The lie that might is right is what will kill every person and living thing including every country on this planet if it keeps attracting and going along with the strong man lies.
This is not the first time that the lie that might is right, when it is not, has failed in its thrust for unabashed control freak agendas.
Regardless of the country or political party:
*It is not the person with the biggest bank account that wins in the end.
*It is not the best political or religious indoctrination that survives in the end.
*Money is not the bottom line of everything.
*AI is not the bottom line of everything.
*Greed is not the bottom line.
*Selfish leadership is not the bottom line.
*People matter.
*You matter.
*Now is not forever.
*Time will tell on itself.
*Continuing knowledge in all areas of life matter.
*Youth and inexperience in humanity often believe that the wealthiest, most athletic, best looking, most popular person wins.
This is not the case.
History will prove ignorance, human vanity and unrestrained, self-serving ego wrong.
Don’t believe the lies.
The lying words that Empathy and Compassion are bad and will hurt the world ONLY come from the influence of the evil one who promotes ignorance, greed and lust at all costs.
Those who claim to be Christian, as well as those in all other religions promoting peace and love worldwide, need to wake up to the sinister impulses from those who are blinded by greed, lust, and ignorant selfish pursuit.
It is time to shine the Light of Empathy, Compassion and Love for all of our brothers and sisters in every country all over the world.
Might is not right when it hurts the very people under their care.
Now is the time for empathy, compassion, and Love as Jesus and all the prophets of old have told all of humanity.
If your religion or political party says you can hate and hurt your neighbor, family member, or anyone else, and give all your hard-earned cash to add to their coffers, you are following a false god.
The following is a preview taken from the soon-to-be-released book, Not Demons, Not Gods, by John Hourihan:
“Who are gods and who are subjects after all is only semantics. The United States Army Air Corp in the mid-1940s were gods to the islanders of Vanuatu.
“And the Elohim were gods to Homo sapiens in 3000 BC. I am telling people it doesn’t matter which god you follow.
“Follow them all, or follow one, or follow none of them. They are not demons, not gods. Our purpose is not to worship them. Our purpose is, as so many of them tried to teach us, to have empathy for each other, for our entire species.
“Extinctions have long been a natural part of Earth’s evolutionary history. More than ninety-nine percent of the four billion species that have evolved on Earth have already gone extinct. Help preserve the species. Foster empathy, or we could be another in that number.
“If we don’t take care of each other, we won’t make it.
“If you must follow one God follow the father of Jesus and Sophia, the one that always was, always will be.
“Do unto others…..” ~ taken from the soon-to-be-released book, Not Demons, Not Gods, by John Hourihan
Let’s create a better tomorrow with empathy and compassion, which is the only thing that can save a greedy and selfish world that cares nothing for the other person or country.
The following is an important message on CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM by James Talarico, seminary student:
Our pastor, Dr. Jim Rigby, is on his writing leave but I don’t know how much writing is getting done. I sent him a text asking for some inspiration for this sermon, and he gave me this. It’s “The Top Reasons Beer is Better than Religion.”
Number One: when you have beer, you don’t knock on people’s doors trying to give it away.
Number Two: there are laws against forcing beer on minors who can’t think for themselves.
Number Three: nobody’s ever been burned at the stake because of their favorite brand of beer.
Number Four: you don’t have to wait more than two thousand years for a second beer.
Number Five: and last, if you’ve devoted your life to beer, there are groups to help you.
My granddad was a Baptist preacher. I’ve been a member of this church since I was two years old. And now I’m in seminary studying to become a minister myself. My faith means more to me than anything. But if I’m being very honest, sometimes I hesitate for telling someone I’m Christian.
There is a cancer on our religion. Until we confess the sin that is Christian Nationalism and exorcize it from our churches, our religion can do a lot more damage than a six-pack of Lone Star.
There is nothing Christian about Christian Nationalism. It is the worship of power, social power, economic power, political power in the name of Christ. And it is a betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth.
He told us we would know them by their fruits. Jesus includes, Christian Nationalism excludes.
Jesus liberates, Christian Nationalism controls.
Jesus saves, Christian Nationalism kills.
Jesus started a universal movement, based on love. Christian Nationalism is a sectarian movement, based on mutual hate.
Jesus came to transform the world. Christian Nationalism is here to maintain the status quo.
They have co-opted the Son of God.
They’ve turned this humble rabbi into a gun-toting, gay-bashing, science-denying, money-loving, fear-mongering fascist.
And it is incumbent upon all Christians to confront it and denounce it.
Christian Nationalism is on the rise.
Two years ago, Christian Nationalists stormed the Capitol, killing police officers while carrying crosses, and signs reading “Jesus Saves.”
Last year, Christian Nationalists on the US Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade, allowing states like ours to outlaw abortion even in cases of rape and incest.
And as we speak, two Christian Nationalist billionaires are trying to replace public schools in Texas with private, Christian schooling.
We are closer than we think to a Christian Theocracy.
How did this happen?
The first followers of Jesus didn’t call themselves ‘Christians.’
They called themselves ‘The Way.’
Their crucified teacher taught them a different way of being human.
And they intended to follow it.
The early church was a revolutionary community built on radical love, a ‘peculiar people’ who shared all their possessions and refused to participate in the economy, the military, or the culture.
The Book of Acts tells us that the first Christians were persecuted for ‘turning the world upside down.’
But three hundred years after Jesus was executed by the Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official state religion of that very same empire.
Constantine was the first Christian Nationalist.
And ever since, the powers that be have been taming Christianity, domesticating it, diluting it into something more palatable.
Pro-war, pro-wealth, pro-white supremacy.
That original counter-cultural movement became a tranquilized, privatized, weaponized religion the official sponsor of western civilization.
A religion of sharing became a religion of greed.
A religion of peace became a religion of violence.
A religion of forgiveness became a religion of judgment.
A religion of ego transformation became a religion of ego affirmation.
Today, Christian Nationalists obsess over people’s private parts while the planet burns.
Eight men own as much wealth as 3.6 billion people and Christian Nationalists are boycotting Barbie.
The Bible doesn’t mention abortion or gay marriage.
But it goes on and on about forgiving debt, liberating the poor and healing the sick.
Christian Nationalists like to say this is a Christian nation.
Not only is that historically inaccurate.
Not only is that theologically blasphemous, but it is just not true.
Look around us.
If this was truly a Christian nation, we would forgive student debt.
If this was truly a Christian nation, we would guarantee healthcare to every single person.
If this was truly a Christian nation, we would love all of our LGBTQ neighbors.
If this was truly a Christian nation, we would make sure every child in this state and in this country was housed, fed, clothed, educated, and insured.
If this was truly a Christian nation, we would never make it a Christian nation, because we know the table of fellowship is open to everybody, including our Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and atheist neighbors.
Jesus could have started a Christian theocracy. But love would never do that.
The closest thing we have to the kingdom of heaven is a multi-racial, multicultural democracy where power is truly shared among all people, something that’s yet to exist in human history.
Christan Nationalism is not only a threat to the American experiment in democracy. It’s also a threat to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
When someone asked Jesus to name his most important commandment, he cheats and gives two – two that he says are related. The first is to love God. The second, he said, is like it: “love thy neighbor as thyself.”
It’s like it because when I recognize the divine image in myself, I can’t help but recognize it in my neighbor; whether they’re Christian or not, whether they’re religious or not.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus specifically defines neighbor as someone different from us, racially, economically, politically, religiously.
God loves diversity.
God loves variety. Just look around this big, beautiful planet of ours.
Do we really think that God would make all these beautiful people with all their beautiful traditions for no reason at all?
There are so many pathways to the sacred.
The Islamic mystic Rumi said, “Every religion has love, but love has no religion.”
God is so much bigger than our human categories.
God is not a Presbyterian. God is not a Christian. God is not a noun at all. God is a verb.
God is not a being. God is being Itself.
God is love.
And that’s why Jesus is against anything that gets in the way of that love between neighbors, including religion.
That’s why he’s always breaking religious rules.
That’s why he’s always getting in trouble with the religious authorities.
That’s why he says sinners will see the kingdom of heaven before religious people do.
Sorry to everyone here. (parishioners laugh)
I knew you came all this way.
Religious supremacy is antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jesus didn’t come to establish a Christian nation.
He came to reveal ultimate reality, which he called the kingdom of God.
But it’s not like any kingdom we’ve ever known.
Instead of a throne, Jesus sits at a table.
Instead of a warhorse, Jesus rides a donkey.
Instead of a sword, Jesus picks up a cross.
The kingdom of God inverts the power dynamics of “all the kingdoms in the world.”
