I'm a Christian in the Calvinist tradition, but I try to follow Jesus more than Paul. Paul was in my opinion very much a pragmatic who tried to spread Christianity in Greece, and was willing to compromise a bit with Greek sensibilities (which included slavery and misogyny). When in doubt, I look to Jesus instead.

Also, I think Calvin went a bit too far overboard on some things. The reformation was a good thing, but that doesn't make him right about everything.

Back then they didn't use Jesus's birth (or at least, the date Dionysius Exiguus thought was Jesus's birth) as the epoch for counting the years.

Back then it was technically the year 3000 something of recorded history. Christianity declared that that's when time started.

They see everything as sinful, because they themselves are the most sinful people. It's no mistake that serious religious people tend to be both some of the worst and also some of the most miserable people you ever meet. I believe in God as well but I never assumed God was a dumber then your average human, or that it was just a way for me to impose myself on the world. I always assumed God was close to perfect and so whenever I would assume things about God, I never assumed dumb things like God being a Republican or something. To me God was just an imaginary friend who explored psychic spaces with me. Someone to talk to or pray to if you want to use their auspacious language. The older I get the more I see religion as evil. Even if some of what it says is good, some of what Hitler said was good too. That doesn't make it a good thing. Religion at its core is a very mean and oppressive worldview and the people who practice it aren't very rational on the simple ways. Not to state that everything needs an explanation, but the idea that a grown adult would think God dislikes someone because they are gay or something is incredibly dumb. When you see the dark side of religion like this. If you can put yourselves into the shoes of others and see that religion has created so much horror and suffering for simply kind and innocent people who aren't hurting anyone, not to mention it dehumanized almost everyone, especially women, and is mostly powered by fear, you can really see the issues with it. The worst problem of all however is that it trains people to not think rationally but to think like a schizo. To start with an answer and work backward to try and prove it.

The other dark side is that humans are basically monkeys and they can be extremely shitty to each other. It's hard to say whether the atheist or the deist constitutes the better person, but at this point in history and probably all points, religion just became a vector for the powerful to impose their shitty views onto everyone else. Stuff like what project 2025 is doing. They are basically using religion to mobilize a idiot army to destroy freedom and democracy, so they can have their hoa corporatism. They are like the Nazis in so many ways. They claim to be things when they aren't. They claim to be free market capitalists when they are anything but.

What really bothers me is how if they could just be honest for once in their life and admit that the reason they really voted for trump is because they are sick of mass immigration, they might actually get a compromise or resolution. Probably not because the state doesn't care about those things, and sees it as something that will drive down labor competition and stuff, but because they cannot be honest they live in these delusions and it becomes their reality just out of repetition.

Also their weakness, their actual moral failings make them extremely easy to manipulate by people who are quite literally evil. Because they hate gay people for example, trump got power a second time and he is quietly in the background destroying everything they ever loved. The constitution, the free society, their basic ability to even use the internet and access information without being brainwashed. Trumps hyperinflating the economy which is going to destroy the bonds market, honestly already has, but much of it isn't going to be refinanced for a few years. This hatred they have makes them blind to everything. Their fear of being an outsider is also a giant weakness to them. They feel as if they have to be maga to fit in at work, to keep their jobs. They are a slave to money in this sense. This weakness also traps them into being manipulated because they don't realize how many people actually agree with them, most of them in reality since your common person, for all their weaknesses actually isn't an evil piece of shit like the Republican politicians. Their laziness also becomes a vector for evil to be done through them. They love to be political and vote, yet most people have zero desire to actually learn anything about the issues they vote on, or even history. Now it's too late. You aren't allowed to learn about campaign finance, history, political theory, or any of this. The algorithms will try to hide this stuff from you and direct you into brain rot. Their lack of moral character also becomes a vector of evil. They can never take responsibility, because it's hard. It hurts a bit to admit you have been fighting for the wrong side, but with this pain also comes the ability to change for the better. These are the types of things I learned through my meditations with God. None of this is in the Bible. The Bible teaches obedience, not trusting your own judgment, God taught me the opposite of this, only show obedience to people who deserve it, judge within yourself so that you may know where you are wrong and improve. Most people tell you that one side or the other is better, God taught me that no side is better but representative of two fundamental irreconcilable aspects of reality. Honest work vs human dignity. Democracy as strength in freedom but republicanism as strength in property. Both are necessary. Humans will have children they can't take care of and then expect others to take care of it. Republicans also always tend to become deeply dark and cynical people because the culture is always against their interests even when they are valid.

Religion teaches you to love religious people and hate gay or atheists people. God taught me to love good people and hate evil people. To realize how lucky I was to know him,but to also understand that so few will ever know him because they are too dishonest and do not love what is good and true like their own soul. That is the shame. I ended up becoming a lucifarian eventually. Not really for anything other than style and aesthetic reasons, and because I dislike religion so much. I still have my good character tho. It's also a statement I guess that if you want to shit on me as a trans person then I will not play your stupid games but be what you don't want me to be. It's also because I'm not an atheist or really anything close to it. I don't feel right describing myself that way. I still pray all the time to God, and I think it's a better way to describe myself that takes the power away from religion and humanity to try to define what I am in a way that they like to. It's also protest against the right, I spent my entire life being a humble and kind Christian, and all of these people were atheists who called me stupid. Then when maga becomes popular, all the sudden they claim to be Christians and are just horrible people. They have destroyed something I liked, and ironically now I usually say I'm an atheist just because I hate those people so much. Someone became a Christian less then 4 years ago trying to preach to me about some stupid hateful schizo nonsense. It's pisses me off. Those people do not know anything about God, it's just a way for them to use power and steal from something. That has been a great realization for me. Christianity was only cool when it wasn't popular like everything else I guess. As soon as it becomes popular it gets ruined by the common people and their stupid views and biases. I never read the book, I just followed in the ways of Christ because even as a child I could see the flaws in scripture and religion in general, and yet they do just the opposite. They cling to the book and religion because they do not actually believe in God. They just see it as a useful tool for indoctrinating young people. That is why they will never know God. They treat God worse than even their most hated foe, because they never believed it was real to begin with.

Sorry for the monologue btw, not sure if you even care to hear that, but at least it's unique. Might give you something to think about today during work to make the hours pass gracefully.

Jesus said

Matthew 15:11

it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.

The circumcision thing did come about at the Council of Jerusalem 20 years later, but Jesus instituted baptism which replaced it, and it follows the spirit of what Jesus taught.

As an atheist who tries to do the right thing for people, same. If he lived today, Jesus would probably be a communist and thrown out by Christians.

I've read that Mohammed even wanted to merge his movement with Judaism, but Jewish leaders rejected him, and apparently that set some bad blood.

Sure but the Jews never followed Jesus so he failed in everyway then.