Email from Chad Lupkes to a Fundamentalist Christian, Summer of 2000

Matthew 22:
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Buddhism: "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful."

Judaism: "What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the entire law, all the rest is commentary."

Islam: "No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself."

Baha'l: "Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself."

Wicca: "Live and let live, fairly take and fairly give."

Truth is in the eyes and ears of the beholder, my friend. The true lesson taught by Jesus of Nazareth was that our time on this earth is limited as individuals, so we must make the most positive impact on our fellow man as possible. Belief and strict adherance to the laws of Moses and Solomon are secondary to having a pure heart and honest intentions.

Matthew 7:
21 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

What is the will of God but to follow the path to enlightenment and become one nation and one world united toward the purpose of making this earth a Heaven that we can be proud to raise our children in. This is the goal of the Neo-Pagan movement, just as it is the goal of the Christian Churches. We should be concentrating on how we can work together toward this common goal and united purpose, not worrying about which of us sees the indescribable and unknowable deity in the clearest light.

If we have such a difficult time seeing clearly the heart of someone who stands next to us on the street, how can any of us say that we have a clear understanding of the plan of God. And if we cannot agree on simple things like what land belongs to what people, how can we make a positive determination of the form of something that has no form. God or Goddess, there is no difference in the form or function, just our own petty differences in interpretation of the exact same signs and symbols.