Posts
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Evolutionism (the "-ism" marks it as a philosophy, not science) has had as many illogical and emotional proponents as the unscientific creationism. Since creationism is generally associated with some idea, concept, or type of God or, at least, guiding force, it has been widely held that it is in the realm of only religion. So, evolutionists say, it should never interact with, or blend with, scientific evolution.
This is "exclusivistic" thinking. (It excludes rather than includes.) But from a more inclusive perspective, there is no valid objective or scientific reason why the two perspectives could not be combined.
Despite their historical polarities as "opposites," creationism and evolutionism do converge, if viewed with an open mind. For this to happen, the mind must be open to both sides, both ideas.
I suggest the "evolution-design integrative theory," or "edit," as exactly this kind of fruitful compromise. It recognizes evolution as a process, but also openmindedly leaves room for the concept that it was a guided process. This does not necessarily involve either the Jewish or Christian God. Perhaps the guiding, organizing principle exists within the cell, or even the biomolecules. This is "God in matter," if you like.
This is not creationism, at least, not in its traditional historical definition. But it does help to explain the astonishing complexities of biostructure. The simple unguided "coming together" of the correct biomolecules has been likened to an explosion in a printing-shop producing a complete dictionary! If anything, the cell is even more complex than a dictionary!
That some mysterious "organizing force" or "patterning agent" brought together the right biomolecules does not imply intervention, invasive or intrusive maneuvers by a personal God. But it does explain very much, especially in the earliest phases of cellular evolution.
The mystical tradition has never believed in a "God out there." The mystics have thus been severely persecuted, by Islamic, Jewish, and Christian fundamentalists for "atheism," which, of course, misses the point entirely. Mystics believe in a very different kind of "God." They believe that God is the Power of Love, and this God is "interior," or "inside." Usually, this is interpreted, correctly, to mean that God is within the mind; but it could also imply "God" within the cell.
Perhaps, by extension, it could be said that even a "form of Love" attracts macromolecules or biomolecules together. This is as good as any explanation, and it is better than the argument of "randomness" (remember the dictionary). If evolutionists and creationists were not so stubbornly resistant to compromise, if each were not so exclusive, a compromise such as "edit" could be taught in schools, and we could finally solve this hundred-year-old problem.
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Thursday, December 29, 2005
Monday, December 26, 2005
A Christmas Tale
*******
If this one were any cornier, we would have to serve it for dinner! But if you like corn, you're gonna love it! It has the true spirit of Christmas.
*******
His wife had passed away. It was just another day to him. He didn't hate Christmas, just couldn't find a reason to celebrate. He was sitting there looking at the snow that had been falling for the last hour and wondering what it was all about when the door opened and a homeless man stepped through.
Instead of throwing the man out, Old George as he was known by his customers, told the man to come and sit by the heater and warm up. "Thank you, but I don't mean to intrude," said the stranger. "I see you're busy, I'll just go." "Not without something hot in your belly." George said.
He turned and opened a wide mouth Thermos and handed it to the stranger. "It ain't much, but it's hot and tasty, "Stew ... made it myself. When you're done, there's coffee and it's fresh."
Just at that moment he heard the "ding" of the driveway bell. "Excuse me, be right back," George said. There in the driveway was an old '53 Chevy. Steam was rolling out of the front. The driver was panicked. "Mister can you help me!" said the driver, with a deep Spanish accent. "My wife is with child and my car is broken."
George opened the hood. It was bad. The block looked cracked from the cold, the car was dead. "You ain't going in this thing," George said as he turned away.
"But Mister, please help .." The door of the office closed behind George as he went inside. He went to the office wall and got the keys to his old truck, and went back outside. He walked around the building, opened the garage, started the truck and drove it around to where the couple was waiting. "Here, take my truck," he said. "She ain't the best thing you ever looked at, but she runs real good."
George helped put the woman in the truck and watched as it sped off into the night. He turned and walked back inside the office. "Glad I gave 'em the truck, their tires were shot too. That 'ol truck has brand new .........." George thought he was talking to the stranger, but the man had gone. The Thermos was on the desk, empty, with a used coffee cup beside it. "Well, at least he got something in his belly," George thought.
George went back outside to see if the old Chevy would start. It cranked slowly, but it started. He pulled it into the garage where the truck had been. He thought he would tinker with it for something to do. Christmas Eve meant no customers. He discovered the the block hadn't cracked, it was just the bottom hose on the radiator. "Well, shoot, I can fix this," he said to himself. So he put a new one on.
"Those tires ain't gonna get 'em through the winter either." He took the snow treads off of his wife's old Lincoln. They were like new and he wasn't going to drive the car anyway.
As he was working, he heard shots being fired. He ran outside and beside a police car an officer lay on the cold ground. Bleeding from the left shoulder, the officer moaned, "Please help me."
George helped the officer inside as he remembered the training he had received in the Army as a medic. He knew the wound needed attention. "Pressure to stop the bleeding," he thought. The uniform company had been there that morning and had left clean shop towels. He used those and duct tape to bind the wound. "Hey, they say duct tape can fix anythin'," he said, trying to make the policeman feel at ease.
"Something for pain," George thought. All he had was the pills he used for his back. "These ought to work." He put some water in a cup and gave the policeman the pills. "You hang in there, I'm going to get you an ambulance."
The phone was dead. "Maybe I can get one of your buddies on that there talk box out in your car." He went out only to find that a bullet had gone into the dashboard destroying the two way radio.
He went back in to find the policeman sitting up. "Thanks," said the officer. "You could have left me there. The guy that shot me is still in the area."
George sat down beside him, "I would never leave an injured man in the Army and I ain't gonna leave you." George pulled back the bandage to check for bleeding. "Looks worse than what it is. Bullet passed right through 'ya. Good thing it missed the important stuff though. I think with time your gonna be right as rain."
George got up and poured a cup of coffee. "How do you take it?" he asked. "None for me," said the officer. "Oh, yer gonna drink this. Best in the city. Too bad I ain't got no donuts." The officer laughed and winced at the same time.
The front door of the office flew open. In burst a young man with a gun. "Give me all your cash! Do it now!" the young man yelled. His hand was shaking and George could tell that he had never done anything like this before.
"That's the guy that shot me!" exclaimed the officer.
"Son, why are you doing this?" asked George, "You need to put the cannon away. Somebody else might get hurt."
The young man was confused. "Shut up old man, or I'll shoot you, too. Now give me the cash!"
The cop was reaching for his gun. "Put that thing away," George said to the cop, "we got one too many in here now."
He turned his attention to the young man. "Son, it's Christmas Eve. If you need money, well then, here. It ain't much but it's all I got. Now put that pee shooter away."
George pulled $150 out of his pocket and handed it to the young man, reaching for the barrel of the gun at the same time. The young man released his grip on the gun, fell to his knees and began to cry. "I'm not very good at this am I? All I wanted was to buy something for my wife and son," he went on. "I've lost my job, my rent is due, my car got repossessed last week .."
George handed the gun to the cop. "Son, we all get in a bit of squeeze now and then. The road gets hard sometimes, but we make it through the best we can."
He got the young man to his feet, and sat him down on a chair across from the cop. "Sometimes we do stupid things." George handed the young man a cup of coffee. "Bein' stupid is one of the things that makes us human. Comin' in here with a gun ain't the answer. Now sit there and get warm and we'll sort this thing out."
The young man had stopped crying. He looked over to the cop. "Sorry I shot you. It just went off. I'm sorry officer."
"Shut up and drink your coffee." the cop said.
George could hear the sounds of sirens outside. A police car and an ambulance skidded to a halt. Two cops came through the door, guns drawn. "Chuck! You ok?" one of the cops asked the wounded officer.
"Not bad for a guy who took a bullet. How did you find me?"
"GPS locator in the car. Best thing since sliced bread. Who did this?" the other cop asked as he approached the young man.
Chuck answered him, "I don't know. The guy ran off into the dark. Just dropped his gun and ran."
George and the young man both looked puzzled at each other.
"That guy work here?," the wounded cop continued. "Yep," George said, "just hired him this morning. Boy lost his job."
The paramedics came in and loaded Chuck onto the stretcher. The young man leaned over the wounded cop and whispered, "Why?"
Chuck just said, "Merry Christmas boy ... and you too, George, and thanks for everything."
"Well, looks like you got one doozy of a break there. That ought to solve some of your problems."
George went into the back room and came out with a box. He pulled out a ring box. "Here you go, something for the little woman. I don't think Martha would mind. She said it would come in handy some day."
The young man looked inside to see the biggest diamond ring he ever saw. "I can't take this," said the young man. "It means something to you."
"And now it means something to you," replied George. "I got my memories. That's all I need."
George reached into the box again. An airplane, a car and a truck appeared next. They were toys that the oil company had left for him to sell. "Here's something for that little man of yours."
The young man began to cry again as he handed back the $150 that the old man had handed him earlier.
"And what are you supposed to buy Christmas dinner with? You keep that too," George said, "Now git home to your family."
The young man turned with tears streaming down his face. "I'll be here in the morning for work, if that job offer is still good."
"Nope. I'm closed Christmas day," George said. "See ya the day after."
George turned around to find that the stranger had returned. "Where'd you come from? I thought you left?"
"I have been here. I have always been here," said the stranger. "You say you don't celebrate Christmas. Why?"
"Well, after my wife passed away, I just couldn't see what all the bother was. Puttin' up a tree and all seemed a waste of a good pine tree. Bakin' cookies like I used to with Martha just wasn't the same by myself and besides I was gettin' a little chubby."
The stranger put his hand on George's shoulder. "But you do celebrate the holiday, George. You gave me food and drink and warmed me when I was cold and hungry. The woman with child will bear a son and he will become a great doctor. The policeman you helped will go on to save 19 people from being killed by terrorists. The young man who tried to rob you will make you a rich man and not take any for himself. "That is the spirit of the season and you keep it as good as any man."
George was taken aback by all this stranger had said. "And how do you know all this?" asked the old man.
"Trust me, George. I have the inside track on this sort of thing. And when your days are done you will be with Martha again."
The stranger moved toward the door. "If you will excuse me, George, I have to go now. I have to go home where there is a big celebration
planned."
George watched as the old leather jacket and the torn pants that the stranger was wearing turned into a white robe. A golden light began to
fill the room.
"You see, George ... it's My birthday. Merry Christmas."
*******
(Thanks to Chris Finer)
If this one were any cornier, we would have to serve it for dinner! But if you like corn, you're gonna love it! It has the true spirit of Christmas.
*******
His wife had passed away. It was just another day to him. He didn't hate Christmas, just couldn't find a reason to celebrate. He was sitting there looking at the snow that had been falling for the last hour and wondering what it was all about when the door opened and a homeless man stepped through.
Instead of throwing the man out, Old George as he was known by his customers, told the man to come and sit by the heater and warm up. "Thank you, but I don't mean to intrude," said the stranger. "I see you're busy, I'll just go." "Not without something hot in your belly." George said.
He turned and opened a wide mouth Thermos and handed it to the stranger. "It ain't much, but it's hot and tasty, "Stew ... made it myself. When you're done, there's coffee and it's fresh."
Just at that moment he heard the "ding" of the driveway bell. "Excuse me, be right back," George said. There in the driveway was an old '53 Chevy. Steam was rolling out of the front. The driver was panicked. "Mister can you help me!" said the driver, with a deep Spanish accent. "My wife is with child and my car is broken."
George opened the hood. It was bad. The block looked cracked from the cold, the car was dead. "You ain't going in this thing," George said as he turned away.
"But Mister, please help .." The door of the office closed behind George as he went inside. He went to the office wall and got the keys to his old truck, and went back outside. He walked around the building, opened the garage, started the truck and drove it around to where the couple was waiting. "Here, take my truck," he said. "She ain't the best thing you ever looked at, but she runs real good."
George helped put the woman in the truck and watched as it sped off into the night. He turned and walked back inside the office. "Glad I gave 'em the truck, their tires were shot too. That 'ol truck has brand new .........." George thought he was talking to the stranger, but the man had gone. The Thermos was on the desk, empty, with a used coffee cup beside it. "Well, at least he got something in his belly," George thought.
George went back outside to see if the old Chevy would start. It cranked slowly, but it started. He pulled it into the garage where the truck had been. He thought he would tinker with it for something to do. Christmas Eve meant no customers. He discovered the the block hadn't cracked, it was just the bottom hose on the radiator. "Well, shoot, I can fix this," he said to himself. So he put a new one on.
"Those tires ain't gonna get 'em through the winter either." He took the snow treads off of his wife's old Lincoln. They were like new and he wasn't going to drive the car anyway.
As he was working, he heard shots being fired. He ran outside and beside a police car an officer lay on the cold ground. Bleeding from the left shoulder, the officer moaned, "Please help me."
George helped the officer inside as he remembered the training he had received in the Army as a medic. He knew the wound needed attention. "Pressure to stop the bleeding," he thought. The uniform company had been there that morning and had left clean shop towels. He used those and duct tape to bind the wound. "Hey, they say duct tape can fix anythin'," he said, trying to make the policeman feel at ease.
"Something for pain," George thought. All he had was the pills he used for his back. "These ought to work." He put some water in a cup and gave the policeman the pills. "You hang in there, I'm going to get you an ambulance."
The phone was dead. "Maybe I can get one of your buddies on that there talk box out in your car." He went out only to find that a bullet had gone into the dashboard destroying the two way radio.
He went back in to find the policeman sitting up. "Thanks," said the officer. "You could have left me there. The guy that shot me is still in the area."
George sat down beside him, "I would never leave an injured man in the Army and I ain't gonna leave you." George pulled back the bandage to check for bleeding. "Looks worse than what it is. Bullet passed right through 'ya. Good thing it missed the important stuff though. I think with time your gonna be right as rain."
George got up and poured a cup of coffee. "How do you take it?" he asked. "None for me," said the officer. "Oh, yer gonna drink this. Best in the city. Too bad I ain't got no donuts." The officer laughed and winced at the same time.
The front door of the office flew open. In burst a young man with a gun. "Give me all your cash! Do it now!" the young man yelled. His hand was shaking and George could tell that he had never done anything like this before.
"That's the guy that shot me!" exclaimed the officer.
"Son, why are you doing this?" asked George, "You need to put the cannon away. Somebody else might get hurt."
The young man was confused. "Shut up old man, or I'll shoot you, too. Now give me the cash!"
The cop was reaching for his gun. "Put that thing away," George said to the cop, "we got one too many in here now."
He turned his attention to the young man. "Son, it's Christmas Eve. If you need money, well then, here. It ain't much but it's all I got. Now put that pee shooter away."
George pulled $150 out of his pocket and handed it to the young man, reaching for the barrel of the gun at the same time. The young man released his grip on the gun, fell to his knees and began to cry. "I'm not very good at this am I? All I wanted was to buy something for my wife and son," he went on. "I've lost my job, my rent is due, my car got repossessed last week .."
George handed the gun to the cop. "Son, we all get in a bit of squeeze now and then. The road gets hard sometimes, but we make it through the best we can."
He got the young man to his feet, and sat him down on a chair across from the cop. "Sometimes we do stupid things." George handed the young man a cup of coffee. "Bein' stupid is one of the things that makes us human. Comin' in here with a gun ain't the answer. Now sit there and get warm and we'll sort this thing out."
The young man had stopped crying. He looked over to the cop. "Sorry I shot you. It just went off. I'm sorry officer."
"Shut up and drink your coffee." the cop said.
George could hear the sounds of sirens outside. A police car and an ambulance skidded to a halt. Two cops came through the door, guns drawn. "Chuck! You ok?" one of the cops asked the wounded officer.
"Not bad for a guy who took a bullet. How did you find me?"
"GPS locator in the car. Best thing since sliced bread. Who did this?" the other cop asked as he approached the young man.