True strength is vulnerability.
True stature is equality.
True wealth is sharing.
And we as Christians are called to realize that kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven,” not by force, but by faith.
Jesus asked us to have the faith of a mustard seed, trusting that by living and dying for love we give birth to a better world.
That’s not easy to do.
In a world full of fear, Jesus knew we would put our trust in something other than God, something other than love.
As a Jewish rabbi, he called those things idols: money, status, and the most dangerous idol of all, power.
When Jesus was tempted by the devil, when he was in the wilderness, one of the things the devil offered was power, “all the kingdoms of the world,” and Jesus rejected it.
When his disciples ask who will be the most powerful in the kingdom of God, Jesus said, you know the lords of the earth push their people around, “but among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be a servant.
And when they still didn’t get it, and they ask who will be the greatest in the kingdom of God? Jesus said, “Little children,” the least powerful, but most trusting members of any human community.
That’s the kingdom of God.
I think Chance the Rapper said it best, “Don’t believe in kings. Believe in the kingdom.”
Jesus knew, in the words of Dorothy Soelle, “There is only one legitimation of power and that is to share it with others. Power that is not shared, that is not turned into love, is pure domination and oppression.”
Christian Nationalists are more committed to the love of power than to the power of love.
And it exposes a lack of faith because the opposite of faith is not doubt. Doubt is a healthy part of any faith. The opposite of faith is control.
When we stop trusting God, when we stop trusting love, we start taking control ourselves.
Christian Nationalists want to control what we read, who we marry, where we travel, when we have children.
They want to control our minds and our bodies.
“O Ye of little faith.”
Christian Nationalists trust domination because they think domination is what works.
But Jesus revealed that the true power of the universe is not domination, but love.
In Daoism, they teach that over time the soft overcomes the hard.
The water wears down the rock. The wind takes out the mountain. The grass upends the concrete. “The meek … inherit the earth.”
Violence may win in the short run, but in the end, love always wins.
Jesus said this kingdom of God is in our midst. It’s hiding in plain sight. Heaven is already here inside of us. Above us. All around us.
On my mom’s side my granddad was a Baptist preacher. But on my dad’s side, my Grandpa Talarico never went to church, but he was one of the most generous, compassionate, moral people I’ve ever met.
He was an immigrant from Italy whose family saw firsthand the dangers of mixing church and state.
He settled in the Texas hill country, and on Sunday mornings he would take these long walks through the wildflowers and the live oaks, and he would take me with him.
He said it was the best chance to see G.O.D., the Great Out Doors.
Biologists tell us that everything in nature is connected and evolving toward greater union.
Anthropologists tell us that our ability to share and corporate is humanity’s superpower.
And astrophysicists tell us that the universe is just gentle enough to make our existence possible.
This universe of ours is nothing but gratuitous grace.
Teilhard wrote that the very physical universe is love.
We see it in the harmonies of music, the principles of mathematics, the patterns of nature.
We are all expressions of that creative power.
We are the universe becoming aware of itself.
As children of God, children of the cosmos, we are loved unconditionally, indiscriminately, infinitely.
No achievement can add to it.
No mistake can take from it.
No amount of church going or church missing can change it.
That’s truly deserving of the title, “Good News.”
We are made by love, with love, to love.
I call that love God. You may use a different word, and that’s okay.
“There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”
We can cure the disease of Christian Nationalism.
We can protect against the virus of religious extremism with healthy religion.
The great faith traditions of the world have so much to offer us in this time of global crisis.
Hinduism’s ahimsa provides an alternative to the logic of violence.
Buddhist meditation provides an alternative to the abuse of our attention.
Judaism’s Sabbath provides an alternative to the demands of capitalism.
And in a world where everything can be bought and sold including the earth itself, Native American traditions provide an alternative to ecological extraction.
It’s hard. It is so hard to protect your spirit in a world trying to kill it.
That’s why we need faith communities like this one.
That’s why we need stories and traditions and practices that heal our soul and transform our mind.
Every time on this sanctuary that we say the prayers, sing the hymns, sprinkle the water, eat the bread, drink the wine, we’re tuning our hearts.
Our Buddhist friends tell us that it takes practice.
Neuroscientists tell us that we can become kinder, more empathetic if we work at it.
Things like love, peace, and hope, they require strength training, a gym for the heart.
So every week we gather here to sing our songs and tell our stories just for the opportunity in the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, “dwell in the ultimate.” Together. Just for a moment.
And that’s almost better than a cold glass of beer.
I invite you now to your own reflection on these words.
The wolf in sheep’s clothing is easy to spot. You will know all such wolves by their anti-Jesus and anti-love thoughts, words, and actions. Jesus taught the Golden Rule, to treat everyone the way you wish to be treated. The wolf in sheep’s clothing is following the wrong god. Which “God” are you following?
The following is taken from page 65 in MY RED BAG OF COURAGE, subtitled, SURVIVAL WISDOM. You can also find this sermon on You Tube:
The sermon that follows was delivered by seminary student James Talarico who was filling in for Reverend Jim Rigby when he was on his writing leave. Rev. Rigby is a Presbyterian minister in Austin, Tex. In 2007, he was named “Texas Public Citizen of the Year” by National Association of Social Workers for his work on gender, economic, and racial issues. He has written for Huffington Post, Common Dreams, and other sites, but now his focus is on his blog, as a place for deeper discussion of the relationship between religion and politics. You can read about this at the website: About Jim jimrigby.org.
My book, MY RED BAG OF COURAGE explains, “Religion is the personification of science, a way to explain the origins of the cosmos through means to which humanity can relate. This book is the best way I can think of to share what I have learned with you and explain why it is important. Accurate knowledge is not all about the latest fad or expression of history which all had the very same beginning despite the various interpretations of human experience.
“The words of Jesus when he walked on Earth flew in the face of religious and political authorities. Most of his words were intentionally not included in the one bible that was assembled from the many other writings during the Catholic Church Councils of Laodicea, Constantinople and others. Even Protestant religions go by the books of the bible, except for the seven mentioned above, approved by the Roman Catholic Church, saying that “God” somehow ordained it.
“The same thing is happening today with Christian Nationalists, who are the wolves in sheep’s clothing, in a maligned attempt to usurp the words of Jesus, as if Jesus backs politicians, political agendas and completely contradicts himself when he teaches that the kingdom of God is inside humanity in Luke 17:20-21, which is against what the Maga Religious Right is pontificating. This ‘Kingdom of God” is the Christ Light that animates each of our Spirits and Souls WITHIN us regardless of political party. It is time to unite humanity over common goals.”
Consider the words of seminary student James Talarico who was filling in for the Reverend Jim Rigby when he was on his writing leave.[1]
Jim Rigby is a Presbyterian Minister in Austin Texas. In 2007, he was named “Texas Public Citizen of the Year” by National Association of Social Workers for his work on gender, economic, and racial issues. He has written for Huffington Post, Common Dreams, and other sites, but now his focus is on this blog, as a place for a deeper discussion of the relationship between religion and politics. [2]
Rigby challenges whether it is possible, if all religions are willing to go through radical reformations to align themselves to the best science available, to learn to honor artistic expression however different, and to serve universal human rights.[3]
He asks, “Is it possible to affirm our different religious (and nonreligious) world views in ways that do not lead to intolerance and oppression, or does religion lead inevitably to superstition and sectarian violence? Can we affirm the core values of our own group, and yet, still be good citizens of the world?”
“Our pastor, Dr. Jim Rigby, is on his writing leave but I don’t know how much writing is getting done. I sent him a text asking for some inspiration for this sermon, and he gave me this. It’s ‘The Top Reasons Beer is Better than Religion,’ (congregation laughs) says Talarico delivering a sermon while Rigby was away.
“Number One: when you have beer, you don’t knock on people’s doors trying to give it away. Number Two: there are laws against forcing beer on minors who can’t think for themselves. Number Three: nobody’s ever been burned at the stake because of their favorite brand of beer. Number Four: you don’t have to wait more than two thousand years for a second beer. Number Five: and last, if you’ve devoted your life to beer, there are groups to help you.
“My granddad was a Baptist preacher. I’ve been a member of this church since I was two years old. And now I’m in seminary studying to become a minister myself. My faith means more to me than anything. But if I’m being very honest, sometimes I hesitate for telling someone I’m Christian.
“There is a cancer on our religion. Until we confess the sin that is Christian Nationalism and exorcize it from our churches, our religion can do a lot more damage than a six-pack of Lone Star.
