I have laid out the case in part I, Part II and Part III. In Part IV we will endeavour to reveal the lethal manipulation being used to move the American people in a direction in accordance with someone’s agenda. While we cannot see the wind, we can mark it’s passage, the direction it is moving and the strength of it’s force by what it moves. So too can an unknown entity, cloaked in invisibility be discovered, noted and tracked.
The Hegelian Dialectic
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Hegelian dialectic:
an interpretive method, originally used to relate specific entities or events to the absolute idea, in which an assertable proposition (thesis) is necessarily opposed by its apparent contradiction (antithesis), and both reconciled on a higher level of truth by a third proposition (synthesis).
To put the above in layman’s terms:
David Icke
Society is moved in a chosen direction through the use of the levers of Problem, Reaction, Solution. _David Icke
What this means is, the most efficient way to move – herd – a societal group is by creating a problem designed to cause a predicted reaction for which you provide the solution. That solution always happens to be a movement in the direction you want society to go. It is a highly technical way of describing how cowboys steer a herd of cattle. If you want to drive them to the north, you go to the south of the herd and either crack a whip or fire a gun. This creates the problem for the herd. Their reaction is to move away from the noise. Because you chose where to create the loud disturbance, you’ve already picked the possible solution for the herd and that is to move towards the north.
The Day That Will Live In Infamy! No Really!!!
Most people are too afraid to even consider the possibility that there are people who would commit or allow the catastrophic loss of human life to occur just to facilitate their agendas. Consider the “Day That Will Live In Infamy!” The coming attack on Pearl Harbor was known by Franklin D. Roosevelt at least 3 days prior to the attack. Some might say that this was intelligence and only gave a possibility of an attack. However, this intelligence did not come from Fox News or the Drudge Report. This came from Naval Intelligence. At the very least, Roosevelt could have ordered the fleet to commence training exercises as opposed to being grouped together like fish in a barrel.
America’s active involvement in the Vietnam war too came from a contrived incident which did not happen. It was called the Gulf of Tonkin incident in which supposed Vietnamese torpedo boats engaged an American battle group and damaged the USS Maddox. This led to the “Gulf Of Tonkin Resolution” which President Lyndon Baines Johnson used to take us to war. 58,000 American dead Soldiers later, we ended that war having achieved absolutely nothing. Well, not nothing. A lot of arms manufactures made a lot of money. Hear then Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara in his own words say, “It Did Not Happen!”
These are but two examples of the Hegelian Dialectic at work. In both instances there was a high loss of American lives.
What About 911?
Without going beyond the obvious problems with the official version of what happened on September 11, 2001, this event has all the hallmarks of “Problem, Reaction, Solution.” The official version which has buildings dropping into their own footprint due to the heat of the jet fuel burning, tends to ignore the incontrovertible fact, jet fuel simply doesn’t burn hot enough to melt steel. It doesn’t burn hot enough to even weaken or deform steel, certainly not in the short time given. If jet fuel burned that hot, they simply could not use it in jet engines which are made of extremely light weight metals like magnesium and aluminium.
When you bury your head in the sand like an Ostrich, you leave all your “good” parts exposed.
Then there’s building 7 which was not struck by a plane, but it too dropped right into it’s footprint. They pay professional demolition companies millions of dollars to accomplish this feat. Thus, I’m supposed to believe that not one, not two but three buildings all came down perfectly within their footprints so as not to damage any of the surrounding skyscrapers? There is also the question of whom told NORAD to stand down? The World’s “Super Power” with the most technologically advance military and air force simply allowed 4 large jets to roam it’s skies over populated areas for better than 30 minutes in at least one case, without jet fighters being scrambled with shoot down orders? I was born at night but it wasn’t last night. Some fellow wearing a turban, commuting via Camel, living halfway around the world, can’t make all these things happen on his own.
As a child, there was a common gag in some cartoons. It went like this; one cartoon character who is searching for another cartoon character approaches a third character and asks if he’s seen anyone run past him. The character proceeds to give an accurate and highly detailed description of the fellow… was he about yay tall? Wearing a black hat? Did he have a handlebar moustache? Nope, haven’t seen ’em! The point was, he had way too much information not to have seen him.
So it was with the clue almost everybody missed concerning what brought down the towers on that fateful day in September of 2001. Watch this clip and you’ll see what I mean.