Chuck answered him, "I don't know. The guy ran off into the dark. Just dropped his gun and ran."
George and the young man both looked puzzled at each other.
"That guy work here?," the wounded cop continued. "Yep," George said, "just hired him this morning. Boy lost his job."
The paramedics came in and loaded Chuck onto the stretcher. The young man leaned over the wounded cop and whispered, "Why?"
Chuck just said, "Merry Christmas boy ... and you too, George, and thanks for everything."
"Well, looks like you got one doozy of a break there. That ought to solve some of your problems."
George went into the back room and came out with a box. He pulled out a ring box. "Here you go, something for the little woman. I don't think Martha would mind. She said it would come in handy some day."
The young man looked inside to see the biggest diamond ring he ever saw. "I can't take this," said the young man. "It means something to you."
"And now it means something to you," replied George. "I got my memories. That's all I need."
George reached into the box again. An airplane, a car and a truck appeared next. They were toys that the oil company had left for him to sell. "Here's something for that little man of yours."
The young man began to cry again as he handed back the $150 that the old man had handed him earlier.
"And what are you supposed to buy Christmas dinner with? You keep that too," George said, "Now git home to your family."
The young man turned with tears streaming down his face. "I'll be here in the morning for work, if that job offer is still good."
"Nope. I'm closed Christmas day," George said. "See ya the day after."
George turned around to find that the stranger had returned. "Where'd you come from? I thought you left?"
"I have been here. I have always been here," said the stranger. "You say you don't celebrate Christmas. Why?"
"Well, after my wife passed away, I just couldn't see what all the bother was. Puttin' up a tree and all seemed a waste of a good pine tree. Bakin' cookies like I used to with Martha just wasn't the same by myself and besides I was gettin' a little chubby."
The stranger put his hand on George's shoulder. "But you do celebrate the holiday, George. You gave me food and drink and warmed me when I was cold and hungry. The woman with child will bear a son and he will become a great doctor. The policeman you helped will go on to save 19 people from being killed by terrorists. The young man who tried to rob you will make you a rich man and not take any for himself. "That is the spirit of the season and you keep it as good as any man."
George was taken aback by all this stranger had said. "And how do you know all this?" asked the old man.
"Trust me, George. I have the inside track on this sort of thing. And when your days are done you will be with Martha again."
The stranger moved toward the door. "If you will excuse me, George, I have to go now. I have to go home where there is a big celebration
planned."
George watched as the old leather jacket and the torn pants that the stranger was wearing turned into a white robe. A golden light began to
fill the room.
"You see, George ... it's My birthday. Merry Christmas."
*******
(Thanks to Chris Finer)
Christian Peacemakers Respond
CPTnet
19 December 2005
BAGHDAD/AMMAN: Christian Peacemakers in Iraq and Jordan respond to Presidential address
(Thanks to Barbara Siler)
19 December 2005
BAGHDAD/AMMAN: Christian Peacemakers in Iraq and Jordan respond to Presidential address
Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) members working in Iraq and Jordan reacted early Monday to U.S. President George W. Bush's address about the war in Iraq. Reached by telephone in the team's Baghdad apartment, Maxine Nash noted how the war has affected the services on which Iraqis rely: "I tried to watch President Bush's speech," she said, "but I couldn't; there was no electricity."*******
Citing the failure to rebuild basic civilian infrastructure, the thousands of Iraqi detainees in U.S. detention centres, and tens of thousands of civilian casualties and injuries, CPT has asserted that the United States and Coalition Forces have failed to bring peace and true democracy to Iraq. Yet, in his address, the president insisted that the way to defeat what he calls terrorism and make way for democracy is to continue to go "on the offensive."
Regarding this claim, full-time Iraq team member Peggy Gish, 63, commented in Amman, "based on my three years of listening to Iraqis who have suffered the pain of war, U.S. and Iraqi forces' 'on the offensive,' means continued mass arrests, house raids and bombing of civilians, continued illegal detentions, torture, and abuse."
Sheila Provencher, 33, who left Baghdad for Amman three weeks earlier, added, "Where are these seven out of ten Iraqis that he quotes as saying that their lives are going well? I wonder whether the poll he quoted is like another I read about recently, which omitted the entire Anbar province because of security concerns."
"I noticed that the president framed his argument for the war almost entirely in terms of what he called the 'global terrorist movement' that will attack America wherever they can,'" Provencher continued. "Ironically, he does admit that the desire to attack Americans has attracted Al Qaeda into Iraq."
"But," she added, "he does not seem to realize that there are thousands of members of a nationalist Iraqi insurgency who will use force to end the American occupation of their country, without using suicide bombers or civilian attacks. If he fails to understand the true nature and grievances of the nationalist insurgency -- namely, that they perceive themselves as fighting for the freedom of their country -- he will never understand that the very presence of U.S. troops exacerbates the violence."
CPT has worked in Iraq for more than three years, focusing on the plight of Iraqi detainees and their families, the effects of U.S. and Iraqi offensives in civilian areas, and the development of Iraqi peace and human rights groups.
Instead of further offensives, which only increase the violence and chaos, CPT representatives currently living among ordinary Iraqis in Baghdad recommend the U.S. state its intention to withdraw all U.S. troops immediately (beginning with urban areas), stopping U.S. bombing, and providing sufficient funds to the Iraqi people to rebuild basic infrastructure.
CPT further urges an end to illegal detentions and torture in U.S.facilities and a fair and speedy judicial process for detainees. It also urges that the U.S. government employ diplomatic means to pressure the Iraqi government to take corresponding actions regarding detainees held in Iraqi detention facilities.
At present, four members of CPT remain missing in Iraq after their disappearance in late November.
(Thanks to Barbara Siler)
Bush Numbers
From the Magazine | Essay
Check Out My New Numbers
By PATRICIA MARX
Posted Sunday, Dec. 11, 2005
(Thanks to Geoffrey Stoermer)
Check Out My New Numbers
By PATRICIA MARX
Posted Sunday, Dec. 11, 2005
After a cascade of opinion polls showed that George W. Bush's popularity had descended to an all-time low, the most recent numbers reflect a slight improvement for the President. Despite those gains, however, Bush's approval rating (40% last week) remains dismal. So why is President Bush happy? "Well, according to those expert fellows," the President might explain, "the margin of error on these things is really small, so that means we're making less errors, and that's a good sign. And here's something else that folks should keep in mind. There hasn't been a big hurricane in this country in a couple of days, so we're achieving victory status on that too. But the really good news is that in terms of the polls that my people in the White House have totally made up, I'm actually doing fantastic." A sample:
69% of heads of families who have saved $1 million or more due to the President's tax laws enthusiastically support the President's tax laws
56% of voters think Bush did not intentionally deceive the American public about the reasons he went into the Food Emporium
Experts tell us that according to a random sampling conducted at zoos around the country, most chimpanzees are disinclined to voice any objection to the way the President pronounces the word nuclear
100% of Americans 18 months or younger seem to give the impression that they are not disappointed by U.S. negotiations with North Korea over, oh, something or other
96% of the Wilmerding family in Akron, Ohio, think Bush is doing a really terrific job as President
51% of scientists believe the Big Bang led to greater upheaval in the world than the American invasion of Iraq
57% of senior citizens say the President leads "strongly and decisively" when it comes to the bunny hop
62% of educators are pretty sure that the President is smarter than SpongeBob but not smarter than Dan Quayle
only 2% of Americans who have at least four years of college education blame George W. Bush for the defeat of our country in Vietnam
87% of the ranchers in Montana say they are in favor of the way the President handles dry brush and scrub on the Crawford ranch
51% of those who watch the nightly news see nothing wrong with Bush's green windbreaker with light blue lining
23% who filled out the questionnaire on Whitehouse.gov believe the President was involved in the breakup of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey
58% of the top brass in the U.S. military say hip-hip hooray to the President for his refusal to set an artificial timetable for withdrawing
security guards from Home Depot
97% of stem cells zealously endorse the President's stem-cell policies
86% of the ExxonMobil management are of the opinion that we should stay the course in Iraq until the last drop of oil is pumped
99% of some people we know believe a certain person in the press who leaked the name of the Vice President of the U.S. to the American public should be prosecuted
49% of Jenna Bush's friends approve of the wet bar on her grandfather's boat in Kennebunkport
63% of the Bush clan think there are all too many Barbaras and Georges in the family, but they do not wish to get rid of any of them
An overwhelming majority of both Democrats and Republicans agree with Donald Rumsfeld's recent statement: "There is compelling evidence that al-Qaeda is linked to al-Qaeda"
(Thanks to Geoffrey Stoermer)
Presidential Library Destroyed
BUSH PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY DESTROYED BY FLOOD
***
Crawford, Texas -- A tragic flood this morning destroyed the personal library of President George W. Bush. The flood began in the Presidential bathroom where both of the books were kept. Both of his books, including “A Boy and His Goat” have been lost.
A presidential spokesman said the president was devastated, as he had almost finished reading the second one, "Wiretapping for Dummies."
The White House tried to call FEMA but there was no answer.
Important: Gator’s Humor can also be found on his web site.
http://gatorsden.org
(Thanks to Ty Scharrer)
***
Crawford, Texas -- A tragic flood this morning destroyed the personal library of President George W. Bush. The flood began in the Presidential bathroom where both of the books were kept. Both of his books, including “A Boy and His Goat” have been lost.
A presidential spokesman said the president was devastated, as he had almost finished reading the second one, "Wiretapping for Dummies."
The White House tried to call FEMA but there was no answer.
Important: Gator’s Humor can also be found on his web site.
http://gatorsden.org
(Thanks to Ty Scharrer)
More Dream-symbols
*******
Re your dream: Your friend represents "trust." What does Dan [pseudonym] represent? They get together on a motorcycle at the beginning of the dream. This is the part of yourself that is moving, growing, making tracks, making progress. These two qualities are in the lead; they are creating spiritual, intellectual, or emotional growth for the rest of your mind. That is why they are "moving," and doing so together.
The "old furniture" represents old ideas (thought-structures) in your mind. You "trust" in them, for they belong to the man who represents "trust." But they are not in very good shape, and might not be very useful. For they need fixed up. In terms of spirituality, these could reflect old ideas or dogmas from religion. They are not bad; they just need repair, restructuring, reconstruction, and "fixing up." So, do not throw away ideas just because they are old. Some are worth keeping, such as faith in Jesus Christ, works of penance, and moral guidelines.
The "apartment" above the garage is the higher part of your own mind. This is where trust does the reparations. Also, art is done here; this is how you interpret the world, and create beauty.
His complaining wife is the part of your mind that is not happy or satisfied. Perhaps you are confused about trust. Perhaps you fear trusting the wrong ideas, or the wrong people. She is the part of your mind that tells you not to trust just anybody. For Love is given freely to all; but trust must be earned by a person's trustworthy behavior.
The good news is that the wife was not unhappy that you were there; this is evidence of selfacceptance. She is upset only because she fears trusting the wrong people, or the wrong ideas. "I don't want you to leave! she said," you say in your letter. So, this part of your mind likes the other parts of your mind; that is interior integration, a very good sign.
You write, "Then, I went into the bathroom, and my friend was trying to open the door to get into the bathroom, and I did not want him to come in." The "bathroom" represents interior purification-- a major and very common theme in many dreams. You cannot self-purify if you are trusting too much, and that is why you want to keep your friend ("trust") out of the part of your mind that purifies you spiritually ("bathroom"). You simply cannot grow if you trust the wrong people, or the wrong ideas.
You write, "So I hold the door with my foot." The "foot" is the symbol of pisces energy. If you have pisces energy in your chart, you are using this spiritual energy to make sure that you do not fall into gullibility, as so many "spiritual wannabes" do. If you do not have this energy in your chart, you can "borrow" it from others. This holding closed the door against overtrusting is very healthy.
You write, "My friend was too nice to me, as if he liked me as a woman, and not just as a friend." This part of your mind, the part that can overtrust and become gullible, is still confused about Love. You need to learn more about It. You need clearly to distinguish cosmic Love from romantic Love. A Love can be both, but they are two very different kinds or types (varieties) of Love. There are many types, and many powerlevels, of "Love," and they are all very different. You do not "love" your dog as you love your mother; and you do not love her the same way that you love a child; you love a sister differently, and a stranger with still another kind of Love.
*******
Re your dream: Your friend represents "trust." What does Dan [pseudonym] represent? They get together on a motorcycle at the beginning of the dream. This is the part of yourself that is moving, growing, making tracks, making progress. These two qualities are in the lead; they are creating spiritual, intellectual, or emotional growth for the rest of your mind. That is why they are "moving," and doing so together.
The "old furniture" represents old ideas (thought-structures) in your mind. You "trust" in them, for they belong to the man who represents "trust." But they are not in very good shape, and might not be very useful. For they need fixed up. In terms of spirituality, these could reflect old ideas or dogmas from religion. They are not bad; they just need repair, restructuring, reconstruction, and "fixing up." So, do not throw away ideas just because they are old. Some are worth keeping, such as faith in Jesus Christ, works of penance, and moral guidelines.
The "apartment" above the garage is the higher part of your own mind. This is where trust does the reparations. Also, art is done here; this is how you interpret the world, and create beauty.
His complaining wife is the part of your mind that is not happy or satisfied. Perhaps you are confused about trust. Perhaps you fear trusting the wrong ideas, or the wrong people. She is the part of your mind that tells you not to trust just anybody. For Love is given freely to all; but trust must be earned by a person's trustworthy behavior.
The good news is that the wife was not unhappy that you were there; this is evidence of selfacceptance. She is upset only because she fears trusting the wrong people, or the wrong ideas. "I don't want you to leave! she said," you say in your letter. So, this part of your mind likes the other parts of your mind; that is interior integration, a very good sign.
You write, "Then, I went into the bathroom, and my friend was trying to open the door to get into the bathroom, and I did not want him to come in." The "bathroom" represents interior purification-- a major and very common theme in many dreams. You cannot self-purify if you are trusting too much, and that is why you want to keep your friend ("trust") out of the part of your mind that purifies you spiritually ("bathroom"). You simply cannot grow if you trust the wrong people, or the wrong ideas.
You write, "So I hold the door with my foot." The "foot" is the symbol of pisces energy. If you have pisces energy in your chart, you are using this spiritual energy to make sure that you do not fall into gullibility, as so many "spiritual wannabes" do. If you do not have this energy in your chart, you can "borrow" it from others. This holding closed the door against overtrusting is very healthy.
You write, "My friend was too nice to me, as if he liked me as a woman, and not just as a friend." This part of your mind, the part that can overtrust and become gullible, is still confused about Love. You need to learn more about It. You need clearly to distinguish cosmic Love from romantic Love. A Love can be both, but they are two very different kinds or types (varieties) of Love. There are many types, and many powerlevels, of "Love," and they are all very different. You do not "love" your dog as you love your mother; and you do not love her the same way that you love a child; you love a sister differently, and a stranger with still another kind of Love.
*******
Increasing Body-energy
*******
You need to do several things, and your donkey [body] is telling you to do them. The low-energy is a communication from your body. Here are some things that you need to do every day to gain the energy that you have lost:
A vegetarian diet gives or provides energy, and that is very good; red meat drains energy. But it is possible that you are also still adapting or detoxing. Time will tell. Your diet might need more complex carbs-- especially healthy fruits and grains. Try to make sure that you are getting enough calories-- a minimum of 1800 on days when you are very active, less on less active days.
Try to do some spiritual reading every day.
Try to get regular sleep, at the same time every night. Try eight hours, and see whether that is too much for your system. Melatonin can help you sleep. It is the natural chemical produced by the brain that causes natural sleep. You need only one milligram per night, and it comes in a sublingual form (melts under your tongue). People over fifty might need two milligrams, and older people can use still more.
Listen to energizing music. I do not mean hard rock, acid rock, or heavy metal, which can be harmful to the energy system, but upbeat "new age" music.
