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a-queer-seminarian · 3 years

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So sorry if this is breaking news to anyone, but: the Bible is ableist. Its pages hold some really shitty stuff about disabled persons.

...AND it’s also affirming of the goodness and wholeness of disabled persons, just as we are!

it turns out that among the many authors of the many texts collected into the Bible, there were differing views around what we now call disability!

so whenever disability comes up in a given passage, i can’t keep my brain from immediately trying to sort it: is it a Good Text for disabled persons, or a Bad Text?

i try to resist that easy binary, because the answer is usually somewhere in between. that certainly seems to be the case for this week’s lectionary reading from Mark 9.

there’s so much wild stuff in Jesus’s little monologue in this lectionary passage, but let’s start with verses 43-47 (my rough translation incoming):

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it all the way off; it is better for you to enter into The Life impaired than, while having two hands, to go away into the gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.

And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it all the way off! It is better for you to enter into The Life limping than, while having two feet, be cast into the gehenna.

And if your eye should cause you to stumble, cast it out; it is better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God one-eyed than, while having two eyes, be cast into the gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. For everyone will be salted with fire.

oh lord, not the hell talk!! anything but hell talk!! this whole passage bristles with a million ways to misuse it. (homophobia cw: anyone else ever get told “if your sexuality causes you to sin, cut it off — this passage is proof gay people should be celibate!” just me?)

now, my focus is on what Jesus says here about disability, but as we talk about that, better ways of reading the text will come up. for instance, that last verse about how everyone will be salted with fire? to me, that suggests Jesus’ vision of this “gehenna” place does NOT = the standard Christian idea of hell. first off, it’s a place not of punishment, but purification — which is a word heavy with baggage these days...what if I say “reformation” instead? And if that’s the case, i imagine one’s stay there isn’t eternal — why bother reform people who are gonna be shut off in a fire-filled jail forever?

once those fires “purify” you, i imagine your stay is through and off you go into “The Life,” because you’ll finally be ready for it. so that’s one option for getting ready for The Life / The Kingdom of God — or, Jesus says, you can opt instead to get rid of the things that “cause you to stumble” in advance by......cutting off a limb or gouging out an eye??

now. i could be wrong but. if we start by taking this text as literally as possible, with physical stumbling and a physical limb-removal taking place......wouldn’t it be easier to avoid tripping if you’ve got two eyes to see obstacles with, two feet to step over potholes with?? even today when prosthetics are sometimes an option, there’s an adjustment period where you have to relearn walking.

so it seems that Jesus is making one of his trademark statements meant to subvert expectations -- the last will be first, the foolish are proven wise, and those with two feet are more likely to stumble. chances are, he’s not speaking literally. it’s not your literal foot or hand you should be chopping off -- it’s a metaphor for something else.

but before we consider what exactly it’s a metaphor for...where does this ironic little twist leave actually disabled persons? is it shitty of Jesus to be using disability in this way? is this like his “blind leading the blind” & “spiritually blind” comments elsewhere in the Gospels, where he stamps a disability with a moral judgement?

yeah, i do think it’s kinda crappy to use real disabilities for an object lesson, for hyperbolic effect, for shock value. “better to be impaired” (even tho, the subtext seems to be, It Sucks To Be Impaired) “than end up in Gehenna. Trade one terrible thing for a still bad but not as bad thing!” My impulse is thus to throw this passage right into the Bad Text box —except!

Except, i feel like this text holds some positive implications about how Jesus viewed disability, too.

First off, there’s the implication that one can enter into “The Life” — abundant life, “the world to come,” God’s Kingdom — while disabled. (i wish that were just a given, but it’s not; it’s actually exciting to hear confirmed!)

In the Hebrew Bible (the “Old Testament,” the scriptures we share with our Jewish neighbors, the texts that Jesus would have read and known), the most common assumption about disability is unfortunately that disability = imperfection, and imperfection is something that should be kept out of contact with God.

Now, there are authors & stories within the Hebrew Bible that offer a counter-narrative to that assumption! Two quick examples: Exodus 4 establishes Moses as having a speech impediment, yet he has many close encounters with the Divine. Meanwhile, in Isaiah 56:1-8, God not only welcomes in eunuchs — whom Deuteronomy 23:1 forbade from entering God’s Assembly — but even gives them a place of honor there!

So Jesus’s perspective is not brand new; he simply continues the counter-narrative that other Jewish rabbis and prophets established before him. Still, it is significant that he takes the status-quo-subverting perspective that actually, disability and wholeness are not at odds!

While Jesus’s primary aim with this little passage is not about disability, his weird self-disabling metaphor does imply an attitude of welcome for disabled persons, in that he seems to take it for granted that disabled persons are not barred from The Life of wholeness and abundance he’s talking about.

It’s obvious to him that they don’t even need to be made not-disabled to get there! (Plus, there is no suggestion that once there, one regrows one’s lopped-off limbs or eye / becomes abled again.) This isn’t the only time Jesus expresses this idea of disabilities present in God’s Kingdom, either — my fave is the parable of the banquet in Luke 14 (i have a whooole video about that passage, if you’re interested).

Moreover, Jesus’s closing remarks about salt — which at first glance seem to be something of a non sequitur — can be linked to the Gehenna fire stuff when it comes to the theme of im/purity. Let’s look at that last verse of the lectionary reading, which follows right after Jesus’s claim that “everyone will be salted with fire”:

“Salt is good; but if salt becomes unsalty, with what will you season it? Hold salt in yourselves, and keep peace with one another.”

Another weird little riddle from our favorite riddle-master. unsalty salt? instructions to stay salty?

One way to read this is to focus on the purifying and preserving uses of salt — the way it can keep food from going bad, which was particularly important in a time before refrigerators. in the previous verses, Jesus told his disciples what to cut off — anything that impedes them on the way into abundant Life. Now, he tells them what to hold on to — the stuff that, like salt, clean out harmful things and preserve helpful things, thus enabling abundant Life.

So yeah. In naming something culturally considered an imperfection — disability — as something that can easily enter The Life, no problem, Jesus is making an argument for what is truly impure, what truly impedes wholeness. And it’s not disability! ...So what is it? What are these stumbling blocks that Jesus likens to feet, hands, and eyes?

To find out, we have to rewind to the start of the lectionary reading, a comment from the disciple John that actually kicks off Jesus’s whole spiel:

John informed him, “Teacher, we saw someone throwing out demons in your name, and we stopped him, because he wasn’t following our way.”

But Jesus said, “Do not ever prevent him! For there is no one who will do a powerful work in my name, and will be quickly able to speak evil of me. For whoever is not against us, is for us. Whoever might give you a cup of water to drink because you are in Christ’s name, amen I say to you, that one will not utterly lose his reward.”

The disciples have a certain way of seeing the world, and their actions against someone who is not one of them, but still using Jesus’s name to cast out demons, show us what that way is. They see the world in terms of us vs. them, in vs. out, one right way and many wrong ways. It’s this perspective that impedes them from supporting other people’s kin(g)dom-building work when it differs from their own.

But Jesus tells them they need to stop thinking this way, and start recognizing that there isn’t just one road to the Kin(g)dom, but many — and to quote Jesus’s words from other parts of scripture, you’ll know that someone’s work is good when it produces good fruit. This dude might be doing things differently from how they do it, but the fruits of his efforts are good — the casting out of demons, which frees people up for new life. So don’t stop him — support him! Be glad for his work!

To sum up the entire passage now that I’ve laid it all out and shown how the seemingly-disjointed parts of Jesus’s speech connect, I see his argument as something like this: “That dude you tried to stop is not against us; we can see that by the consequences of his actions, which are positive! His goals are the same as ours, so don’t hinder him just because his path is different from yours! Now, here’s an example of people/behaviors that ARE against us: people who cause little ones to stumble. And you know what you should do with such stumble-makers (or else the stumble-causing behaviors/attitudes)? Cut them off. Let go of anyone or anything that keeps you from abundant life, from the liberation God intends for all. Meanwhile, hold on to the things which purify you like salt — the things that liberate you to enter wholeness. Do it now of your own accord, or accept that it’ll happen later, and it won’t be very fun.”

To reiterate what all of that has to do with disability theology, I’ll share what my friend Laura said when I brought all these ideas to them. (Laura is the host of the Autistic Liberation Theology podcast, which i highly recommend for anyone who wants to hear more Bible stories told through a disability lens!)

Laura noted how common perspectives around dis/ability lead people wrong today, impeding our liberation. Our society teaches us that in order to function as whole persons, we need to be able-bodied (and neurotypical), and that the kinds of accommodations that disabled persons require limit their quality of life. When those ableist assumptions are the lens through which we view the world, that can “cause us to stumble” in the metaphorical sense — can impede us from loving ourselves and one another fully, and from fully participating in the diverse Kin(g)dom of God.

They offered two examples:

When a person with a mobility impairment that could be improved with a wheelchair avoids using that wheelchair because of internalized ableism, preferring the increased suffering that walking more than their body can healthily do over being “wheelchair bound,” that internalized ableism is a stumbling block keeping them from abundant life. Learning to let go of those beliefs, to use a wheelchair when they need to, will — contrary to that “wheelchair bound” language — bring liberation.

Their next example imagined a parent who puts their autistic child through ABA therapy in order to get them to talk, make eye contact, and otherwise behave like a non-autistic person, due to the belief that autistic persons are missing elements of a full personhood, or that they can only live a happy life if they learn how to mask their autistic traits. However, in reality, ABA therapy brings the child pain and trauma — it impedes rather than enables their quality of life. Letting go of that need for your child to communicate through spoken language and otherwise behave like an allistic will make room for celebration of who they really are!

As Jesus’s comments in this passage imply, a disabled person can enter into “The Life” of wholeness and kinship that is the Kin(g)dom of God just as they are. To try to sever their disability from them would be the hindrance to that liberation. To deny that there are many ways to participate in the Body of Christ impedes the incoming Kin(g)dom.

So let’s take this message to heart. Let’s consider what points of view, what assumptions about what is necessary for wholeness, are currently keeping us from abundant life, or causing us to stop others from their abundance-bringing work. It’s time to learn how to let those harmful assumptions go — and hold tight to the things that bring true wholeness.

For more on this text, check out my translation notes, which include a lot of commentary from D. Mark Davis’s own exegetical work.

For more on disability theology, you might enjoy my #disability theology tag on tumblr or my Disabled AND Blessed YouTube series. This video exploring the many different perspectives on disability found within the Bible is particularly pertinent.

Finally, what do you think? What good news do you hear in this Mark 9 text? What parts of it feel like a stumbling block for you, dredging up hurt or confusion?

#what do you think?#disability theology #mark 9 #mark 9:38-50 #bible translation #translation #reading and studying the bible #bible tag #long post #log #fall 2021 #lectionary

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howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 3 years

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A History Of God – The 4,000-year quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

“I say that religion isn’t about believing things. It’s ethical alchemy. It’s about behaving in a way that changes you, that gives you intimations of holiness and sacredness.” — Karen Armstrong on Powells.com

book by Karen Armstrong (2004)

The idea of a single divine being – God, Yahweh, Allah – has existed for over 4,000 years. But the history of God is also the history of human struggle. While Judaism, Islam and Christianity proclaim the goodness of God, organised religion has too often been the catalyst for violence and ineradicable prejudice. In this fascinating, extensive and original account of the evolution of belief, Karen Armstrong examines Western society’s unerring fidelity to this idea of One God and the many conflicting convictions it engenders. A controversial, extraordinary story of worship and war, A History of God confronts the most fundamental fact – or fiction – of our lives.

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Review: Armstrong, a British journalist and former nun, guides us along one of the most elusive and fascinating quests of all time – the search for God. Like all beloved historians, Armstrong entertains us with deft storytelling, astounding research, and makes us feel a greater appreciation for the present because we better understand our past. Be warned: A History of God is not a tidy linear history. Rather, we learn that the definition of God is constantly being repeated, altered, discarded, and resurrected through the ages, responding to its followers’ practical concerns rather than to mystical mandates. Armstrong also shows us how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have overlapped and influenced one another, gently challenging the secularist history of each of these religions. – Gail Hudson

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The Introduction to A History of God:

As a child, I had a number of strong religious beliefs but little faith in God. There is a distinction between belief in a set of propositions and a faith which enables us to put our trust in them. I believed implicitly in the existence of God; I also believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the efficacy of the sacraments, the prospect of eternal damnation and the objective reality of Purgatory. I cannot say, however, that my belief in these religious opinions about the nature of ultimate reality gave me much confidence that life here on earth was good or beneficent. The Roman Catholicism of my childhood was a rather frightening creed. James Joyce got it right in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: I listened to my share of hell-fire sermons. In fact Hell seemed a more potent reality than God, because it was something that I could grasp imaginatively. God, on the other hand, was a somewhat shadowy figure, defined in intellectual abstractions rather than images. When I was about eight years old, I had to memorise this catechism answer to the question, ‘What is God?’: ‘God is the Supreme Spirit, Who alone exists of Himself and is infinite in all perfections.’ Not surprisingly, it meant little to me and I am bound to say that it still leaves me cold. It has always seemed a singularly arid, pompous and arrogant definition. Since writing this book, however, I have come to believe that it is also incorrect.

As I grew up, I realised that there was more to religion than fear. I read the lives of the saints, the metaphysical poets, T. S. Eliot and some of the simpler writings of the mystics. I began to be moved by the beauty of the liturgy and, though God remained distant, I felt that it was possible to break through to him and that the vision would transfigure the whole of created reality. To do this I entered a religious order and, as a novice and a young nun, I learned a good deal more about the faith. I applied myself to apologetics, scripture, theology and church history. I delved into the history of the monastic life and embarked on a minute discussion of the Rule of my own order, which we had to learn by heart. Strangely enough, God figured very little in any of this. Attention seemed focused on secondary details and the more peripheral aspects of religion. I wrestled with myself in prayer, trying to force my mind to encounter God but he remained a stern taskmaster, who observed my every infringement of the Rule, or tantalisingly absent. The more I read about the raptures of the saints, the more of a failure I felt. I was unhappily aware that what little religious experience I had, had somehow been manufactured by myself as I worked upon my own feelings and imagination. Sometimes a sense of devotion was an aesthetic response to the beauty of the Gregorian chant and the liturgy. But nothing had actually happened to me from a source beyond myself. I never glimpsed the God described by the prophets and mystics. Jesus Christ, about whom we talked far more than about ‘God’, seemed a purely historical figure, inextricably embedded in late antiquity. I also began to have grave doubts about some of the doctrines of the Church. How could anybody possibly know for certain that the man Jesus had been God incarnate and what did such a belief mean? Did the New Testament really teach the elaborate – and highly contradictory – doctrine of the Trinity or was this, like so many other articles of the faith, a fabrication by theologians centuries after the death of Christ in Jerusalem?

Eventually, with regret, I left the religious life and once freed of the burden of failure and inadequacy, I felt my belief in God slip quietly away. He had never really impinged upon my life, though I had done my best to enable him to do so. Now that I no longer felt so guilty and anxious about him, he became too remote to be a reality. My interest in religion continued, however, and I made a number of television programmes about the early history of Christianity and the nature of the religious experience. The more I learned about the history of religion, the more my earlier misgivings were justified. The doctrines that I had accepted without question as a child were indeed man-made, constructed over a long period of time. Science seemed to have disposed of the Creator God and biblical scholars had proved that Jesus had never claimed to be divine. As an epileptic, I had flashes of vision that I knew to be a mere neurological defect: had the visions and raptures of the saints also been a mere mental quirk? Increasingly, God seemed an aberration, something that the human race had outgrown.

