Tag: hunger

Thomas Jefferson’s Wall of Separation Between Church and State Stands Between Religious Rules and Government Rules ~ July 1, 2023 Repost


Thomas Jefferson: “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”

James Madison: “The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries.”

Theodore Roosevelt: “I hold that in this country there must be complete severance of Church and State; that public moneys shall not be used for the purpose of advancing any particular creed.”

Barry Goldwater: “By maintaining the separation of church and state, the United States has avoided the intolerance which has so divided the rest of the world with religious wars.”

George Carlin: “I’m completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.”

John Adams: “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion… it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.”

1st Amendment to the Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof: …”


***

The concept of separating church and state is often credited to the writings of English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704). However, Roger Williams was first in his 1636 writing of “Soul Liberty” where he coined the term.

Locke expanded on this. According to his principle of social contract, Locke argued that the government lacked authority in the realm of individual conscience, as this was something rational people could not cede to the government for it or others to control. For Locke, this created a natural right in the liberty of conscience, which he argued must therefore remain protected from any government authority. These views on religious tolerance and the importance of individual conscience, along with his social contract, became particularly influential in the American colonies and the drafting of the United States Constitution.

Leviathan, or the Matter, Forme, & Power of a Comm – caption: ‘Leviathan’

On the original cover of Thomas Hobbes’s work Leviathan (1651), he discusses the concept of the social contract theory.

In the past, the wall of separation metaphor has been used to silence people speaking from a religious perspective in the public marketplace of ideas. You see this in court cases limiting the rights of students to express their faith in public school settings. You see this in public forum cases where religious groups want to use public forums on the same terms and conditions as secular groups. The courts are restricting that ability.

The tide is turning, as you see on today’s Supreme Court, where right-wing Christian religion has chipped away at the once sturdy bricks in the wall of separation between church and state, replacing those valuable bricks of integrity with bricks made of sand and one-sided religious agendas pontificated by political push.

The religious right is not so holy in its hatred of the non-white, non-straight, non-pre-existing US citizen. Those underlying deceptions now have infiltrated agendas supposedly pretending to support the very citizens they are hurting.

It took until Thomas Jefferson came to the rescue to stop the Baptist religion from being a state religion. Danbury, Connecticut was collecting taxes from people in religion and paying it to this “state religion” until all the other churches complained of this unfair practice, resulting in the common practice that all religions do not have to pay taxes now.

Religion and politics can work in a symbiotic relationship, helping humanity in homelessness, hunger, and efforts to help the general public, as long as religious bias does not interfere with the human rights of all USA citizens, not just some of them.

Why We Should Not Go By Appearances ~ The Father of Fake News


The Fairness Doctrine made the important distinction between broadcast and cable news. Now the FCC says it is OK for the media to lie to us and pretend they are telling the truth. How do you like being duped?

Appearances and momentum capture the attention so easily that we sometimes confuse what we see, hear and think to be the truth of what we are seeing, hearing and thinking. Magicians know this and use this when they trick their audiences about what they are seeing and hearing, ultimately affecting their thinking.

No, this is not a comical bit from a Friends TV episode. The reality is, sometimes we delude ourselves into thinking that what we are seeing and hearing is real because we literally saw someone doing something, and heard them say it. No one would ever lie to us, right?

We need to be smarter humans. Whether the subject is religion, finance, or politics, it is never advisable to listen to only one side before we make important decisions. Look past the drama, the popular mantra of the group, the wishful thinking and look clearly at the facts, the real and accurate facts.

Many of us have allowed others to confuse our thinking. At these times, we are choosing to step out of our own personal power by listening to others because they seem to be louder, more sure of themselves, or seem to be in the know. If they are pontificating erroneous fictions as if they were facts, how is anyone to know without personal investigation?

Television, radio and social media does not serve the public like it used to do before the days of President Reagan when he vetoed the regulation that the news media had to profess the truth in what they reported. How many of us know that the television news media and some of its counterparts are more interested in the advertising dollars they attain over telling the actual truth which they have consciously decided not to tell?