Meditate every day. Use the "pervasive" system if possible.
Exercise aerobically once a day. Try to do this for one-half hour. Make the time to do this; the time will not just "come to you." You must schedule it in, and then, treat it as a sacred activity, for loving your body is sacred.
Visualize your body in an "egg" of brightly colored light. Picture the light penetrating into your body, inside as well as outside. For relaxation, use blue; for energy, use bright orange or red.
In your world, surround yourself with red as much as possible. Wear red. You can buy a bright red "theater gel" and place it on a window through wich the sun shines, and then, take an "energy bath" every day. You can also get a red "party bulb" and put it in a lamp in the dark, when watching tv or listening to music. (If you want relaxation, use a blue bulb.)
Get a very clear crystal and hold it in your left hand for fifteen minutes a day. This will charge the system with energy.
These are just a few important "energenic" (energy-generating) ideas. When you do them so often that they are a routine, others can be added to the list.
If you cannot do them all, include in your daily routine as many as you can. Each one is energenic, and each one will help.
*******
You need to do several things, and your donkey [body] is telling you to do them. The low-energy is a communication from your body. Here are some things that you need to do every day to gain the energy that you have lost:
A vegetarian diet gives or provides energy, and that is very good; red meat drains energy. But it is possible that you are also still adapting or detoxing. Time will tell. Your diet might need more complex carbs-- especially healthy fruits and grains. Try to make sure that you are getting enough calories-- a minimum of 1800 on days when you are very active, less on less active days.
Try to do some spiritual reading every day.
Try to get regular sleep, at the same time every night. Try eight hours, and see whether that is too much for your system. Melatonin can help you sleep. It is the natural chemical produced by the brain that causes natural sleep. You need only one milligram per night, and it comes in a sublingual form (melts under your tongue). People over fifty might need two milligrams, and older people can use still more.
Listen to energizing music. I do not mean hard rock, acid rock, or heavy metal, which can be harmful to the energy system, but upbeat "new age" music.
Meditate every day. Use the "pervasive" system if possible.
Exercise aerobically once a day. Try to do this for one-half hour. Make the time to do this; the time will not just "come to you." You must schedule it in, and then, treat it as a sacred activity, for loving your body is sacred.
Visualize your body in an "egg" of brightly colored light. Picture the light penetrating into your body, inside as well as outside. For relaxation, use blue; for energy, use bright orange or red.
In your world, surround yourself with red as much as possible. Wear red. You can buy a bright red "theater gel" and place it on a window through wich the sun shines, and then, take an "energy bath" every day. You can also get a red "party bulb" and put it in a lamp in the dark, when watching tv or listening to music. (If you want relaxation, use a blue bulb.)
Get a very clear crystal and hold it in your left hand for fifteen minutes a day. This will charge the system with energy.
These are just a few important "energenic" (energy-generating) ideas. When you do them so often that they are a routine, others can be added to the list.
If you cannot do them all, include in your daily routine as many as you can. Each one is energenic, and each one will help.
*******
Sunday, December 18, 2005
The Christmas Gullibility Test
***
Are the following statements true or false? To make it easier, send the statements you believe are false to Gator and I will post how many got them all correct: Just send me the question numbers for your answers.
Write: gatorsden@intergate.com
1) The word 'mistletoe' means 'dung on a twig' in Anglo-Saxon
2) It was illegal to celebrate Christmas in puritan New England.
3) The modern image of a fat, red-suited Santa Claus was invented by the Coca-Cola Company.
4) The bones of the original Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) are preserved in a church in Italy.
5) Jesus Christ was born on December 25.
6) Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair campaigned to ban all christmas programs, songs, and carols from public schools.
7) NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) tracks Santa and his sleigh every year on radar.
8) The Bible tells us that three wise men visited the infant jesus as he lay asleep in a manger.
9) The suicide rate rises dramatically around Christmas.
10) Christmas only became a legal holiday in England and America late in the nineteenth century. Before then people were expected to go to work on Christmas Day.
11) The Canadian Post Office has given Santa Claus his own official postal code at the North Pole.
12) Abbreviating Christmas as Xmas is disrespectful.
(Thanks to Ty Scharrer)
Are the following statements true or false? To make it easier, send the statements you believe are false to Gator and I will post how many got them all correct: Just send me the question numbers for your answers.
Write: gatorsden@intergate.com
1) The word 'mistletoe' means 'dung on a twig' in Anglo-Saxon
2) It was illegal to celebrate Christmas in puritan New England.
3) The modern image of a fat, red-suited Santa Claus was invented by the Coca-Cola Company.
4) The bones of the original Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) are preserved in a church in Italy.
5) Jesus Christ was born on December 25.
6) Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair campaigned to ban all christmas programs, songs, and carols from public schools.
7) NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) tracks Santa and his sleigh every year on radar.
8) The Bible tells us that three wise men visited the infant jesus as he lay asleep in a manger.
9) The suicide rate rises dramatically around Christmas.
10) Christmas only became a legal holiday in England and America late in the nineteenth century. Before then people were expected to go to work on Christmas Day.
11) The Canadian Post Office has given Santa Claus his own official postal code at the North Pole.
12) Abbreviating Christmas as Xmas is disrespectful.
(Thanks to Ty Scharrer)
Friday, December 16, 2005
December Humor
*****
An international chess tournament is held in a swank hotel in New York. Everyone who is anyone in the world of chess is there. After a grueling 4 hours of chess, the players and their entourages retire to the lobby of the hotel for a little refreshment.
In the lobby, the players get into a big argument about who is the brightest, the fastest, and the best chess player. The argument gets loud, each player claiming that he is the greatest chess player of all time.
One security guard in the lobby turns to the other and says:
“If there's one thing I can't stand, it's chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.”
(Thanks to Ty Scharrer)
An international chess tournament is held in a swank hotel in New York. Everyone who is anyone in the world of chess is there. After a grueling 4 hours of chess, the players and their entourages retire to the lobby of the hotel for a little refreshment.
In the lobby, the players get into a big argument about who is the brightest, the fastest, and the best chess player. The argument gets loud, each player claiming that he is the greatest chess player of all time.
One security guard in the lobby turns to the other and says:
“If there's one thing I can't stand, it's chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.”
(Thanks to Ty Scharrer)
Monday, December 12, 2005
"Satan" and "Devil"
*******
Surprisingly to most, the "satan" (originally a common noun, not a name) is mentioned only three times in the totality of the Hebrew Scriptures, and is not a major component of the Greek Christian Scriptures either. "Lucifer" is not mentioned at all-- not a single time-- in all the Christian Scriptures.
Jesus and all other mystics recognized that the "devil" is fear. The principle of the antipolarity of Love (God) and fear (devil) is stated clearly in First John 4:18: "Love and fear cannot coexist. Where Love is complete, fear is cast outside."
It follows logically that the conceptual "opposite" of God (God has no real opposite) is the "devil," and so, it is the opposite of Love-- fear.
The "satan" has played a part in Christianity after its primitive period (the first century) because people are more easily entrained in the fearself than in the Love-Self. All this interest in the "satan" arose because the official Church became negative instead of positive. Superstitions arising from belief in a "satan" led to the terrible nightmarish tortures of the Inquisition and the "witch-hunts," which were a shame to any half-civilized person.
Descriptions of them are so horrendous that I will spare your sensitive soul by not describing the ghastly tortures, but they were inhuman and beastly. All these gratuitous acts of sickening violence were the result of a superstitious belief in a personal "devil."
Since we follow the principle, "By their fruits you shall know them,"and since the fruits of a belief in this personal devil have been unadulteratedly abysmal and "demonic," we mystics refuse to buy into the ignorant superstition that there is a real "person" who is the real opposite of God.
Every being, even the worst, has some "God" or "Love" deep within, waiting to be awakened and "fanned" from an ember into a warm flame. Still, somewhere in the cosmos is the very worst, most ignorant, being ever. If you want to call it "the devil," or "satan," that is fine.
Mystics are realists, and we realize that this is a fact. But we do not believe in the fairy-tale that some "angel" rebelled against God, out of pride, and became the "satan." This is a very old Jewish fable, but is not Biblical. This is a good parable, warning against pride, but we do not believe that it represents historical fact.
*******
Surprisingly to most, the "satan" (originally a common noun, not a name) is mentioned only three times in the totality of the Hebrew Scriptures, and is not a major component of the Greek Christian Scriptures either. "Lucifer" is not mentioned at all-- not a single time-- in all the Christian Scriptures.
Jesus and all other mystics recognized that the "devil" is fear. The principle of the antipolarity of Love (God) and fear (devil) is stated clearly in First John 4:18: "Love and fear cannot coexist. Where Love is complete, fear is cast outside."
It follows logically that the conceptual "opposite" of God (God has no real opposite) is the "devil," and so, it is the opposite of Love-- fear.
The "satan" has played a part in Christianity after its primitive period (the first century) because people are more easily entrained in the fearself than in the Love-Self. All this interest in the "satan" arose because the official Church became negative instead of positive. Superstitions arising from belief in a "satan" led to the terrible nightmarish tortures of the Inquisition and the "witch-hunts," which were a shame to any half-civilized person.
Descriptions of them are so horrendous that I will spare your sensitive soul by not describing the ghastly tortures, but they were inhuman and beastly. All these gratuitous acts of sickening violence were the result of a superstitious belief in a personal "devil."
Since we follow the principle, "By their fruits you shall know them,"and since the fruits of a belief in this personal devil have been unadulteratedly abysmal and "demonic," we mystics refuse to buy into the ignorant superstition that there is a real "person" who is the real opposite of God.
Every being, even the worst, has some "God" or "Love" deep within, waiting to be awakened and "fanned" from an ember into a warm flame. Still, somewhere in the cosmos is the very worst, most ignorant, being ever. If you want to call it "the devil," or "satan," that is fine.
Mystics are realists, and we realize that this is a fact. But we do not believe in the fairy-tale that some "angel" rebelled against God, out of pride, and became the "satan." This is a very old Jewish fable, but is not Biblical. This is a good parable, warning against pride, but we do not believe that it represents historical fact.
*******
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Heneghan Smoking Gun Theory
*****
Dear Shining Thunder,
Just when you thought the "stories" couldn't get any stranger, we find a version of truth that actually goes beyond anything dreamed up by the Hollywood money machines. The future, if nothing else, promises to be interesting. The rest is as I received the multi-forwarded information.
Enjoy.
***
Friends,
This partly incoherent posting nonetheless poses a couple of interesting possibilities.
I remember a friend who had worked on classified projects telling me that it was fascinating to see how they were systematically leaked, part truth, part falsehood, part distortion, so that it would make it harder for anyone to tell, when something was leaked later, how much was real. This has those same earmarks.
***
Hatred + Anything = Hatred.
Love + Anything = Love.
Your choice, every day.
***
Subject: Strange but Probable
WHAT'S THIS ABOUT THE "SMOKING GUN"? ???
Tom Heneghan appeared in a short audio briefing on cloakanddagger.de for Tuesday, November 22, 2005 and made a bold prediction in light of the recent revelations of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Heneghan has been reporting for a week now that the primary reason for the outing Plame was not in retribution against her husband Joe Wilson for disputing claims that the government of Niger had supplied Iraq with nuclear materials. But rather, he was outed for the role of her CIA team in the interruption of a covert plan to smuggle weapons of mass destruction into Iraq before the war. Heneghan is now saying that this new evidence is the smoking gun about to crumble the Bush administration at any time now.
(Thanks to Tom Gustin.)
Dear Shining Thunder,
Just when you thought the "stories" couldn't get any stranger, we find a version of truth that actually goes beyond anything dreamed up by the Hollywood money machines. The future, if nothing else, promises to be interesting. The rest is as I received the multi-forwarded information.
Enjoy.
***
Friends,
This partly incoherent posting nonetheless poses a couple of interesting possibilities.
I remember a friend who had worked on classified projects telling me that it was fascinating to see how they were systematically leaked, part truth, part falsehood, part distortion, so that it would make it harder for anyone to tell, when something was leaked later, how much was real. This has those same earmarks.
***
Hatred + Anything = Hatred.
Love + Anything = Love.
Your choice, every day.
***
Subject: Strange but Probable
WHAT'S THIS ABOUT THE "SMOKING GUN"? ???
Tom Heneghan appeared in a short audio briefing on cloakanddagger.de for Tuesday, November 22, 2005 and made a bold prediction in light of the recent revelations of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Heneghan has been reporting for a week now that the primary reason for the outing Plame was not in retribution against her husband Joe Wilson for disputing claims that the government of Niger had supplied Iraq with nuclear materials. But rather, he was outed for the role of her CIA team in the interruption of a covert plan to smuggle weapons of mass destruction into Iraq before the war. Heneghan is now saying that this new evidence is the smoking gun about to crumble the Bush administration at any time now.
"The Bush administration needed to out Valerie Plame and destroy her credibility because her team, linked to Brewster Jennings and associates, had interdicted and completed a sting operation against this group that was trying to plant weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, so that the American troops that arrived in Iraq during the period of the warfare would have WMD´s waiting for them," concluded Heneghan. The WMD´s originated in Kosovo and Bosnia; and they were to be funneled through Turkey by rogue arms dealer and international terrorist Gary Best to Iraq.
"They were given orders to move VX nerve gas from Turkey into Iraq. This was to be hidden in Iraq and later used as evidence that Saddam Hussein was in possession of weapons of mass destruction," said Heneghan of the original plan.
Heneghan also reported that a secret group of Mossad agents, working as Israeli military personnel based unofficially with the U.S. military in Iraq, were waiting to receive both the VX nerve gas and aluminum tubes in the latter part of October 2002.
"The group that was in Iraq that was to receive these WMD´s from this Bosnian group was a secret Mossad/Israeli team, and were attached to group known as J2X Joint Intelligence Liaison in Baghdad," Heneghan said of his U.S. intelligence source confirmations.
Plame and her team uncovered this plot in November of 2002, and subsebuently no WMD´s have ever been found in the country of Iraq to justify the war.
Washington Post Editor Bob Woodward found out about Plame´s discovery in June and July of 2003 from Richard Armitage and Dick Cheney. Ever since then, he has attempted to discredit Plame and disrupt the grand jury investigation into her outing; and he continues to do so.
"Mr. Woodward, who knows this case is about to explode in his face, decides to trigger an investigation of the CIA. So what did he do two weeks ago? He leaked a story in his Washington Post about black prisons. This story has now caused a new investigation about national security leaks," said Heneghan of Woodward´s role in the plot.
Current CIA Director Porter Goss has launched an investigation through the Justice Department to find the sources of leaks about these black prisons. The leak actually originated with Dick Cheney and prominent members of the Republican Party, who then passed on the information to reporter Dana Priest; she subsequently authored the stories that appeared in the Washington Post.
"What Porter Goss has done is create an investigation that will end up investigating himself," surmised Heneghan.
"The defense of this administration has constantly been to blame the CIA. The fact of the matter is that (former CIA Director) George Tenant has recently written a report which he has given to Porter Goss. It is a damage assessment report on how many agents were killed because of the outing of Valerie Plame. It will deal with an attempt to plant the WMD´s in Iraq; and Mr. Porter Goss refuses to publish the report. He claims that it is national security," stated Heneghan.
This report by Tenant has been subpoenaed by Fitzgerald; and the Bush administration is attempting to quash it by claiming national security reasons. Heneghan revealed several weeks ago that Tenant was given a $36 million bribe to take the fall for the failure to find WMD´s in Iraq, among other issues. But this was falsely blamed on poor intelligence work by the CIA. Tenant was also recently granted transactional immunity by Fitzgerald in exchange for his testimony.
"Once this report is in the hands of Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, the entire White House will come down like a house of cards" predicted Heneghan. "This Tenant report includes a reference to an attempt to plant WMD in Iraq. THAT IS THE SMOKING GUN, folks," he declared.