Despite my years as a nun, I do not believe that my experience of God is unusual. My ideas about God were formed in childhood and did not keep abreast of my growing knowledge in other disciplines. I had revised simplistic childhood views of Father Christmas; I had come to a more mature understanding of the complexities of the human predicament than had been possible in the kindergarten. Yet my early, confused ideas about God had not been modified or developed. People without my peculiarly religious background may also find that their notion of God was formed in infancy. Since those days, we have put away childish things and have discarded the God of our first years.

Yet my study of the history of religion has revealed that human beings are spiritual animals. Indeed, there is a case for arguing that Homo sapiens is also Homo religiosus. Men and women started to worship gods as soon as they became recognisably human; they created religions at the same time as they created works of art. This was not simply because they wanted to propitiate powerful forces but these early faiths expressed the wonder and mystery that seems always to have been an essential component of the human experience of this beautiful yet terrifying world. Like art, religion has been an attempt to find meaning and value in life, despite the suffering that flesh is heir to. Like any other human activity, religion can be abused but it seems to have been something that we have always done. It was not tacked on to a primordially secular nature by manipulative kings and priests but was natural to humanity. Indeed, our current secularism is an entirely new experiment, unprecedented in human history. We have yet to see how it will work. It is also true to say that our Western liberal humanism is not something that comes naturally to us; like an appreciation of art or poetry, it has to be cultivated. Humanism is itself a religion without God – not all religions, of course, are theistic. Our ethical secular ideal has its own disciplines of mind and heart and gives people the means of finding faith in the ultimate meaning of human life that were once provided by the more conventional religions.

When I began to research this history of the idea and experience of God in the three related monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, I expected to find that God had simply been a projection of human needs and desires. I thought that ‘he’ would mirror the fears and yearnings of society at each stage of its development. My predictions were not entirely unjustified but I have been extremely surprised by some of my findings and I wish that I had learned all this thirty years ago, when I was starting out in the religious life. It would have saved me a great deal of anxiety to hear – from eminent monotheists in all three faiths – that instead of waiting for God to descend from on high, I should deliberately create a sense of him for myself. Other Rabbis, priests and Sufis would have taken me to task for assuming that God was – in any sense – a reality ‘out there’; they would have warned me not to expect to experience him as an objective fact that could be discovered by the ordinary rational process. They would have told me that in an important sense God was a product of the creative imagination, like the poetry and music that I found so inspiring. A few highly respected monotheists would have told me quietly and firmly that God did not really exist – and yet that ‘he’ was the most important reality in the world.

This book will not be a history of the ineffable reality of God itself, which is beyond time and change, but a history of the way men and women have perceived him from Abraham to the present day. The human idea of God has a history, since it has always meant something slightly different to each group of people who have used it at various points of time. The idea of God formed in one generation by one set of human beings could be meaningless in another. Indeed, the statement: ‘I believe in God’ has no objective meaning, as such, but like any other statement it only means something in context, when proclaimed by a particular community. Consequently there is not one unchanging idea contained in the word ‘God’ but the word contains a whole spectrum of meanings, some of which are contradictory or even mutually exclusive. Had the notion of God not had this flexibility, it would not have survived to become one of the great human ideas. When one conception of God has ceased to have meaning or relevance, it has been quietly discarded and replaced by a new theology. A fundamentalist would deny this, since fundamentalism is anti-historical: it believes that Abraham, Moses and the later prophets all experienced their God in exactly the same way as people do today. Yet if we look at our three religions, it becomes clear that there is no objective view of ‘God’: each generation has to create the image of God that works for them. The same is true of atheism. The statement ‘I do not believe in God’ has always meant something slightly different at each period of history. The people who have been dubbed ‘atheists’ over the years have always been denied a particular conception of the divine. Is the ‘God’ who is rejected by atheists today, the God of the patriarchs, the God of the prophets, the God of the philosophers, the God of the mystics or the God of the eighteenth-century deists? All these deities have been venerated as the God of the Bible and the Koran by Jews, Christians and Muslims at various points of their history. We shall see that they are very different from one another. Atheism has often been a transitional state: thus Jews, Christians and Muslims were all called ‘atheists’ by their pagan contemporaries because they had adopted a revolutionary notion of divinity and transcendence. Is modern atheism a similar denial of a God’ which is no longer adequate to the problems of our time?

Despite its other-worldliness, religion is highly pragmatic. We hall see that it is far more important for a particular idea of God to work than for it to be logically or scientifically sound. As soon as it ceases to be effective it will be changed – sometimes for something radically different. This did not disturb most monotheists before our own day because they were quite clear that their ideas about God were not sacrosanct but could only be provisional. They were man-made – they could be nothing else – and quite separate from the indescribable Reality they symbolised. Some developed quite audacious ways of emphasising this essential distinction. One medieval mystic went so far as to say that this ultimate Reality – mistakenly called ‘God’ – was not even mentioned in the Bible. Throughout history, men and women have experienced a dimension of the spirit that seems to transcend the mundane world. Indeed, it is an arresting characteristic of the human mind to be able to conceive concepts that go beyond it in this way. However we choose to interpret it, this human experience of transcendence has been a fact of life. Not everybody would regard it as divine: Buddhists, as we shall see, would deny that their visions and insights are derived from a supernatural source; they see them as natural to humanity. All the major religions, however, would agree that it is impossible to describe this transcendence in normal conceptual language. Monotheists have called this transcendence ‘God’ but they have hedged this around with important provisos. Jews, for example, are forbidden to pronounce the sacred Name of God and Muslims must not attempt to depict the divine in visual imagery. The discipline is a reminder that the reality that we call ‘God’ exceeds all human expression.

This will not be a history in the usual sense, since the idea of God has not evolved from one point and progressed in a linear fashion to a final conception. Scientific notions work like that but the ideas of art and religion do not. Just as there are only a given number of themes in love poetry, so too people have kept saying the same things about God over and over again. Indeed, we shall find a striking similarity in Jewish, Christian and Muslim ideas of the divine. Even though Jews and Muslims both find the Christian doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation almost blasphemous, they have produced their own versions of these controversial theologies. Each expression of these universal themes is slightly different, however, showing the ingenuity and inventiveness of the human imagination as it struggles to express its sense of ‘God’.

Because this is such a big subject, I have deliberately confined myself to the One God worshipped by Jews, Christians and Muslims, though I have occasionally considered pagan, Hindu and Buddhist conceptions of ultimate reality to make a monotheistic point clearer. It seems that the idea of God is remarkably close to ideas in religions that developed quite independently. Whatever conclusions we reach about the reality of God, the history of this idea must tell us something important about the human mind and the nature of our aspiration. Despite the secular tenor of much Western society, the idea of God still affects the lives of millions of people. Recent surveys have shown that ninety-nine per cent of Americans say that they believe in God: the question is which ‘God’ of the many on offer do they subscribe to?

Theology often comes across as dull and abstract but the history of God has been passionate and intense. Unlike some other conceptions of the ultimate, it was originally attended by agonising struggle and stress. The prophets of Israel experienced their God as a physical pain that wrenched their every limb and filled them with rage and elation. The reality that they called God was often experienced by monotheists in a state of extremity: we shall read of mountain tops, darkness, desolation, crucifixion and terror. The Western experience of God seemed particularly traumatic. What was the reason for this inherent strain? Other monotheists spoke of light and transfiguration. They used very daring imagery to express the complexity of the reality they experienced, which went far beyond the orthodox theology. There has recently been a revived interest in mythology, which may indicate a widespread desire for a more imaginative expression of religious truth. The work of the late American scholar Joseph Campbell has become extremely popular: he has explored the perennial mythology of mankind, linking ancient myths with those still current in traditional societies, is often assumed that the three God-religions are devoid of mythology and poetic symbolism. Yet, although monotheists originally rejected the myths of their pagan neighbours, these often crept back into the faith at a later date. Mystics have seen God incarnated a woman, for example. Others reverently speak of God’s sexuality and have introduced a female element into the divine.

This brings me to a difficult point. Because this God began as a specifically male deity, monotheists have usually referred to it as ‘he’. In recent years, feminists have understandably objected to this. Since I shall be recording the thoughts and insights of people who called God ‘he’, I have used the conventional masculine terminology, except when ‘it’ has been more appropriate. Yet it is perhaps worth mentioning that the masculine tenor of God-talk is particularly problematic in English. In Hebrew, Arabic and French, however, grammatical gender gives theological discourse a sort of sexual counterpoint and dialectic, which provides a balance that is often lacking in English. Thus in Arabic al-Lah (the supreme name for God) is grammatically masculine, but the word for the divine and inscrutable essence of God – al-Dhat – is feminine.

All talk about God staggers under impossible difficulties. Yet monotheists have all been very positive about language at the same time as they have denied its capacity to express the transcendent reality. The God of Jews, Christians and Muslims is a God who – in some sense – speaks. His Word is crucial in all three faiths. The Word of God has shaped the history of our culture. We have to decide whether the word ‘God’ has any meaning for us today.

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Biography Karen Armstrong is the author of numerous other books on religious affairs –including A History of God, The Battle for God, Holy War, Islam, Buddha, and The Great Transformation – and two memoirs, Through the Narrow Gate and The Spiral Staircase. Her work has been translated into forty-five languages. She has addressed members of the U.S. Congress on three occasions; lectured to policy makers at the U.S. State Department; participated in the World Economic Forum in New York, Jordan, and Davos; addressed the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington and New York; is increasingly invited to speak in Muslim countries; and is now an ambassador for the UN Alliance of Civilizations. In February 2008 she was awarded the TED Prize and is currently working with TED on a major international project to launch and propagate a Charter for Compassion, created online by the general public and crafted by leading thinkers in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, to be signed in the fall of 2009 by a thousand religious and secular leaders. She lives in London.

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From Publishers Weekly This searching, profound comparative history of the three major monotheistic faiths fearlessly illuminates the sociopolitical ground in which religious ideas take root, blossom and mutate. Armstrong, a British broadcaster, commentator on religious affairs.., argues that Judaism, Christianity and Islam each developed the idea of a personal God, which has helped believers to mature as full human beings. Yet Armstrong also acknowledges that the idea of a personal God can be dangerous, encouraging us to judge, condemn and marginalize others. Recognizing this, each of the three monotheisms, in their different ways, developed a mystical tradition grounded in a realization that our human idea of God is merely a symbol of an ineffable reality. To Armstrong, modern, aggressively righteous fundamentalists of all three faiths represent “a retreat from God.” She views as inevitable a move away from the idea of a personal God who behaves like a larger version of ourselves, and welcomes the grouping of believers toward a notion of God that “works for us in the empirical age.”

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My wish: The Charter for Compassion – Karen Armstrong

Karen Armstrong TED Talk given in 2008

What God is, or isn’t, will continue to morph indefinitely unless…

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Richard Barlow:

‘The whole thing about the messiah is a human construct’

The Divine Principle: Questions to consider about Old Testament figures

How “God’s Day” was established on January 1, 1968

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Divine Principle – Parallels of History

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“… Many Koreans therefore have difficulty understanding and accepting religions that have only one god and emphasize an uncertain and unknowable afterlife rather than the here and now. In the Korean context of things, such religions are anti-life and do not really make sense…” LINK

#Karen Armstrong #God #monotheism

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 4 years

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26th October >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Luke 13:1-17 for Monday, Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘All the people were overjoyed’.

Monday, Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except)

Luke 13:10-17

Was it not right to untie this woman's bonds on the sabbath day?

One sabbath day Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who for eighteen years had been possessed by a spirit that left her enfeebled; she was bent double and quite unable to stand upright. When Jesus saw her he called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are rid of your infirmity’ and he laid his hands on her. And at once she straightened up, and she glorified God.

But the synagogue official was indignant because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, and he addressed the people present. ‘There are six days’ he said ‘when work is to be done. Come and be healed on one of those days and not on the sabbath.’ But the Lord answered him. ‘Hypocrites!’ he said ‘Is there one of you who does not untie his ox or his donkey from the manger on the sabbath and take it out for watering? And this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has held bound these eighteen years – was it not right to untie her bonds on the sabbath day?’ When he said this, all his adversaries were covered with confusion, and all the people were overjoyed at all the wonders he worked.

Gospel (USA)

Luke 13:10-17

This daughter of Abraham, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day?

Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.” He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, “There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.” The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering? This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?” When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.

Reflections (7)

(i) Monday, Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

We are all familiar with the emotion of anger. Sometimes, we can be angry for good reasons. Our anger often shows that there is something afoot which is not right or just. Our anger is saying something about a very unsatisfactory situation and we have to listen to our anger and, perhaps, act on it. At other times, our anger is saying something about ourselves more than about some external situation. Our anger is not really justified by anything that is unfair or unjust or plain wrong. We find this second kind of anger at work in today’s gospel reading. A synagogue official is indignant because Jesus healed a woman of an eighteen year old infirmity on the Sabbath. God was doing a good work through Jesus, and, yet, this official was angry, because, in his view, the Sabbath law was being broken. His anger was really saying something about his own narrow and restricted view of how God was to be honoured on the Sabbath day. As Jesus said, official had no problem untying his donkey from the manger on the Sabbath, but he had a problem with Jesus untying a woman from a crippling condition on the Sabbath. It was the ordinary people who responded appropriately to what Jesus had just done, ‘they were overjoyed at all the wonders he worked’. Joy, not anger, was what was called for. What Jesus did on the Sabbath was an act of love. He showed his love for the woman by freeing her from her bondage. An act of love is to be rejoiced over, whenever and wherever it happens. The gospel reading calls on us to recognize love when it is before us, even when it is in a form we do not expect, and then to rejoice in that manifestation of love. The gospel reading also calls on us to be as loving towards the oppressed as Jesus was. In the words of today’s first reading, we are to ‘follow Christ, loving as he loved you’.

And/Or

(ii) Monday, Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading we hear the synagogue official insisting that no work be done on the Sabbath. In reply Jesus insists that God’s work can be done on any day of the week. Jesus was doing God’s work by releasing a woman from a condition that prevented her from standing upright. He untied her bonds; he set her free from what was holding her back. Jesus insists that such life-giving work was always timely. There was no day, no time, when it could not be done. Jesus wants all of us to share in some way in his work of releasing people from what holds them back. The first reading calls on us to be friends with one another, to be kind, forgiving each other as God has forgiven us in Christ, loving one another as Christ has loved us. In this way we share in the Lord’s life-giving and liberating work. Such work is always timely; there is never a wrong time for it. Jesus’ work on behalf of the woman led her to glorify God rather than Jesus. We are told that when ‘she straightened up… she glorified God’. That is always the goal of our sharing in the Lord’s work too. We do the Lord’s work, not in order that we are glorified but so that God is glorified.

And/Or

(iii) Monday, Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading, Jesus encounters a woman who is bent over; by his word and his action of laying his hands on her, he enabled her to stand upright. In response, she glorified God. We can often find ourselves bent over for one reason or another. We carry some burden which makes it difficult for us to stand upright and face the world head on. We feel ourselves being pulled down, dragged down by a weight. In such times, the Lord can reach out to us as he reached out to that woman. Sometimes he will reach out to us in and through a friend or a neighbour. At other times he may reach out to us more directly in and through prayer. The Lord works to release us from the burdens that threaten to crush us. The synagogue ruler objected to the woman being released from her burden on the Sabbath day. However, for Jesus there is no day when he cannot do his liberating and life-giving work. There is no unsuitable time for the Lord, because he takes no rest from engaging in God’s creative and life-giving work. We can call on the Lord and expect to experience his liberating presence any day of the week, at any time of the day or night.

