PROLIGION

CHOOSING ERCIAN

I founded the Ercian religion after many years of study and introspection seeking the truth about the nature of God. The book “Ercian Testament, the Teachings of Proligion and Ercian Philosophy,” available in Amazon, uses logic and rational arguments to arrive at a concept of God that is believable.

I could not choose the Jewish religion, first because the Jewish people are not part of my heritage, I was born in Cuba from catholic parents, and I do not know Hebrew or any of the other Jewish languages. Second, because I do not believe the Jews are God’s chosen people, the elect.

To me, all humans are children of God. We all have the same rights of inheritance and are equal in principle when we are born. How we behave as human beings and whether we become good persons or not is another story.

We have to thank Moses for the Ten Commandments. No, I don’t believe he saw God or got the tablets with the information from God, but he was a good human being who wanted to bring order and a good direction to his society. For that reason, he should be honored by all.

I cannot choose Islam also because it is not part of my heritage, but more importantly because it is the one religion in which one finds a specific command to kill infidels, people who do not follow the words of Muhammad.

Another important reason I could not choose Islam is that in Islamic societies, women do not have the same status as men. They are subservient to men, expected to follow rules of clothing which restricts their freedom as daughters of God, generally leaving only the face and hands visible in public. In the worst of Islamic societies, violence against women is acceptable and sometimes publicly displayed as a form of punishment for some alleged infraction of the Islamic code.

If uncivilized behavior and repression exist, it is justified by the belief that Muhammad is the Prophet of God. Out of all prophets, he is supposed to be “The” Prophet of God. If the Ercian religion is right and the Ultimate God is not a thinking being who can speak or give his word to prophets or messiahs, then no one is the Prophet of God.

Now supposing the Ercian religion is mistaken and God has inspired prophets with his “Word.” Muhammad’s claim is that angel Gabriel appeared to him when he was meditating in a cave and the angel gave him the news about him being the prophet of God.

Supposing angels exist, have you seen one set foot on Earth? No, right? Me neither. The only accounts of angels appearing here and there seem to be for the purpose of bestowing divine authority on a main religious figure, whether it is Muhammad as prophet or the Virgin Mary as the mother to be of the alleged “Son of God.”

Therefore, I am not a Muslim, and to the best of my knowledge, Muhammad is not the Prophet of God, but a man who wanted to gather his people and unite them in what he thought the service to God should be.

Before I go on, I would like to say that I am not trying to be disrespectful of people or their beliefs but there is no diplomatic way of searching for the truth without examining and analyzing peoples’ religious beliefs. Unjustified belief is faith. Always remember that. Unjustified belief is not knowledge.

I was a catholic Christian for many years of my life and worshiped Jesus as God through all that time. As a child and young adult, I lived a happy life not worrying much about whether I followed the right religion or not. Jesus was taking care of me.

Nowadays, though I am no longer a Christian, I have crucifixes in parts of my house, a rosary over my bed and one in my car that my late wife placed there. I have not removed it. Jesus accompanies me in my house and when I drive. Old habits are hard to drop, what can I say.

Jesus is part of the Ercian religion but not as God. in my practice of the Ercian religion, I have given Jesus the honorary title of Son of the Divine Royal Family. Maria is the name I chose for the Mother, Yaseph, the name I chose for the Father, and Barbara the name I chose for the Daughter.

Now, getting back to the matter at hand, and explaining why I am no longer a Christian. First, I will address the character of the alleged God, alleged Father of Jesus.

Supposedly, Jesus came to Earth for the forgiveness of our sins. That was the reason. Jesus was to be sacrificed so that the sins of the human race are forgiven.

Ask yourself a few questions. What kind of God needs BLOOD for the redemption of sins? It is not because someone needs a blood transfusion for example, not for a good reason. Being a god, all he would have to do is say “the sins of humans are forgiven.” Just say it! It is all that he would need to do if he were God. No need to sign an executive order like a President has to do.

