Tsukino_Rei
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Posts posted by Tsukino_Rei
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I think the junk DNA is just spare data kicking around which may or may not become active in future generations. As a poor example, you may carry the ancestral data for red hair, blonde hair, black hair, brown hair,etc, for being tall, short, skinny, rotunde, big boobs, little boobs, green eyes, brown eyes, blue eyes, various genetic ailments... You are born with active genes for just a few of the traits, the rest of the traits which might have become active continue to float around. There is also evidence that your environment, your diet, the drugs you take, and many of your life choices have an impact on what direction your genetic development takes as you grow up. The genetic choices continue even after you've left the womb. So all the data for the various choices that could have been made must be within you.
Nearly half of the human genome is composed of transposable elements or jumping DNA. First recognized in the 1940s by Dr. Barbara McClintock in studies of peculiar inheritance patterns found in the colors of Indian corn, jumping DNA refers to the idea that some stretches of DNA are unstable and "transposable," i.e., they can move around—on and between chromosomes.This theory was confirmed in the 1980s when scientists observed jumping DNA in other genomes. Now scientists believe transposons may be linked to some genetic disorders such as hemophilia, leukemia, and breast cancer. They also believe that transposons may have played critical roles in human evolution.
McClintock received a Nobel prize in 1983 for her discovery—making her one of only two women ever to receive an unshared Nobel prize in science. The other was Marie Curie.
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/faq/faqs1.shtml
Professor Chang isn't mentioned on the Human_Genome project. I have not been able to find any links at all to Professor Chang's teams research. Serious research findings are published for peer review. I can find no peer review. Even scientists who have yet to be published in a recognized journal will post their raw data for the viewing of fellow scientists in the hopes of attracting the attention of a publisher.
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Agreed, believing a lie can produce fear, but the Truth sets you free.
Which is one reason why Liberal Christian philosophy is to passionately and fearlessly seek after the Truth wherever it may lead.
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I understand what your saying.. Its possible to fear the unknown via imagination, but I think there's a distinct difference between being frightened by a movie, and the reality of genuine fear.
Genuine deception can also produce genuine fear.
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You can't fear something unless you believe its real. Fear of God requires faith in God.
There's an entire industry of scary movies which show that's not true. Willing suspension of disbelief for the duration of the film is all that's needed to generate fear.
The idea of something is very often enough; the hint of a possibility, the ability to imagine that it may be true. Even tragedies, designed to generate cartharsis which is a blend of pity and fear, depend on the audiences ability to suspend their disbelief even though they know what they are watching isn't real.
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If you believe in the same Spirit that was and is in Jesus, is it that same Spirit which convinced you that the bible isn't true? And if the bible is false, how can you trust or believe what is written about the Spirit of Jesus? It seems like circular reasoning to me, with no foundation of belief.
Imagine for a moment that I am a famous person.
One man reads about me in the magazines, buys two of my Biographies which were written by ghost-writers whom I hired and whom I believed could most accurately capture the essence of who I am. He knows all of my published likes and dislikes, intimate childhood experiences that some tabloids managed to dig up, my birthday, the names of my parents. Maybe everything he reads is true, maybe it isn't, but it entertains him to believe it's so.
Another man has no interest in papers or tabloids. He barely knows who I am when he meets me, but he isn't terribly shocked that my favorite food is no longer Pizza, as his friends tell him was published in Time Magazine. Even once we get married he pays no attention to the press and reads neither of my biographies. But we laugh together. We go for long walks together. We talk to eachother about how we feel about everything. We spend long nights making love and taking comfort in one anothers arms. We raise children. We give one another support. In all the time he is with me he never cross references what I tell him with what's written in my books or the papers to confirm it's accuracy. Why would he need to?
Which man knows me?
Faith is not the willing suspension of disbelief. No prophet ever acted in faith on what he read in a book. He acted on faith according to dreams, to visions, to burning bushes, to inner voices - in virtually every religion around the world this is the testimony. And like reading the tabloids being familiar with these testimonies themselves is not true, direct experiential knowledge of the being.
