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A Multitude of Saints

Posted in "saints", belief, thoughts on December 2, 2017 by chouck017894

Invoking “saints” to gain Heaven’s ear was a faith practice even before the origin of Christianity; Hebrew scriptures, for example such as in Psalms 31:23.  “Saints” commonly referred to the dedicated faithful of a priest-concocted faith system.  As the Christian movement gradually evolved into a corporate structured.system the “fathers” recognized the value of elevating specific characters from their literature as “servants of God”.  The word “saint”, after all, was derived from the Latin sanctus, meaning “holy” or “consecrated.”  Thus the “fathers” composed formal rites that magically transposed those dedicated pioneers of the faith into the rank of protectors of the Christian faith.  With dramatic theatrics the Roman Catholic Church virtually took over and monopolized the sainthood style of marketing.  Of the many, many “saints” that Catholicism has installed over the centuries, a staggering amount of the earliest ones have absolutely no recorded support for their alleged divine power; there is only a name.

Sainthood, as we now accept it, therefore is a theological premise in which a departed person is canonized (promoted, advertised) as having been steadfast in their belief and thus attracted God’s especial attention during life.  Thus a “saint” is a person of whom the man-made faith system certifies as being entitled to public veneration, and since he or she is on such intimate terms with God he or she is supposedly capable of interceding on behalf of the suppliants.  It is not accidental that the title of “saint” is customarily bestowed  upon prominent men or women in sacred texts or newsworthy events.  The much hyped martyrs of Christian faith were logical early candidates, as were the “Fathers of the Church.”  It is their assumed virtues and graces which elevated them in God’s sight, and that sanctity is said to be proven by miracles that are said to be worked by them through interaction on behalf of random lucky seekers.

Thus saints are priest-selected personalities who were/are used for marketing of the man-devised  faith system, always of departed persons who are held up as having been virtuous in an exceptionally heroic degree and marketed to promote and advance the faith system.  And since those saints are speculated to have been gathered up to Heaven they are held to be capable of interceding for us sinners.  It’s something like an adaptation of ancestor worship.  Thus saints are categorized according to selected refinements for church utilization and promotional needs.  These categories are:  1) Apostles and Evangelists;  2) the Martyrs:  3) Confessors [explained as those who suffered pain and imprisonment but not executed, which also included later believers of the faith system who were distinguished for sanctity]; 4) Doctors, [explained as those who were renowned for sacred learning];  5) Virgins;  and 6) Matrons and Widows.  These are all the categories under which saints are canonized.  Comparatively, Virgin saints are few and far between. 

The most extensive list of “saints” to be found is the sixty-first volume of a massive work compiled by the Bollandists* –the editors of the Acta Sanctorum (Lives of the Saints)–which is an official Catholic hagiology which was begun by Jesuits in the seventeenth century and is edited and published to this day.  This work mentions around twenty thousand departed “saints”.  *(Jean de Bolland, 1596-1665, was editor of the first five volumes.)

In the gathering of worthwhile saints  there is the self-serving democratic nod by Christian saint seekers to Old Testament characters with the inclusion of about twenty of them commissioned as “saints.”  Oddly, in the very earliest saint category even some Pagan gods were once included.  But the highest ecclesiastical authority has always held to be that of the “Martyrologium Romanum” in which some 2700 saints are listed by the dates set aside to celebrate them  That makes for a lot of celebrating.  A few of the better known saints among the more than two thousand include: Augustine, Bartholomew, Christopher, Ignatius, James, Jerome, John, Luke, Mark, Paul, Peter, Stephen, Thomas, etc. etc.

The designation of “saint” was originally utilize in the New Testament in reference to followers of the early Christian community.  As Christianity began to expand, however, this advertising ranking became restricted by the faith system’s “fathers” and employed only in ecclesiastical usage to designate members who reportedly had been virtuous in their heroic ardor.  The status of the departed “saints” and their relationship to the church, not surprisingly, thus became a belief factor that had to be categorized (as noted earlier).  Image worship then gradually became an important factor in Catholic practice with use of alleged relics of saints and imagery.  In effect the saints served the same capacity as Pagan’s minor gods.  By the fourth century even some of the church’s saints whose interest was in some specific region were assigned as its patron.  Professions and trades and healers were also picked up as patrons for similar church recognition.  It was just good commercial business.

Church promotional art almost always depicts the saints as being distinguished by a nimbus, an aura, or glory.  And there was usually included some emblem of intercession which the saint allegedly provided.  These attributes hold a curious similarity to how the scorned Pagans had depicted their gods; Zeus with his lightening bolt, Thor with his hammer, or Poseidon with his trident, for example.

Around the fourth century the promotional tactics of using saints for marketing appeal (advertising) had been pretty much standardized.  The Church of Rome proclaimed at the Council of Trent (1545 until 1563–yes, eight years of haggling) that the saints reign with Christ to offer to God their prayers on behalf of mankind, and so that it is good and useful for a seeker to call upon the saints to gain additional notice.  Such marketing tactics didn’t hurt the church treasury either.

 

 

 

 

 

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Misuse of Spiritual Connection, re: Prayer

Posted in belief, By-the-book belief systems, corporate style faiths, ego and belief, faith, prayer, scriptures, thoughts on August 1, 2017 by chouck017894

This may sound strange, an atheist mulling over what is taught as prayer in man-contrived faith systems.  But what organized faith systems have claimed as their exclusive territory is actually a perverse perception of a principle of Creation.  Most of what man-concocted faith systems teach and practice as prayer procedure amounts to little more than a theatrical indulgence which is performed to elicit attention from an imagined being who exists in some outer limit domain.  That amounts to little more than superstitious indulgence and openly reveals that there is little familiarity in regard to man’s inherent and constant connection with the creation energies which surrounds everything which we speak of as Creation.

An overview of the world’s faith systems shows that each consistently struggle through their self-made labyrinths of theology, rites, ritual, dogmas and assertions of exclusivity with heaven.  With these they have lost focus on the underlying principles of Creation’s energy which continually activates into all manifested forms.  No one can pray effectively if the principles which are continuously active as Creation are not recognized and utilized, for one’s awareness of self can only direct and receive in proportion to how they attune themselves to the fundamental “laws” which activate the universe and all that is in it.

