Please Note:

Although this blog is intelligent and informative, with an accuracy that's on par with Wikipedia, you may indeed notice that there are both spelling and grammatical errors sprinkled throughout the posts. That is because this blog is unedited and spontaneous, and it is always moving forward. If either of you who actually read it are bothered by the imperfections, let me know and I'll send you the password to edit it.
Happy Reading to you both.

Friday, October 29, 2010

What About The Mind?


Human beings love to take care of their bodies, at least they love the idea of it. (Of course, even physical improvement is expected to come in eight minutes these days.) We diet, exercise, tan, style our hair, get manicures, pedicures, even surgery. We try not to smoke or eat red meat or drink caffeine. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be healthy. It’s just peculiar that we spend so much time developing something that we know is going to deteriorate, yet we do nothing to cultivate our mind.

(I didn’t use the word “eternal” to describe the mind because the churchs’ stances are always changing, but I assume one would need a mind to experience the fires of hell or the pleasures of heaven. Then again, that’s just more science hocus-pocus, something about brain sensors and feeling. Really though, do we not identify ourselves by our thoughts? So, why would you care about hell if it wasn’t even YOU that was there!?)

Going back to our obsession with the physical being, think about why that is. Could that be the fear of loss we talk about? the fear of death? Why do we lift weights to build muscles on this body that we are only borrowing for what amounts to be a blink of His eye, but we refuse to give our mind a second to grow? I may be off here, but isn’t that something like polishing your rented shoes every five minutes at the bowling ally and then walking home barefoot through mud? No?

We loved the mind as a small child. We longed to learn everything (before the “age of reasoning,” which is Eve and the apple, which is a point of mental evolution...are you getting that, yet?). At that time, we turned our back on the mental forever. We loved gym class, hated math. We wanted to play, not do homework. If a teacher challenged our brain, we resisted; we panicked. Even those that forced their way through college, did just that..forced it, half the time spacing out or complaining about doing it.

On the other hand, physical fitness is at the top of the list for most college students. They love their bodies. Although it’s not their bodies they love, it’s looking good in order to portray an image, not only to help form relationships, but to form a relationship with. If we truly loved our body, we would see its obvious connection to our mind,...and our mind’s connection to our soul.

It isn’t until we start to see the inevitable decay creep in and begin thinking about death that we concern ourselves with preserving the body, by eating right and visiting the doctor frequently. I see older adults scramble to preserve their finite shell, against nature and despite years of self-abuse, knowing that it will  soon be gone, leaving behind only the part of them which hasn’t even been touched! (Because those who haven’t saturated their soul in bogus religions or squandered it chasing earthly ambitions, die without even taking it out of the box. That’s a shame.) 

How embarrassing will it be to stand before God, in his long white robe and glowing lantern, and have to report that you have learned nothing in your 75 years on Earth, besides how to cook everything on the Denny’s menu or sell life insurance or how to get even with someone or how to pick up women? How embarrassing, indeed.

And will it hurt God’s feelings to discover that you were more anxious without a connection to Facebook than being cut off from Him? Or that you spent more time and effort improving the performance of your Honda then enhancing the Divine vehicle that He gave you for your journey back to him?

Our mind is the point where our soul meets this life and where life is then interpreted to us. In other words, the mind is our translator and our tour guide, as we move through the physical realm. It learns through memory, and it is actually pretty effective when it comes to solving problems, as you see with the development of math and science.

The problem is that 95% of the time, when we aren’t using it to learn important things, like not to touch a hot stove, the mind is ignored, left unattended, locked in a room, and made to watch the same DVD’s over and over (such as the ‘Who I Am’ and ‘Who I Want To Be’ sagas). A lifetime of suppressing its natural thirst for knowledge, collectively for eons, has left the human mind frustrated, starved, ill, deformed, and most importantly, afraid and manic.

While the body shows signs of need, like a growling stomach or a long yawn, and even cars display lights and sounds when it’s time for maintenance, the mind does nothing. It simply conforms and occupies itself with automatic tasks, namely worry, fear, anxiety, and the rest of that gang. 


You could say that the “Devil” takes over. An idle mind is the Devil’s play thing, or something like that. Your mind takes on a mind of its own. Be serious; can you honestly say that you have control over your mind? And yet, we try to control our body without it. Has science not proven a connection between mind and body?

Instead of wasting mental energy on the past or the future, leaving it on ‘auto’ to create bogus emotions that engulf you, then formulating ways to either alleviate or enhance those emotions, why not commandeer it for its intended purpose, to grow closer to the Divine?

As adults, we are out of shape mentally. We need to train, and that doesn’t mean watching the Discovery Channel or doing a crossword puzzle, not even suffering through college courses, even if you are enthusiastic about it. I’m saying study yourself, by yourself. Observe why you do certain things or think a certain way.

It is all about mental observation, and that means emotions too. Once you expose the unattended mind as a fraud, you can gain control of it again. Instead of becoming captivated by your thoughts and feelings and allowing your undisciplined mind to run rough shot, like a bull in the old china shop, dragging you along with it, just WATCH the bull. DON’T try to lasso it, just watch it. Let it buck and kick you around, while you just watch.

I understand that it is against everything we know to not resist, but remember, Jesus did say to turn the other cheek. Simply being aware of your mind, watching it operate on you, and eavesdropping on your own mental chatter, which goes on constantly, is the only text book you will need. I know how crazy that sounds; I really do. Because you see no results in your future, that is, you don’t know what to expect. It is the fabled leap of faith.