How on earth would this “man on the Street” know within minutes of the towers falling what the official explanation would be for the collapses of all the towers? With all the eyewitnesses standing about, how did they pick him? Why did they pick him? If you listened to Dan Rather, he’s seen buildings brought down by demolition experts. He knew what he was seeing and he was on the right track. However, it was his job to report the news, not become the news.
Do you really want to know the truth?
The question is, are you ready to consider the truth even though it may be unthinkable? Is your mind strong enough to be awakened to a reality that is not what you’ve been led to believe it is? To use the analogy from the Matrix, you take the blue pill, you fall asleep and awaken back in your bed. You may believe whatever you wish to believe. You take the red pill and you find out how deep the rabbit hole goes.
In the past 3 years, 94,445 people were killed by firearms. This number includes suicides. In that same period, 99,060 people were killed by automobiles. That’s 4,615 more people killed by cars. Do you see anything wrong with this picture? Why don’t you hear the outrage, the concern over too many people driving? Think about how many lives you could save if you improved public transportation? Think about how many lives you could save by raising the minimum driving age to 21? These are common sense solutions that you’ll never hear raised, discussed, debated in the chambers of Congress. Why?
Is a family that loses a loved one to a motor vehicle accident in any less pain than a person who’s family member is a victim of a firearm? Of course not. There is no Constitutional Amendment protecting anybody’s right to drive. Increasing funding for public transportation, making it mandatory to use public transportation within the city limits, restricting driving to outside the city limits may seem problematic, however it would be a whole lot easier than trying to confiscate firearms. Not to mention a lot safer for the poor souls you would try to convince to carry out such a mandate.
Let us not pretend that we are so concerned about saving lives when we totally ignore automobile fatalities. Just imagine how many lives would be saved by merely increasing the minimum driving age to 21? If you’re worried about the political implications, make it 18. People under 18 cannot vote anyway. Will they even consider this? Of course not. That is not on someone’s agenda.
Who Is Behind This?
Privacy? What Privacy?
As I alluded to earlier, while we cannot see the wind, we can mark it’s passage by what it moves. Following the supposed terrorist attacks of “911,” what happened? To make us “safe” – same argument for “gun control” – legislation sped through both Houses of Congress, putting in place some of the most Constitution shredding, draconian laws we’ve ever seen. Under the “Patriot Act” – note the name of the Act has nothing to do with the function of the Act – the Government can now monitor which books you check out from your local library. To travel by air you must present your “papers” and submit to an extremely invasive body search. American citizens can be taken away in the middle of the night and held indefinitely without access to a lawyer or even their family members knowing where they’ve been taken and why. Cameras have gone up all around town and up and down our thoroughfares and highways. Your phones can be tapped, your mail opened and read, your e-mail and electronic communications monitored without a court order, probable cause or court supervision. What did the American People do? We uttered not a peep. Why? Because they told us this was to keep us safe.
Following 911 the wealth of this nation was drained away. Unless you witnessed them burning money in huge bonfires, that money went somewhere. How do you go from a $2 trillion dollar surplus to a $14 trillion dollar deficit in 8 years? Where did the money go? The Iraq war? The Afghanistan war? What did we accomplish with the money we invested? Who got paid? What did they do with that money?
There are over 300,000,000 guns in the hands of the citizens of this nation. If guns and the easy access to guns were causing gun violence, we would be in the middle of another Civil War. No business would be conducted because people would be busy shooting one another. Almost every “mass shooter” has been under psychiatric care and on psychoactive drugs. Is this a coincidence? I think not. Who destroyed Adam Lanza’s computer hard drive and why? Why do all these mass shooters commit suicide before they can be questioned and examined if they get the opportunity to do so?
There are powerful forces at work here. It is time to pull our collective heads from the sand and ask why some group deems it necessary that the American people be disarmed and defenseless. What do they have planned for us? When you follow the money, you will find that it flows to Europe. There are forces that are determined to create a one world Government. George Herbert Walker Bush let slip when he mentioned “The New World Order.” What’s wrong with the current “World Order?” Why do we need a new one?
The extremely wealthy keep their money outside of the jurisdiction of the United States of America, why? What do they know that you don’t? Think about it. It is time to wake up! Gun control is not the solution, it is part of the agenda. If someone who doesn’t have your best interests at heart, decides there is something you should not have… it’s a good bet that it’s exactly what you need. You ask, what good are small arms against the military might of the “World’s Super Power?” Remember Afghanistan. They do not have tanks. They don’t have an air force or a navy. How have we been doing over there? We lost in Vietnam, not because the Vietnamese army had tanks and fighter jets. They had a populace armed with small arms who were committed to fight to the last man. You should pay attention. Those who are after your firearms did.