The WMD discovery is also linked directly to 9/11. For the money that was paid out for these covert operations was supported from funds that originated from the Philippines.
“What connects the dots between 9/11 and the WMD´s in Iraq is the money. There was direct money that was being paid through Switzerland to pay off Osama Bin Laden for his role in 9/11 for being the patsy and the fall guy for the September 11th attacks," Heneghan said. "There is an old saying, 'Follow the money.'"
Heneghan also revealed that the Bush administration continues to explore ways to cause a distraction from the Fitzgerald investigation by staging further acts of terrorism in the united States.
"Bush was in Mongolia discussing with certain people an attempt to trigger a new 9/11 Two. Right now the U. S. economy is on the verge of collapse, despite the stock market's having gone to 10,900. The reason this is occurring is because we are no longer reporting M3," said Heneghan of the current economic climate.
"They can print as many Euro dollars as they want offshore now... and pump them into the U.S. stock market by making these funds available to certain offshore entities and major U.S. brokerage firms (including Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns). What you have now is the Federal Reserve buying stocks. This is being done as an emergency measure due to the state of chaos this administration faces," warned Heneghan.
Heneghan also detailed the ripple effect that these developments, mentioned in the Tenant damage assessment report, might have had with the Israeli government.
"One of the reasons Ariel Sharon has resigned as the head of Likud Party (The National Liberal Party) and will be setting up his own political party, is because he himself has identified through his own internal investigation this renegade Mossad team linked to Benjamin Netanyahu. He was operating with Bush and Cheney without the [knowledge] of the Israeli government," Heneghan disclosed.
(Thanks to Tom Gustin.)
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Bush Classics
*******
Thanks to Mick Gallagher!
And it's time for people to wake up!
*******
Thanks to Mick Gallagher!
"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country."
***
"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."
***
"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared.'"
***
"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."
***
"The future will be better tomorrow."
***
"We're going to have the best educated American people in the world."
***
"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."
***
"We have a firm commitment to NATO; we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe; we are a part of Europe."
***
"Public speaking is very easy."
***
"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."
***
"We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."
***
"For NASA, space is still a high priority."
***
"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children."
***
"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
***
"It's time for the human race to enter the solar system."
***
And it's time for people to wake up!
*******
Parallel Universes
*******
I do not know anyone so backwards or so foolish as to suggest that anything is possible for any person. For me, the question, "Is anything possible?" was approached from the cosmic view. Not, "Is anything possible fora human being?" but simply, "Is anything possible?"
Here is my own aquarian dream: I believe that the entity called the "Soul" is very enormously complex. Your Soul, for example, contains the entire life of Jack [pseudonym] on this earth. But, I believe, it could also contain the life of Jack 2 on earth 2, in a parallel universe, where that Jack made several different decisions than you did here. And, btw, there is also a Jack 3, Jack 4, Jack 5, ... etc. Perhaps the number of Jacks is infinite, like everything else cosmic. And, when you leave this world, your mind will merge with those of all the other Jacks.
This must be so in order to fulfill the condition, "Everything that can happen must happen." For if not, the cosmos is incomplete, not to mention your fullest and greatest lifeducation. So, in some parallel universe, Jack is a rock singer, and whatever else you dreamed that he could be. That gives total fulfillment. The cosmos was not shabbily or cheaply made. It was dreamed up in enormous complexity and detail, and still is being dreamed up by the great Mind. That Mind has all resources, so why not dream up a cosmos that is complete, not to mention, maximilly entertaining and educational?
But if there are an infinite number of Jacks, it gets even more fascinating. For let us say that you trace out the Jacks to universe number 342586. That "Jack" is the being whom you now know as John Smith! He, in turn, can backtrace all the John Smiths to the same distant number, and that "alternative John Smith" is the guy whom he knows as Jack! In this way, as in others, we could all be "one," in the bigger picture, as the mystics love to say. If you could keep on tracing the Jacks, at some point, one would be a woman. And, if you kept tracing, an "alternative Jack" would become the lady whom you now know as "Mary." Traced for eons, who knows? Your dog, or the tree in your yard, could be yet another "Jack.":)
Mindfrying, isn't it?
*******
I do not know anyone so backwards or so foolish as to suggest that anything is possible for any person. For me, the question, "Is anything possible?" was approached from the cosmic view. Not, "Is anything possible fora human being?" but simply, "Is anything possible?"
Here is my own aquarian dream: I believe that the entity called the "Soul" is very enormously complex. Your Soul, for example, contains the entire life of Jack [pseudonym] on this earth. But, I believe, it could also contain the life of Jack 2 on earth 2, in a parallel universe, where that Jack made several different decisions than you did here. And, btw, there is also a Jack 3, Jack 4, Jack 5, ... etc. Perhaps the number of Jacks is infinite, like everything else cosmic. And, when you leave this world, your mind will merge with those of all the other Jacks.
This must be so in order to fulfill the condition, "Everything that can happen must happen." For if not, the cosmos is incomplete, not to mention your fullest and greatest lifeducation. So, in some parallel universe, Jack is a rock singer, and whatever else you dreamed that he could be. That gives total fulfillment. The cosmos was not shabbily or cheaply made. It was dreamed up in enormous complexity and detail, and still is being dreamed up by the great Mind. That Mind has all resources, so why not dream up a cosmos that is complete, not to mention, maximilly entertaining and educational?
But if there are an infinite number of Jacks, it gets even more fascinating. For let us say that you trace out the Jacks to universe number 342586. That "Jack" is the being whom you now know as John Smith! He, in turn, can backtrace all the John Smiths to the same distant number, and that "alternative John Smith" is the guy whom he knows as Jack! In this way, as in others, we could all be "one," in the bigger picture, as the mystics love to say. If you could keep on tracing the Jacks, at some point, one would be a woman. And, if you kept tracing, an "alternative Jack" would become the lady whom you now know as "Mary." Traced for eons, who knows? Your dog, or the tree in your yard, could be yet another "Jack.":)
Mindfrying, isn't it?
*******
Choosing a Mantra
*******
Transcendental Meditation has become a cult, with all the dangers and severe restrictions of freedom that this implies. So, although we can recommend the method of tm, we cannot endorse its modern activities.
"Transcendental meditation" is by no means limited to one method, but includes all forms of meditation. For they are all aimed at "transcendental " goals. This means that their purpose is to lift us "above" the ordinary world, or being controlled by it, into the world of the interior and pure Mind.
As an example of the corruption of cults, tm people claim to give each student a "vibrationally compatible" mantra-- a phrase, often in Sanskrit, an ancient language. But each student is not given a unique mantra, as claimed. The leaders are lying. Interviews with former slaves of the tm cult have proved that hundreds of people actually share the same mantra.
There is no reason for a person to try to keep her mantra a "secret." This is just trying to behave "mysteriously," as if in possession of deep dark spiritual secrets. It is only a game played by the ego, and leaders of tm play it all the time.
A mantra can be any short phrase in any language. It often has better psychological (unconscious) effects if it is meaningful and understandable. It plants the seeds of transcendence and Love.
A mantra can have any reasonable number of syllables. We have had great success with four-syllable mantras, because they fall into such an easy rhythm. The most effective and useful practical mantras are in English for people who speak that language. A few sample mantras are: "I am at peace," "I am Love, and...," "God is Love, and...," "Does not matter" (for people too "stuck" to the world in Velcromind), "Amitabha" (Lord of limitless light), "Jesus Christ, and...," "Gentle Kwan Yin," "Brahman, Brahman," "I love all, and...," "I am Buddha," "I am the Christ," "loving Goddess," "Love's in control," and, "I am wisdom." Of course, you can choose any positive, uplifting, spiritual phrase in the world as your mantra.
Mantras are extremely powerful, but, at first, they seem very weak. It takes time for them to become stronger than ordinary thought. In time, they can overcome negative thoughts, by replacing them. But in order to maximize the strength of the mantra, it is recommended that you not "bounce around" too much: After carefully choosing your mantra, stay with the same one for at least a year, to empower it and yourself. Used for many years, a good mantra can begin to "run itself." It can wipe away all negative thoughts.
You should run your mantra as often as possible, all during the day and night, until it becomes automatic. This will, in time, help to erase the hang-ups and trivialities of the egomind, and will "clear your mind" for stillmind, crystalmind, which will allow the Mind of the great Spirit, deep within, to manifest Itself, as purest Love and bliss. This state of clarity, also called "Teflonmind," is highly therapeutic and healing.
*******
Transcendental Meditation has become a cult, with all the dangers and severe restrictions of freedom that this implies. So, although we can recommend the method of tm, we cannot endorse its modern activities.
"Transcendental meditation" is by no means limited to one method, but includes all forms of meditation. For they are all aimed at "transcendental " goals. This means that their purpose is to lift us "above" the ordinary world, or being controlled by it, into the world of the interior and pure Mind.
As an example of the corruption of cults, tm people claim to give each student a "vibrationally compatible" mantra-- a phrase, often in Sanskrit, an ancient language. But each student is not given a unique mantra, as claimed. The leaders are lying. Interviews with former slaves of the tm cult have proved that hundreds of people actually share the same mantra.
There is no reason for a person to try to keep her mantra a "secret." This is just trying to behave "mysteriously," as if in possession of deep dark spiritual secrets. It is only a game played by the ego, and leaders of tm play it all the time.
A mantra can be any short phrase in any language. It often has better psychological (unconscious) effects if it is meaningful and understandable. It plants the seeds of transcendence and Love.
A mantra can have any reasonable number of syllables. We have had great success with four-syllable mantras, because they fall into such an easy rhythm. The most effective and useful practical mantras are in English for people who speak that language. A few sample mantras are: "I am at peace," "I am Love, and...," "God is Love, and...," "Does not matter" (for people too "stuck" to the world in Velcromind), "Amitabha" (Lord of limitless light), "Jesus Christ, and...," "Gentle Kwan Yin," "Brahman, Brahman," "I love all, and...," "I am Buddha," "I am the Christ," "loving Goddess," "Love's in control," and, "I am wisdom." Of course, you can choose any positive, uplifting, spiritual phrase in the world as your mantra.
Mantras are extremely powerful, but, at first, they seem very weak. It takes time for them to become stronger than ordinary thought. In time, they can overcome negative thoughts, by replacing them. But in order to maximize the strength of the mantra, it is recommended that you not "bounce around" too much: After carefully choosing your mantra, stay with the same one for at least a year, to empower it and yourself. Used for many years, a good mantra can begin to "run itself." It can wipe away all negative thoughts.
You should run your mantra as often as possible, all during the day and night, until it becomes automatic. This will, in time, help to erase the hang-ups and trivialities of the egomind, and will "clear your mind" for stillmind, crystalmind, which will allow the Mind of the great Spirit, deep within, to manifest Itself, as purest Love and bliss. This state of clarity, also called "Teflonmind," is highly therapeutic and healing.
*******
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Self-Love
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Without selflove it is impossible to love others. Selflove is not simply thinking about yourself, or putting yourself first. It is loving yourself equally with your Love for your neighbor-- not more! So, selflove has no arrogance or selfishness about it.
What you would not do to a dearly beloved and sensitive friend, you do not do to yourself. If you would not drive a friend to work more after she is exhausted, do not do this to yourself. If you would ask that friend to get reasonable rest and relaxation, do that for yourself.
Especially mothers are often called on to exhaust themselves, and often, children do not know where to draw the line. For kids, work seems at times never to be "enough." So, a mother must listen to her own bodymind, and receive its signals. When the bodymind asks for rest, she must respond. Otherwise, the "call" for rest gets louder: She might succumb to a cold, for example. A cold is quite often a signal that we are overworking our bodies. It is a signal to rest.
Meditating every day, doing some deep breathing and visualization, eating well, sleeping and exercising regularly, can prevent exhaustion and its attendant illnesses, to some extent. So, let us reasonably commit time to moderate daily exercise, watching our diet, avoiding too much junkfood, meditation, deep breathing (often in a room with an airfilter), regular sleep, good food, and herbs, vitamins, and minerals if we need them. If you do all this out of true selflove, your life will be happier and brighter.
Without selflove it is impossible to love others. Selflove is not simply thinking about yourself, or putting yourself first. It is loving yourself equally with your Love for your neighbor-- not more! So, selflove has no arrogance or selfishness about it.
What you would not do to a dearly beloved and sensitive friend, you do not do to yourself. If you would not drive a friend to work more after she is exhausted, do not do this to yourself. If you would ask that friend to get reasonable rest and relaxation, do that for yourself.
Especially mothers are often called on to exhaust themselves, and often, children do not know where to draw the line. For kids, work seems at times never to be "enough." So, a mother must listen to her own bodymind, and receive its signals. When the bodymind asks for rest, she must respond. Otherwise, the "call" for rest gets louder: She might succumb to a cold, for example. A cold is quite often a signal that we are overworking our bodies. It is a signal to rest.
Meditating every day, doing some deep breathing and visualization, eating well, sleeping and exercising regularly, can prevent exhaustion and its attendant illnesses, to some extent. So, let us reasonably commit time to moderate daily exercise, watching our diet, avoiding too much junkfood, meditation, deep breathing (often in a room with an airfilter), regular sleep, good food, and herbs, vitamins, and minerals if we need them. If you do all this out of true selflove, your life will be happier and brighter.
Special Love Project
*******
David Hem Sagar has announced that, for the poorest kids in the world, he wants to have a give-away on the streets of his very poor town in Darjeeling, India. He will be giving, not candy, but useful things such as pencils, erasers, paper, and other educational supplies. He will be giving these free to small school-age children.
This is a fine way for us to invest in our planet's future, for it is a real investment in the education of children. True, they are very poor children, but some of the most kind and beautiful examples in history started out as poor children from neglected and despised villages. Jesus comes to mind.
According to a principle which he himself set down, if you do anything, or do not do anything, to "the least" of his brothers, you have done that, or failed to do that, to Him!
Please carefully note the wording of this statement: He did not say, as people often hear, "It is as if you have done it to Him. He actually said, "You have done it to Me."
So, let's work to make our spirituality real and solid by donating to this most worthy cause. Please send all questions and help to our friend David at lacindia@gmail.com
David Hem Sagar has announced that, for the poorest kids in the world, he wants to have a give-away on the streets of his very poor town in Darjeeling, India. He will be giving, not candy, but useful things such as pencils, erasers, paper, and other educational supplies. He will be giving these free to small school-age children.
This is a fine way for us to invest in our planet's future, for it is a real investment in the education of children. True, they are very poor children, but some of the most kind and beautiful examples in history started out as poor children from neglected and despised villages. Jesus comes to mind.
According to a principle which he himself set down, if you do anything, or do not do anything, to "the least" of his brothers, you have done that, or failed to do that, to Him!
Please carefully note the wording of this statement: He did not say, as people often hear, "It is as if you have done it to Him. He actually said, "You have done it to Me."
So, let's work to make our spirituality real and solid by donating to this most worthy cause. Please send all questions and help to our friend David at lacindia@gmail.com
A Moral Disgrace
Note to readers: Early this morning, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a budget proposal (217-215) that, if enacted, would make severe cuts to our nation's most vital anti-poverty programs like food stamps, Medicaid, and child care. The margin was small because of your prayers, phone calls, e-mails, and letters to the editor. Thank you. In the coming weeks, the budget will face a House-Senate negotiation, followed by separate votes in each chamber. We will continue to raise our voices to demand justice for the poorest among us.
Washington, D.C. ------(Friday, November 18, 2005) Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners and Convener of Call to Renewal, made the following statement today on the narrow passage of the House Budget Reconciliation Bill.
Washington, D.C. ------(Friday, November 18, 2005) Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners and Convener of Call to Renewal, made the following statement today on the narrow passage of the House Budget Reconciliation Bill.
