Tsukino_Rei

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! ....

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!

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

Are you going with microvascular decompression?

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.htmlZOIKS! - 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

That's a message about equality of race. The previous was a message about equality of gender. Both are messages of equality.

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G0Vc08yWys

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. ... 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.

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.

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.

'We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself'. - That Sagan Dude.

That's awesome.

That's a powerful message, thank you.

I'm a bit mystified that people would think wearing diapers is evil or depraved. I have a list of reasons why I would choose not to and none of them are moral. Among my reasons would be diaper rash, holding moisture (I don't even like the feeling of a pad on a monthly basis), and vanity - my trousers and skirts wouldn't have the slimming look I was aiming for.

sure thing!

Speaking from my experience of another religion that takes pride in its history, everyone and their dogs cousin can agree that a concept is unique to and inseparable from their special religion but that doesn't make it true. Truth by popular vote seems to be a trap common to organized religions. And sects and denominations form based through breaks in popular vote. It also seems to be common for religions develop sects of followers who are more inclusive and sects of followers who are less inclusive. If a religions beleifs are a fanstasy made up by a fiction author whom has stated so and has thus copyrighted much of the works, as in the case of scientology. Then by all means it's followers are in their rights to call plaigairism and protect it's concepts for sale to whom they choose. But if a religion claims to connect to real truth present in the universe, and to connect it's followers to those truths, and to develop and draw from real power and understanding, then applying universality to it is not a trap, it's honesty.

Boho-ish

You may find that other special interest groups might take an interest - taking part in a campaign of awareness within their organizations and taking names from members of their group of business men and women who would be willing to hire ex-convicts who met certain criteria. They will already have a social infrastructure which would be beneficial. Local homosexual rights groups may take an interest at the gay inmate angle. Local Churches/ or if your area has it a cooperative organization of pastors / should take an interest in helping exconvicts. You could write up a proposal plan, and present it to your local government, for a prisoner support program such as you have described. You may find psychologists willing to volunteer their time - or charitable government funding available for such a cause - to help in prisoner reintegration. Just some ideas.

Arcana A person can follow Christ and not call themselves a Christian. A person can learn to defend themselves from physical harm - diverting the energy in a spirit of love - and yet not be a trained practitioner of AiKiDo. This is because the principles of either cannot be claimed or owned by any one faction. Anything real is there to be claimed, known, and practiced by all - otherwise it's a weak fantasy. That is why mystics exist in all paths, rather than just one true path. I think it would be sad if Wicca fell into the trap of calling itself The Craft of the Wise rather than A Craft of the Wise. There's not a lot of difference between the one true path and the one true craft. IMHO

I don't strictly understand the question - so depending on how I choose to redefine the question the answer could be yes or no. But instead - I seek clarification please.

oh, I like that observation very much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_the_Beast Just throwing a thought I suddenly had out there, without doing any research - I wonder if a marked hands might be symbolically marked by actions and marked foreheads might be symbolic of thoughts?