“There is nothing Christian about Christian Nationalism. It is the worship of power, social power, economic power, political power in the name of Christ. And it is a betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth. He told us we would know them by their fruits. Jesus includes, Christian Nationalism excludes. Jesus liberates, Christian Nationalism controls. Jesus saves, Christian Nationalism kills.
“Jesus started a universal movement, based on love. Christian Nationalism is a sectarian movement, based on mutual hate. Jesus came to transform the world. Christian Nationalism is here to maintain the status quo. They have co-opted the Son of God. They’ve turned this humble rabbi into a gun-toting, gay-bashing, science-denying, money-loving, fear-mongering fascist. And it is incumbent upon all Christians to confront it and denounce it.
“Christian Nationalism is on the rise. Two years ago, Christian Nationalists stormed the Capitol, killing police officers while carrying crosses, and signs reading “Jesus Saves.” Last year, Christian Nationalists on the US Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade, allowing states like ours to outlaw abortion even in cases of rape and incest. And as we speak, two Christian Nationalist billionaires are trying to replace public schools in Texas with private, Christian schooling. We are closer than we think to a Christian Theocracy.
“How did this happen?
“The first followers of Jesus didn’t call themselves ‘Christians.’ They called themselves ‘The Way.’ Their crucified teacher taught them a different way of being human. And they intended to follow it. The early church was a revolutionary community built on radical love, a ‘peculiar people’ who shared all their possessions and refused to participate in the economy, the military, or the culture. The Book of Acts tells us that the first Christians were persecuted for ‘turning the world upside down.’
“But three hundred years after Jesus was executed by the Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official state religion of that very same empire. Constantine was the first Christian Nationalist. And ever since, the powers that be have been taming Christianity, domesticating it, diluting it into something more palatable. Pro-war, pro-wealth, pro-white supremacy. That original counter-cultural movement became a tranquilized, privatized, weaponized religion the official sponsor of western civilization.
“A religion of sharing became a religion of greed. A religion of peace became a religion of violence. A religion of forgiveness became a religion of judgment. A religion of ego transformation became a religion of ego affirmation.
“Today, Christian Nationalists obsess over people’s private parts while the planet burns. Eight men own as much wealth as 3.6 billion people and Christian Nationalists are boycotting Barbie. The Bible doesn’t mention abortion or gay marriage. But it goes on and on about forgiving debt, liberating the poor and healing the sick.
“Christian Nationalists like to say this is a Christian nation. Not only is that historically inaccurate. Not only is that theologically blasphemous, but it is just not true.
“Look around us. If this was truly a Christian nation, we would forgive student debt.
“If this was truly a Christian nation, we would guarantee healthcare to every single person. If this was truly a Christian nation, we would love all of our LGBTQ neighbors. If this was truly a Christian nation, we would make sure every child in this state and in this country was housed, fed, clothed, educated, and insured. If this was truly a Christian nation, we would never make it a Christian nation, because we know the table of fellowship is open to everybody, including our Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and atheist neighbors.
“Jesus could have started a Christian theocracy. But love would never do that. The closest thing we have to the kingdom of heaven is a multi-racial, multicultural democracy where power is truly shared among all people, something that’s yet to exist in human history. Christan Nationalism is not only a threat to the American experiment in democracy. It’s also a threat to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“When someone asked Jesus to name his most important commandment, he cheats and gives two – two that he says are related. The first is to love God. The second, he said, is like it: ‘love thy neighbor as thyself.’ It’s like it because when I recognize the divine image in myself, I can’t help but recognize it in my neighbor; whether they’re Christian or not, whether they’re religious or not.
“In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus specifically defines neighbor as someone different from us, racially, economically, politically, religiously. God loves diversity. God loves variety. Just look around this big, beautiful planet of ours. Do we really think that God would make all these beautiful people with all their beautiful traditions for no reason at all?
“There are so many pathways to the sacred. The Islamic mystic Rumi said, ‘Every religion has love, but love has no religion.’ God is so much bigger than our human categories. God is not a Presbyterian. God is not a Christian. God is not a noun at all. God is a verb. God is not a being. God is being Itself. God is love.
“And that’s why Jesus is against anything that gets in the way of that love between neighbors, including religion. That’s why he’s always breaking religious rules. That’s why he’s always getting in trouble with the religious authorities. That’s why he says sinners will see the kingdom of heaven before religious people do.
“Sorry to everyone here. (parishioners laugh) I knew you came all this way.
“Religious supremacy is antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus didn’t come to establish a Christian nation. He came to reveal ultimate reality, which he called the kingdom of God.
“But it’s not like any kingdom we’ve ever known. Instead of a throne, Jesus sits at a table. Instead of a warhorse, Jesus rides a donkey. Instead of a sword, Jesus picks up a cross.
“The kingdom of God inverts the power dynamics of ‘all the kingdoms in the world.’ True strength is vulnerability. True statue is equality. True wealth is sharing.
“And we as Christians are called to realize that kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven,” not by force, but by faith. Jesus asked us to have the faith of a mustard seed, trusting that by living and dying for love we give birth to a better world. That’s not easy to do.
“In a world full of fear, Jesus knew we would put our trust in something other than God, something other than love. As a Jewish rabbi, he called those things idols: money, status, and the most dangerous idol of all, power.
“When Jesus was tempted by the devil, when he was in the wilderness, one of the things the devil offered was power, ‘all the kingdoms of the world,’ and Jesus rejected it.
“When his disciples ask who will be the most powerful in the kingdom of God, Jesus said, you know the lords of the earth push their people around, ‘but among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be a servant.’
“And when they still didn’t get it, and they ask who will be the greatest in the kingdom of God? Jesus said, ‘Little children,’ the least powerful, but most trusting members of any human community. That’s the kingdom of God.
“I think Chance the Rapper said it best, ‘Don’t believe in kings. Believe in the kingdom.’
“Jesus knew, in the words of Dorothy Soelle, ‘There is only one legitimation of power and that is to share it with others. Power that is not shared, that is not turned into love, is pure domination and oppression.
“Christian Nationalists are more committed to the love of power than to the power of love. And it exposes a lack of faith because the opposite of faith is not doubt. Doubt is a healthy part of any faith. The opposite of faith is control. When we stop trusting God, when we stop trusting love, we start taking control ourselves.
“Christian Nationalists want to control what we read, who we marry, where we travel, when we have children. They want to control our minds and our bodies.
“’O Ye of little faith.’
“Christian Nationalists trust domination because they think domination is what works. But Jesus revealed that the true power of the universe is not domination, but love.
“In Daoism, they teach that over time the soft overcomes the hard. The water wears down the rock. The wind takes out the mountain. The grass upends the concrete. ‘The meek … inherit the earth.’
“Violence may win in the short run, but in the end, love always wins. Jesus said this kingdom of God is in our midst. It’s hiding in plain sight. Heaven is already here inside of us. Above us. All around us.
“On my mom’s side my granddad was a Baptist preacher. But on my dad’s side, my Grandpa Talarico never went to church, but he was one of the most generous, compassionate, moral people I’ve ever met. He was an immigrant from Italy whose family saw firsthand the dangers of mixing church and state. He settled in the Texas hill country, and on Sunday mornings he would take these long walks through the wildflowers and the live oaks, and he would take me with him. He said it was the best chance to see G.O.D., the Great Out Doors.
“Biologists tell us that everything in nature is connected and evolving toward greater union. Anthropologists tell us that our ability to share and corporate is humanity’s superpower. And astrophysicists tell us that the universe is just gentle enough to make our existence possible. This universe of ours is nothing but gratuitous grace.
“Teilhard wrote that the very physical universe is love. We see it in the harmonies of music, the principles of mathematics, the patterns of nature. We are all expressions of that creative power. We are the universe becoming aware of itself.
“As children of God, children of the cosmos, we are loved unconditionally, indiscriminately, infinitely. No achievement can add to it. No mistake can take from it. No amount of church going or church missing can change it. That’s truly deserving of the title, ‘Good News.’
“We are made by love, with love, to love. I call that love God. You may use a different word, and that’s okay. There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
“We can cure the disease of Christian Nationalism. We can protect against the virus of religious extremism with healthy religion.
“The great faith traditions of the world have so much to offer us in this time of global crisis. Hinduism’s ahimsa provides an alternative to the logic of violence. Buddhist meditation provides an alternative to the abuse of our attention. Judaism’s Sabbath provides an alternative to the demands of capitalism. And in a world where everything can be bought and sold including the earth itself, Native American traditions provide an alternative to ecological extraction.
“It’s hard. It is so hard to protect your spirit in a world trying to kill it.