STATEMENT BY JIM WALLIS:
The prophet Isaiah said: "Woe to you legislators of infamous laws ... who refuse justice to the unfortunate, who cheat the poor among my people of their rights, who make widows their prey and rob the orphan." Today, I repeat those words. When our legislators put ideology over principle, it is time to sound the trumpets of justice and tell the truth.
It is a moral disgrace to take food from the mouths of hungry children to increase the luxuries of those feasting at a table overflowing with plenty. This is not what America is about, not what the season of Thanksgiving is about, not what loving our neighbor is about, and not what family values are about. There is no moral path our legislators can take to defend a reckless, mean-spirited budget reconciliation bill that diminishes our compassion, as Jesus said, "for the least of these." It is morally unconscionable to hide behind arguments for fiscal responsibility and government efficiency. It is dishonest to stake proud claims to deficit reduction when tax cuts for the wealthy that increase the deficit are the next order of business. It is one more example of an absence of morality in our current political leadership. Budgets are moral documents that reflect what we care about. Budget and tax bills that increase the deficit put our children's futures in jeopardy - and they hurt the vulnerable right now. The choice to cut supports that help people make it day to day in order to pay for tax cuts for those with plenty goes against everything our religious and moral principles teach us. It says that leaders don't care about people in need. It is a blatant reversal of biblical values - and symbolizes the death of compassionate conservatism.
The faith community is outraged and is drawing a line in the sand against immoral national priorities. It is time to draw that line more forcefully and more visibly.
I applaud those House members who have stood up for better budget priorities and fought hard all year to keep issues of basic fairness at the forefront of this debate. And I thank those on both sides of the aisle who stood up and did the right thing in voting against this bill, despite pressure from the House leadership. These strong voices provide some hope for getting beyond an ideology that disregards the role of government for the common good.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Will Exxon Be Held Accountable
Senate Hearings: Will Exxon Be Held Accountable?
Dear Friends of the Heart,
"Stand Up and Fight" award
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) found a clever way to highlight problems in the Republicans' budget: he filed an amendment to change the official name of the bill to the "Moral Disaster of Monumental Proportion Reconciliation Act."
Tell him thanks.
Dear Friends of the Heart,
ExxonMobil reported a record- breaking $9.9 billion in profits last quarter alone. Yet Exxon spends its profits both bankrolling Republicans who protect their interests and fighting all steps towards energy independence.
Can you sign the petition to ExxonMobil and tell them you're going to hold them accountable until they change?
During last week's hearings on recent record high oil industry profits, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) told the oil executives, "People are concerned about fairness and justice at a time of sacrifice. Your sacrifice appears to be nothing."1
ExxonMobil just reported the largest quarterly profits—$9.9 billion—of any American corporation in history.2 ExxonMobil spends its record profits fighting virtually all meaningful efforts towards ending our dependence on oil.
That's why we're working with a large coalition of public interest and environmental groups to call on Exxon to start investing its profits in real solutions to our energy crisis. Can you sign the petition to ExxonMobil and tell them you're not going to buy their gas, work for them, or invest in their company until they change? We'll send the petition to Exxon and to Congress. The coalition already has over 200,000 signatures, and we're aiming for 100,000 more immediately to respond to the hearings last week.
Sign the Petition
The only answer to the current energy crisis is energy independence. That's something we'll be working on together in the next few weeks—one of the big positive things progressives stand for. And we're starting with ExxonMobil, the biggest obstacle in the way.
Exxon owes much of its lobbying success to close ties to Republican leaders. Over the last decade, Exxon has given more than $5.2 million to Republicans, while giving less than $650,000 to Democrats.3 This year, 91% of Exxon's political contributions have gone to Republicans.4 In turn, Republican energy policy has amounted to a series of massive handouts to the oil industry. Even now, with Republicans grandstanding with show hearings on television, they refused to make the oil executives testify under oath.5 Together with the coalition, we'll deliver your petition signature to ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond, and we'll send a copy to Congress to help break Exxon's stranglehold on our government.
There are four main areas in which Exxon needs drastic change:6
Invest in clean energy: With gas prices near $3 a gallon, it's outrageous to watch ExxonMobil rake in record profits while refusing to support greater fuel economy or invest significant amounts in cleaner, healthier energy.
Stop pushing to drill in the Arctic: ExxonMobil is the only oil company that remains part of Arctic Power, the group lobbying Congress to open the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Congress will cast the final vote on drilling in the Arctic shortly.
Stop fighting efforts to prevent global warming: ExxonMobil has spent over $15 million since 1998 to deny the existence of global warming by funding junk science groups to cloud the debate. The company lobbies against efforts to fight global warming even as it alone is responsible for 5% of the world's output of the main type of global warming pollution.
Pay damages to the victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill: Remember the Exxon Valdez tragedy? Exxon's tanker killed hundreds of thousands of seals, otters, birds, fish and whales when it spilled 11 million gallons of thick, deadly crude oil into the waters of Alaska's pristine Prince William Sound. Yet despite making a record profit of $25 billion last year, ExxonMobil is still shirking payment of the full amount it owes fishermen and natives hurt by the spill 16 years ago!
The Exxpose Exxon campaign includes a dozen leading environmental and public interest groups, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG), True Majority, the Alaska Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Defenders of Wildlife, and more. By signing this petition you'll be joining hundreds of thousands of Americans working to expose one of the largest and most powerful oil giants in the world and their protectors in Congress.
Sign the Petition
Thanks for all you do,
–Adam, Nita, James, Matt and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Monday, November 14th, 2005
SOURCES :
You can learn much more about ExxonMobil and the campaign at http://www.ExxposeExxon.com. It is also featured in a recent New York Times article about the hearings:
"Senators Grill Oil Executives on Profits and Prices"
1. "In heated hearings, oil bosses defend big profits," MSNBC, November 9, 2005
2. "Exxon profits hit fresh US record," BBC News, October 27, 2005
3. "Business sees Gains in GOP Takeover," Washington Post, March 27, 2005
4. "No Disruption In Flow Of Oil Company PAC $," Political Moneyline, November 8, 2005
5."Big oil CEOs under fire in Congress," CNNMoney, November 9, 2005
6. This section is from http://www.exxposeexxon.com/facts and the 5% figure is from the Friends of the Earth report
7. "House Shelves Alaska Drilling in Budget Fight," New York Times, November 10, 2005
"Stand Up and Fight" award
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) found a clever way to highlight problems in the Republicans' budget: he filed an amendment to change the official name of the bill to the "Moral Disaster of Monumental Proportion Reconciliation Act."
Tell him thanks.
Oppose the Radical Right's Supreme Court Choice
Dear Friends of the Heart,
I have just read and signed the petition: "Oppose the Radical Right's Choice for the Supreme Court!"
Please take a moment to read about this important issue, and join me in signing the petition. It takes just 30 seconds, but can truly make a difference. We are trying to reach 20,000 signatures - please sign here:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/732883824
Once you have signed, you can help even more by asking your friends and family to sign as well.
I have just read and signed the petition: "Oppose the Radical Right's Choice for the Supreme Court!"
Please take a moment to read about this important issue, and join me in signing the petition. It takes just 30 seconds, but can truly make a difference. We are trying to reach 20,000 signatures - please sign here:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/732883824
Once you have signed, you can help even more by asking your friends and family to sign as well.
You Cannot "Buy" the Priceless
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It is a sad and regrettable assessment of "new-age" teachers. They are as dirty and contaminated with ego-greed as are politicians and other criminals. An "easy buck" is a very tempting target, and most go for it! It is obscene for new-age teachers such as Sylvia Brown to charge $700 for a half-hour phone-call; and others charge even more! Some "channelers" are so consumed with greed that they charge over a thousand dollars an hour for private sessions!
Oddly, and paradoxically, some "new-age" teachers teach nongreed and egolessness even while simultaneously stretching out their hands to grab all the money that they can get! Guess that just proves the old adage, "Talk is cheap."
People can say anything, but it is what they actually do that shows their true values-- the values in wich they believe. Jesus said this. "By their fruits, you will know them." Some teachers are rather violently upset when they discover that I do all my work for Love-offerings only. I refuse to "make a profit" on even my books. Counseling, teaching, lectures, seminars, phone-work, and email-work are all supported by Love-donations only. Some feel understandably threatened, and I am not at all liked, or popular, in some circles. Happily, spirituality is not a "popularity contest"!
It is necessary to follow the highest calling, and the best historical examples, in spiritual nonreligious education. And the Buddha, and Jesus, never charged for their work or message!
*******
It is a sad and regrettable assessment of "new-age" teachers. They are as dirty and contaminated with ego-greed as are politicians and other criminals. An "easy buck" is a very tempting target, and most go for it! It is obscene for new-age teachers such as Sylvia Brown to charge $700 for a half-hour phone-call; and others charge even more! Some "channelers" are so consumed with greed that they charge over a thousand dollars an hour for private sessions!
Oddly, and paradoxically, some "new-age" teachers teach nongreed and egolessness even while simultaneously stretching out their hands to grab all the money that they can get! Guess that just proves the old adage, "Talk is cheap."
People can say anything, but it is what they actually do that shows their true values-- the values in wich they believe. Jesus said this. "By their fruits, you will know them." Some teachers are rather violently upset when they discover that I do all my work for Love-offerings only. I refuse to "make a profit" on even my books. Counseling, teaching, lectures, seminars, phone-work, and email-work are all supported by Love-donations only. Some feel understandably threatened, and I am not at all liked, or popular, in some circles. Happily, spirituality is not a "popularity contest"!
It is necessary to follow the highest calling, and the best historical examples, in spiritual nonreligious education. And the Buddha, and Jesus, never charged for their work or message!
*******
Monday, November 14, 2005
"Idiot-god," Pathetic "Prophet"!
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Thanks to Ty Scharrer (Gator)!
***
What a petty, petulant, pathetic, and vindictive "god"! This "god" is hate!
Gator’s comments: Due to nut cases like Pat Robertson, our country and the world is full of hate because of religious fanaticism. If there is an Armageddon for the world, it will be caused by religious fanatics who are hateful, not by a benevolent God.
Thanks to Ty Scharrer (Gator)!
***
What a petty, petulant, pathetic, and vindictive "god"! This "god" is hate!
Televangelist Warns Town of God's Wrath, By Alan Elsner
"Christian" televangelist Pat Robertson told citizens of a Pennsylvania town that they had rejected God by voting their school board out of office for supporting "intelligent design," and warned them on Thursday not to be surprised if disaster struck.
Robertson, a former Republican presidential candidate and founder of the conservative Christian Broadcasting Network and Christian Coalition, has a long record of similar apocalyptic warnings and provocative statements.
Last summer, he hit the headlines by calling for the assassination of leftist Venezuelan Present Hugo Chavez, one of President George W. Bush's most vocal international critics.
"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city," Robertson said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, "The 700 Club."
"And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because he might not be there," he said....
In voting on Tuesday, all eight Dover, Pennsylvania, school board members up for re-election lost their seats after trying to introduce "intelligent design" to high school science students as an alternative to the theory of evolution.
Adherents of intelligent design argue that certain forms in nature are too complex to have evolved through natural selection, and must have been created by a "designer." Opponents say that it is the latest attempt by conservatives to introduce religion into the school science curriculum.
The Dover case sparked a trial in federal court that gained nationwide attention after the school board was sued by parents backed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The board ordered schools to read students a short statement in biology classes informing them that the theory of evolution is not established fact, and that gaps exist in it.
The statement mentioned intelligent design as an alternative theory, and recommended that students read a book that explained the theory further. A decision in the case is expected before the end of the year.
In 1998, Robertson warned the city of Orlando, Florida that it risked hurricanes, earthquakes and terrorist bombs after it allowed homosexual organizations to put up rainbow flags in support of sexual diversity.
Gator’s comments: Due to nut cases like Pat Robertson, our country and the world is full of hate because of religious fanaticism. If there is an Armageddon for the world, it will be caused by religious fanatics who are hateful, not by a benevolent God.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
More on Dreams and Dreamlanguages: Numbers and Colors
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It seems that all good people would like to see themselves as having no bad qualities at all. But, especially in dreams, the Unconscious, which does not lie, is always making sure that we are alert to problems even before they appear. So, a negative person in a dream can, at times, signify or represent a potential for a quality that we have not developed
or cultivated. But the quality, even if negative, does lie within the lower nature, even if only in seedform.
To deny any negative qualities in the personality is to claim perfection, and that is not realistic. If the perspective that we do not have flaws, even serious ones, at least in potential, gets out-of-control, it leads to destructive pride. So, humility does not cause us to say, "I am a bad person," or even, "I have bad qualities," but it does make us say, "I know that I have certain weaknesses that, if unchecked, could develop into bad qualities."
The dreaming mind often picks up on the most subtle cues, and It knows when a quality might develop into negativity, even when, or especially when, the conscious mind does not have a clue.
So, we should always take negative people in our dreams very seriously. After we figure out what the person represents, the dream spotlights that quality.
Let us say that I dream of John Smith. The first quality that I associate with John Smith is stubbornness, for he is a very bull-headed person. After the dream, I must continuously monitor my behavior and words consciously (with awareness) to detect any tendencies towards unyielding. I must go out of my way to express openness and plasticity, elasticity, compromise, and even "giving in."
Dreams are telling us to monitor our personalities, including thoughts, words, and behaviors. If we neglect them, we do so at our own spiritual (karmic) peril. We are in danger.
Anger is not always bad; it can be therapeutic to express anger in a way that does not harm anyone. But venting that anger can be karmically dangerous, for it can harm people with intent, and that is neodyskarmogenic (creating new bad karma). One of our goals is to live this life without creating any new bad karma. Many believe that this is impossible. But it is not!
For, to create karma, you must act with intent. Only an action that is intentional, volumtary, and deliberate will create karma;mistakes do not create karma. So, all that we have to do to create an "akarmic," or karma-free life, is to intend always the good. We do not have to live perfect lives!
When evil makes us angry, this can even be good and constructive. For it can trigger us into positive reactions, or good behaviors. Anger can ignite Love in the heart if it is anger towards evil. ("Evil" is anything that deliberately harms living creatures.)
We should all strive to do our part in creating a world of peace, compassion, and Love. This is why even the masters, such as Jesus, became angry! (He angrily drove the hypocrites from the temple.) When we are helpful, life becomes easier for everyone, and so, it is always the intention of the enlightened to be as helpful as possible, to as many people as possible.
This is also the message of many dreams.
Dreams speak in two languages: numbers (oneironumerology) and color (oneirochromatology).
NUMBERS: Here are the meanings of numbers (0-9) in dreams:
0 is the cosmic egg, cosmic potential from which any quality or any thing might come forth from mind. It is the sunyata ("void") of Buddhism and the "uncarved block" of Taoism.
1 is the state of intrinsic Unity with deepest Mind (Lovemind).
2 is the illusion, the source of all other illusions, that anything can exist apart from the One, the Mind. So, it is illusion. This is "dualism."
3 is the realization of Unity after having experienced the pain of illusion, passing through the world of two, or dualism. It is enlightenment, or "earned" Unity.
4 is the cosmos, the four directions, the equilateral cross, the universe. It is also great strength and stability, dependent, reliable, certain.
5 is the human number, the number of the senses.
6 is spiritual transition. It is halfway between the "five" of the sensory and human nature and the "seven" of the heavenly nature.
7 is the higher Mind (soul) or the highest Mind (Spirit). Both are in the Unconscious, and both constitute the Superconscious.
8 is infinity. Or, it is double solidarity and great strength.
9 is a higher octave of wholeness or enlightenment, since it is three threes. It also represents, in atime-sequence, the end of a cycle.
COLORS: The meaning of colors are as follows:
Red-- animal, biological energy. Kinetic or muscular energy.