For a moment consider the brain.  The brain of each individual is assembled from a narrow spectrum of genetic material.  The physical body is itself composed of only about one hundred thousand genes.  This is a relatively small amount, and yet it is from this modest amount of genes that the brain is forged, and astoundingly there are in excess of one hundred trillion-trillion nerve cells.  And each of these nerve cells may in turn form as many as ten thousand connections with its neighboring cells.  It should be noted also that the physical brain is established and activated with polar fields.

Science has shown that human awareness functions through an interaction of seven levels of consciousness.  The scientific classification of the levels of consciousness show a remarkable similarity to the seven primary energy dimensions of Creation as was once taught in extreme antiquity: lessons which used the observable heavens as background to illustrate its instructions.  Those lessons became suspiciously lost, or suppressed, or destroyed by factions that sought to exercise authority over masses of people.  The recognition by modern science of the seven levels of consciousness presents strong evidence that the aware consciousness of every individual retains a link into that power which is the fountainhead of Creation.  What that means is that by heritage every person therefore possesses the right of consciousness–which is to say that each individual has the “divine” right to draw upon that unlimited power around them to define themselves.

Bringing the seven levels of consciousness into harmony with Creation’s energies is what the practice called prayer should accomplish.  Unfortunately organized faith systems do not identify with that Creation principle and therefore fail to teach followers that prayer fulfillment always abides by the same sequence of application as once taught in ancient lessons on Creation which explained how energies involve to manifest any definable energy configuration.  This means that in  order to accomplish a desired manifestation it is necessary to establish a harmonic field within the seven levels of personal consciousness which is a person’s true identity.  This “law” of amassment through harmony is the generating factor in how prayers are answered.  Any negative intent (greed, anger, envy, hatred, revenge, etc.) which is included in prayer energy automatically distorts the outcome.  Such negatively framed prayers are offered up more to indulge one’s ego and therefore do little more than short circuit the connection into the universal creative powers.

This is not something that organized by-the-book faith systems acknowledge due in part to the fact that those regimented systems were invented, built and are maintained by the faith system’s self-serving dogmatism.  Consequently, they are incapable of teaching proper prayer technique which requires the personal vibratory attunement which can be achieved only by putting aside all the trappings employed for the purpose of exercising worldly influence.  Thus one of the saddest things about organized faith systems is that they teach their seekers to look for answers to personal questions outside themselves.  That practice ignores the power of the Infinite Presence which is not only around all things but is also within ourselves and all things.  Ego-centeredness, as religious systems teach as prayer, fails to recognize and address the very power which is the true means of finding answers to personal questions.

Organized faith systems encourage group involvement.  Indeed faith systems cannot survive without it.  But attempting to blend the scattered thoughts of a congregation is often counter productive for it is only within each individual self that the universe responds.  This truth is subtly admitted in holy accounts where the lead characters of various holy story lines retreat to some isolated place (wilderness, mountain, cave, etc.) to commune with universal principles and thereby bring about desired change.  Successful prayer requires assessment of purpose–which is better achieved in the deeper process of meditation.  When, for example, followers of a faith system are gathered together to pray for finances for a new church, synagogue, temple, etc. the purpose is not exactly concerned with responsible coexistence with the world, but has to do only with their own outer display of a regimented style of belief.  The altar that they thus raise (and every such structure is figuratively an altar) through such manipulation therefore satisfies only their own spiritual vanity and has no genuine noninterventionist value to advance every being’s aware consciousness.

The potentiality for any positive development is always present within the unlimited Source, and how that power is edited by each person’s self-aware consciousness determines the circumstances which accompany any manifestations in our experience.  There is always a response from universal powers when one attunes themselves to the principles which are constantly active as Creation.  The shaping factor of any prayer is always determined by the limitations which personal purpose imposes.  Thus any un-harmonious self indulgent emotions determines the quality of what becomes manifest.  There can be no disguising of one’s true purpose from the inner universe of one’s being (Infinite Presence), and so the manner in which prayers are “answered” always mirrors the quality of the person’s ultimate purpose.

Prescribed or mandatory prayers imposed by a by-the-book faith system sometimes seemingly go unanswered, and this is largely due to the congregation’s scattered and unchecked thoughts of material advantages.  Ultimately, every thought which an individual entertains is much like a rudimentary prayer, for even a passing thought exerts a degree of influence upon what is experienced as life, for the habit patterns of your thoughts mirrors what you expect.  To pray for health, for example, while lamenting how unhealthy the body feels is accepted by the unlimited creative energy pulsing through the universe as the expectation of that condition.  This simply reaffirms the Creation principle which holy world openly states that like must reproduce in its own likeness (Genesis -:

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Uncertainties in Sacred Texts

Posted in Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, Hebrew scripture, religion, sacred texts, thoughts on February 18, 2017 by chouck017894

For the majority of persons of the western cultures today who have been indoctrinated into the Christian faith systems, few are aware that there is yet to be found any original copies of any of the books which are honored as the New Testament.  There are age-old copies to be sure, but they are just that, copies.  Usually made from copies.  And the Hebrew Scriptures, so proudly declared to be meticulously accurate reproductions of god-dictated holy word, many uncertainties happen to linger there which necessitates footnotes (as in the New Revised Standard Version).  In fact various passages are integrated where translators were uncertain what the original text really was (as for example, in 1 and 2 Samuel).  This presents a tragic predicament for world cultures, because the many uncertainties which continue to hover and cloud all man-written “sacred” texts have been used as models upon which were fashioned each culture’s moral, ethics and spiritual trust.  Thus it is actually sacred uncertainties which have served as foundations for the three by-the-book faith systems which routinely reflect their holiness in constant murderous conflicts.

