Arkansas Blog

I wonder if he thinks slave traders were angels sent by God to create the Blues.

Chasv...........waiting for your words of wisdom.

perhaps one unfortunate consequence of internet and youtube technologies
is that during the next several months, millions of people/voters who'd otherwise
not know the extent of the insane idiocy of these right-wing televangelists
will be introduced to them, and thereby make Huckabee seem in comparison
almost rational.

I was regular in a Baptist church almost all my life. I stopped going, except occasionally, when it became necessary to be a Republican to be in good standing in church. I was told "a good Christian would have to support George Bush", so I decided church wasn't the place for me.

One of the saddest things I remember from one of my last choir practice sessions, was the tearful testimony of a beautiful black woman with a singing voice that would rival Maya Angelou's speaking voice. She said something I will never forget - that of all the things she was most thankful that her ancestors had been brought to America as slaves so that she could grow up here and hear about Christ.

Remaining quiet in that moment was almost more than I could do. How could an intelligent woman knowing anything about world history and religion not know that she could hear about Christ anywhere on the globe. It didn't require her ancestors being dragged in chains, separated from loved ones, raped, killed for irritating the master, etc., for her to hear about Christ!!

For those of you who find something important in church - peace, support, friendship, acceptance, whatever, I don't mean to demean that, but I think organized religion has become almost without doubt a racket in this nation. It sells books, rakes in big piles of cash, puts evangelists in cadillacs, elects Presidents, tells the ardent followers who they can love, how they can love and how to "spare the rod and spoil the child", and otherwise just mucks the hell up in almost all the lives it touches!

I hope John McCain, having experienced the hurt these people cause and then rushing out to kiss their butts to gain their votes, has to carry this fat old albatross around his wobbly shoulders for the rest of his miserable life.

Ya know... its not necessarily that there are morons like this guy that spout this junk that bothers me. Statistically its impossible for their not to be the occassional brain dead right wing mental pygmy. No, what bothers me is the amount of folks that buy this junk and believe it. Sigh. Just more proof that Darwin's theory was at least partially wrong, as it applies to modern humans.... the best and the brightest ain't the only ones left to procreate. Hell, it'd be nice if just the mediocre and the middlin' were... like me. We don't accomplish much, but the we don't screw much up either.

I stopped going, except occasionally, when it became necessary to be a Republican to be in good standing in church . . . so I decided church wasn't the place for me.-Posted by: Ci.Ci
********
CiCi: I understand your disillusionment with "church", but that would be like saying you took your kids out of the school system because the local school had a pedophile teacher.

There are other churches that espouse teachings more to your liking. I wouldn't want to write all churches off just because of your experience with one church or one denomination.

CiCi I stopped reading your comment in the second paragraph.... You don't know it but there are places in africa that hasn't gotten the gospel yet. Not only africa but India and China. Especially back in the time when the africans were capturing the natives for to send here.
There are countrys that will not permit you to preach the Gospel. They'll kill you if you do.

CiCi the true Church is the Body of Chirst. Jesus is the head of the church!
Jesus said also, "That I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." For over two thousand years the Church has spread the Gospel of Christ.

Jazzy,
The jews did say to crucify Him, curcify Him and let his blood be on our heads and on our childrens' heads.
There is going to be a worst time than that to come upon all who are left behind when the Church is taken out of the world... a time when no flesh will be saved except for the Lord to shorten those days. It is called tribulations. Men will be tormented so badly day and night and they'll try to kill themselves to escape the pains they will feel in their flesh.
Lets pray that Jesus will have mercy and not sacrifice on us.

The temple is in you. You go to church to fellowship with other believers but you worship the Lord in the temple which is your heart.

>>There are countrys that will not permit you to preach the Gospel. They'll kill you if you do.<<

Just to name one of those Christian-killing nations: SAUDIA ARABIA.