I have a general rule of thumb. “Tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may.” In the recent aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, I have become increasingly concerned that those anti-gun forces are showing themselves to be just as rabid and irrational as some pro-gun proponents.
It is this irrationality that makes it impossible for anything to ever get done. Neither side is talking to the other. Both sides are merely shouting past one another. More ominous yet has been the clear manipulation of the story – this time – by the anti-gun movement.
On day 1, of the shooting, Adam Lanza went into a kindergarten classroom armed with a Glock and a Sig pistol and massacred a number of children and several adults. The police said they found a Bushmaster AR-15 in the back of his mother’s car, which he had driven to the scene.
Since Adam Lanza committed suicide inside the classroom. There would have been no way for him to go back and retrieve that rifle and plant it by his body. Yet, by day 3, the story had evolved to him having used the Bushmaster AR-15 to do the shooting. Why? Could it be that someone made the decision that for the sake of a political agenda, having the aggressive looking military style rifle do the deed would further their goals? You decide.
To those unfamiliar with firearms and military weapons, I’m certain the intended effect was achieved. “My God Man!!! What would anybody need with such a weapon in civilized society?!? Something has got to be done!” That does indeed sound like a reasoned response. However, there is a problem. What the officer is holding is not even a spent Rocket Launching tube. What he is holding is a “training dummy.” It actually says so right near the hand he’s using to brandish it. Training dummies are inert and cannot be made to fire. Even if someone gave you the actual rockets that go into the real ones, you cannot make a training dummy fire.
In perfect condition you can find them on-line for $180 or so dollars. At a surplus show or at a military memorabilia table at a gun show, they go a lot cheaper. Since the LAPD was giving away $200 a pop with no questions asked, I’m sure someone walked away smiling smugly. Why? Because a baseball bat is quite a bit more dangerous than an inert, dummy, training rocket launcher… and they made a tidy profit off of ignorance.
If you have not read part 1 and part 2, you may want to do so to get up to speed. In part 2, I showed how the conscious mind acts as a firewall for the subconscious mind. I also showed how easily it may be hacked, thus leaving one’s subconscious mind vulnerable to suggestion. The subconscious mind does not discriminate unless it is told to. It acts as a super computer that processes any and everything.
For instance, when you’re in your dream state dreaming about eating a piece of chocolate cake, as far as your subconscious mind is concerned, it is really happening. The same parts of your brain light up in the exact same way as if you were awake and eating a real piece of chocolate cake. This begs the question: what is reality? As far as your subconscious mind is concerned, the definition of reality becomes murky, rather quickly.
Another Way To Hack The Firewall
We’ve already addressed hypnotic techniques which are used all the time. Remember, hypnotic induction is merely distracting the conscious mind by getting it to focus on the distraction while the real message is implanted directly into the subconscious mind.
Ever notice that car commercials and other advertisements directed at men, always prominently display an extremely attractive female. She really has little if anything to do with the product being sold. She is the distraction. “Focus on her while we talk to your subconscious mind.” No you didn’t fall into a trance, but you don’t have to. A couple of weeks, a month maybe, if you’re thinking about purchasing a car or something they were selling, you won’t remember the commercial, you won’t remember the female however, their product will pop into your mind. Advertising agencies know this and that is why billions of dollars are paid for advertising campaigns.
There is even something much more sinister you need to be aware of. Subliminal messages buried in commercials, movies, video games and television shows.
Subliminal Messages
To the uninitiated, this will seem strange and unbelievable. Yet, you can find them most everywhere. What follows is a brief video clip showing you a few examples of where and how these messages are placed.
Consider, everything in a Disney movie is animated. This means that the people doing the animation have complete control over the finished product. Every shadow, every sparkle every dot of light from a twinkling star, it’s all by design. I selected one of numerous examples using Disney. If you’re interested in what all is out there, Google and YouTube are your friends.
The Subconscious Mind Uses Symbolism
The conscious mind deals in the literal and specific. Put another way, it reads what’s on the line. The subconscious mind deals in the symbolic. It reads what’s between the lines. Often, much more is contained between the lines than what is contained on them. Quite often, the subconscious mind is noticing things and receiving messages that the conscious mind is blissfully unaware of.
