Faith + Reason = Truth

This may not be much of a jolt to those who have actually read some or all of the New Testament of the Bible in context (i.e., entire books of it from start to finish rather than jumping around from chapter to chapter or verse to verse to extract quotes that can then be used out of context to bolster one's case in just about any matter), but from what I've read so far in the 1st 2 1/2 gospels (Matthew, Mark, and part of Luke), what seemed to really be under Christ's skin more than anything else was mankind's religious constructs.  Particularly the Jews, which he and all of his Apostles were.  He railed against what transpired in the synagogues, He criticized the rules against eating certain foods, He addressed with contempt the strict adherence to practices such as washing before meals.  In a nutshell, the thing that troubled Him the most deeply was that mankind had become so caught up in the rules and regulations of "religion" as set up by mankind that they had lost sight of the only things that mattered, which were having one and only one God and loving/treating everyone else as you would be loved and treated.  If people would just follow those two guidelines in all that they did, things would be great and we'd all get along while on earth and then enjoy eternal bliss when that day comes.

Makes me wonder about my Catholicism, but I'll get into that later today or tomorrow.