The books and magazines and T.V documentaries serve as a brief introduction of questionable accuracy to a real person.
Reading a book and insisting upon trusting it's every word as innerrant knowledge of a Being one supposedly believes as real, burying every doubt as lack of faith to be shunned rather than freely and confidently explored in whatever direction it goes for feer of being led astray and losing salvation... that's not faith. That's willing suspension of disbelief.
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Thank you for the links, Michael. It's exceedingly helpful to be pointed at somewhere to start given the bulk of information!
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..and that they were all standing in a rather large field of marijuana which was starting to..
produce a strangely groovy haze over the throng. Soon the people began to....
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indeed it is a lot of reading...I have had reason many times to chase down the roots of certain words.... and it sometimes happens that the words used bring connotations that are unwarranted or unwanted, simply by their accepted usage....
I have meditated upon this fact countless times when searching connections between one spiritual teaching and another...
It has occurred to me, witness the Energetic Healing thread, that at times a truth must be introduced as a NEW thing for the desired idea to be understood.... at times one must avoid what is familiar to the listener to avoid those well worn thought patterns... those connections that happen when certain words are used, which could focus the listeners attention into a slightly different understanding than that which is intended. For instance : what comes to your mind when i say MEDITATION..... you saw a swami didn't you???
.... thats kinda what i mean...I think i get the idea of using " new " words..... In reality though, I kinda think of em more as recycled....This place is older than science thinks...... which could be another use for specific words....
emalpaiz - perhaps they're underground...waiting for 2012....
mj606 - thanks for the boost...
Michael... - hey, thats my pause... JK... I wonder at Madame Blavatsky's ( Helena Petrovna Blavatsky )possible influence on the text.....
That's an insightful way of looking at it Brother Sky. Thank you! -
I am one of those "ancient texts" people. If it is not already recorded in some way in past documentation then the book needs be questioned is my stance. However with the Urantia book, it is predated and postdated with ancient texts and this is one of the several powerful legs of "truth" that will hold this book above all others in the long run.
I'm speaking about the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi Library Scrolls. Those ancient scrolls contained "lost knowledges" in religious understandings and many other states of knowledge. Jesus didn't read a bible. Jesus as it was back in that day studied from a huge Library of scrolls. Much of that text was thought lost in the great fire, but it some that "lost knowledge" unearthed itself with the lost scrolls.
There are several major points contained within the lost scrolls that are predated to publication by the Urantia book. Yet the lost scrolls and hidden knowledges predate the urantia book. It is by this single act of the devine that should spark the intrest in the urantia book for anyone that seeks to know the truth about themselves and our creator "God".
That predated/postdated lost knowledges unearthed and suported is only a drop in the bucket that has made the Urantia Papers stand above all other works of this modern era.
Fascinating. I've skimmed some introductory pages on their website. My inner-skeptic is warring with some elements of resonating truth that I gleaned. Some principles at first glance seem true. There appears to be an awful lot of creativity involved as well though. For example - what's with all the made up words? The only information I can find for the etymology of Urantia is written by the creators of the book. What is all this new terminology based on?
Then again it does not itself claim to be an absolute truth, but rather a re-interpretation of truth for a modern age calling on ancient traditions and mystical thought. So I suppose it's best approached as a highly involved and detailed mythopoeia; a story written by men to explore universal truths.
Though I've not read it all yet, so I guess I'll see.
Holy Vorondadek, that's alot of reading!....
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Hey Pete,
Just wanted to throw in a bit of encouragement and thank you for sharing your edifying and love filled belief system. If you've not discovered it yet you might like to take a poke around at www.tentmaker.org - the homepage of a strong Biblical Universalism movement which contains some compelling Biblical arguments and evidence in support of many of the views you've expressed here, including examples of significant politicaly motivated translation differences through the centuries and quotes from ancient scholars of the day regarding common beliefs among Christians of days long past.
