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David Dodd

David Dodd is a Reader contributor. See staff page for published articles.

Savior

Guilt is - or at least should be - based on experience. I would not have crucified a Christ, I wouldn't do it now, that if someone wandered up to me and told me that He was the Son of God I would have no choice but to accept his statement at face value. Believing in such a statement is an entirely different matter. Having faith in such a belief is the cornerstone of Christianity. God killed his own son. Hell of a story, eh? It is easy to say that God's act mandates humanity's culpability. It is much more difficult to rationalize that statement, and I can't speak for everyone but it's certainly above my pay grade. My children do not deserve the guilt of original sin. They have been taught about it, the three that I've had control of have been to church, baptized and confirmed and so on. I think it was important for them to learn about religion, and had no qualms with the Catholic lessons. As for myself, I've never been baptized by water. I have no plans to do so in the future. According to many versions of Christianity, this condemns me to a life non-eternal. I could care less about that, Altius. The great-big giant awesome message inside of the New Testament is completely lost if I need to have some holy man sprinkle water on my head so that I am somehow absolved in the murder of the Son of God. For my children, I only want their guilt borne of a crime they've committed, not one that society decides to dump onto them. I'd rather see them run in the sprinklers because it's fun, not because they owe their God an offering. But I will defend the rights of those people who believe that guilt is an integral part of their eventual salvation. Should they want even more guilt, they can have mine. I hammered no nails into that cross, I have nothing to be guilty of and neither do my children.
— November 22, 2010 11:43 a.m.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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