And/Or

(iv) Monday, Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus heals a woman who had been disabled for eighteen years. Her immediate response to Jesus’ healing touch was to praise God. ‘At once she straightened up, and she glorified God’. The response of the synagogue official to the woman’s being freed from her infirmity stands in very sharp contrast to the response of the woman herself. The gospel reading says that he was indignant at Jesus because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. The woman’s praise of God, recognizing that it was God who had worked through Jesus, stands over against the synagogue leader’s indignation at Jesus. It is clear from Jesus’ very critical address to the synagogue official which of the two responses he considered the more appropriate. The official should have joined with the woman in praising God for what Jesus had done rather than give vent to his indignation at Jesus. The gospel reading is reminding us that God’s life giving work in the world can be perceived very differently by different people. God’s working in our midst through his Son can bring some people to praise God and others to indignation and great annoyance. The woman recognized God’s presence because her need was great; the official was blind to it because he was too certain about what he considered to be God’s will. We are more likely to recognize the ways that God is at work in our midst when we too are aware of our need of God and our relative ignorance before the mystery of God’s ways.

And/Or

(v) Monday, Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

There are several stories about women in the gospel of Luke that are not to be found in any of the other gospels, and the gospel reading this morning is one of those stories. Jesus touches the life of a woman who had been bent over for eighteen years and he enables her to stand up straight again. There is an image here of the whole of Jesus’ ministry. He works to release people from whatever burden is oppressing them, and he enables them to stand straight again. When Jesus released this woman from the burden that had burdened for so many years, her immediate response was to glorify God. The Lord is constantly at work in our own lives, calling out to us when we are burdened to come to him. He came to help us carry our burdens so that we can experience his liberating love and glorify God for it, as the woman did. There was really something to rejoice over in what Jesus did in the synagogue on that Sabbath day. At the end of that reading, Luke tells us that all the people were overjoyed. This is the joy of the Christian life, the joy that is generated by the Lord’s liberating and life-giving presence among us and within us. Yet, there was someone who tried to spoil this moment of liberation and joy. The synagogue official was indignant. Indignation is at the other end of the spectrum to joy. Why was he so angry? In his eyes, Jesus was breaking the law. The official was so zealous for God’s law that he failed to see God at work outside the law. God is always so much bigger than law, including religious law. The gospel reading reminds us that we need a heart that is open to the surprising movements of the Spirit of God in others and in our world. Otherwise, we risk losing out on the joy of the gospel.

And/Or

(vi) Monday, Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

In some of the gospel stories, people who are in need approach Jesus. In other stories, Jesus approaches them without any initiative on their part towards him. In these stories Jesus is often moved to take the initiative by what he sees. Today’s gospel reading is a good example of this kind of story. Jesus sees a woman who had been bent double by an enfeeblement for eighteen years. Upon seeing her, Jesus calls her over and, laying his hands on her, declares to her that her infirmity has been healed. In response, she glorified God. There is a pattern here of how the Lord relates to each one of us. He sees us before we see him. He calls out to us before we call upon him. What matters for us is that we notice the Lord seeing us and are attentive to the Lord calling us. If we respond to the Lord’s seeing and calling, as the woman did, we too will experience the Lord’s healing and life-giving presence, and, like the woman, we will be moved to give glory to God for it. Yet, we often become so absorbed in our own issues that we miss this moment of grace when the Lord looks upon us and calls out to us. The synagogue official in the gospel reading was absorbed by the issue of Jesus working on the Sabbath and of needy people encouraging Jesus to work on the Sabbath. He missed the moment of grace for the woman, which was also a moment of grace for him. His indignation, his anger, blinded him to the significance of the moment. It can be easy for any of us to get so emotionally engaged by what is relatively unimportant that we miss the Lord’s seeing us and calling us. We need to develop the art of noticing and responding.

And/Or

(vii) Monday, Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

You may have heard of the Invictus Games which are taking place in Australia these weeks. It is an international adaptive multi-sport event, created by Prince Harry, in which wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel and their associated veterans take part in sports, including wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball, and indoor rowing.Former mine warfare specialist Paul Guest was playing in a doubles wheelchair tennis match in Sydney alongside his playing partner. He had been seriously injured in the course of his work in 1987, leaving him with neck and spine injuries, and he has suffered since then with posttraumatic stress disorder. While he was playing the tennis match, a helicopter flew overheard and the sound of it left him distressed and in a state of panic. His Dutch playing partner who was also in a wheelchair went over to him and hugged him and helped him to recover his composure. The pair went on to win the tennis match narrowly. It was a very emotional moment for all who were watching the match. One man’s compassionate touch brought healing and calm to another man. I was reminded of that incident by today’s gospel reading. Jesus touches a woman who had been crippled end enfeebled for eighteen years, laying his hands on her. His touch brought her healing and in response she glorified God. Here was a wonderful moment to celebrate, just as the people watching that tennis match celebrated what unfolded before them. However, in the gospel story, the leader of the synagogue, far from celebrating, became indignant at both Jesus and the woman, because the healing took place on the Sabbath. He missed the significance of the moment. We can all play a part in making such significant moments happen. We can all be present to people in ways that bring them healing and peace. When that happens, it is right and good to celebrate and give praise to God.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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shellofaretard · 5 years

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Incel Manifesto

I am the BIG INCEL. The perennial incel. I was a virgin before you were born. I was a virgin when the universe was formed. When i close my eyes the world dies with me its hymen still intact.

Incel has always been the default of western civilization. We are the inheritors of this w/o any disparity to what came before. Metaphor about ancient statues and their lil shrimp dicks.

Sir Isaac Newton was an incel. Nikola Tesla was an incel. Jesus Christ was an incel. Has anyone who’s NOT an incel ever created anything worthwhile??

soul

Ripped apart by natural selections icy north winds. Tossed around by autism chromosome waves. Mogged by 4/10 clouds. Masticated by roastie whirlpool.

The Incel project is an indictment of Creation that is, at the same time, rooted in an observant piousness towards its laws and the impossibility of moving outside its boundaries. The duty of Man to accept and affirm the inherent cruelty of the cosmos, and ponder his destiny within it.

For the <0.5/10 genetic sewage, to expose oneself to the flesh-burning mog radiations of the outside world is comparable to Julius Evola walking around the city during bombing raids.

body

Really hope incels start walking the walk and actually go ahead with those elaborate plastic surgery plans they love to talk about soon. In post-modern body modification culture, surgically administered transformations are seen as an ascent towards the narcissistic illusion of a more “authentic” self. We have understood that the vanilla modernist paradigm in which Man is assigned one body, whose form, “health” and integrity it is his duty to preserve unto death, was never going to work.

Until very recently, it was normal for bodies to undergo unwanted dis- and transfigurations due to war and disease, their personal notions of bodily integrity routinely subdued to the amoral whims of the medieval War God. It is this view of the world that the incels, these ferocious dreamers of Galilean proportions, these weavers of cruel, delectable phantasms after my own heart, are returning to, finding themselves thrust into a hostile universe whose rigid biological laws are stacked against them with no humanist justification of “fairness”.

Incel chin osteotomy is then a religious act completely removed from narcissism. It is done out of reverence for a cosmic order radically irrespective of the incel’s interests and feelings. The ontological conduit between God and man takes the form of a leash, one by which Man is dragged to the plastic surgery clinic precisely in order to serve God better. I would like to argue that Incel is the most legitimately religious (anti-humanist) movement of our time in that it is based on an acceptance of human insignificance in the face of the cosmic order.

will

Much has been said about the supposed ‘entitlement’ of incels, but this can easily be reframed in a different context. Incel is, at its heart, a radical human agency denialist movement, seeking to redefine the role of Man in the universe by finding spirituality and reverence in the acceptance of total biological determinism, and beauty in the order of chin curvatures, neural pathways and DNA spirals of differing quality. The total absence of free will means everyone is always already entitled to exactly what they get. Genuine incel is less about demanding more than what is deserved than a retreat into a meditative position, neutral like nature itself.

If you’re willing to sell your purity for some used up 3.5/10 roastbeef: fuck off. This is supposed to be a modern monastic movement, where disciples eventually achieve true serenity and a connection with supernatural powers (wizard) in studying the patterns of the cosmos, of God’s plan; taking in the thorny architectures of inherent hierarchy without ego. It is about seeing the face of God in the cute waterpolo boy who nearly bullied you to suicide in 4th grade.

If you believe such a thing as ‘volcel’ exists in this world utterly bereft of all and any free will, you have reasoning skills akin to a donkey, I’m afraid.

time

Incels see time as a byproduct of the sad compulsion of humanist perception to form linear narratives of ‘progress’ and change. Such narratives are to be deemed illusory and rejected to the best of our abilities. In the Incel conception of time, everything is always already happening at the exact same time, meticulously arranged into a rigid, immutable hierarchy by the will of God himself alone.

This also means that it is pedantic and somewhat shallow to necessarily equate Incel with total sexlessness. Since no narratives ‘connecting’ one moment with the next are real, technically, every man not currently experiencing (undergoing?) direct roastie friction in this very moment is an incel, with whatever horrible baggage that entails.

virginity

I’m a virgin myself but my impression is that sex probably isn’t as big a deal as elliot rodger thought it would be. I look at sex havers and don’t think they are truly happier than i am (I’m a pretty happy retard). They were just born with higher quality DNA but i’m not sure if that is correlated with happiness whatsoever. I hate and envy them because I must but there is no objective ‘truth’ behind my ostensible assumption of their having it better.

All partaking in an act does is destroy the soul and dream of that thing. Only virgins understand the metaphysics of sex, only incels are capable of having a soul. This is why elliot rodger was so dangerous to the system. He had dreams that were unquantifiable and untransferrable, and the system thrives solely on the quantifiable and transferrable. I know y’all want to fuck Elliot now but thats like wishing jesus had the chance to get into nintendo wii instead.

If elliot rodger’s ideas of what sex (and ‘love’) would have been like could somehow be quantified, externalized and turned into a reality for all to simultaneously experience, the entire world would collapse, submerged in the brutal, monolithic singularity of joy.

religion

There is a reason religious, celestial imagination is all over incel culture. Think of st. blackops2cel and compare it to the brash, earthy vulgarity of YASSSS KWEEN or something. It is st. blackops2cel whose hand i am taking. It is through him that i discover weightlessness and liberation from the ballasts of the body. It is with him that i dash through the firmament and enter the pearly gates. Perhaps in the near future, the only two ways to die will be euthanized by the state following a lengthy bureaucratic procedure (hell) or shot by a cute incel at school (heaven).

-------

Now awaiting my gentle ascent into wizardry. Male pattern balding. Hormonal makeup changing. Still worship sathanas and aktion t4 and cut myself under the full moon. Still loathe god for giving me the tard genes and curse the faggot christ for normalizing the enabling of retards. But also know this is definitely all there is for me to which there is a certain closure. Know this basement is, at the end of the day, safe. Know theres not that much left at least.

How does the eventual ascension into the more serene state of wizardry feel for you. My angry incels. My romantic incels. My aching incels. My defeated incels. My broken incels. My incels who just want to see the world burn.

#incel #incel theory #old

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beargryllsenvy · 5 years

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The Anti-religion of Bear Grylls and Friend

LUCK:

The word ‘luck’ grates on the ears of many bible-believers. We want the word to be ‘blessing’ or ‘God’s Providence’; and that may be more accurate, but those Biblical words would exclude many in the listening and receiving of what BG has to say.

Which would be a great pity.

So whatever moves him always to speak of ‘luck’, it seems to me that it is just one more of his gifted - and maybe unconscious - ways of ‘inclusiveness’.

I listen to the way people ask BG about his Christianity. They want to understand. I too have wanted to stop hearing the talk of millions and billions of years, which is usually the thing we hear from non-Christian evolutionists.

FAITH:

BG’s anti-religious way of speaking is so perfect.

If he was a different person he might keep saying things like ‘I’m just doing the job God has called me to do’. Or ‘I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me’.

But instead he often replies to compliments of his achievements with these:

“I’m a small cog in a big machine.”

We are all “Standing on the shoulders of giants”

The second one is a quote of Isaac Newton’s and is inscribed on the circumference of the £2 coin. It’s a great saying, meaning that all the understanding of those who have gone before, is added to our own understanding. These two phrases remind us not to take the glory for something, because no-one of their own strength or knowledge can really attain their position, whatever position that may be. Remembering these two facts will help stop us from getting inflated with misplaced pride.

In one of his good friend, Charlie Mackesy’s talks he speaks of the promise he made to himself for never allowing a person to control him. I don’t think that BG’s reason for hating the control by another person, is the same as Charlie’s but I believe they both have that same spirit in them.

And that mischievousness which they indulged in when younger. Below is the photo taken a little while after they had both fallen naked into a frozen lake. [hear BG tell the quick tale about 21 mins in]

Two Out-of-the Box men.

It’s great, to observe in BG’s public appearances how he comes against people trying to corner him, either by questions or some other way. We all need to learn how to come against control in all its forms and not to allow ourselves to be intimidated. Control is the bad side of religion. In times gone by the word ‘religion’ was used to convey faith and worship, but it has lost that pure meaning and has the connotation now, of ‘control’.The only way to be free of human control is to listen to and obey that inner voice that God has given us, which is also linked to our conscience.

He speaks in one interview of how he cannot answer the sort of difficult Scriptural questions that he may be asked. That is open, and honest, and the BG we know. One who is authentic and without pretence. This is where he is in his faith journey, and thank goodness, because I doubt he would reach the amount of people he does reach just by being an ‘extreme’ person.or one who feels the need to put his Christian beliefs over. He only has to be himself and BG is where he needs to be in his relationship with the God of the Bible - just as he also is to carry out the ambassadorship that he is here for.

CHIEF SCOUT:

When he is speaking publicly or being interviewed he often brings in Scouts and the kind of reconciliation that can come through this ‘world-wide force for good’. In fact his wonderful message at the political meetings in 2017 made clear that the Scouts is an inclusive institution. When asked about this and Muslim recruits, on another interview he made it clear that Scouting has a Faith-based heritage to it. I have found that attitude a revelation to my understanding of how we accept people - of all faiths, and whilst listening to C.S. Lewis audio-book Mere Christianity, that revelation was enlarged. He wrote so many wonderful things which encourage that inclusivity, part of it I have included here:

“The Rival Conceptions Of God

I have been asked to tell you what Christians believe, and I am going to begin by telling you one thing that Christians do not need to believe. If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through. If you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the whole world is simply one huge mistake. If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all these religions, even the queerest ones, contain at least some hint of the truth. When I was an atheist I had to try to persuade myself that most of the human race have always been wrong about the question that mattered to them most; when I became a Christian I was able to take a more liberal view. But, of course, being a Christian does mean thinking that where Christianity differs from other religions, Christianity is right and they are wrong. As in arithmetic-there is only one right answer to a sum, and all other answers are wrong: but some of the wrong answers are much nearer being right than others.” Mere Christianity, Originally published: 1952

And going back to BG:

He has it right. Love and acceptance is the force that reconciles. Well, I’ve taken it a little further than his words normally go. To my way of thinking BG was blessed with an upbringing that enabled him to see the world through eyes of love.

Lines from a poem i found long ago which I tried to implement in my own children’s lives, but the trouble is if you have been brought up by the first four lines, it is probably going to go wrong.

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

·If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with ridicule, they learn to be shy.

If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with tolerance, they learn to be patient.

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

·If children live with praise, they learn to appreciate.

If children live with fairness, they learn justice.

· If children live with security, they learn to have faith.

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.

If children live with acceptance and friendship, they learn to find love in the world.

Another interesting perception he makes is how when he went to school he discovered that Christianity was not like the simple faith that he had grown into as a young boy; and it seemed that the Christians were the judgemental ones. (from the TBN interview)

How true that can be.