“That’s why we need faith communities like this one. That’s why we need stories and traditions and practices that heal our soul and transform our mind. Every time on this sanctuary that we say the prayers, sing the hymns, sprinkle the water, eat the bread, drink the wine, we’re tuning our hearts.
“Our Buddhist friends tell us that it takes practice. Neuroscientists tell us that we can become kinder, more empathetic if we work at it. Things like love, peace, and hope, they require strength training, a gym for the heart.
“So every week we gather here to sing our songs and tell our stories just for the opportunity in the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, ‘dwell in the ultimate.’ Together. Just for a moment.
“And that’s almost better than a cold glass of beer. I invite you now to your own reflection on these words.”
Did you ever find yourself reading the bible, then either you interpret the words to mean something other than what they say, or have anyone else tell you what it means according to indoctrination?
Take 1 Corinthians 6:19 for example. It says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? You are not your own.”
Also look at 1 Corinthians 3:17 where it says, “If anyone destroys G0d’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
Online, various religious institutions explain by saying that, this means the body of the church.
THAT IS WHAT RELIGIOUS INDOCTRINATION LOOKS LIKE.
The words mean exactly what is written, just like the words of Jesus in Luke 17:20-21 when the Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God will come.
“The kingdom of God does not come by observation; neither will they say, ‘Look here’ or ‘Look there,’ for behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” King James Version
The Interlinear Hebrew – Greek – English Bible agrees, saying that the word “within” was changed by scribes to say “among.” Even in older bibles you will find a footnote sending you to the bottom of the page where you will see the original intention of this word is “within.”
Do you see the spin of an agenda of disempowerment?
However, most modern bibles are now putting back the original intention, which is that the Light of God, that kingdom of God, dwells within you, agreeing with The Interlinear Hebrew – Greek – English Bible.
You are the Light of God walking around this Earth in your physical body. You are worthy. You are loved. You are complete. You are love personified. You are joy. You are wonder. You are solution. You are promise. By your life you radiate your gifts.
Be on guard when people reinterpret the bible for you. All religions do this. It is censorship, which also extends to all the texts that got buried in the desert sand and in caves in order that the hierarchy at the top usurp your personal power, fame, and fortune. Now is the time to reclaim that if you have given your free will, reputation, and money away to them.
I take a deep dive into the books that were hidden away, like all the books that explain where Jesus was from his ages 12-30. My study concentrates on the life of Jesus during what is often called “the missing years of Jesus,” those 18 adult years of Jesus Christ. These years are only “missing” in today’s bible and in the mouths of today’s religious leaders, because even they were indoctrinated.
My heart goes out to well-meaning religious leaders who are trying their best to shepherd their flocks in the best way they know how to lead. Each religious leader has been called by their vocation. I wonder how many of them bowed down to religious error of censorship and ignorance under threat of losing their congregations if they did not comply with the adulterated versions of today’s bibles.
Were they intimidated by insults and ostracization to toe the strict line of a particular doctrine?
In my new book, IN THEIR IMAGE AND LIKENESS, subtitled UNIVERSAL WISDOM coming out this November explains those missing years and missing wisdom that was hidden away for unholy purposes.
I know, the previous statement freaks most people who have been tapped on the head by some religious authority as to why it is alright for you not to know this extremely important information. Ignorant insults usually follow the facts of what I teach, talking down to the knowledge of which they have no clue.
I am not meaning the previous statement to be an insulting attack. Before religions can stake a claim on their belief system and teach it to others, it is imperative that they read and learn all of what Jesus taught, not only the watered-down version in most of today’s bibles with definite agendas. After religious leaders have read all that has been kept away from their eyes and brains, only then can humanity have a discussion on why certain important points were hid from their eyes without fear.
The current bible boasts of the first 12 years of the life of Jesus and his ages 30-33, for a total of 15 years of the life of Jesus. I continued studying the life of Jesus from 12-30. Which “God” would not want you to know those other powerful 18 years in the life of Jesus Christ?
I have read all these “apocryphal” writings and now see exactly what was hidden from humanity. The word apocryphal means secret or hidden knowledge, not anti-Jesus, or anti-Christ.
Religious belief systems were then placed under the oppressive thumbs of indoctrination in order to keep the flocks in line, while obligating them to hand over their personal power and free will, keys to their pocketbooks, and obey man-made rules (saying “God” said …) or be ostracized by society by inflicting fear of mental, spiritual, and even physical retribution.
The intention of my book is to help humanity by offering the reader a safe harbor to finally be free, in the safe space of your own home, to find out for yourself accurate history, seeing first-hand the cause and effect of what happened and why it happened.
This book has taken me a lifetime of intense study. I have a doctorate in Universal Order. I hope you enjoy my book when it is released to the public. I will let you know as soon as it comes out. It is being published by Blue Fortune Enterprises, LLC.
CultAntidote: Never hand over your personal power or relinquish your free will to any person, place or thing at any time for any reason, ever.
Beware of modern day cults, especially those that tell you they are not a cult, political or otherwise.
I am writing this for the many people in these modern times, who were looking for political answers for that something more in life, and got caught up in a contagious web of diversion and dark human inspiration, a political cult.
Getting drawn into the political cult mindset usually happens slowly and insideously. It begins with well-meaning reasoning to better yourself or humanity, and looking outside of yourself for the answers, as if some other person or group possesses that which you do not think that you have.
A trip many good people fall on is the concept, “It’s just my opinion. I have a right to my own opinion.” While it is true that everyone has a right to his or her own opinion, rabid political cult followers are not free to think anything other than what the political cult leader tells them to think. This gets permeated throughout the entire group culture like the leaven in the dough.
All cults have tell-tale markers. Once these are recognized, it becomes easier to separate our beliefs in politics, or anything else, from the mind-controling guru at the top who has spread the common cult-misinformation lie, that only he is the answer to the current situation in the country, or church, or any other cult group. They are all the same in this trait. The guru touts that only he, no one else and no other thing could possibly resolve today’s proposed crisis in health, wealth, justice, and law and order.
Political cult leaders usually have a militant mindset, baiting their conversations to the general public with salted words inciting their cult followers to do illegal, underhanded and/or conniving actions, while stoking violence towards those they wish to suppress.
Suppression is the tool political cult leaders use for organizing people into certain groups or sections of cities under their control, such as red-lining districts, rigging the mail system, and suppressing free and fair elections. If political elections were actually held freely and fairly they could possibly lose, so manipulation, coercion, extortion become acceptable tactics to the political cult leaders. Once judges, juries and courts have been bought and compromised, it becomes harder for free and fair elections to take place.
Suppression is also called cheating.
A political cult leader, like every other religious cult leader, beats the drum of fear. The lowest common denominator that motivates followers of any kind is anger. Fear is the only fuel that stokes the constant rage; fear of losing power, fear of losing wealth, fear of the fake kingdom they have carved out for themselves at the extreme expense of the duped followers who chant his praises and pour their hard earned money into the poltical cult leader’s pockets.
It is not only the duped followers who follow political cult leaders. It is also the greedy corporations, acting as if they were people rather than huge conglomerates of wealth and power which seek to promote the political cult leader in order to maintain or grow in more wealth and power, without any boundaries, regardless of ethics, morals or any negative effect on the citizens of the country.
RECOGNIZE THAT YOU CAN BREAK FREE FROM ANY POLITICAL CULT. NOT BREAKING FREE FROM A POLITICAL CULT IS THE BEGINNING OF BREAKING AWAY FROM DEMOCRACY. CULT LEADERS TRANSFORM A DEMOCRACY INTO AN AUTHORITARIAN, FASCIST LEANING OLIGARCHY POWERED BY LARGE CORPORATIONS. PERSONAL AND POLITICAL FREEDOM ERODES.
There is more than one cult present in the world today. All of them deny that they are a cult. But there are 14 tell-tale marks present in all cults. The following post points out these life-altering pitfalls to watch out for.
Political cult followers who are unaware that they have fallen into the cult mentality, can find themselves carrying the cult flag, following the political leader as if this one person is the only person to lead the country, as if he were a god. This political type of cult leader is transformed by his “followers” into a god-like leader, when in fact, he is merely just another human being. Any rebutal is met by his faithful, political cult followers, no matter how much truth there is in the facts, with the cult-like wave of resistence. They support the political cult leader, no matter what truth and facts point out.
Another tell-tale tip of the political cult mindset is that it is closed system. No outside information nor influence is regarded as truth. Only the political cult leader proclaims “truth.” A poltical cult leader proclaims anything other than the lies he is spewing is “fake news.” There is no comparing both sides of any issue. The very idea of considering any other political viewpoint is considered as traitorous, when it is actually the political cult leader who has hijacked his base, who is the traitor. In this case, political cult followers’ minds have been sufficiently and successfully conditioned. These minds are no longer free to think what they want to think. It is George Orwell’s 1984 all over again. It is worth reading again.
