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Archive for September, 2026

Be at Peace with All

Posted in christian living, Acceptance of Others, Love of God, Jesus follower, tagged , , , , , on September 18, 2026|

by Michael Donahoe

To be at peace with all people, including believers and non-believers, seems almost impossible in our world today. We have so many different thoughts and ideas, different denominations, different religions, interpretations and beliefs. It makes you wonder how it is possible to be at peace with everyone? 

I have been thinking recently about how some Christian people act towards those who see things differently. I do not know why we can be so mean at times. We feel we must prove our point to others and stand our ground when it comes to doctrine and interpretation of the Bible. I am not sure why we feel it is our job to be the morality police. Why do we feel the need to force our views, beliefs and interpretations on others? 

Rather than base our lives on following doctrine and interpretation, we are to follow the example of Jesus. He said to love God and love one another. There is no way to be at peace with others without loving them. We cannot love others without the Spirit of love living within us.

The dictionary describes peace as freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions; harmony in personal relations. I think what God is saying about being at peace with all is that we are to live in harmony with others, not allowing any oppressive thoughts or emotions to take control of our feelings toward them. In other words, we live in love.

Just because someone does not interpret the Bible the same way we do or go to the same church we do (or does not go to church at all), we all want to love God and do what is pleasing to God. 

We are to accept one another in love, and respect the fact that God is working in different ways in people. Just because it is not the way we believe or the way we do things does not mean it is not of God. 

In regard to non-believers, we do not need to condemn them or force our beliefs on them. We are to let them see the love of God by the way we treat others. They do not need someone beating them down or twisting their arms to get them to believe like us. We are to love them and let the Spirit do any work that needs to be done in their lives just as the Spirit does in our lives. 

If we believers could understand that we are responsible for ourselves in the way we live for God. We are not responsible to force our ways on others or try to make them live as we do. We are to allow God to work in each life and follow the path God has for each of us. 

Our responsibility is to love God and love others, accept them for who they are and pray that the Holy Spirit will teach us and guide us in the way we are to go. Only by living in love can we live at peace with all.

Michael Donahoe created Done with Religion after he and his wife left the institutional church after over fifty years within the system. He wanted a way to express his thoughts and concerns about the religious system, and tell why he and his wife decided to leave the institution but not their faith in God. They have now been outside the walls of religion for over fifteen years. He enjoys writing about his experiences and thoughts, and he wants to encourage others who are going through the religious deconstruction process. He also writes on Substack at https://deconstructiontrail.substack.com/ and https://personalmeanderings.substack.com/ Michael can be contacted by email at: jimgordon731@gmail.com

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Reimagining God – Part 1

Posted in christian living, Love of God, tagged , , , , , on September 14, 2026|

by Mike Edwards

I began to reimagine God in my early twenties. What I was being taught in church about God didn’t align with my understanding of a perfectly loving, morally good God. The only kind of God I thought was worth believing in. What did I know about love? I had parents and other relationships. I couldn’t imagine that God’s love wasn’t the same of what I understood about perfect human love. It doesn’t make sense why a Creator wouldn’t love the same way we humans believe were seemingly created by a Creator to love (aka goodness vs. evil).  I decided in my journey to reject harmful portrayals of God that conflict with universal human understandings of love and goodness. I came to believe that God is not defined by rigid doctrines or literalist readings of Scripture. See some of my core beliefs below as you imagine what you think God is really like.

  1. God must be perfectly loving

The only God worth believing in is perfectly loving and moral. We can understand God’s love by comparing it to the best of human love—especially parental love. 

  • God’s love is patient, hopeful, and other‑directed
  • A loving Creator would not act in ways universally recognized as immoral (e.g., cruelty, favoritism, violence)

How Can We Know What God Is Really Like?

  1. Moral intuition is a primary guide

If a religious teaching contradicts universal moral intuition, it should be questioned.

  • Our innate sense of good and evil is not inferior to ancient texts.
  • Moral intuition helps us discern God’s character more reliably than rigid interpretations of Scripture.

How Can We Know God If The Bible Isn’t Inspired? Trust Your Moral Intuitions!

What Does God Think About Moral Intuitions Versus Biblical Truths?

  1. Scripture requires interpretation and is not always definitive

There are contradictions, moral challenge, and different interpretations in the Bible, No one can claim perfect interpretation. Christians interpret differently passages about hell, women, and LGBTQ+ . Therefore, dogmatic certainty about God’s nature based solely on Scripture is unwarranted.

https://what-god-may-really-be-like.com/2025/04/06/should-we-assume-the-bible-isnt-inspired-by-god-and-does-it-matter-all-rants-against-the-bible-here/ – This is the main document that has all my rants on the Bible

God is not defined by rigid doctrines or literalist readings of Scripture but by perfect love, moral goodness, and the universal human intuition of what it means to love well. My work encourages humility, moral reasoning, and rejects harmful portrayals of God in favor of a love-centered understanding.

Mike Edwards was added as a writer and has been a great addition to the Done with Religion site. Mike provides many interesting views and various ways of looking at things. He is not afraid to ask questions and he keeps an open mind as to teachings of the institutional church. Mike also has his own site where he writes at What God May Really Be Like 

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Huckabee, Israel, and The U.S!