Mar 1st, 2019

#bear grylls #young bear grylls #faith #faithoverfear #out of the box #world-wide force for good #comeuppance #scouts #chief scout #ambassador #reconciliation #luck

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calebyap · 5 years

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Romans: The Gospel of God

Gospel Shorthand

The “gospel of God” (i) promised beforehand, (ii) about His Son, David and God’s heir, declared by the Spirit through His resurrection, (iii) of Paul’s apostleship (iv) for the obedience of faith among all the nations including you. (Rom 1:1-6)

Gospel Rationale

As the faith is spreading worldwide, Paul desires to come to Rome for ministry, but has been hindered thus far. But because of his calling to Greeks and barbarians, he wants to come to Rome. Paul’s drive is “not being ashamed of the gospel” (1:16) because it shows God’s righteousness by faith, and for faith. Why? Because God’s wrath is being revealed against all our sin: the exchange of God’s glory for created things (1:21-23). God’s response was to “give them up” to their choices (1:24-28), and His decree is that such sin deserves death (1:29-32). No one is exempt from this, not the one who judges and those who are judged, not Jew or Gentile (2:1-11). This is what it “under the law” means (2:12-16) — let’s be clear, this certainly applies to the Jews who have God’s law (2:17-29) but have not kept it in the heart. Thus the Jews have been unfaithful with the oracles of God entrusted to them, which in turn, does not nullify God’s faithfulness and righteousness (3:1-8). All have sinned, Jew and Gentile (3:9-20).

Gospel Revealed

A non-law righteousness is now available through faith in Jesus Christ (3:21-25). This justifies us, and shows forth God’s righteousness (3:26). Thus, no one can boast (3:27) because the law of faith apart from law achieves this.

Gospel According to Abraham

Abraham’s justification was also by faith (4:1-10) since he received his justification before circumcision (4:11-12). This enabled him to be “heir of the world” so that he could be father of all those in faith (4:16-17), and this is shown despite the barrenness of Sarah’s womb (5:18-23), and so that we would also have hte same faith-righteousness that he did.

Gospel Explained

Our justification by faith means we have peace with God (5:1) and through Him we have access into grace, and we can rejoice in hope, and through sufferings, since God’s love is poured into us by Spirit given to us, who uses our sufferings to produce hope (5:2-5). The love of God for sinners, weak and bad (5;8), also means we’ll be saved from His wrath (5:9) since we are reconciled to God (5:10-11). Death came through Adam to Moses in one tresspass, but life comes through Jesus Christ (5:12-18) for many trespasses a free gift of life. Where the law increased the tresspass so that sin reigns in death, grace abounds in righteousness for life through Christ (5:20).

Gospel Questions and Answers Part One

One, can we sin as much as we like then? Grace abounding does not mean that we can sin liberally (6:1-2) because Jesus died for sin, and we are united in that same death so we live a new life and we can’t relish our sin (6:4). His resurrection is also ours, and we have a new life where death and sin no longer have control so we can’t use Jesus like a tool (6:5-14), this is what it means to be under grace. We’re slaves to rightoeuensss, not sin (6:15-23). We are free from the law (7:1) since you died to the law (7:5-6)

Two, so is the law evil since it makes us sin and leads to death then? (7:7) No, we learn that the law is holy and it shows our sinful nature (7:12). No, my nature is sinful, not the law, and there is a paradox in my desires. So the law itself can’t save me. So who is going to save me from the law and this miserable life (7:24)?

Gospel Hope

Through faith in Jesus, no one can condemn us (8:1). God’s Spirit did what the law could not (8:2-3). Jesus was condemned so that the law is condemned for me in Him (8:3-4). So if you are in the flesh, you’re condemned, but if you’re in the Spirit, you have life, and He will resurrect us just like Jesus was (8:9-11). So don’t live by the flesh, but by the spirit. Put to death the deeds of the body (8:13), because you’re His sons now, and you have the Spirit of Sonship (8:16-17). This will involve our suffering which is nothing compared to what will one day be revealed - glory (8:18). Our glory, and the glory of all creation when God makes all things new (8:21-23). This is hope in His promises (8:24). When are weak, the Spirit will help us (8:26-27) and make all things work together for our good (8:28), so that we become more like Jesus (8:29-30). So then, He isn’t holding anything good back from us (8:31-32), and no one can be accused, condemned or separated from God’s love! (8:33-39).

Gospel Questions and Answers Part Two

I feel such sorrow when I think about hte unbelief of the Jews (9:1-5). So three, does their unbelief mean that God’s promises to Israel failed? No, because not all of Abraham’s children are Israel, and even in their story, God made a sovereign choice between Isaac and Ishmael, between Jacob and Esau, between Moses and Pharaoh. So no human will or exertion can make this happen, only God (9:16).

Four, then is it unfair for God to “find fault” with sinners? No it’s not unfair, because who can question God? Who can know what He knows? (9:19-29).

So whereas Gentiles obtained the faith-righteousness, Israel who pursued law-righteousness failed (9:31-32). I wish it were not so and I pray for them to be saved by submitting to God’s righteousness instead of establishing their own (10:1-3). Moses’ law righteousness seeks to work to heaven, but the gospel is near you by faith (10:5-8) so that if we confess the Lordship of Jesus and believe in is resurrection, we will be saved (9:9-10). This is why we must send, preach, so they can hear and believe (10:14-17).

Fifth, so did Israel not hear and understand? (10:16-21) No, they heard. But they were made jealous by what God did for the Gentiles instead.

Sixth, so did God reject His people? (11:1) No, God has preserved a remnant (11:5) but not on the basis of works, but on grace (11:6). Israel’s stumbling was so that the salvation would come to Gentiles and provoke Israel to jealousy (11:11-12). So my ministry to the Gentiles will hopefully provoke my countrymenn (11:14). Remember that Gentiles are grafted in and don’t be arrogant towards Israel. God can graft them in again, too (11:23-24). After a partial hardening, and the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, all Israel will be saved (11:25-27). This is all to the praise of God and His wisdom (11:33-36).

Gospel Application For the Christian and the Church

As a result of all the “mercies of God” shown in the last 12 chapters, we are told to be “living sacrifices” to God (12:1). We are body parts of the head, Christ Jesus (12:5) with differing gifts to be used rightly (12:6), and motivated by love (12:9-10). These are fleshed out in practical ways (12:11-21, 13:8-14). Within the body, whether strong or weak, we are do live as to the Lord as the main principle (14:1-23) not stumbling one another in the family and seeking not to please ourselves (15:1-6) and to the praise of God. At the close of the letter, Paul reveals that he intends to come to Rome en route to Spain (15:24). His prayer in the meantime, is that ongoing ministry be successful and fruitful, and that his trips be unhindered.

Gospel Friends and Commendation

Paul refers to 18 other believers, 10 of which are women, commending them to the church in Rome. According to thegospel, Paul utters a final benediction of blessing.

#romans #bible reading #faith meets life

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ramon-balaguer · 3 years

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+ Marijuana +

I need to make a confession right up front. I’ve tried smoking marijuana them we called it Grass, Hay, Pot, Joint, Mary Jane, Reefer, Pakalolo, Herb and Ganja) on at least two, maybe three occasions if I’m not confusing it with hashish (related but not the same); but Never really got High off it and only ended up with bad breath and odor on me (like a dead skunk), a stomach ache and a headache. I’ve never been drunk with any alcoholic beverage, but have and do occasionally drink wine or other spirits. I’ve tried other illicit drug like Cocaine and Quaaludes. I mention this because I’m quite sure that some will object to what I say in here by thinking that I have no right to speak about an experience in which I’ve never personally indulged or became dependent of or on. I think that’s ridiculous thinking on their part when you think of how much we learn from teachers of only text book knowledge… Okay, maybe they didn’t learn as most of us have. But in my case, it’s true, I’ve been there and done that and then some… but I have and Thank God I never got addicted to anything and haven’t messed with stupid junk since my twenties. Whether or not I’ve ever been “high” (and again, no, I haven’t), is irrelevant to the question of whether or not Christians should use marijuana (weed, dagga, hemp, cannabis, blunt, black, boom, blaze, haze, block, burnie, burrito, broccoli, buds, mota, stinkweed, chronic, charge, gangster, skunk, nuggets, 420, rope, dope and I’m sure many more…) for recreational purposes.

All that being said, let’s get started:

1. Medicinal marijuana should be allowed under a physician's guidance.

I’m not anything remotely close to being an expert on the question of whether or not marijuana should be made legal and available for use in cases of extreme medical distress. But I will give you my opinion. My humble opinion is that a good case can be made for allowing marijuana use in certain instances. I don’t know the criteria one would employ to make the determination as to when marijuana should be used and when not. But it seems reasonable to me, and not at all unbiblical, that if marijuana can be used in some form and under the oversight of a physician to help those in extreme pain or those for whom all other medical remedies have proven ineffective, it should be allowed. I know there are arguments against the medical use of marijuana, but I cannot interact with them today. All that being said, I don’t believe that use of THC has to be or even should be in the form of inhaling as in smoking verses some pill, elixir or edible form of treatment.

2. Colorado first to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

Not too long ago the citizens of Colorado approved Amendment 64 that allows “the personal use and regulation of marijuana” for adults 21 years and older. Although marijuana is still illegal under federal law, its legal sale commenced on January 1, 2014, in Colorado. This decision in Colorado opened the door to the legalization of marijuana for other than medical purposes in 15 other states thus far; including Michigan, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Arizona, Alaska, Montana, South Dakota, Vermont, Illinois and of course California which I thought would be the first (or NY), also our very liberal nation’s capital of DC too.

This has led to countless discussions and debates among Christians as to whether the use of marijuana is a Sin. Again, I’m not talking about its use in cases of extreme medical emergencies. We are talking about the recreational use of marijuana when the primary intent is to get “high” or “stoned.”

3. Does the Bible address the use of marijuana? Yes and No!

Some believe it is explicitly endorsed in Genesis 1:29 where God said to Adam: “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.”

But how many people actually ingest marijuana as food? This passage gives no support for the practice of “smoking” marijuana for a “recreational high.” I know of no food that we consume by smoking. Presumably, no one adds marijuana to brownies because it improves their flavor. The ONLY reason to add this Cannabis plant to foods is because of its effect on our senses, not our taste.

4. Relating what Scripture says about alcohol to marijuana.

So, aside from this passage in Genesis marijuana is nowhere mentioned in Scripture. The question we then need to ask and answer is this: Do we find in the Bible something that is analogous to the recreational use of marijuana? The answer is Yes: intoxication by drinking alcohol.

But what constitutes “intoxication”? If the Bible permits the use of alcohol in moderation, might it not also permit the use of marijuana in moderation? We know that a person can consume small quantities of alcohol without any intention of getting drunk. Can a person similarly consume small quantities of marijuana without any intention of becoming intoxicated? To answer that we must define “intoxication”.

For alcohol, the unit of measure is the ‘standard drink,’ that is any drink that contains about 14 grams of pure alcohol (about 0.6 fluid ounces or 1.2 tablespoons). A standard drink is conventionally defined as the alcohol content of 12 ounces of 5 percent-alcohol beer or 5 ounces of 12 percent-alcohol wine or an ounce and half (a shot) of 40 percent-alcohol (80-proof) spirits (hard liquor). In most U.S. states, the legally defined level of intoxication typically occurs, depending on pacing, after four drinks for an average-sized woman or five for an average-sized man.

In the case of marijuana, I’m told that it takes only four puffs to induce a state of intoxication. If your intent for ingesting marijuana in any form isn’t for the intoxicating effect, why do you bother? What benefits from it are you seeking? And if your intent in the recreational use of marijuana is indeed some level of intoxication, your action are in fact Sin.

5. The effects of caffeine vs. marijuana.

But what about caffeine? People drink coffee and Coca-Cola and certain energy drinks to achieve a physical effect. That’s true, but there’s a significant difference. Marijuana temporarily impairs the reliable processing of surrounding reality. Caffeine ordinarily sharpens that processing. Most coffee drinkers hope to stay awake, do their jobs more reliably, and drive more safely. It is certainly possible to abuse caffeine (in the same way we can abuse anything in excess), but, as a natural stimulant, it is most commonly used not as an escape from reality, but as an effort to interact responsibly with reality. Thus, unlike caffeine, marijuana is not generally thought of as an empowering drug that enables you to be a more alert dad, or a more aware mother, or a more competent employee. Rather, for most users, it is a recreational escape, which produces diminished accuracy of observation, memory, and reasoning. And it may have lasting negative effects on the mind’s ability to do what God Created it to do.

6. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

We read in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” Contrary to what non-Christians think about themselves, you, Christian man and Christian woman, you do not have ultimate authority over your body to do with it what you please. Your body belongs to Christ! Your body is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit! Your body is to be used to honor and glorify God!

So, if you should choose to drink in excess (drunkenness) or smoke marijuana for a high you need to ask yourself: “Does this decision make Jesus look good?” We should also ask this about the quality of TV shows we watch, or what we see on the Internet, or the kind of music we listen to, or the rating of movies we attend, or how much we eat or spend, even beyond our means.

7. Clear minds help us glorify God in our actions.

We read in 1 Corinthians 6:13 that the body is meant “for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” Our bodies are designed by creation and redeemed by the blood of Christ so that they might be instruments for his use and his glory. Therefore, we must strive not to dull or diminish or weaken our God-given physical and mental capacities to glorify and serve God. We must strive to see clearly and think clearly and decide clearly and speak clearly and remember clearly. Our minds are designed by God to know him and love him and grow in our affections for him. We should avoid anything that undermines our minds in this regard. As some preacher put it, “be ruthlessly clear-headed.”

8. Christians need to lead by example.

What sort of witness for Jesus do we give when we join with the world in the recreational use of a drug whose purpose is to induce a state of passivity and stupor and diminished accuracy in mental observation and memory and basic reasoning powers? Not a good one, in my humble opinion.

9. Ask the Right questions.

In cases such as this I often think we are asking the wrong question. We ask: “What’s wrong with it?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“How far can I go and still not sin?”

Perhaps we should ask:

“Will it promote the cause of Christ?”

“Will this activity lead me and others to treasure Jesus above all else?”

“Will it help me fight the fight of faith with greater success?”

“Will it sharpen and intensify my knowledge of Christ and my commitment to glorify him in all things?” Asking those questions may well elicit a different answer from the one we typically hear.

10. There is no merit to the recreational use of marijuana.

Finally, let’s remember that the only external power to which you should yield conscious control or under whose influence you should come, is the Holy Spirit of God. “And do not get drunk with wine [or high on marijuana], for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). My conclusion, then, is that the recreational use of marijuana for the purpose of getting “high” is not an option for the Christian. It is, in point of fact, Sin. L #REBTD

Here’s a link to an interesting article:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/berenson-marijuana-more-addictive-alcohol-212755958.html

More info:

Some Signs of Use

Hearing your loved one use any of these nicknames may alert you to the possibility that he or she may be using marijuana. If you suspect your loved one may be using marijuana, you might also recognize in them certain signs and symptoms of marijuana use:

Paranoia.

Disorientation.

Preoccupation with visual, taste and audio stimuli.

Trouble with memory and ability to focus.

Slower reaction times.

Increased appetite.

Red eyes.

Dry mouth.

Elevated blood pressure and heart rate.

Health Effects

As much as regular users would like to think that weed is an entirely harmless drug, it really is not. Marijuana use has not only been linked with a significant number of short-term psycho-social problems—including problems with school, work, family, friends, and the law—but is also associated with several longer-term medical and mental health risks:

Problems with brain development. When people begin using marijuana when they are young, the drug may reduce memory, attention, and learning functions and affect how the brain constructs links between the areas in the brain that are necessary for those functions. The effect on these abilities may last a long time or even be permanent.

Respiratory problems. Marijuana smoke irritates the lungs and can cause the same breathing problems as those experienced by tobacco smokers, including regular coughing, more frequent lung illness, and a higher chance of lung infections.

Problems with child development during and after pregnancy.

