Good v. Evil

How do we protect ourselves from evil?

With scripture?

Unfortunately, Scripture has been used throughout history by the evil to acquire power and riches on the backs of those who they consider lesser mortals. The ironic part to all this is that for the evil to succeed the 'lesser mortals' have to accept this position, sacrifice their own freedom, and voluntarily give that power and those riches to the evil.

A clear reading of Scripture, from whichever doctrine you feel most a part of, will invariably emphasize that no human life is more valuable than any other. That to be moral is to believe that each of us has an inherent value

Not 'ORIGINAL SIN' but 'ORIGINAL WORTH'!!!!!!

This is acquired at birth. A God-given capacity that can only be diminished voluntarily. We each have to choose, by ourselves, how we will retain this worth by how much we value the worth of others.

So my definition of evil is the denial of anyone's Original Worth. The amount of evil in one's life is the degree to which you assume for yourself a value that is superior to the value of any other human. Each belief is just one part of the total morality. Each feeling is just one part of the common grace. Each thought is merely one part of the universal wisdom. Each understanding is just one part of reality.

Those who would divide us do so only to steal undeserved riches and assume unnatural power for themselves at the expense of their fellow man. They destroy the liberty of all, especially of those who've been deceived into supporting them - those who have taken up evil's chorus of hatred.

Ironically, the greatest defense against this evil enslavement is scripture. Not the skewed and narrow interpretations used to justify the evil to those who would surrender themselves to it and let others explain what Scripture is. Actually, it is through the individual wisdom that comes to each of us; from each individual line of Scripture; that we read and interpret for ourselves; and then share with others; in both word and deed.

For evil to prosper, we must surrender our souls, hearts, minds, and bodies to them and allow them to tell us what to do, what to believe, how to feel, and who we are. In essence, give to them our own 'Original Worth'. So when we diminish others because we choose to be deceived about their religion, their race, their culture, their age, their sex, etc., we diminish that which is good in the world and elevate that which is evil.

How do we protect ourselves from evil?

It is by arming ourselves with our own understanding of the wisdom in the Scripture we read for ourselves, and then put into practice in our everyday lives.