Posted in Bible, religion, tagged , , , , , , , on September 7, 2026|

by Mike Edwards

The nice thing about being a writer is you can share/write down thoughts that are wandering around in your head. I was annoyed by a letter written defending Mike Huckabee, who is U.S Ambassador to Israel. Many get their views of God according to Christian leaders. Huckabee said in an interview “America must recognize and stand with Israel’s God-given claim to the land promised in Scripture. Many claims are made in the letter that I question.

Who is Huckabee an ambassador for?

What nation does Huckabee represent? Huckabee must defend U.S. and not be conflicted with bowing to other nations according to his religious beliefs. Nations should have relationships with any nation that is in their interest. There is a good reason to defend a relationship with Israel for important military and intelligence reasons. Those who oppose giving Israel support should consider for America’s own protection.

But one best defend their family first, so to be strong to help others.  I do not think it is wrong to feed my family first as opposed to millions of starving children. A strong family or nation is often in a better position to help others because of their good fortunes and strength. If I raised three strong, consciousness children – my hope is they will have the same passion I do to share and be kind to others.

The letter says Jesus Christ is to return.

Jesus’ return has been predicted dozens of times from 500 AD to now. No one has successfully predicted the date of Jesus’ return. Jesus explicitly warned against trying to determine the date: “About that day or hour no one knows.” — Matthew 24:36. One of the most recent famous predictions that failed to happen was by Hal Lindsay in 1988.

 In The Late Great Planet Earth, Lindsey argued that the Rapture could occur around 1988, based partly on the 1948 founding of Israel and a generation of approximately 40 years. Obviously, the prediction failed. I don’t think organizations should send out donation letter claiming Jesus’ return is definitive. Scholars don’t agree the Bible predicts Jesus is coming again in the future. See here I have a hard time believing that God is going to sit on His Hands for 2000 years with all the suffering if was coming again.

Promise #1 in the Letter – Prophecy

Prophecy is likely the proclamation of the Good News – Not fortune telling or predicting the end of the world. See here. God can’t know the future. See here. The future depends on choices made by people and nations. It is natural to think an all-knowing, powerful God knows future outcomes but if the future is settled, we humans are not truly free to make decisions. Such decisions have already been decided. To say God knows the future makes freedom nonsensical.

There is much talk of biblical prophecies coming to pass because of what is going on between Israel and Hamas. Is God coming again (rapture/tribulation/Armageddon) to destroy this world as we know it and set up God’s reign? There is some biblical evidence that the end times mentioned refer to what happened in the first century, thus having been fulfilled:

  • If the Bible teaches God is coming again to destroy the world in the future, why did Jesus tell his audience that supposed predictions about the world ending (maybe not a physical ending) would happen in their lifetime: “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass way until all these things have happened” (Mt. 24:34)?” Jesus said to his audience when asked about the last days: “watch out that no one deceives you…. you will hear of wars and rumors of war (Mt. 24:4-6). Why would Jesus use such language if the world was going to end 2000 years and counting?

Promise 2 The Letter States “a blessing like you never received before”

Often quoted is Gen 12:3. God will bless them (Nations) that bless thee (Israel). Sounds like the “get rich’ GOSPEL. God is not arbitrary in blessings. Some nations are not in any position to bless other nations. Blessings flow when accepting God’s influence. God seeks to influence us to do all the good we can, in all the places we can, at all the times we can, to all the people we can, as long as we can. Good things or blessings often happen when following God’s example.  Imagine all the friendships not destroyed by following God’s lead in not coveting, gossiping, being slow to anger, etc.  God’s blessings can flow to any nation, including the United States, when leaders and individuals allow God’s influence in their lives to help others. Above qualities seem to be characteristic of the freedom of choices God has bestowed upon us.

Finally, the letter states “What greater blessing to give a Jewish soul that the gift of the Messiah reveled in His Word.

All the disciples who lived with Jesus didn’t believe he was the Messiah at first and they witnessed Jesus’ miracles. I will cut slack those who don’t believe or interpret the Bible that Jews or anybody must believe Jesus was the Messiah. The main gospel message is blessings can flow when following Jesus’ example of love. Christians often assume the main gospel message is one must believe in Jesus is the Messiah to get in Heaven. There is an alternative view what Jesus said about eternal life that is not often taught. Jesus defined eternal life as beginning in the here and now (Jn 17:3), not what awaited in the afterlife. Jesus was asked by a religious leader how to have eternal life. (Lk.10:25-37). Jesus simply said to love God and your neighbor. Loving God is also known as loving your neighbor. Jesus answered as if “Eternal” appears to be on the quality not quantity in life. Jesus often spoke of a life worth living being a loving life empowered by God. Jesus’ salvation was about living a meaningful life here on earth with God’s help. 

If you believe loving others like you want to be loved is central in living, you are good with God. That is God’s and the Bible main message. None of us act on this belief perfectly. I have suggested many get in heaven regardless of their believe in Jesus as the Messiah. Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism share common ground and thus in good standing with God —the Golden rule.  See; Who The Hell Gets In Heaven – Atheists, Agnostics, Non-Christians

Search words in blog   what-god-may-really-be-like.com/     Zionism, bless, Bible, prophecy, future

 Of course, a donation is asked for in the letter!

Mike Edwards was added as a writer and has been a great addition to the Done with Religion site. Mike provides many interesting views and various ways of looking at things. He is not afraid to ask questions and he keeps an open mind as to teachings of the institutional church. Mike also has his own site where he writes at What God May Really Be Like

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