Increased mental health problems risk. Frequent use and high-dosage use may cause disorientation or disagreeable thoughts or feelings of anxiety and paranoia. Marijuana users are also more likely to develop temporary psychosis and long-lasting mental disorders, including schizophrenia.

Signs of Use

Withdrawal Symptoms

Although many proponents of marijuana use may disagree or downplay the problematic potential, for some people marijuana use may become progressively compulsive and contribute to the development of a substance use disorder, or addiction.

In addition, marijuana use is associated with physical dependence and an associated withdrawal syndrome. In other words, many people who use marijuana for a long period of time are at risk of experiencing certain withdrawal symptoms when they suddenly quit or cut back.

These symptoms are often uncomfortable and can compel continued use to keep them at bay. Common symptoms of marijuana withdrawal include:

Anxiety.

Irritability.

Sleeplessness.

Cravings.

Decreased appetite.

Other less common withdrawal symptoms include anger, bipolar, irritability, anorexia, weight loss and strange dreams.

Finding Treatment Centers

Marijuana addiction treatment often begins with detox for supportive withdrawal management followed by behavioral therapy and additional recovery work. Although many people perceive weed as harmless, chronic and compulsive use may be associated with a number of problematic mental and social effects. Professional substance rehabilitation programs can help people begin to recover before such negative consequences begin to mount.

Luxury and Executive marijuana rehab centers are known for offering addiction treatment in addition to many high-end luxuries, making your recovery process much more comfortable. If you can’t afford luxury or executive rehab treatment, however, there is always traditional rehab treatment—which offers the same quality addiction care but without the extra amenities or price tag.

Help is available

Speak with someone today

SAMHSA National Helpline

Confidential free help, from public health agencies, to find substance use treatment and information. Call 1-800-662-4357

Treatment Center Links:

https://www.rehabs.com/recovery-programs/

https://luxury.rehabs.com/marijuana-rehab/

https://luxury.rehabs.com/luxury-rehab-facilities/

https://luxury.rehabs.com/executive-treatment-services/

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godly-habits011497 · 3 years

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10 Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes

Train in God's Gym

Men, we will never get anywhere in life without discipline, and doubly so in spiritual matters. None of us is inherently righteous, so Paul’s instructions regarding spiritual discipline in 1 Timothy 4:7–8 take on personal urgency: “Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." That word “train” comes from the Greek word from which we derive gymnasium. So, I invite you into God’s Gym—to some pain and great gain!

1. Discipline of Purity

Sensuality is the biggest obstacle to godliness among Christian men. The fall of King David should not only instruct us but scare the sensuality right out of us! Fill yourself with God’s Word—memorize passages like 1 Thessalonians 4:3–8, Job 31:1, Proverbs 6:27, Ephesians 5:3–7, and 2 Timothy 2:22. Find someone who will help you keep your soul faithful to God. A pure mind is impossible if you mindlessly watch TV and movies or visit pornographic websites (1 Thess. 4:3–7). Develop the divine awareness that sustained Joseph: “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9).

2. Discipline of Relationships

To be all God wants you to be, put some holy sweat into your relationships! If you’re married, you need to live out Ephesians 5:25–31: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (v. 25). For those who are fathers, God provides a workout in one pungent sentence: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Relationships are not optional (Heb. 10:25); they enable us to develop into what God wants us to be and most effectively learn and live God’s truth.

3. Discipline of Mind

The potential of possessing the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16) introduces the scandal of today’s church—Christians who do not think Christianly, leaving our minds undisciplined. The Apostle Paul understood this well: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4:8). Each ingredient is a matter of personal choice. You can never have a Christian mind without reading the Scriptures regularly because you cannot be influenced by that which you do not know.

4. Discipline of Devotion

Reading God’s Word is essential, but meditation internalizes the Word and responds, “I desire to do your will, O my God” (Ps. 40:8). Beyond instructions like Ephesians 6:18–20, there are two great reasons to pray. The more we expose our lives to the white-hot sun of Christ’s righteous life, the more his image will be burned into our character. The second reason is that prayer bends our wills to God’s will. Many men never have an effective devotional life because they never plan for it; they never expose their lives to his pure light.

5. Discipline of Integrity

We can hardly overstate the importance of integrity to a generation of believers so much like the world in ethical conduct. But integrity’s benefits—character, a clear conscience, deep intimacy with God—argue its importance. We must let God’s Word draw our lines of conduct. Our speech and actions must be intentionally true (Prov. 12:22; Eph. 4:15), backed by the courage to keep our word and stand up for our convictions (Ps. 15:4). An old saying sums it up: “Sow an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.”

6. Discipline of Tongue

“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless” (James 1:26). The true test of a man’s spirituality is not his ability to speak, but rather his ability to bridle his tongue! Offered to God on the altar, the tongue has awesome power for good. There must be an ongoing prayerfulness and resolve to discipline ourselves: “Who keeps the tongue doth keep his soul.”

7. Discipline of Work

We meet God, the Creator, as a worker in Gen. 1:1–2:2. Since “God created man in his own image” (1:27), the way we work will reveal how much we allow the image of God to develop in us. There is no secular/sacred distinction; all honest work ought to be done to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). We must recover the biblical truth that our vocation is a divine calling and thus be liberated to do it for the glory of God.

8. Discipline of Perseverance

Hebrews 12:1–3 presents a picture of perseverance in four commands. Divest! “Lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” (v. 1). That includes besetting sin, and anything else that hinders. Run! “. . . with endurance the race that is set before us” (v. 1). Each of us can finish our race (see also 2 Tim. 4:7). Focus! “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (v. 2). There never was a millisecond that he did not trust the Father. Consider! Our life is to be spent considering how Jesus lived (v. 3).

9. Discipline of Church

You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian; you don’t have to go home to be married. But in both cases if you do not, you will have a very poor relationship! You will never attain your full spiritual manhood, nor will your family reach its spiritual maturity without commitment to the church. Find a good church, join it, and commit yourself to it wholeheartedly. Your participation should include financial support, but it should also include giving your time, talents, expertise, and creativity to the glory of God.

10. Discipline of Giving

How can we escape the power of materialism? By giving from a heart overflowing with God’s grace, like the believers in Macedonia who “gave themselves first to the Lord” (2 Cor. 8:5): this is where grace giving must begin. Giving disarms the power of money. Though giving should be regular, it should also be spontaneous and responsive to needs. And it should be joyous—“God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). And Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

As we sweat out the disciplines of a godly man, remember, with Paul, what energizes us to live them out—“not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10).

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/10-disciplines-of-a-godly-man.html

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newstfionline · 6 years

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Poland’s Nationalism and Europe’s Values

By Steven Erlanger and Marc Santora, NY Times, Feb. 20, 2018

SNIADOWO, Poland--The young mayor of this small town deep in eastern Poland is extremely proud of its new Italian fire engine, which sits, resplendent, next to a Soviet-era one. Nearby, the head of the elementary school shows off new classrooms and a new gymnasium, complete with an electronic scoreboard.

All of this--plus roads, solar panels, and improved water purification and sewer systems, as well as support to dairy farmers--has largely been paid for by the European Union, which finances nearly 60 percent of Poland’s public investment.

With such largess, one would hardly think that Poland is in a kind of war with the European Union. The nationalist government has bitten the hand that feeds more than once, drawing censure for backsliding on democratic norms by packing the Polish courts top to bottom, and by threatening to undo the rule of law.

The tug of war has intensified as Eastern Europe becomes the incubator for a new model of “illiberal democracy” for which Hungary has laid the groundwork. But it is Poland--so large, so rich, so militarily powerful and so important geostrategically--that will define whether the European Union’s long effort to integrate the former Soviet bloc succeeds or fails.

The stakes, many believe, far outweigh those of Britain’s exit from the European Union, or Brexit, as the bloc faces a painful reckoning over whether, despite its efforts at discipline, it has enabled the anti-democratic drift, and what to do about it.

The growing conflict between the original Western member states of the bloc and the newer members in Central and Eastern Europe is the main threat to the cohesion and survival of the European Union. It is not a simple clash, but a multibannered one of identity, history, values, religion and interpretations of democracy and “solidarity.”

“It’s yes to Europe, but what Europe?” said Michal Baranowski, director of the Warsaw office of the German Marshall Fund, noting that Poland’s support for European Union membership runs as high as 80 percent but can be shallow.

The Polish government, which is dominated by the Law and Justice party, itself dominated from the back rooms by the party chief, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, seems to have its own answer to the question.

It is more than happy to take European Union support, but worries that Poland’s share could come on the chopping block in the future. The country is to get nearly 9 percent of the European Union budget for 2014 to 2020, some 85 billion euros, or $105 billion.

But the vague threats to apply the brakes to the gravy train are unlikely to push the Kaczynski government to change. It has responded to European criticism by accusing Brussels and Germany--so recently Poland’s greatest ally in Europe--of dictating terms to newer members and trying to impose an elitist, secular vision.

It has campaigned on Polish national pride, “getting up off our knees,” portraying the predominantly Roman Catholic Poland, which traditionally sees itself as a victim of history, as the “Christ of nations.”

After being squeezed between empires and occupied in turns by fascism and communism, Poland is ready to take its place as an equal, Mr. Kaczynski asserts, no longer relegated to serfdom or secondary status.

This combination of Polish nationalism, religious conservatism, anti-elitism and attacks on those supposedly seeking to dictate to Poland about values and migrant quotas has made Law and Justice by far the largest party in a divided country with a disorganized political opposition.

The party has risen from almost 38 percent of the vote in the 2015 election to about 47 percent in recent opinion polls. Much of that success is attributed to its investment in the poorer countryside, and much of the money for that investment is attributed to European Union support and access to its markets and jobs.

But more than money, Law and Justice thrives on cultural and identity politics. It has contrasted a conservative, Catholic Poland and its family values with a godless, freethinking, gender-bending Western Europe.

It accuses past governments, the opposition and the urban elites, of hankering after European approval and acceptance to the detriment of Polish interests.

Sniadowo district, a collection of villages northeast of Warsaw with roughly 5,500 people, reflects that support. While the pre-World War II population was about 40 percent Jewish, today it is Kaczynski country.

The area is profoundly Roman Catholic and deeply affected by its proximity to Belarus and the memories of the Soviet occupation of World War II. In 2015, roughly 70 percent of voters in the region supported Law and Justice.

People go to church several times a week, priests tend to give passionate, political sermons, and state and church media give a partisan version of events.

“Promoting same-sex marriage will not go down well here,” said Marek Adam Komorowski, 58, a local councilman in nearby Lomza. “If you are in Europe, you can’t speak against it, but it is not a norm here. Here, family means something else.”

Rafal Pstragowski, the 37-year-old mayor of Sniadowo, an independent in his seventh year in office, echoed the sentiments. “Poland is a traditional Christian country and Poland respects other religions,” he said, “but we want our culture to be respected, too.”

“There is a fear among people that Western secularism is a threat to our traditional culture,” he added. “If things in Europe keep going in the same direction, people think that the migration crisis and terrorist attacks could start here, too.”

Slawomir Zgrzywa, 55, a local historian, said that Poland’s long history of conflict with Russia had made it skeptical of “any sort of left-wing or liberal politics,” and had enhanced the standing of a deeply conservative and politicized Roman Catholic priesthood.

As for the fight with the European Union over the government’s control of the judiciary, that “seems abstract,” said Agnieszka Walczuk, 45, the director of the town’s elementary school. “The people here are poor, and they feel they have been helped by a government seen as protecting them,” she said.

The recent squabble over Poland’s new law about history and the Holocaust is another example of the government offending Western European sensibilities about free speech for domestic gain. It is seen at home as an effort to protect Poland against all those angry, upset foreigners--including Jews and Western Europeans. It was telling that the opposition abstained on the vote, rather than voting against.

While firmly in favor of membership, Law and Justice has a vision of the European Union similar to the British one--a union of nation states trading freely with one another but not interfering in domestic politics or national culture.

At the same time, Poland sees an emerging vision for Europe, under the proposals of France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, as reviving French-German domination of the bloc, which would leave Poland more sidelined.

In Poland’s view, talk of restricting the rights of foreign workers in France is protectionist and aimed at the new member states, but wrapped in pro-European language. Poland rejects a “multilevel” or “two-speed” Europe, with an inner core of eurozone states and an outer ring of lesser members. But it sees Brussels heading that way regardless.

In general, Mr. Kaczynski’s priority is domestic, “and for control of the judiciary, he’s ready to pay almost any price,” said Piotr Buras, head of the Warsaw office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “He is slowly using mostly democratic means, amassing so much power that the party’s position is unassailable.”

The changes, the government argues, are necessary to clear out an old Communist elite, but they are “rendering the independence of the judiciary completely moot,” Frans Timmermans, vice president of the European Commission, said in December.

“The constitutionality of legislation can no longer be guaranteed,” he said, because “the country’s judiciary is now under the political control of the ruling majority.”

The European Union has warned Poland officially, charging that Warsaw risks “a serious breach” of its commitment to shared values of liberal democracy and the rule of law, principles that all member states have sworn to uphold.

Some think that Warsaw and Brussels will compromise somehow, since other European states do not want to risk being subject to sanctions one day. But compromise is difficult to foresee. Mr. Buras views in Mr. Kaczynski a pessimism about the European project.

“He thinks that this E.U. is doomed to fail, and so we need to save ourselves,” Mr. Buras said. “He believes that it cannot survive.”

#Poland #Polish nationalism #EU-Poland conflict

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pope-francis-quotes · 4 years

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8th April >> (@ZenitEnglish By Virginia Forrester) #PopeFrancis #Pope Francis General Audience: Focus on Christ During Pandemic, ‘What does He do in the face of our pain?’

This morning’s General Audience was held at 9:25 am in the Library of the Apostolic Vatican Palace.

In his address in Italian, on the eve of the Paschal Triduum, the Pope focused his meditation on the Passion of Christ, ”in these weeks of apprehension due to the pandemic, which is making the world suffer so much.”

After summarizing his catechesis in several languages, the Holy Father expressed special greetings to the faithful.

The General Audience ended with the recitation of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.

* * *

The Holy Father’s Catechesis

Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!

In these weeks of apprehension due to the pandemic that is making the world suffer so much, among the many questions we ask ourselves, there may also be questions about God: What does He do in the face of our pain? Where He is when all goes wrong? Why doesn’t He resolve the problems speedily for us? They are questions we ask about God.

Of help to us is the account of the Passion of Jesus, who accompanies us in these holy days. There too, in fact, many questions come together. After welcoming Jesus triumphantly to Jerusalem, the people wondered if He had finally liberated <them> from their enemies (Cf. Luke 24:21). They were expecting a powerful, triumphant Messiah with a sword. Instead, one arrives who is meek and humble of heart, who calls to conversion and mercy. And it is in fact the crowd, that had earlier acclaimed Him, that cries out: “Let Him be crucified!” (Matthew 27:23). Those that were following Him, confused and scared, abandon Him. They thought: if this is Jesus’ fate, He isn’t the Messiah, because God is strong, God is invincible.

However, if we read further on in the account of the Passion, we find a surprising fact. When Jesus dies, the Roman centurion who wasn’t a believer, he wasn’t a Jew, but a pagan, who had seen Him suffer on the cross and heard Him forgive all, who had touched His boundless love, confessed: “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39). In fact, he says the opposite of the others. He says that God is there, that it is truly God. We can ask ourselves today: which is God’s true face? Usually, we project on Him what we are, to the greatest degree: our success, our sense of justice, and also our anger. However, the Gospel tells us that God isn’t like this. He is different and we cannot know Him with our own strength. Therefore, He made Himself closer; He came to meet us and precisely at Easter He revealed Himself completely. And where did He reveal Himself completely? On the cross. There we learn the features of God’s face. Let us not forget, brothers and sisters, that the cross is God’s Chair. It will do us good to stay to look at the Crucifix in silence and to see who Our Lord is: it is He who does not point the finger against anyone, not even against those that are crucifying Him, but opens wide His arms to all; who doesn’t crush us with His glory, but lets Himself be despoiled for us; who doesn’t love us with words but gives His life in silence; who doesn’t constrain us, but frees us; who doesn’t treat us as strangers, but takes our evil upon Himself; He takes our sins upon Himself. And He does this, to free us from prejudices about God, so we look at the Crucifix. And then we open the Gospel. In these days, all of us in quarantine and at home, shut-in, we take these two things in hand: the Crucifix and we look at it; and we open the Gospel. This will be for us — let’s say so — as a great domestic liturgy because these days we cannot go to church. Crucifix and Gospel!

