WWJD

Not even Jesus wanted a Pay Czar:

3 Jesus was eating in Bethany at the home of Simon, who once had leprosy, when a woman came in with a very expensive bottle of sweet-smelling perfume. After breaking it open, she poured the perfume on Jesus' head. 4 This made some of the guests angry, and they complained, "Why such a waste? 5 We could have sold this perfume for more than three hundred silver coins and given the money to the poor!" So they started saying cruel things to the woman.

6 But Jesus said: Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me. 7 You will always have the poor with you. And whenever you want to, you can give to them. But you won't always have me here with you. 8 She has done all she could by pouring perfume on my body to prepare it for burial.

Mark 14:3-8

It's nobody's business what people do with the money they make. Even Jesus said that what looks like an indulgence to others looks very different to him. He was very thankful that this woman used her perfume because it was part of the "annointing" the dying. He probably saw the woman's kindness and generosity as a gift from God and as the sign that his demise was imminent. (Recall that the next thing that happens is Judas betraying him.)

Well, I just don't think that Obama really believes in Christian values. Some people think that's great, I guess, but his actions reveal that he is not looking at the world through Christ-like eyes. - Whatever problems people have with religion, I think that they are also not seeing the obvious fact that modern Christianity is a provider of guidelines for looking at the world in a way that is irrationally kind, generous, charitable, grateful, and loving. - Obama is acting like the people yelling at the woman for "wasting" her perfume. And it is this view of the world that drives his need to appoint all these control czars of every flavor.

Lonely Places

The Temptation of Jesus

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE.’”
5 And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 “Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’”
9 And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; 10 for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,’
11 and, ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’”
12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”
13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

Luke 4: 1-13


12 Once Jesus was in a town where there was a man who was suffering from a dreaded skin disease. When he saw Jesus, he threw himself down and begged him, "Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean!"
13 Jesus reached out and touched him. "I do want to," he answered. "Be clean!" At once the disease left the man. 14 Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone, but go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice as Moses ordered."
15 But the news about Jesus spread all the more widely, and crowds of people came to hear him and be healed from their diseases.
16 But he would go away to lonely places, where he prayed.

Luke 5: 12-16

A Devil Put Aside For Me

My animus has been drained by all of the events of the last few years, especially last year. I'm speaking of the Jungian idea of the "life energy" that keeps us going. Jung was basically describing the psychology of shamanism, so if you think he was a crackpot then I guess I am one too. ;-) His "science" wasn't that of experiments and formulas but of observation, perception, and intuition. Maybe he was more of a philosopher than a scientist, but does it really matter so much?

Human nature has changed little, if at all, since humans have become literate. We're no better or smarter, really, than the people who lived thousands of years ago. Maybe we are a little cleaner and more comfortable, but ultimately we have not eliminated our biological and animalistic instincts and urges. Through neither "behavioral" therapy nor "cognitive" therapy have we succeeded in defeating our basic nature. And why should we anyway?

Even the Bible tells us this:

The Futility of All Endeavor

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”
3 What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun?
4 A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever.
5 Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises there again.
6 Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns.
7 All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again.
8 All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
9 That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us.
11 There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still.

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

For those who think the Bible is only full of stories of an angry, immature God, well, they just don't know.

I need to regain my health and well-being, whatever it takes. The drive of self-preservation has kicked in, so to speak. So much of my life has been spent on others - helping them heal, helping them die, helping them with whatever demons they were fighting. This is the job of a shaman after all. But even the shaman needs healing sometimes. There is a time for all things. The Bible tells us this too:

A Time for Everything

1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
2 A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.
5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
9 What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? 10 I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-10

The hunter has to hunt. The cat has to prowl. The cougar has to prey. The trickster has to trick, and the joker has to joke. Jung would agree.



"Ten Years Gone" Led Zeppelin

The Golden Fiddle

(this has nothing to do with the website of the same name)

Welcome to the readers of goldenfiddle.tumblr.com! Please allow me to explain that this posting is somewhat snarky and tongue-in-cheek.

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" originally by Charlie Daniels Band:



Of course, Johnny earned his golden fiddle by accepting the Devil's challenge and out-fiddling the Devil, but what the story doesn't say is that anything you get from the Devil, whether you've earned it or not, isn't really free and isn't really yours to keep forever. You can't take it with you when you die.

A lot of people in the last couple of decades have "earned" their golden fiddles, too. But now that they are trying to cash them in they are learning that they are truly worthless. They built entire empires upon the wealth (and talent, or luck, or whatever) they thought their golden fiddles represented. However, not even modern high-tech people can really outwit or win any bet with the Devil, despite all of their humanistic, postmodern, intellectual, and other philosophical hubris. Mankind has not really evolved so much in the last few thousands of years.

2 Timothy 3

Godlessness in the Last Days

1 Remember that there will be difficult times in the last days. 2 People will be selfish, greedy, boastful, and conceited; they will be insulting, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and irreligious; 3 they will be unkind, merciless, slanderers, violent, and fierce; they will hate the good; 4 they will be treacherous, reckless, and swollen with pride; they will love pleasure rather than God; 5 they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power. Keep away from such people. 6 Some of them go into people's houses and gain control over weak women who are burdened by the guilt of their sins and driven by all kinds of desires, 7 women who are always trying to learn but who can never come to know the truth. 8 As Jannes and Jambres were opposed to Moses, so also these people are opposed to the truth—people whose minds do not function and who are failures in the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, because everyone will see how stupid they are. That is just what happened to Jannes and Jambres.

Sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it? Well, we can't really expect those who reject religion and faith and proclaim that it is evil and irrational to actually read the scriptures and learn that it is full of such sociological and historical wisdom. That particular passage from the Bible pretty accurately describes all the behaviors that have caused the fall of every great empire. It's kind of funny that so many so-called intellectuals have ignored such a valuable resource and have remained ignorant of these causes-and-effects that recur every so often. They are not so smart, and their minds don't function all that great after all. In their delusions of grandeur they have fallen into the exact same traps as so many before them.

And the Devil always gets the last laugh. And he always gets his golden fiddles back somehow. But this time the Devil is coming to all of America to reclaim all those golden fiddles so he can redistribute them. Unfortunately, he is also taking much more than some ill-gotten golden fiddles. He wants to take all the other fiddles too, including those humble homemade heirlooms that were never touched by the Devil at all.

Technical Note

I just wanted to clarify that sometimes I use the second person narrative as is common in the style of sermonizing. I am not necessarily addressing anyone in particular, so no one should take offense when I make statements about "you." Perhaps using the second person is confusing or sloppy grammar, but if you've ever been a church-goer "you" know that preachers often use it in their sermons.

So, just remember this, just because it says "you" doesn't mean that it's always about you. ;-)

A Little Too Ironic

Maybe God hasn't been as amused by me as I had thought. Or maybe the AntiChrist has put a curse on my family. Or maybe we can blame global warming. My own favorite scapegoat of the moment is the accelerating universe. Hey, if the universe is accelerating then isn't everything in it also accelerating (even out of control)? You see, I don't have any more faith in Science as I do God because no scientist has ever done any more for me than God has. At least, as all those self-righteous atheists like so say, where's the proof? ;-)

I'm not sure how many more blows I can take because I'm already feeling very beat up by all the things that have happened in the last few years, particularly this past year and a half. I'm beginning to feel like Job or something. It hasn't even been 5 months since my dad died, and just when I was thinking that I was feeling okay and all that, I've found out that I have a skin cancer. Isn't it ironic? Well, actually, I guess I've really had it 2 or 3 years but just had no clue that it was a cancer instead of a simple skin tag. But then, I have been pretty fucking busy being there for everyone else so that I probably haven't had any time for paying enough attention to my own self.