A good comparison would be those novelty wall pictures that showed up in shopping malls years ago, where you are supposed to stand about 3 feet away and stare at it until the confusing series of tiny dots changes into a cool 3-D image. They are very frustrating in the beginning. Some people still can’t get it; some catch a glimpse here and there, and others, who have worked at it and, more importantly, were open to the experience, just see it.

An even better parallel would be anything that you devotedly wanted to learn, which may have seemed too elaborate to grasp in the beginning, but ultimately became second nature, or even first. This was my experience when I studied Audio Engineering, 15 years ago. I would cram my brain everyday, but the confusion was overwhelming. Then one day, everything became so clear, first basic electricity, signal flow, and sound, then different equipment and techniques.

Surely, I’m not the only one who has experienced that type of sudden illumination while studying. It‘s born out of persistence, which comes from truly wanting to know something. Now, how could you not want to know everything about this magnificent gift, given to you by the Divine God (the top-tier name brand)


Imagine receiving a futuristic computer or game system (or a car, anything), whose technology was centuries advanced, as a gift today and deciding it was just too complicated to bother with, despite the outrageous claims made about the product, its glowing testimonials, and free tutoring offered by the manufacturer. Would you be satisfied using it as a paper-weight? I suppose those who spend hours on their computer playing solitaire would be just fine with it.

Human beings, with our home theaters and beefed-up car stereos, walk around sporting a stock brain with only the factory pre-sets and their foreheads flashing "12:00 am." And God shakes his head.

Moses


Plume has mentioned, at some point, the fact that, by Egyptian accounts, there is no mention of this "Israelite" who brought plagues to the Pharoah, in order to lead the Jews out of Egypt and, ultimately, drown the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. Granted, there was no Daily newspaper, but for ancient people who wrote on rocks, the Egyptians were quite meticulous when it came to recording their history. You would think that such an event would have gotten 9/11 type coverage.

"That was just one of those facts that I had heard forever," he said. "But now that I've decided to smash these heretics known as religious organizations, I came across an account that does make some sense, and actually, fits right in to my explanation of mankind, something that hardly surprises me."

I don't think we have to review the story, but very quickly: Years after Joseph (and his techni-color dreamcoat) won the hearts of Egypt (as he did years later on Broadway), the Pharoah of Egypt turned on the Jews, enslaving them and ordering that all newborns be killed. Moses was spared as a child, sent up a river, found by an Egyptian princess and allowed to "mingle" with Egyptian nobles. Keep in mind he is a JEW, not an Egyptian.

He then beat up an Egyptian for beating up a Jew (bible-ists point to that as definitive proof that he must have been an Israelite, and not an Egyptian), and out of fear, he runs away to herd sheep for 40 years (40 is a big number for him).  

During that time, God speaks to him through a burning bush and commands him to go to the Pharoah and have the Jews released. When Pharoah doesn't comply, God sends the aforementioned plagues, including frogs and locusts, to Egypt and parts the Red Sea, just long enough for Moses to lead the Jews to their new land, and drowns the Egyptian army which was in pursuit.

Do we notice any similarities in these religious stories, whether it's Moses or St. Paul or Muhammad? It is always political. It always involves new land and a new government. Power and conversion are always at the forefront. It's always about separation and segregation. It is typical human greed and corruption. It is always about ego. These are the Devil's traits, clearly illustrated by the Judeo-Christian-Islamo God, over and over again.

So, Moses starts trouble with the Pharoah,  and he heads up a new nation, under God, complete with, you guessed it,.....rules! (The bible talks of a puppet King, named Saul, being the first king of Israel. However, SOME Hebrew, and other, scholars believe Moses and Saul are one in the same. Either way, it fits.)



Take a look at how the Greeks viewed Moses. Does he sound like a dull-witted shepard or an organized politician?  

Greek account of Moses' life:
The earliest existing reference to Moses in Greek literature occurs in the Egyptian history of Hecataeus of Abdera (4th century BC). All that remains of his description of Moses are two references made by Diodorus Siculus, wherein, writes historian Arthur Droge, "he describes Moses as a wise and courageous leader who left Egypt and colonized Judaea." Among the many accomplishments described by Hecataeus, Moses had founded cities, established a temple and religious cult, and issued laws:
After the establishment of settled life in Egypt in early times, which took place, according to the mythical account, in the period of the gods and heroes, the first . . . to persuade the multitudes to use written laws was Mneves [Moses], a man not only great of soul but also in his life the most public-spirited of all lawgivers whose names are recorded.:   
(Personally, I would describe Hitler, Sadam, and any leader as a "spirited lawgiver". 
Just saying....)
Do you remember when we said that the Jews' nation of Israel was the first to use ONE God and reinforce their laws with His Divine authority? We said that it was a pretty good idea for a ruler looking to be a totalitarian monarch. It was a natural upgrade from the pagan Greeks and Egyptians, as the Romans almost 2,000 years later, when they adopted Christianity. 

Well, class, I believe we may have found the man responsible for that innovation: an Egyptian, whose initial attempts were rejected by the pagans, but who, like any power hungry aspirant, persevered and eventually broke off to form his own nation, Israel. Thank you, Moses.

*(Again, some scholars say Moses was the first king, hence he WAS Saul. The bible's version displays Saul as a puppet who looks good for the role:  He was "a head above any Israelite" (1 Samuel 9:2) Either way, does it not fit? The next King was a military commander, David, who incidentally, was a direct descendant of Abraham and chosen by God. Are you surprised by that, class?) 

I came across this article, which suggests that Moses was indeed an Egyptian Pharoah. This is not the first time this theory has come up, but it makes all the sense in the world. Other versions call him a "nobleman." 