Basic beliefs, most of which originated in Bronze Age tribal cultures, were heavily colored by fears and superstitions.  In addition, the words which have been handed down through century after century have been altered–sometimes accidentally, more often deliberately–by countless interpreters and translators who put their own spin on the declared meaning in those words.  Predictably the declared meaning said to be god-relayed in those man-written texts was always interpreted from the events of the interpreter’s  particular time frame.  The fundamental philosophy which brought about all the age-old written “holy” works conveniently allowed for such self defensive flexibility and manipulative license.  And it is precisely this philosophical elasticity which stimulates the addictive fascination for what is revered as holy word.  It provides anxious seekers with ego gratification–which is commonly praised and promoted as spiritual fulfillment.  In extreme antiquity the stories were carefully penned to illustrate cosmological and/or life-purpose instruction. Regrettably these were often indirectly–or more often than not intentionally–colored by later scribe’s personal likes, dislikes, envy, jealousies and political aims which consequently provoked irrelevant posturing and theatrics rather than radiating any genuine spiritual enlightenment.

The faithful who cling unquestioningly to “sacred” texts (Hebrew scriptures, New Testament of Quran, as examples) like to believe that those compositions which have been accepted as revealed and sacred, contain no mistakes, no textural booboos, and no faulty assessments.  But every such textural “holy” work was produced by human hands, and even the most faithful humans fall far short in cosmic awareness to serve as infallible spokesmen for the perfection and broad diversity which is the creative and sustaining power which is the all-enfolding Source.

The discovery in 1947 of a number of parchment scrolls which contained Hebrew and Aramaic scriptural texts and liturgical writings of an asectic community which dated from c. 250 BCE to about 70 CE are known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.  The intensive research on these scrolls brought to light the startling fact that those texts, which are around a thousand years older than any previously known “old texts” contained a stockpile of significant differences from the Hebrew Scriptures which are today considered to have always been inviolable.  Time and circumstances since the era of the Scrolls’ authorship brought with them alterations that resulted in textural content which became more or less standardized only around 1000 CE.  Thus the western world today has become victim to what may be termed sacred shell games.

Genuine history is routinely forgotten in what has become accepted as holy word.  For example, the OT book  of Esther was rewritten from an older version which some scholars have said had been composed by some Roman source.  Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph (c.50-132 CE) was one of the most eminent teachers of his timeframe, and he headed the school at Jaffa: It was he who rewrote the text known as Esther.  And the Jewish code known as the Mishnah was developed by him partly on the basis of his own teachings.  In the original Roman account of the Esther tale there was a character named Haman (or Aman or Hamin) who vows to kill all Jews.  Some scholars say that Haman was modeled upon a Roman aristocrat named Arius Piso.  The Jewish holiday feast of Purim was established ostensibly to celebrate the deliverance of the Jews from the alleged massacre by Haman.  The rewritten book of Esther and the association  of Haman with Roman aristocracy therefore served as the covert reminder to all Jews of the alleged conspiracy of the Romans to destroy the Jews.

Once a faith system has compiled its self-serving literary collection and stamped it as “canon” (an ecclesiastical code or laws), that man-written anthology has been advertised and marketed as containing all knowledge which is ever necessary for a believer to attain godly protection, salvation or entrance into Paradise.  Thus have sacred theatrics and man-devised by-the-book directives been set in place as the edifying mechanism over mankind’s social and spiritual evolution (or lack thereof).

Today, contented that the faith systems which we have been taught as holding divine knowledge and which supposedly extends privileged access into a higher and exclusive domain, we are kept uninformed of how and from what that belief slowly and haphazardly evolved.  Every man-contrived faith system has been built upon the awe and wonder that our ancient ancestors had felt for the celestial panorama which was then unmarred by the light and air pollution we humans produce today.  In our self-enveloped bubble of technology we have been manipulated away from the ancient’s awareness and veneration the universal phenomena, and those observations and practices became intentionally modified and disguised.  Why?  Because the “Pagan” sources from which those holy words were “borrowed” had openly respected such things a solstice periods, time of the equinoxes, phases of the moon, constellation grouping of stars, and their associated cycles of Nature.  These and other such natural observable facts thus played calculated influences in every man-contrived faith system which dominate cultures and societies today, and those natural wonders are camouflaged and smothered under priest-invented “histories” and theatrical rites.

Man!  That is almost enough to drive an atheist to attempt a prayer!  Lord, rest your hand upon the heads of earnest seekers of enlightenment, and your other hand over the mouths of the braying self-possessed proselytizers.

 

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Corporate Style Faith Systems

Posted in Atheist, belief, ego and belief, ethics and morality, monotheism, random, religion, thoughts on January 1, 2017 by chouck017894

Any man-fashioned faith system is basically designed as a power structure: it is not unfaulteringly assembled for the benefit of mass spiritual enlightenment but designed to assert the faith system’s authority.  Like any commercial endeavor the service that is offered is gauged by customer demand, and commercial demand is stirred by advertising.  In the faith business the product is basically a manufactured illusion: the merchandise offered is emotional assurance that a higher power looks after them–but that power supposedly functions only if the subscribers submit, obey and partake of all the rites, rituals and ceremonies that the self-appointed authorities have set in place for business use.  Consequently those formalized procedures are cleverly fashioned to appeal to the ego of the seekers, not purposefully crafted to empower everyone’s personal connection (called “spirit”) to Creation’s Source.

Principles of righteous conduct are comparatively self evident to any balanced mind:  seek understanding, control avarice, value individuality, honor love, demonstrate compassion, respect all life’s diversities, recognize that all things are interrelated, etc.  For the most part the three  networks of corporate styled “faith” systems of today’s western cultures choose to market the principles of “belief” by claiming to possess direct favoritism of a compassionate Creator-God.  The general work  ethic of these three sister  faith systems, however, is to force their formalized concepts of God-Creator upon everyone else, which results only in constant conflicts.  Thus for each of these corporate styled faith systems, their calls to devotion happen to exploit identical  un-righteous principles that happen to resist Creation’s intended diversities.  Achieving “dominion” over life’s diversity is the subliminal message buried within every man-written “sacred” text, and that faith system obsession is often the excuse for fundamentalists to annihilate whatever they fail to understand.  That strategy is commonly exhibited in attempting to obstruct knowledge, curtail science, stifle natural desires, limit consideration for others, belittle intimate pleasures—in short, restructure everyone to a robotic religionist.