Oh, no big deal, you might think, blah, blah, blah, it's just a little skin cancer, blah, blah, blah, but if that's the case then you really haven't been paying any attention to what's been happening over the recent past. Yeah, maybe I'm taking it too hard. But you know what? It's times and experiences like this that show us who our real, true friends and loved ones are. You know who you are and who you aren't. Real friends don't dismiss us when we actually need them. Real friends don't turn away and refuse to be there because it's too inconvenient or difficult for them to deal with our crisis. Real friends don't tell us that it's too sad or stressful or depressing to be our friend. Oh, fair weather friends, what a waste of life.

And this is the lesson I've learned from atheists. Because they have no faith in anything other than their own thoughts, feelings, needs, convenience, and so and and so forth, they really can't be real friends and they really can't know real love. They are incapable of sacrificing for others, as the example of Jesus Christ did whether you "believe" in his divinity or not, because it's always all about them - what they want, what they need, what they have time and energy for, what is convenient for them, what suits them, what makes them happy, the list goes on and on...

Do I sound bitter? Well, maybe I am a little bitter about how things are turning out. I really have tried to be there for those I've considered friends and those I love. I really have tried to go above and beyond and to set aside my own needs, feelings, and wants in order to be there for my loved ones. And what do I get for all of that? (What did Jesus get for all of his sacrifice?)

ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"

Matthew 27:46

Jesus wasn't asking God that question so much as he was asking his supposed loved ones who ran away and vanished in his time of greatest need. Well, he still swallowed his jagged little pill anyway.

"You Learn" by Alanis Morissette

I recommend getting your heart trampled on to anyone
I recommend walking around naked in your living room
Swallow it down (what a jagged little pill)
It feels so good (swimming in your stomach)
Wait until the dust settles

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

I recommend biting off more then you can chew to anyone
I certainly do
I recommend sticking your foot in your mouth at any time
Feel free
Throw it down (the caution blocks you from the wind)
Hold it up (to the rays)
You wait and see when the smoke clears

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

Wear it out (the way a three-year-old would do)
Melt it down (you're gonna have to eventually anyway)
The fire trucks are coming up around the bend

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

You grieve you learn
You choke you learn
You laugh you learn
You choose you learn
You pray you learn
You ask you learn
You live you learn

Shine On You Crazy Carbon 2

I really like this title. ;-)

July 29 on The Colbert Report there was an interview with Eric Roston about his book "The Carbon Age: How Life's Core Element Has Become Civilization's Greatest Threat":



His statements at first are pretty sensible, but since I haven't read the book or much about it I don't know if he moves towards the silliness of the "climate crisis" and all that garbage. But the video is pretty funny.

Well, there are some passages from another book (first published 1990) that I've read while doing some of my shamanic studies. The passages are from the part of the book that examines the Earth element, also associated with the direction West (the four directions and the elements are very central to shamanic thinking). I kind of hate to copy whole, long passages, but here they are anyway, with some of my own notes inserted:

The characteristics of Elemental Earth are solidity, inertia and stability. It is motion at rest. Elemental Earth is elemental 'substance' coming into form and shape and becoming tangible and recognisible - coming 'down to earth.' Matter is that which appears to be. It is important to bear in mind that matter is an appearance, and it is this that makes Elemental Earth perhaps the least understood of the elemental substances.

Okay, maybe those statements aren't exactly scientifically sophisticated, but it seems they are basically correct. Though I'm only going on my own intuitive understanding which is probably pretty oversimplified. "Motion at rest" is a paradox, but it will be better explained in later quotations.

On a practical level, we spend much of our time being concerned with the acquisition of physical, tangible things, but at the same time we dislike the restrictions and limitations that the material puts on us. The West is the place of the material, of appearances, of the world of form, of physical manifestation and of learning to cope with it.

You cannot develop your spiritual awareness by rejecting the material or turning your back on it. The physical and material is all part of Creation, not a secretion to be got rid of in some mistaken quest for 'spirituality', not something to be flushed away as something 'not nice.' Don't allow yourself to be misled by a sense of false spirituality. You are here in the material world of form, and part of the reason for your being here is to learn how to control the material through the use of natural laws and cosmic forces and principles [emphasis mine]. Spiritual work is of little value unless it can be 'earthed.'

I think this points to the root of so many of the delusions and false religions that flourish today. On one hand, there are some who insist and require that we abandon all of our material possessions, and any desire for them, in order to feel spiritually clean. But how is rejecting that from which we are made supposed to be a good thing? I don't understand that line of thinking, and it seems to be synonymous with the vilification of carbon.

On the other hand, sure, we should have balance and not be too materialistic at the detriment of our well-being, but to say that one must 'transcend the physical' in order to become fully alive or whatever is kind of crazy. Personally, I'm not in too much of a hurry to transcend this physical existence because it's too short already. That transcendence will come when I die, and I hope that will be a very long time from now. Please, God, allow me as many carbon emissions as possible for at least 3 or 4 more decades. ;-)

And it is one of those basic laws of nature that we, as part of this world, will and should affect it, "to control the material through the use of natural laws and cosmic forces and principles." That is our very nature, and to deny it is insanity.

Do you not think that it gave pleasure to the Cosmic Intelligence to bring the physical world of form into manifestation? Go out into the countryside or into a park or woodland and look around you at the beauty of the natural Earth. Even though man has shaped most of it by farming, does it not give you a thrill of pleasure to absorb its magnificence? We are not intended to reject the material in preference for some nebulous spiritual alternative, but to appreciate the physical and at the same time to look for the reality behind it. Both in equal partnership.

Whether or not you accept the possibility of some Cosmic Intelligence, the earth truly is a wondrous, beautiful, and pleasurable thing. I know first hand that there are still very many 'pristine' places where man hasn't really altered nature so much, and yes, they are amazing. But we also should acknowledge the beauty and majesty of many of man's creations and alterations of the earth. We get the same kind of pleasure from creating and experiencing material, physical things as that other Creator does. And the results of our works are not always, or even usually, destructive as so many of the false prophets tell us today. We are all a part of this shimmering carbon-based appearance of matter, and I say 'shimmering' because it implies changing, which is absolutely natural and expected.

Physical objects only look and feel solid because their atoms are spinning at fantastic speeds. As in a movie, people and vehicles appear to move but what we are seeing is a succession of static pictures being projected at such a speed that there appears to be movement, but the appearance is, in fact, an illusion. An atom is mostly space. If it were possible to expand a single atom to the size of a sports stadium like Wembley in West London, England, or the Giants stadium in New Jersey, USA, its centre or nucleus would be the size of a pea in a referee's whistle. If this were placed in the centre spot, the electrons would be whirling around it at the tops of the grandstands.

All matter is as roomy as the universe appears to be, and atom particles are like the stars and planets moving about in a continual pattern. If we could travel far enough away in outer space and look back at the universe it too would appear solid.

Kenneth Meadows, The Medicine Way, pages 119-120

Again, the scientific veracity of those statements might be naive and simplistic, but it seems to be close enough. And recall that these quotes are from a book first published in 1990 by a non-scientist. The paradox of "matter at rest" basically means that what we see as matter is like a snapshot of a very complex, busy scene. And using my imagination I can see that from the right perspective the universe might really look like a solid object, perhaps a black marble, or even a black hole which might appear as a solid object sometimes too.

