“What exactly are the requirements for ordination? Does the minister pledge celibacy, poverty, and obedience, and declare their adherence to a strict creed? As you might imagine, they do none of these things. Matters of celibacy would generally be considered none of the congregation’s business (as would matters of gender or sexual orientation). There is no vow of poverty—ministers draw salaries, like other professionals. And obedience is out of the question, although ministers do have a mutual covenant through which they agree how they will relate to one another. It involves matters of support and mutual accountability, and very much does not involve obedience. As for adherence to a strict creed, that’s not only not a requirement, it’s explicitly stated in the Unitarian Universalist Association bylaws that it cannot be a requirement. What happens at an ordination service? Does the bishop lay hands on the new minister? Well, this would be tricky, because there is no UU bishop. There is often a laying on of hands, but it usually involves everyone. There’s usually a Charge to the Minister and a Charge to the Congregation (these are marching orders of a sort, given by someone the new minister chooses). There’s usually the offering of a collegial blessing such as the right hand of fellowship, where another minister welcomes the new minister into the collegial group. And there’s always the act of ordination, which is performed by the members of the congregation and is usually a reading led by the congregational president. There is no magical moment of ethereal transformation where the minister takes their place as an intermediary between God and humankind. UUs do not all agree on whether there is a God, much less where such a God might be located. But we definitely agree that whatever transcendental forces exist, ministers do not have a special place in controlling or mediating those forces. Ministry is not a supernatural state of any kind. It’s a choice, a process, and an ongoing relationship.” As I child, I was willing to lose my entire life, money, housing, vehicles, my health care, my insurances, materialism, possessions, power, statuses, pleasure, comfort, praise, approval, and my acceptance for Jesus! As a child, I believed that I would gain eternal life with Christ! I think of being a theologian, and a lawyer. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support

“I used Jesus to help me to overcome the incest, bestiality, and necrophilia that I witnessed in organized crime. My child me longs for the Christian version of belief in The Supreme Being Deity, The Christ figure, transcendental entities, miracles, life after death, and the supernatural to be 💯 true.” -Antonio Myers. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support

“519) Original sin  One of the most odious concepts Christianity has foisted on mankind is the doctrine that the sin of one man caused the condemnation of all people who would live thereafter. This is the doctrine of original sin. It is was capsulized by the Apostle Paul in Romans 5: 17-19: For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. There is no imaginable reason why a god would condemn people because somebody else did something wrong. It goes against every aspect of every legal system existing on the Earth. It goes against common sense and decency. If anyone today punished a child because his father or uncle did something wrong, he would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Yet, Christians continue to worship a god who did just that. Why did Christianity adopt this senseless idea? Most likely it was done to give power to the priests who controlled the sacrament of baptism, forcing fearful parents to quickly have their children baptized to avoid having them sent to Hell. The concept of original sin is not consistent with the nature of an almighty deity, and it is compelling evidence that Christianity is the illogical product of unenlightened men.” “Consider some of the sins listed in the Torah and try to find the common denominator they all share: You can’t cut your sideburns. You have to be circumcised. You can’t work on Sunday You can’t eat animals with cloven hoofs. You can beat your slaves, kill your children and sell your daughters. If you have a wet dream you have to leave the camp for several days until you’re spiritually clean again. Slavery is still approved of, and slaves or told to obey they masters at least 4 times. Working on Sunday is now okay. Not believing the story of Jesus is a now a worse sin than murder. Divorce isn’t a sin if the wife fornicates. Women shouldn’t wear pearls or gold, and they should either cover their heads during prayer or shave their heads. Not eating pork, rabbit, and shellfish, not wearing mixed fabrics, not having sex during a woman’s menstrual period, no cross-dressing, no homosexuality, no transgenderism, applying the death penalty to working on Sabbath and charging interests on loans. In my view, these are all extremely grotesque rules! Most people don’t have the “Hitler” spirit, so original sin doesn’t apply to most people. Being imperfect means growing for the better in the form of responding well to one’s own weaknesses and being a sinner means having the “Hitler” spirit. There are many of those in religious leadership and outside of religious leadership who disbelieve in God, are privately denying all of the traditional religious beliefs, sending violent threats and death threats to those who disagree with their vocal support of conservative theology, and living the prosperity gospel lifestyles while proclaiming the need to abide by all of the traditional religious beliefs. It doesn’t make any sense for a deity to invent original sin-humans and then make them abide by its ceremonial laws, moral laws, Levitical laws, and Deuteronomy Codes. Paganism and Christianity are intertwined, there is a pantheon of deities within, Polytheism, Christianity and Paganism (which all three share), Polytheism and Christianity have a correlation, the names of the gods within the shared pantheon of Christianity, Polytheism, and Paganism showed that Paganism influenced Christianity (not just the rituals, Biblical character names, and weekday titles.) God didn’t protect adults and children in both Testaments. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support

