What to Make of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

(aside from the obvious: Dinner) — Part 2 of 2

by J Pierre Reville

 

"Metanoia is the word used in the original Greek New Testament. Conveniently mistranslated as “repentance” by church lawyers who focused on behavior modification, the true meaning is much more like this transformation of the mental landscape (just as the Greek sozo, rendered as “saved” in the context of Jesus’ mission, actually means ” to be made whole,” another nuance of meaning lost on the modern church)."

"Belief, not faith, is the basis of brainwashing, because it fixes the attention to the verbal, symbolic expression rather than the pre-verbal, direct experience that engenders faith. The believer then attributes a very real neurological experience to a specific set of symbols and words taught to him by religious training, and that is where the trouble begins. The interchangeable is deified along with the Changeless."

 

"To limit God to an image we construct from the words of a book is to worship that book, not God."