Anyway, I appreciate the intuitive wisdom of the shamanic ideas, but it's all too common for people who try to be "spiritual" to develop a very imbalanced view of the world, themselves, and life. I wish that more people would open their eyes to the physical realities instead of taking one idea or concept and making it the paramount concern. Like the weather. The "climate crisis" is a fraud based on some guys who try to tell everyone that our very breathing is helping to "imbalance" the planet's climate. I'm not certain how this trend has evolved, but I suspect that it is some convergence of the religious ideas that humanity is "fallen" and that the Earth should be worshipped. Neither of these ideas is really valid and their offspring, the manmade "climate crisis," is retarded too.

To be sure I'm not misunderstood I want to explicitly say that I am not discounting spirituality and religion. They are important aspects of life. I am only expressing that there must be more acknowledgement and celebration of mankind's physical existence in this physical world, instead of the self-hatred and false charge that we are destroying our world. There is as much imbalance in those who refuse to acknowledge spiritual issues and concerns, but it seems that refusing to appreciate the real physical aspects of existence is even less morally justified.

Just as Meadows said above, the Earth element is the most misunderstood, and this misunderstanding is a key psycho-social reason for the rise of the anti-carbon movement. I don't know if Mr. Roston is just another acolyte trying to convince people that they are somehow responsible for every bad weather that happens, butit's obvious that too many people have it wrong and have placed man at either too high or too low a position in nature instead of placing us precisely on the earth.

And just so I can add the "sermonette" label ;-) I'll close with a scripture:

27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue* it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. 31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 1:27-31

*means the same as "learn how to control the material through the use of natural laws and cosmic forces and principles"


I'm sorry if this post is disjointed and incomplete because of the many interruptions I've had throughout writing it. Sometimes it's hard to maintain a line of thought with too many breaks. ;-)

Dear Rev. Jeremiah Wright,

You should be ashamed of yourself. And you should take some lessons from the Pope about how to act in the name of God. But let me tell you one thing. You are so wrong about the white government conspiring against black progress. What do you think the last 40 or so years have been all about? What planet have you been living on?

What do you think about the white government's raid on an all white polygamist compound? Do you think that's a conspiracy against anyone? It sure looks to me like a conspiracy against white religious pimps (and pedophiles). Maybe it would be fair if the government raided some black "compound" full of pregnant underage girls who might not even know who're the fathers. All they'd have to do is pick a public housing project of any major city, and I'm pretty sure they would find a comparable number of underage mothers and mothers-to-be. And I'm also pretty sure that most of those fathers are not underage. Surely you are capable of doing those calculations. And if you really cared about "your people" you would want the government's help to end the exploitation of your people's young women. I mean, Lord have mercy, are you really that dumb or is it just an act? Either way, you are not doing anything to help improve the world, and you are supposed to be a minister of God's Word and Love for all people. Honestly, how well do you think you're doing at that?

I will pray that God puts it heavy on your heart to do the right thing. And to say the right thing.

Sincerely,

Rae Ann (aka Vicious Momma)

I Can See Clearly Now

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-shiny day

"I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash

Happy Easter Sunday, the most holy of the Christian holidays. Easter is early this year, and our weather has been pretty cold but pleasant enough. We had some egg hunts at my dad's house this afternoon. He's not doing as well as he was, mostly because the stupid doctor on Friday told him he was "worse off" than a week ago. You'd think by now they would understand the powerful psychological consequences of their words on their patients. Well, whether we acknowledge it or not our minds and psychology are quite powerful and influential in our fates.

24 Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn't with the others when Jesus appeared to them.

25 So they told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But Thomas said, "First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won't believe unless I do this!"

26 A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples

27 and said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!"

28 Thomas replied, "You are my Lord and my God!"

29 Jesus said, "Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!"

John 20:24-29

Resurrection is psychologically pleasing. And I really cannot see or find any totally convincing argument against the possibility that our consciousness lives on after the physical body dies. Believe me, I have looked and many people have tried to tell me over the years.

Free will is inherent in humans. It is one of the traits that separates us from the "lower" animals. We determine (or limit) our destiny by our choices. I hope I don't really need to list examples to prove my point. This is a basic fact.

If one chooses to reject an afterlife he is essentially committing spiritual suicide. As a conscious entity, the mind determines whether or not it goes on. If the mind has convinced itself that physical death is the end of its existence, then it will be. This is completely consistent with the Christian idea of accepting, or not, that Jesus's teachings are the true path to God and His (our) Heavenly home (afterlife for our consciousness/mind/soul) somewhere in the whole of the Universe (other than the dimensions we know in physical life). Hell is permanent separation from God, and if the consciousness stops itself at physical death then that's definitely a permanent separation from God, or in other words, spiritual suicide.

Now let me switch over to my shamanic mode for a minute. One of the main jobs of the shaman in a community is to help people prepare for death. Nearly all societies have had some kind of rituals to help people move from one "world" to the next. This is the aspect of shamanism that I have been most uncomfortable about, yet as I look back at my adult life it is one of the most prevalent. Death has been a frequent presence in my adult life. My life situation has always worked out so that I was available to attend to the needs of my aging and dying grandparents. And my mother, and now my father.

I think I've always kind of intuitively known that this was my "purpose," though it has taken many years for me to "fine tune" my understanding (and acceptance) of it. So now, I'm facing the reality of dying and death yet again, and I must use any wisdom gained from all the cumulative experiences to help my dad prepare for the afterlife.

Okay, so in additional to attending to his physical needs during this process I will offer the spiritual support and encouragement that might ease his fear and anxiety about the bodily demise and the soul's movement beyond. I know that he is a believer and that his choice has been made.

Well, I've lost steam for a big finale here. Maybe I'll think of something to add later. Anyway, that is this Easter Sunday's sermonette.



I considered taking a page out of Lee Smolin's playbook and naming this sermonette something very pretentious and academic-sounding like "Resurrection and the Proof of God" (not quite a GUT but almost a TOE). ;-) I mean, now surely, mustn't I be at least as smart (or funny, maybe) as he is? ;-) But my spunky mood faded.

Flirtin' With Disaster: The Annotated Ten Commandments

I’m travelin’ down the road,
I’m flirtin’ with disaster.
I’ve got the pedal to the floor,
My life is running faster.
I’m out of money, I’m out of hope,
It looks like self destruction.
Well how much more can we take,
With all of this corruption

Been flirtin’ with disaster,
Y’all know what I mean.
And the way we run our lives,
It makes no sense to me.
I don’t know about yourself or,
What you want to be - yeah.
When we gamble with our time,
We choose our destiny

"Flirtin' With Disaster" by Molly Hatchet

Civilization has always been flirtin' with disaster. Diseases, climate changes, migrations, invasions, wars. It's always something. Sorry if I've inadvertently plagiarized something I've read somewhere.* It's so hard to remember sometimes. Anyway, what do people do to create order and harmony in the world? Make rules forbidding those things they have learned will cause conflict. And make rules requiring certain things known to reduce conflict. People have known this for millennia. It isn't some new idea created by Fundamentalists, or "evangelicals" or however you say it, who just want to make life a little more complicated than an animal's instincts.

The most important role of religion is to instruct and instill a moral code of living in harmony with others and nature. If you try to get rid of religion in a society and transfer its role to some other institution, you always have worse problems than you were trying to solve by eliminating religion in the first place. History tells us this, but many "intellectuals" don't want to acknowledge it. They only want to point out the original problems and how religion contributed to the problems, blah, blah, blah.

