Atonement confusion

John Frostad’s letter (July 23) displays an all too common ignorance of the real message of the Bible. In the Old Testament, God did indeed command homosexuals and adulterers to be stoned to death. Animals were sacrificed in order to atone for “lesser” sins.

When Jesus died, so did this system of atonement. When he rose; so did a brand new entity known as the Christian Church. During his 3  1/2-year ministry, his emphasis was not on what we are doing wrong. Instead, his emphasis was on the central theme of the entire Bible: love the Lord with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Over the last few decades, this message has been buried in electronic babble. Instead of self-denial, we are now being programmed to embrace the Buddhist tenet of ignoring the world and concentrating on self. The results are rampant. If Mr. Breivik had obeyed Christ, he would not have felt compelled to blow up buildings or murder those campers.

As for religion, the government has created their own. Environmentalism has now supplanted the Bible. Evolution, its partner, has served to demote humans to mere cattle to be used.

Douglas R. Benn

Spokane