It is punishable by death for Christians to publicly gather in SA.
How much money did you send Saudis last year chasv?
Given that Saudis are anti-Christian seems good christians would be
100% devoted to getting God's nation off of Saudi oil.

Ironically, George W. Bush has the Christian-killing Saudis into his home as guests.
He holds hands with them and kisses them too.
Dick Cheney has visited them many times. Dick Cheney's company, Haliburton, will
be moving their world headquarters to Saudia Arabia in the next couple of years.

There is but one god in Republican inner circles...Money.

Cartoon on topic.....click on Cato

Chasv,,,I thot the Romans crucified Jesus.
How is your room in Benton??? I see they let you use a computer.
Are you sure you are not THE DECIDER???? You sound an awful lot like him and just
as funny.

I am so proud of America when the GOP leadership bows to end of days dreamers like Hagee and Parsons..

Hagee is a terrorist.. and a direct threat to us all, including his followers. Same goes for McCain.

The more one reads up on AIPAC the more one realizes they are nothing less than a extremely well funded direct threat to our republic.

P.S. Lwood.. I would imagine the Saudi / Bush family Carlyle Group are all profiting on many of the same treasonous business ventures.

>>There are other churches that espouse teachings more to your liking. I wouldn't want to write all churches off just because of your experience with one church or one denomination.<<

I know there are other churches and I was told of one in this area that isn't political. But I'd rather believe it isn't political than go and find it is, so I don't go. There was/is other stuff too that I just don't think belongs in church. It's not necessary to hobknob with those people in order to have faith.

BTW, I don't write off churches for everyone - just for me. And, I do go occasionally, but I don't think I will ever be as involved as I was for so many years.

>>CiCi.... You don't know it but there are places in africa that hasn't gotten the gospel yet. Not only africa but India and China. Especially back in the time when the africans were capturing the natives for to send here.
There are countrys that will not permit you to preach the Gospel. They'll kill you if you do. CiCi the true Church is the Body of Chirst. Jesus is the head of the church! >>

Chasv, there may be some remote areas where the people have not heard the gospel, and of course I know that at the time her ancestors were dragged kicking and screaming to the slave ships, they probably had no knowledge of their white captors' religion, but I still think it is terrible for any young black person today to be thankful for slavers. I think the whole premise is sick. If you think God can do anything, then slave ships weren't needed to spread the gospel. (And don't quote the "God works in mysterios ways" scripture - it is impossible that what happened to blacks in this country for hundreds of years was God's will for them.

What does the church being the body of Christ have to do with my not attending these specious, pretend organizations that pop up on every corner? The body of Christ would be all Christians, everywhere and it would have nothing to do with a physical building or a specific denomination.

sorry - correction. I meant to say above - I'd rather believe it is than go and find it ISN'T......

CiCi, try the FreeThinkers or if you prefer a mixture of cerebral/spiritual try Buddhism, which is the only religion on Earth that does not feature a mythical above earth creature who punishes you at every turn and makes horrible pronouncements upon the entire race.

All religions are political. We witness the Dali Lama coming to America to plead for assistance so that the Wal-Mart loving Chinese will not be destroying their right to conscience and freedom of thought.

CiCi can you describe the church. What is it made up of?

Jazzy, we all crucified the Lord. He had you and me in mind while he was on the cross.

Max, the jews disputed with Jesus many times and at times got so mad they picked up stones to throw at him to kill him.

>>CiCi can you describe the church. What is it made up of? <<

The church, (body of Christ), as taught in the churches I attended, is everyone everywhere who has accepted Christ as savior, not the specific membership of a specific institution on the corner of 4th and Grand as it is more commonly referred to currently. I don't know what you are asking specifically.

Thanks, L.Wood. I like my situation now, but I do enjoy reading about others . Never heard of Free thinkers.

" Free thinkers."

Deists. Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, et al. The Unitarian Church today claims them all.