Okay, so back in the beginning of civilization there were some wise people who taught the others how to get along. The wise guys didn't know how they got this information that others didn't have, so they decided that it must come from the Source of all the other cool stuff our minds can do that none of the other creatures can do. Those old wise guys could intuit that we really are made in the image of the Creator (and Destroyer).





What Is and What Should Never Be

2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." Exodus 20

These are usually considered the First and Second Commandments, though there are some variations among different Christian traditions. They were meant to establish the authority of the Source. They mean 'look to Me first and don't think that something or someone else is where all of the world comes from or who has the answers.' Wouldn't we expect the creator of something to be the ultimate source of how things work and how to make them work better? Anyone with half a brain would know that we don't come from a Golden Cow or any other silly idols that people have worshipped over the ages. An idol can be anything that people give more power and influence than they give the Source. The "no graven images" means that we shouldn't try to limit God with our own imaginations and creations. It doesn't mean not to take pictures or make artwork or whatever. As long as we don't worship them and give them power over us they aren't forbidden as idols.

7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain." Exodus: 20

This means that people should never use God's name for their own personal gain. It has nothing to do with cussing, contrary to popular mythology. What this is talking about is what Joel Olsteen does, and many other people who sell God's word for their own profit. Basically these people are not living as God commands and are encouraging others to live that way too.

8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

Even God took a day off. After He created the world he stood back and said, "This is good. I'm taking a break." That six day creation is symbolic, and that day of rest is too. How can we truly appreciate and enjoy our world and our lives and our Source if we don't take at least one day a week to focus on all of this wonderful creation? People really lose their humanity when they stop appreciating all of these things. Our minds have evolved to need time to rest and process our experiences of life. Dreaming is one way of doing that, but of course, our awake minds and bodies need resting and processing time too.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you."

Again, respect your Source. All of these first Commandments are about acknowledging and honoring our Source.

13 “You shall not murder"

This is the first of the restrictions on our behavior. Murder always causes more conflict than it could solve. It's kind of a no-brainer rule, but sometimes the animalistic instincts overtake people and cause them to break the rule. There are lots of arguments in our modern world as to what exactly is murder. What about self-defense? Abortion? The death penalty? Well, there is probably something in the Bible about self-defense, but at the moment I'm not interrupting my limited quiet time to write in order to find it. There is a lot in the Bible about people being punished with death. I personally believe that some criminals, like murderers, etc., have forfeited their right to live. And I also do personally believe that abortion is murderous, but I also recognize that women should have 'control' over their own bodies. This isn't a topic I really want to explore right now though.

14 “You shall not commit adultery"

This is one of the reasons for murder, so it's natural to forbid activities known to cause other bad things to happen. Makes sense.

15 “You shall not steal"

Stealing causes more conflict than it solves. And it indicates that one does not trust and honor the Source.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor"

.

Again, lying only causes more conflict than it solves. This Commandment means that we shouldn't falsely accuse others of wrongdoing. We shouldn't lie in someone's defense either.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Coveting means to want or envy that which others have. Coveting is probably the cause of most adultry, stealing, and lying. When we compare ours with others' we are on the road to coveting. God was wise to recognize that coveting leads to other sins and to warn against it. If we all could actually follow the Great Commandment of loving our neighbors as ourselves, then we would be happy for others' wealth and blessings instead of feeling jealous and resentful.

So you see, there is a lot of wisdom in those old holy words. People who hate God and religion are only showing how much they don't understand about it.

18 All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.”

It's all about getting along with others. It's so simple and maybe even elegant. Not that it is always easy to follow all those simple rules, it isn't. As humans we still have many animalistic instincts and urges. We modern people are no different from the ancients in that way. All of our knowledge and technology have only increased the sophistication and complexity of our sins, but they haven't really changed the basic nature of them. And in many ways, the "intellectuals" today have made their own knowledge into idols that they worship and place before the Source. Well, no matter how smart they think they are they are still flirtin' with disaster. ;-)

And that's today's sermonette.



*I wasn't following the details of the "Clinton accuses Obama of plagiarism" story, but what I heard was that Obama said some of those typical, classical inspirational phrases of the 1960s. The "I Have a Dream" and "Ask not what your country can do for you...." ones. Well, you know, you better free your mind instead. Oops, I guess I just plagiarized. ;-)

Mini-Sermonette: The Great Commandment

It's pretty annoying when people refuse to read the holy words only because they don't want to learn the hard lessons.

14 ‘You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the LORD.
15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. 16 ‘You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD.
17 ‘You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. 18 ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:14-18

That's from the "Old Testament" God. I basically just opened up the book to randomly find something interesting. This was it. That's the way it should work when people read the holy words. They should let the words lead them. The magic of the words is that you always end up reading exactly what you needed. Sometimes that is a hard lesson or reminder of the right way to be and act. There are a lot of people in the world right now who need to reminded of these things (myself included). Some more holy words:

33 ‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 ‘The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God. Lev. 19:33-34

And now from the "New Testament" God:

18 Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that IF A MAN’S BROTHER DIES and leaves behind a wife AND LEAVES NO CHILD, HIS BROTHER SHOULD MARRY THE WIFE AND RAISE UP CHILDREN TO HIS BROTHER. 20 “There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. 21 “The second one married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; 22 and so all seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also. 23 “In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 “For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 “But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, and the God of Jacob’? 27 “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”
28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ 31 “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; 33 AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE’S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Mark 12:18-33

Those who have ever thought that the Old Testament and the New Testament don't really belong together just aren't actually reading the words. They are the same messages from the same God. Reminders to the new generations who have moved away from "God's standards." And as we see above, God's greatest standard (commandment) is that we should love our neighbors as ourselves.

Incidentally, just to alleviate any friends' worries that I've gone Fundamentalist on them, please, don't worry.

Roll With the Changes

I knew it had to happen
Felt the tables turnin'
Got me through my darkest hour
I heard the thunder clappin'
Felt the desert burnin'
Until you poured on me
Like a sweet sunshower

"Roll With the Changes" by REO Speedwagon

Usually I do a year-end retrospective and review the major events of the year, but I think I'll skip it this year. Let's just say it's been a real roller coaster year, literally and figuratively. If I tried to go over all the losses and traumas of the year it might sound like I was trying to write a Book of Job Lite (50% less heavy than the original). ;-)

Of course, it all hasn't been bad. And focusing only on the hard times isn't a healthy perspective anyway. If I had to concentrate the lessons of it all into one word, I think that faith is it. I've learned a deeper meaning to faith than the one that its critics like to use (believing blindly or some such thing). Faith is an intellectual decision to be satisfied with knowing something without a physical sign of it. There are many physical things that are fleeting and ultimately unnecessary for us to know what they symbolize. The physical world is sometimes only a symbolic representation of our ideas and feelings, or even our very existence. If those symbols disappear it does not mean that our ideas and feelings never existed or don't continue to exist. This is what I mean by faith. A true knowing without the need for 'evidence'. I don't see this as a weakness or whatever else certain types of people call it. I see it as a strength and maturity and trust.

I know you're an emotional girl
It took a lot for you to not lose your faith in this world
I can't offer you proof
But you're going to face a moment of truth
It's hard when you're always afraid
You just recover when another belief is betrayed
So break my heart if you must
It's a matter of trust

"A Matter of Trust" by Billy Joel

Indeed, faith and trust go hand in hand. And without them we can't roll with the changes, which is essential to survival. So fasten your seat belts, make sure your lapbar is securely in the locked position, hang on, and enjoy the ride!

And Happy New Year 2008!