You might find the Jesus Seminar really intersting too!
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It's soooooooooo cute! A wolf puppy howls for the first time!
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Oh, and watch wolf puppies rock out to Simple Plan's son "I'm Just a Kid" :
I've shown this to my dearest and his friend and his sister, and his folks and we all agree it's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute! It's been watched repeatedly! -
EEEEEEE! Gurning in a mirror is fun. Gurning with your friends and a mirror is more fun. Gurning at a handheld digital camera is infinite FUN! Like HOURS of pure joy! Wheeeeeeee!
or that might be because I had some wine and I don't very often.
Christmas party you see. With my beloved. He danced with me. He never dances. But he did! And it was lovely.For yet more fun - go here - http://www2.b3ta.com/namethatbeard/namethatbeard.swf
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Hello Friends, I am going to be having brain surgery on December 23rd. I would just like to ask you all to send me any positive wishes, prayers or whatever good energy you can spare. I had my first surgery on November 11th and unfortunately, it did not fix the Trigeminal Neuralgia I have been struggling with. I thank you all very much and wish you all a very happy holiday season.
Are you going with microvascular decompression?
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When I was a child my parents were pretty active in our RCC parish.
A family moved into our street and wrote to the local paper complaining that no "so-called Catholics" were friendly. (I don't know how long after they moved in, but it can't have been very long).
So naturally my parents and several other catholic families in the street went to welcome them, befriended the mother (a housewife like many in our street) and I played a lot with their 2 kids who were about the same age as me.
This went on for about 5 or 6 months, until suddenly everything changed.
The woman started attacking the RCC neighbours verbally, and later physically.
She would cruise her car alongside RCC children walking home from school and threaten them, insult our parents (she told my 8 or 9 year old brother that my mother was an alcoholic and that our Dad was not his real father, for instance).
She would sit outside the church during Mass with her finger on the car horn and was twice cautioned by the police for it. One evening my Mum and I were out walking and met her and her children: she got them throwing stones at us.
Very very scary...and exceeding weird.
At least I can say I've been stoned for my religion.
The hassles ended when she sexually, racially and physically harrassed a lecturer at our local college (he was black, not RCC - apparently she didn't like black people either), got taken to court and lost... they moved house and were never heard from again.
That's awful. What at terrible lasting memory that must have left the children with. -
Article about modern religious war (killing on both sides) - http://newsblaze.com/story/20081130140511k...b/topstory.html
Reconciliation Attempts- http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b...._Were_Wrong.htm
A giant leap backward - http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0919/p12s2-woeu.html
http://www.counterpunch.org/harper12082003.htmlWhen Christians KillBy TESS HARPER
"Our troops" (preferred term. Avoid "military" or "bombs", as those words can get people upset) seem to have, regrettably, killed nine children inside a home in another inevitable accident in Afghanistan. This is going to present us with yet another challenge, linguistics-wise, because as you surely know by now, we have a very, very Christian President, which means that everything he orders his military to do, and everything his military orders our troops to do, is of course consistent with Christian principles.
I've been on the horn all morning with Washington on this potential PR disaster, and I know that my readers are concerned as well, lest our military missions or our rules of engagement be questioned (Tess Tip: "rules of engagement" reliably quells opposition, as it sounds too official and sophisticated for the average reader to dare question). But not to worry, Tess is on the case. A bit of shuffling around is in order, but if we work fast, we can prevent the usual whining about how "US aggression" has led to more civilian deaths, etc., blah blah blah.
Never fear, Dear Reader: As long as we get the words right, people will have forgotten all about those nine juveniles by, oh, Tuesday at the latest.
You see, when Christians kill, we have to have certain-wording. The right wording has been brilliantly used by our leaders these last two years to nip in the bud any dangerous notions that killing is somehow un-Christlike. I mean we all know that Jesus would be the first to commend the bombers for their good intentions after all, they were trying to kill "the enemy" and rid the world of evil, and just had a little, well, accident.