In the Gospel we read that, when the people go to Jesus to make him King, for instance, after the multiplication of the loaves, He goes away (Cf. John 6:15). And when the devils want to reveal His divine majesty, He silences them (Cf. Mark 1:24-25). Why? Because Jesus doesn’t want to be misunderstood, He doesn’t want the people to confuse the true God, who is humble love, with a false god, a worldly god that makes a show and imposes himself with force. He isn’t a devil; He is God who became man, like each one of us, and He expresses Himself as man but with the force of His divinity. Instead, when in the Gospel is Jesus’ identity proclaimed solemnly? When the centurion says: “Truly, He was the Son of God.” It’s said there, when He has just given His life on the cross because we can no longer be mistaken: it’s seen that God is omnipotent in love, and in no other way. It’s His nature because He is made so. He is Love. You can object: “What do I do with a God that is so weak, that He dies? I would prefer a strong God, a powerful God!” But do you know, the power of this world passes, whereas love remains. Love alone protects the life we have because it embraces our fragilities and transforms them. It’s God’s love that at Easter cured our sin with His forgiveness, who made of death a passage of life, who changed our fear into trust, our anguish into hope. Easter tells us that God can turn everything into good, that with Him we can truly trust that all will be well. And this isn’t an illusion, because Jesus’ Death and Resurrection isn’t an illusion: it was a truth! Behold why on Easter morning we are told: “Do not be afraid!” (Matthew 28:5). And the anguishing questions about evil don’t disappear suddenly but find in the Risen One the solid foundation that enables us not to be shipwrecked.

Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus has changed history, making Himself close to us, and has rendered it, although still marked by evil, the history of salvation. By offering His life on the cross, Jesus also defeated death. God’s love reaches all of us from the open heart of the Crucified. We can change our stories by coming close to Him, accepting the salvation He offers us. Brothers and sisters, let us open our whole heart to Him in prayer, this week, these days, with he Crucifix and the Gospel. Don’t forget: Crucifix and Gospel. This will be the domestic liturgy. Let us open our whole heart to Him in prayer, letting His gaze rest on us, and we will understand that we are not alone, but loved because the Lord doesn’t abandon us and doesn’t forget us — ever. And, with these thoughts, I wish you a Holy Week and a Holy Easter.

[Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester]

In Italian

I greet warmly the Italian-speaking faithful. My thought goes, in particular, to the groups that would have liked to be present here today, among them, the University students from different countries, who are living virtually the UNIV 2020 gathering. Dear students, I hope that this Holy Week is for all a provident occasion to reinforce your personal relationship with Jesus and your faith in Him, crucified and risen.

Finally, I greet young people, the sick, the elderly and newlyweds. May the Lord’s Passion, culminating in the glorious triumph of Easter, be for each one of you a source of hope and comfort in moments of trial. My Blessing to you all.

[Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester]

8th APRIL 2020 15:41GENERAL AUDIENCE

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upshotre · 5 years

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The private jet owning pastors

By Tony Ademiluyi A friend had been urging me to come to her church which is one of the Pentecostal churches in Lagos. In her words, it’s a new church and the General Overseer was said to possess special healing powers and had a penchant for miracles. On the said day, I grudgingly went there and was amazed to see that the church was filled to the brim – since it was a new church I thought it would still be struggling with members. The service commenced in earnest with the focus being on material prosperity. The general overseer cum pastor prayed and exhorted the congregation to pray for their financial breakthroughs. We were all urged to sow painful seeds as that would guarantee God’s forcing of his hand to bless us all. I was forced to dip my hands into my pockets during the offering time which was also tagged ‘blessing time.’ I whispered to my host that I didn’t have a dime left for tithes and she squeezed some cash into my hands to drop into the offering basket. I was tempted to put it in my pocket as I couldn’t understand how an all rich God could demand for my widow’s mite in order to bless me. When the news broke out of the purchase of a private jet by Apostle Johnson Suleiman of Omega Fire Ministries, my mind went back to the service I attended in that rather obscure church. It resonated with the shift from salvation to prosperity that has swept through nearly all the pentecoastal churches in the country. It’s even creeping into the orthodox churches and threatening the entire foundation of the Christian faith. These mega pastors have been given rather lame excuses that they need these jets to perform ‘God’s work’ better and at a much faster pace. Suleiman said that you don’t own jets through tithes and offerings that he does businesses which gave him the economic power to procure the aerial wonder on the wheel. One wonders what sort of business which is obviously a threat and a distraction to his original calling to preach the Gospel of Christ. These modern day religious wheeler-dealers own educational institutions and businesses built on the back of their sheepish followers that the latter cannot enjoy. It is tragic that many of these followers who cannot boast of owing a vehicle so vehemently defend their latter day messiahs who have only succeeded in brainwashing them to the point of stupidity. In the days of yore after Jesus Christ handed over to the trained apostles who had toiled with him for three gruelling years, they were commissioned to spread the good news of our Lord to the ends of the earth. These men were unlettered and materially poor. They strove to perform their new task with boundless energy which brought them into conflict with the authorities. With the exception of John who lived to ripe old age, the rest were killed in the most gruesome of manners. Apostle Paul who is credited with spreading the gospel the most was a poor man. He had to forsake his lucrative trade as a lawyer for the lowly one of a carpenter as he didn’t want to be a burden on the brethren even though the latter would have gladly met his material needs. Stephen, the first martyr wasn’t known to be a lover of gold and fine wine. The first set of disciples weren’t known to keep horses which were the symbol of prosperity at the time or live in beautiful stone houses. The calling of a disciple was one of forced poverty and full dedication to the cause of the spread of the gospel of Christ. The missionaries that came after them lived rather austere lives. They sacrificed everything to bring the liberating news to Africa. Asides the gospel, they brought education, healthcare amongst other goodies to the African continent to enable the message penetrate much easier and faster. They did this before the advent of aeroplanes. They bravely encountered sea storms and adverse weather conditions at sea to berth in the Dark Continent. They didn’t compete amongst themselves for who drove the best car or wore the best clothes or lived in the best home. The history of materialism among Pentecostal churches has its roots in the United States. The 1920’s was a time of unprecedented prosperity in Uncle Sam in the build up to the Great Depression of 1929 when the stock market crashed. Americans needed assurances of more prosperity and the message of these ‘Men of God’ greatly appealed to them. It spread to Nigeria through the late Bishop Benson Idahosa who famously said that ‘My God is not a poor God.’ He subsequently had disciples in Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, Pastor Chris Okotie and the trend has persisted till this day with the likes of Bishop David Oyedepo, Pastor Sam Adeyemi, Pastor David Ibiyiome, Rev Enoch Adejare Adeboye, Pastor Joshua Iginla – the latest pastor jet owner, Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo and a host of many others. What led to the speedy acceptance of these pastors and their message was the collapse of the Nigerian state beginning from the Ibrahim Babangida years. The absence of a soothing balm from the state actors led the hapless masses to place their hope in these smooth tongued purveyors of the modern day gospel. The church was seen as a haven of peace and love as the traditional African family system witnessed a brutal fragmentation as a result of the anti-people policies of the military. The hoi polloi didn’t mind their religious leaders driving these private jets as long as they had assurances that their miracles were on the way. The pastors took advantage of this to serially rape the minds of this impressionable congregation. Professor Wole Soyinka’s ‘Trial of Brother Jero’ aptly describes how gullible the congregation is using Brother Chume as an archetypal stereotype. The prophetic Fela Anikulapo-Kuti sang about these new preachers of the gospel in his evergreen songs. The attempt by the government to regulate these churches has been met with stiff opposition by these jet loving pastors. They have repeatedly claimed that they are non profits despite the fact that they have evolved into business concerns. We saw what happened when the government tried to regulate the powerful Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). It’s my hope that the docile Nigerian congregation opens their eyes wide to see that their so called pastors are also part of the reasons why they are poor as they don’t preach rebellion against the corrupt government. Their preaching suppresses their ability to make revolutions possible. The so called Malachi law which is the basis for tithing is an Old Testament law which is a vestige of Judaism and incompatible with modern day Christianity and should be discarded forthwith. Are the pastors descendants of Malachi? Can their ancestry be traced to the Levites? Religion is now the bane of the masses and the opium as Karl Marx rightly described it. It should be jettisoned for more of common sense if the masses are to free themselves from the clutches of this jet riding and aspiring to jet riding ‘Men of God.’ Ademiluyi writes from Lagos. Read the full article

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continuousevolution · 7 years

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Note to self: the truth about honesty & flaws of casual confession: set your foundation right

