beautress
Always Faithful
I missed this question, but there is a very good religion that was not formed until after the crusades, holy wars, etc. But if you regard the Bible as superstitious, most of the early churches in the colonies preached from the Bible and never participated in any holy war..Well, when you find one of these "Good" religions, let me know. because most of them have given us inquisitions, crusades, holy wars, intolerance and superstition.
My ancestor who came over on the last known voyage to America the ship would ever complete belonged to this church, and from a history of its origins in America is as follows:
" The only Christian minister to sign the Declaration of Independence, was Reverend John Witherspoon, a Presbyterian." (common knowledge)
And from the Wikipedia on the doings of this political man is as follows:
"Politically active, Witherspoon was a delegate from New Jersey to the Second Continental Congress and a signatory to the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence. He was the only active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration. Later, he signed the Articles of Confederation and supported ratification of the Constitution."
I don't know if from 1619 when the Mayflower ship brought my ancestor to Plymouth Rock or if he in any way was related to Rev. John Witherspoon, through marriage five to ten generations later, but I do know that my grandfather's father was a Presbyterian circuit rider Presbyterian pastor in the Nacogdoches area, and granddad's brother, my uncle Paul Shurtleff, also took up the cloth and ministered in Des Moines for many years before retiring but also ministering in the warm state of Arizona or New Mexico, exactly where I don't know. The only time I got to talk to him was when I called him when he went into a nursing home there in behalf of our family for my ailing grandmother, and I couldn't quite understand what he said, except he seemed to be defending his faith in God and the Presbyterian Church. He was rather old and didn't know his brother had grandchildren. Oh, well. By that time I had grown to love my family's church and its influence through Rev. Witherspoon, to share the blessings of representives in church government just worked well for a church that had seven million members throughout the USA the year I graduated from high school.Since you don't like me much, you might consider reconnecting with your own family's church if you can. Best wishes if you ever want to be free in your spirit if you can withstand the disciplines of the Christian faith that you fought when just a child. My grandmother washed my mouth out with soap right after I got a nice switching with a willow twig for saying a bad word, which I didn't know was a bad word, and since I was four years old, can't remember what my grandma said I said. I still loved her and grandpa throughout my childhood, and getting a spanking that left red whelps on my leg for a few hours did not destroy my faith in God as it developed when I was dutifully taken to church services in our family's church, wherever we went as a military family.
May God bless you, keep you, and help you be glad that he loves you, even when you make mistakes whether spoken or otherwise. And he will love you as he loves us all, until the day we pass on to the next life. I pray that you will change your mind and open a Good Book that convinces you that living in the discipline of rightness and goodness being God's traits, and that he forgives errors when you take the good book seriously, especially about how all is forgiven when you cast your burdens upon the Lord and find out that he truly sustains you in times of sorrow as well as in good times. Hopefully, you have a guy friend who can help you forgive childhood disciplines and see the light that comes from the beautiful heart of a loving God who made us all and the earth we live on.