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“Beam Me Down” Creationism This is the idea that suddenly God decided to Create Everything, and then took a week to do the job. It is quite literally telling God how to do His Work. It has the gall to put Him on a work schedule! It is as if there existed a penalty clause for late completion. If God Is All Powerful, why does He need a week ? Get the job done Now. The question is, why should He? Why would God be in a hurry? Does God have a deadline? Human beings made up the story. Your Uncle Ferd* Was an Idiot We enjoy God given free will so that we can make mistakes. So that in the end of the universe God will not. I assume that God does not want to make mistakes. He is perfectly willing to let you interact with evil for Him. God grants to you the power to choose. He guards your free will choices. He guards your ability to make decisions for yourself. God can learn nothing from you if He controls you. That destroys God’s Plan. Because that is always the way it has been is not an excuse. You Have to Choose to Sin Generally, sin is a transgression of a religious law made up by humans. This is the lowest level of sin. Sin is a deliberate disobedience. You have to know it is a sin, and do it anyway. You have to choose to sin. I am only concerned with the higher level of religious sin. The higher level of religious sin is that behavior which knowingly and deliberately interferes with God's Plan. It is our duty to follow those laws and rules. You Are Not God's Focus Some folks want an interested, paternal God. A God who cares of His children. A God that pays attention to every tiny act and thought of every second of every day. This is a childish fairy tale. God does not care what happens to humans. What would convince God to change His mind and act to send another emissary to Earth? All the others had failed from Moses to John the Baptist. That was a plan that apparently does not work very well. You Are Alone You are responsible for your own personal relationship with God. In other words, you must put aside the fairy tale of God hovering above your shoulder. Put aside the idea of a constantly observing God. Put aside the idea of a bribable, appeasable God. Put aside the idea of a capricious and constantly meddling God. A God that will save you from yourself. A God that will save you from current events. The hardest idea to accept is, that God does not care about you while you are alive. You Are A Disappointment to God? What is religious sin, especially if God is not going to punish you for your sins? Why can’t “sin” be as simple as God’s eventual disappointment at the results you have created of your life? God does not reject you, or throw away your soul when you are a disappointment to Him. If you waste your time, you can never get it back. Why should you waste even a single hour. What Is God? When I was in college in New Mexico, I first encountered the idea of a spider as a God. I was trying to learn something about the local culture and state history. There were several tribes in that state that had stories about Grandmother Spider, the Creator. By way of comparison, a spider might very well be a cute, cuddly critter when compared to God. God does not have a heart, in either sense of the word. God is pure intellect. God is only concerned about investigating His Questions. What Does God Look Like? What does God look like? I don’t know. I also don’t know if She, or He, wears boxers, briefs, or pantyhose, or needs any one of these choices. And are these questions really important? Well, I’ll grant that, to many people, an appearance by way of a picture, or a sculpture, allows them to visualize God more easily. As far as I am concerned, you may use any image you choose that pleases you. We Sang Together in the Treetops Beauty and music are the balms of life. Music is supposed to soothe the savage beast. Learn to read and play music. Sing! You don’t have to be good, you just have to be good and loud! We sang in the treetops while we drummed on the branches. Learn to draw, paint, or sculpt. Take art classes. Learn to read about something new. Reading transforms the mind. War Brides War is, in the end, a struggle over physical resources and minds. Killing in war has never been considered “wrong”. It seems to be connected to the self-defense mechanism. We are hard-wired to feel a genetic sympathy for close, tribal relatives. War used to be about increasing life. Modern weapons are a lot more efficient for massed killing than spears and arrows. Modern armies are very different. Modern armies and weapons are very efficient killers and destroyers. Vision Problems and Looking Into the Future? We recognize, because of our common experience of being socialized in a human community, our imperfections as human beings. We learn this as we grow up in contact with an immense variety of other human beings. Part of this is what we really mean when we use the term sophistication. A person from a small isolated rural village has not had the opportunity of exposure to as large a variety of people as has had a person growing up in a city. Upon Awakening From A Dream I was dreaming during my afternoon nap and my wife assures me that I was also snoring, “really sawing logs”. Psychologists tell us that our dreams are simply our brains trying to resolve conflicts. If that is true, I think I know the issues with which I was struggling, the things which generated this noise troubled dream. Immediately upon awakening, the dream and my answers still vivid, I began to write this material to further deal with the issues. Understanding The Nature of God, Part II - What We Think We Know About God God is. He exists. God is a living God. God is not human. God is sexless. God is strange. God is incomprehensible. God is