What is the architectural foundation for this?  It is  the concept of monotheism, a doctrine that there is only one Creator-God, who is characterized as male, of course.  That concept permits erecting a business machine under the assertion that the all-embracing, all-inclusive power which created and sustains everything then unexplainably censored himself to play favorites with segments of the human species.  This is a tactic which is then buttressed by utilizing man’s fear of death which further allows the charlatans to peddle their faith system’s insurance policy which is averred to offer seekers a glorious afterlife in a cloud-lined country club atmosphere–but only if they follow the rules.

The three self-serving monotheistic faith systems of western cultures could never survive as controlling powers if the peace and brotherly love to which they give much lip service was faithfully practiced.  Instead the self-appointed representatives of Heaven incite the egos of seekers with false notions of exclusive access to the all-inclusive Creator.  Peace and brotherly love happen to make for a limited meal ticket if such tolerance was actually allowed to be demonstrated by followers, for that would allow seekers to truly embark upon achieving personal alignment with universal powers.  Such true freedom of spirit would deprive the self-proclaimed god-ambassadors of their public image as individuals who assert to have been heavenly approved for godly service.  Each of these three corporate styled faith systems claim to teach love, tolerance and peace, but curiously after nearly three thousand years of these sugary claims the world has not yet witnessed any proof of such divine conduct on their part.  Instead, all three of these by-the-book religions  systems have to resort to whitewashing and disguising their bloody histories of violence, practiced prejudices, deceits, contrived theatrical ceremonies, and similar excesses of shameless spiritual pretentiousness.  With these pretentions each of these faith systems have shamelessly taught seekers to hate the intended diversities of life expressions.

When some faith system then attains some political clout it inevitably slides into the sensuous “sins” of brutal power management which they legitimatize by quoting cherry-picked verses from their own priest crafted holy books.  For example, does not the Hebrew Bible attest that God urged the Israelites, his “chosen people”, to slaughter the inhabitants of Canaan to attain the “Promised Land”–as reportedly executed by Joshua?  And for the promoters of Gospel, was not Europe brought into Gods’s favor by use of torture and fiery destruction of life during the Inquisition by self-proclaimed representatives of the Prince of Peace?  And does not the Quran avow that Allah (the merciful) sent hordes of angels to slay opponents of Mohammad’s possession of Mecca?  Such is the deceptive propaganda preached by all “holy word” aficionados.  The justification given for such acts of brutal domination is always in the name of a prejudiced holy spirit.  Nowhere in such faiths is the truth ever acknowledged that each and every thing is manifested through and from one Source, and that each and all things are therefore interrelated and stand equal before that creative Power.  There is, of course, no ego manipulation in teaching that, and thus there is little material profit in admitting the truth of impartiality before that Creative Source.

It has been noted elsewhere in these postings that regional conditions shaped and colored the spiritual teachings which were worked into the political governance of tribal styled stability.  Thus today, to the Jews and Muslims, God is still promoted as something like a bellicose tribal leader, and to those “others” who are not of his implied favored people the Creative Principle supposedly decreed “cut them off.”  For example, Psalms 118:10 (among many interpretations) “…all nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off…”  In Christian faith, which was conceived and nourished in the militant Roman Empire, God is viewed more as a commander-in-chief, with priests, bishops, ministers, preachers, etc. placed in charge like combat commanders over the lower ranks.

How glaringly different are the by-the-book dogmatism practiced in the western culture’s faith systems today when compared to the much belittled way the Pagans approached spiritual understanding. Pagan understanding was that spiritual things are highly personal and meant to be experienced by each person individually.  The reason why Pagans did not actively solicit others to join their particular sect was the belief that the impulse for spiritual enlightenment must originate within the person himself.  It was not viewed as a commercial subject.  The Pagans knew that the first place of any person’s spiritual preparation had to arise within one’s own heart.  Spiritual preparation, they understood, was not something acquired through exterior pressures.  To the Pagan, regardless of which small sect he or she might be drawn to, it was always accepted that those in any superior position were like elder brethren who, just like the postulant, were sharing in a similar search for divine enlightenment.

Today such spiritual freedom has been placed upon the altars of corporate styled faith systems which reflect more spiritual greed than any dedication to true spiritual enlightenment.  Modern day corporate structured faith systems seek only to impose dogmatism which reduces one’s inner spiritual yearning to hostage status that is held for ransom.

 

 

 

 

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Paradox of Modern Man

Posted in Atheist, belief, enlightenment, faith, life, religion, scriptures, thoughts on November 17, 2016 by chouck017894

Modern man with all his brilliant technological accomplishments inexplicably remains chained to myths and superstitions that still lie hidden beneath what are averred to be holy/spiritual truths.  The sciences that have revolutionized our species’ life patterns have done so despite the fact that the origin of life is even now not totally understood.  We praise ourselves as having entered into the space age and think we are meant to dominate it, yet we have only theories or theological speculations of how our celestial environment came into being.  But not even science, like man’s faith systems, is able to explain why life exists, what role we play in the universal panorama, or how an awareness of “self” interacts with that vast framework that is the universe.  And science also tends to mimic religious contentions that the entire universe is relatively systematic, that Creation was a one-shot deal–a big bang or a six day wonder–which the human species alone is capable of dominating through its ability of deductive reasoning.

Science, however, differs from faith system explanations of man in that their research and studies have culled and continues to cull and analyze the evidence which mankind’s ancestors pioneered.  Religious explanations tend to calculate man’s history–for their convenience–as being a scant few thousand years, but the in-depth scientific approach shows that our species with identical capabilities can be traced back for at least a million years.

The insistence of faith systems regarding a short term human history is made even more puzzling when modern man is lulled by them into accepting that what is referred to as “primitive” cultures nonetheless raised wondrous construction feats such as the Baalbek Terrace in Lebanon, the Great Pyramid in Egypt, and similar ancient pyramids in South America and the Far East.  These are structures that would tax even modern man’s capabilities.