“332) Red Letter Bibles Red Letter bibles are standard bibles that have the words that Jesus spoke in a red font. This is to distinguish his statements from that of any other person or the comments of the author. The theory behind this is that what Jesus spoke most accurately depicts the true Christian doctrine, which was potentially contaminated by the extraneous details and comments added by Paul and the authors of the other epistles and the gospels. Christians who use these bibles are often called Red Letter Christians, who tend to be more liberal and socially conscious than other Christians. However, there are problems with this approach. For one, the existent ancient manuscripts do not contain quotation marks, so it is somewhat ambiguous and open to interpretation in certain texts whether a statement is being made by Jesus or is simply a comment being made by the author. Also, it is obvious that Jesus did not have a scribe writing down his every word, so when the gospels were written 30+ years later, it is highly dubious that his words could have been reproduced accurately. So what is commonly claimed to be the words of Jesus are more likely contemporary political and religious discourses put into his mouth. For this reason, the base upon which Christianity stands is very wobbly.” Religion teaches people to detest gray areas, hate gray areas, loathe gray areas, abhor gray areas, abominate gray areas, execrate gray areas, regard gray areas with contempt, contempt for gray areas, shrink from gray areas, be repelled by gray areas, find gray areas intolerable, deplore gray areas, dislike gray areas, scorn gray areas, disdain gray areas, slight gray areas, look down on gray areas, pour/heap scorn on gray areas, deride gray areas, scoff at gray areas, jeer at gray areas, sneer at gray areas, mock gray areas, revile gray areas, spurn gray areas, shun gray areas, contemn gray areas, and disrelish gray areas. Gray areas give me the freedom to embrace the gray areas of life, to not be a complete control freak,and to remain in empathy. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support

“Don’t believe everything you think and don’t believe everything you’ve been taught to think.” -Antonio Myers. God’s (Yahweh) wife is named Asherah. I am not fully comfortable being a sheep because the shepherd has too much reliance power over me and I wrestle with the concept of universal reconciliation. I’m going to have much way more wholesome sex and much way more wholesome sex partners than imaginable for me from all walks of life. My ethical promiscuity means that I have sex in moderation, am promiscuous in moderation, and I’ll be doing adult films in moderation. People give Church leadership a false sense of respect by not swearing them because of their titles and not because of who they are (the same reason for not smoking or drinking around them.) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support

“Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass electronic communication networks Digital media, electronic media used to store, transmit, and receive digitized information Electronic media, communications delivered via electronic or electromechanical energy Hypermedia, media with hyperlinks Interactive media, media that is interactive Mass media, technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication MEDIA Programme, a European Union initiative to support the European audiovisual sector Multimedia, communications that incorporate multiple forms of information content and processing New media, the combination of traditional media and computer and communications technology News media, mass media focused on communicating news Print media, communications delivered via paper or canvas Published media, any media made available to the public Recording medium, devices used to store information Social media, media disseminated through social interactions.” --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support

“The word "peace" comes from the Greek word eirene, the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word shalom, which expresses the idea of wholeness, completeness, or tranquility in the soul that is unaffected by the outward circumstances or pressures. The word eirene strongly suggests the rule of order in place of chaos.[13]” --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support

“In Exodus 23, the Israelites are given instructions on how to maintain justice for all. This text lists acts that must be and not be done, so as to prepare a safe and equitable space for all who inhabit the land. Note how this text aims at nurturing a community in which people will act justly, even when it is not in accordance with their preferences or narrow self-interest. Exodus 23, therefore, ensures that everyone is equally entitled to the rights set forth by the law, just as UDHR Article 2 guarantees everyone’s entitlement to the rights and freedoms set forth in the UDHR without discrimination.” Link: https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/peace/human_rights/universal-declaration-human-rights-scriptually-annotated.pdf. I created a gender and sexual diversity version of The Trinity. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support

“The Beatitudes are sayings attributed to Jesus, and in particular eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and four in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirror the blessings.[1] Each is a proverb-like proclamation, without narrative.” --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support

“Introduction On Dec. 10, 1948, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), proclaiming inalienable rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled, regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status. The Carter Center hails this year’s 70th anniversary of the UDHR as an opportunity for all to reaffirm the universal values and enduring principles enshrined in the UDHR. The Carter Center works to support former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s long commitment to human rights, particularly the rights of women and girls. In his 2014 book, A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power, President Carter articulates many of his proposals, including the engagement of religious leaders in this work, because, as he argues, the disproportionate violence, poverty, and discrimination that women and girls around the world face is often caused by “the false interpretation of carefully selected religious texts and a growing tolerance of violence and warfare.” --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support