mysterious and not easily understood. God acts in strange ways. God acts in incomprehensible ways. Yet God is a living God. The most distant living animal from humans is an arthropod. An insect, or spider might therefor fill the requirement. Understanding The Nature of God , Part I - What We Think We Know About God The most difficult part of understanding the nature of God is to come to terms with what God actually is, and is not. Twelve Reasons for a More Realistic Creationism We humans are not alone in God's Universe. The results of Hubble telescope. The complexity question and the need for plenty of time. The Big Bang Theory. A more God-like Plan. God's goal is the result, not the process. God's toy soldiers. People are not toys. They are complicated and intricacate. People are driven by impulses. People are full of good and evil thoughts. People have desires. People have internal conflicts. People are blessed with free will . People are cursed with fr The Ugly Truth About Hell I do not believe Hell exists, except as I will define it later. God doesn't need Hell. Some people need it, psychologically. Most people don't need Hell. A few people are well served by Hell. By promoting Hell, they get theirs. Most of what most people "know" about Hell comes to us from imagination and works of non-divinely inspired fiction. Most of what most people "know" about Hell comes to us from imaginary FICTION. Hell does not exist. War does exist. The Threat of God's Wrath is a Terror Tactic Made up by Organized Religion I don't believe there is a Satan. God does not need Satan. Satan's chief utility is as a symbol. A terror tactic. Hell does not exist. Those that say it does exist, are terrorists in the truest meaning of that word. The issue is control. Who is it that controls you? Whenever you are asked to suspend your sense of credulity. Vote with your feet. God's wrath is a terror tactic made up by humans. God is not wrathful, or angry, or even mildly irritated at anything you do. Why should He b The Sand Under Christianity's Foundation There is no form of supplication that can get God’s attention. God simply does not care enough about humans to pay attention to such trivialities. The line where pagan religion ends and our “modern” religion begins is vague. Celebrations, rites, and supplications are acts of organized religion. These actions are promoted to seek to control human groups. They do this for the benefit of the religious leaders. Religious leaders do use their intellect for their own purposes. The Real Truth Revealed About Prayer & The IRS We are taught that a failure of prayer is our fault. If you believe that, you are hooked. God never answers prayers because it is not in His interests to do so. A curse directed at God is just as effective as prayer. God is a pragmatist. God wants results. Don’t beg God in prayer. He has already given you what you need. God will not help you. He will not hear you. He will not answer you. God best helps those who help themselves. The Power of Symbols and My “Ah! Ha!” Moment Symbols enable thought. Eureka! The lightning struck me on the road to enlightenment. Symbols are powerful devices for the manipulation of ideas. Symbols are an aid to thinking. Symbols are an aid to the conceptualizing process. Symbols allow us to add depth and breadth to meanings by way of simile, and metaphor. I found instances of a spider as a symbol of God. Observation quickly suggests that spiders are “cold”, “heartless” hunters. Spiders are obviously of a different species. The Failure of Organized Religion To know God, to know bliss, or ecstasy, is our highest calling while alive. Religion is a way to find and experience personal ecstasy. Organized religion should teach us how to attain ecstasy. Organized religion fails in this duty. It has failed to teach the importance of, and implementation of, the golden rule in our lives. Individuals need to be taught how to attain ecstasy through implementation of the golden rule. You cannot buy your way into "Heaven". The Big Lie of Creationism & Intelligent Design Your soul does not die. Your soul is a part of God, immortal and everlasting. We are all part of the Eternal Whole, God. We all return to God. We are the carriers of God’s knowledge. God is not all knowing. He even questions Himself. He wants to learn. He is curious. He has set up His Plan of the universe. He has set up His His system of evolution. He lets competition to survive create His versatile tools. You are a part of that Plan. God's Plan is the only Intelligent Design. Ten Ways To Recognize Real Sin The key point for all that we do, is to take personal responsibility for what we do. Despicability does not necessarily make a sin. It might not be a sin against God. God doesn’t demand a lot from you. God doesn’t prohibit a lot to you. What is sin? Especially if God is not going to punish you for your sins? Sin is that which interferes with God’s Plan. God’s Laws are provable and observable. God’s laws are not interpretations by some human. Ten Steps to Success in Life The answer unfolds from the survival imperative. Clear perception, honest appraisal, learning, exhibit courage, responsiblity, reproduction, teaching, appreciate beauty & collaborative music, support your relatives, and support your society are the ten steps. You’ll note that there is not one negative in the bunch. Ten Proper Behaviors Proper behaviors are those behaviors derived from the evolutionary requirement for success. See through the camouflage. Fail this vision test and die. Be honest. Experience life. Be bold enough. Learn all the time. Think before you leap. Be observant and courageous. Play with friends and have fun. Get along with others. Modify our environment. Survive, Suffer, & Enjoy Sweaty, Satisfying Sex God is right out there in plain