Category: Religion

Imagine the most intense men’s cocktail in existence; a heady mixture of testosterone, adrenalin, and blood. Mix in a liberal amount of noise, money, and sweat and you may be getting close to the experience of a Balinese cockfight. I had been to a little village cockfight, but I had to leave due to the presence of my friend, who is American (As the inhabitants of the United States somewhat erroneously call themselves) and female. Women, at least all the women I know, do not do well at cockfights. They do not understand the religious reason for a cockfight, which is that in Bali, just like everywhere else in the world, the Gods demand blood. Oh, you think ‘western’ religions are immune to this? You obviously don’t know history very well, or perhaps you simply choose to ignore it, as many Americans do.  

Glenn Greenwald finds comfort in liberal dissent:

It’s certainly true that one has no difficulty finding cult-like liberal veneration for Obama – those who invoke Bible-like “he’s-a-master-of-11-dimensional-chess” clichés to justify whatever he does (the Lord works in mysterious ways but even when we don’t understand what He does, we Trust that He is Supremely Good and more Wise than us and knows best); who declare, in Bush-like “with-me-or-against-me” fashion, all critics of Obama to be the Enemy; who pay homage to Kim Jong Il-like imagery such as this and this; who believe that “trust” — a sentiment appropriate for family and friends but not political leaders — should be vested in Obama and thus negate any concerns over how he exercises power.  Some overly-eager journalists and bloggers are devoted to carrying forth the administration’s message (usually delivered anonymously) in exchange for favorable treatment and/our due to a painfully excessive sense of devotion, and there’s a Democratic establishment with a built-in machinery to defend Obama no matter what he does.

But outside of those anonymity-granting blogger/journalists and Democratic apparatchiks, these drooling, worshipful, subservient sentiments are largely confined to the fringes.  With some exceptions, to find this right-wing-replicating blind loyalty to the Leader, one has to search blog comment sections and obscure diarists.  Many — arguably most — of the most vocal liberal Bush critics have kept their critical faculties engaged and have been unwilling to sacrifice their political values and principles at the altar of partisan loyalty.

It should be emphasized that mere criticism for its own sake is also not a virtue.  Those who reflexively and blindly criticize whatever Obama does (based on the immovable, all-consuming conviction that he is intrinsically Evil) are nothing more than the opposite side of the same mindless coin as those who reflexively and blindly praise whatever Obama does (based on the immovable, all-consuming conviction that he is intrinsically Good). Pre-ordained, overarching judgments of Obama that are detached from his actions and grounded in Manichean caricatures are irrational in equal measure, whether that judgment yields praise or condemnation.

A rational citizen, by definition, praises and supports political leaders only when they do the right thing (regardless of motive), and criticizes and opposes them when they don’t.  It’s just that simple.  Cheerleading for someone because they’re on “your team” is appropriate for a sporting event, not for political matters.  Political leaders deserve support only to the extent that their actions, on a case-by-case basis, merit that support, and that has largely been the behavior of progressives towards Obama.

A respected pastor, best-selling author and founder of a major ministry to teens predicts an imminent “earth-shattering calamity” centered in New York City that will spread to major urban areas across the country and around the world – part of what he sees as a judgment from God.

This dude, Minister David Wilkerson, is predicting a new, bigger, eviler and nastier 911 which will begin in New York and spread across the globe like a wildfire of locusts. And Dave is no crank, he’s been saving souls for 50 years now and he knows a good apocalypse when he sees one.

Take heed folks. The End is Near. Really. Honest. If you can’t see the signs then you’re going to burn in hell where Jim Cramer will sit on your face for eternity.

Apparently our brains have “a natural inclination for religious belief, especially during hard times.” This does not bode well for advancing the interests of reason and science in the continuing economic crisis — especially if you believe, as I do, that what we’re seeing now is just the beginning.

Born Believers: How Your Brain Creates God

http://www.newscientist.com/ar…

WHILE many institutions collapsed during the Great Depression that began in 1929, one kind did rather well. During this leanest of times, the strictest, most authoritarian churches saw a surge in attendance.

