Wednesday, August 30, 2006

What are ya gonna do?

A comment I received on my last post, and a news item brought to my attention by Zoe in her latest post on A Complicated Salvation made me sit up and blink.

The comment noted a very brief passage in the bible, specifically in 2nd Kings 2:24 & 25 which notes that as Elisha is making his way to Beth -el he is accosted by a group of boistrous children who chide him about his being bald. For this, Elisha turned back to them, cursed them in the name of the lord who then obligingly sent two (she) bears out of the woods who then kills 42 of those evil children. Serves em right, by god! All this happens in the space of 2 verses.

"Hey, Elisha, anything interesting happen during your trip to Beth -el?"

"Naw. Well, there were those kids who made fun of me because of my hair loss.:

"No! How could they?"

I don't think they'll be doing that again, though."

"Kids today."

"Yeah."

"Praise the lord!"

It's little tidbits like this, that unless you are really familiar with the "good book," will just slip by the casual reader. According to some other sources, there are many such horrific happenings either done directly by god or with god ordering his earthly minions to carry out his bidding. Much of this happens in the old testament, but not all.

The item that Zoe mentions relates to a Sunday school teacher in Watertown, NY who was summarily dismissed from her position by the church elders and supported by the minister of the First Baptist Church owing to a passage (again, just 2 brief verses) found in 1st Timothy 2:11 & 12 which states: Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence."

Again, in and of itself, it may be only an isolated incident of stupidity on the part of overbearing, self-righteous men, but it also may well be symptomatic of the main stream churches attempting to stem the tide of their parishioners who have been leaving for the stricter, generally more fundamentalist mega churches.

On a related note, I see that good old Katherine Harris of "hanging chad" fame, now a congressional candidate for her Florida district recently stated that the notion of the separation of church and state is a lie put forth by evil liberals in their efforts to undermine the church.

First of all, that is just bullshit. The idea of separation came from statements made by a number of our founding fathers including Jefferson and Adams, and such references can be found in the Federalist papers.

But, I would say here, that even if no such statements had been made by those venerable men, so what? They did not live in today's world. There's was a much smaller, much more provincial, insular and much less cosmopolitan world, not that far removed from the heyday of the early puritans. We have learned a great deal about the differences amongst world cultures than was known or understood in the 1780s.

Even so, they did see the wisdom of establishing and maintaining a separation of the workings of government and the various churches which had established themselves throughout the colonies. They recognized the likelihood of conflict should one church be given special dispensation while others were not. Instead, each sect was allowed to go about their business more or less unfettered by the state, but allowing none to be given special recognition or access over any others with regard to matters of state. It may well have been one of the more brilliant moves made by those hard working gentlemen in the heat of Philadelphia summers.

Now, there are those who would rent that separation assunder to promote their own religious agenda to the status of a state sanctioned theocracy. Do we really want an American Taliban government?

Also, briefly: Kudos to the federal judge in Detroit who knocked down the administration's unfettered eavesdropping. Of course there are conservatives stating that this is another example of liberal judges running amok. However, I see it as the proper application of constitutionally prescribed "checks and balances" which was another stroke of genius by our founding fathers.

TLS

3 comments:

Seven Star Hand said...

Hello again Terry,

Hope this is not too off-topic for you. It gets to the root of the problem of deluded and greedy politicians who seek to impose their own ignorance on millions of others. Because of our reliance on money, politics, and religion, we are teetering on the verge of worldwide disaster. Idiots like Ms. Harris couldn't care less about everyone else as long as they get their hands on wealth and power, even if it means pretending to serve the Creator. It is long past time that people stand up for truth and justice and give these scoundrels their due.

Understanding the Fatal Flaws in Judeo-Christian-Islamic Prophecy

I pose to you and others that the context and meaning of these ancient texts have been lost on those confused by the assertions of religious leaders and founders. Ancient wisdom has been purposely recast and obfuscated into religion and mysticism. Consequently, the interpretations presented about the sources and meaning of these texts and the philosophy and cosmology of ancient Hebrew sages is completely wrong. Before you scoff and write me off, you should understand that I speak from personal knowledge and experience...

Remember the saying that "the truth will set you (and others) free?" How does "opening one's eyes to the truth" relate to "making the blind see again" or "shining the light" or "illuminating a subject?" Notice the inherent symbolism associated with this supposed New Testament "miracle?"

Did you ever consider that Christianity is the False Prophet symbolized in the Apocalypse, that Rome (Vatican/Papacy) is the so-called anti-messiah, and Jesus Christ is the false messiah? I have produced stunning and comprehensive proof that this is the true interpretation of pivotal prophecies long confounded by Christianity's founders and leaders. Recasting the symbolism of earlier Hebrew texts as literal events in the New Testament is one of the central deceptions associated with Christianity.

As certain world leaders strive to instigate a fabricated "battle of Armageddon," it is vital to understand and spread the truth about these ancient texts to help bring about an end to such abominable evil. You can never expect philosophies based on lies and great error to lead to peace and harmony. How many more millennia of terrible proof is necessary before humanity finally gets a clue that most have been utterly deceived by the very concept of religion.

Without it, Bush, the Neo-Cons, and their cohorts could never have gained and retained political power by manipulating an already deluded and susceptible constituency. Likewise, their thinly-veiled partners in crime, Bin Laden and his ilk, could never have succeeded in their roles in this centuries-old Vatican-led grand deception.

Have you ever heard of Machiavelli? What better way to hide the truth than to divide people among three related but divergent religions (or other strong delusions) that each obscure the truth while claiming that each is the truth!

Want to see the symbol for the tri-part endless loop and logic-trap that such a three-part Machiavellian delusion forms? Ever seen a Triquetra ( and here)? Pay very close attention to its visual relationship to 666, the most famous of all triangular numbers.

Now consider how money, religion, and politics are inseparable because of the inescapable trap (bottomless pit) they form...

We are all trapped in a web of deception woven with money, religion, and politics. The great evils that bedevil us all will never cease until humanity finally awakens, shakes off these strong delusions, and forges a new path to the future.

Here is Wisdom...

Peace...

Tyson H said...

Thank you for shariing

Terry S said...

Tyson H. - Did you just now read this and make your comment today (06/05/2022?) Wow. As you could see, I wrote that in 2006. Didn't know it was still floating around out there. Thanks for your comment.