(11-20-2017, 02:16 PM)IndigoGeminiWolf Wrote: Yeah, that "confess your sins to one another" in the bible has gotten me in trouble in the past. Because the person I did confessed to apparently didn't know about that scripture and started judging and gossiping to others about me.
In fact, the church I used to go to demanded we follow that. And I was judged heavily by what I confessed (i.e. you'd better beg God for forgiveness).
One has to be discerning with the Bible. Some of it is positive, and some of t is clearly negative. I completely agree with Diana on the “test of faith”; Abraham being told to kill his son to prove his faith. I mean, wtf? A positive being, let alone the Creator who is LOVE, would never ask that. God already knows your heart. You prove your loyalty by doing something extreme for negative entities. They want to know that you’ll do anything for them. (I know Abraham was stopped by the “angel”. But killing innocent animals isn’t kind either, as Diana pointed out.) I’ve read the New and Old Testament. There is great wisdom in the Bible, absolutely! There are also pitfalls and negative teachings. “Turn the other cheek” is opposite “an eye for an eye”. Just one example...
You say you were judged because of confessional? That’s the point. The negative church leadership uses this technique so that they have dirt on others. It’s a power move. The Catholic Church was co opted by negativity very early on. They canonized and compiled the Bible that we know it today. Conveniently, core concepts were removed, such as reincarnation, which Jesus was said to have taught.
Another problem I find with the concept of confessional is that it gives your power away. You are confessing to the priest who then, on God’s behalf, forgives you. You don’t need that intermediary. It’s a subtle attitude that sees the self as unworthy. You are worthy to talk to God yourself.
Positive religion or beings don’t demand anything of you. Christ asked of us to keep two commandments: love the Creater with all one’s heart and strength, and to love each other. That simplicity and purity seems to go over the heads of many people who call themselves Christians (which is another label that’s used to prop up the self as being “a good person”.)