Just watched Kingdom of Heaven today. First time i've seen it. It was a pretty good show about The Crusades (i think?). Basically about the Muslims and Christians fighting over Jerusalem.

Then one of the characters in the movie said something, and it made me think.

I believe it is true that man is not judged by religion alone, but by his righteouness.

If a person were to inform me that i was going to Hell simply because i didn't believe in God, despite my righteousness... It could only lead me to two conclusions:

(1) That God is not the God we think He is.

(2) As long as we're righteous, God will not send us to Hell simply because we do not believe in Him or choose not to worship him.

The disassertion of (2) necessarily leads to (1). That would be to say, if God were really as benevolent, and selfless etc. as He is made out to be, then his concern would not be with whether or not we worship Him and believe He exists.

Some might argue that only in believing and worshipping God can one truly be righteous. But that is a complete fallacy.

One does not need to believe in the existence of God and worship Him in order to be righteous. Yes, God does advocate righteous actions. But this does not mean that righteous actions are impossible INDEPENDENT of God.

If there is a God, and right now i'm pretty much a fence-sitter who refuses to pick a side lest i incur the burden of choice, then I will like to believe that he is a righteous God.

One who is an impartial judge, not a narcissistic tyrant.

A God who will not condemn a righteous person to Hell simply because that individual had reservations about committing his faith into the unknown.

A God that the bible espouses.

Not the one that most churches speak of.

Not the one who seeks to instill fear in His followers.

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