Psalm 56

Just out of curiosity last night I opened the Bible to a random page and this was what I found:

Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me;
Fighting all day long he oppresses me.
My foes have trampled upon me all day long,
For they are many who fight proudly against me.
When I am afraid,
I will put my trust in You.
In God, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid.
What can mere man do to me?
All day long they distort my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
They attack, they lurk,
They watch my steps,
As they have waited to take my life.
Because of wickedness, cast them forth,
In anger put down the peoples, O God!
You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book?
Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call;
This I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,
In the LORD, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
Your vows are binding upon me, O God;
I will render thank offerings to You.
For You have delivered my soul from death,
Indeed my feet from stumbling,
So that I may walk before God
In the light of the living.

Coincidence or not, it was very appropriate for the day. I think it's funny-weird and interesting that good people have been persecuted and tormented by the Godless evil people for a very long time. But it's also a little sad that even after all these centuries and technological, educational, "rational" and other advances, there are still mean, rotten pitchforks in the world who just can't resist being hateful to those who actually try to be good and moral, and especially to those who try to instruct others about goodness and morality. Well, it's just too bad. I guess evolution hasn't been any more successful at cleaning up the human population than religion or any other pillars of civilization.

Divine Infusion

The other day I was looking through the TV channels for something interesting since I wasn't really able to do much of anything else. Sometimes I stumble upon a really good sermon on one of the religious channels, and on that day I really got lucky. I missed the beginning of it but probably only about 25% at most, so I got most of the points. It was one of the absolute best sermons I've ever heard. The delivery style was engaging and entertaining while the message was very logically pleasing, timely and relevant to recent events. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Funny how that happens sometimes.

The preacher was Fredrick Brabson, the pastor of the New Covenant Baptist Church here in Knoxville. I was hoping that there was a video online of his sermon, but I couldn't find one. But I did find that he has a website called Relevant Word Ministries that offers tapes of his messages.

Basically, the sermon was about weathering the storms of life. The first point was that God never abandons us during those hard times and that God never promised that life would always be easy and carefree. Every single person on Earth has the voice of God inside them, even sociopaths, that tells them the right things to do. We don't always listen to that voice because it often conflicts with our selfish desires or demands made on us by the world. Some people even completely deny and ignore that voice of God inside them, but it is still there, waiting for acknowledgement. I think that is the simplest way I've ever heard God explained. God is the good in us. God is that knowing what is the best choice. Anyone who doubts that God exists only needs to look within his own soul and heart and see that God is what tells us how to be good people instead of doing whatever animalistic things we might want to do. It is that Free Will thing I've talked about before. That choice we all have, to do right or to do wrong. That comes from God. How can that not make sense? Anyone who says he doesn't have that inner voice or moral compass that lets him know what is right or wrong is the basic definition of evil. Sorry, but that is the truth, and even some who call themselves atheists acknowledge that they know right from wrong although they are confused as to how they know. ;-)

Another point of the sermon was about those things that keep us from listening to God's voice that guides us to the best way of living. Brabson used a ship in a storm analogy, related to a Bible story that I can't recall now. Anyway, one of the ways of helping oneself get through the storms is to lighten your load. That means tossing overboard all those useless things that weigh us down and impede our progress. That baggage can be material possessions, feelings, addictions, toxic relationships, or any other thing. Get rid of it. It has no value. You can live without it and will be better off without the extra worry. Makes sense, right? Good psychological advice often comes from the Bible. There is a lot of wisdom there if you really listen and think about it.

The final point of the sermon was to never forget your blessings that often come in unexpected forms, even as storms. Be thankful for God's voice in your heart that helped you get through those tough times. God does not throw us into anything that he hasn't equipped us to handle. We just have to listen and use ourselves wisely.

Well, I certainly didn't do Brabson's sermon justice with my short summary. I really do wish his sermon was available online, and maybe someday it will be. It made an impression on me that I wanted to share.

But now I'll add a little something of my own. Last night I was doing a little Bible study and ended up reading about the betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus as described in Mark 14 and 15. Even Jesus allowed himself to be overcome by sorrow and feeling abandoned by God at the same time as his being let down by his closest friends, his disciples. Not even his foreknowledge of these events lessened the experience.

32 They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” 33 And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. 34 And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” 35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. 36 And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” 37 And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38 “Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 Again He went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him. 41 And He came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 “Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

Mark 14:32-42

Judas, his biggest betrayer, arrived with the mob to arrest Jesus. Jesus was at his darkest hour and his friends lay sleeping. What kind of friends are those? Then some even deny knowing him just to save their own skins. All those men disappeared when things got bad. They were the ones who abandoned Jesus, not God. Just before he died on the cross, Jesus says, "ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI? which is translated, MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" Do you really think he was asking why God had forsaken him or if he was asking why all his disciples had forsaken him? My bet is on the disciples. He truly felt abandoned and forsaken and betrayed by those who had been closest to him. Humans will always fail each other, but God never fails us. Not if we truly listen and follow his guidance.

And unfortunately there are those evil people who are so removed from God and his guidance that they torment and abuse those who are already hurt, just as many tormented Jesus as he was being crucified. Do they have no conscience? If they have one it's so weak and feeble that it can't overcome their animalistic cruelty. What voice do they listen to? Not the one that tells them how to be a good person and do the right things. They listen to their own selfish drives and desires. They think they will impress others with their clever insults or skillful jabs. But what they do is not right. It is wrong. And it does nothing to make the world a better place, which is what God wants. You know who you are. I have no time for you. I'm tossing you overboard with all the other garbage I don't need.




A somewhat related article about Why Secular Liberals Are So Uncharitable.

Brian Greene and Religion

via Lubos Motl, excerpts of Brian Greene's interview in Whole Life Times:

Does your work with string theory make you more or less religious?

I think it partly depends on your exact definition of religious. If it means the traditional notion of going to services and some organized religion, then the answer is no. If it means, does it fill me with a sense of awe and wonder about the universe, does it fill me with a sense of how remarkable it is that the pieces of the universe fit together with such logical cohesion, does it fill me with this unshakable sense that there is an underlying order and harmony behind the universe, then to all of those I would say absolutely, yes. For some people, that is religion.

I could not have said it better. When I speak of religion and the Freedom of Religion as it is promised in our First Amendment, this is what I mean. It is the Freedom of Thought, the choice to believe in whatever reasons you want to explain the "underlying order and harmony behind the universe."

I realize that many bad things have been done in the name of religion, but the same is true of any idea. I can't think of a single idea that is exempt from being abused and misused. Does that mean that all ideas should be discounted? Of course not. So why do so many people think that eliminating religion and religious thinking will accomplish anything?

The answer is, and it's so simple, respect for others' rights. Sure, you can think that you are right and everyone else is wrong. But when it comes to actions, we do not have unlimited freedom to trample all over everyone else's beliefs. You can tell people they are wrong, but you can't enforce or impose your own beliefs on them. You just have to agree to disagree. If everyone could do that there would be more peace.

What’s your favorite conspiracy theory?

The most fun one is that God created the universe. But would one consider that a conspiracy? Certainly it arises from a lot of individuals collectively believing in something, which to me is wonderful because it’s a wonderful point of departure for so many ways of thinking about things. I love the fact that you’ve got individuals such as myself trying to figure out the universe using math and equations. You’ve got other people trying to figure out the origins of the universe from philosophical concerns, others that are approaching it from a theological direction. My brother is a Hare Krishna, and for years every time we’ve had a breakthrough in physics I tell him about it and he says, “Oh, yes, we know of that. It’s in Vedic text number 16,” or something like that. To me it’s always difficult to make sense of the resonances between what you find in sacred texts and what we find in science, because often times it’s a similarity of language or a similarity of perspective — but they’re really not exactly the same by any stretch of the imagination. But I do find it compelling that human thought, trying to answer the same question how the universe began, brushes up against similar concepts [as science] now and then.