sight. God is visible if you have eyes to see. People would rather believe some mountebank, charlatan, or criminal priest. God has a purpose for you. His purpose is not one where He will be worried about your happiness. Your happiness has never been the question. People are not here, and alive, to be happy. Happiness is not part of the game plan. God’s purpose opens the door to incredible human adventuring, joy, suffering, pain, and death. Suicide Without A Sanity Test To commit suicide is, at least, slightly arrogant. God may decide you have not learned enough. God might very well send you right back to try life again. Laws against suicide are based on politics. Even Moses didn't try to proscribe that way out. Today, we force people into death by cop, or faked "accidents". In today's crowded world, we do not need the extra people. It makes sense to have a quiet, honorable way out without a sanity test, and an extremely protracted delay. Something Stinks Like a Dead Fish Most of what we have been told about sin is a lie. The lies stink. They stink like a dead fish. They stink because their purpose is so venal. Only organized religion is served by these stinking lies. The lies do not serve the mass of people. The lies serve the purposes of organized religion. Very little that organized religion calls “sin” is really sin. God gives us life and free will. Sin then must negatively impact either life, free will, or God’s Plan. Six Similarities of a Priesthood and Organized Crime How to recognize the “con game” of organized religion. 1. Similarity of purpose 2. Similarity of plan. 3. Similarity of actions. 4. Similarity of results. 5. Similarity of style. 6. Similarity of modus operandi Sins Will Not Keep You Away From God I'm trying to deal with a particularly difficult kind of "sin". Human beings made it up. Then very skillfully hid the evidence. An ill-defined "miasma of general, just normal human nastiness. It compounds the layered misconceptions about God. It gets your attention, and sets you up for the sale. Why does something that supposedly is so great for the congregation members have to be sold like potato chips, soap flakes, and used cars? Sin & Religious Prostitution The laws of society are a potpourri of historical remnants. The laws of society are also a tossed salad. God's religious laws are His Natural Laws. God has laws for living things, and the most important of these is the imperative for survival. Free will is the second level of God's laws for living things, as this conforms to His Purpose. Prostitution has been widely encouraged many times by organized religions. Schoolboy Bane See life as it is. Deal with life. Live with life. It won't go away easily. Death is a hard reality. Enjoy life. Enjoy all parts of life. Enjoyment stops when it has only become drunkenness. Survival is a lucky gift. There is more than the difference between men and boys than the size and number of their toys. You can measure the value of your own life only by what you have done for others. School Prayer What some people want is a return to indoctrination of religious values. The problem with this in a pluralistic society is, which religion? Prayer has never left schools. Children do pray before tests. Test-taking is a skill. It can be taught, learned, practiced, and be readily applied. Many students don’t even do the simplest of study plans. My Dad was going to help me learn how to learn. I learned that if I spent enough time at it, I could learn. Salting the Soup & Preparing to Meet God You can choose to ignore God for your entire life. You can choose to break every man-made law, rule, or regulation. God will not care. God will not stop you. God will not punish you. God will cherish you. God will only judge you upon your death. Your after death experience with God is His to choose. You cannot buy your way into His favor. You cannot take the salt out of the soup. God will still savor your essence when He calls you home. Sages & Sinners, Perverts & Priests, Five Reasons We all go to Heaven After our death, no one goes to Purgatory. Purgatory does not exist. No one goes to Hell. Hell does not exist. We all go to God. God exists. We all go to Heaven. God exists. God is. God's Plan is not about your accident of birth in a society, or a religion. God's Laws apply to everything and everyone. God's Plan includes every society and every religion on the planet. Rebellion Against Organized Religious Repression Life on Earth is short. Only your soul is eternal. We humans might have a life span of a century. This tends to cause us to think short term. To never question your perception of your relationship with God is sinful. Giving up the opportunity to be free of organized religious repression is sinful. Rape, The Death Penalty & A Modest Proposal for Reformed Justice Rape is a violent social crime that deserves the severest punishment that can be provided – death. The original concept of ostracism was a death penalty sentence. Today we drive the prisoners insane. We transform them into sexually perverse persons. This cost is simply too expensive for society to bear. A prisoner that is convicted of a violent crime is too dangerous. The convicted should instead be quickly and quietly executed. Pruning God's Garden of Souls, Part 3 Erupting Neonatal Newborns God has a Plan. We are a part of God’s Plan. His Plan includes unintended consequences. God does not waste. DNA is God’s molecular Plan of life. He deliberately built into that process random chance. God's only concerns may be the good of the species, and the result He gets from His tools. The wounded and the weak must be allowed to perish for the good of the species, and an untempered tool cannot do the required work. God is a good shepherd. He culls the flock. Pruning God's Garden of Souls, Part 2 