Notice what the judges are drinking? Notice that each container is turned so the viewer can read the brand and logo?
Have you ever noticed the subliminal technique of advertising used in television and movies called “product placement?” Once you begin to look for it, you’ll never watch a movie or television show in quite the same way again. One of the television shows I watch from time to time is “NCIS-LA.” If you’ve watched it, have you ever noticed that the only cars used by the characters are Chrysler products? Dodge Chargers, Challengers etc. Whenever an actor takes a sip from a beverage, they always show what product he/she is drinking.
I wonder what brand computer he’s using?
If a computer is used, the brand will be prominently displayed. At one time, you got the impression that the only laptops out there were Apple products. Now I’m seeing HPs and Dells. If a product can be worked into the script, be it coffee, Oreo cookies, Coke, Pepsi, you name it, the cup, can, bottle, box will always be turned in such a way that you will get a clear view of the brand name. This is a form of subliminal advertising. You don’t notice it. It is not a part of the plot. Yet when you go to the grocery store or Best Buy, you find yourself purchasing these products.
Your conscious mind was focused totally on the action, the plot, the drama. Just like hypnotic induction, your subconscious mind was defenceless, the firewall was down and they poured their message directly into your mental mainframe to be processed and stored until the next time you went shopping.
Mind Control
Mention mind control and several things begin to happen. Most people’s eye’s begin to cross, they mentally place you in the “conspiracy theorist” box which is right next to the “crazy person” box. The irony is, they’ve been conditioned to do this and don’t know it.
The series is all about mind control and describes the “fracturing” technique.
It would be safe to say, billions of tax payer’s dollars have been poured into the development of mind control. They’ve been working on it and improving the technology and capabilities since WWII. The “Bourne Identity Series” is all about mind control technology. The method they allude to – fracturing – does in fact work. They create a split personality by putting a person under so much stress, in order to escape, their psyche splits. This split personality can then be programmed and called forth on demand. The base personality is often unaware of the existence of this other personality. The following brief video will give you an overview of what “mind control” is and what it can do. Remember this is old technology.
Imagine what they can do and are doing today. This is real. This is documented. This is going on today. The question is, are you able to rise above your comfort level and consider the facts being presented to you? People are often more comfortable embracing ignorance. Remember the saying, “what you don’t know can’t hurt you?” Well, that is a lie! Ignorance can be fatal.
There are numerous patents on file at the United States Patent Office for mind control devices. I don’t know if you’re familiar with getting a patent, but it is not a trivial matter. It is not inexpensive. A lot of money in research, development, proof of concept, prototype development are all a part of the process. People invent and file patents because they hope to make millions. What you should be concerned about is whom they’re hoping to sell their products to and how it will be used.
Gun Control – Mind Control And Sandy Hook
“If You Tell The Truth, You Don’t Have To Remember Anything.” __Mark Twain
When you examine the tragedy of the massacre of the innocent children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, there are some disturbing facts. If you will recall in Part II, I discussed Motive, Opportunity and Capability. These three things must be present before a crime can be committed.
The Sandy Hook shooting seems to be devoid of a concrete motive. Some are theorizing that Adam Lanza’s mother was considering having him committed, but since neither she nor he is alive to verify this theory, we should be cautious about accepting it. Opportunity and capability seemto be present. However, Adam Lanza had not up until this point, ever exhibited any signs of violence or a violent disposition.
Do people “snap?” Yes they do. However, there is usually something that triggers this. The crime appears to have been thought out and planned. There are several things that I find disturbing and I suggest you should ponder them as well.
Evolution of key facts of the story.
The destruction of Adam Lanza’s computer hard drive.
I have worked my share of homicide cases. I have testified in court. I can tell you from experience, the first thing an Officer coming upon the scene of that terrible tragedy, even before searching for survivors, the very first thing the Officers would do would be to secure any firearms present. Why? Because at that point, they did not know how many shooters there were and if a potential shooter was still on the premises. The last thing they would want would be for another gunman or potential gunman to step from some concealed position, pick up and use those guns to shoot Police Officers.
Thus the firearms, their type and their location would be of primary importance. They may get facts wrong, facts may evolve as more complete information becomes available, but the guns involved and their locations, that is concrete evidence and that wouldn’t change.