Open Prayer I thank you Lord that your patience and mercy is never ending. I can’t begin the fathom how you had enough of it to walk me the long way round -by your grace alone I am here today, alive in every sense of the word, and that is all the evidence I need that you love me. I treasure the moment that I transitioned from simply acknowledging you, to embracing you, recognising you and comprehending who really are. I often reflect on the moments where the holy spirit has flooded my soul with love, a gentle reminder of your affection for me God. I see your love on the cross. I am not perfect God, I have fallen many times and will fall many times again. I acknowledge I can’t attain perfection in this life, but you Lord are capable of all things, and therefore pray that you might bless me enough to use an imperfect person for your perfect works. Sometimes I wonder if it's best I don't know when you’re using me for your will, because then I cannot be at risk of accumulating an ego. I commit my life to you, I give you my mountain tops and my valleys Lord. Have all of me. I pray that with each day I become less of me and more of you. That as you consume me, you shine from me and that people begin to see the you in me before the me in me. That I distinguish your light from the rest of the commotion polluting this world and stay on the right path, and that if I stray, I find the courage to lay down my pride and run home to you. I pray that my words reflect and glorify you Lord, that they bring comfort and courage to people who are feeling as defeated. No one compares to you, you’re above all. I am so blessed and so grateful that I am yours and you are mine. You give my life purpose, dignity and ability. Without you, I have no hope. You’re my greatest love. Dedication If you are reading this and you have made mistakes in your past, this is for you. If you are reading this and you still think about those mistakes when other opportunities arise, finding yourself hearing this small voice echoing words such as ‘incapable’, ‘failure’ or ‘unworthy’ into the corners of your heart, this is for you. If you have made mistakes in your past and you feel like they’re suffocating you, this is for you. If you’ve made mistakes in your past and you feel like they’re all people see when they look at you – if they’re all you see when you look at you – if your mistakes have become chains, binding you and causing you to be unable to step into new seasons, new chapters, new life; if you feel a disconnect between who you are and who you were, this is for you. If you’re not who you used to be, this message is for you. The ground work In describing a 'good person’ there are many qualities I would have said were critical to the criteria, with 'honest' being one of the highest ranking. This note to self is centred around the danger of honesty and casual confession, and the importance of ensuring our emotions, actions and lives are motivated and directed by a heavenly foundation. I hope this post reassures vulnerable people that the only assurance, recognition, forgiveness and validation they need is from our Saviour. Up until about a few months ago, if I had of met you I would have fairly instantly have told you the ‘ins and outs’ of my testimony, including the nitty gritty details of every high and low that led me here. These weren't, and aren't, all things I'm necessarily proud of. Yet, I found myself shouting them from the roof tops and preaching them under the ideology that 'there are no mistakes, just choices', and that ‘we should be grateful for all the choices we have made, honourable and not so, because they are the reason that we are exactly where we are today’. I used to believe that we should be honest with ourselves, and others, about the paths we have walked in order to help set ourselves, and others, free of the of the chains of past mistakes – to deconstruct the perceived plague of a ‘sinner’. These ideologies don’t sound toxic, deceitful or hurtful. Infact, I would argue the discourse used offers a sense comfort, liberation and ambition. Please do not misunderstand me, I don’t believe these ideologies are necessarily fatal– but they can be, if the foundation from which you build your understanding of them is flawed. I used to understand these ideologies on a fairly superficial level, but because my relationship with Christ has matured and strengthened I have been changed radically, and therefore, the way in which I understand and reflect these ideologies has also changed radically. Losing me? Hold on. I’ve got a word on my heart I believe God has challenged me to share with you (and yes, I use the word challenged because I am ignorant enough that I came to this revelation the practical way – making it to this revelation was challenging). It is critical from here on in that you understand that we humanly operate is systematic – our reality is a cycle. Our internal condition (hearts and emotions, left to their own accord) will determine our thoughts, perspectives and beliefs - they will determine what we perceive to be 'true'; From our thoughts and beliefs come our actions; repeated action results in behaviour: repeated behaviour results in habit: habit results in lifestyle; Your lifestyle dictates your external exposure; the things which you are exposed to will impact your emotions and there we are back to the start again – one big cycle. To live a life of purpose, to fulfil our God given callings, we need to ensure that our emotions do not determine our thoughts, perspectives and beliefs -that is not a fertile foundation. A fertile, sound, reliable foundation is established from the word of God – when we depend on his truth, instead of the truth we have enabled external factors to fabricate, we break the cycle and step into a life which is unrestricted by the confines of this world; we step into the kingdom of Christ. There is nothing wrong with the ideologies I mentioned earlier –it is true, we all make poor choices and those choices ultimately do shape and lead us. God willing, they will take us out of the valleys we walk ourselves into and through to the other side. God can use any circumstance for his will. These ideologies are not necessarily wrong, but, what can be wrong is your foundational understandings of these ideologies, and the motivation for action that misunderstanding may cause. If your foundational understanding regarding these ideologies comes from a poor understanding of who you are in Christ, than its likely the actions which result from these ideologies won’t reflect the will of Christ and won’t enable to fulfil your calling. Personally, I heard a preacher speak once and he recited that one of he’s biggest fears is that when I meet my saviour in heaven he’ll point to one list which has all the things I did for him, only to point to another which is much longer and contains all the things I could have done if I had just laid down my life, listened and heard his word and did what he was calling me to do – I ponder about this often. What comes next is four realisations I had that enabled me to step away from the trap of casual confession and into the grace and life he has called me to; to lay down my crosses and take up his love; to critically examine and reflect on my habits, motivations and foundations – to align my heart, mind and will with that of Christ and trust him; to understand the power of speech, value of my soul, and source of identification. 1. The weight of knowledge The bible gives us the truth and the word - it tells us that our words are life and death. It tells us the route to forgiveness and righteousness. It reveals love, it reveals freedom, and it reveals him. It lays it all out for us so clearly. When I took math in high school, I was told all the equations and formulas. I knew of them - I did trust me, I read them and could recite them to you but for the love of God I just did not understand them and therefore they were useless to me. I think it's safe to say that most people in this world could tell you ‘what the bible is’ and give you some kind of broad blurb as to ‘what it's all about’. Does that however mean that every person who can tell you something about the word of God understands the freedom and love engraved in its pages, or has even read it? Does it mean they have comprehended the news of the gospel? Does it mean they have accepted Christ as their saviour, king, father, hope, eternity? Does it mean they have even thought about it? Unfortunately, no. Unfortunately, knowledge is nothing without comprehension. Knowledge has no weight. 2. The intimacy of Comprehension When we understand, when we truly comprehend the knowledge we have accumulated that is when it is given weight – that is when we unlock a whole new intimacy with our Saviour. When we comprehend and truly understand his word instead of just being aware of it we are able to live freely. He gives us a map, but if we do not learn how to interpret it and orientate ourselves we won’t be able to distinguish which way is which – we will remain lost. Before I understood who I was through faith, by grace, I spoke about my past openly. I shared my worst mistakes; by voicing my downfalls I was voicing my shame - I was subconsciously trying to convince myself that it didn't matter. If I can verbalise it I have obviously dealt with it, right? I was furthering my attempt to have 'dealt' with it by telling myself that speaking about it would help me to accept I'm not perfect and help others accept it's okay not to be perfect, too. Well, at least that is certainly what I was trying to convince myself of and comfort myself with. But whilst doing this I didn't realise the thing I was actually doing was wearing my heart on my sleeve, completely exposed and unprotected. I think today we have developed a habit of glorifying ungodly lifestyles, particularly how we can 'beat' them. We place so much emphasis on ‘breakthrough’ moments rather than recognising all the small, simplistic breakthroughs that also lead to freedom. This glorification of ‘conquering demons’ had such a strong subconscious influence on the way I thought, spoke and behaved. I subconsciously wanted to be strong, I wanted to be an 'overcomer', I wanted to be resilient; I wanted to believe that despite all of my shortcomings, all of my ungodliness, all of my brokenness I still had hope. I wanted to show and know that I was still worth something; that I had still made something of myself; that I still could make something of myself; that I wasn't defined by the mistakes I had made. In desiring to be these things, in desiring to be more, I thought I needed to remind myself and make people aware of where I was now and where I used to be. In hindsight, it's like I was constantly trying to prove myself, often to people I'd never met - but mostly to myself. It's like my mistakes were chains and I felt so embarrassed, so fake and insincere until I addressed them –I kept trying to justify them or at least where I was now. It’s like I had to give every person I crossed paths with a disclaimer, ‘I'm not perfect, I've made bad decisions but now I'm trying. I'm not pure or worthy and I have a tendency to screw up. I'd love to keep talking to you, but I thought you should know what type of person I am so you can make an informed decision regarding the people you chose to surround yourself with. I mean hey look, I have stuffed up but at least I'm honest right? That's got to count for something, doesn't it? Honest people are good people, true?”. In effect, I was wearing my inner most insecurities, shame, loss, pain and fears on my sleeve just to have a shot at redeeming myself – another failed action. The problem with this is that my motivation for being honest was coming from an obsession or focus on my deeds. I was trying to do; to justify; to fix; to heal; to redeem and earn everything on my own. But the reality is we can't do it on our own, and we don’t have to. I was lost in disappointment with my shortfalls, compelled by fear that they were indicative of my nature because I had not listened to his words. I was filled with stubbornness, pride and embarrassment – my poor foundation led me to insecurity, to a desert, to pain, to suffering, to loss, despair: I disobeyed you God, I did this. It was my responsibility, so I’ll deal with it. I’ll fix it. When I’ve fixed myself, when I’ve shown you how far I’ve come, then I’ll be worthy of you. Then I’ll feel whole. Then I’ll feel secure. I won’t be such a liar, I won’t be superficial or hypocritical, because my actions will finally reflect my heart and love for you. I spoke my past over my future and gave the enemy ammunition. I needed to turn to HIS WORDS AND COMPREHEND THE TRUTH; He has told us we are forgiven: Mark 2:5 ‘when Jesus saw their faith, he said “son, your sins are forgiven’ He told us we are redeemed: Ephesians 1:7, ‘in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace’ Isaiah 52:3, ‘for this is what the Lord says, “you were sold for nothing and without money you will be redeemed”’ Deuteronomy 15:15, ‘Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you.’ Isaiah 42:22 ‘I have swept away your offences like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you’ He told us of grace – he told us it's free. He told us that we had this grace from the beginning of time and that it became accessible through Jesus. That we can't earn his love or alter our worth in his eyes – he called us because of his own purpose and will, not anything we have done. : Romans 3:24, ‘and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came through Christ Jesus’ Romans 11:6, ‘and if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace’ 2 Timothy 1:9, ‘he has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but has now been revealed through the appearing of our saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel’ He told us the only way to God is through our saviour Jesus Christ, and we must believe, truly recognise and embrace the weight of his sacrifice: John 1:7, ‘for the law came through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ’. He told us that from the moment we were created our God had plans for us – not that he makes plans according to our deeds – our God is all knowing – his plans are beyond our comprehension, he's ways are wonderful. You are part of a generation which was brought whilst they were dead, you are called according to his will and your future has been secured through your faith. Ephesians 2, ‘as for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the world and of the ruler of the kingdom of air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And god raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches if his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and thus is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works , which God prepared in advance for us to do’ For me, I had heard people preach using Proverbs 18 ‘The tongue has the power of life and death’, so many times over the past year - it's actually kind of humorous in hindsight how thick I actually am. Man, what a patient, merciful, kind god we have. In hindsight, I can see he continuously reached out to me with this verse saying, ‘how many times do I have to tell you, my grace is sufficient. You take me completely or not at all. And if you are going to take me, then you best realise your purpose is now to be a bearer of my love, a harvester of my fruit. I have anointed you and called you. Your words hold the weight and ability to birth life or death – walk where I have called you and preach the love I have covered you in. When you were broken, I held you together and I will continue to do so. I have been found by you, and with you I will stay until you come to see me face to face, and even then I will be with you. When you opened your heart to me, you accepted my grace - every time you need reassurance all you need do is open your heart to me more. My grace is sufficient, you will never thirst again, you are free now my child.’ And that is the honest truth. Don’t you see? Who you are, when you have come to Christ, ceases to have anything to do with what you have done. Your identity is in him. You become a new person, by his ability, not your own. Stop trying to carry your cross. He already carried it for you. Stop trying to punish yourself; he took your punishment when he laid his life down for you. You want to show God how much you love him? Really? Then honour the sacrifice he made for you. He did it, willingly. Accept and embrace that. To try and carry your own cross after he already did it for you, is to discredit and disrespect what he did for you. Now I know, sometimes we do this without realising, but you can bet your bottom dollar every time we realise that is what we’re doing we should lay our pride at his feet and thank him for his love and mercy. 3. The flaws of casual confession The word confession is often associated with guilt and the admission of wrongs – personally, I associate this word with a formal act, typically involving a person of authority or a person who has been wronged. So then, what is casual confession? Casual confession is when you seek comfort in the reassurance of others about the things in your life, your past and your heart that you're not proud of or not yet comfortable with – maybe it's friends, maybe it's leaders, maybe it's family, maybe it's strangers, maybe it's even every person you meet. I've seen casual confession manifest itself in many forms; I've seen it emerge in self-depreciating jokes, in colloquial language,‘d&m’s’ and the list goes on. Casual confession stems from a lack of understanding and a whole lot of knowledge. For me, casual confession had even corrupted the motivation of sharing my testimony - it impacted the tone of language in which I communicated it, therefore, in fact I really wasn't providing a testament of his grace, because I was still bearing my own cross. I grew up in a Catholic Church and I am so grateful for that, but I grew up under the impression that to be 'right' with God I had to confess and that I could only do this through a priest - it wasn't enough to just pray to God I had to physically 'get it off my chest' to a third party. I guess it's out of that habit that my rocky foundation for the ideology I spoke about previously was formed -I thought that I could free myself and help others be free by verbalising things. I'm not saying that we should never talk about our struggles. I'm not in any way saying that talking things through within sound relationships is not right - I'm not saying it's pointless or unhelpful. What I'm saying is that talking things through becomes a problem when it is the only way we are seeking comfort, reassurance and freedom - the comfort and freedom we seek can't be found in the world; it doesn't matter how many people you chat about it with. It doesn't matter how comfortable you become at verbalising it - if this is the only place you are turning to then you will only find temporary freedom. You might feel the weight lift but in my experience, the ‘freedom’ you'll feel following casual confession is the equivalent of the breath you breathe after being dumped by a wave at the beach, right before you are dumped by the next one- its short, it's disorientating, it's unfulfilling and it's barely enough to carry you through to the next one. If this is a habit you have developed you will be well aware it is a habit you are required to continue fuelling. It is a habit demanded by your emotions and thoughts regarding a circumstance and a reliance on your perceived truth rather than THE TRUTH. If left uncorrected, perceived truths and will continue to leave you feeling flawed, insecure, unworthy, damaged, and incomplete. This may be what culture and society will tell you but it is not what God has and will tell you every day, Amen. If you haven't reconciled with God and received verification that you are made new, that you are good, that you are worthy, you are forgiven, that you are able to start again from him DIRECTLY, if you haven't accepted his grace, then you will be trapped in reliance on casual confession for the rest of your days - why settle for temporary release when you have direct access freedom? Casual confession will cause you despair after the emptiness you are tirelessly trying to fill continues to grow. Casual confession will cause you pain as untrustworthy and negative people come into contact with what should be classified information and exploit it. Casual confession will confine us to where we are as we speak our pasts over our futures and fuel the enemy's war against us - the devil can't read our minds but surely as we confess carelessly, insecurely, shamefully and casually he listens, gaining ammunition and plotting his attempts at destruction and devastation in our lives. 4. The truth about honesty I want to make this clear – I do not have a problem with honesty. I love honesty, I desire honesty, I aspire to complete, utter, surrendered, transparent honesty to my God. In that, I am not saying it’s okay to be honest with God and lie to everyone else, no. What I am saying is that your motivation for being honest needs to stem from a healthy foundation with Jesus, and once that motivation is aligned with God; healthy honesty with those around you will result. Proverbs 18 continues, ‘from the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled; with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit’. In other words, the produce of our speech with fill our hearts and minds; what we verbalise has power over our circumstance. As we choose our thoughts, perspectives, attitudes and words we choose our destination – we chose life or we chose death. Can't you see the ball is in our court? If you need it clearer look to Proverbs 21:23 which says, ‘those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity’. Calamity means simply, ‘an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress; a disaster’. Wow. Those who mind what comes from their lips protect themselves from sudden disaster. Matthew 15:11 says, ‘what goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them’. I think why I love this scripture so much is that it reinforces gods promises and vision of us – it says it's not about what you have done or who you have been – go changed. It's not about what went in; it’s about what came out. It's not about whom you were when you started; it's about who you are now. God is a redeemer, allow him in follow and allow him to walk in your life. We have the ability to speak life or death – Proverbs 18 tells us so – if we are honest from a place of insecurity and shame, the tone of our speech will be toxic, breathe death and provide a foothold for the enemy, potentially restricting us from growth. HOWEVER, if we are honest from a place of security, grace and faith then we ensure our honesty is one which is fruitful, harvests life, and enables us and others to establish and build our foundations in Christ and to live freely in the grace he has provided us. If your motivation for honesty comes from a place of guilt, shame or a desire to justify your actions then please, I urge you to refresh yourself with his truth. And I urge you to acknowledge the power of your tongue. Examine the motivation of your words as well as the way in which you enable your emotions to be verbalised – don’t continue to speak your past over your future. I pray that you realise that you have to protect your integrity. You need to be wise with your heart - there is a distinct difference between honesty and exploitation. You can be honest all the time without exploiting your integrity, heart and soul. Your foundation determines the role of your feelings – a healthy foundation will ensure that you are not allowing your feelings to manifest into toxic speech. A healthy foundation will ensure that you do not continue to speak your past over your future. It will ensure that you walk into your calling, entitled – because through grace he has made you so. You are under no obligation to share anything with anyone, because quite frankly you can't trust everyone. To be a good honest person doesn't mean you have to overexert yourself, bare your soul to strangers or make a display of every part of yourself. Some things are just meant to be private. I don't mean private as in hidden; you don't have to be ashamed, insecure, embarrassed or hide parts of yourself. What I am referring to when I use the word private is personal - they have a higher value then the things you share with every Jack, Jill and Joe you meet in the street. We are intimate beings, our souls are soft and they are precious - they need protecting; they need guarding. We live in harsh times; people don't always do right because we are all just that – people. We're all stumbling through and all making mistakes. The things that make us, us - they're special. They're classified. They're valuable. Why? Because you are. Be wise. Protect yourself. You don't need a wall, but you do need some wisdom – guard your heart. Sometimes that will be from other people, but just as often, it will be from yourself. How? Turn to your saviour, listen, trust, confide, follow. The New Living Translation titles Proverbs 4 as ‘A father’s wise advice’; it provides wholesome, nurturing, loving, gentle advice to us. Particularly, I want to draw attention to verse 20-27: ‘My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don't lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Avoid all perverse talk, stay away from corrupt speech. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don't get side-tracked, keep your feet from following evil.’ Cling to his words. Study them. Memorise them. Breathe them in and share them. Break the cycle of casual confession; don't speak the death of the past over the purity and life of your future. His word is truth and it never changes, it is written and referenced specifically for you, you need reassurance? You need encouragement? You need love? You need redemption? You need a new beginning? In a moment, every moment, it is yours for the taking; walk intimately with God and experience the freedom of his love. Never forget, your true validation; your identity does not belong to and is not, was not will never be created or altered by this world, anything you experience or undertake in it. You were born of the dirt but you have life by the Holy Spirit. Closing Prayer God we thank you for being who you are. We thank you for being so patient, merciful, kind and generous with us Lord. Thank-you for giving us a map to navigate this life and world with. I hope that bit by bit we uncover the wisdom the comprehend it. I pray that our foundation is formed from the promises you have proclaimed and that our actions and speech result directly from and reflect them. We stand in awe of your beauty and wonder. In this moment I open my heart to you and reaffirm my acceptance of you as my saviour and king, I choose to walk with you every day for the rest of my life. And should by any chance I get lost along then I pray that I have the courage to come running home into your open arms. You are my origin, my beginning, my middle, my end - my destination and every step between. I pray my life is a book that glorifies your name. I love you lord.

#Written

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sherlockedpotterhead9012 · 7 years

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Ted Neeley in Jesus Christ Superstar

I was browsing Buzzfeed the other day when I found an article about the Mary Magdalene film starring Rooney Mara (as Mary) and Joaquin Phoenix (as Jesus).

To be honest, at first I thought it was great that a film about Mary Magdalene would be coming to theaters soon, especially because of the issues many in the Church might have with her story being portrayed well on screen (she wasn’t a prostitute?!).

Then I saw the casting, and I got frustrated at the fact that once again, two white actors are portraying religious and historical figures of color.

Daily Mail

I quickly went to IMBD to check out the rest of the cast, and I discovered that black, Israeli, and Algerian actors will be playing Jesus’ disciples.

Which is…better than having them all be white, too, I suppose. At least this casting is a bit more accurate.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1507708/mediaviewer/rm1386924800

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5601350/mediaviewer/rm2440753408

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Starting from top left: Australian actor Ryan Corr as Joseph, Israeli actor Tawfeek Barhom as James, Matthew Moshonov as Matthew, British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peter, and French actor Tahar Rahim

This being said, Hollywood is not off the hook. The fact that in most biblical films, Jesus is cast as a white man while the people of color are relegated to the supporting cast is a greater symptom of the American white savior complex.

Jim Caviezel in Passion of the Christ

Ewan McGregor in Last Days in the Desert

The simplest way to define the white savior as an entertainment trope is a white character rescuing people of color from their plight. While many well-meaning people defend these characters as benign and even admirable (perhaps citing that they learn a lesson about themselves and “those people” and become “better” in the end), they are actually rather harmful.

The danger of the white savior mentality is that it enables the savior to look down on the ones they try to “save.” It allows the savior to say, “You are only worthy of my time, attention, and compassion as long as you are beneath me. Never equal to me, and definitely not above me.”