That's a funny way of putting it, as a "conspiracy theory."

I've thought a lot about how the religious and philosophical ideas about ourselves, our origins and universe began and evolved with our increasing knowledge. In many ways it probably seems like modern people are much smarter than ancient people. But I wonder if that's really true. There seems to be a difference between amount of knowledge and ability to reason. Humans have had this reasoning ability for a very long time. In the past I'm certain that some people had intuited basic Truths about our existence but were limited by their language and knowledge in how they explained it. That would explain how many sacred texts contain some of the 'same' information as recent scientific discoveries. They are just put into different terms and symbols. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The development of symbolic and religious thinking is one of the characteristics that separated us from the "apes". One of the "pillars of civilization."

I have never intended to sound like I put religion above science or "rationality." If anyone has thought that, then they simply haven't been paying attention or trying to understand me. I'm sorry if my communication isn't always clear and if that is the reason for any confusion. Anyway, if we use Greene's definition of religion, "unshakable sense that there is an underlying order and harmony behind the universe," you will realize that without it we never would have bothered to invent science at all. Science is the process of discovering that underlying order. Religion is the celebration of it.


Incidentally, a friend of mine has experienced a real and genuine miracle last week. I would like to explain it explicitly, but due to privacy concerns she really doesn't want me to talk about it. But allow me to say this much. What happened absolutely cannot be explained away unless you want to say that the best and most unexpected solution out of 10^500 jumped out and said, "Here I am!" ;-) Really and truly, and you just have to trust my judgment about it, the one thing that no one even imagined could happen did happen. The series of events leading up to it were so convoluted and uncertain that it seemed completely impossible. But as they say, in God all things are possible. Miracles really do happen.

Free Speech and Thanking Jesus

I've just learned of the controversial "thank you" speech that Kathy Griffin made at the Emmys.



Then I watched a gooberly video made by a boy who says he "hates conservative white men" and defends Griffin's "free speech" to say "Suck it Jesus" on TV and further explains that he doesn't see what the big deal is and blah, blah, blah. He's complaining about the "censorship" of her remarks and encourages people to sign some kind of petition and lots of other liberalish gibberish. He basically is complaining about the "free speech" rights of those who found her comments offensive and expressed their offense. (God forbid anyone should ever say anything offensive to a liberal or atheist!) He's complaining that her "militant atheist religion" is being criticized. Well, welcome to the club of persecution, dude.

You know, I fully realize that Kathy Griffin is a comedian and she tries to be funny and many times humor is found in the offensive. Okay, fine. But on national network TV there are standards of decency and things that aren't allowed to be said. I'm pretty sure that "Goddamn" isn't allowed, so "Suck it Jesus" is about the same thing or maybe even a little worse. Sure, people can say that it's silly to censor language on TV, but when protecting the rights of everyone we sometimes must place some limits on our own freedom. When will people realize this very basic fact?

I'm no "holy roller" or whatever, though I do have a "personal relationship" with what I can call God. If that is enough to offend a liberal or atheist then they are extremely immature and stupid. Similar to that boy in the video, I don't see what's so offensive to atheists when someone expresses thanks to God or Jesus. Why should they even care? See, that argument can be flipped around on the liberals too.

It's so unfortunate that these "militant atheists" cannot accept that freedom goes both ways. They have the choice to believe or not, just like everyone else has that choice. By belittling and berating those who choose differently from them, they are revealing just how narrow-minded and illogical they really are.

I really don't have a problem with atheists or liberals as long as they don't go around expecting special treatment or privileges. I can respect their rights and choice of beliefs, or lack thereof, as long as they can respect mine. But I've noticed that generally (not always, but too often), atheists (and liberals) don't, can't, and/or won't respect the choices of others. And true and unfortunate enough, the same can be said about most people and that is why it's sometimes necessary to limit freedoms to prevent chaos. (I think that might be some kind of natural law or something.) ;-)

Anyway, thanks to God and Jesus and Allah and Whatever for the opportunity to say these things. ;-)



And no, I haven't given up all pork. Only unhealthy pork from substandard and contaminated pigstys. ;-)

Matters of Faith

Some of the buzz today has been about revelations of Mother Teresa's spiritual struggles. It seems that everyone is so surprised about it. But really, wouldn't it be even more surprising, and possibly disturbing, to learn that she never had doubts and struggles with her faith? She was human after all.

In some scientific circles it's even being considered that she was some sort of closet atheist. I guess that reaction is understandable when so many of those people consider calling something "religion" is the ultimate insult because it implies blindly accepting things despite any contradictory evidence. Perhaps Mother Teresa can minister to them even after her death by showing them that even the most faithful of religious people don't always blindly accept things without question. Wouldn't you imagine that scientists would recognize that already if they are so smart and logical? But I guess even they can confuse faith and certainty.*

My point here is not to bash atheists or scientists though. My point is to say that the lesson in Mother Teresa's struggles is that we all are human with the same emotional, intellectual, and spiritual conflicts regardless of how we label them. And her example clearly illustrates what our relationships with God are supposed to look like. If we never question things we never learn and grow. God knows that and that is why we have our minds and souls anyway. God wants us to evolve, not just physically but also spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, and socially.

I think that it's entirely possible that Mother Teresa suffered some depressive stages in her life. She was a woman, and we women do go through stages in our lives that can affect us in every possible way. At the time of her publicized "crises of faith" she was past her reproductive years, and I must wonder if she had some sadness about not living the fullest possible life as a woman. Yes, I know that her relationship with God was utmost and her service to humanity was her "calling." But she was also fully human and could not exactly escape all the human needs.

This is where I think the Catholic Church has gone way off track in their teachings. I just don't believe in celibacy. It's not normal, and it's not necessary to be celibate in order to have a deep, meaningful relationship with God. I think God wants us to fully experience our humanity and the bodies and minds that we have. God does not think that sex is dirty or sinful. Why in the world would God 'create' sex and require it for our own reproduction (creation of new life) if it was a bad thing?

Of course, this is only some twisted kind of psychological 'thought experiment', but I wonder, how would Mother Teresa's views, thoughts, feelings, faith, and so on have changed if she had ever experienced the total physical union of love with a man? And by extension, how would those things have changed if she had born children from such a union? Surely she would have recognized the divinity incarnate in deep human love and reproduction. And the darkness that seemed to torment her might have been lightened by her appreciation of the power of the human body to celebrate God and Creation in that way.

Certainly, all the suffering and poverty that she saw in the world would challenge even the strongest faith. It can be hard not to ask why God allows such things in the world. But perhaps that's like asking why we must crap. It's just the world working according to the "Natural laws" prescribed by God. Why would God want to go around breaking the Laws of Nature? That wouldn't teach us anything but confusion. If you had created a Universe would you go around messing it up with random changes? Well, I wouldn't. I'd want to watch how it grew and evolved without my interference.

But that's not to say that God has abandoned us and the Universe. God is always here/there for us. Although we are "separate" from God in some sense, He has provided us with ways of being closer to Him. I'm sure that Mother Teresa knew these things intellectually. And it's perfectly acceptable that doubts about this truth entered her mind.

It would have been fascinating to meet and talk with her.


* On further thought, I'm afraid that paragraph sounds a little too crotchety. I certainly didn't intend for it to come across that way. Apologies about that.