As Ci.Ci said, the church, body of Christ, is made up of believers, not any building or
any structure made by man. I have *church* right here in my chair, or doing my work or in
my kitchen cooking meals for people I love. I think God is everywhere, even early Christians
found Him in caves, I think He can still be found in a cave or two.

Olberman, MSNBC, is talking about this now.....repeat at 9

When Jesus comes again, he'll again come as one of the poor, oppressed and downtrodden. Positively not a rich white American -- that would be like Him coming as a Roman the first time.

No, he'll be something like a gay female illegal alien. And the fundamentalists acting in partnership with the government will crucify him again.

I couldn't agree more, Jazzy.

One thing is certain, Levee. I'm convinced if Jesus came back today quietly and without fanfare, he would be run out of town on a rail by those who claim to be his most devout followers. It would have to be painful to have such people claiming you as their own.

JEEZUS! (if you'll pardon the pun)
There's nothing to bring down the level of any group of otherwise-intellectuals like a discussion about magic & resurrection & talking snakes.
To be clear, did Hitler BELIEVE this stuff in the same context as Hagee? Or is this just another one of those "after the fact" interpretations of scripture?
Either way, it's pretty sick.
That happens a lot with zealots, doesn't it?
What do ya'll think that means?

Imagine no religion.

CiCi, the church is a group of baptized believers assembled together.

LWood, budda is dead! Jesus is live forever!

The levee, Jesus will only come back as a lion. He went away as a lamb but believe it when it says he will come back as a lion and will rule the tribe of judah with a rod of iron. The King of the Jews and he will sit on the throne of David.
It won't be long 'till the heavensand all the stars and planets will roll up like a scroll when the trumpet sounds.

When I am reminded about Hagee, I wonder what on earth the big deal was with Rev. Wright? I guess we've achieved racial equality when all races have their crackpot preachers. Would that the big media outlets made as big a deal about Hagee as they did about Wright.

Chasv, do you know that some of the things you say make you look silly? You know just enough to be dangerous about a lot of things.

And I, Chasv, as one among many here, roll up like a scroll when YOUR trumpet sounds.

In a good way.

Substitute Thor or Zeus for "Jesus" in these comments, ye who have ears to hear.

Einstein's letter of January 3, 1954 to philosopher Eric Gutkind (which letter is due to be auctioned), makes the scientist's attitude perfectly clear.

"The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish."

Scratch a religionist (of any stripe) with facts and truths if you're willing to risk revealing what REALLY underlies their "love."

Be prepared to take out a restraining order.

Click the blue name for what millions already know, and what BILLIONS don't want you to know.

Let's try that blue name thing again.

Sadducees and Pharisees
Do as they Please
Manifest Best For Me

(it's part of a song I'm slowly working on, but the inspiration keeps on coming)

You'd better hope not, Chasv! I don't buy into Revelation. It barely made it into the Bible when men were deciding what was in and what was out.

There's no conflict at all between science and God, Norma. The latest neuroscience seems to indicate we are hardwired with a spiritual connection to something. Too many scientists have felt the hand of God and had personal experiences with a greater power. The real issue is going to be with the things layered on top of this connection -- the different organized religions and their teachings. It calls into question the Bible, the Koran and every other book that purports to be the truth.

Thanks for the link Norma. A friend of mine did the sound track for the film. I think Orval Eugene posted the link a few weeks ago. But it's still good to watch again.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful."
Seneca

Too many scientists have felt the hand of God and had personal experiences with a greater power<<<

You know I used to feel that hand thing and momma assured me it was the hand of god on me.
Then I went to the chiropractor and had my shoulders and back fixed. Hand went away.

Jazzy, I'm with you..........the rest of these comments make me sad!

Whooooo, I'm so tired, feel like I've been fighting bears all day, not easy being a LIB in the
south today.
Hope Max gives us a big rock'n roll free for all open line for the weekend so we can vent.
Ga'night, bon nuit all my friends.