And Jesus said well never mind. Let's move on to pious-sounding words from the other parts of the Bible or from cherished old hymns that are, well, more amenable to our purposes than all that stuff that Jesus taught, which really has no pertinence here. (Tess Tip: you'll save a lot of time by skipping the Gospels altogether when justifying military defense killings, or when sanitizing military offense killings disguised as defense killings. I know all this is rather confusing, but the simple rule of thumb is in these situations is: Don't quote Jesus.)
Think with me for a moment. We need to strategize. What kind of phrase would make this nasty little incident more palatable to the good Christians of America?
For starters, we'll need a good Biblical-sounding word or two. "Evildoers" is usually a winner, but it's been a bit overused of late. How about-hmm-"freedom"? Good, but not quite Biblical enough to cover our.to convey the Christian impulse behind this regrettable incident (Tess Tip: always include the word "regrettable" when families are killed, preferably followed pretty quickly by the word "inevitable"-but don't use "collateral damage", as a lot of folks are starting to see through that one).
Still no ideas? Okay, let's just admit we're stuck for a moment, and go back to the AP story, 12/6/03. That should give us some ideas:
"An American A-10 aircraft struck a site south of Ghazni where a "known terrorist" was believed to be hiding at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Army Maj. Christopher E. West told The Associated Press. "Following the attack, ground coalition forces searching the area found the bodies of both the intended target and those of nine children nearby," he said. The U.S. military was sending a team of investigators to the site to determine if U.S. forces were at fault," West said."
Oh icky, that's no good-words like "attack", "bodies", "children", and fault" are to be avoided at all costs. Let's move on to another paragraph:
""We regret the loss of any innocent life and we follow stringent rules of engagement to specifically avoid this type of incident while continuing to target terrorists who threaten the future of Afghanistan," West said."
Much better! Our wording should include something about our dedication to preserving "innocent life", which we should, of course, quickly follow by reminding the reader or listener that, even though we did the killing, there were bad people (including a "known terrorist") out there threatening the very victims that we inadvertently killed.
Hey, are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Now we're getting somewhere. Try this on for size: Those nine were the very children that we were protecting, but, because of the bad people nearby-or, well, somewhere around there-anyway, in that region or that country (is Afghanistan the Middle East?!), oh you know what I mean-we had to drop some bombs. And -and -and they hit that house with the kids in it, and -and -and you see, (oh wait, this is good) if we hadn't done it, the terrorists probably would have, sooner or later! So, voila-We were actually protecting the children, but because the known terrorist wouldn't come out and show him- or herself to our bombers, those poor children got killed instead. The terrorists, you see, killed themin a manner of speaking.
Only one problem remains, and it's an important one, so let's not stop here. Where can we insert some Biblical wording to ease the conscience of any Bush supporter who might be fond of that troublesome "Christ" part of Christianity (compassion, millstone-around-the-neck for those who hurt children, blessed are the merciful, etc.)? Never fear, a quick look at the speeches of our own very, very Christian President may do the trick:
"They're nothing but a bunch of cold-blooded killers and that's the way we're going to treat them." George W. Bush, talking to soldiers at the largest US military base, Jan. 3, 2003.
OOPS! Never mind that one, strike it from the record please. There MUST be something better, somewhere here in my files, oh, what's this? Let's take a peek:
"I know that the families of our military are praying that all those who serve will return safely and soon. Millions of Americans are praying with you for the safety of your loved ones and for the protection of the innocent." George W. Bush, 3/19/03
"Prayer"! That's the ticket! It's on the cover of dozens of bestsellers-believe me, it's highly persuasive at this time. You see, as long as you link the word "prayer" with any kind of activity, and I do mean ANY kind of activity, it becomes "sanctified", in a sense: If you pray that the President's decisions will be right, then, well, think about it! Whatever decision he subsequently makes will bewhat? Correct, of course, and Godly, too! You wouldn't want to question God, would you?