Startled by the Obvious

Do not use my name for evil purposes, because I, the Lord your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name.

Exodus 20:7 (Today's English Version)

Also known as the Third Commandment, or the Second Commandment for Catholics and Lutherans

How Religions Start

Thinking back to the time of the earliest Homo Sapiens it seems there must surely have been some highly intelligent individuals who thought of questions like "Why am I so different from the other animals?" He might have noticed that humans look somewhat similar to the other ape species, but how did we end up different?" These are not new questions that have arisen only in the last couple of hundred years.

Maybe some guy thought up something like "I can see some greater wholeness to all of this world and I will call it God." He figured out that we are the "highest" forms of life and tried to figure out how that happened. That intuitive knowledge about ourselves and our universe is what he called "God spoke to me." Where else did these ideas come from? He didn't know about brains and neurochemicals and all the other biological stuff that makes up our consciousness and creativity. At that time his revelations about his thoughts were novel and revolutionary.

So he told others what he knew, and his explanations made some sense of otherwise unknowns and people talked about them because new ideas tend to stimulate people that way, even way back then. ;-) And he was probably the family or community or tribal "wise man" that everyone trusted because he had been right so often in the past. So an oral tradition of passing along these ideas and stories began to grow and spread.

So over time maybe some people would ask, "Why do we believe these things?" And many people would say, "Because so-and-so told us and he's always right." And maybe they got angry when their accepted ideas were questioned without the questioners offering better answers. Some basics of human nature probably haven't changed all that much since then.

Aside: A Question of Time

There is no dividing line or boundary in "real time" evolution. The timeline of human evolution constructed by paleotheorists is rather imprecise in when exactly the different Homo species lived and died. When they say that the Neanderthals disappeared it doesn't mean that one day they all just disappeared. It took thousands of years for them to die off (or be absorbed into Homo Sapiens, my own particular pet idea). What do we think really happened in the time between this species and that species? The changes were gradual, not instantaneous. I suspect one might could apply some kind of quantum or whatever view to the evolving human populations and see that at the individual and small groups levels the forward movement in development isn't always obvious. Well, maybe that's a really whacked out thing to say. I don't really know. Anyway, my point is that it's wrong to think of these different periods of time as distinct or discreet in that one starts and one stops and there is no overlap. There is a lot of overlap.

The Relevance of Religion

Eventually new evidence is discovered that challenges old ideas. Not everyone is open and accepting of their long-cherished knowledge being questioned. But some people can take new knowledge and integrate it with the old, while yet others will completely dismiss the old ideas as worthless and accept the new, sometimes as blindly as some refuse it. Like with the "timeline" of evolution, there aren't always distinct boundaries within the range of beliefs.

Looking back at our guy who "saw" God and thought his intuitions were God speaking to him, we must remember that his language and ability to describe his intuitions were much more limited than ours today. The old stories were told in the ways that made sense at their time. And at one time these stories were novel and revolutionary not because of the words they used but because of the ideas they conveyed. The revolutionary idea behind God was that there is a reason why we are humans and not apes, or pigs. ;-) In our modern time we know the real, scientific reasons we are human, and not apes or pigs, but knowing the ways how doesn't diminish the significance of the idea itself. Well, I don't think it should anyway.

Even today, we are still processing our intuitions and observations of the universe. It's important to respect the origins of these processes, whether the origins are explained in the modern parlances or the old oral traditions (mythology and religion). They are basically explaining the same things if you can reduce the words into the ideas that they convey. And this is one of the reasons why it bothers me so much when Religion is vilified and degraded: becasue doing so completely disrespects the intelligence of our ancestors and the evolution of our minds.

Sure, over history many terrible things have been done in the name of God or religion. But so has it happened in the name of love and any other ideas. Does that make love and other ideas necessarily evil? Of course not. You can't really blame an idea or feeling for the actions of evil or bad people. And that is the meaning of the Commandment quoted at the top. Do not use the name of God for wrong purposes.

Well, here in the Baptist dominated Bible Belt, people are told that this Commandment forbids using God's name in an invective phrase, such as "Goddamn!" or "Oh my God!" or whatever endless variations people can create. Strictly, or Fundamentally speaking, I suppose that's true enough, but it's just completely naive and misses the deeper meaning of the Commandment. Besides, when someone exclaims, "Oh my God!" in surprise or any other strong emotion God knows those are really just prayers. ;-)

The people who are really breaking the Commandment are the ones like Al Gore, the current AntiChrist, who invokes God's name for his own selfish purposes (fame, glory, power, influence, and so on). But there are others who are abusing God's name as well. They are the ones who try to tell everyone that a belief in God and religion is the source of all the problems that have ever existed. How is it not obvious that the Commandment is a warning against any kind of abuse of power and control? And these antireligionists, or militant atheists as some call themselves, are really just false prophets abusing the name of God by spreading lies of ommission about religion and its influence on the evolution of mankind.

Well, of course, who am I to indict anyone? But I do want to show people their misunderstandings about the role of religion and a belief in God in our human development. There is a deeper meaning to the stories and mythology of religion, and to deny that or to demean it is a asking for trouble. ;-)

Broken-Hearted Savior

Yeah... Out on the back street,
Taking love where I can,
I found a sweet madonna
Ooo with a bible in her hand.
She's waiting,
Anticipating well,
For someone to save her soul;
Well I ain't no new messiah,
But I'm close enough for rock and roll

"Rockin' Into the Night" by 38 Special

Rock and Roll Fantasy

Sometimes I have Messianic delusions (a variety of delusions of grandeur and persecution), but then it always gets to the part when I'm supposed to suffer and die. And I change my mind. Well, can you blame me? Nobody likes true pain, the kind inflicted upon us by others. (Masochists don't count.)

Most of us will pain ourselves with various things at times, like worrying over silly things, or sometimes serious things too. But that kind of pain is really just an illusion because we have ultimate control over it. We can stop thinking about whatever and the pain subsides. We can't and don't have ultimate control over external forces though.

Most saviors have to suffer on the behalf of others because the very nature of saving is dangerous. Why do some of us willingly suffer for others? I'll get to that in a minute.

Even Jesus bemoaned his fate because the physical and emotional pain really hurt:

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Matthew 27:46 (KJV)

It is a totally natural reponse to avoid pain. And to complain when we feel it. But pain is a very normal and basic experience, and often unavoidable. So what makes that pain bearable? Well, some people call on God to give them strength, but for those who object to God we can call it Love. God is Love.

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

1 John 4:7-8 (New American Standard)

Love is Divine. How else could such a thing exist than by the hand of God? And if it's purely "chemical processes" in our bodies and brains that result in this feeling and knowing of love then why can't that be considered evidence for God? How can one prove love to someone who's never felt it? Some people spend entire lifetimes trying to prove their love to one person. Why must that mean that love isn't real, just because the one person has never felt it or refuses to see it? Why must it mean that God doesn't exist if no one can prove it? Can anyone disprove love? Likewise, can anyone truly disprove God? Well, if they have I sure haven't heard about it and you'd think that would be pretty big news. ;-)

And if God (and Love) are delusions, as Richard Dawkins proclaims, then they're pretty f*cking awesome delusions and that's why they survive. :-) I'm sure Dawkins is a nice enough guy, but his focus on the bad aspects of human-created, imperfect religions is very similar to the cherry-picking of evidence that the global warming alarmists do to support their ideas. I'm sure if someone wanted to take the time and energy, he could write a book about all the evil done in the name of Science and it would equal if not exceed that done in the name of religion.