Lordy lordy....some times it's like trying to read Russian on these threads. Jesus is a lion.....we drink his blood...we all killed him...he returns in a Taxi with exact change....forget everything you know and just make up what ya want and sign ole Jesus's name to it and it's so. Buddha is dead, yet Jesus lives, yet ain't no living soul ever seen him. Makes perfect sense to me!

So I am announcing to the blog...that I am not a man....I am that rare mystical never before seen unicorn. I type with my hooves. I take dictation from an orange cat. I will smite thee if I ever have a mind to. They Ridged Tool Calendars turnith me on. I drink motor oil. I have 2 butts though I wear them well. Karen Carpenter died for me. Yea......I just say Yea now and then for kicks.

One more secret and then I have to go get my fetlocks sharpened.....when you die o believers n me, like Santa, I will come down your chimney, find your dead body, poke my big horn up your rear end (I gots no hands ya know) and fly you off to a land where Buicks flow like water and the Sopranos never stop production. Oh it's great...what you're missing.....Tony has found an in with the Mormon Church and he's selling stolen iPods out the back of the Cathedral in Salt Lake. Carm has married a black man and AJ has admitted he's gay. Plus Tony's daughter is nude n every episode now!!! Follow me! Follow me!

PS Ci.Ci...when you die, I got extra space in my urn.....you can join me in the foreverness of nothing and I'll keep you warm....though neither of us will ever know it. Peace!

Totally agree, Levee, about no conflict between science and god.

Einstein's letter on god just sold for $404K, BTW. 25 times its presale estimate.

In another letter, in 1954, Einstein wrote, "If something is in me that can be called religious, then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as science can reveal it."

That, in fact, is the exact position of Deists, the majority of the Founders of our Country.

Good lord: read Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason."

It is also the exact position of peoples worldwide 6,000 years ago, who saw god everywhere, all the time, in the rising / setting of the Sun, the phases of the Moon, the wanderings of the planets, the rains, the droughts, the floods, the earthquakes, plantings, harvests -- in all of nature.

We're taught to dismiss ancient peoples as pagan and superstitious without realizing that theirs was Einstein's "unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as [their ancient] science can reveal it." They worshipped and revered what they observed and noted.

They worshipped Science, in other words.

Their "primitive" science created what are still the most precisely engineered (to astronomical and terrestrial orientations) structures on earth, unduplicable to this day.

The Sphinx and Pyramids.

I don't know what their "mystery" is. But I know this. Those ancient monuments, constructed at the precise center of our land mass, dedicated to the scientific relationship of earth to the observable universe say: "We were here. We did THIS. Can you?"

All these millennia later, even after E=MC squared, all earth's engineers and scientists put together still don't know how they did it.

Who's "primitive?"

Then "organized" religions stepped in to dumb-down people and formulate terrifying myths and ruthlessly enforce them to separate and isolate and control the largest populations and economies they could by replacing science with superstition.

They destroyed the Library at Alexandria and any other facts or knowledge that contradicted them. They burned "blasphemers" and "heretics" at the stake -- anybody who dared question their authority.

You know: like Karl Rove.

Organized Religion is the Amway / Quixtar of higher consciousness -- of both spirituality and science.

"Buy this kit, follow the leader, invest in all these 'motivational' books and tapes, recruit and annoy and bully your friends, work the program . . . and you too can live in a mansion in Chenal, vacation at your home in Bermuda and swig O'douls with Donald Wildmon in Colorado Springs knowing Jesus is on your side and wants you obnoxiously wealthy and shallow."

(I jest. Seriously: Amway's L.O.C. is still kind of a miracle, isn't it?).

2000 years and religionists are still at it, ever more desperately. Attacking facts and science at every turn.

I don't know. I'll take Einstein over Hagee any day, Razorbacks.

P.S. And John, in case you or one of your aides is reading this, didn't you learn ANYTHING in that POW camp?