This anomaly was documented in the early 1970s, but only now is science beginning to tell us why. It turns out that  human beings have a natural inclination for religious belief, especially during hard times. Our brains effortlessly conjure  up an imaginary world of spirits, gods and monsters, and the more insecure we feel, the harder it is to resist the pull of  this supernatural world. It seems that our minds are finely tuned to believe in gods.

See also:

The Credit Crunch Could Be A Boon For Irrational Belief

http://www.newscientist.com/ar…

BREAKING:

AP, UPI: 27, January, 2009

Vatican Moles Break Silence on Hidden Gospels by Jesus of Nazareth.

An international group of theologians have been copying and removing long hidden documents from the Vatican and other undisclosed locations that the Catholic Church had repressed.

The Vatican has broadly condemned their actions, and refute the documents validity.

“These false documents are too dangerous to ever see the light of day.

“There would be widespread societal breakdown, chaos, riots should these criminals ever publish these documents. There is no evidence these are authentic documents, and to quote from them would be possibly end society as we know it.

We condemn them.“

Our sources say, these are gospels written by Jesus of Nazareth himself, who not only studied under the rabbis of his day, but traveled extensively during his “missing” years, and continued to do so into his 90’s.

They contend Jesus was a scholar, and left writings quite contrary to the Biblical Texts we have come to accept, in fact in most cases, contradict them entirely.

More importantly, they claim the largest volume of these writings, in ancient Aramaic, were written when Jesus himself was quite elderly, exposing that he continued to live and travel after 30 AD. His “Symbolic Death and Resurrection,” he claimed, was necessary to leave Israel and continue teaching elsewhere. Jesus’ claim that His Resurrection was symbolic has shaken the very foundation of Christianity.

His response to where his “Christian” followers were heading was not kind.

The volumes have been under study for years by this group of theologians, and the Vatican has threatened excommunication of anyone who reads the texts they have decided to publish. They have condemned these Gospels, and fear reprisals from people who may believe in them, and will be angered that they have been intentionally suppressed.

These are the words they consider most damning:

Further reading exposes Jesus’ love of studying under other scholars, but only as a tool to find ones own truth, including accepting atheism as valid.

The controversy surrounding the publication of these Scriptures has Global implications.

Excerpt from an article by the managing editor at the The Environmentalist:

There has been a great deal of reporting, speculation, finger pointing and denials on the Mumbai attacks, much of which has focused on trees (dots) instead of forests. After reading with empathy and horror of the death and destruction, the question remained, who was behind this and why?

snip

The press has been referring to the Mumbai attacks as India’s 9/11. Given the impact on India and the larger impact on both the global economy and the ongoing conflicts in South Asia, that seems an accurate assessment.

http://world.the-environmental…

The article lists the different players involved and identifies, by name, the likeliest suspects.  

Here’s the link.

(An open series for reflecting on, and overcoming obstacles on the path to finding a World Solution that works.)

This is the first barrier. We are one, but not one, in that our ways are myriad.

Each society has differences, cultural norms of behavior, religious based rules, and laws that may address either equitably or unfairly.

We, as Americans, tend to see all these variations through the glass darkly when they do not align with our biased Western perspective.

I believe the largest obstacle is how to allow the greatest autonomy in cultural preservation and freedom while trying to prohibit abuse of any persons individually.

The answer, in my opinion cannot be raising McDonald’s in the shadow of temples world wide, and demanding homogenization to a Western template.

Just caught this little interesting tidbit.

Bob Jones U. Apologizes For Racism

Could guilty consciouses and understanding of ‘S*I*N!’ finally be breaking into the christian? rights understanding of the true meaning of the book and teachings they say they follow?

Could they have finally realized the ‘Liberal’ leanings within?  

McClatchy carries one of the realities further in this article I just caught. The subject title above is the beginning of theirs and it finishes with this: here’s to Kareem the Soldier

Khan was a 20-year-old soldier from Manahawkin, N.J., who wanted to enlist in the Army from the time he was 10. He was an all-American boy who visited Disney World after he completed his training at Fort Benning, Ga., and made his comrades in Iraq watch “Saving Private Ryan” every week.