That's why www.presidentialprayerteam.org is so successful. When you tell citizens to pray for political figures, this gives millions of well-intentioned Christians the subliminal message that, after praying for their President, whatever their President does or does not do is, ipso facto, the will of God Himself. Could you ask for anything more perfectly designed to squelch doubts or questions or pangs of conscience?
Okay, so now let's put it all together to develop our special wording (tactical words are underlined for your convenience): "We regret the loss of any innocent life, and pray that our actions will, in time, help us in our efforts to free the people of Afghanistan and Iraq from the terrorists who threaten their future."
Well we're pretty much finished, but, well, doesn't it lack-sparkle? Don't you think it should end with something that sounds righteous, patriotic, maybe even divinely inspired? Let Tess rummage around once more to see if there's anything fitting.
Here it is! George W. Bush, in his State of the Union address, Jan. 28, 2003: "For so many in our country -- the homeless and the fatherless, the addicted -- the need is great. Yet there is power, wonder-working power in the goodness, and idealism, and faith of the American people"
Ready? Set? Done! Our special wording, presented below, will ease every Bush-supporter's qualms, and even the most ardent Christian's concerns, about those nine little ones who were-well basically, in the wrong place (at home) at the wrong time (when we came a-bombing):
"We regret the loss of any innocent life, and pray that our actions will, in time, free the people of Afghanistan and Iraq (insert other countries as desired), from the terrorists who threaten their future. The people of Afghanistan and Iraq and (insert countries) long for freedom, and we are making the sacrifices to bring that freedom to them and to all the people of that troubled part of the world. We know that we will prevail because there is power, wonder-working power in the goodness and mercy of our troops and the American people."
All Spinitaway phrasing is a public service of Tess Harper Enterprises and may be used to sanitize and justify all regrettable but inevitable accidents on an as-needed basis by Mr. Wolfowitz, Mr. Rumsfeld, Mr. Bremer, Mr. Perle, Mr. Cheney, Gen. Sanchez, Fox News, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Pat Robertson, Thomas Friedman and the New York Times, Jerry Falwell, Bill O'Reilly, James Dobson, Rush Limbaugh, the Rendon group, Clear Channel radio stations, Condi Rice and/or President George W. Bush entirely free of charge and without permission of the author.
Tess Harper can be reached at: spinitaway-at-hotmail.com
ZOIKS! - Hindu extremists offer reward to kill Christians - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle5186703.ece
oooo.... not a nice video game here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Massacre
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I dunno...But I do know that Paul (Mc Cartney) said:
Ebony and Ivory, living in perfect harmony...
That's sorta the same message, no??
That's a message about equality of race. The previous was a message about equality of gender. Both are messages of equality.
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Thank you RevRainbow, ActingupAgain, and RevGen - and everyone who shared your experiences. The raging part of me has shrunk some more. I will try those meditations RevGen.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G0Vc08yWys
There's a voice in my head, and it's telling me come on, come on move on.There's a voice in my head, and it's telling me I know my right from wrong.
They say what doesn't kill you can make you strong
Now I know what that means.
They can try to bend but they ain't breaking my dreams.
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Wow, really thanks alot guys. I guess it's stuff like that and so much more that made me turn around and look straight at what exactly it was that I was about to go out into the world and invite people into and I thoug, 'What sort of supposedly loving Christ-like individual would knowingly invite wounded unsuspecting God-seeking people into something like this?!'
Divisive, hateful, spiteful, gossiping, self-centered, idolatrous, closed minded, closed spirited....
I was told that Unitarians weren't Christians - only Trinitarians were. I was curious - so I went to a Unitarian Church and worshipped alongside them and questioned the pastor and you know what I found out?!
Trinitarian - One God - Three distinct Forms so full and complete to be distinct personalities/Beings - but One.
Unitiarian - One God - Three Manifestations so full and complete to be distinct personalities/Beings - but One.
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It's the same freaking thing.And yet I was told in no uncertain terms to never go back there.