People’s Magazine sponsored a television show in 2019 on the cult, Word of Faith Fellowship, (under the disguise of religion) which oddly enough is attracting modern day men, women and children into its criminally abusive practices. This cult is one of many popping up these days. While this show revealed the aspects of cults to watch out for, the guidelines to follow in order to get out of any cult are the same for political cult followers as it is for religious cult followers. Both are unhealthy.
Whether you have been involved with this or any other cult-like religious or political group, reclaim your mental, physical and spiritual self as soon as possible. Fear of being abused in any or all of these forms is not the path to the loving God, nor a democratic government. Fear of being abused is a faulty human-manipulation-tactic used as political-social-structural, social-psychological, inter-behavior patterns to get you to submit your will to the misguided will of the cult group, in this case, the political cult group.
Fear is the ultimate weapon cults use.
You were never intended to become a slave to someone else’s idea of how to know and/or follow a political leader. A political cult leader, nor any religious cult minister, is not more worthy of being human than you. They do not know more than you about the noble qualities you want instilled in your political leaders despite what their forceful words erroneously imply. One day in the presence of political or religious cult leaders of any title they use to inflate their own self-worth, is enough to shine a light on the soon to erupt volcano of emotional, physical and spiritual harm they eventually unleash.
Physical abuses can be seen. But the seemingly invisible mental abuses political and religious cult leaders inflict on their unsuspecting subjects is not God-inspired nor politically productive for a democratic nation, nor any healthy congregation of believers. Political and religious cult leaders cling to an un-holy god of deception, by the use of manipulation, fear, obligation and guilt.
Listen to that inner voice inside yourself, your conscience, and realize you are right to escape the cult. Political and religious cults are evil personified, no matter what they say to the opposite. Cults are heavy into guilt motivation, but that does not make them right. You already know this.
What political and religious cult leaders do know is how to exert concerted effort to influence, bully, control, manipulate, exploit, and in the worst cases to abuse your body, mind and spirit in their unholy aim. This is abuse. This is mental abuse. This is physical abuse. This is spiritual abuse.
ESCAPE FROM THESE ABUSERS AS SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.
Abuse in all these forms is criminal and must not be tolerated by any human being on earth.
All cults have similar characteristics. Here is a list of 14 characteristics that help to define a cult:
“• The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader, and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.
• Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
• Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, or debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).
• The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (e.g., members must get permission to date, change jobs, or marry or leaders prescribe what to wear, where to live, whether to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).
• The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s), and its members (e.g., the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).
• The group has a polarized, us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.
• The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders, or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).
• The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (e.g., lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).
• The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt in order to influence and control members. Often this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.
• Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.
• The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.
• The group is preoccupied with making money.
• Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.
• Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.” Taken from the online article Characteristics of Cults,” by Janna Lalich and Michael Pantone.
“The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave — or even consider leaving — the group,” say Janja Lalich and Michael Langone in their online article Characteristics of Cults.
Excerpts are from the book, Take Back Your Life: Recovering From Cults and Abusive Relationships by Janja Lalich and Madeline Tobias at Bay Tree Publishing.
Stand up for your God-given gift of free will. Use your free will to get out. Use your free will to vote. No one owns the rights to your mind, your voice or your life. Your life, body, mind and soul belong to you.
God loves you. God forgives you. You are a child of God here on earth. Only you can live your life. Only you can vote your conscience. If you have given over the rights to your mind, body or spirit to other religious or political groups, or any other group claiming rights over you, use your free will to walk away. Those are not your friends. Neither your political affiliation nor your friends can usurp your God-given rights.
When critical mass in any energy form is reached, the ebb and flow of what had been working switches to the other side. It is a natural occurrence when too much energy pushes from the
Critical mass switches “Trickle Down Economics” to “Trickle Up Economics.”
impetus that has been building. This is happening particularly in USA economics, and the world economic stage as well. Trickle down economics is supposed to work because if the wealthy of the land get wealthier, it is assumed that they will share the benefit based on this premise. In this country, what has been happening is that the middle class has been bailing out the higher class of the wealthy with no reciprocation, except for their outstretched wealthy hand begging for more, more, more. This is Trickle Up Economics. It is an automatic response.
This is because the basic principle of trickle down economics is based on inequity. It does not work. It works in theory, but it has never worked in the history of this country. Now we are past the point of critical mass. The poor and those people barely getting by in the middle class have lost faith with the high class wealthiest among us, because they have had their faith broken by the extreme inequity, with no return for their dollars.
The infinity loop is pictured as a figure 8 lying on its side. You might think of this as the CC Loop, centrifugal forces on one side and centripetal forces on the other, or the yin/yang principle, a child’s see saw, or any energy balancing system based on give and take, ebb and flow, where there is a natural rhythm. When the pressure of either side is too great, there is an automatic switch to the other side. This is where we are now in the economy.
The switch to Trickle Up Economics began with the bail outs for the rich and wealthy. This article is not saying the bail outs should not have happened. I believe it was crucial to bail out the auto industry, for example. What I am saying here, energetically speaking, is that we are past the point of balance and equity on many levels. Corporations are making record profits, yet are laying off their workers and making the workers who are left to do two, three, four or more times the jobs. Quality suffers in the process, just look at the newspaper industry. It became more expedient to put a product out first despite errors, even online.
We are now operating on the basis of Trickle Up Economics. How is it working for you? Evidently the wealthiest rich apparently have no problem duping the poor among us into thinking that giving tax breaks to the wealthy corporations will somehow magically help them, when it has never helped them before.
Based on the concept that trickle down economics works, which it has never worked, we will begin to see, as we are seeing now where the low and middle classes bail out the rich. This is truly an unjust state of affairs.
Trickle Up Economics works best when there are inequitable tax rates, off shore bank accounts so the rich do not have to pay taxes at all, and little attention paid to bolstering the middle class.
We need to integrate our humanity with our emotional and spiritual selves, which includes living fully in the present moment, with its economic concerns.
Never address “spin,” the alternate reality of lies, as if it is truth. Notice how, in order to make people swallow “spin-tales,” people become louder and belligerent, with insults abounding. Do not respond in similar fashion. Rather, shine a light on truth, provable facts, calmly and intelligently.
When emotions rise like the crest of a wave, swelling with the intensity of the hurricane-force winds, fear grabs hold. That is the intended response “spin” and hysteria seeks. It is so unfortunate that the arrogant public who pontificate the fiction they tout are exactly the ones who will be hurt by the ignorant words they proclaim. These ones are being used as pawns in a devious political strategy to subvert them.
When irrational emotions replace fact with fiction, we begin the downward spiral into the very “reality” we seek to avoid. By replacing fact with fiction, we willingly delude ourselves into calling subserviance freedom.
Remain calm in the face of hysteria, belligerence and outrageous insults. Nothing pulls the rug out from under the mental and verbal feet of a speaker more than provable facts. Stay the course. It is not as if public awareness is not present. It is, as is video and audio recordings.
When people arrogantly and loudly deny that financial cuts to Medicare, Social Security and the Affordable Care Act, which currently includes care for pre-existing conditions will take place, show them the spot in the Republican budget or the Supreme Court docket that suggests these exact things. Calm intelligence works every time.
Know that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a law, not an insurance company by that name. Presently people covered by any insurance company has this coverage because of what the ACA provides, which by this Affordable Care Act law, provides coverage to the public. Without the ACA, insurance companies can drop covering pre-existing conditions, and set unrealistic conditions which benefit their pocketbooks, as opposed to providing better healthcare to the public. Presently there is nothing to replace the currrent Affordable Care Act. Once it is gone, present insurance companies rule by their own whims.
Do you live on Social Security alone? The Republican budget calls for drastic cuts to Social Security expected to take place around February 2021. So when you are told “tax cuts” will take place one month after the Inauguration, know that these same “tax cuts” are cuts to your Social Security.
There is a big push now on the “right to work,” that everyone has a “right to work.” Translated in Republican speak, this can be taken to mean you have the right to work until you die, since your Social Security was cut, requiring you to literally work to death.
People do not like being lied to. Truth matters. We need to take care of each other. Love and kindness matter. Intelligence and honesty matter. Continue learning, because there is so much more to know that what has been told. Democracy is on the line. We can lose Democracy through choosing to remain ignorant of what is taking place before our eyes. Democracy matters.