“The gunman drove to the school in his mother’s car, the second official said. Three guns were found — a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both pistols, inside the school, and a .223-caliber rifle in the back of a car.” (Associated Press writers Jim Fitzgerald and Pat Eaton-Robb in Newtown, Samantha Henry in Newark, N.J., Pete Yost in Washington and Michael Melia in Hartford contributed to this report)
This was what was reported the very first day of the shooting and all through the day. Notice anything different? Today, the story is, the “Bushmaster” AR-15 was used in the shooting. How did it get from the car and into the classroom after the shooter had committed suicide?” This is a fact that should not evolve and a fact the Police would not get wrong. So who changed the story and why?
“Before going on a murderous rampage last week, Adam Lanza reportedly took a dramatic step to erase his digital history: He removed the hard drive from his computer and smashed it with either a hammer or screwdriver.”
What was on the hard drive that a man going to commit suicide did not want recovered?
Notice, he did not shoot up his computer. He or someone elsetook apart his computer case, unscrewed the hard drive from it’s mounting bracket, removed it and then went about smashing and destroying it. The questions we need to be asking are:
Whom actually destroyed that hard drive?
What was on that hard drive that was so important that a man going to his death, didn’t want anyone to recover?
If you want to know the truth of what happened and why, this is where we should be focusing our search. We must look behind the curtain. What we’ve seen in the media has been a production. It has been like a theater play put on for this nation.
In our conclusion I will lay out the unthinkable and point to not only a possible motive for the shootings, but define whom had the capability to make this tragedy occur.
In the first part I endeavoured to give the reader an understanding of how firearms actually function and expose the lack of logic in the notion that the appearance of a firearm some how makes it more or less lethal. It is not whether or not a gun looks aggressive, the gun isn’t what you have to worry about. It’s those pesky bullets! Ironically, they all look pretty similar.
I also tried to give a broad overview of the laws governing firearms that already exist. It is intellectually disingenuous to pretend that the solution to gun violence is the enacting of more and more laws. If the ones we currently have are either not being effectively enforced or are being broken, I suspect that further laws will prove equally ineffective. It is not my position that there is no solution to this problem. Actually? I believe there is a solution, but we’ll never find it so long as we continue to focus our search in the wrong direction. Let’s take a journey together into an area few dare to venture.
Basic criminology 101, crimes are solved when you find the person or persons with:
Motive
Opportunity
Capability
If any one of these three components are lacking, you need to keep looking. Remember them because we’ll be returning to them a bit later.
A Series Of Unfortunate Coincidences
The Virginia Tech, Aurora CO. and Portland Mall Shooters. There is something similar in their eyes.
Are you aware that almost every perpetrator of a mass shooting was under some level of psychiatric care? Most were being treated with some form of psychoactive drug therapy. Coincidence? Perhaps. Almost every mass shooter – those over the past decade – have given indication of their level of mental agitation either on their web page, a chat forum they frequented or on one of the several social networking services. A person or persons monitoring this level of agitation could probably predict when they were going to snap.
If you filter out the gang related shootings and the shootings where someone was having problems say on a job or some other readily identifiable cause that may have pushed them over the edge, and focus only on those shootings that apparently are random and without cause, the ones where there is no identifiable relationship between the shooter and the victims, an interesting phenomenon begins to emerge. What you notice is that you’ll have a shooting somewhere out west, followed by one somewhere in the east and then one in either the north or south.
The first calendar and time clock. The stars told them when to plant and harvest
It is almost like “clock work.” North, East, West and South. NEWS. Now the question must be asked, is this entirely due to coincidence? One of the critical factors to our successful survival has been our ability to detect patterns and use them to predict future events. Our understanding of the 4 seasons for instance. We began studying the sky to mark their passage. It is important to know when to plant and when to harvest. We needed to know when to prepare for winter. Our understanding of time and seasons began with pattern recognition.
Is it buying into a conspiracy to begin to look for and notice patterns in these shootings? I don’t think so. When one seeks the truth, one must be prepared to look everywhere and consider everything. What we’re talking about is looking for causality behind these acts of violence. Remember, a conspiracy is merely two or more people working together to bring about some event. Everything of substance that has ever happened on this planet has been the result of a conspiracy.
How might something like these shootings be caused? How would you trigger someone to perform these senseless acts?
Hypnotism
One of the most misunderstood phenomenon is that of hypnotism. Let me give you a brief tutorial on how hypnotism works. We’ve all seen and laughed at the shows put on by “stage hypnotist.” In our minds we’ve wonder if the supposedly hypnotised subjects at times were not faking it. Here is how hypnotism works. You have a mind that is constantly processing information on a variety of levels, even when you’re asleep. In layman’s terms we refer to our conscious and subconscious minds. Of the two, the subconscious is the more powerful.