It is interesting to follow the link to the article and read the comments, just to see how the religious advocates nervously reject these ideas and how they ultimately come across as ignorant or devious.
Enjoy:

The name Moses derives from the Egyptian word mose, meaning "offspring" or "heir", as in Tuthmose: "born of Thoth". In the book of Exodus, it is stated that Moses' life was under threat when the Pharoah decreed death to newborn Israelite males.The reason for this was that their were too many Israelites in Egypt and they were becoming too powerful. So it was pronounced that every son born should be cast into the river. An Israelite woman placed her son in a basket of rushes and set him among the water reeds. The Pharoah's daughter discovered the baby and rescued him, she paid a woman to nurse him and eventually adopted him. It was she who named him Moses. In the very next verse of the bible, Moses appears as a grown man.

Amenhotep III

Historical linguist, Ahmed Osman, has conducted an in-depth research into the identity of Moses using Egyptian records. He believes there was an influential Israelite named Yusef- Yuya (Joseph), who was chief minister to the Pharoahs Tuthmosis IV and his son Amenhotep III. When Tuthmosis died, Amenhotep married his younger sister, Sitamun, so he could inherit the throne. Shortly afterward, in order to have an adult wife, since Sitamun was only a child at this time, Amenhotep married Tiye, the daughter of Yusef- Yuya. It was decreed however, that no son born to Tiye could inherit the throne,there was a general fear that the Israelite relatives were gaining too much power in Egypt. So when Tiye was pregnant, certain palace officials thought that her child should be killed at birth if a son.

Akhenaten

Arrangements were made for Tiye's Israelite relatives to nurse the boy. Amenhotep (born 1394 BCE) was educated at Heliopolis by the Egyptian priests of Ra and spent his teenage years at Thebes. During this time his mother had become more influential than the senior queen Sitamun-who had only borne a daughter- Nefertiti. When Amenhotep III suffered ill health, young Amenhotep was brought to the fore. He married Nefertiti in order to reign as co -regent and when his father died he succeeded as Amenhotep IV.
Because of his part Israelite upbringing, Amenhotep IV couldn't accept the Egyptian dieties and developed the notion of Aten - an omnipotent god with no image, represented by a solar disk with downward rays. Amenhotep changed his name to Akhenaten (Glorious spirit of the Aten) and closed all the temples of the Egyptian Gods making himself very unpopular.There were plots against his life and threats of armed insurrection if he didn't allow traditional gods to be worshipped alongside the faceless Aten. 

He was eventually forced to abdicate in favour of his cousin Smenkhkare. Akhenaten was banished from Egypt and fled to the land of Midian. Here, he took another wife, an Israelite named Zipporah. Nefertiti had died a short while before. He then made arrangements to return to Egypt to retrieve his supporters who believed he was the rightful heir, the royal"mose", as they had been placed in bondage under the new, harsh laws.
 
Moses is described in the Old Testament as being "an Egyptian" and "slow of speech" in the language of the Israelites. Ahmed Osman believes that Moses was in fact the Pharoah Akhenaten. Akhenaten introduced monotheism and closed the temples making himself extremely unpopular. He was later forced to abdicate and banished from Egypt. He returned to lead his supporters out of Egypt to a new life.


Read more at Suite101: Was Moses an Egyptian Pharoah?: Ahmed Osman Believes the Biblical Story Describes Akhenaten http://www.suite101.com/content/moses-real-man-or-biblical-myth-a61554#ixzz13iopBofF


This makes so much sense. It also grants Moses his due as the most influential executive in history, whose vision was followed by men such as Paul of Tarus, Muhammad and Joseph Smith Jr. 

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Religion Is Government Is Religion


Nobody will believe me when I say this, but there is no such thing as good and evil.Human beings supposedly have free-will, because we are “special.” And by special, we mean having ‘round the clock access to evil. The other, less fortunate animals know nothing about evil. They move through life with no regret, no fear of abandonment, no fear of death, no need for money, nice stuff, or relationships, because they are not as loved as we are. We are God’s children.

If that sounded sarcastic, it was. One more time, free-will is the product of our mental evolution. If you read any philosopher/physicist who ever spoke on this topic, you would see that it has to do with this directly, but for the time being, just think that our brain is evolved to a point where our memory is so enhanced that we can perceive time. A lower, less conscious species, like a beetle, has no idea what day it is or that it is going to die.

When we reached that point in the evolution of our mind, we began to feel fear as emotions, based on expectations and the fear of loss. That is where good and evil came in to play! What hurts me is bad; what brings pleasure is good. Love is good. Pain is bad. Pain is our perception of things, and we are trained to know what is good and bad. We KNOW for a fact that sex out of wedlock is bad, the same way we know that the sky is blue. We learned!

Animals don’t sin. They don’t commit murder, (although chimpanzees have been known to actually kill for no reason. They are at a pretty high level of consciousness, though. They may be just around the corner from us.) Animals only kill for survival. We kill for survival as well, and there is nothing “evil” about it, unless emotions get involved. A tiger does not feel regret for killing a hyena, and we are not opposed to killing cows, for example. 


They also don’t steal from each other for the sake of having stuff. Animals don't become attached to things, like we do. They aren't possessive. Therefore, to steal, or "covet," is not something animals do. They have no need for relationships the way humans do, because they have no ego.The ego is always looking to things (and people) to define itself.

It is only when our expectations and social conditioning set in, that we start forming our opinions of good and evil. If it weren’t for greed and our need to identify ourselves, not one of those Ten Commandments would be necessary. In fact, the Buddhist "guidelines" and all other spiritual, metaphysical, philosophical, and scientific laws and theorems are in place to help us come to a realization that we don't need them.