Mystery, ceremony and magic rites were once the power hold ploys that ancient tribal leaders employed to maintain control over tribal members.  Commonly that privileged status was understood to be due to the tribal leader’s claim of being directly counseled by temperamental spirits.  We today recognize that manner of seeking protection as superstition and nonsense.   But just how advanced are faith system practices today that are conducted in great extent in much the same manner?  The heart and soul of any of mankind’s contrive faith systems also adhere to similar features which keeps those systems insulated from scrutiny, for they are practiced in fear of questions which they cannot answer.  When devout seekers begin to ask Why?  How? Where? When? Who? etc., the tribal-styled faith systems react in anxiety and distress.  Thus they advise that such questions are not supposed to be asked of pulpit performers who, as an alternative, counsel that true believers are to trust the Bronze Age priest-authors who were divinely certain that the Earth was the center of Creation.  The declared “revealed” wisdom offered by the power-seeking priest authors in antiquity simply does not stand as “omniscient” (all-knowing) comprehension against today’s scientific research and exploration.

As an example of superstition elevated to “religious” status, it is fully exposed in the Jewish ceremony known as kapparot (from Semite, akin to Hebrew kaph, meaning “palm of hand”).  Kapparot is an atonement ritual which is indulged in before the holiday of Yom  Kippur.  In the ritual (which requires a “donation” of a live chicken to the rabbi for the performance) a rabbi holds the live chicken above the donor’s head (gently of course) and recites a blessing.  The luckless bird is then slaughtered (according to Jewish dietary laws).  Why this ritual bloodletting of a hapless animal should inspire God to grant the donor reconciliation with God after having transgressed “his” covenants is murky at best.  On the other hand, every faith system has their atonement rites which are equally caked with peculiar stipulations that supposedly satisfies the Creator–like Jesus died for the sins of the world.  The superstitious prehistory tribal shamans would find such bloodletting to be praiseworthy.

So how spiritually advanced is modern man?  The human species, unfortunately, has been well schooled in deluding itself.  And our poor planet is beginning to show the strain and damage that mankind’s belief systems have fostered.  But the holy answer is not necessarily apocalyptic doom.  Man’s atonement rests in the release of taught “religious” (belief system) claims of exclusiveness with Creation’s multiplicity.  Humanity must face the fact that true freedom of spirit (meaning enlightenment) is not the true purpose of any man-concocted faith system.  If those formulated methods of faith indulgence were devoted to actual spiritual attainment and awareness they would seek to enlighten followers, not constrain seekers with made-up rites, rituals, scripted ceremonies and pretended exclusivity with a never-encountered judgmental god.  We might therefore conclude from such acts of pretense that only con-men have such needs for public exhibitionism.

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Faith Based Fraud in US Government

Posted in Agnostic, Atheist, belief, biblical "values", Christianity, culture, Government, politics, random, religion, Social, thoughts on November 1, 2016 by chouck017894

Special interest handouts by political office holders in the United States have become big-time  “faith” privileges over the last few decades, increasing dramatically after the Religious Right gained control of the Grand Old Party in 1996.  The fast changing legal status for churches and faith system institutions have not been shy in underhandedly trying to “liberate” religious organizations by granting them more lenient rules than is permitted to their secular counterparts.

Such deliberate disregard for the democratic principles by religious extremists holding congressional positions, such a separation of church and state, is hardly due to any spiritual morals.  This dangerous and frightening chipping away at long standing principles of democracy has occurred under pressure from extremist religious groups that have muscled their way into the political arena.  The deviously devoted never make it comprehensible as to why an “omniscient/omnipotent” God should or would have to rely upon the use of deceitful persons to achieve “his” intentions.  But the raucous, self-serving religious extremists have effectively infiltrated our Congress, the US Supreme Court , and federal and state courts, all of which have too often casually conceded to the demands that “faith” groups (Christian only) should be protected from any government impositions!  (Related blogs: Rise of Holy Agitators, September 1, 2016; Spiritual Vanity, The Sin of Fundamentalism, October 1, 2016)

This has been pushed upon the nations’s widely diverse citizenry by devious religious fanatics who paint themselves with false eminence that reflects neither the principles of true democracy nor any higher spiritual values.  These predatory religious wolves have accomplished this betrayal of democratic principles by camouflaging themselves with traditional sheep’s clothing.  Thus disguised they have methodically selected, one by one, various supporting regulations of democratic comportment by inserting into those regulations their faith system’s claims of exclusivity with the Creator.  This has purposefully disfigured and betrayed the numerous longstanding laws of equality and spiritual freedom that the “fathers” of the nation intended.  As a consequence so many democratic principles have been mauled to such an extent that the “faith” pretenders may often thumb their noses at requirements leveled upon everyone else.  As an example, their “public” buildings and organizational programs may be only slightly related to their faith system.  That bears the foul odor of theocratic ideology.

Under these contrived special-interest allowances, unethically obtained, even the day care centers that have religious affiliations were once actually exempted from licensing requirements in a number of states.  In Texas, for example, the religious day-care facilities and drug-treatment programs were once exempt from state licensing.  However, protected by their privileged status by the “faithful” serving in state government positions the abuse and disregard for patients in those facilities proved to be greater than in nonreligious facilities.  Another example: The health care system operated by the Seventh Day Adventists was actually allowed to bar nurses from joining unions.  And many states permit tax-free churches build or expand their facilities in ways that clearly violate zoning ordinances with which everyone else must comply.  Religious-front operations have routinely discriminated in choice of employees, or have expressed their piety in heartless neglect of employee misfortune.  In these faith system front operations even persons that may suddenly be stricken with some physical malady have been unceremoniously dumped, which would never be tolerated in non-religious organizations.  How these self-serving practices follow the teachings attributed to Jesus, such as “love one another“, or “do unto others as you would have done unto you” is never explained by them.  

Special privileges which have been extended by faith aggressive politicians into government to certain (Christians only) faith system organizations is not fair or just or moral in a nation that has been built upon dedication to the freedom of choice and the pursuit of happiness.  And practicing bigotry and narrow mindedness as some religiously obsessed do is neither righteous nor spiritual in a Creation which is rampant with lavish diversity of life and variety of expression.  A true democratic society can function only within conditions of equality and respect for each individual within the nation.  Attempting to inject one particular man-concocted faith system into the politics of a nation which has been dedicated to freedom and liberty for its diverse people can only accomplish catastrophe for all.  Enlightenment will never be attained in an indulgence in spiritual avarice.