Thorns In My Fingers

This post's title comes from a song I heard the other night. I'd been thinking about this post for a while and thought that was an appropriate title.

And now, even later, I've thought of Thorns in My Fingers because I literally have some broken-off blackberry thorns in my fingers. They do hurt. What does this have to do with love?

Oh, yeah, Love Hurts too. Like being a savior and having blackberry thorns in your fingers - or a thorn in your side, whatever works for you. ;-) All of this is related. I endure the pain of picking blackberries because of love. Blackberries need blood (no, I can't scientifically support that statement, but as a 'shaman' I know it), and it's right and proper to offer them a little in exchange for their nice berries. And also I know my family enjoys the berries, and I am willing to suffer a little to make them things that they enjoy. Actually, my entire life is pretty much devoted to my family which means that I've sacrificed many selfish concerns for them. But that doesn't necessarily make me their savior. I'm just the Momma.

This is kind of falling apart, but maybe I can tie some of the loose ends. Or maybe I'll just start a whole new string?

Where was I anyway? Broken-hearted saviors. Yeah. Why are saviors broken-hearted? Well, they are broken-hearted because they know that their sacrifice will not really matter all that much to everyone, especially not to those who refuse to acknowlege the Divine Forces. All of their pain and suffering will largely go unnoticed and unappreciated and even criticized and scorned by the unfaithful. They are also broken-hearted because it's only through a broken heart that Love can really do its work.

Viruses of the Soul

Dawkins calls religion "viruses of the mind." The viruses of the soul are hubris, greed, and other purely human traits that separate us from God/Love. The war on religion and God that so many militant atheists are trying to fight is nothing less than an attack on the Freedom of Thought which is the root of our First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech and Religion. It's terribly unfortunate that 'distinguished' scholars can't or won't see that, ignoring it like a (spiritual) mole that is destined to become a malignant melanoma (of the soul).

Love is God's immune response for our souls. Love can heal our pains, but also the process of healing is sometimes painful, like the hot inflammation of the skin where the body is fighting an infection or has been burned. This relationship between God and Love and pain is complex. It is a mistake for people to judge God because of the pain in the world. That is like judging Nature by viruses and other predators. It's all necessary and natural.

From the broken-hearted savior maybe someone can learn that God is no more a delusion than Love or the Space that scientists still don't quite understand.

And that is today's sermonette.


Previous post on very similar subject.

Freedom of Religion and Thought

Article I (First Amendment)

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

We have to remember that our founding fathers were reacting to England's struggles with the establishment of an 'official' religion. There was tremendous persecution done on behalf of religious differences. This was one of the main reasons that the colonists came here. This is why this issue is put first in the First Amendment. It was that important. It still is.

Let's look at what it says exactly. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." What that means is that there will be no law that establishes a National Religion of any kind. What it does not mean is that there can't be laws that respect religious establishments. But to hear some people talk you'd think that's what they think it means. They are totally misreading it. They want to think it means that the government can't have any religious expressions. But that's NOT what it says. People who object to "In God We Trust" on our money and "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and any other phrase that mentions God or any other religious concept are actually VIOLATING the First Amendment. They want to conveniently forget that "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" part. Hello? Free exercise thereof. That means that I have every right to say Christmas, and so does my kids' school and the courthouse and any other person or place that wants to. Calling a decorated tree in a government building a 'Christmas tree' is NOT establishing a religion. It is only the free exercise thereof.

I know some people will say, "Oh, but what about other religions? Why can't they have whatever to celebrate their holidays? If you have a Christmas tree then you should have a Hanukkah tree or whatever too." Well, no one is stopping someone from doing that if they really want it. If you have a town that is mostly Jewish then they would probably focus on their own traditions. If a Christian minority there felt left out then they could do something of their own. Big deal. With freedom comes the responsibility to respect other views. That's what the whole First Amendment is about anyway. And that applies equally to atheists, fundamentalists, and everyone else. If someone is offended by a Christmas tree then they need to reread their history and the Constitution.

Our founding fathers were very spiritual people. They believed in God, and they believed that Divine Providence guided them in creating our nation. People need to go back and reread the Declaration of Independence. For your convenience here are the first two and the last paragraphs:

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

...

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

There is a lot of mention of God in there. In today's political environment if we were trying to establish our Independence from Britain it would never happen because of all the dumbasses who can't understand plain English and who refuse to try. That really scares me and bothers me.

The previous was copied from a December 2005 posting.

Today I'd like to extend the discussion a bit. In the months since that posting it seems this issue has only gotten bigger and more serious. It not only affects holiday expressions but everyday issues.

Recently I've gone 'round and 'round with some angry atheists. They insist that Religion is the source of all evil in the world. Is that not the stupidest thing you've ever heard? Of course, no one denies that wars have been fought with Religion closely related to the conflicts. But to say that Religion is evil and has done no good for humanity is just plain dumb. Many wars have been fought over other basic needs, so should we also condemn those needs as well?

Like it or not, Religion is one of the pillars of civilization. It is one of those things that truly separated/separates us from the lower primates. To call for Religion to be abolished is about as silly as calling for architecture to be abolished.

Architecture is another pillar of civilization that has separated us from lower primates. It varies by culture and location, but it is always necessary for humans to survive. Physical shelter is one of our most basic needs, and the architecture that humans have developed and evolved over our history is evidence of our creativity in fulfilling our basic needs.

Religion is a kind of shelter too. It is a shelter for humanity to help it survive the social, emotional, and spiritual hardships that life entails. Religion is involved with fulfilling the basic need for social security (not at all the same as the government program called "Social Security"). Religion has given order and purpose to our lives. It has also varied according to culture and location, and it is evolving as our human society continues to grow. Without Religion humans would still be acting like wild animals with no "higher" attributes. To deny this fact is the same as a child thinking that because a ball is out of his sight, then it must not exist anymore.

Of course, anyone is free to disagree with me, but he would be wrong. ;-) I know my history and my psychology and my sociology and all those other "inferior" aspects of existence. But without them there would be no universities for those high falutin atheists to occupy and exercise their own freedoms. It is so very disturbing to me that these same atheists who claim that Religion is evil are the first ones to turn hateful and vengeful when they are questioned or confronted. Do they really "believe" in Freedom or anything else? I think not. Or at least, I see no evidence of it.

Hey, if someone wants to be an atheist I don't give two shits about it as long as they leave me and my religion alone. Freedom of Speech does not guarantee that atheists have to right to relentlessly criticize, belittle, or otherwise verbally abuse others with whom they disagree. But even I am susceptible to returning fire when attacked. I realize that some religious people are just as guilty of condemning people with whom they disagree, and that is unfortunate and this message is intended for them too.

While Religion is an essential pillar of civilization and will continue to be even though some will always try to destroy it, we all must learn to accept differences in thought and belief if our civilization is to continue evolving in a positive direction. Destroying any of the pillars of our shelters (of whatever kind) will only weaken the entire construction of our human civilization.*

And that is this week's sermonette.


* A note about Science: I love science and generally take a 'scientific' view of the world, but I am also aware that Science cannot yet answer ALL questions and fulfill ALL needs. It could be argued that the atheists who place all of their faith and belief in Science are basically worshipping it, just like the religious people who place all of their faith and belief in God to provide the ultimate and final answers. On a certain level there is no distinction between these approaches. Science is as much a human creation as religion. Oh, I know that's really going to prickle the sensitivities of some, but if they could only remove their emotional attachments to certain thoughts then they would be able to see it that way too.