The Ten Commandments do not lead us to salvation, they protect us from loss, while controlling the collective conscience of the masses. The Ten Commandments are saying, "Don't hurt me by doing this." The Buddhist Noble Truths, for example, are saying, "Do this and you can never be hurt." Which one sounds more like God? Which one sounds like an insecure, mortal politician? 

Religion Is Government Is Religion

Ok, let’s see if you can stomach this, and before you write it off as some Internet nonsense, remember that I’m laying my eternal soul directly in harm’s way by even thinking this, much less writing about it. To help you clarify that, think about your fear of God and multiply it by a million. That’s what is ingrained in a Catholic school kid’s mind.

Now, this is a theory. Of course, I can’t be sure, the same way NOBODY can be sure, even “Hebrew scholars.” I’m just going by the facts, as collected by those who have dedicated their lives to finding artifacts and studying them using scientific methods. When you plug it in, though, I see no holes, which is WAY more than I could say about religion.

Stop me if I’m making too much sense.

We know civilization began in Mesopotamia, around the fertile crescent. From there it spread out concentrically through Eur-Asia, forming tribes that eventually led to "nations," like Israel; Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, and later Romans, formed empires that controlled large areas of land and ruled over many of the smaller nations. The Babylonian Empire was the first united rule of the land. 

You may remember Hammurabi. He was the Babylonian King  famous for his “eye for an eye” code. You see, he knew that he needed a set of strict rules to govern a large area. Hammurabi's Code is the rough draft for the Ten Commandments, only it was secular, so it lacked the "ultimate authority." Regardless of how strict or how mean, they were only enforced by men.

These early empires, more than usual, were plagued with revolt and assassinations. To combat this, they needed to grant their rulers that ultimate authority. The Persians, Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, and later Romans were all pagans, and so they often told of the rulers being the son of a god (and a mortal, of course. Except, there was nothing immaculate about those gods. The ancient Greeks loved sex. I'm not sure what happened with the Israelites). Regardless, that supreme power gave them a little punch.
 
*The Persians also became united under a dualistic religion, Zarathustra, which became the basis of Cyrus the Great's legendary rule, about 500 years later.  

While the great empires clashed, the small tribes were constantly being attacked, so they united, using the "ultimate authority" government, and formed the nation of Israel. Israel was a country, a union of states, a completely theocratic
government. They were a player in the game. Their king, personally appointed by the Lord, was David and, surprise, like every king throughout the ancient world, he is touched by God; David was a direct descendant of Abraham, who has a deed to the land signed by Yaweh (God).  

(Incidentally, David is also the ancestor of Joseph, Jesus’ step-father, a thousand years later. ??)

So, at this point, after the early Babylonians and others learned that they must inject Divine power into their rulers, using collective fear to avoid being overthrown and to maintain order, we have the first empires of the world all ruled by people who claim to be connected, in some way, to God, or gods. So, is it any shock to you that this would be the case in Israel? 
(By the way, do you think fear is still used by government today?)

*King David is a descendant of Abraham, who made a pact with God, just like Zeus bore kings with mortal women throughout Ancient Greece and Jupiter in Rome. (THAT IS, BEFORE A ROMAN EMPEROR JOINED THE CHRISTIANITY PARTY, A POLITICAL SECT THAT WAS GAINING TRACTION, STARTED BY POLITICAL RADICAL, SAUL, WHO WAS FORMALLY WITH THE PARTY KNOWN AS THE PHARISEES.)
**I must say that Israel actually toned it down. Besides the Arc and the parting of the Red Sea, their stories aren’t near as elaborate as the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.

For a thousand years, the kingdom of Israel played the nations' game, with their Bible-based government
being run by scholars and aristocrats who formed political parties, like the Pharisees. They were constantly invaded and conquered by empires, from the Egyptians (who Moses dealt with) to the Romans (at Jesus' time). Keep in mind, being conquered means that they got to keep their government in tact, but the final rule (and the taxes) belongs to the empire. 

The battle cry for the nation of Israel was the fact that the ONE and only “God” was on their side and that one day, he will deliver the land back to them. Every group, school, team, country needs to feel special and keep up morale. It's actually brilliant to say, "Yeah, they're big and bad, but we have God on our side. He parts the Red Sea for us. Wait and See. He's coming." I actually would expect nothing less from a smaller nation at that time in that place. It’s not unlike the Gods smiling on Greece or “God Bless America.” It not unlike what they do know.

Israel was a government, and the Ten Commandments was their constitution. They had three political parties, the Pharisees, which were the strongest, the Sadduces, elitists, and some other one, a third party who was sick of the first two. Typical government. At Jesus’ time, they were under Roman rule, still using the Commandments and the fear of God tactic. It had calmed down, though; there hadn’t even been a prophet for 500 years, since Ezekial. The political parties were mainly in control, Pharisees like Herod and...um...St. Paul the apostle.

Enter the Messiah. Now, this could go a few ways, but I think it’s irrelevant to the point. 


The first theory would be that Jesus was a highly enlightened human being, and therefore, the son of God, as we all are (and this is the way I lean). He was not unlike the Buddha and many others. He chose to give everything up and just teach, as we see throughout the years is the only choice for an enlightened individual. People began to follow him, and if you believe, as I and all Buddhist monks do, that a higher level of consciousness allows for “miracles” of sort, then his stories may be valid. Of course they are embellished. I believe this theory because of the meaning in his words and alleged actions. I DO feel he may have touched enough people to keep his story alive.
 