Untouched by God God has a Plan. We are a part of God’s Plan. His Plan includes unintended consequences. God does not waste. DNA is God’s molecular Plan of life. He deliberately built into that process random chance. God's only concerns may be the good of the species, and the result He gets from His tools. The wounded and the weak must be allowed to perish for the good of the species, and an untempered tool cannot do the required work. God is a good shepherd. He culls the flock. He seeks perfection. Pruning God's Garden of Souls, Part 1 Spontaneous Miscarriages God has a Plan. We are a part of God’s Plan. His Plan includes unintended consequences. God does not waste. DNA is God’s molecular Plan of life. He deliberately built into that process random chance. God's only concerns may be the good of the species, and the result He gets from His tools. The wounded and the weak must be allowed to perish for the good of the species, and an untempered tool cannot do the required work. God is a good shepherd. He culls the flock. He seeks perfection. Priests in Sheep’s Clothing False religious leaders will try to tell you what to think. False religious leaders will try to tell you what to do. False religious leaders will will hold out their hands expecting you to place your money in their hands. This is how you will know them. Observe them with open eyes and a closed mouth. Keep the lock on your wallet firmly closed and the key in another pair of pants. They are the wolf in sheep’s clothing. False religious leaders do not care about your soul. Prayer, Chutzpah, & Outright Stupidity Prayer is an attempt for direct communication with God. You also have tons of chutzpah, if you to beg in prayer for a free gift of knowledge from Deity. To beg for a gift without having worked for it, is as close as it gets to outright stupidity. You are the one doing the work. The prayer was a self promise of intent to do one’s best. Do not pretend to yourself that God is listening. He is not listening. God never gives us any promises. Prayer Is Not Sniveling, Whining, & Crawling To remain sane you need to seek to create a balance within you. You will experience good and evil. You will do things that are good. You will do things that are evil. Seek to balance evil with good. Threats, promises, and bribery are not forms of prayer. They are instead the immature actions of a child. History is always written by the victors. It does not demand sniveling, whining, and crawling. These actions are remarkably similar to those of a slave using nonassertive tactics to res Passion, Porn & Folk Tales Passion is a key to knowledge. Passion convinces us to do something. It is the way of God. Another word for passion is emotion. Learn to use your emotions, don’t let your emotions use you. Use your emotions to “pre-learn” to deal with situations. You will feel and do as you want when that situation arrives. Pre-conditioning is pre-conditioning. Your unconscious brain lacks the ability to distinguish between a “real” video tape and a “fake reality” video tape. No Excuses, Sir If there is something you did of which you are not proud, you get no chance to blame it on someone else. You get no chance make excuses. You get no chance to blame it on circumstances you could not control. This concept of religion can be seen as distant, difficult, and uncompromising. I do believe in God’s grace. I am not planning any competition for the “prerogatives” of organized religion. I am not attempting to deny God. I am not trying to found a new religion. Nine Points about Organized Religion Nothing about religion is simple. Some leaders of organized religions freely admit their own lack of faith. An organized religion is a formalization of conservatism designed to resist change. Organized religion is a pipeline and a connection. Organized religion provides a baby blanket for adults. Hatred and wars approved of by religion is the greatest of failures of organized religion. Organized religion has used “missionary work” as a weapon of mass destruction. Nine More Proper Behaviors Proper behaviors are those behaviors derived from the evolutionary requirement for success. Ten proper behaviors have been discussed in another article. Proper behaviors are those behaviors derived from the evolutionary requirement for success: survive. We can infer some additional guidelines for proper behavior that follow the first ten. My God Is Better Than Your God God isn’t small minded. The names of God can be Any thing. Every God is a center of a faith. There were rites, celebrations, dances, ceremonies, prayers, and sacrifices. Believers loved their God. Believers possibly feared their God. Believers made sacrifices to their God. Believers made masks, headdresses, and costumes. Believers danced with them, and prayed to their God. God in every human religion I’ve studied is the trickster, the “way”, and the “bringer of light”. Most Prayer Is Worthless. Learn to Pray Effectively. Prayer without introspection, careful thought, work, and preparation is worthless to you and God. Prayer without action is worthless to you and God. Prayer makes us feel better as it functions as a form of therapy. Prayer, by itself, will not satisfy long term physical needs like the needs for water, food, or sleep. Like a good parent, God will not respond to your whining. Get off the couch of life and do something! Moses Was An Egyptian Moses was an Egyptian. Moses was human. He was an untypical Israelite. Moses did not understand God’s Plan and message. Moses had lived most of his life in a highly artificial environment, that of the royal court of Egypt. He had not lived the life of a common citizen of Egypt, much less that life which was the lot of the Israelite slaves. Some things you cannot learn, except by living and growing up in a