable notion of having no physical answer to the mystery of existence. My heart, however, agrees with Jesus in a philosophical sense, pertaining to this life on this planet, of how we need to treat each other with love and compassion. I believe that love, life, peace and kindness are presented to us by God as obvious choices to emulate the creation itself...and it is left to us to figure out how to deal with those who choose to be grasping, destructive, murderous and careless. I believe Life is bigger than my own consciousness or soul, and all my memories and love will indeed be swept into the greater whole of existence. I think it is selfish of me to insist on believing my individuality should be eternal in any way.

So I don't feel especially moved by the concept of salvation. My own damnation may await me, but it is not pride that causes me to turn away from this idea. It is simply that my heart tells me God wants me to do this. That's my personal relationship with God...I have faith in it, and I believe in it. So if I am to be damned, it will be for loving God more than the bible.

http://www.soundclick.com/MarkKaufman