The white savior complex “racializes morality by making us consistently identify with the good white person saving the non-white people who are given much less of an identity in these plot lines. It also frames people of color as being unable to solve their own problems.”

This racialization of morality frames white people as the good guys, and the people of color as either the bad guys or the ones needing saved.

White savior mentality does not embolden people on the “receiving” end to take agency over their own lives.

One of the primary results of the white savior/one needing saved relationship is enmeshment, which can occur “in any relationship where there is a power imbalance due to structural inequality, and ensures that the power imbalance stays firmly in place, resulting in frustration and resentment for the oppressed group.” This ensures that the person or people being saved become fully dependent on their saviors to survive and thrive, while the saviors get a nice dose of purpose and goodwill from having saved someone. They are dependent on each other for the wrong reasons.

The white savior mentality does not allow people of color, or those being “rescued” or “saved,” to voice their own concerns or opinions about their own lives. Instead, the saved remain subservient to their saviors, who tell them to trust in the savior’s goodness and logic above their own needs.

This is prevalent in reality, as seen in the accusations of TV personalities and news anchors concerning black culture and black individuals. There seem to be zero forms of protest that a person of color can participate in which white leaders will not criticize. This is why Black Lives Matter can be deemed “the new KKK” with little to no mainstream backlash. It’s why any criticism about white supremacy and privilege is clapped back against with cries of “reverse racism” and accusations of “not letting the past be past.”

Feminists are not exempt from this.

Rafia Zakaria writes in Al Jazeera, “Nonwhites are expected to approbate and modify their own lives or positions to participate in this [white feminist] narrative. The parameters of this paradigm ignore differences in privilege that separate the white and nonwhite feminisms. White women dominate the mainstream American feminism because they can still draw on white privilege and occupy the entire category.”

If left ignored, women of color will continue to be ostracized by a movement which claims to seek liberation for all.

This is why, for the literal love of Jesus, we need to drop the white savior complex, from our media and from our lives.

Jesus regarded everyone with whom he interacted as inherently worthy of his love and attention. But white savior mentality does not acknowledge the inherent dignity within every human being as a child of God.

If we continue to call ourselves the Body of Christ on earth, yet continue to ignore our siblings’ cries for justice, then we are attempting to cast off our hands and feet, destroying the Body from the inside out.

We will also damage our testimony as Christ’s body on earth to those who are not in the Church.

A personal case in point: I have a Middle Eastern, Muslim father, but I did not grow up with him. I grew up with my white mother and white family, so I learned about Arabic culture from them and the media.

And they didn’t exactly paint the best picture. Especially post 9-11.

Post 9/11, I thought all Arabs were terrorists, because that’s all I saw in the news, in TV shows, and in movies. I thought they were oppressive to women and democracy and all the other things Americans claim to hold dear (but they really don’t).

I know how this affected me, and I know how it could affect my younger siblings, and the people with whom they interact, especially in an era of proposed “Muslim bans” and chants to “Build the Wall.”

I worry about representation because of what it will tell the world about my family.

So what do we, the white Americans wrestling with our white savior complexes, need to do?

A small way to break this oppressive cycle is to consume more media with better representations of people of color, in which they, not us, are the predominant actors, writers, producers, and directors.

Love comics? Check out Black Panther, Ms. Marvel, and America Chavez.

http://www.trbimg.com/img-581ce8ff/turbine/la-trabrown-1478289681-snap-photo/650/650×366

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https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_medium/public/thumbnails/image/2017/01/26/16/marvel-comics-america-beyonce.jpg

Looking for a new show to binge-watch on Netflix? Check out Luke Cage, The Get Down, or 3%.

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Want a Redbox night? Rent Moonlight or Get Out.

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If you don’t consume media with predominantly POC casts and production because you think it’s “too harsh” on white people, or you wonder why you’re not in the lead role like you’re used to, you might be feeling a trace of what black, Latinx, Arab, and other “minority” communities have felt for years.

We often have the audacity to ask, in a culture we dominate, “What about me?”

I asked that question as a four year old when I was dying Easter eggs with my cousins because I didn’t want to share the Easter egg dye with them. As a child, I acted like a child, as do we all. Now, it’s time to leave our childish ways behind.

Will watching and reading more stories in which people of color are the heroes and heroines change the world overnight?

Of course not.

It can, however, begin to change our mentality, break stereotypes, and empower people of color.

And for the literal love of Christ, we can do that much.

For the Literal Love of Christ, Stop Making Jesus White Ted Neeley in Jesus Christ Superstar I was browsing Buzzfeed the other day when I found…

#Diversity #Hollywood So White #Mary Magdalene #Representation #White Jesus #White supremacy

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drjacquescoulardeau · 7 years

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ANNE RICE – PRINCE LESTAT AND THE REALMS OF ATLANTIS – 2016

Since I have read all the volumes of The Vampire Chronicles from the very start a long, long time ago, plus all the book about the witches and the one volume in which witches and vampires cross, plus the more recent volumes on werewolves without forgetting the volumes on Jesus Christ and the volumes on the angels who can travel in time to solve dramas and prevent crimes. In short we have read it all, including the various erotic novels under various pen names.

We also know that the cinema has not followed because Anne Rice, when she sold the adaptation rights of the very first trilogy was not careful enough not to sell the character Lestat and by doing that mistake all the volumes have been blocked for the cinema by someone who bought the exclusive right to use Lestat. That opened the gates to other approaches, particularly on television, approaches that are narrow-minded and exclusively centered on the blood thirst and the blood hunt. But Anne Rice came back to Lestat de Lioncourt and made him the Prince by his acceptation to host the spirit Amel so far only hosted by one of the two red-haired witches Maharet and Mekare, after he was ousted from Akasha, the Queen of the Damned, when she is executed by the other vampires led by Lestat because she had the project of enslaving g the human species and making them the blood-providing chattel vampires need to survive, in Akasha’s vision.

But Anne Rice does not want to lock the vampires up in their own tribe. From the very start they were one tribe among others with the Talamasca that studied all paranormal groups. The others were ghosts of various types, werewolves in the distance, witches of course and humans (who are just as much paranormal as any other group). In one volume the witches and the vampires cross but that had no real future. In this volume Anne Rice makes the newly reorganized or rather the presently reorganizing vampire tribe into some kind of democratic kingdom based on the authority of the Prince, Lestat himself, who was elected by the community, and of Marius who uses his Roman origin and culture to bring some legal thinking and organization to this community, even speaking of a constitution.

That’s where we had stopped in the previous volume, Prince Lestat, but in this volume we start with a rather long chapter about some rogue but very ancient and very powerful vampires that live in Budapest and detain a non-human and non-vampire individual, have detained him for many years. He is a strange character. Very emotional and of a different species since he can be drained of all his blood and yet he won’t die, he will regenerate. He can even be brutalized in any way: his body will regenerate too. He is thus a permanent blood source and a toy you can break in all possible ways since he will be whole again some short time later. That’s the starting point. I do not intend to tell or follow the story. I am going to make a few remarks that will be more general.

This being is Derek and he is an artificial being, a Replimoid, devised by an extra-terrestrial species evolved from birds, along with three others and that had been sent to Earth by these extra-terrestrials to punish a certain Amel they had sent there before, destroy the civilization he had built (the city and civilization of Atalantaya, in our mythical culture Atlantis) along with the whole mammalian species that had evolved on earth as the dominant species. These extra-terrestrials are called the Parents and they want to bring Earth back to the beginning so that the mammals would not evolve as the dominant species, leaving free evolutionary scope to birds, reptiles and even insects.

This avian superior species is controlling the world, the universe, maybe the cosmos. They have super powers and super intelligence. They have developed a very advanced civilization that enables them to conceive, design and build these Replimoids that/who are their soldiers against Amel. But Amel is not a Replimoid per se because he is in fact a human who was abducted by the Parents and turned into what he is, a super brain that has imagination and science at the tip of his fingers and was sent back on Earth to destroy once again the mammalian species, as if it were an obsession on the parents’ side. He did not fulfill the Parents’ plan but his own which implies bringing his knowledge and know-how to these humans to make them evolve. He defends the mammalian concept of “fairness” and tries to build a model society that would attract all humans and make them change from some kind of bloody and barbaric monsters to some sweet, soft and cultivated genus. So he builds Atalantaya and is extremely successful, though the Wilderness remains the barbaric Wilderness, and yet the Replimoids started their journey there in the Wilderness and had some very good experience.

His main contribution to the humans, to Earth and to the universe is a new substance known as luracastria. It is some kind of metal or plastic or some other man-made synthetic substance that is in fact a living geological substance. It is more or less explained that the Replimoids are made with this substance and that Amel was turned into what he has become by being injected with this substance. Amel’s objective is to pacify the human species. But that does not satisfy the Parents who have had many mini-cameras installed on Earth to observe the human beings’ behavior and then to constantly broadcast the scenes of violence, suffering, cruelty, bloodletting and other sacrifices and tortures on vast TV walls because they nurture their own existence with such gross films. Amel was not sent to destroy the human species but to guarantee it would remain violent, cruel and barbaric. He does the reverse.

The four next Replimoids, one female Kapetria, and three males, Garekyn, Derek and Welf, are sent to attract Amel outside the protective dome he has built over Atalantaya in order to capture him and thus destroy his project that aims at bringing peace to Earth. The Parents want to keep their brutal entertainment. But the Replimoids are fascinated by what they see, including among the “savages” that live in the Wilderness outside Atalantaya, but particularly by what Amel has achieved.

The Parents and their star Bravenna have the last word since the star explodes, falls on Earth and destroy Atalantaya and brings a very dark period in which the light of the sun hardly reaches the Earth that is condemned to get into the last Ice Age. This is of course a myth trying to explain the “flood” and the “sinking of Atlantis” as the result of some cataclysmic event that triggered the last or latest ice age. This is of course illogical since the Ice Age brought the level of oceans down 120 meters (one hundred and twenty meters. The flood, if flood there was came only after the Ice Age, hence when the temperature went back up (maybe after the cataclysmic darkness comes to an end, though we know so little about these climactic elements, apart from the level of the sea). The truth here does not matter because it is a nice story. Amel’s body is destroyed? His soul survives and becomes errant. It will be in contact with Mekare and Maharet in ancient Egypt and it will plunge into Akasha, thus creating the first vampire.

The Replimoids want to recuperate Amel; to liberate him from Lestat and instate him in a Replimoid body. That intention could mean war between the vampires and the Replimoids. In the meantime, and by accident the Replimoids discover that any part of their body when cut off will evolve in a few hours into a full Replimoid that will be slightly more advanced than the Replimoid they come from. This reproduction by scissiparity, so to say, or self-restoring and self-developing amputation, is another danger that could menace the vampires. But Lestat decides to trust the Replimoids and to trust Amel in him and thus to let Kapetria release Amel from his body and invest him into a Replimoid body.

But what is the meaning of this book?

Atalantaya is a utopia of the future world that is being produced by humanity. Luracastria is also a utopia about a universal substance, material or chemical that could produce with no work at all absolutely anything and make humanity, not so much idle and lazy, but highly creative: too bad of the proponents of the Singularity of Ray Kurzweil. The two metaphors are thus emphasizing this idea that the future is brilliant provided we respect basic principles like the freedom of repression and the freedom of imagination and inspiration. But peace is the very first condition that must be fulfilled. Lestat imposes peace between the vampires and the Replimoids. On this basis something brilliant becomes possible.

Anne Rice rejects the theory of the plot from some Extra-terrestrials who try to control the universe with their blood lust, maintaining the universe in barbarism and barbarity to just satisfy their perverse desires. So humanity is by definition and by default good, fair and generous. This is of course some simpleminded optimism. Humanity is both sublimely good and perversely bad. There is no escape from this duality. Along that line Anne Rice forgets her Catholicism and the Catholic Church’s cult of the crucifixion which is in no way an act of liberation but an extreme act against the peaceful and friendly side of humanity by making them cultivate the adoration of suffering and blood: this is my blood and this is my flesh, hence the symbolical practice of blood drinking, or vampirism, and cannibalism.

“The major religion of the Western world taught that suffering is good and suffering has value! . . . People speaking of ‘offering up their suffering’ to a God who valued it. . . A God who sent himself in human form to the planet to die a horrific death through crucifixion to appease himself with His Own Incarnate suffering. . . The God Incarnate religion that holds that God Himself works through pain and suffering to ‘redeem’ His creatures from His own wrath. . . The concept of eternal damnation. . . A place of eternal unspeakable conscious agony for all human beings who are not redeemed through acceptance of the horrific execution of this God Himself as His Own Son in the flesh. . . To consecrate the suffering of God Incarnate on His fabled cross as an act of love!” (page 305)

And Anne Rice even generalizes this first discourse into what follows:

“What the Maker has always wanted – penance, and self-abnegation, and self-denial. . . The inherent value of denying oneself, starving oneself, disciplining oneself. . . Someday the Maker will bring him and the offspring of his pride and greed to ruin!” (p.312-313)

And the accusation against the Parents can then follow:

“A way to harvest souls. . . Use those souls as a concentrated form of energy, a concentrated expression of energy, enhanced and deepened and perfected by suffering so that those souls are like ripe and perfect fruit to the Bravennians and maybe even to others in the “Realm of Worlds’? . . . Suffering itself helps to generate the soul. . . the energy given off by suffering. . . some other intangible ingredient, perhaps such as an overview, an attitude, a perspective on life, that too might help the formation of a soul.” (p. 316)

When you know the concept of “soul” is central in the Christian religion, this accusation is extremely serious. The only religion that does not refer and even rejects this concept of “soul” or the approaching concept of “self” is Buddhism for which due to the constant changing of every single thing and being, no one can state a person of any sort has a self of any permanence or stability, hence the concept of soul is rejected as vain and unrealistic. But Anne Rice seems to target the Christian religion as the main religion of the West whereas some older religious traditions in full swing today, like Islam (emerging from the Zealots of Judaism), Judaism itself, Hinduism and of course the Tibetan branch of Buddhism state exactly the same thing with Hinduism casting this suffering in their caste system that makes suffering part of the very divine definition of the majority of the people, and first of all the Dalits who are not even seen as human: up to very recently it was not a crime to beat, violate, manhandle or impose whatever torturing or violence to the Dalits, the Untouchables, who could be deprived of food, water and even life by any member of the other castes. And even if today it seems to have been promoted to the status of crime, such behavior goes still unpunished, particularly if the victims are Dalit women, thus bearing two inferior statuses.

Of course that would completely erase the plot from some superior power, extra-terrestrial or not, except God himself, the Maker himself. You should just read the Book of the Dead of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to see how far suffering can be pushed as a normal state of affairs for any human being, for the immense majority of them with an extremely small minority that can be redeemed through nirvana.

But, beyond this rather shallow plot theory attached to a Maker or a God that is definitely Christian, the most important force of this book is the belief that Love is the fundamental force that will bring about some evolution towards a better future. And it is clear that love has nothing to do with satisfying some hormonal drive. Love is the only possibility for any being to respect and appreciate any other being. The book is founded on the love between Lestat and his own son in the Blood, Louis, and with even more intensity between Lestat and Amel, as long as Amel is inside Lestat, and then between Lestat the Vampire and Amel the Replimoid as soon as Amel is outside Lestat. But let’s listen to Lestat final words (the only first person speaking in the book because all other characters including Amel are third person:

“To love any one person or thing truly is the beginning of the wisdom to love all things. This has to be so. It has to be. I believe it and I don’t really believe anything else.” (p. 440)

So, rush to that book and read it compulsively with the widest empathy possible and accept to fall in love with the characters. It is your love that is going to give them live and force and virtue. And just wait till the next volume comes. Soon I hope.

Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU

#vampires #extraterrestrials #replimoids #Amel #Lestat de Lioncourt #Auvergne #Baron de Combrelles #Saint Germain des Prés

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