Ultimately, all the ideological differences eventually added up to a letter stating that I lacked the spiritual graces for ministry and that I would never develop the spiritual graces for ministry. Didn't that just bless my cotton socks? Well no, actually, it didn't. It - along with the great pile of other things not even yet brushed upon - broke me, killed me, and freed me.
Even with all the ideological difference, even with all my questions and my stuborn explorations, even with all of that before that point I was still towing the company line. I was still holding back - staying away from certain 'forbidden' fruit like books on Wicca by Wiccans and other 'Satanic' religions. Imagine how pissed I was when I found out that everything I'd been told to beleive about these people was a lie - but that was later. No - before that point Christondom very much owned me - I was a company girl ready and willing to dedicate my considerable intellect, developing literary and speaking skills, my music, my powers of persuasion and debate to the cause of converting the world. Hell knows how many sheep I would have led to that slaughter. How bought into the whole thing I was makes me ashamed- particularly concidering that it's me.
I saw what wasn't right but didn't let it lead me to the proper, the only, conclusion because I was clinging to the idols of my established foundations.Freed from the expectations of the 'family/body' I formerly beleived myself to belong to, and from some misplaced sense of beholden honour to obey and live up to the expectations of pastors, spiritual leaders, and sunday school teachers - I went learned about all the things I wasn't supposed to and WASN'T struck by lightning and if ANY demons haunt me they're straight from the 'Body of Christ', not the books I read. There were no nightmares, no sense of drifting farther from the God I was praying to give me wisdom and show me Truth at any cost - no loss of sense of peace, indeed there was an INCREASING sense of Peace.
It was so neat, and exciting, and empowering to read all these other mystics in all these other religions and see similar experiences and similar beliefs and at the same time so bloody irritating! Oh wait, was Satan trying to trick me with a false sense of peace? Collywobbles! Colly*%&^&*(WOBBLES! It's disproven by scripture... Seek and ye shall find, can't be snatched from His hand - yadayada. Crap like that is designed to make us a AFRAID of KNOWLEDGE! 'God has not given us the spirit of fear' the Dude gives peace, understanding, and a sound mind. -.- BTW - If they wanted mindless slaves to tow the company line they probably should have done some IQ tests for entry and only taken the low scores, oh and getting me to repeatedly, critically, and exegetically read the entire Bible a few times was probably a BIG MISTAKE! grrrrrrrrrrrr.
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Any of those qualify - I'm interested in hearing about any experiences.
My wife (long before becoming my wife) had some difficulties. One man she was dating had devout Christian parents that were very kind and loving towards her. Then they stumbled across her personal website where they discovered some links she'd posted about being pagan. While they never admitted that they'd even seen it (mentioned in passing by the boyfriend), their attitude toward her changed quickly to unacceptance and hostility. It ultimately led to the end of that relationship, and her biggest regret was that they never gave her a chance to explain her beliefs.
Conversely, when I told my devout Catholic parents about her beliefs (and explained how similar they actually were in many ways), they grew to accept her. Sure, they'd love for her to convert to some form of Christianity, but they understand where she's coming from and appreciate that she doesn't try to pull me away from the church. My wife has cried tears of joy on more than one occaision over being accepted and loved "just as she is".
A Wesleyan College in New Brunswick (though it's a thinly disguised U.S School) called Bethany Bible College - though it claims to welcome all denominations - has/had a professor that would mark down the exegetical work of Baptist Students for no other reason than the conclusions they reached weren't Wesleyan. I felt bad for those students. They used to get publically called out and slapped down in classes too. So much for welcoming all denominations. Should have said they welcome the cheque books and student loans of all denominations but check your beliefs at the door please.
They were less likely to be chosen for opportunties such as leadership positions in the college choir too. That's as much a political decision as a religious one though - as those who were chosen for various opportunites tended to be related to board members and big money contributors, which wouldn't be so bad if they also had any talent at all or even some form of spiritual superiority.