You're PROUD of Hagee's endorsement? HE'S what you want for America?

John! John. Please listen to me. Find that still small voice within you, sit on the floor cross-legged, close your eyes and find the calm at your center, let your anger float away on a cloud of angels, you presumptive Leader of the Free World, you . . . and repeat after me.

"O-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m."

Yeah. That's gonna happen.

Oh the irony, DBI. You keepin' me warm (and that takes a lot) for eternity, and I wouldn't even know? Too, too cruel.

>>Organized Religion is the Amway / Quixtar of higher consciousness -- of both spirituality and science.

"Buy this kit, follow the leader, invest in all these 'motivational' books and tapes, recruit and annoy and bully your friends, work the program . . . and you too can live in a mansion in Chenal, vacation at your home in Bermuda and swig O'douls with Donald Wildmon in Colorado Springs knowing Jesus is on your side and wants you obnoxiously wealthy and shallow."<<

Preach it, Sister, preach it!

DBI,

Your Revelation, Part II, was inspiring!! Put your hands on the radio, hug your television, stick your fingers in the light socket, and feel the spirit!! God is on every channel and every channel comes from God.
When your image appears on a tortilla at Senor Tequila then will all know that you are most blessed among all the saints still suffering on this mortal coil. Let me know when you start changing water to gasoline. That'll trump the water into wine trick for sure. I would also appreciate a miracle along the line of the loaves and fishes but request that you perform it at a donut shoppe. Cinnamon rolls and chocolate glazed would do the trick.

Your humble servant and disciple,

Jake

Ya know...

"I had always assumed that faith was based on purely emotional and irrational arguments, and was astounded to discover, initially in the writings of the Oxford scholar C.S. Lewis and subsequently from many other sources, that one could build a very strong case for the plausibility of the existence of God on purely rational grounds. My earlier atheist's assertion that "I know there is no God" emerged as the least defensible. As the British writer G.K. Chesterton famously remarked, "Atheism is the most daring of all dogmas, for it is the assertion of a universal negative."

But reason alone cannot prove the existence of God. Faith is reason plus revelation, and the revelation part requires one to think with the spirit as well as with the mind. You have to hear the music, not just read the notes on the page. Ultimately, a leap of faith is required."

[Why this scientist believes in God]
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/03/collins.commentary/index.html
AMEN!
[LINK] blue bejeeus

Here's a new "hunter" for the Jews....on my name

beejesus believing in god is the easy part, defining or proving such an existence is impossible.
The mystical part of it can be fun.

Think I'll just stay with the same old god who is guaranteed to save your life in this lifetime, money.

A scientist resorting to unscientific steps to prove the existence of a mythical being and you call this a revelation and significant? It was a lot of pseudo-intellectual poppycock based more on his ned to justify himself rather than to justify a serious proof regarding the existenc of a particular deity.
As one writer wrote: using his logic would also allow the existence of any deity, Christian or otherwise, to be posited as true. Whether it be the shaman casting incantations over his boiling pots in some jungle village, a chanting and meditational monk in a monastery on some mountain top, a muslim cleric on his knees facing Mecca, a TV evangelist exhorting (or extorting) his followers for more money, or Amon Ra from ancient Egyption times.

God is a wart on the mind of mankind. Proving it exists says less about a creator myth than it does about mankind's limited understanding. The secret of all religions is not faith; it is mass marketing.

Interesting article, bejeesus. Did you note some of the comments left by readers? I found some of them very interesting and I really agree with this first one.....

>Dr. Collins stated that in his late 20s he made a leap of faith and embraced the Christian teachings because he could no longer live with "uncertainties." An emotional quest for certainty and tranquility, no matter how beneficial to the individual, does not a factual system make. I am glad that Dr. Collins has the comfort of his beliefs, but his reasoning does not sound very scientific.<

An "emotional quest for certainty" just seems to underscore the idea of some (Obama among them) that religious beliefs are a crutch.