Recognize all of the situations, even the unspoken ones, that will affect all people personally. We will have to live with the results of our thoughts, words and actions in the next four years. We cannot say we had nothing to do with it, if we chose to remain ignorant of the very things meant to sabotage our very selves.
Unless you are part of the top one percent of wealth earners in this country, or the top ten percent of those making over $500,000 per year, you and I can find ouselves bailing out these ones as we did before by obscene tax cuts for the ultra-rich, in order that they can keep reaping in the profits on the backs of the shrinking middle class. Unfortunately, the trickle down theory has never worked in reality.
Understand that when you hear that taxes are going to go up, realize that what is not being told, is that the taxes that will be going up ONLY for those people making $400,000 and more per year.
The United States of America was founded on the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all, not just for the wealthiest among us.
The human race on Earth is the only race there is.
Whether we are discussing the differences in race, color, ethnicity, creed, financial status, gender, or age, we must realize that on this planet, 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, 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 color, their belief system, their culture, their gender? Think of how we respond to someone expressing a different viewpoint, or addressing uncomfortable issues such as immigration, homelessness and hungry children in our country and the world.
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, we must eradicate the root cause of fear.
War, murder and killing are not communication skills.
While war, murder and killing are not communication skills, when communication stops, pretending in the myth of fantasy that things are perfectly fine now, when they are not, we create the reaction no one wants. We cannot blame the fault on the reactions taking place in our cities and nation when we are at fault for not listening and communicating in the first place. Being willfully ignorant is a fascade that does not stand up against the truth in any matter. It is just a matter of time before lives of fantasy denying reality inevitably crumble.
Just when it seems we have made great progress in this country and in the world, submerged voices rise from the depths of class and color suppression. The deeper the supression, the equal and opposite reaction occurs. No human being, regardless of color, wants to be suppressed. White people do not want to be suppressed. Neither do black or any other division of humanity want to be suppressed.
We are all the same in the eyes of God. We are all, each and every one of us, whether we are aware if it or not, are all created with that spark of God within us, our god flame if you will. Each of us is an aspect of God.
We should celebrate the strides we have made. But there is more to do, 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 to and for all people everywhere.
We all have free will. You and I are free beings. How do you and I choose to be the solution based on love without conditions?
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.
There is only one race on this planet.
It’s the human race.
Let us begin again to fix what is broken. We are better than denying the oppression and racism that is running rampant in our country and in the world. It is possible to fix this problem, but first we must address the issues before us, and not submerge them again, or beat down the voices we do not want to hear.
It is time as a country to mature, to grow up, face the systemic racism, to create real law and order with rules that everyone follows. We cannot not have one set of rules for white people, and another set of rules for black people. The same thing goes for English Americans, Spanish Americans, Irish Americans, French Americans, Mexican Americans, or any other DNA which makes us the greatest melting pot in the world. Nor should we have a different set of laws for the wealthy and the politically and lawfully powerful. The United States needs ONE Constitution and ONE Bill of Rights that EVERYONE can follow, not just a chosen few.
As of April 22, 2020, there are 98,491 views from 203 countries, territories and protectorates worldwide who have read my blog: http://www.lindahourihan.wordpress.com. These statistics come from the WordPress website which counts each view and its location. I was on a cruise ship once and spoke to one of the attendants who sounded very interested in my blog. I think that is where all the various islands and vacation lands came in. The following shows how many views from each country this blog has received since its inception January 2012. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog.
No matter which country, territory or protectorate you come from, please know that as members of the human race, we are all the same, loved by God regardless of the color of our skin or any other difference we can think which makes us all unique. We are all made in the image and likeness of God our heavenly Father. God bless you all.
USA ……………………………………………………. 59,998
Canada ……………………………………….. 5,477
United Kingdom …………………………. 4,844
India …………………………………………… 3,062
Australia ……………………………………. 2,885
Germany ………………………………………. 1,336
Philippines ………………………………… 1,317
South Africa ………………………………. 1,083
France ………………………………………………….. 946
Netherlands ……………………………….. 773
Singapore ………………………………………….. 710
Brazil ………………………………………………….. 594
New Zealand …………………………………….. 559
Ireland ……………………………………………….. 552
Argentina ………………………………………… 507
Malaysia …………………………………………….. 480
Romania ……………………………………………….. 474
Indonesia ………………………………………….. 473
European Union ………………………………. 471
Italy …………………………………………………….. 391
Mexico ………………………………………………….. 368
Spain ………………………………………………………. 361
Sweden ……………………………………………………. 350
Norway ……………………………………………………. 349
United Arab Emirates ………………… 292
Greece ……………………………………………………… 287
Belgium …………………………………………………. 267
Hong Kong SAR China …………………. 266
Thailand ………………………………………………… 264
Pakistan ………………………………………………. 258
Japan ………………………………………………………. 251
Turkey ……………………………………………………. 244
South Korea ………………………………………. 239
Portugal ………………………………………………. 235
Denmark …………………………………………………. 235
Switzerland ………………………………………. 297
Russia ……………………………………………………. 187
Saudi Arabia ……………………………………. 187
Egypt ………………………………………………………. 175
Finland ………………………………………………… 173
Poland ……………………………………………………. 166
Israel ……………………………………………………. 159
Nigeria …………………………………………………. 149
Austria …………………………………………………. 148
Vietnam …………………………………………………..144
Ukraine …………………………………………………..138
Croatia ……………………………………………….. 137
Taiwan ……………………………………………………. 133
Bulgaria …………………………………………….. 133
Chile …………………………………………………….. 130
Kenya …………………………………………………….. 129
Serbia ………………………………………………….. 127
Czech Republic …………………………….. 123
Trinidad and Tobago …………………… 122
Hungary …………………………………………………..103
Sri Lanka ………………………………………………. 99
Slovenia …………………………………………………..92
Lebanon …………………………………………….. 92
Peru ………………………………………………………….. 84
Colombia …………………………………………………. 82
Kuwait …………………………………………………….. 70
Slovakia ……………………………………………….. 69
Puerto Rico …………………………………………. 64
Iceland ………………………………………………….. 61
Jamaica ………………………………………………….. 61
Bangladesh ………………………………………….. 59
Mauritius ………………………………………………. 57
Ghana ……………………………………………………….. 55
Malta ……………………………………………………….. 54
Lithuania …………………………………………….. 53
Qatar ……………………………………………………….. 52
Ecuador ………………………………………………….. 50
Estonia ……………………………………………………. 48
Tunisia ………………………………………………….. 43
Costa Rica ………………………………………….. 42
Venezuela …………………………………………….. 41
Guatemala …………………………………………….. 40
Bahrain ………………………………………………….. 40
Latvia …………………………………………………….. 38
Cambodia ……………………………………………….. 37
Nepal ……………………………………………………….. 37
Bahamas …………………………………………………. 36
Honduras ……………………………………………….. 36
Tanzania ………………………………………………. 31
Macedonia …………………………………………….. 30
Dominican Republic ………………………. 30
Morocco ………………………………………………….. 29
Cyprus …………………………………………………….. 29
Myanmar (Burma) …………………………….. 29
Oman ………………………………………………………….. 29
China ……………………………………………………….. 28
Jordan …………………………………………………….. 28
Algeria ……………………………………………………28
Brunei …………………………………………………… 27
Georgia ……………………………………………… 26
Namibia …………………………………………… 22
Ethiopia …………………………………………. 22
Albania …………………………………………… 22
Moldova …………………………………………….. 21
Bosnia and Herzegovina ……………… 19
Barbados …………………………………………………. 19
Mongolia ……………………………………………….. 18
St. Lucia …………………………………………….. 18
Panama …………………………………………………….. 17
Cote d’Ivoire …………………………………. 17
Azerbaijan …………………………………….. 16
Fiji ………………………………………………………….. 16
Aruba ……………………………………………………….. 16
Armenia ………………………………………………… . 16
Guam ………………………………………………………….. 15
Botswana ……………………………………………….. 15
El Salvador ……………………………………. 15
Uruguay …………………………………………………… 15
Uganda ………………………………………………….. 15
Zimbabwe ……………………………………………….. 14
Luxembourg ………………………………………… 14
Zambia …………………………………………………….. 14
Curacao ……………………………………………………. 13
Belize …………………………………………………….. 12
Reunion ………………………………………………….. 12
Cuba ………………………………………………………… 12
Andorra …………………………………………….. 11
Macau SAR China …………………………… 11
Guyana ……………………………………………… 11
Iraq …………………………………………………….. 11
Antigua and Barbuda ……………………. 11
Kazakhstan ………………………………………. 11
Senegal ………………………………………………. 11
Bolivia …………………………………………….. 10
U.S. Virgin Islands ……………………… 10
Grenada …………………………………………….. 10
St. Vincent and Grenadines …… 10
Paraguay ……………………………………………. 10
Bermuda ……………………………………………… 9