If you think of the human mind as being like a computer, your conscious mind acts as a firewall. Your subconscious mind is where the real processing power resides. The hypnotist, hacks your firewall and directly accesses your subconscious mind. How is this done? In a word, focus. When your conscious mind is totally focused on something, all it’s resources are directed at whatever it is focused on. This means that you can circumvent it to access the subconscious mind of your subject without meeting resistance.
A Hypnotist’s bauble
This is why you see them using a swinging pocket watch or some other bauble. The hypnotist tells you to watch – focus – on the swinging pocket watch. While your conscious mind is doing that, they’re talking in your ear telling you you’re getting sleepy. Telling you to relax. Now if I told you, that you were getting sleepy, – unless you actually were – your conscious mind would activate it’s defensive protocols and probably say, “no I’m not.” However, if I can tie up your conscious mind focusing on a bauble or some problem or the beat and rhythm in a song, I can speak directly into your subconscious mind without what I’m saying being filtered by the firewall of your conscious mind.
How long does this process take? Actually? It can happen in an instant! What if I told you it is possible to walk into a jewellery store and purchase a $4,000 diamond ring using blank white sheets of paper as money? Watch the following clip from Derren Brown’s “Mind Control” series. If you pay careful attention, you will see how it’s done.
Did you notice the method? He did it three times. The second time it was ineffective, but the 1st time in the fishmonger’s shop and the 3rd time in the jewellery store, it worked like a charm. Why did it work? Did you pay attention to the “patter?” He engaged his subject in seemingly meaningless conversation. It was a story. One story was about taking the subway. He was expressing his anxiety about never having taken a subway in New York, and relating what a friend had told him about the subway. Just as he handed the man the blank sheets of white paper, he relates that his friend told him to “take it, it’s fine.”
The entire point of the story was to distract and focus the mind of his subject on his story. When he handed them the blank sheets of paper and says, “take it, it’s fine,” two things are taking place. The conscious mind is focused on the story and receiving the money thus closing the sell. The subconscious mind is wide open. It accepts “take it, it’s fine” and sets the conscious mind at ease. All is well. This is fine. You were expecting to be handed paper in exchange for your product and we were just told that everything is fine.
Now, why didn’t this work on the street vendor? Here is my theory. The street vendor has to spread his consciousness to take into account a great many things at once. He has to watch out for traffic. He has to constantly monitor and identify all the sounds around him. He is exposed, so he has to be vigilant and aware of those around him. The end result? He dedicated a much smaller portion of his conscious awareness to the inane patter of Derren Brown. He couldn’t care less about someone telling him to “take it, it’s fine.” Thus, when handed the blank sheets of paper, he saw them for what they were.
If Derren Brown can perform this effect – and many more – impromptu on the street, what might someone(s) with near unlimited resources perform with all the time in the world? What could they achieve with people who were already under the influence of psychotropic drugs?
Gun Control Versus Mind Control
Then the tree jumped out and hit me!
If we’re truly looking for why these shootings continue to happen, and not merely being herded into someone else’s agenda, we cannot just point at an inanimate tool – that is all a firearm is – and blame it for all the ills of gun violence in our society. That is not unlike coming upon the scene of a fatal car accident where a car has crashed headlong into a tree and remarking, “damn! if only that tree hadn’t been there or someone should have cut down that tree.” Might the accident have had anything to do with the fact that the driver was drunk and doing 80 mph on a winding road at night?
Times Square New York – We are bombarded by stimulus 24 hours a day.
We are surrounded by stimulus 24 hours a day. Have you ever had the power go off in your home? Perhaps due to an electrical storm or an ice storm? What’s the first thing you notice? The silence right? We live our lives virtually surrounded by a 60Hz background hum. We don’t even notice it’s presence… until it’s gone. We watch television and listen to our radios all day long. You probably couldn’t tell me right now what the last commercial you saw or heard was. Yet, billions of dollars are spent bringing you these commercials. Why? Because they work!
These are the commercials you see and notice. However, what about something a bit more sinister? What about subliminal messages? Messages – just like hypnosis – that are designed to pass by the firewall of your conscious mind and enter directly into your subconscious mind?