However, if we don’t want to go that far, we can say that he was a radical or that he never even existed. At any rate, it fits. The New Testament often mentions beef between Jesus and the Pharisees, particularly around John the Baptist. Still, whether he was enlightened, a political hack, or a fabrication, the Pharisees didn’t like him and the Romans didn’t like problems, so they killed him. Whether he actually rose from the dead, his spirit spoke to someone, or that part was thrown in after the fact doesn’t matter.

A few years later, maybe ten, a Pharisee named Saul (again, a Pharisee, a political activist) is said to have seen a blinding light on the road to Demascus, where he saw a vision of Jesus. It is from this man's account that Christianity was based (and we went over how absurdly inaccurate the New testament must have been if this is the main source.)  

I would say Saul either heard the story about some charismatic guy, whichever story it was, or he completely fabricated it. Regardless, that light he saw was the formation of a new political party, the Christians. That’s EXACTLY what they were! Saul, who became St. Paul the apostle, sent out his famous "epistles" and rallied up support for the new coup. Surprisingly for a radical, political activist, Paul spent his last days in federal prison.

If you think about it, Paul did EXACTLY what Joseph Smith tried to do, (with pretty decent results, I might add), with the Mormans. They both claimed to have been told the law by Jesus. Incredible. A guy named Muhammad also pulled it off pretty well. Islam is Christianity part II. Exactly! You can see this, right?)

The Christians conflicted directly with the Jews after that, and unfortunately for the latter, the Roman empire adopted the Christian model of government when Constantine converted to the new political party in the 4th century A.D. He altered things slightly, like adding some cool pagan holidays. The Christian party, now called the Roman Catholics, was solidly in control of the Empire for over a thousand years. They became so strong, the model was adopted by their enemies, the Arabs.


The Arabs were a group of tribes in the same area centering in Mesopotamia, but expanding out east to the Middle-East. They were similar to the Jews before they united under Israel. The problem for the Arabs was their land; it was very arid and volcanic. The tribes were nomadic because they constantly had to travel to find water. There were only a few areas that were fertile, Medina and Mecca are two, Israel (Jerusalem) is another. These lands were seized by the strongest. This is why the conflict over Israeli soil has raged on.

In the In the 7th century AD, a politician named Muhammad started his own party to conquer the world, saying HE was summoned by God (who apparently changed his name to Allah, the main god of many worshiped by the Arab tribes). As a great prophet/messenger of the Lord, he rallied the Arabs in Medina to conquer Mecca. A new political party was formed, called Islam!

The Bible came here with the first ship
Islam was the basis of a new powerhouse empire, the Ottomans. The Muslims, as they were called, were  fierce rivals to the Christian Romans for centuries and overwhelming them for sometime through the Dark Ages, until they came back strong during the Renaissance and Christianity spread west throughout Europe (and eventually in the U.S. of A).

It was around this time that the great oxymoron, "Holy War" was accepted. Also, during all this time of clashing between the Muslims and Christians, the pesky Jews, the originators of it all, hung around claiming that land. The Muslims oppose the Jews because they have that rich land right in the middle of their region. Although the Christians inherently hate the Jews, due to their history and the fact that they killed Jesus, they support the Jews politically because, well, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The three have been slaughtering each other, under the authority of God himself for centuries, with no end in sight.  


Please notice that NOWHERE in here do I say that Jesus Christ is NOT the son of God. In fact, if he did exist, I would say he definitely was, because we all are. What I am whole-heartedly denouncing is religion. Whichever of the three versions you choose, know that you are only picking a political affiliation.


 

Let’s take a look at The Commandments
along with the Purple Print of Sarcastic Truth


1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;
Do not have any other gods before me.
In other words, “We are your government. Have no other king/emperor besides me.”

2. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
More issues of respect for authority.

3.Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
Don’t get me started. Why the hell aren’t they talking about this? It’s the one thing they said right!

4.Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Remember there was much assassination going on, usually by a king’s heir.
And from here we have our definition of evil based on our fear of loss:
5. You shall not murder. (loss of relationship with others)
14 You shall not commit adultery. (loss of relationship trust)
15 You shall not steal. (loss of stuff)
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (loss of relationship trust)
17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
(loss of relationship trust) and (loss of stuff)

Buddha In Comparison

Here are what's known as the Four Noble Truths. You could say it is the rulebook of Buddhism, except they don't treat it like that. Rather than a law, that is punished by God with eternal suffering, it is a guideline to enlightenment (happiness). It is also meant to keep you from eternal suffering by telling you what causes suffering. That is how the Buddhists view it. Life is suffering inherently, if you are not awake. This is the Hell they speak of. It isn’t a form of government. It is a principle of life.

1. The Nature of Suffering: This is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.

*          The five aggregates subject to clinging are:
          - form or matter , which is external and internal matter. External is the physical world. Internal includes the material body and the physical sense organs
          - sensation or feeling sensing an object as either pleasant or unpleasant or neutral.
          - perception, conception, cognition or discrimination registers whether an object is recognized or not (for instance, the sound of a bell or the shape of a tree).
          - mental formations, impulses, or volition mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions, prejudices, compulsions, and decisions triggered by an object.
          - consciousness or discernment
   
2. Suffering's Origin - This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination.     

         *OR COVETING THY NEIGHBORS WIFE. Buddhas says you will suffer if you do this....suffer in your mind. You will feel pain. The Christians like to punish and make rules. Sounds like a government doesn't it? It is.

3. Suffering's Cessation - This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, non-reliance on it.

           * Sounds like "avoiding temptation." Doesn't it? This is meant to help you end suffering. Now, imagine if one wanted to take these teachings and use it to control the masses.