Keep in mind that it is the conservative entities (not liberals), usually Republicans (not Democrats) who own most of the media who are pushing hardline, rightwing spin to appease the huge corporations and conglomerates who pay for the advertising that makes the TV, radio and print media possible. No one ought to lose their jobs for telling the truth.

We do not help ourselves nor our country when we focus on the fictional reality, such as Fox News with its many hosts, and quote the deception they promote as if that was real. Anyone with a grammar school education, who can read, is able to get to the bottom of the truth of the matter. We do not need to take someone else’s view point, then say, “There are so many confusing viewpoints out there. I do not know what to believe.”

Stop watching fictional news. Go to reputable sources. How do you know the difference?

Go to mainstream news outlets: Reuters, AP, NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, BBC, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Bloomberg News, The Atlantic, and Politico. All these news outlets tell the truth based on facts of actual events and history without spin of a particular political party.

Don’t choose ignorance and confusion over accurate facts. We know fact and fiction are different things, but when people in high profile places tell us something, and we have something to gain by listening to them, we can easily fool ourselves into believing what we want to believe over what is true and factual.

It is better for us all, and for our country, to base all our decisions on real and true facts. Facts do not have opinions, they just are what they are.

It is time to move past choosing sides, as if we are ordering our favorite Kentucky Fried Chicken meal, or picking our favorite sports team. Facts are not interchangeable with fiction.

This is a critical moment in our history, between the Presidential Election of 2020 and the Inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, who won in a free and fair election. No one stole the election. Voters in every state as well as the electoral college have certified on this President-elect. These are provable facts.

On January 5, Democratic Senator Candidate Jon Ossoff is challenging incumbent Senator David Perdue earlier in the day in the first runoff election, followed by a second runoff election between Democratic Senator Candidate Raphael Warnock and incumbent Senator Kelly Loeffler.

Georgia voters will be the ones to decide which political party controls the U.S. Senate, since the protracted vote count in the previous election did not result in winners in either race.

Democrats need to flip both Senate seats to have unified control of the White House and Congress. Again, every vote in these elections matters.

Stagnation and the inability or unwillingness to work together works against the democracy this country has long fought for. Perhaps it is time to step out of the molasses and take a new breath sweeping through our land at this time.

Since we are a country of law and order, now is time for us to be lawful and orderly and do what all government officials and everyone in the military have sworn their oath to do, which is to serve and protect the Constitution of the United States of America, not any particular person.

Remember, the Constitution of the United States of America was written because of the abuses of King George III of Great Britain usurping the rights of the people of the 13 colonies. Our Forefathers, representing all citizens then and now, shunned an autocratic king ruling over the USA.

Recognize that this past Presidential Election was run as all previous elections have run, with in-person, and absentee ballots. Absentee ballots include provisional and mail-in as our military have always used and been counted after the election, since they voted on Election Day, often out-of-state or out of the country and required being mailed in to be counted after that day. This is nothing new.

Absolutely no one stole the 2020 Presidential Election. It’s called counting all the ballots because every vote counts. As mentioned above, there were no illegal votes/ballots. This has also been documented by Republican appointees of Homeland Security.

When it comes to counting ballots, ballots that have been cast for one side or the other are not illegal ballots, nor are absentee ballots illegal. This is perhaps the biggest lie being touted today, as if only Republican or in-person votes are legal. That assumption is false no matter who says it. Facts are facts, and history is history.

However, if we do not align ourselves with democracy we will be aligning ourselves with non-democracy, with a ruler who is an autocrat, a tyrant, a dictator, a king and the like.

Saying the economy is great because the stock market is doing well, while ignoring the rest of the 90 percent of the citizens who are lining up in countless food lines, losing their jobs, their homes, their very lives, is not the real test of how “great” the economy is.

Now is the time to stand on accurate facts while we can. It is possible to lose democracy. I believe most of us do not want to do that.