Non-Christian or Non-Mainstream staff members had to stay very on the down low. Professors who weren't Wesleyan had to at least pretend to be or couldn't teach anything outside Wesleyan Doctrine even to show that there were other opinions. When students asked them questions - but what about where the Bible says this, or what about people who beleive this - they had to oh so carefully tiptoe around it and be careful not to express their own honest beliefs. These men and women were brilliant though - to those interested and passionate enough to search the breadth and depth of the subjects these people had mastered and seek to pick their brains for deeper guidance.
Oh, they had weekly staff led meeting groups (small) that everyone was required to attend with specific syllabi too. In these ridiculous sessions the men were given real meaty subjects to dive into.... while the women got tips on Christian Homemaking and good dinner table Etiquette.
- Suggesting that this was not really in keeping with the purpose of the School, wasn't right, and wasn't What Jesus Would Do wasn't popular. Does that count as being persecuted for ones beleifs?The idea that Christian's aren't actually 'called upon' to create and enforce laws on earth or to put a Christian in the White House wasn't a popular one either. Or the idea that even if Homosexuality is wrong and harmful to people it's not Christendom's place to dissalow it or purge it from society also wasn't popular.
It turns out that seeking God and Truth with all your Heart, your Soul, and your Mind isn't that popular when your Heart feels more passionately than most peoples, your soul searches more deeply than most people, and your Mind is more powerful than the majority of the planets population. Apparently there are supposed to be limits and God forgot to put those in the Bible - but that's ok because we have Progressive Revelation to sort that out for us. Our elected Church Leaders (who were ergo chosen by God) will tell us everything that God 'meant' to put in the Bible but forgot to and tell us the 'right' way to interpret things when the Bible seems unclear.
Bull*%&$
.... I really shouldn't have gotten started on this.
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I guess that depends what you classify as persecution. Do you mean death threats, loss or change of livelihood, persnal rejection, people just generally being mean, being graded not on the quality of your work but on your beliefs, or forcible alteration of future prospects/dreamkilling due to your beleifs?
Nobodies threatened to kill me. But there are more ways to die than physically.
I'm still angry. Some shrinking part of me rages at all of Christendom. Rages that every pulpit on the planet is missing a little plaque warning *Not As Advertised*. It's getting better. Mostly I'm just happy to be free of it all - happy I didn't continue down that path and become one of the well meaning world hurters manipulating people for a christ idol of human making (<-- angry me speaking).
Suffice it to say that I am a faithful beleiver that the majority of Christian persecution is executed by Christians.
Damn - I can't talk about this. It focusses me on the anger which I am trying to stop having.
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Interesting post, and quite humorous, actually. Makes me wonder why you were moved to write it.
So, I'm compelled to write a response:
I agree.
There is no "God-thingy" who will show up, saying "okydoaky!" So governing yourself is the exact plan set in motion when you were born. Glad you got the message.
Now, the reason you can do all these things is:
You're God.
Yep that's right - you're God. We're all God (or whatever you want to call him/her/it). We just don't know it. And so we wreak havoc on the world and each other, trying to find SOMEBODY in charge and SOMEBODY to blame when we screw everything up. Or we use the 10,000-year old excuse: It's God's will or the Devil made me do it. Well, sportsfans, guess who's all the above?
You see, there are 4 levels of spiritual consciousness:
1. Me. This is where God exists outside of myself. That I must look to some higher power/wisdom to find Grace.
2. Us. This is where "me" realizes that God is beside me, helping, guiding and answering prayers, leading me to Grace.
3. We. This is where "me" realizes that God is in my heart, within me, and that the Light of Spirit actually resides and creates within me the love that is the Grace I have been so desperately seeking.
4. I (or One). Now this is where "me" realizes that God is not only within me, but that I am one with God, connected to God and every THING. By working as the One, the all connected, goodness and mercy can be spread throughout the world, and Grace becomes a living entity.
'We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself'. - That Sagan Dude. -
One of my best friends (Best Man at my wedding, in fact) is a proud pervert.
His main thing is porn. He is not ashamed to tell anyone of his desires (but only if asked - he doesn't push it on people). In fact, on a local web community, he is known for his specific tastes, and has a well thought out opinion on any porn type.