Palestinian Territories ……………… 9
British Virgin Islands ………………… 9
Jersey ………………………………………………….. 8
Syria …………………………………………………….. 8
Martinique …………………………………………. 8
American Samoa ……………………………… 7
Maldives …………………………………………… 7
Faroe Islands …………………………………….. 7
Guernsey …………………………………………… 6
Cayman Islands …………………………….. 6
Laos ……………………………………………………. 6
Suriname …………………………………………… 6
Montenegro ……………………………………… 6
Nicaragua ………………………………………….. 6
Cameroon …………………………………………… 6
Isle of Man …………………………………….. 6
Libya …………………………………………………… 5
Afghanistan ……………………………………. 5
Palau …………………………………………………… 5
Sint Maarten …………………………………… 5
Uzbekistan ………………………………………. 5
Kyrgyzstan ……………………………………….. 4
Yemen …………………………………………………… 4
Mozambique ……………………………………….. 4
Vanuatu ……………………………………………….. 4
Belarus ……………………………………………….. 4
Benin …………………………………………………… 4
Sudan …………………………………………………… 4
Congo – Kinshasa ……………………………. 3
Dominica …………………………………………….. 3
Rwanda …………………………………………….. 3
Malawi ………………………………………………… 3
Seychelles …………………………………………. 3
Angola ………………………………………………… 3
Liberia ……………………………………………….. 3
St. Kitts and Nevis ………………………… 3
Iran ……………………………………………………. 2
Mayotte ……………………………………………. 2
Papua New Guinea ……………………….. 2
Madagascar ……………………………………… 2
French Guiana ………………………………. 2
Northern Mariana Islands …………… 2
South Sudan ………………………………….. 2
Bhutan ………………………………………………. 2
Vatican City …………………………………… 1
Mali ……………………………………………………. 1
Aland Islands …………………………………. 1
Sierra Leone ………………………………….. 1
Marshall Islands …………………………….. 1
Tonga ……………………………………………….. 1
Turks and Caicos Islands …………… 1
Congo – Brazzaville ………………………… 1
Caribbean Netherlands …………………… 1
Gibraltar …………………………………………. 1
Togo ……………………………………………………. 1
Burundi ……………………………………………… 1
French Polynesia …………………………….. 1
Lesotho ……………………………………………….. 1
Micronesia ……………………………………….. 1
Netherlands Antilles ……………………… 1
Gambia ………………………………………………… 1
Comoros ………………………………………….. 1
Kiribati ……………………………………………… 1
Guinea – Bissau ………………………………… 1
Somalia ……………………………………………. 1
Tajikistan ………………………………………….. 1
Gabon …………………………………………………. 1
Guadeloupe ……………………………………… 1
Burkina Faso …………………………………….. 1
We have managed to dumb-down the virtue-based building blocks of today’s society. We can see this in many areas first hand in every country across the globe. It is not only the students in our homes, schools, colleges, and employment who are affected. Over the past 30 years, these students have now grown up into adults. As a result, in many cases we have successfully substituted secular humanism for faith-based virtues in homes, schools, colleges and employment everywhere. By doing so, we have crippled the moral fiber of society, which continues into a downward spiral that affects all of us today. When we attempt to substitute God-given virtues with secular humanism, we begin cracking the firm foundation on which we are attempting to build.
Yes, this has been a problem since the beginning of our human existence. It begins by denying God, or at least excluding and relegating God in all or parts of life we decide to compartmentalize God, as if there were such a thing.
“For centuries, many have lived their lives (of work, study, business, research, social relationships, interests, etc.) in separation of the faith. As a consequence of this separation temporal realities have been adversely affected, existing, as it were, in the shadows on the fringes of the light of Revelation. Without this light many have come to consider the world as an end in itself, without any reference to God; therefore they have distorted the most elementary and basic truths,” wrote Francis Fernandez, in In Conversation with God, Vol. 2
Blessed Alvaro del Portillo, beatified on September 27, 2014 in Madrid, Spain, agreed in his Pastoral Letter dated December 25, 1985 when he added to the words of Fr. Fernandez, “In western countries, particularly, it becomes necessary to correct this separation because many generations which should belong to Christ and the Church are being lost in these years, and because, unhappily, from these places the harmful influences of a new paganism is being sent into the world. Thus, contemporary paganism, is characterized by the search for material well-being at any cost, and by the corresponding disregard – or to put it more accurately, fear, genuine terror – of anything that could cause suffering. With this outlook, words such as God, sin, Cross, mortification, eternal life – become incomprehensible to a great number of people, who are ignorant of their meaning and content. You have witnessed the incredible fact that many people began putting God in parenthesis, in some aspect of their professional lives. But then, as God demands, loves, and asks, they end up throwing Him out – like an intruder – from their civil laws and from the lives of the nations. With a ridiculous and presumptious pride they want to lift up in his place the poor human creature, who has lost his supernatural and human dignity, and has become reduced – it is no exaggeration, one can see it everywhere – to a stomach, sex and money.”
I remember the conversation I had one night some thirty years ago at the local high school during a meeting held for parents and teachers. I was speaking with a school official during the refreshments that followed the evening event. I was telling him what I was observing with my five children in the public school system, was teaching against what parents were teaching about ethics and morality. He was saying that the public school was not allowed to teach any particular belief system in the public school.
“We teach secular humanism,” he said.
“But secular humanism is a belief system,” I answered.
With the separation of church and state, it is understandable that public schools cannot teach one brand of religion in their schools. The frustrating thing parents must deal with in this situation, is that the schools, since they were not promoting a religion, but an alternative belief system, can teach against the very morals, ethics and character education parents teach at home, usurping the voices of the parents eight hours a day, five days a week. This is what happens when we so easily and neatly carve God out of our public and private existence, the existence created by God. We end up with secular humanism.
Secular humanism is a lifestance, or what Council for Secular Humanism founder Paul Kurtz has termed a eupraxsophy: a body of principles suitable for orienting a complete human life. As a secular lifestance, secular humanism incorporates the enlightenment principle of individualism, which celebrates emancipating the individual from traditional controls by family, church, and state, increasingly empowering each of us to set the terms of his or her own life.
A Secular Humanist believes in a consequential ethical system. This is nothing more and nothing less than cause and effect of actions and/or non-actions. Secular humanists hold that ethics is consequential, to be judged by results. This is in contrast to so-called command ethics, in which right and wrong are defined in advance and attributed to divine authority. “No god will save us,” declared Humanist Manifesto II (1973), “we must save ourselves.” Secular humanists seek to develop and improve their ethical principles by examining the results they yield in the lives of real men and women.
It is a sad state of affairs when we carve God out of our lives. So many people today see the direct results within all societies in the world of what happens when we diminish God, the Creator of All, to a fairy tale.
Human secularism leaves the children of 30 years ago, now adults, trying to fix real world dilemmas within their homes, neighborhoods, states and countries, trying to solve problems of war, conflict and social disease like COVID-19. Trying to solve problems without involving God (God forbid!) in every decision in all parts of life, is what is breaking the foundation of societies apart.
How does one teach our grown children, now indoctrinated in secular humanism, to believe in God, the very thing they were taught to shun for 12 grade-school years, plus an additional four or more years of college? To them, any and all religion was taught to be a farce, a laughable fairy tale. We see so many young adults in the world today aimlessly looking for answers, any and all answers that is, but not if they are God related.
I want them all to know there is more, much, much more than they have been indoctrinated to believe. They do not believe they have been indoctrinated. They think they have been freed. The truth is they have been bound up so tight that ridicule is the only answer that comes to their minds. If only all secular humanists would say a simple honest prayer, asking the God of all Creation – the God who Created the Big Bang (to their way of thinking) millions and millions of years ago, to enter their heart and show them the reality of God and the Trinity, which exists within all physical reality, so they could begin a new faith journey, with a deeper understanding of things they already know.
I encourage everyone, young and old alike, to at least try to open their minds (they think they are open minded!), to begin to pray. Invite God the Creator of the Universe (and all universes and galaxies, and science – which has become their god) to make His Presence known to them personally. God, the Father of All Creation, and Jesus Christ, God’s first Creation, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, will enter the heart and mind of all who pray in earnest.