In part 3 we will go deeper into the dark reality that most of us are blissfully unaware of. If you believe that you are in control of your mind, you need to understand that a war is raging all around you for the control of your freewill. Remember, the perfect slave is the one who believes himself to be free.
Once again we find ourselves stunned, in shock, confounded and searching for answers to make sense from the apparently senseless. As Americans we all share in the sorrow of parents who have experienced the most profound and devastating of losses.
As a parent who has lost a child to murder, I do not have to theorize about what the parents who lost their children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School are going through. I know first hand. They feel that their world is ending. There may have been presents already under Christmas trees that will never be opened. Each Christmas hereafter will be dimmed by the memory of their loss.
They need our support
Our hearts go out to them and we share – to the best of our ability – in their grief. Yes, we stand with them. Our hearts, prayers and thoughts are with them, yet in times like these, they are alone. No words of comfort, no tokens of solidarity no matter how well intentioned can truly reach into the dark rivers of their hearts. Only the passage of time will begin to heal their wounds. All we can do is be there for them and stand by them. Right now, they’re in shock. The darkest part of their night is yet to come. They will need our love and support in the days, weeks and months to come.
All Guns Are Not The Same
One of the things that creates so much problem whenever the subject of gun control comes up is the ignorance of those who have little to no familiarity with firearms. Those who are familiar with guns rapidly lose patience and what ensues usually degenerates to the hurling of aphorisms and clichés. Bottom line, communication ceases and people begin talkingpast one another as opposed to talking to one another.
To this end, for those who are not familiar with guns there are some terms and definitions that we need to make clear. All firearms possess similar components. Roughly they are:
Barrel
Sighting System
Trigger Mechanism
Magazine
Ammunition
These are the bare bones basics of all modern firearms. There are some exceptions. For instance, “single shot” firearms do not possess a magazine. The barrel is what contains the gasses and guides the projectile towards it’s target. The sighting system – could be iron sights or an optical sight – is used to acquire the target. The trigger releases the sear causing the internal mechanism to release the firing pin allowing it to hit the primer of the cartridge causing the firearm to fire. The magazine contains the ammunition and feeds the bullets into the chamber so that the next bullet can be fired. The ammunition or the bullets come in whatever form is appropriate to the firearm in question.
Revolver showing open cylinder
When we talk about modern firearms we are talking about primarily three types of “actions.” Single shot firearms require that each bullet or cartridge be manually inserted into the chamber subsequent to firing. Revolvers hold 5 or 6 shots in a cylinder that rotates to advance the next bullet into firing position. Squeezing the trigger or in a single action, cocking the hammer rotates the cylinder. The automatic is fed by a magazine. When you squeeze the trigger, the bullet fires. The recoil causes the slide to cycle back. On it’s forward stroke, it strips a bullet from the top of the magazine and loads it into the chamber. When the slide seats, the trigger may be pulled again to fire another round.
“Cut-away” diagram showing the functioning of a Semi-Auto pistol
Under the category of “automatic” firearms there are two categories. These are what confuse most people unfamiliar with firearms. The “semi-automatic” fires only one bullet with each pull of the trigger. Just like the revolver. Just like the single shot rifle or shotgun. One trigger pull, one bullet down the barrel. The fully automatic or “full-auto” will continue to fire so long as the trigger is depressed. This will continue until the magazine is empty or in the case of some military rifles, until 3 rounds are fired. This is known as “the 3 round burst.” The United States military discovered that too many soldiers were “spraying and praying” instead of practicing aimed fire when under stress. The results were a lot of needless casualties because they’d run out of ammunition without hitting the target.
Assault Rifles
They may look similar, but they’re very different. One is fully automatic.
Almost every shooting in which an AR-15 – the civilian version of the military M-16 – or some variant thereof is referred to by the television pundits as “an assault rifle.” They do this either out of ignorance or because, like carnival barkers, they’re attempting to increase the drama of what they’re reporting. If you want to know what an assault rifle is, go to the people who make assaults and see what they use. They do not use “semi-automatic” firearms. They use fully automatic – “full-auto” – firearms. It is not about looks, it is about function.
A semi-automatic hunting rifle with a hand rubbed walnut stock, functions the exact same way as an AR-15 with a black stock that looks like an M-16. There is no difference in function. No difference in lethality. It’s all cosmetics. To use a popular analogy, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.