Orange-- primitive or utilitarian sharing (without Love). Pure biosex.
yellow-- intellectual capacity; mind; learning; assimilation of data.
green-- Love, in its many forms, ranging from selflove to love of pets, animals, kids, relatives, strangers, and world.
blue-- skyblue is communication, from speaking through writing to telepathy.
dark blue-- inner sight, or "insight." Often, the ability to "see" (understand) spiritual energies or ideas.
violet-- spiritual awakening and enlightenment. Knowing the world as it really is, and feeling it.
*******
It seems that all good people would like to see themselves as having no bad qualities at all. But, especially in dreams, the Unconscious, which does not lie, is always making sure that we are alert to problems even before they appear. So, a negative person in a dream can, at times, signify or represent a potential for a quality that we have not developed
or cultivated. But the quality, even if negative, does lie within the lower nature, even if only in seedform.
To deny any negative qualities in the personality is to claim perfection, and that is not realistic. If the perspective that we do not have flaws, even serious ones, at least in potential, gets out-of-control, it leads to destructive pride. So, humility does not cause us to say, "I am a bad person," or even, "I have bad qualities," but it does make us say, "I know that I have certain weaknesses that, if unchecked, could develop into bad qualities."
The dreaming mind often picks up on the most subtle cues, and It knows when a quality might develop into negativity, even when, or especially when, the conscious mind does not have a clue.
So, we should always take negative people in our dreams very seriously. After we figure out what the person represents, the dream spotlights that quality.
Let us say that I dream of John Smith. The first quality that I associate with John Smith is stubbornness, for he is a very bull-headed person. After the dream, I must continuously monitor my behavior and words consciously (with awareness) to detect any tendencies towards unyielding. I must go out of my way to express openness and plasticity, elasticity, compromise, and even "giving in."
Dreams are telling us to monitor our personalities, including thoughts, words, and behaviors. If we neglect them, we do so at our own spiritual (karmic) peril. We are in danger.
Anger is not always bad; it can be therapeutic to express anger in a way that does not harm anyone. But venting that anger can be karmically dangerous, for it can harm people with intent, and that is neodyskarmogenic (creating new bad karma). One of our goals is to live this life without creating any new bad karma. Many believe that this is impossible. But it is not!
For, to create karma, you must act with intent. Only an action that is intentional, volumtary, and deliberate will create karma;mistakes do not create karma. So, all that we have to do to create an "akarmic," or karma-free life, is to intend always the good. We do not have to live perfect lives!
When evil makes us angry, this can even be good and constructive. For it can trigger us into positive reactions, or good behaviors. Anger can ignite Love in the heart if it is anger towards evil. ("Evil" is anything that deliberately harms living creatures.)
We should all strive to do our part in creating a world of peace, compassion, and Love. This is why even the masters, such as Jesus, became angry! (He angrily drove the hypocrites from the temple.) When we are helpful, life becomes easier for everyone, and so, it is always the intention of the enlightened to be as helpful as possible, to as many people as possible.
This is also the message of many dreams.
Dreams speak in two languages: numbers (oneironumerology) and color (oneirochromatology).
NUMBERS: Here are the meanings of numbers (0-9) in dreams:
0 is the cosmic egg, cosmic potential from which any quality or any thing might come forth from mind. It is the sunyata ("void") of Buddhism and the "uncarved block" of Taoism.
1 is the state of intrinsic Unity with deepest Mind (Lovemind).
2 is the illusion, the source of all other illusions, that anything can exist apart from the One, the Mind. So, it is illusion. This is "dualism."
3 is the realization of Unity after having experienced the pain of illusion, passing through the world of two, or dualism. It is enlightenment, or "earned" Unity.
4 is the cosmos, the four directions, the equilateral cross, the universe. It is also great strength and stability, dependent, reliable, certain.
5 is the human number, the number of the senses.
6 is spiritual transition. It is halfway between the "five" of the sensory and human nature and the "seven" of the heavenly nature.
7 is the higher Mind (soul) or the highest Mind (Spirit). Both are in the Unconscious, and both constitute the Superconscious.
8 is infinity. Or, it is double solidarity and great strength.
9 is a higher octave of wholeness or enlightenment, since it is three threes. It also represents, in atime-sequence, the end of a cycle.
COLORS: The meaning of colors are as follows:
Red-- animal, biological energy. Kinetic or muscular energy.
Orange-- primitive or utilitarian sharing (without Love). Pure biosex.
yellow-- intellectual capacity; mind; learning; assimilation of data.
green-- Love, in its many forms, ranging from selflove to love of pets, animals, kids, relatives, strangers, and world.
blue-- skyblue is communication, from speaking through writing to telepathy.
dark blue-- inner sight, or "insight." Often, the ability to "see" (understand) spiritual energies or ideas.
violet-- spiritual awakening and enlightenment. Knowing the world as it really is, and feeling it.
*******
Selfimage and Dreams
*******
In interpreting a dream, you must ask yourself the following question: "What is the first quality that pops into mind when thinking about this person (who appeared in the dream)?" He/she represents that quality in our personality. Cultivating this quality enriches you spiritually ("he handed me some money").
Then, you must ask the same question about the other character in your dream: "What is the most obvious quality that pops into my head, the first one, when I think of the one who was in the dream?" For this person represents that quality. That quality is taxing your energies ("asking for something expensive"). It is a drain on your energy, so you
want to identify it, and manage it, trying to minimize it, or even delete it.
Your mind is reminding you not to depend upon others. Much of your dependency, represented in your dream by your husband, is gone now. You have recovered. ("no longer living"). And that is good news!
The parts of your personality are beginning to integrate in peace, harmony, and even selflove. ["became very loving and compassionate with Carol (pseudonym)"]. You next write, "I was feeling good in the dream." The reason that you were feeling so good is that emotional and spiritual healing was occurring. And the natural state of the spiritual mind is bliss. At times, life allows us to tap into this bliss, or approach it.
Yes, it is a terrible shame, and it highlights the backwardness and primitivity of our minds, but people are often "judged" by their clothes. People live lives of quiet terror; they are always afraid that some young kid wants to join a gang and attack them. While this is understandable, people should think before they speak. And they should spend much time before evaluating strangers as "gang-members." For that quick judgment is both foolish and dangerous.
You did exactly the right thing, the honest path, when you called the man... to get his side. It is always better to get such information from the source than from others. Now, you must teach your kids never to evaluate themselves, or their worth/value, on what others say or think. For others can be, not only shallow, but downright foolish. When we try
to evaluate our worth, we do not use the opinions of others. Instead, we compare our behaviors with the highest standards of Love (compassion).
Teach them that it is a part of our emotional and spiritual growth to live among people who are shallow, frightened, and foolish. These people are mirrors so that we can check ourselves for those same negative qualities.
*******
In interpreting a dream, you must ask yourself the following question: "What is the first quality that pops into mind when thinking about this person (who appeared in the dream)?" He/she represents that quality in our personality. Cultivating this quality enriches you spiritually ("he handed me some money").
Then, you must ask the same question about the other character in your dream: "What is the most obvious quality that pops into my head, the first one, when I think of the one who was in the dream?" For this person represents that quality. That quality is taxing your energies ("asking for something expensive"). It is a drain on your energy, so you
want to identify it, and manage it, trying to minimize it, or even delete it.
Your mind is reminding you not to depend upon others. Much of your dependency, represented in your dream by your husband, is gone now. You have recovered. ("no longer living"). And that is good news!
The parts of your personality are beginning to integrate in peace, harmony, and even selflove. ["became very loving and compassionate with Carol (pseudonym)"]. You next write, "I was feeling good in the dream." The reason that you were feeling so good is that emotional and spiritual healing was occurring. And the natural state of the spiritual mind is bliss. At times, life allows us to tap into this bliss, or approach it.
Yes, it is a terrible shame, and it highlights the backwardness and primitivity of our minds, but people are often "judged" by their clothes. People live lives of quiet terror; they are always afraid that some young kid wants to join a gang and attack them. While this is understandable, people should think before they speak. And they should spend much time before evaluating strangers as "gang-members." For that quick judgment is both foolish and dangerous.
You did exactly the right thing, the honest path, when you called the man... to get his side. It is always better to get such information from the source than from others. Now, you must teach your kids never to evaluate themselves, or their worth/value, on what others say or think. For others can be, not only shallow, but downright foolish. When we try
to evaluate our worth, we do not use the opinions of others. Instead, we compare our behaviors with the highest standards of Love (compassion).
Teach them that it is a part of our emotional and spiritual growth to live among people who are shallow, frightened, and foolish. These people are mirrors so that we can check ourselves for those same negative qualities.
*******
Saturday, November 12, 2005
War and Peace: Your Choice
*******
America has grown ever more hideous in the eyes of the rest of the world.
Due to greed at the top, decent American girls and boys have been turned into monsters, murdering and torturing the innocent! They have seen things that young girls and boys should never have to see! (So, many who return "unwounded" will indeed be the "walking wounded" for the rest of their lives! Their nightmares will not end with the rising of the sun!)
The gov has, through greed, transformed every American into a "fierce, ferocious, merciless, loveless monster"! For this is how we appear in the eyes of Iraqis and many other Middle Easterners. This is directly due to the moronic aggressivity of this war!
We can forgive, and even forget, much of the incompetence and ineptitude of the government, especially when we understand that its policies are influenced by a man who has not mastered the twin arts of thinking and feeling! But this heartless and brainless leader has led us into a war in which shameful violence occurs daily-- often started by American soldiers. It has given the solid, irresistible impression that America does not know the meaning of "peace." So, compared with the rest of the world, we appear not only evil, but stupid!
The war itself is not only an obvious, gigantic lie, built upon several other lies, but has become a ludicrous and ridiculous pursuit. It has made monsters of our children and liars of our politicians, and shows no signs of letting up! It has spilled tons and thousands of gallons of human and animal blood! It has made America the butt of sick jokes and mockery around the world! The noble country which once stood as a "light upon a hill," a beacon of peace, fairness, goodness, and compassion is now seen as, and has partly become, a psychotic bully with a machine-gun!
As of this writing [on 111105], we have not had the common sense to stop this madness! Nor have we had the courage, nor the compassion, to grind it to a halt! For this negligence, every day, we must pay in blood, as more young girls and boys give their blood-- sometimes, all of it-- for greedy leaders and corporations. Decency, even sanity, has fled from our political process! Will they next die in our society? Then, will they, at last, die in our hearts?
*******
America has grown ever more hideous in the eyes of the rest of the world.
Due to greed at the top, decent American girls and boys have been turned into monsters, murdering and torturing the innocent! They have seen things that young girls and boys should never have to see! (So, many who return "unwounded" will indeed be the "walking wounded" for the rest of their lives! Their nightmares will not end with the rising of the sun!)
The gov has, through greed, transformed every American into a "fierce, ferocious, merciless, loveless monster"! For this is how we appear in the eyes of Iraqis and many other Middle Easterners. This is directly due to the moronic aggressivity of this war!
We can forgive, and even forget, much of the incompetence and ineptitude of the government, especially when we understand that its policies are influenced by a man who has not mastered the twin arts of thinking and feeling! But this heartless and brainless leader has led us into a war in which shameful violence occurs daily-- often started by American soldiers. It has given the solid, irresistible impression that America does not know the meaning of "peace." So, compared with the rest of the world, we appear not only evil, but stupid!
The war itself is not only an obvious, gigantic lie, built upon several other lies, but has become a ludicrous and ridiculous pursuit. It has made monsters of our children and liars of our politicians, and shows no signs of letting up! It has spilled tons and thousands of gallons of human and animal blood! It has made America the butt of sick jokes and mockery around the world! The noble country which once stood as a "light upon a hill," a beacon of peace, fairness, goodness, and compassion is now seen as, and has partly become, a psychotic bully with a machine-gun!
As of this writing [on 111105], we have not had the common sense to stop this madness! Nor have we had the courage, nor the compassion, to grind it to a halt! For this negligence, every day, we must pay in blood, as more young girls and boys give their blood-- sometimes, all of it-- for greedy leaders and corporations. Decency, even sanity, has fled from our political process! Will they next die in our society? Then, will they, at last, die in our hearts?
*******
Politics with Conscience and Compassion
*******
Message forwarded from "Million Phone March," an activist group:
*******
Message forwarded from "Million Phone March," an activist group:
NO SOCIAL SERVICE CUTS, RESCIND TAX CUTS TO THE WEALTHY INSTEAD
This evening [November 10] the House rules committee announced that it was DROPPING the planned invasion of the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve from their version of the budget bill. You generated 12,000 submissions on that one issue alone, which may well have turned the tide.
Now we have to do at least that well in challenging the immoral plan of the right-wing tax cut maniacs to recoup SOME of the money for even further unconscionable gifts to their most wealthy cronies. With supporters of the president's greed agenda dropping like flies in last Tuesday's election, there is a REAL opportunity for major policy change if we speak out now, especially with all members of the House up for re-election in just one year.
ACTION PAGE: Save our social services
It is scandalous that a regime that claims to draw its mandate from followers of Jesus Christ would propose to take food from the hungry, steal medicine from the sick, and rob clothing intended for those who are already naked. It is time that our policy decisions represented the true values of the "people of faith" they like so much to take for granted,
while this administration's actions reflect the exact opposite. Indeed, people of all faiths stand for social compassion. It is time to END the national nightmare of train wreck budget deficits, and again require the most fortunate to pay their fair and rightful share.
ACTION PAGE: Save our social services
With the proven power of your activism, we can restore fiscal sanity, pull our economy out of the ditch of supply side hucksterism, and get it back on the road to sound and prudent social justice. The United States of America will not be dictated by the culture of CRUELTY. Won't you take this opportunity to send your personal message to all your members of Congress? And you can make it a Letter to the Editor of your nearest daily newspaper at the same time, all with one click.
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this message to everyone else you know.
*******
Bush Haiku
BUSH HAIKU
This is a poem made up entirely of actual quotations from George W. Bush, arranged by Washington Post writer Richard Thompson.
Ah, yes! A testament to literacy in the age of Every Child Left.
PLEASE pass this on. Help cure Mad Cowboy Disease!
(Thanks to Geoffrey Stoermer)
This is a poem made up entirely of actual quotations from George W. Bush, arranged by Washington Post writer Richard Thompson.
Ah, yes! A testament to literacy in the age of Every Child Left.
I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
And potential mental losses.
Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the Internet
Become more few?
How many hands have I shaked?
They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.
I know that the human being
And the fish can coexist.
Families is ! where our nation finds hope,
Where our wings take dream.
Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize society!
Make the pie higher!
PLEASE pass this on. Help cure Mad Cowboy Disease!
(Thanks to Geoffrey Stoermer)
Love-policy, Money, and Pneumarium Familygatherings
*******
Please believe us when we say that money is the very least of our concerns! Nonreligious spiritual education is the core of all our activity! But, speaking of money, we are not yet collecting on the funds promised for the radioprogram because we have not yet met our goal to get enough pledges to cover the cost. And we are not going to start collecting until December, at the very earliest.
Re the books, it is our policy to give them away free to honest seekers who do not have the funds. As expensive as they are (and they are), they are at least paid for, so we can give them away if and when necessary.
We will be very happy to "see" you this coming Sunday at the Pneumarium familygathering. If people knew what was at stake, they would put spirituality first in their lives! But we never want to pressure anyone to come to the Pneumarium. Those who do come are ONLY those who really WANT to be there! We do not want to become like a church in this way.:) So, come whenever you want, and do not come when you do not want, or when something "more important" comes up!:)
*******
Please believe us when we say that money is the very least of our concerns! Nonreligious spiritual education is the core of all our activity! But, speaking of money, we are not yet collecting on the funds promised for the radioprogram because we have not yet met our goal to get enough pledges to cover the cost. And we are not going to start collecting until December, at the very earliest.
Re the books, it is our policy to give them away free to honest seekers who do not have the funds. As expensive as they are (and they are), they are at least paid for, so we can give them away if and when necessary.
