I had high points and low points in that journey that was off and on until well into my thirties. Through it all, I believed everything that I was taught. This was true even when I would backslide or fall away from the church from time to time. When I embraced my beliefs, I knew I was going to heaven. When I ignored my beliefs, I knew I was going to hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life got complicated for me and I eventually stepped away from those beliefs in the decades that passed. That distance from the church allowed me to see our creator in a less defined and more forgiving and loving way. It became clear that light and dark are opposites, and love and fear are opposites, and that they cannot exist in the same place at the same time. It became obvious that I had to make a choice to believe that God is either a God of love or a God of fear. I chose to believe he was a God of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of my favorites quotes to share is: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“God is a God of love and he does not teach through fear or use fear in any way<\/em>“. <\/p>– David Nelmes<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This undoes many Biblical teachings where fear, judgement, punishment and similar attributes are associated with God, and Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That injection of fear into Jesus’ personality and teachings is obvious where the Bible has Jesus leaving the world by being so very forgiving to a complete stranger on a cross next to him, but later in the Book of Revelations, he is transformed into a warrior that slays anyone who simply doesn’t know him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extreme Evangelicals Embracing Blind Allegiance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So how could people who so embrace the loving aspects of God and Jesus, also embrace them as being vengeful and murderous at the same time? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And how is it that they not only rationalize it, but embrace it and push their perspectives out as their unwavering facts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This all comes down to a decision they made when they first believed. They were told that the Bible is 100% accurate and true. Anything or anybody, including myself, that says anything contrary to that, is doing Satan’s work to deceive them. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Evangelicals are required to unconditionally accept every word of the Bible and to unconditionally accept every word their pastors and preachers say to them. In essence, they are prevented from thinking for themselves, outside of their belief box, because that would be judged as evil to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, since an Evangelical Christian is not allowed to see or investigate where contradictions or false information is provided to them, they work hard at rationalizing why it is all true and accurate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many extreme Christians are often so preoccupied with tying as many pieces of the unconnectable puzzle together, in my opinion, to keep convincing themselves they have not been deceived the whole time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole thought system in place for most believers, is to blindly accept what their leaders tell them as being totally true. They are then primed through having the same doctrine preached to them over and over again. The result is that they totally embrace what they are told, whether it is a truth or a lie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facts never matter because everything and anything that does not actually fit, will be rationalized to where there is the illusion that it does fit. Otherwise, they would have to think outside their box and face the fact that they are being deceived on a level that surpasses any level of evil they could imagine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manipulation and Control of Extreme Evangelicals<\/h2>\n\n\n

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