It is not someone’s belief system that makes reality so; or makes reality what it is. How it is, is how it is. Some things are beyond our understanding, however reality is so, even if we do not understand it. God is God, even if we do not fully grasp every detail to every question we have. Not even everything in science has its fully comprehended understandings; those facts that were once expounded upon have changed with the light of new knowledge, for example, believing that the earth is flat.
The adult answer to our self-sabotaged society is to discover, learn and understand how matters of faith in God, the Father of all Creation, who is the Father of Jesus Christ, is ready, willing and able, to come into our lives and work with us, side by side with us, in enlightening our minds to solutions.
We have done many wonderful things in life. But I do notice how much more fulfilling and rewarding it is to work along side God, Jesus and Holy Spirit. We have spiritual tools at our disposal, if only we would use them. I know many of us use these tools, and have beautiful lives of faith. I am also noticing a world hurting by its own ignorance, self-induced problems made by our own making, fueled by greed and our out of control insane ego.
Virtues are the tools that can put us back on the road to living moral and ethical lives. Virtues are good habits, as mentioned in the previous post. Virtues are God-given. We can pray for more faith, hope and love. That is the best place to start.
Whether we are discussing the differences in people regarding race, color, ethnicity, creed, financial status or gender, we must realize that on this planet, 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, environmentally, 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. Fear is often coupled with greed. This is really the poverty mentality, which says, I need more than you; if I have it you cannot have it; or, there is not enough to go around. This is also the power mentality, if I have more than you; you have to do what I say; and/or follow my laws, even though I do not have to follow my laws.
What is the paradigm you wish to follow? Are you a follower or a leader? Do you stand up for yourself? Do you stand up for yourself in the midst of fearful, greedy and/or powerful people? Do you stand up for truth?
Think of how you respond to someone expressing a different viewpoint, or addressing uncomfortable issues such as immigration, homelessness and hungry children in our country and the world. We only have this one world to life on at this moment.
If we are truly serious about fixing our world, before we can build any bridges to repair the damage we have caused, we must eradicate the root cause of fear. War, murder and killing are not communication skills.
There is more to do, 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 to and 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. Jesus came to earth to show us first hand how to live on this planet and how to care for one another.
It is also good to remember the words of Jesus as he taught us the Golden Rule, to treat others the way we want to be treated. He did not say to treat only those who are like-minded to us, or to treat only those who are our family and friends, or those who fit into our socioeconomic circles, or who have the same skin color, or nationality, or age, or gender, or religion, or non religion as we do (whatever color, or nationality, or age, or gender, or religion, or non religion as we do that is).
Fear is the foundation of the poverty mentality regardless of financial status. The primeval instinct to survive fosters fear to the core of our beings, from the top one percent of wealth earners, and also affecting the middle and low classes of every society in the world. The need to survive, to have “enough” on one level is what keeps us alive. How do we know if we have crossed the line from surviving to hoarding?
Who ever thought hoarding would become so popular?
We watch those hoarding shows on TV with the same shock as we have when we watch horror shows. We wonder, who can live like that? Hoarding all depends on what you love the most.
This systemic problem affects the high class, the middle class and even the low class equally in all countries across the globe. This is not only a problem of the top one percent. The high class is keeping all the wealth of their companies and investments. For example, the countries with profitable oil fields are said to have the greatest levels of poverty within those countries. The middle class is trying to hang on to what they have, to climb higher financially and/or not to lose what they have. The same holds true for the low class. Despite what they say, no one really wants to be homeless, hungry, abused, frozen, ignored or hurting.
CAMDEN, NJ – OCTOBER 11: A homeless man named Bob waits for donations from passing motorists on October 11, 2012 in Camden, New Jersey. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Camden, New Jersey is now the most impoverished city in the United States with nearly 32,000 of Camden’s residents living below the poverty line. Camden, which sits just over the bridge from more affluent Philadelphia, also has a chronic crime problem with 48 recorded homicides this year alone. A lack of jobs has been a feature of life in Camden since the city lost most of its manufacturing base in the late 60’s and 1970’s. While the state unemployment rate is about 9.9 percent, Camden’s is estimated at 19 percent. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)The problem is, if no one budges to help humanity in need, problems get worse, not better. Wealth hoarding hurts people, all levels of governments, animals, climate and the world at large.
How do we know if we have become an unhealthy hoarder of wealth, property, food, medical care, clothes, shoes, and various other things? We can each ask ourselves these questions:
* Do I think the problems of other people do not affect me?
* Do I feel if I earned it, I keep it all, no matter what?
* Do I view wealth as power over others?
* Do I think that money is the bottom line?
* Do I think that money is the bottom line at the expense of every and anything else?
* Do I believe in the non-reality of the “trickle down economy,” that I get raises when the top makes money?
* Do I think that if I made money last year that I can tolerate inhumane treatment of others, and corruption that I would otherwise not tolerate?
* Do I justify lying, cheating, stealing as long as I make money?
* Do I support others who lie, cheat and steal as long as I make money?
* Do I wall off my feelings, not wanting to see the world’s lack, hunger or need in all forms?
* Do I feel like I need to keep up with the material things my neighbors, bosses, friends/family have?
* Do I think if others want what I have, they should to go out and earn it, even when I see them struggling to survive?
* Do I think children ought to go hungry and/or homeless because their parents are struggling?
* Do I think children ought to go hungry and/or homeless because I disagree with their parents?
* Do I think there is no room in the country for refugees?
* Do I think there is no room in the country for immigrants?
* Do I think there is not enough money to help those less fortunate than myself?
* Do I think if I give to those less fortunate than myself that I will not have enough?
* How would I feel if I was being persecuted in my country and needed food, shelter or clothing?
Hard lines are sometimes drawn by those who have against those who have not. Why? Fear is the root cause; fear of personal lack, and fear of personal failure. Justifying why we cannot help someone is a red flag to the beginning of deadening our sensitivities.
When does living lives of ordinary care cross the line into lives motivated by greed?
When does greed cross the line into hoarding?
We need to regain our humanity. To be fully human, and not a robotic shell of a human being, we need to exercise virtues of the heart.
There is another dysfunctional climate sweeping across the world, affecting every nation. It is a climate issue of hoarding wealth, property and resources.
What is the remedy? Must we give away every dime we have and give away our homes until we too are destitute? No. We can make financial donations whenever want to. However, it is possible to open our hearts and offer assistance where we can. Not every way of helping to solve the systemic problem of hoarding wealth involves money. For example, we can:
* Volunteer our time to worthwhile causes, or at the local hospital
* Become aware of where local soup kitchens and homeless shelters are
* Learn a new language in order to help those less fortunate in your area
* Write letters to local and state representatives for humane treatment of all people
* Read non-fiction books on the lives of others to become more aware of the plights of others
* Become more environmentally aware of ways to use recycled items, cars, plastics, household goods …
The hoarding of property and resources is also systemic across the globe. My husband and I personally drove across the United States a year ago. We drove from Berkeley, down the coast of California in a Prius C, which gets from 50-70 miles per gallon of gas. We then traveled from southern California kitty-corner to Ohio, avoiding major highways in order to see the country on roads less traveled. Most of the time on these roads we were on roads with two-way traffic, and seldom met cars along the way. I don’t even remember one vehicle behind us for more than one block. From there we traveled to the east coast of the United States. What was the cost of gasoline? It only cost $147 for transportation for two people to cross the United States of America.
What did we see as we drove across this country? We saw vast, I mean vast, areas of open land. Not all land was farmland. When people say there is no more room in this country for people to come in, they have not personally traveled across the country. I can vouch for that. I have also traveled the entire east coast of the United States. Except for the cities, mountains and valleys are certainly not filled. I would even go so far as to say most areas in this country are unpopulated.
There are practice solutions to the hoarding of wealth, property and resources that will assist people in need. Jesus told us how to treat one another in the Golden Rule. Perhaps if we put ourselves in the places of the people who are fleeing rape and torture, hunger and poverty, and unhealthy situations, we will become less armored to devastating human conditions of those who are truly in need.
Every human being in every country will benefit from more fair practices and humane treatment. Jesus is the king of the kingdom to come. Until that time, humanity can do a better job helping one another, void of the hoarding of wealth, property and resources.
the damage we have caused, we must eradicate the root cause of fear. War, murder and killing are not communication skills.
others the way we want to be treated. He did not say to treat only those who are like-minded to us, or to treat only those who are our family and friends, or those who fit into our socioeconomic circles, or who have the same skin color, or nationality, or age, or gender, or religion, or non religion as we do (whatever color, or nationality, or age, or gender, or religion, or non religion as we do that is).
UNIVERSAL WISDOM ENLIGHTENMENT MASTERY 