culture. Moses' understanding would always be affected by his upbringing. Microwave Oven Creationism God does things in Big Ways. He makes stars. He creates planets. He creates Life with a capitol “L”. This kind of bigness tends to make people think that they can’t understand Him. Let’s simplify. God cooks soup. Do you want to stand in the light of God? You do? Good. Go outside and stand in the sunshine. You have done it. You are in the Light of God. God created that light. That light left the surface of the sun about eight minutes before it touched your skin. Many Ways to Bribe God We will bribe God. First was the intense study of astronomy. Organization of societies to build huge monolithic monuments to be used as calendars. Those early astronomers sought answers. Religious leaders could use natural phenomena to reinforce belief in their “power” to talk to God. A cathedral as a tool for control of the masses is pure genius. Plain old simple individual prayer does not seem to have any effect. God does not seem to be listening. God does not do what we want Him to do Look Out for "Sin" Land Mines Repetition is the final step of learning. God doesn't deliberately set out "sin" land mines. Land mines for you step on and set off. You most often do it to yourself. The Bible was written at a time when theocracy was the general rule. The Constitution of the United States of America was the first written government document to almost totally separate civil law and religion. We are still not comfortable with the arrangement. Living with Good and Evil Harmonize and balance good and evil. You will experience evil. Your children will experience evil. Teach your children to deal with it. The experiences, the actions of your life are uniquely yours. They make you what and who you are. Decide what you will do to balance evil. Passion is the key to knowledge. Passion is the key to the good life and the good death. Perfection is not possible for any humans. Little Children Shall Lead Them “What is God? Where is God? What does God do? How do I know God answers my prayers? What does God look like?" Answer as you would to a small child’s questions. Don't lie to your children. Children will test you and God. The straight forward answers are: We don't know. We don't know. We don't know. God doesn't answer our prayers. We don't know. Light Your Own Fire Sin is the lack of personally responsible for your own life, religious practices, choice of religion, and ministry. This kills your ever having original independent new thoughts, ideas, concepts, and actions. You must connect directly with God. How you choose to personally seek God is your choice. Organized religion will seek in every way possible to stop you. Your personal mystical experience is a direct challenge to the the priesthood. Life is Too Short for Perfection This concept of God is not cuddly. A personal responsibility form of religion and religious practice is simply not a nice, warm, safe place in which to exist spiritually. It is cold and you have to light your own fires. You have to take care of yourself. God will not take care of you. God promises you nothing. He only has expectations for you. It is all up to you and your freewill choices. God only takes note of you and your life after you have lived it and you are dead. Life After Death? Part 1 Heaven and Purgatory How does it all end? We all die. We are all in this together. The only ways to escape are to die, or leave the planet Earth. What did you think? That God was going to give you a special pass? Were you planning to bribe your way past the Pearly Gates? What do you think the going rate is for a death pass there at the Pearly Gates? Killing & Death & Life Does God exists in all human beings? God gave you free will. God gave you a brain with the ability to think and reason. Know yourself. We need the experience of death. To understand death, you must actually touch the corpse. You must feel the absence of life and soul. You must actually touch the corpse before you can truly value life. This gives you the opportunity to value life. John Scopes vs the Emperor with No Clothes Creationism is the idea that suddenly God decided to Create Everything, and accomplished the job in one week. Counter that with the the scientific method. It does not rely on trust. Peer review is a world wide open season on every publication of findings and theory. God does not work by way of holistic instantaneous creationism. Nothing suggests that God is actively working toward stupidity. Everything suggests that God is actively working toward smartness and intelligence. Jesus, Part 8 - Jesus Was A Jew Do you consider yourself a Jew, a member of the Hebrew faith? If you are a nominal Christian, why not? Jesus was born, raised, and educated as a Jew. It is very likely that Jesus spoke Aramaic, Greek, and Hebrew. No one around Jesus apparently thought anything remarkable about Him. Which implies that He was a pretty typical. We just know that He began His ministry. A person suddenly "seeing the light" and embarking on a career of revolution, or reformation, is common. Jesus, Part 7 - Rolling Stones Jesus offered Himself as a martyr for purposes of resurrection. It was to be used as an example to drag the Jews back to the "straight and narrow". The Jews were, after all, Jesus' intended audience. It is also a clear example of misunderstanding the intransigence and iron willed determination of the leaders of organized religion. After Jesus' ascension, His message depended on word of mouth for a very long time. The Greeks seem to have clearly understood the the need for a written history. Jesus, Part 5 - Evangelical Jesus? Jesus was born, raised, and educated as a Jew. The Jews wanted a military leader to step forward and do in the Romans. The Romans and the Sanhedrin worked