BIRMINGHAM, AL--(Marketwire - Dec 21, 2011) - Author Shay Dawkins' new book, "The Good News: How Revealing Delusions in Christianity Will Bring Peace to All," (www.thegoodnewsbook.com), is an analysis of the Bible that compares contemporary Christian values with scripture.
Shay, who was raised in the Baptist and Pentecostal faiths, says he wrote "The Good News" after a long study of the Bible made him realize many Americans take stands on certain issues because they think -- erroneously -- that they're expressing a "Christian belief." He finds no support in the Bible for opposing homosexuality, for instance.
"The message in the Bible, and probably other religions as well, is a positive one," Dawkins says. "It doesn't tell us to be cruel to people who are different from us, it tells us to embrace them -- all of them.
"Contrary to Christians' claim, we do not have the only ticket to eternal life. The Bible says God will save all humankind from his eternal sleep. All means all Christians, all non-Christians, all atheists, all homosexuals, all murderers -- all people."
"The Good News" examines a number of different topics, from homosexuality to abortion, and digs down to see what the Bible actually says about them.
On homosexuality, for instance, Dawkins cites 28 verses that support his contention that people do not have free will, that God is in total control.
Seven more verses, in the chapter "Homosexuality: Not a 'Free Choice," suggest people cannot choose or deny their sexual orientation because God makes that call for his own purposes; that God instructs us to love one another; and that it is not for one person to judge another.
He cites Romans 14:14 in saying homosexuality is "unclean" only if the person engaging in it believes it is.
"I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: But to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean."
Dawkins says that religion should bring comfort, not misery, and that it's not the Bible that teaches Christians to be intolerant -- it's other Christians. He hopes "The Good News" encourages people to revisit the Bible and find its true message.
About Shay Dawkins
Shay Dawkins, a lifelong Christian, was born in Birmingham, Ala., and graduated from the University of Alabama with a finance degree. He opened his first successful business at 22.
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