We will be very happy to "see" you this coming Sunday at the Pneumarium familygathering. If people knew what was at stake, they would put spirituality first in their lives! But we never want to pressure anyone to come to the Pneumarium. Those who do come are ONLY those who really WANT to be there! We do not want to become like a church in this way.:) So, come whenever you want, and do not come when you do not want, or when something "more important" comes up!:)
*******
Friday, November 11, 2005
Jesus not the "Messiah"
*******
The idea of the "Messiah" was a strong, powerful, and influential superstition among the Hebrew people. Historically, a few fanatics and cultists have even claimed to have been the "Messiah." The guy named Sabbatai Zevi made this claim around 1666, for example. Similar claims were made for, and by, Isaac Luria (died 1572), and many others.
The "brand" of this superstition that was popular aroung the first century, during the time of Jesus, was this: The "Messiah" would be a very bloody and violent general in the Jewish army that would slaughter and massacre hundreds of thousands of Romans and others to get independent political sovereignty for Israel.
Jesus was, in stunning contrast, a man of total peace, who recommended that we "love" our "enemies." He never made the claim to have been this "Messiah." Still, many made the claim later. To understand why this is so, we must understand two facts: 1) The writers of the Christian Scriptures were Jews, some of whom were still responding to, and
believing in, the old Jewish order, despite the Christian and mystical revelation; and 2) Many later writers made additions to, and subtractions from, the original ancient writings that became the "Bible."
This was deemed to be perfectly "moral," although it was "lying," as long as it presented the "truth." In an effort to present their interpretation of "truth," these basically honest people made emendations, corrections, and additions to the Christian Scriptures. They added and deleted when it seemed right to them. The ancient documents passed through many, many hands. So, even if Jesus did not say something, it was "okay" to quote him as having said it, as long as it was "the truth."
So, in a short time, a new superstition was added to the historical one about the "Messiah." That secondary superstition was that Jesus himself was the long-awaited "Messiah." This concept became very strongly rooted in the new Christian community at an early time, certainly before 200 CE.
To understand early Christians, we must look at the relationship between Christianity and Judaism. Among the Christians of the first two centuries, two conflicting groups arose: 1) Those who wanted to present, and reinterpret, all Christianity as a variant, or evolution, of Judaism; and 2) The majority, including gnostics, who wanted to sever all ties
with Judaism, and who stated that the Christian God was nothing like the antique, archaic, human-formed Jehovah. Christians, they said, did not worship that old god, and these Christians went so far as completely to dispose of the Hebrew Scriptures ("Old Testament"). These texts, they correctly argued, had been written for members of a different religion, who worshiped a different god.
The "Judaizers" were the ones who wanted to remake the new religion into a facellift, and correction, or evolution, of Judaism. These were the ones who, in the first century, argued against Paul that Christians should observe the traditional festivals, holy days, sabbath, circumcision, and other Jewish religious practices. The Judaizers lost the battle, as Paul demonstrated clearly that Christianity was not an outgrowth of Judaism, but a completely new religion. History has proved this to be true, and shown that the Judaizers were wrong. For Christianity has different teachings, an entirely different Bible, and a different god from Judaism.
Still, in the start of the new religion, there was enough confusion that most early Christian writers among the orthodox assumed that the god of ancient Judaism was indeed the same God known by Christians. This was only one of several serious errors that crept into "official" or "orthodox" Christianity. (This was the Christianity of the Catholic
Church.) Also, the Church officially adopted select teachings of the Jews, including the superstition-- an attempt to blend Judaism and Christianity-- that Jesus was the Messiah.
The teachings about the "Messiah" were Jewish, not Christian, teachings. So, it only makes good sense to go to the Jews, who are the real experts on their own teachings, and ask them. Every single orthodox Jewish writer who has ever written on the subject denies that Jesus was the "Messiah."
So, the experts have spoken. We need to respect, and not simply ignore, the voices of these professional religious people, for they know much, much more about Judaism than any Christian!
People of the Christian tradition are still woefully ignorant of the relationships between Judaism and Christianity. They often speak as if Jesus were an official "rabbi," and this demonstrates their terrible ignorance. For they are dead-wrong. For Jesus was never appointed a "rabbi" by the official religious establishment of his time. In fact,
the word "rabbi" was not even used in the first century, so that would be an anachronism!
Also, many Christians, in total absence of a good education in history, speak as if they actually believe that Christianity was a peaceful outgrowth of Judaism, a form of Judaism. This they do because they are ignorantly convinced, but not by reason, that the god of the Hebrew Scriptures is also the God of Jesus. What they conveniently forget, however, is that the loyal people of Jehovah, the Hebrew god, including their scholars, were the ones who plotted the murder of Jesus! And, during the first two centuries, Jews and Christians were deadly enemies! Judaism tried to extinguish Christianity!
The modern person, of course, cannot defend anti-Semitic bigotry on this basis. That is evil and sinful no matter how it might be "dressed up." All bigotry is hateful and antiagapic (against Love). But we must recognize the historical fact that Christianity split off from Judaism. Why? One important reason is that Christianity began as a mystical faith, and Judaism was a legalistic religion. Then as now, the two did not mix. But even more importantly, the transcendental and "separate" Jehovah was incompatible with the God that was "within."
Since they are nonmystical, with a couple of exceptions, the Hebrew Scriptures ("Old Testament") are not widely used by mystics today. Certainly, in enlightenment, we abandon not only the destructive Jehovah-myth, but the plethora of ignorant superstitions that often come with it. The idea of a historical person who will be a "Messiah" to the
Jewish people is among these. The mystic simply has no need for any "middle man" standing between herself and her God, Who is Love.
*******
The idea of the "Messiah" was a strong, powerful, and influential superstition among the Hebrew people. Historically, a few fanatics and cultists have even claimed to have been the "Messiah." The guy named Sabbatai Zevi made this claim around 1666, for example. Similar claims were made for, and by, Isaac Luria (died 1572), and many others.
The "brand" of this superstition that was popular aroung the first century, during the time of Jesus, was this: The "Messiah" would be a very bloody and violent general in the Jewish army that would slaughter and massacre hundreds of thousands of Romans and others to get independent political sovereignty for Israel.
Jesus was, in stunning contrast, a man of total peace, who recommended that we "love" our "enemies." He never made the claim to have been this "Messiah." Still, many made the claim later. To understand why this is so, we must understand two facts: 1) The writers of the Christian Scriptures were Jews, some of whom were still responding to, and
believing in, the old Jewish order, despite the Christian and mystical revelation; and 2) Many later writers made additions to, and subtractions from, the original ancient writings that became the "Bible."
This was deemed to be perfectly "moral," although it was "lying," as long as it presented the "truth." In an effort to present their interpretation of "truth," these basically honest people made emendations, corrections, and additions to the Christian Scriptures. They added and deleted when it seemed right to them. The ancient documents passed through many, many hands. So, even if Jesus did not say something, it was "okay" to quote him as having said it, as long as it was "the truth."
So, in a short time, a new superstition was added to the historical one about the "Messiah." That secondary superstition was that Jesus himself was the long-awaited "Messiah." This concept became very strongly rooted in the new Christian community at an early time, certainly before 200 CE.
To understand early Christians, we must look at the relationship between Christianity and Judaism. Among the Christians of the first two centuries, two conflicting groups arose: 1) Those who wanted to present, and reinterpret, all Christianity as a variant, or evolution, of Judaism; and 2) The majority, including gnostics, who wanted to sever all ties
with Judaism, and who stated that the Christian God was nothing like the antique, archaic, human-formed Jehovah. Christians, they said, did not worship that old god, and these Christians went so far as completely to dispose of the Hebrew Scriptures ("Old Testament"). These texts, they correctly argued, had been written for members of a different religion, who worshiped a different god.
The "Judaizers" were the ones who wanted to remake the new religion into a facellift, and correction, or evolution, of Judaism. These were the ones who, in the first century, argued against Paul that Christians should observe the traditional festivals, holy days, sabbath, circumcision, and other Jewish religious practices. The Judaizers lost the battle, as Paul demonstrated clearly that Christianity was not an outgrowth of Judaism, but a completely new religion. History has proved this to be true, and shown that the Judaizers were wrong. For Christianity has different teachings, an entirely different Bible, and a different god from Judaism.
Still, in the start of the new religion, there was enough confusion that most early Christian writers among the orthodox assumed that the god of ancient Judaism was indeed the same God known by Christians. This was only one of several serious errors that crept into "official" or "orthodox" Christianity. (This was the Christianity of the Catholic
Church.) Also, the Church officially adopted select teachings of the Jews, including the superstition-- an attempt to blend Judaism and Christianity-- that Jesus was the Messiah.
The teachings about the "Messiah" were Jewish, not Christian, teachings. So, it only makes good sense to go to the Jews, who are the real experts on their own teachings, and ask them. Every single orthodox Jewish writer who has ever written on the subject denies that Jesus was the "Messiah."
So, the experts have spoken. We need to respect, and not simply ignore, the voices of these professional religious people, for they know much, much more about Judaism than any Christian!
People of the Christian tradition are still woefully ignorant of the relationships between Judaism and Christianity. They often speak as if Jesus were an official "rabbi," and this demonstrates their terrible ignorance. For they are dead-wrong. For Jesus was never appointed a "rabbi" by the official religious establishment of his time. In fact,
the word "rabbi" was not even used in the first century, so that would be an anachronism!
Also, many Christians, in total absence of a good education in history, speak as if they actually believe that Christianity was a peaceful outgrowth of Judaism, a form of Judaism. This they do because they are ignorantly convinced, but not by reason, that the god of the Hebrew Scriptures is also the God of Jesus. What they conveniently forget, however, is that the loyal people of Jehovah, the Hebrew god, including their scholars, were the ones who plotted the murder of Jesus! And, during the first two centuries, Jews and Christians were deadly enemies! Judaism tried to extinguish Christianity!
The modern person, of course, cannot defend anti-Semitic bigotry on this basis. That is evil and sinful no matter how it might be "dressed up." All bigotry is hateful and antiagapic (against Love). But we must recognize the historical fact that Christianity split off from Judaism. Why? One important reason is that Christianity began as a mystical faith, and Judaism was a legalistic religion. Then as now, the two did not mix. But even more importantly, the transcendental and "separate" Jehovah was incompatible with the God that was "within."
Since they are nonmystical, with a couple of exceptions, the Hebrew Scriptures ("Old Testament") are not widely used by mystics today. Certainly, in enlightenment, we abandon not only the destructive Jehovah-myth, but the plethora of ignorant superstitions that often come with it. The idea of a historical person who will be a "Messiah" to the
Jewish people is among these. The mystic simply has no need for any "middle man" standing between herself and her God, Who is Love.
*******
Gospels, Allegory, "Washed in Blood"
*******
I do not believe that the resurrection of Jesus was a "myth." Although I am not dogmatic about it, I believe that it was a part of his life-story, which I am beginning to see as allegorical rather than literal. Of course, if any person wants to believe the Gospel stories to be literal, I will not argue with her.
No, my friend, I do not believe the Gospel stories to be "misleading." They were written for our spiritual education and upliftment. If they are allegorical, they are all about your life and mine-- symbolized by the life of Jesus.
As one example, popular at this time of year, the stories say that Jesus was "born in a manger." Being "born" among "animals" is the story of how every spiritual person is "born again" in an "animal" or "humanimal" nature. The "inn" that turns them away is the world in which the spiritual person no longer belongs.
The "wise" astrologers who visit the Christchild represent those aspects of our minds that are already awakened, or tied in with the rest of the cosmos. This is why they bring "gold"-- the most common of all intercultural symbols of enlightenment. This is also why they are astrologers-- or astrologer-priests, the original meaning of the word magi. Herod, who tries to slay the child, represents those dangers that threaten to destroy our spirituality while it is still young and vulnerable. Moving to "Egypt," under the direction of "angels," symbolizes how we are guided by divine Power away from danger.
As Paul implied, in Romans chapter six and elsewhere, the resurrection of Jesus represents our own resurrection at death, the awakening to the fact that we are immortal, immaterial souls (greater minds), not bodies. It also represents spiritual rebirth in this life.
But could not the Gospel stories also be literal, meaning what they say as historical events? Yes, I believe that the Gospels could be both literal and symbolic. But as allegories, as noted, they are about, not just a man named Jesus two thousand years ago, but are guides for, and descriptions of, your life and mine. So, although not set in concrete,
the allegorical interpretation makes the Gospels more personal, and closer to the heart.
You ask about our sins being "covered," as Revelation states, "by the blood of the lamb." Almost all Biblical scholars, from almost every tradition, for many centuries, have agreed that Revelation is allegorical. In other words, it is a book of symbols.
In Revelation, the positive elements of mind "wash their robes" in the "blood of the lamb." They thus "make them white." What is the meaning of this apparently gruesome scenario? In Revelation, a "robe" represents selfpresentation, just as shallow people might judge you by the clothes that you wear. "Blood" is lifenergy. To "wash" is to purify. The "lamb" is that part of the mind that is giving itself over to God (Love) in total selfsurrender. So, the meaning of this verse is that we are purified, in selfimage and selfpresentation, when we immerse ourselves in selfsurrender. This is explained in some detail in my book The Apocalypse of Love: Mystical Symbolism in Revelation. This is a verse-by-verse commentary on the last book of the Bible.
*******
I do not believe that the resurrection of Jesus was a "myth." Although I am not dogmatic about it, I believe that it was a part of his life-story, which I am beginning to see as allegorical rather than literal. Of course, if any person wants to believe the Gospel stories to be literal, I will not argue with her.
No, my friend, I do not believe the Gospel stories to be "misleading." They were written for our spiritual education and upliftment. If they are allegorical, they are all about your life and mine-- symbolized by the life of Jesus.
As one example, popular at this time of year, the stories say that Jesus was "born in a manger." Being "born" among "animals" is the story of how every spiritual person is "born again" in an "animal" or "humanimal" nature. The "inn" that turns them away is the world in which the spiritual person no longer belongs.
The "wise" astrologers who visit the Christchild represent those aspects of our minds that are already awakened, or tied in with the rest of the cosmos. This is why they bring "gold"-- the most common of all intercultural symbols of enlightenment. This is also why they are astrologers-- or astrologer-priests, the original meaning of the word magi. Herod, who tries to slay the child, represents those dangers that threaten to destroy our spirituality while it is still young and vulnerable. Moving to "Egypt," under the direction of "angels," symbolizes how we are guided by divine Power away from danger.
As Paul implied, in Romans chapter six and elsewhere, the resurrection of Jesus represents our own resurrection at death, the awakening to the fact that we are immortal, immaterial souls (greater minds), not bodies. It also represents spiritual rebirth in this life.
But could not the Gospel stories also be literal, meaning what they say as historical events? Yes, I believe that the Gospels could be both literal and symbolic. But as allegories, as noted, they are about, not just a man named Jesus two thousand years ago, but are guides for, and descriptions of, your life and mine. So, although not set in concrete,
the allegorical interpretation makes the Gospels more personal, and closer to the heart.
You ask about our sins being "covered," as Revelation states, "by the blood of the lamb." Almost all Biblical scholars, from almost every tradition, for many centuries, have agreed that Revelation is allegorical. In other words, it is a book of symbols.
In Revelation, the positive elements of mind "wash their robes" in the "blood of the lamb." They thus "make them white." What is the meaning of this apparently gruesome scenario? In Revelation, a "robe" represents selfpresentation, just as shallow people might judge you by the clothes that you wear. "Blood" is lifenergy. To "wash" is to purify. The "lamb" is that part of the mind that is giving itself over to God (Love) in total selfsurrender. So, the meaning of this verse is that we are purified, in selfimage and selfpresentation, when we immerse ourselves in selfsurrender. This is explained in some detail in my book The Apocalypse of Love: Mystical Symbolism in Revelation. This is a verse-by-verse commentary on the last book of the Bible.