together to quell any hint of civil, or religious disturbances. They had an extensive spy network. Crucifixion and slavery was an effective methodology for dealing with rioters. The Jews wanted a leader that would step forth, rally the population and reassert the power of God. To Jews of the period, Jesus was a disappointment. Jesus, Part 4 - Married? Do you consider yourself a Jew, a member of the Hebrew faith? If you are a nominal Christian, why not? Jesus was born, raised, and educated as a Jew. It is very likely that Jesus spoke Aramaic, Greek, and Hebrew. Aramaic was the common language. Greek was the language of commerce. He, and His father, Joseph were carpenters and possibly stone cutters. Even less is known about the years of adulthood between age 19 and 30 for Jesus than His childhood. Jesus, Part 1- Embellished Birth? Jesus Was A Jew. Jesus was born, raised, and educated as a Jew. Jesus lived at a time when scholarship was admired. He studied at the Temple. He was a scholar of His religion. Hebrew was the language of the Temple. It is very likely that Jesus spoke at least Aramaic, Greek, and Hebrew. Aramaic was the common language. Greek was the language of commerce. Hebrew was the language of religious instruction. He, and His father, Joseph were carpenters and possibly stone cutters. It Only Takes One To Make A War Just like on the school playground, or between nations, in matters religious it only takes one to make a fight. It seems clear that Muslims world wide have no interest in good relations between the world’s great religions. How far the mighty have fallen. Once the best of the best in creative expression of reason and thought, Islam has driven reason into a slime pit. When recognition of a desire for world wide religious domination is taken into consideration, this makes a kind of sense. It is a Deliberate Lie to Call a Natural Disaster A Punishment of God People must make their own decisions. Learning made this way may be painful. God is not to be feared. He is not going to smite you. God is not vengeful, nor angry. God is not going to blast you, or your enemies. God does not send plagues, nor floods, nor clouds of locusts. These problems are only small parts of the natural world. When you hear from religious leaders that God is punishing you, or us, with such natural problems, recognize it for what it is, a deliberate lie. Islam: You Are Responsible for Your Government, Your Culture, and Your Religion Islam: You are responsible for your government. If you do not like what your government does, you are responsible for making the changes that will make you happy. That was what our American Revolution was all about. Intelligence, Technology & Cockroaches The race of human beings is meaningless to God. God does not care if you, or the whole human race lives or dies. This may be the ultimate test of intelligence. Humanity will only survive as long as it is useful to God. We are testing the efficacy of intelligence and technology and tool using. The next time, it might be another type of test. Another species will get a chance to be in God’s tool box. Cockroaches are very tough and successful. God will choose the winner through evolution. Immaculate Conception Immaculate conception was a needful selling point for organized religions for the times. It is not needed now. Immaculate conception requires God's active intervention in human affairs. It sounds like a lie backing up an inconsiderate mortal man's belief that women are cattle, good only for bearing children. God is noninterventionist. He does not interfere. The story smells of rationalization and embellishment. Rationalization, embellishment, and falsehood are human behaviors. If God “Speaks” To You: Bliss and Terror, a Deer Caught in the Headlights If God “speaks” to you, you will know equal parts of bliss and terror. Think of yourself as a deer caught in the headlights. Think of hearing a distinctive voice talking to you. It might be a booming roar. It might be a quiet whisper at your ear. How many people that God is trying to talk to are thought to be mad? Isn't it curious that the mad were treated well by primitives? Isn't it curious that the mad are thrown into prisons by modern scientific thinking societies? God’s Grace You cannot “confess” and be forgiven by anyone for anything you have done. God will not forgive, or pardon you. Forgiveness is a human idea. Forgiveness comes from weakness. God is not weak. The justice system doesn’t work today. This is one reason that decreases people’s trust in government. You chose your actions. You did them. Don’t be a wimp. Don’t be a crybaby. Be responsible for them. Be an adult. Learn some self-control. God’s Expectations and the Good Life Question: How do we know how to live the Good Life? Answer: We don’t. Survival is God’s only unwritten rule. Survival is Good. Remember these subsequent rules: 1. the predator evolves, getting smarter, faster, sneakier, and more adept at camouflage. 2. the prey also must adapt and change to every one of these abilities. 