Since I am now limiting my post to “Having My Say”, there are a number of thoughts that are coming to the surface. Religion/Spirituality is one of them.

Every once in a while, I come across an article that jerks me in a different direction. This is one of those times. It is about the story that with his last words, Jesus tore down a wall between God and man and how Christians have been building walls ever since to replace it.

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split.” – Matthew 27:50

The temple mentioned was the Most Holy Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The only people allowed in that temple were the most high priests. Supposedly, if God had something to tell people, he told it to those high priests. No one else was allowed to actually hear those conversations. When the curtain ripped, it was a symbolic message that God would now give everyone access to him. No false credentials required.

Of course, the high priests of Judaism ignored that message and when Christianity was formed centuries later, the new religious leaders proceeded to construct their own walls. About the only one of the 35,000 or so versions of Christianity that took the “ripped curtain” seriously are Quakers. That is one of the few religions that I would even think about joining today.

Every other religion that I have studied requires someone to stand between God and man. Call them a rabbi, priest, minister, bishop, Pope, or whatever. Someone is there to tell you what God says.

From the early accounts of what was to become the Christian church mentioned in the Book of Acts, these early “Christians” were very focused on their actions, not beliefs which now dominate most of the 150 or so Christian Creeds that you must pledge allegiance to in order to be a member of their church.

The church that bears his name continues to build more walls and, maybe even worse, defines who is “in” and who is “out”. For this very reason, I proclaim that I am a follower of the teaching of Jesus but don’t call myself a Christian or necessarily even religious.