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Spiritual Vanity, the Sin of Fundamentalism

Posted in Atheist, belief, culture, faith, Fundamentalism, humanity, random, religion, theology, thoughts on October 1, 2016 by chouck017894

It must be a terrible burden for fundamentalists of any faith system to confront all the diversity and variety and multiplicity in this life—a lavishness which typifies the radiance that is Creation.  The “conservative” outlook of hard-nosed fundamentalists obliges them to advise the Creator that “he” made a vulgar blunder by having indulged in such a prolific assortment of potentials.

One characteristic of a religious fundamentalist is that they seem to always wax with hatred toward a hell of a lot of life’s manifestations.  However, it is that astonishing diversity, variety and multiplicity that assures the awesome radiance that we refer to as Creation.  Another characteristic of the “fundies” is their unending attempts to impose their manufactured belief system upon anyone they can.  This vanity of spirit is indulged in despite the fact that genuine spiritual enlightenment always proves itself as authentic by an enfolding sense of inner serenity and compassion that is experienced.  Such an inner warmth is rendered impossible when cultivated hatreds for all the intentional differences that sustain Creation are encouraged.  And yet, like any other man-contrived faith system, the fundies claim that it is only through their hard-line approach alone that anyone can attain the Creator’s favoritism.

Reason and knowledge are seriously constrained when any faith system representative labors to advance  preconceptions of any sort to hover over seekers interactions with others.  In tightly structured faith systems, for example, seekers are routinely indoctrinated and continuously conditioned with claims that it is only through their particular man-made faith system that anyone can ever attain the favoritism of the Creative Principle which they like to personify as “God.”  But, curiously, the universe and nature do not happen to reflect that narrowly restrictive disposition toward the diversity and multiplicity of life which the Creative Principle formulated, made manifest and steadfastly maintains.

The creative and unifying force which is commonly personified as “God” is too often imagined in scriptural texts to be mainly concerned with the dilemma of only one certain representation of human species in one small region on planet Earth.  Ignored in such “holy” tales is the fact that those characters just happened to be from the author’s locale and also happened to be subscribed to his faith system.  That narrow understanding of life and spiritual significance in relation to the rest of the world population has resulted only in a setup for persistent and unnecessary conflicts.

Such old locally focused writings which are honored as “revealed word” leave us with fundamental questions.  Such as: When a person feels they must indulge in devilish scheming to impose their faith upon others can that really be assessed as one’s “higher calling?”   Why would an omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful) Creator find this to be the only way of making “his” intentions known among men?   In a universe that has been created with such lavish diversity and multiplicity, we are left to wonder over the Where, When or Why did the Creator of that diversity and multiplicity suddenly judge himself/herself/itself to have been too liberal and/or too excessive?  And if that hypothetical self reevaluation was the case, what caused him/her/it to decide upon picking and choosing favorites out of that multiplicity and give only to those “chosen ones ones” or “saved one” the all-clear for them to indulge in what amounts to spiritual brutality?  Would it not have been easier and wiser for him/her/it to have simply have resorted to the alleged original method of Creation and simply just say, “Let there be no more variety and diversity in Creation?”  Certainly that would have erased all the virulent spiritual egotism which all man-made faith systems demonstrate.

Regimentation and/or strictly controlled adherence to man-invented rites, rituals, ceremonies, taboos, cultivated hatreds and contriving to exert authority over others is not the means into genuine spiritual enlightenment. That means, bluntly, that no man-contrived faith system can sincerely promise or officially grant a stamped passport into what they may fantasize to be a heavily regimented and snooty Heaven.  All that the  “fundies” of any faith system can conceivably offer seekers is only a lottery ticket for an all-expense paid future flight into what is actually another dimension of creative energy.  (Energy does not cease; it simply transforms.)  Few faith system seekers, it seems, ever notice the tiny print at the bottom of their frail proffered ticket stub where it is grudgingly admitted that the voyage and destination are the same for each and every matter-life form, and that no purchase or contribution is necessary to gain that award.

 

 

 

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Black Holes of Religous Practices

Posted in Atheist, belief, biblical "values", black holes, environment, faith, Fundamentalism, religion, thoughts on September 17, 2016 by chouck017894

Around 2007 theoretical physicists discovered that gravitational waves were connected to black holes, those massive deep throat, light-swallowing areas which are scattered throughout the universe.  The “holes,” the theory goes, are the result of cores of massive stars that have imploded and collapsed in upon themselves.  The immense gravity at the core of these space objects, the theory suggests, siphon into them all the existing energy-as-matter that happens to be unlucky enough to have lolled around the former massive star.  Strangely, that hole of collapsing energy and the vast gravitational field which results may present a relatively calm appearance to the region that we see surrounding it.  Indeed, any random fluctuations against the gravitational core may be barely registered from our perspective.  And it is this deceptive tranquil appearance that can be compared to man-invented religions.

Consider: In a very real sense human contrived faith systems can be said to imitate the same process that is theorized in astrophysics as black hole activity.  The core around which human consciousness may become ill-fatedly propelled is but the canonized speculations which have collapsed in upon themselves to become active as the identity crushing whirl of religious fundamentalism.  The gravitational pull of these imploding belief cores upon human consciousness then becomes so relentless and so crushingly magnetic that the mass, spin and other essentials necessary for life-sustaining rationalism are obliterated.  Muslim jihads of today are a prime example.  Any random fluctuations of rationality that might survive in the fringe of spiritual implosion then become barely perceptible.

The greatest error in all man-made organized religions is the allegiance given by them to an interpretation of warring opposites.  Building spiritual understanding by using that as its foundation guarantees only the life experiences of physical, emotional and spiritual un-fulfillment and senseless conflicts.  The reason for this is that by adoring one polar energy point of Creation’s generative force while berating the other necessary polar aspect as evil is to practice spiritual schizophrenia.  The whole imagined god/devil, heaven/hell, chosen/rejected, saved/lost, etc. is rendered meaningless simply because neither interactive pole can possibly create without the other generative pole to project effects.  All of man’s by-the-book faith systems exploit the emotions of love/hate but fail to realize that these are not true opposites, for those emotions arise from the same energy center but are projected differently much like light passing through a prism.  The only thing truly opposite to either love or hate would be indifference.  By personifying the generative polar fields within the creative Source as two individual human-like beings, as faith systems habitually do, the practice that is thus erroneously sanctified is the denial of One Absolute Source.