3. the prey must counter and defeat every new predator ability. God, What Do You Want? Part 2 The problem with the examination of the God-Man relationship is that only one side of the relationship is available to us for study. Everything we think we know about God and our relationship to Him is based on underlying assumptions, speculations, history, belief, faith, hope, and fear. Man(kind) cannot ever “know” God except in terms that are understandable to us as human beings. God, What Do You Want? Part 1 The problem with the examination of the God-Man relationship is that only one side of the relationship is available to us for study. Everything we think we know about God is our idea. Everything about our relationship to Him is based on underlying assumptions, speculations, history, belief, faith, hope, and fear. Man(kind) cannot ever “know” God except in terms that are understandable to us as human beings. God, the Minimalist God also does things in small ways. He seems to exert minimal effort. God is persistent. God is patient. God is constantly Creating Hydrogen. He does this by the Force of His Will. When there is enough, God metaphorically “flicks His finger”, a la “moves a butterfly wing”, and creates movement. Movement leads to whirlpools coalescing into balls of gasses in sizes large enough to become stars. God is a minimalist. God, Charity & the Camel God is not charitable. This idea is human delusion and egotism. If you protect a child from every hurt. If you protect a child from every decision. If you protect a child from taking independent action. The result is that he, or she, does not grow in self reliance. You are God's child. Why should God spoil you? A knife blade to be strong, must be hammered, then tempered in fire and water. Can a camel pass through the eye of a needle? God's Petri Dish Even God is uncertain how the human experiment will turn out. He most likely has multiple back-up plans. God has plenty of time. He’s already got His Plan of evolution working for Him. He also has evolution’s great tools of diversification and competition working for Him. God is not good, nor is He evil. God is. God simply is. God is using human beings. It is our own free will that develops good and evil. God's Hammer God is. The soul is. Death is simply a matter of time, place, and circumstance for all of us. Today is a good day to die. We are the tools of, and for, God’s purpose. Just so with God with a useful tool like a soul. Why should a soul not be used many times for different purposes? Our purpose is to be used by God. Between birth and death, is up to you. You are God's hammer. God Will Not Jump Out & Bite You God does not seem to be listening. This does not mean you cannot pray. It does not mean that you cannot have a vision quest. Focus yourself on God. Control your breathing and relax. God is not going to jump out and bite you. You will no longer be able to hear the TV. You have begun to approach The Way, Oneness with God, Enlightenment, Bliss, or Nirvana. You will not be asleep. Getting A Soul When does God attach a soul? First, please remember that we’re trying to use straight line steps of thought. Second, that I stated previously that the whole question of “soul” was an unknown. I agree that the whole question as to whether we even have a soul is an assumption. I believe that we do “get a soul” at some point. I just don’t know at what age. From Vision Quest to Bribing God Many religions have practiced this “seeking after God”. Sometimes it is a "rite of passage". Organized religion took these ideas, reinvented them, adding voluntary retreat from society, asceticism, and vows of poverty. All are attempts to incur the pleasure of God. Each is a kind of bribe to try to get something from God. They are attempts to force some kind of recognition from God. Some way to retain their power. Fresh Meat in a Den of Hungry Lions As soon as Moses came down the mountain, he was faced with the truth. We humans were already twisting and squirming. We were debating and weaseling. God sent us a reformer. From the very beginning of this reformation, we humans have been at our old habits. Jews were highly skilled linguists. They were skilled legalistic hairsplitters in their own right. The Greeks were long layering meanings of words. It must have been like throwing fresh throwing fresh meat into a den of hungry lions Free Will & The Soul Carrier I believe that you are a container of soul. Only our souls are of God. Free will is the keystone of both faith and belief. Faith, to be real, must be put into action. Faith, to be real, must implement the golden rule. To do something with your faith, you must choose. You must exercise free will. For you to have free will means that the future cannot be known. God is not going to get personal with you. God’s gift to you is the ability to choose and believe as you see fit. Five Reasons to Believe in God It all starts with a belief in God. What logic and reason might we use to help us form our faith in God? What observable, logical reasons form and give definition to our belief? By what basis do we defend to ourselves our belief and our faith in God? What proofs of the existence of God are available? What might lead us to believe in the existence of a God. A God that created us as intelligent beings and all that is around us? Fishing, Vultures, Hyenas & Shotguns Leaders of organized religions are skilled, practiced, and very often college trained. They proudly call themselves fishers of men. What kind of fish are you? Your predator is here. It is a predator of predators. Predators come in many forms. Most predators of humans have learned to smile, and soothe your fears. The low-life human scavengers are planning to take advantage of you. Fearing God As a child I was taught to fear God. I was told to fear God in many ways, most of which were never explained. God was the fearsome unseen force that people talked about every Sunday. I never understood why I didn’t ever see God. Other people talked about seeing God, or at least seeing the light of God. I never understood why I didn’t hear that much about God on other days of the week, especially if He was that frightening and around all the time. Faux Religion and the Real Deal It is Sunday so you got up to an artificial alarm, got yourself through a shower, and got dressed. You ate something you didn’t remember five minutes later. You drove to church in a dazed state. You are now singing a familiar song. Why? You have repeated familiar prayers. Why? You dropped a contribution in the collection plate. Why? Was it