Also realize that God created the human animal with instincts and biological needs that drive the animal part of our nature, and also with a mind we must use to compete and survive in this world of ours and which creates desires of being this or that or of owning this or that. What did this omniscient, all-knowing God think was going to happen? Did he think we would all be saints, not sinners?

As long as the world exists, there will be sinners. Guaranteed. It is inevitable. A God that is allegedly our Creator would know that, but apparently the alleged Father of Jesus did not.

Also, think of this. Is this alleged Father of Jesus a good teacher? Does having Jesus die in agony on the cross to pay for our sins the way to teach us responsibility, to be accountable for our own sins?

No. The sinning hasn’t stopped nor will it stop until humans or other sentient beings no longer exist. When there is no longer a world, that is when the sinning will stop. So, is the blood of Jesus Christ like a Master credit card with no limit?

Don’t forget that we often pay for our sins. Our sins can lead us to lose good family or friendly relationships because we sinned. Sometimes if we did something wrong in the past and we regret it, it will bother us if we are the kind of persons that have a conscience. If we break the laws of our society and the Law catches up with us, we are going to pay for our sins. But it is true that some people get away with murder, so good people hope divine justice deals with them eventually.

Now, examining Jesus himself as a historical figure. Do you realize that we do not really “know” Jesus. We have never met him in person, and we did not live on Earth and in his neighborhood, so to speak, at the time he was here. Photos, films and videos did not exist at that time. When we think of Jesus, what comes into our minds is an IDEALIZED portrayal of the Jesus we find in the New Testament.

I will leave it up to the reader whether or not to believe the real Jesus was like the idealized version. One thing is certain, you cannot be human and then claim that you are without sin, that you are perfect. Perhaps a robot can, but not a human being.

Then, we have all these accounts of miracles, of walking on water, multiplying fish, converting water into wine, curing sick people even raising one from the dead, all these things we have never witnessed anyone do in our time on Earth. Remember that film or videos were not invented yet. What we have is hearsay from alleged witnesses.

What was the purpose of the alleged miracles, to claim authority from God and form the foundation for a new religion? Supposing Jesus had really done miracles, what good would that do for us humans when he left? We do not have those supernatural powers. He would have known that, so what was the purpose doing miracles we could not replicate, to show off like some superior being that comes from a super-advanced civilization and wants us to be impressed and jealous?

No, I don’t believe in any of the miracles including the alleged resurrection, again, something neither I nor the general honest and rational human being has ever seen. One thing that connects us directly to God is our brains and our senses. If we cannot depend on that, then reality and the truth is whatever people want to believe without proof or evidence of any formal kind.

What about Jesus’ philosophy? The reciprocal or golden rule as preached by Jesus was an order to act, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” and this is fine if we are talking about good people being charitable with others, but it is not a good thing if we are talking about evil or bad people. For example, is it okay for a sexual pervert to rape a woman because he would like women to have sex with him, to do that to him?

I prefer the negative version of the golden rule. In Confucian teachings (C. 551 – 479 BCE) Confucius advised, “What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.” (Wikipedia) In Judaism, Hillel the Elder summarized the Torah with a similar principle, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor,” (Copilot Search – the golden rule)

“Love your enemies” is a Jesus teaching I completely disagree with. It is an absurdity, a bad teaching. I hold no enmity towards anyone and wish everyone on Earth were a good loving person but that is not the case. An enemy is an evil person who wants to hurt me or my family in one way or another, kill, rape, steal or what have you. I will love and respect those who love and respect me and mine.

Those are the reasons why while still loving the idealized image of Jesus in my heart, I can no longer be or call myself a Christian.

If you believe Jesus is the Son of God, you will have eternal life, says the gospel. Well, I do not believe Jesus is the Son of God, or God himself, but I will have eternal life if the real God decides that is my destiny.

Joseph Marchante

Blessed be the proligious spirit! And there shall be a new beginning!

In God with Love, in God with Knowledge, and in God with Courage. Forever and Ever, Amen!

  AVAILABLE AT AMAZON.COM: My religion and philosophy are spelled out in the book "Ercian Testament" with the subtitle "The Teachings of Proligion and Ercian Philosophy."