God Bless Everyone Everywhere

LOVE Is The Only Answer ~ LOVE Is ENERGY


Maha Cohan

LOVE is the only answer to the cords of self-hatred that are manifesting upon the world today in the insideous forms of greed, selfishness, bigotry, and superstition, which are deforming the minds of many. It is one thing to reign in the renegade, insane ego. It is quite another thing to diminish our selves into little balls of hate.

Love, in a world ignorant of Love, is the only answer. Be the LOVE. This is not a LOVE that reaches out to grasp something or someone; no, it is a LOVE that reaches out as the angelic hand of Charity, both giving and receiving, according to the heavenly polarities, that we have become identified with the nature of the Holy Spirit of God.

LOVE is the answer to the COVID-19 response.
LOVE is the answer to climate change.
LOVE is the answer to global warming.
LOVE is the answer to sustaining the rainforests, the lungs of the planet.
LOVE is the answer to feeding the hungry.
LOVE is the answer to humanitarian efforts.
LOVE is the answer to immigration.
LOVE is the answer to caring for the poor.
LOVE is the answer to homelessness.
LOVE is the answer to social justice.
LOVE is the answer to racial injustice.
LOVE is the answer to gender equality.
LOVE is the answer to social unrest.
LOVE is the answer to political guidance.
LOVE is the answer to political gaming.
LOVE is the answer to religious intolerance.
LOVE is the answer to every problem in every country.

What is the nature of LOVE?
God is LOVE. God is Spirit, not an entity.

The nature of the eternally, living God is Spirit, Holy Spirit, as John says in John 4:24, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

There is no difference in the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, nor the human comprehension of the Maha Cohen. God cannot be dissected. God is ENERGY. Energy cannot be created not destroyed. Energy can only change its form. God is spiritual. God IS LOVE. Holy Spirit is LOVE. Since God’s LOVE is spiritual, it blankets humanity with the fulfillment of the essential needs of soul and body. You and I are made by and with the Holy Spirit infused in the “Spirit” of each of us. It is our God Particle, our I AM Presence, that keeps us alive.

We have work to do. The loveless world is in need of your self-sacrifice to LOVE when all seems lost.

We have free will to acknowledge, use and share the Loving Energy, the Spirit of God in our lives. We also have free will to not acknowledge, use and share the Loving Energy, the Spirit of God in out lives. How we use our free will in this life determines how many times we will reincarnate in order to manifest the glory and perfection of God, which Jesus taught us about in Luke 17:21, when he specifically told us “nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ for the kingdom of God is within you.” The Hebrew-Greek-English Interlinear Bible says the original words say “WITHIN YOU,” not “among you,” as some bibles say today, although most bibles are changing this back to the original words, instead of only mentioning this fact in the footnotes.

Notice Jesus does not call the world, with its warped sense of free-thought, nor liberty (for some and not for others), nor human-inspired justice, a peaceful and LOVING world. Jesus tells us to “be no part of the world.”

We are to transform the world, We have work to do.

We are told in Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” New Intertional Version (NIV) These are the words of Jesus. He would not have told us this if it were not possible.

Where does the nature of God reside?

The nature of God resides in all of nature, including WITHIN you and me. The nature of God is the flame and breath of the very life WITHIN you and me. It is ever-expanding, LOVE.

Who and/or what is Maha Cohan?

Maha Cohen can be thought of as the Holy Spirit of God; also known as the Ascended Master of the Power of LOVE. Picture LOVE coming into your heart on the Ruby Ray, direct from God into your heart. Meditate on this Ruby Ray as it melts away all that is not made of LOVE in your life.

How do you manifest into physical form something that is spiritual in nature?
How can you manifest LOVE in your life?
How can you touch LOVE?
What does LOVE look like?
What does LOVE feel like?
How can you manifest Holy Spirit, the Loving Presence of Maha Cohan in your life?