because it is expected of you? Why? By whom? Are their expectations about you that important? Why? What have you achieved? Faith Is A Refusal To Deny God Faith is being able to see God’s works around us. The mystery is our unwillingness to see what is before us. Faith is dealing with the hard realities. God insists these are more important than our wishes. Faith is a refusal to deny God. Faith is a refusal to deny God the Power to Do It His Way. Faith in God is based on the scientific method and is subject to proofs of sense and reason. Faith is believing Christ’s words, “Nothing is impossible to you.” Faith is confidence in God’s Plan. Faith is a Piece of Wood. Belief Is A String. Faith and belief are obviously related. How to illustrate them clearly so people can understand. Think of faith as a piece of wood. A stick. A rod. We are going to wrap a long string around the rod. This is called a spindle. Belief is string. Severe knotting of the string can result from mishandling. This severe knotting is called a snarl. We can reshape a rod of wood into a spool. The string can come off neatly with many fewer problems. Shaped faith, formed faith, controls belief. Escaping Chains of Organized Religion The essence of religion is personal experience. In terms of that personal experience, there are no written rules of behavior for that experience. Human designed behaviors of worship are not God approved. Their purpose is to control you. As we live and have experiences, we will become different. Do not blind yourself by limiting your beliefs. Do not allow blinders to be fitted to you by others. A closed mind is a deadly weakness. An open mind is a deadly weapon. Enjoy God Like A Chocolate Milkshake Truth has no beginning and no end. Language determines thought. Study can lead to the Experience of Truth. It does depend on how you ascribe meaning to the words you use. You must experience God. You do not need to make magic, perform rites, or other claptraps of organized religion. You must experience a chocolate milkshake has the same result. You just do it. You need only a desire for the relationship with God to exist, and it does exist for you. Eight Good Reasons for Birth Control Intelligence has changed things. We now have better medicine. We live longer, far longer. Eaising children to the standard of success takes a lot more time, and money for every child. We simply cannot afford to have as many children as did our ancestors. To do so in today's world is not a good survival plan. Birth control is not just a whimsey, a choice for frivolity, it is an economic necessity for most, especially poor, families. Birth control is also a choice of free will. Don’t Expect to Be a Pig in Mud Expect little of God. Your whole life is a flicker of a shadow of a hummingbird's wing in flight. God is not interested in your problems. Get out there and do you job. A nanosecond, of bliss in a lifetime is enough. Bliss is not a hot tub. Don’t expect to be a pig in mud. There exists a place for regular periodic meditation. Death & Blackberry Pie You are born. You acquire soul. You live. You die. What comes after? That is the first question. The second question is, "Who, or what determines the part after death? Do you get just one run at life? Do you have an opportunity for multiple chances? Could a second life be a reward? Could a second life be a punishment? Isn't it up to God? Crucified, Beheaded, or Burned Alive are Only Ways to Say, "You Lose." You must seek oneness with God, enlightenment, or nirvana within yourself. This is your “vision quest.” The truth of it is, that you will never know until you try for yourself. It may, after all, be an illusion, or a delusion. Being crucified, beheaded, or burned at the stake are particularly nasty ways to die. You might find yourself locked up in an institution, or medicated. You might find yourself wandering the streets a shopping cart. The name of this game is called persecution. Criminal Clerics & Blood Sucking Parasites God does not promise a long, or easy, life. God’s Plan only demands that you gain knowledge through experience. God’s Plan only demands that you are honest in self appraisal. God’s Plan only demands courage to do what you must. Don’t lie to yourself. Emotions are one of the strongest fundamental forces in the universe. As former fur bearers, human naturally detest blood sucking parasites. Consequences of Doing Good Accept responsibility for your actions. Prayer, charity work or donations, a “good” life, and good works are not necessary. Likewise charity probably won’t hurt anyone. You do have to be careful about unintended consequences. Do you feed a man a fish, or teach him to fish? One without the other has unintended consequences. You can consider joining a local service organization in your community. You will be following the golden rule. Communion Participation in any religious rite is your choice. The symbolism and mystery of the Transmutation is moving. The rite, if performed sincerely, is deeply moving and can be important to the individual. Think clearly about what you are doing in communion. Eating your God? Religious cannibalism is symbolic cannibalism. Participating in an unusual rite makes that rite just that much more memorable and reassuring. Circumcision vs A Clean Penis Cutting the foreskins from the penises of infant male humans will not affect God. God will not look more favorably upon a child so mutilated. Circumcision is a con job. Circumcision serves no useful purpose. We only need to teach male children to clean their penis. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. A clean penis is Godly. Nothing you can do, or say, will affect God. God does not listen to the childish whimpering of billions of spoiled brats.
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