Another reader commented........."I think it is offensive to negate all those other myths for the "one true 'real'" myth (depending on one's point of view). After all, who is to say which one is right? Could it be that they are all right in their own way?" The habit of many believers in whatever belief they embrace, to brand all others as illegitimate or false is a breeding ground for the religious wars plaguing the planet today.

We should all believe what we choose, but it should be private and we shouldn't use to political system or our armies to facilite them.

I don't care what you believe; I care how you act!

"Interesting article, bejeesus. Did you note some of the comments left by readers?"
by: Ci.Ci

YEP!

No God...your God of choice to Cover Your Ass (eternal life) or to keep (peace) sanity...you are amenable.

I must say, birds of a feather flock together.
Hell is growing by leaps and bounds.
When you die it will be too late to confess Him as Lord. But, get this, ever knee shall bend and every tongue will confess him Lord. It will be better for all of you to bend your knees and confess with your tongue now not later because later will beeeee toooooo late.. Hell is hotter than you can imagine and the more you disbelieve the Lord is God the hotter it will get.
It is for your own good, repent and believe now! It is no joke hell is growing with people just like those bloggers on here.

Hey, chas, what's that in your eye?

Amanita, can you see a little concern in my eye for U all.

What that in your eye?

keep talking 'bout your favorite concentration camp for us andall the torture and wickedness done there in the Lord's name. that is what is manifested and any deity who sanctions it and demands slave-like worship is beneath contempt. any human being doing the same would be considered a monster. it's just how Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and many others throughout recorded history have are viewed after doing the same.
superstition, no matter how much you dress it up, is still superstition. don't try to BS me into believing that the creator of something as malevolent and inexcusable as Hell and whose only reward in the afterlife is to mindlessly be fawned over is also benevolent.

and without one shred of proof or evidence that there even is an afterlife of any sort, no matter what religion or belief. nada zilch zero

and none of that manifest voodoo. only phonies resort to such verbal trickery. only delusional people claim to see what others don't.

Die in your sins. All are free to go to hell. Nobody can stop you from bursting hell wide open if thats what you decide to do... go on. Nobody will remember you.

In the extraordinarily long passage of time, no one will be remembered. Mankind is but a mere blip on the eternal clock and so prone to egotism that it thinks all the universe has been created for its sake.
Since hell doesn't exist and there's no proof of its existence, no problems on my side. Am already free of such nonsense and ignorance. To those who've been victims of this religious extortion, I can only hope someday that your shackles shall be unlocked.
The idea of hell is sick and twisted. It is petty vengeance that tricks the unwary and unwise.

Again, no one provides any proof nor evidence. Just vacuous logic that some egotistical and so-called omnipotent invisible being built a place of torture and evil that only exists in some never seen realm and will send you there if you refuse to kowtow and believe in a deity with a very spotty record.

ignorant superstition for the gullible or guileless or gormless

no proof

no evidence

no thank you

hey you ol' bible beater, let's give it a rest. this ol' reprobate has got to tend to other bidness. have a good weekend and cee u later.

jakester

Like I said it is your soul and you're free to do with it as you please. That is one thing God will not interfere with like I do... but be sure you know he will cast all unbelievers into the lakeoffire which is the second death.
OK, over and out... for now.

>>>Amanita, can you see a little concern in my eye for U all. What that in your eye?

Glad you asked. To the best of my perceptual abilities, observable, dogma-free phenomena is in my eyes. Subjective limitations aside, I'll take empiricism over sanctimonious zealotry any day. It must be hard to cram the wonders of What Is into a cupful of regurgitated self-righteousness.

-- boggle--

Good luck with that, and say hi to Edward Abbey for me at the pearly gates. He'll be the one with the monkey wrench.

Amanita, You are so full of yourself.
If you are not careful you could choke on your regurgitation.