If This Were Your Universe . . .

Suppose you were a wealthy and powerful parent. How would the world perceive you if these facts were discovered:

On the day they are born, you tell them they are already a bad person.

Some of your children are poor or happened to be born in a dark corner of the room, so you allow them to go without health care and suffer horrible diseases.
 

The diseases they suffer from were of your own invention.
 

You decide to create chaos to "test" them, and send an earthquake to destroy their home.
 

One of your daughters and son in law move away, become rich and happy while failing to adore you, so you destroy their entire city with a volcanic eruption.
 

You tell you favorite children to make war with your least favorite children.

Sheep

The shepherd keeps the flock together. He watches for the sheep that go astray and quickly brings them back into the fold. When the wool gets too long, the shepherd will shear it. The sheep cannot choose the length of their wool. The sheep will go along with anything the shepherd demands, and do not question the shepherd. The shepherd brings them security. They know if they follow him, they will be taken care of. The sheep will continue follow the herd even when the shepherd is away.

The Evolution of Christianity

When I was growing up, Christianity was a much different creature than today. Today's brand of Christianity has become increasingly fundamentalist in nature. This is a disturbing trend, and—I'll admit—has drawn me away from many Christian individuals and organizations. Christians are increasingly becoming mindless, intolerant ideologues. They don't seem to question what they hear on Faux News. They supported George W. Bush long after the facts were revealed (before his re-election in 2004). They rarely speak up when Pat Robertson calls the an entire culture "evil" and deserving the wrath of God.