*******
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Mysticism and Christianity
******
It feels right to elaborate here, since "Christianity" is a largely historical phenomenon, while "Christism" might have been more philosophic.
In the beginning, when Christianity was a non-organized, non-institutional "family" of loving, kind people, it was understood that Jesus taught a radical new vision of God.
The God taught by Jesus was nothing like the peevish, petulant, dangerously unpredictable Jehovah. Indeed, it was largely to protect this god and his religion that the "loyal organization" of Jehovah engineered the murder of Jesus.
This childish, tantrum-throwing god had been created by soldiers; and, not surprisingly, "he" was "himself" a soldier! So, he thought like a soldier. He had enemies everywhere, and his only mission was to kill as many as possible. Like a dangerous human being, he was paranoid, and schizophrenic. Besides his "chosen people," everyone on earth was his enemy, and so, the murder, massacre, and slaughter of the whole human race was not beyond his countenance. This is why the ghastly nightmare of "Armageddon" is still a dismal part of the Jehovist worldview. This is astonishingly impossible for Love even to contemplate. Take a couple of minutes to visualize and imagine its blood and horror!
Jesus taught the existence of one God for all people, but Jehovah was the possession of Israel only. The Israelis "owned" him, and he was literally "their" god. Jehovah was never seen, by any ancient Israeli, as the god of any other people. In fact, it was inconceivable for the ancient peoples of the Middle East even to conceive of one god for the whole world. Each nation had its own "god."
Jesus' god was purest Love. He forgave all, and forgave easily. In Mark 3:28, Jesus predicted the forgiveness of all sins. Since this implied universal salvation, it was distasteful to the ancient people of Jehovah. They were, like many "Christians," exclusivists. They tried jealously to "own" God, but no one could ever do that. For God was not like Jehovah.
People can be amazingly dull and shallow, and history reflects those limitations. Just because Jesus was born in the geographic region of the ancient Hebrews, people assumed-- and still do-- that his message was all about the local god. Jesus was genetically, culturally, geographically, and socially Jewish. But his murder makes it clear that he was never religiously Jewish!
But the lie that his God was Jehovah was the opposite of the truth. Jesus taught a breath-taking cosmic God of infinity, and this God held nothing against anyone, ever.
This sweetest message was like annoying, irritating fingernails on a blackboard for the exclusivists who thought that they had a "monopoly" on god. Jesus went so far as to say about a Roman, a pagan worshiper of Jupiter, "Nowhere in Israel have I found so great a faith."
Abandoning Jehovah was the zenith of sinful blasphemy. It deserved death, according to the old law. So, the religious leaders made a pact with the Romans to murder Jesus.
The God of Jesus was not "out there, in the sky," as Jehovah was presumed to be. No, this God, as Paul often states, was within the heartmind of the person. As John says so boldly and clearly, this God was Love. This is the very God discovered by mystics of all lands, and all centuries. The entire goal of this life, and of life itself, was to know this God.
To "know" was so much more than simply "knowing about," however. The ancient Greeks had a special word for this type of deep, intimate "knowing," and that word was gnosein. So, early Christians called themselves "gnostics," taken from this word. They were "Christians" because they knew God, because they were gnostics.
CAUTION: Don't confuse these generic gnostics with the "capital G" Gnostics, who were cultlike groups in the first two centuries, and who had strange doctrines and even stranger leaders. No, these "small g" or generic gnostics were people who knew God. They were the people of Love.
They knew God in a very deep, intimate, immediate, and personal Way. For they touched God within their own heartminds; it was revealed that their minds were, deep in the Unconscious, connected with, grew from, one massive, galactic Mind. This Supermind was perfect Love and enormous intelligence. It was cosmic Mind, universal Spirit, or God. To be "Christian" in the most ancient and authentic sense meant to surrender your mind, your whole identity, to the interior Lovemind of purest forgiveness. It meant to be a gnostic-- an ancient synonym for "mystic."
So, at first, all Christians were gnostics. It was only later, after the fall of the church into organizationalism, institutionalism, and doctrinalism, in becoming political and economic, that this pure vision was lost. It became corrupted by greed, intellect (replacing Love), and power. The rest, as they say, is history.
So, in its most idealistic and elevated definition, to be a "Christian" was to be a mystic, although not necessarily vice-versa.
*******
It feels right to elaborate here, since "Christianity" is a largely historical phenomenon, while "Christism" might have been more philosophic.
In the beginning, when Christianity was a non-organized, non-institutional "family" of loving, kind people, it was understood that Jesus taught a radical new vision of God.
The God taught by Jesus was nothing like the peevish, petulant, dangerously unpredictable Jehovah. Indeed, it was largely to protect this god and his religion that the "loyal organization" of Jehovah engineered the murder of Jesus.
This childish, tantrum-throwing god had been created by soldiers; and, not surprisingly, "he" was "himself" a soldier! So, he thought like a soldier. He had enemies everywhere, and his only mission was to kill as many as possible. Like a dangerous human being, he was paranoid, and schizophrenic. Besides his "chosen people," everyone on earth was his enemy, and so, the murder, massacre, and slaughter of the whole human race was not beyond his countenance. This is why the ghastly nightmare of "Armageddon" is still a dismal part of the Jehovist worldview. This is astonishingly impossible for Love even to contemplate. Take a couple of minutes to visualize and imagine its blood and horror!
Jesus taught the existence of one God for all people, but Jehovah was the possession of Israel only. The Israelis "owned" him, and he was literally "their" god. Jehovah was never seen, by any ancient Israeli, as the god of any other people. In fact, it was inconceivable for the ancient peoples of the Middle East even to conceive of one god for the whole world. Each nation had its own "god."
Jesus' god was purest Love. He forgave all, and forgave easily. In Mark 3:28, Jesus predicted the forgiveness of all sins. Since this implied universal salvation, it was distasteful to the ancient people of Jehovah. They were, like many "Christians," exclusivists. They tried jealously to "own" God, but no one could ever do that. For God was not like Jehovah.
People can be amazingly dull and shallow, and history reflects those limitations. Just because Jesus was born in the geographic region of the ancient Hebrews, people assumed-- and still do-- that his message was all about the local god. Jesus was genetically, culturally, geographically, and socially Jewish. But his murder makes it clear that he was never religiously Jewish!
But the lie that his God was Jehovah was the opposite of the truth. Jesus taught a breath-taking cosmic God of infinity, and this God held nothing against anyone, ever.
This sweetest message was like annoying, irritating fingernails on a blackboard for the exclusivists who thought that they had a "monopoly" on god. Jesus went so far as to say about a Roman, a pagan worshiper of Jupiter, "Nowhere in Israel have I found so great a faith."
Abandoning Jehovah was the zenith of sinful blasphemy. It deserved death, according to the old law. So, the religious leaders made a pact with the Romans to murder Jesus.
The God of Jesus was not "out there, in the sky," as Jehovah was presumed to be. No, this God, as Paul often states, was within the heartmind of the person. As John says so boldly and clearly, this God was Love. This is the very God discovered by mystics of all lands, and all centuries. The entire goal of this life, and of life itself, was to know this God.
To "know" was so much more than simply "knowing about," however. The ancient Greeks had a special word for this type of deep, intimate "knowing," and that word was gnosein. So, early Christians called themselves "gnostics," taken from this word. They were "Christians" because they knew God, because they were gnostics.
CAUTION: Don't confuse these generic gnostics with the "capital G" Gnostics, who were cultlike groups in the first two centuries, and who had strange doctrines and even stranger leaders. No, these "small g" or generic gnostics were people who knew God. They were the people of Love.
They knew God in a very deep, intimate, immediate, and personal Way. For they touched God within their own heartminds; it was revealed that their minds were, deep in the Unconscious, connected with, grew from, one massive, galactic Mind. This Supermind was perfect Love and enormous intelligence. It was cosmic Mind, universal Spirit, or God. To be "Christian" in the most ancient and authentic sense meant to surrender your mind, your whole identity, to the interior Lovemind of purest forgiveness. It meant to be a gnostic-- an ancient synonym for "mystic."
So, at first, all Christians were gnostics. It was only later, after the fall of the church into organizationalism, institutionalism, and doctrinalism, in becoming political and economic, that this pure vision was lost. It became corrupted by greed, intellect (replacing Love), and power. The rest, as they say, is history.
So, in its most idealistic and elevated definition, to be a "Christian" was to be a mystic, although not necessarily vice-versa.
*******
Jesus and Mysticism
*******
If, by "Christism," you mean the honest attempt to follow Jesus Christ as model, or to follow his guiding teachings, then,there is no difference between "Christism" and mysticism. The mystic regards all valid spiritual teachers, sages, and masters as her model. This includes Jesus Christ.
What about mystics from a non-Christian tradition, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, or Taoism? The mystic from any of these traditions would still regard Jesus as a role-model, for he was a mastersage of great wisdom. A mystic from even the Jewish tradition would so regard and so admire Jesus, although mystics of that tradition (kabbalism) do not buy into the superstition of an "earthly messiah."
If one is going to take Jesus seriously, it is absolutely necessary that one make Love her faith. In other words, no matter what "religion" she is-- she could be a Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, or other -- she must first be a mystic. For Jesus was a mystic.
Very few who are familiar with either history or the Christian Scriptures would doubt that Jesus was a mystic. His words, such as John 10:30, "I and the Father are one," are pure mysticism. Only a very biased person would reject this idea.
So, again, if we are to regard Jesus as a serious role-model, we must "go all the Way," and attempt to transform our lives, our very selves, by working with the traditions of Love. Love plus interior transformation-- there is only one word for this combination-- mysticism.
Mysticism, we must remember, is not a religion. So, it is not "in competition" or in conflict with religions. A mystic may join any religion that permits her mysticism to blossom and flourish. Or she might choose no religion at all. For religion can be a map to enlightenment, and once you have arrived at your destination, the map is no longer necessary. The enlightened person has grown beyond the quibbles and squabbles of religion, and embraces all good people.
*******
If, by "Christism," you mean the honest attempt to follow Jesus Christ as model, or to follow his guiding teachings, then,there is no difference between "Christism" and mysticism. The mystic regards all valid spiritual teachers, sages, and masters as her model. This includes Jesus Christ.
What about mystics from a non-Christian tradition, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, or Taoism? The mystic from any of these traditions would still regard Jesus as a role-model, for he was a mastersage of great wisdom. A mystic from even the Jewish tradition would so regard and so admire Jesus, although mystics of that tradition (kabbalism) do not buy into the superstition of an "earthly messiah."
If one is going to take Jesus seriously, it is absolutely necessary that one make Love her faith. In other words, no matter what "religion" she is-- she could be a Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, or other -- she must first be a mystic. For Jesus was a mystic.
Very few who are familiar with either history or the Christian Scriptures would doubt that Jesus was a mystic. His words, such as John 10:30, "I and the Father are one," are pure mysticism. Only a very biased person would reject this idea.
So, again, if we are to regard Jesus as a serious role-model, we must "go all the Way," and attempt to transform our lives, our very selves, by working with the traditions of Love. Love plus interior transformation-- there is only one word for this combination-- mysticism.
Mysticism, we must remember, is not a religion. So, it is not "in competition" or in conflict with religions. A mystic may join any religion that permits her mysticism to blossom and flourish. Or she might choose no religion at all. For religion can be a map to enlightenment, and once you have arrived at your destination, the map is no longer necessary. The enlightened person has grown beyond the quibbles and squabbles of religion, and embraces all good people.
*******
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Global Warming and Ecological Atrocity
*******
No serious or credible scientist now doubts that greenhouse gases are causing the temperature of the earth gradually to rise. Nor does anyone with half a brain question the fact that industry and corporations are to blame. Still, siding with crackpots, rightwing fanatics, and other uneducated types, the administration has refused to act to legislate limitations on corporations and industries.
This short-sighted perspective is threatening to destroy huge and important parts of the earth and the ecosphere. Is it possible that, for the sake of a few immediate dollars, the administration would be myopic enough to sacrifice the world itself for the sake of immediate profits? Could anyone be that absurd, mad, and greedy?
Yes, all the evidence so far indicates that this is exactly what the administration is willing to do. Hiding behind its scientific ignorance, this is the same administration that has increased the amount of deadly mercury and other deadly toxins in our foods, water, air, and general environment. It is the same administration that is selling off national parks to corporate interests, and sacrificing unspoiled and natural areas everywhere to "development," which means overcrowding, pollution, and ultimate ruination. Sometimes, there are very thin lines between acting for profit, and acting against the earth, nature, and the people. This administration has violated those boundaries consistently.
It seems to lack awareness of pollution. It behaves like an administration from the 1930's, before pollution-laws and -controls were initiated. If there is ever a choice between ecological health and the immediate dollar, this administration will leap for the dollar, and trample any ecological considerations. This is the betrayal of nature. And the government, even with its impressive power, is no worthy opponent to nature; it hasn't a chance if it sets itself against her awesome power, as Katrina proved so overwhelmingly.
Is this administration incurring the very wrath of nature itself? If the earth is a living organism, it is possible. Acting always in favor of large, rich corporations bulldozes over the real needs of the people. It also crushes the cries of other creatures as they are driven towards extinction. The military has joined this corporate welfare perspective, and it is supported by the government as its sonar causes the heads of whales and dolphins to explode! It is time to wake up to the fact that a fascist government that ignores the needs of nature and the people is not the ideal for which so many have lived and died.
And, in the midst of all these ecological atrocities, let us never forget the monolithic and monstrous fact that this administration has murdered 112,000 mostly innocent women and children in a war for oil and greed, and has sacrificed the lives of nearly two thousand of our best girls and boys on its altar of insatiable greed.
*******
No serious or credible scientist now doubts that greenhouse gases are causing the temperature of the earth gradually to rise. Nor does anyone with half a brain question the fact that industry and corporations are to blame. Still, siding with crackpots, rightwing fanatics, and other uneducated types, the administration has refused to act to legislate limitations on corporations and industries.
This short-sighted perspective is threatening to destroy huge and important parts of the earth and the ecosphere. Is it possible that, for the sake of a few immediate dollars, the administration would be myopic enough to sacrifice the world itself for the sake of immediate profits? Could anyone be that absurd, mad, and greedy?
Yes, all the evidence so far indicates that this is exactly what the administration is willing to do. Hiding behind its scientific ignorance, this is the same administration that has increased the amount of deadly mercury and other deadly toxins in our foods, water, air, and general environment. It is the same administration that is selling off national parks to corporate interests, and sacrificing unspoiled and natural areas everywhere to "development," which means overcrowding, pollution, and ultimate ruination. Sometimes, there are very thin lines between acting for profit, and acting against the earth, nature, and the people. This administration has violated those boundaries consistently.
It seems to lack awareness of pollution. It behaves like an administration from the 1930's, before pollution-laws and -controls were initiated. If there is ever a choice between ecological health and the immediate dollar, this administration will leap for the dollar, and trample any ecological considerations. This is the betrayal of nature. And the government, even with its impressive power, is no worthy opponent to nature; it hasn't a chance if it sets itself against her awesome power, as Katrina proved so overwhelmingly.
Is this administration incurring the very wrath of nature itself? If the earth is a living organism, it is possible. Acting always in favor of large, rich corporations bulldozes over the real needs of the people. It also crushes the cries of other creatures as they are driven towards extinction. The military has joined this corporate welfare perspective, and it is supported by the government as its sonar causes the heads of whales and dolphins to explode! It is time to wake up to the fact that a fascist government that ignores the needs of nature and the people is not the ideal for which so many have lived and died.
And, in the midst of all these ecological atrocities, let us never forget the monolithic and monstrous fact that this administration has murdered 112,000 mostly innocent women and children in a war for oil and greed, and has sacrificed the lives of nearly two thousand of our best girls and boys on its altar of insatiable greed.
*******
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