The concept that is promoted by theological musings is that a rivalry exists within the primordial conditions of Source, with one generative polar aspect personified as “God” and the other necessary polar aspect personified as the “devil” or “Satan.”  To do so is to misunderstand Creation’s singularity.  By this alleged “revealed” wisdom the scheming human authors declared these interactive dual components of Creation’s power were separate, incompatible and not connected in creative purpose.  By such counseling man-invented faith systems then led the masses not into enlightenment but deeper into the illusion of Creation’s energies as matter–the very condition the faith systems rail against.  When this was accepted by human imagination to be holy truth, these symbols then became adopted for use in Satanism, magic, witchcraft and similar rebellious rites by those who instinctively distrusted the tyranny of man-invented faith systems.  But their attempt to seek higher power by reversing religious rites and rituals inadvertently implied the credibility of those symbols, rites and tenets that the faith systems honored.

Man-made faith systems have, through their doctrines of either/or, lost sight of how Creation creates and thus carelessly muddied the purpose of life to benefit their corporate style faith system.  Their claims of monotheism thus rest precariously upon a theology of dualism.  In these faith systems everything is portrayed and defined as good or evil,  light or dark, saved or lost, angelic or devil-like.  But Creation does not create anything as some purposeless lump with no flexibility; all energy-forms are necessarily a blend of both polar charges. As contrary as this may seem, this makes for unity through contrast, for there can be no light without dark, no up without down, no front without back, for example.  Each energy illusion (matter form) is but a transitory aspect of Creation’s unity.  This means that the Source out of which all Creation expresses itself cannot be some good only “God” that is rhapsodized in man-fashioned faith systems, for darkness or negative events which they term evil cannot have issued from a different Source.  Therefore to pray to this amoral (meaning neither moral or immoral) turbulent seat of Creation as some benevolent deity-being is but a practice of frustration, for Creation’s turbulent potentiality is not the evolutionary pinnacle of wisdom.

Oddly, these same self-serving faith systems tell us not to be deceived by material appearances, yet they are all busy gathering unto themselves as much material baggage and power advantages as possible.  And inexplicably the feminine gender (through which life becomes manifest) is evaluated by male dominated faith systems as not being worthy to represent their imagined macho God.  How do these men then account for the feminine aspects that are submerged with their own physical being?  Science has revealed that each person carries within their physical being the hormones of the opposite sex.  Therefore no man can ever be 100% male, and no woman can be 100% female.  And since this is true how can these man-contrived faith systems teach that “God abhors” same gender attraction?

With man-contrived faith systems devoted mainly to pretense and theatrics as guidance, the lure of human adherents to the faith amounts to little more than that faith system’s fiscal assets.  In this manner the “sheep” are kept benumbed and focused on materiality.  Feeling righteous with such holy guidance is it any wonder that the devotees feel no sin in mercilessly plundering and despoiling planet Earth for their material pleasures?  The faithful fail to see that they drift in the currents around a black hole.

 

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Religion and Social Ills

Posted in Atheist, belief, faith, logic, monotheism, random, religion, scriptures, theology, thoughts on July 12, 2016 by chouck017894

Mankind’s many, many faith systems are each self-advertised and promoted as the positive method that inspires people to live their lives with more respectfulness and righteousness. But are practices which are formulated to pivot upon judgmental and prejudicial behavior toward “God’s” intended diversity really the untainted “narrow path” to attain Heaven or Paradise?

When faith systems teach seekers that all human entities skate on thin ice at the edge of the black hole of “sin” the minds of the faithful are persistently maneuvered into a submerged fear-based emotional state.  Faith system merchants often lace their promotional spiels with heavy condemnation over minor differences which human entities are prone to.  The “flock” has then been “blessed” with inappropriate belief that their faith system holds some especial and exclusive favor with the all-inclusive  Creative Source.  It’s an excellent tactic for the faith merchants, but it is hell on a devout person’s rationality.  The sly inference of never quite measuring up to God’s expectations for you tends to fester in the subconscious, and that negative energy is inclined to gestate over time and give birth to little deformed demons of resentment.

Since personal consciousness rests within a god-ordained animal configuration during its limited matter life experience the natural response to all the subtle negativity packaged into faith system merchandising is a stimulation of the hypothalamus which often triggers an inbred fight or flight response.  But the crafted “religious” dictum is that you are allowed to do neither.  The internal physical/mental mechanism then must adjust something like this: The blood vessels become constricted and blood pressure rises; stomach acidity increases; and body muscles remain tense to get ready for physical confrontation.  The most immediate result of all this built-in internal defense activity is that it serves to suppress the immune system which is the body’s defense against genuine life-threatening conditions.

Western organized by-the-book faith systems prosper because they have always sermonized that there is a constant threat which allegedly exists between each persons’s soul and the possibility of oblivion.  Cultivation of fear for the unknown makes for an easy target for faith merchants to hit.  And the built-in advantage is that it also keeps the faithful suspicious of any minor but natural (God ordained) differences which individualizes each person’s interests or lifestyle.  It is a scientifically proven fact that over eighty percent of all human dysfunctions have been traced to emotional stress.  So is mankind’s higher potential really being served by such cultivation of fanaticism, suspicion and intolerance as is religiously churned out by man-invented faith systems?

Organized faith systems regularly stand guilty of emphasizing and passing judgment on what are but minor natural differences rather than counseling tolerance and inspiring understanding of God-intended diversity and variety.  These by-the-book faith systems generally give much lip service to tolerance and charity, but this is too often disproved by their typical attitude that their faith system alone–and it alone–holds some exclusive position with the Creative Source which they personify as “God.”  The inappropriate cultivation of belief that their faith system possess some exclusive expressway into  an imagined Creator’s favor generates only inappropriate expectations, both of others and of self.  The indulgence in such belief programming brushes extremely close to what may be termed true sin, for it sets believers upon a path of negative life occurrences–i.e. judgmental attitudes, feelings of guilt over natural desires, practicing conditional love, avoidance of personal responsibility, lack of forgiveness, lust for material things, and a host of other favorite themes of faith system merchants.