He is the most open person I've ever met. He tells women interested in him that they should expect to be blogged about if they choose to date him. He is a firm believer that since because of the way the internet puts everything out there for the world to see, one should fully embrace the lack of privacy and own their perversions for all to see.
A little backstory on why he is this way: he lost both parents early in life (actually found his mother drowned in the bath), and due to a genetic disorder had a kidney transplant about a decade ago. Consequently he believes he's not going to live to see 40 (he's 32), so he lives every day like it's going to be his last.
This way of life has cost him in many ways. He has filed for bankruptcy and has no car. The longest job he's ever held (running video equipment for a church) pays virtually nothing. And he's very dependent on friends for just about anything.
However, he has made a ton of friends along the way that truly love being a source of support without expectation of repayment. He was my roommate for over two years when I was single, and only paid me rent if he had cask to spare (heck, I had the space anyway - he just got his own food). He repaid me by pulling me out of my shell to meet people - including the woman that eventually became my wife. As far I'm concerned, I still owe HIM!
That's awesome.
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True Zen comes from the no-minds of Gautam & Lao Tsu, Bodhidharma making the connect when he went from India to China.
There really is no Zen Buddhism, cause religion is of the mind, and Zen means beyond mind. There is no philosophy cause philosophy is of the mind.
Was Jesus a Christian? Was Gautam a Buddhist? Seems the students make the religions after the Master is gone.
"Mind is only thought...Take away thought, where is mind?"
The reason Zen is suited to combat is that combat is a NOW thing...Every thought is of past or future. There is no time for thought in combat. The mind is of no use NOW.
Ever been in a car wreck? Happens fast, we usually don't remember the details.
In sword play, as all martial arts, the training 'speaks' for itself. There is no thought.
If you touch something very hot, do you have to think about moving away from the heat?
If a weapon is fast approaching your sphere of energy...No time for thought!
This is what Gautam and Lao Tsu discovered. If you shut off the chattering mind, truth remains. And your training remains, in Martial and other Arts.
Thought is the 'dust on the mirror' that clouds our vision. No matter how Grand the thoughts...still dust clouding our vision.
Tibetan Buddhism says;
1. Truth IS.
2. Mind is the barrier(dust).
3. No-mind is the door.
Why do we need to invent stuff. We must be careful...Like Edgar Cayce said, "Mind is the maker." Isn't our Truth, our connection to each other, our Love, enough?
If you shut off the mind, Truth is not gone. It is what's still 't/here'.
"Nothing real can be threatened,
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the Peace of God."
Gautam said;
'The fletcher whittles his arrows,
The farmer tills his fields,
The wise direct their mind."
Maybe we can direct our mind AS we till the field, and whittle the arrows!
"A thought is the smallest particle in the universe...Also the largest, cause the universe is made of it."
Namaste
That's a powerful message, thank you.
The Universal Law Of Attraction
in New Age Theosophy & Cosmic Humanism
Posted · Edited by Tsukino_Rei
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_DNA
Another possibility is that non-coding DNA which has cross-species presence is a missing link. Ever see a Mara? Head of a bunny-rabbit. Hooves and body of a small deer. They freak my husband right out. Darwin and others observed physical similarities between species and came to believe that they had developed one into another. We've seen fish with legs. We've found skeletal evidence of links between dogs and horses. And yet a dog cannot mate with a horse and produce a Dorse. A monkey cannot mate with a man and produce a Mankey. A bird cannot mate with a lizard and prouce a lird or a bizzard. The reason is the varying lengths and complexities of dna stands. The data jigsaw pieces don't physically, naturally fit into place with eachother. Isn't it possible that the junk (alien) DNA of various data strand lengths and complexities are missing links between the species; left over evidence of eons of evolutionary development?
p.s -
I don't deny that there could be evidence of extraterrestrial life or even extraterrestrial participation in the development of life on earth - I'm just not convinced that this is it.