Today we see huge voids of LOVE in the world, in our countries, in our families and inside our personal selves. These pulsating voids of LOVE make their presence known in personal relationships, political arenas, financial institutions, business models and the thinking that fuels them.

Lack of LOVE is a dark energy which is self-serving, without regard for people, places and things that it adversely affects. Lack of LOVE is self-hatred. It is an example of the Law of Karma, where previous seeds sown of misqualified greed, selfishness and power manifest in realities that mirror the seeds. This should come as no surprise to anyone.

LOVE is mutable, changing and transforming along with our focus and intention. When we do not pay enough attention to LOVE within ourselves, our families, or our countries, we and they fall apart.

There is only one way to correct the lack of LOVE in our perception and our reality, and that is to begin to LOVE again. LOVE more. Rather than tear down, build up. In place of destroying the reputations of others, build up the good that you see in those people who you use your free will to help support.

Stop destructive thoughts, words and actions. We can all do this. We make mistakes. The more we recognize our failings, even in the midst of them, we can stop. Take a breath, and begin again with LOVE as the driving force to create a better life for ourselves and everyone around us. It all begins with you and me. It is an easy cop-out to point fingers at the other guy. Deflection and diversion never solve the problem. Deflection and diversion only make the problem worse. Problem solving is what solves problems.

It is not necessary to spend precious time ripping apart the character of a person or a country that is lacking in LOVE. This is simply a complete waste of energy. Positive energy, LOVE, is life affirming and energy building. Lack of LOVE is depleting. When we see greed, selfishness, power hungry individuals, the answer is to invite the Energy of LOVE (Maha Cohen), which is the Invincible Holy Spirit into the equation. Greed, selfishness and unrestrained power wreak havoc over every situation where LOVE is not present.

“Those who have not penetrated the spiritual realms sparkling just beyond their enjoyment of this earthly existence with its everyday montages of life and death – these have not truly lived.” taken from Lost Teachings on Keys to Spiritual Progress

There is more to life than earthly mansions, exotic vacations, physical wealth, pleasures, hoarding food and goods, and every other form of dominance over others.

“Jesus warned us of covetousness in the human spirit, as if we can duplicate the abundant life, fair and free and God-given by oneself unto oneself. And this, too, is karma.” taken from Lost Teachings on Keys to Spiritual Progress

I encourage us all to LOVE more, beginning with ourselves. YOU ARE WORTHY. YOU ARE LOVED, even if you think you are not. Know that you are LOVED! You are LOVED by Maha Cohan, the LOVE of Holy Spirit, mirrored WITHIN YOU since you have the Spirit of Life keeping you alive at this very moment. You are not only LOVED, YOU ARE LOVE. Realize this truth.

If your thoughts, words and actions have not reflected that you are LOVE, you can change this in the blink of an eye. Your free will is all powerful. You are in control of your free will. The will of others is not in control of you. It is not the will of others that determines what you choose to do in your life. Even if you are presently limited by a situation where you are not free to roam about as you please, you still have the God-given freedom of your mind to think your own thoughts, and pray your own prayers, that are always heard by the author of LOVE.

Life situations change all the time. The only constant in life is change. Not all change is pleasant or helpful to us. What is in our control is how we deal with change. We need to learn how to act rather than react. That helps us move forward, regardless of our situation. Plan positive solutions begin right where you are.

What is the next positive thing you can do?

You have the God-given gift of free will, given to you as part of your humanity. You can choose to use free will in any way. I suggest you use your free will for good, for the abundance of all good things, and for LOVE. Use your LOVE as the answer to any and every problem that faces you, personally as well as for socially, politically and in every other situation that requires your input.

LOVE is the only answer.

Namaste

Good Friday ~ Litany of Supplication


1 litanyofsupplication2 (1)_1

God Bless

Addressing Fear Amid COVID-19 Pandemic ~ Virtues Are The Solution


The human race on Earth is the only race there is on Earth

COVID-19 knows no bounds when it comes to differences in race, color, ethnicity, creed, financial status or gender. We must realize that on this planet, regardless of where you come from, on Earth, there is only one race, the human race.