4.The Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering: This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.

          * This is your way to Heaven, they call it Nirvana. It is the full realization of what the fuck is really going on. If you do these things, they are saying, you will be totally free and enlightened and happy. If you don't, you won't be burned alive by the devil. You will miserable. People are miserable everyday. They try to mask it with money and worldly possessions, but it doesn't end the suffering.

Buddha goes on to outline all of life. No politics.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Dinosaurs In The Bible


I really enjoyed this one. I hope you do, too. It's a lot of reading, but it's actually pretty damn important. I mean, as a Catholic school snob, who grew up thinking my religion was number one, I am shocked and appalled. To think that I was indoctrinated with this stuff. It's scary, people. This is cult-ish, and as a former employee and true crusader for the Roman Catholic church, I must say, frankly, these people scare the hell out of me!


Remember the Scopes trial we discussed, where the Bible-beaters argued against evolution and the existence of dinosaurs? Yeah, see that's a relatively new obstacle for the church. It wasn't until the 17th century that the first dinosaur bone was found and people started learning through "science", (which ironically spawned from metaphysics, the study of God), and it wasn't a problem for them until the 19th century, when Darwin came around. They went with the 'no dinosaur' thing for about fifty years until that book, Inherit The Wind and society's dull-witted common sense caught up with that melarky.


So, they have changed their stance. Are you ready for this? While studying a question Mom had about the bible's mention of suspended planets, I came upon a few Christian websites, in regard to the matter. I wish I could say, "Boy, this Internet is terrible....." Only, this is the exact crap that was fed to me and my mother and her mother and our whole neighborhood and at one point, all of New York and all of Europe. (while the other version had the whole Middle-East in a choke hold.) 

OK, this is the Christians serious response to the Dinosaur thing: They are smugly claiming that, if we only look, the Bible does, in fact, mention Dinosaurs, so there.....(Well, not exactly.)  These self-righteous snobs are going to tell us, and more importantly, a generation of young children, that Dinosaurs lived 4,300 years ago, DESPITE consensus from the scientific community that they are off by about 64,995,700 years (and we wonder why scientists and other people with a brain are atheists).
Just so you don't miss any of the pretension or the ignorance or the demonic cultivation, I'll be right with you the whole way in my signature, sarcastic Plume purple. Btw, I shouldn't have to tell you this, but I did NOT make this up. This stuff is all over sites like Christian.com or Askgenesis.com. This is exactly how it's written, minus the purple.

 So, Kids

Were Dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?

Were Dinosaurs Even Around Then? http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles

The story we have all heard from movies, television, newspapers, and most magazines and textbooks is that dinosaurs “ruled the Earth” for 140 million years, died out 65 million years ago, and therefore weren’t around when Noah and company set sail on the Ark around 4,300 years ago.

Yes, that wacky "story" that Hollywood puts out....and textbooks. The one that's been verified using radiocarbon dating. That one. Notice the use of parenthesis to denote sarcasm. We also see that in the Plume writings. As a Sarcastic Monk, I HAVE to give them points for that. Let's continue:

However, the Bible gives a completely different view of Earth (and therefore, dinosaur) history. As God’s written Word to us, we can trust it to tell the truth about the past. 

Excuse me? Wait a minute.
So, you're telling me that I can trust it because it's God's written Word and not just god's written word. OK. Sounds good to me. Do you have a link where I could see just how reliable the Bible is? 
(For more information about the reliability of Scripture, see Get Answers: Bible.) Oh, thank you. 

Although the Bible does not tell us exactly how long ago it was that God made the world and its creatures, we can make a good estimate of the age of the universe by carefully studying the whole counsel of Scripture, instead of wasting time with that carbon dating and the other scientific methods we've spent billions developing.
God made everything in six days, and rested on the seventh. (By the way, this is the basis for our seven day weekExodus 20:8–11 <<remind me to get back to that). Leading Hebrew scholars indicate that, based on the grammatical structure of Genesis 1, these “days” were of normal length, and did not represent long periods of time. and of course, don't bother to google that. We have the link right here>> (see Get Answers: Genesis).
    Now, that's a coincidence. I was just mentioning the other day how a book that I read, in Catholic school, blew that out of the water. You might want to put Inherit The Wind on the ban list (IF you did that stuff) because, as Scope's lawyer pointed out, the heavenly bodies weren't created until day four. If a "day" consists of full rotation of the Earth as it revolves around the Sun, how the Hell did the LEADING HEBREW SCHOLARS (also known as Pharisees, a major political party of time.) measure days 1,2, and 3??
      BTW, that Exodus passage is hands down the BEST VERSE IN THE WHOLE BIBLE. God does NOT want us to do shit on Sunday. Would you Bible freaks get on top of THAT one!! Jesus Christ, I mean, I'll give you the dinosaur thing, fine, they were here with man.(chuckle) Let's move on to that sabbath thing; you heard it right from the man. Day one. That was his first order of business. How the Hell did we jump all the way to tattoos and gays?

      We are told God created the first man and woman—Adam and Eve—on Day 6, along with the land animals (which would have included dinosaurs). 

      Hahaha. Wow. Ok, we seem to have a small disagreement here between EVERY reputable scientist who could keep a straight face and the LEADING HEBREW SCHOLARS (nice word). Now, they're only off by 65 million years! 

      Those same non-hysterically laughing scientists agree that dinosaurs were far too massive to have inhabited the exact same territory as civilized humans. And IF it were true, which it certainly isn't, they would probably be mentioned a little more often, being that some were the size of three elephants.