The concept of monotheism is actually a practice of personifying the all-inclusive Creative Source as a principled, judgmental human-like being (God).  This allows for the conducting of corporate-style business under the assertion that the powers which created and sustains everything is human-like and plays favorites with the diverse and varied energy combinations that are manifested as the human species.  This is a conman tactic which is then slyly intensified by grafting a foreboding of death and judgment into their sales pitch.  This further allows those claiming to hold the moral high ground to peddle their faith system’s insurance which promises a glorious afterlife.  Unfortunately mankind can never attain its higher potential through such ego-stroking indulgence.

Such faith system practices will never ensure that peace, tolerance and brotherly love will actually be achieved by followers of hard line faith systems.  Any acceptance and true charity for the intended diversity that is active as life would deprive those self-appointed god-ambassadors of their pretense of god-blessed authority.  Thus man-made faith systems commonly teach judgment passing, hairsplitting, self-serving rites and rituals, spiritual exclusiveness, and similar ego-stroking propaganda.  For seekers it all comes at a steep price: loss of the true access into higher alignment with universal power which is gained only through tolerance–which then flowers as enlightenment.

 

 

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A Few Biblical Crimes

Posted in agnoticism, Atheist, belief, Bible, faith, Hebrew scripture, random, religion, scriptures, thoughts on May 13, 2016 by chouck017894

For some two to three thousand years the Bible has been advertised and promoted as being the ultimate in moral guidance for mankind.  But anyone with genuine respect for moral conduct and ethical behavior toward their fellow man often staggers away in bewilderment after reading some holy accounts.

Indeed, the opening chapters of Genesis brusquely kick things off with a highly questionable take on common ethics.  The naive couple, Adam and Eve, the last of the Creator’s handiwork, were seemingly fashioned only for fun and games.  Naked and clueless they were placed in a deceptively paradisaical setting–a setting which featured two breathtakingly beautiful fruit-bearing trees as it focal point.  Ah, but these were declared to be off limits as a food source for God’s not-too-bright last creations.  This is clearly a case of crafty entrapment, not omniscient wisdom.  But God is pictured as outraged and declared that death is to be their punishment–and not just for Adam and  Eve, but for all matter-life forms!  The first human couple had absolutely no experience as life beings, so how could they have possibly comprehended what the threat of death meant?

Ethics and compassion soon got another below-the-belt attack in the “revealed” record of Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve.  Cain was a farmer and Abel was a sheepherder. For all the bounty that God had graciously allowed them God expected both of them should bring material offerings to him in gratitude.  Abel slit a sheep’s throat and God found this to be extremely pleasing, but Cain’s gift taken from laboriously tended fields, was scorned by the Creator.  Cain, of course, smarted at this discrimination and in a jealous frenzy killed his brother.  According to the Bible there were no actual criminal laws established in Paradise, nor had there been need for such law in a family of four.  So the homicide of Abel cannot be termed murder or even manslaughter.  So the Omniscient One banished Cain from his native land and Cain was commanded not to till the ground anymore.  Apparently Cain was expected to starve himself to death.  Or perhaps that was the Omniscient One’s plan for Cain’s evolutionary success, for Cain became wonderfully successful as a builder of cities after that..  Still we can’e help but wonder–is infinite punishment for “sins” committed by a finite being’s brief life really the caliber of a Creator’s justice?

The same loose concepts of holy moral/ethical conduct is continued throughout holy word.  Aggression is highly praised in divine tales, and war crimes pass as acceptable practice–if carried out for the security of a man-invented faith system.  For example, under Moses’ generalship the Israelites are glorified for having killed off all the Midianite men, their kings and the prophet Balaam.  Joshua is portrayed as reveling in holocaustic violence in which even thousands of noncombatant women, children, and the aged were slaughtered.  Deceitful David exterminated men, women and children in various stories, even sawing victims in half or hacking them to pieces.

In a number of holy stories characters are admired for homicide.  The alleged “prophet” Elijah, for example, is glorified for killing 450 priests of Baal to “justify” Jehovah and is held as exemplary.  And there is Elisha, Elijah’s successor, who called upon God to send two bears to kill children who had dared to mock his bald head.  And there is Esther who is praised for plotting the mass murders of Persians.  And there is Jezebel who trumped up false charges against a father and his two sons so they would be slain.

Sexual misconduct, as long as it is strictly heterosexual, is routinely sniffed over. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his two daughters merit no chastising for acts of incest.  The maltreatment of Sarah whom Abraham loaned out to the king for material benefits is brushed over. Isaac, their son, followed dad’s example and passed his wife off to the king as his sister for favors.  Good old David, indulged in adultery and had the husband set up for assassination.  Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, too young to give legal consent, was defiled by her half-brother, prince Shechem.  How do these tales and many other similar holy tales teach anyone how they are to achieve a personal state of grace?

Strangely, impurity is a constant counterpoint played upon in holy tales, but the “impurity” is always about following some man-invented routine of pretentiousness and mannerisms as being the only method that God approves.  The impurity angle is more of a concern in Judaism and Islam, but subliminally it lingers in Christianity also.  This springs primarily from the claim that just being born–expelled from a woman’s body–renders each person impure.  It’s that old “original sin” scam.  It is never explained why, if the Creator is omniscient (all knowing), “he” could not have devised a more practical manner for multiplying new life.  Nonetheless, that little oversight allows for his self-appointed representatives to have steady employment in their self-devised theatrics.  For example, to make up for original impurity some sects insist that one’s hair must be trimmed in a strict prescribed manner, or certain foods must be avoided or prepared in a ritual way, and of course certain theatrics (man-contrived rites, rituals, ceremonies, etc.) must be performed.

Such is the enticement and lure of man-written holy books.  The emphasis is commonly placed upon following some man-devised routine as though it was magically set down in stone and perhaps delivered on some mountain top.  That, however, is not the all-inclusive nature of true spirit.  Rigidity and inflexibility happen to be the conditions of something that is dead.

 

 

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