Sometimes we try to hide our prejudices behind other reasons, to justify the positions we take politically, socially, financially, environmentally, religiously, or any other way we human beings use to suppress the voice of others. We are more alike than any difference we profess.

The root cause of prejudice is fear, not hatred. While certain groups may be extremely angry about an issue, the underlying cause of anger is fear. Why are we so afraid of other people, their belief system, their culture, their gender? We can promote what we what we believe, if we choose to do that with our free will, without tearing each other down. Think of how we respond to someone expressing a different viewpoint, or addressing uncomfortable issues such as COVID-19, immigration, homelessness and hungry children in our country and the world.

Fear knows no borders. When it comes to financial fears, for example, many fear that by sending the 20,000 ventilators currently in government storage to the 20,000 most sick from the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, there won’t be enough left for themselves. It is a money problem to some minds. This is a two-fold problem.

First, when we divide states and countries in the world into “us” and “them” categories; the rich and the poor; our side and their side, we have already lost the battle, not only with slowing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in our own back yard, but also with the loss of our humanity in society.

This is the second problem, when fear descends upon the minds of our rulers. Bidding wars between states and the government for sending life-saving medical equipment, demonstrates perfectly how we can begin to lose our sense of our humanity. Once we make money, finances and the economy the bottom line, which it is not, we lose our humanity in the decision making process. Yes, money, finances and the economy are important, but it is not as important as the people. At the end of all of our lives, no matter which continent you live on, you will not be able to take your money with you.

Fear promotes radical groups in any of the human categories mentioned. If we are truly serious about fixing our world, before we can build any bridges to repair the damage we have caused, and tear down the cages and the walls which we built due to fear of other human beings, we need to take immediate measures to join together, not tear apart, and eradicate the root cause of fear. It is not just fear of other human beings that is the current social problem; it is the fear that they will take all our money, our reservoirs of wealth, our political power, our land, our titles, etc.

The Theological Virtues of faith, hope and love are the remedy for those of us experiencing fear. The Cardinal Virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance are the solution to fear by politicians, those in finance, and by everyone else globally. The virtue of generosity is the solution for those blinded by greed. Practice the Golden Rule that Jesus taught, “Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.”

Greed has become the new addiction in society all over the world. In the ordinary effort to get ahead in this life, to make sure there is enough food for our families, and places to rest our weary heads at the end of the day, and household products to get us through the days and weeks of social distancing, some of us are making the quick slide into greed, fueled by fear. It can happen so quickly that we do not even realize it has happened. In those moments we have lost sight of our humanity.

We have made great progress in this country and in the world. We should celebrate the strides we have made. But there is more to do with integrity, more to pray for, more to resolve, more to share, more to learn, more to understand, more to forgive, more to let go. It is not about being right, or wrong, or making others right or wrong. There is no way to make up for the loss of life through war, violence, bloodshed, or retaliation. Two wrongs do not make a right. We need to build bridges and tear down walls and cages for all people everywhere.

Despite all our unique differences, we all share this one beautiful planet. We are all born in the same way, we all breathe air while we are here, and we all die. We are all having a shared human experience. Our life is in our blood, without which we would cease to be. No one soul is better than any other soul on this planet, no matter what our pride (insane ego) might be telling us.

Let us recognize this place and time that we are all in. We can repair all of this, unless we have totally lost our humanity. Some of us are over the edge and need our assistance to get back to the real time work of caring for and protecting the most vulnerable among us. They need our prayers. Prayer is an extremely powerful tool at our disposal.

There is only one race on this planet.

It’s the human race.

We need to work together, across the globe, to do what is best for the everyone in every country. This effort begins with you and me, in our homes, families, neighborhoods, states, countries on this one planet that we call home. We need to be better people. It is contagious. It matters.

God Bless