      (When asked if they thought this was a comical attempt to save face that is making these people look ridiculous, the remaining scientists lost it and cracked up in my face.) 

      The Bible records the genealogies from Adam to Christ. From the ages given in these lists, (which pinpointed the average life expectancy at about 600 years old, give or take a few hundred) and accepting that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to Earth around 2,000 years ago, we can conclude that the universe is only a few thousand years old (perhaps just 6,000), and not millions of years old (see also Did Jesus Say He Created in Six Literal Days?). Thus, dinosaurs lived within the past few thousand years. 
      Well, that's that. I wouldn't have believed it if not for the link. I wonder, then, what I did that stupid dinosaur project for. And what's up with all the Neo-lithic, Neantherdal stuff in science class..in Catholic school?

        So, Were Dinosaurs on the Ark?

        In Genesis 6:19–20, the Bible says that two of every sort of land vertebrate (seven of the “clean” animals) were brought by God to the Ark. Therefore, dinosaurs (land vertebrates) were represented on the Ark.

        Questions?

        How Did Those Huge Dinosaurs Fit on the Ark?

        Good one...

        Although there are about 668 names of dinosaurs, there are perhaps only 55 different “kinds” of dinosaurs. Furthermore, not all dinosaurs were huge like the brachiosaurus, and even those dinosaurs on the Ark were probably “teenagers” or young adults.
        LMAO...I'm sorry. Um, well, I'm satisfied because I was going by the 600+ "names." Since it was only about 50 teenagers, I guess that's certainly plausible. 
        Should I bother asking how these Hebrew scholars knew that the dinosaurs were teenagers?

        Creationist researcher John Woodmorappe (Creationist researcher?? I love that. What the hell are they researching? Have they collected any evidence? Have they found dinosaur bones next to a giant arc somewhere? 

        Actually, creationism is a great field to get into. It's a very distinguished profession. You are revered within the church. You could author books, give keynote speeches, and there's minimal work; you set your own hours. I mean, it's not like you're doing research. There's nothing to learn! Once you get the story down, it's a cake walk. All I'm saying is never heard of a struggling creationist. 

        Ok, so the "creationist...has calculated that Noah had on board with him representatives from about 8,000 animal genera (including some now-extinct animals), or around 16,000 individual animals. 

        Do you hear this? He has "calculated that...had 16,000 sheep and...." Holy Shit! Those bastard guidance counselors at Cardinal Spellman never told me about being a fucking CREATIONIST!! Thank you, Sister. It's not like you don't know a slacker job when you see it.

        Come to think of it,  Father Milazzo, my old pastor, had an Audi and a Cadillac, lived rent-free in a privately gated community, never had any problems with the cops. He DID have to work Sundays, but you could get out of there by kickoff if the asshole parishioners don't sit around and B.S. about their raffle or bitch about the sound of the organ.

        This was before the pedophile thing. Still, they deflected that one pretty well. If anything they are hesitant to bring their kids around. How's that a problem, again? "Yes, I think we should cancel the bullshit Altar Boy trip, in lieu.."  It's not a bad gig at all! 

        I'm so sorry. Back to the creationist.....


        When you realize that horses, zebras, and donkeys are probably descended from the horse-like “kind,” Noah did not have to carry two sets of each such animal. Also, dogs, wolves, and coyotes are probably from a single canine “kind,” so hundreds of different dogs were not needed.

        Listen to me, kid, and listen good. Your passion in life is to be a creationist. Son, your major is religion. Bank it.  

        According to Genesis 6:15, the Ark measured 300 x 50 x 30 cubits, which is about 460 x 75 x 44 feet, with a volume of about 1.52 million cubic feet. Researchers have shown that this is the equivalent volume of 522 standard railroad stock cars (US), each of which can hold 240 sheep. 

        By the way, only 11% of all land animals are larger than a sheep.Without getting into all the math, the 16,000-plus animals would have occupied much less than half the space in the Ark (even allowing them some moving-around space). Oh, well that's nice to know it was a comfortable ride. Thank you for that extended research.

        Amazing that Noah built an arc that size, at the age of 700, and oh, don't worry, I wouldn't expect you to "get into all the math." You haven't been getting into all the history or all the geology or all the archaeology or all the biology; why bother with the math?

        Boy, what a piece of work that was. Again with the "researchers." Please tell me what the f#$k they're researching. How long did it take to come up with the railroad car analogy? (U.S. stock cars that is) And am I the only one who catches the little snide comments like, "By the way, only 11% of all land animals are...?" Where did they get that from, the Creationists or the leading Hebrew scholars?

        Conclusion = Christians are amazingly gullible people? Sorry...

        The Bible is reliable in all areas, including its account of the Ark (and the worldwide catastrophic Flood). A Christian doesn’t have to have a blind faith to believe that there really was an Ark. What the Bible says about the Ark can even be measured and tested today. Really? Where?
        For answers to other objections about the biblical account of Noah’s Flood and the Ark (e.g., Where did all the water come from? How did Noah collect and then care for the animals? etc.), see the books featured below. And, again, don't look any further than these books! Was There Really a Noah’s Ark & Flood? covers these particular “problems” related to Noah’s Flood, and Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study covers these and more in detail.


















        Most of us loved reading about dinosaurs at some time in our lives. In 1993, the movie “Jurassic Park” stimulated the public interest in dinosaurs far beyond its previous level. As a result, increasing numbers of people have thought, “Since we have found all these fossils and dinosaur bones, we know dinosaurs existed. How come they are not mentioned in the Bible?” Most of do love Jurassic Park, but not them. That's when the problem spiked a bit for them.
        Actually, dinosaurs are mentioned in the Bible, and we will prove it by doing the following three things:
         Examining the Bible’s text and the related scientific facts.
         Explaining the accuracy of the Bible.
         Exploring what we are taught in school and through the media.
         
        So. they ARE in the bible and we never knew it. They are going to PROVE it by............reading the bible!
                            

        The Bible’s Text

        The Bible refers to many the common animals we know today. The list includes lions, wolves, bears, sheep, cattle and dogs along with various kinds of birds, rodents, reptiles, and insects. What is interesting is that this extensive list includes three animals that we no longer recognize. These three are (in the original Hebrew language) tanniyn, b@hemowth (yes, it’s spelled correctly—at least as close as we can get in Roman characters), and livyathan.
        Although we alter the spelling of behemoth and Leviathan slightly, we still use those same words in bibles today. However, tanniyn is always translated into another word when we write it in English. Tanniyn occurs 28 times in the Bible and is normally translated “dragon.” It is also translated “serpent,” “sea monster,” “dinosaur,” “great creature,” and “reptile.” 
        The evidence so far= A word used to describe an animal seen in the bibles sometimes referred to as a dragon or dinosaur, but also could mean snake, gator, iguana or big animal.      
                             
         **Can I also say that it's ridiculous that we would even have a debate over whether or not enormous pre-historic reptiles, who roamed the Earth 60 million years ago were present 4,000 years ago, on a giant ark built by a 700 year old man, which carried two of every animal to safety, on God's orders before He annihilated the human race.  
        The fact that the term "creationist" is mentioned with the same prestige implied as "scientist" is also laughable. Hey, it would help if maybe, we could find the ark!!
        ** On another side-note, the Abraham-ists, meaning the Jew/Christian/Islam three-headed monster also has PROOF that Moses parted the Red Sea and it crashed on top of the Egyptian soldiers. That proof?  Chariot wheels were found at the bottom of the sea! 
        That says it all. I mean, chariot wheels don't just "end up" at the bottom of the sea (near the coast, about 20 meters deep). I know you would be hard-pressed to find a truck tire in the ocean at low tide.
        But, they continue:
         
        Behemoth and Leviathan are relatively specific creatures, perhaps each was a single kind of animal. Tanniyn is a more general term, and it can be thought of as the original version of the word “dinosaur.” 

        The word “dinosaur” was originally coined in 1841, more than three thousand years after the Bible first referred to “Tanniyn.” To make things clearer, we constructed the following table comparing the scientific names with the Biblical names tanniyn, behemoth, and Leviathan.How we got these new names is interesting.

        In 1822, Mary Ann Mantell became the first person to discover and correctly identify a strange bone as part of a large, unknown reptile. Her husband, Dr. Gideon Mantell, later named this creature an “Iguanodon.” 

        From that time forward, these forgotten animals were given names chosen by the people who rediscovered them. Of course, the Bible, written between approximately 1450 BC and 95 AD, does not include any of these names.

        Reading the Bible carefully, you will realize that no living creature matches the descriptions of behemoth and Leviathan. However, if you grab your kid’s dinosaur book, you will notice several possible matches for each one. 
        And if you read further in your kid's books, it says that these creature lived 65 million years ago, so that doesn't work. If you really want to go by descriptions, Jesus sounds like on of those dudes you see in your kid's rap videos. 

        The most frightening part of this is the reference to your"kid's" dinosaur book. This stuff is actually meant for adults!
        Let’s examine those.     
        Behemoth has the following attributes according to Job 40:15-24

        It “eats grass like an ox.” --must be a dinosaur
        It “moves his tail like a cedar.” (In Hebrew, this literally reads, “he lets hang his tail like a cedar.”) 
        Its “bones are like beams of bronze,
        His ribs like bars of iron.” 
        “He is the first of the ways of God.” 
        “He lies under the lotus trees,
        In a covert of reeds and marsh.” 
        Some bibles and study bibles will translate the word “behemoth” as “elephant” or “hippopotamus.”  

        OK, OK...elephant makes sense. Elephants were everywhere in the region AT THAT TIME.

        Others will put a note at the edge or bottom of the page, stating that behemoth was probably an elephant or a hippopotamus. Although an elephant or hippopotamus can eat grass (or lie in a covert of reeds and marsh), neither an elephant o). r a hippopotamus has a “tail like a cedar” (that is, a tail like a large, tapered tree trunk. In your kid’s dinosaur book you will find lots of animals that have “tails like a cedar.”

        Did you get that, folks? Don't you love the smugness.

        We would expect behemoth to be a large land animal whose bones are like beams of bronze and so forth, so whatever a behemoth is, it is large. A key phrase is “He is the first of the ways of God.”  

        This phrase in the original Hebrew implied that behemoth was the biggest animal created. Although an elephant or a hippopotamus are big, AND THEY WERE THE BIGGEST THING AROUND AT THAT TIME. they are less than one-tenth the size of a Brachiosaurus, the largest (complete) dinosaur ever discovered. A Brachiosaurus could therefore easily be described as “the first of the ways of God.”  

        Comparing all this information to the description in your kid’s dinosaur book, you may come to the conclusion that “behemoth” is not a normal animal, it is a dinosaur—the brachiosaurus. We agree with that conclusion!

        Yes, but.....forget it

        And we're back.

        I do realize that most people do not believe any of that nonsense. Many Christians concede that, yes, those stories are impossible, but that are simply parables used to illustrate a higher point. The problem is some don't, and apparently they are fine with indoctrinating a new generation, so that the indisputable fact can be debated.




         
         
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