Gun Control
Hopefully I’ve cleared up some misapprehensions regarding the various types of firearms and how they function. Now let’s get down to the real issue. Is gun control the solution? First we need to understand what the laws actually are. Let’s dispel some myths. You cannot go into a gun store, plop down your cash and walk out with a handgun. The “Brady Laws” prevent this. You have to fill out a federal form and there is a 7 day waiting period also known as a cooling off period before you can acquire your handgun.
The only exception to this is, if you have already acquired a firearms permit from the State in which you reside. To obtain such a permit, the State does a background check and you’re already pre-approved, so you could purchase a handgun and take it home on the same day. However, you already waited possibly up to 2 months to get your permit. Thus, purchasing firearms from licensed gun dealers is not the problem.
What about this gun show loophole you often hear bandied about? This is greatly misunderstood by so many people who pontificate as though fixing this one loophole would solve all our gun related crimes. Here is what the loophole is all about. If you go to a gun show there are tables set up where licensed dealers display and sell their wares. You can get some good deals at these shows. If you purchase a handgun at one of these shows from one of the licensed dealers, it is no different than making that purchase in a gun store. You have to fill out the paper work and there is still the 7 day waiting period. If the gun dealer is from out of town, what he will do is transfer your firearm to a local dealer who will hold it for the 7 days until you come in to pick it up.
ATF form 4473 must be filled out and filed for all firearms purchase through a licensed dealer
So, what’s the so called loophole? What happens at these shows is, people often sell and purchase from one another in the parking lot without ever going into the actual gun show. There is no paper work and there is no waiting period. The sell could have been made at a McDonald’s. It could have occurred anywhere between two people who got together possibly in an Internet chat forum. The question is, how would you write a law to prevent this and be able to enforce it? The simple answer is, you cannot. If you could, nobody could sell illegal drugs. There would be no prostitution. You cannot prevent people from getting together to buy, sell and trade. Can’t be done. So when you hear people braying about the “Gun Show Loophole” they’re wasting time and using up breath they may need at a later date.
Gun Control – Is It The Solution?
We cannot enforce the laws we already have on the books effectively. It is already illegal to sell someone a firearm who has a mental illness. It is already illegal to sell a firearm to a felon. It is already illegal to own a fully automatic firearm without a “class 3” license. A class 3 license comes directly from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. There is an extensive background check involved. You cannot purchase a handgun until you reach the age of 21. You cannot carry a firearm without a permit.
The bottom line is, there are plenty of laws already on the books. For instance, shooting people is already illegal. People who decide to commit murder are not concerned with laws or breaking them. Thus, it stands to reason, passing more laws is not the solution.
In part 2 we will explore some disturbing coincidences and ask the question “why do almost all these shootings follow the same murder suicide pattern?” Could there be something else at work? Something more sinister than what we would like to believe?
Almost everybody has a concept of what this means. As a phrase this is bandied about with abandon… usually by people who have slightly different understandings of what it means. I have heard religious leaders claim that the “Separation of Church and State” clause is a one-way street designed to keep the Government out of the Church, but not the Church out of he Government.
I have also heard it argued the other way as well. The “Separation of Church and State” is specifically designed to keep the Church out of our Government. Since both positions cannot be correct, let’s examine some facts and see which position has merit. First, where does the whole “Separation of Church and State” come from. Ironically enough, it comes directly from the very first Amendment to our Constitution.
First Amendment to the United States Constitution – Part of the “Bill of Rights.”
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Notice that you do not see the phrase, “Separation of Church and State.” So where did this concept come from?
History of the Separation Of Church and State
For those who do not study history, the present is often shrouded in mystery and appears to be a random series of disparate events that seem to intervene without reason in their daily lives. The very act of reading requires interpretation. When you read you are not only recognizing the words on a page or screen, you’re interpreting their meanings. Thus when we turn to the United States Constitution, we also take into account the intentions of those who actually wrote it.
Framers drafting the Constitution
What did the “framers” have in mind when they wrote the “First Amendment?” What they wrote, what they deemed important was determined by their own history and world view. Most people understand that many of the original colonist, were fleeing religious persecution in the “Old World.” They had seen first hand what happens when religion and government share a bed together. Many had lost relatives to various “Inquisitions.” This wasn’t some theoretical bogeyman, they’d met him and knew he was very real.
Thus it is small surprise that when they framed the Constitution, they included a special section known as “The Bill of Rights.” The very first amendment in this section covers and protects those freedoms they believed were most important. Yes, even more important than firearms ownership and being able to protect their lives and the lives of their families. They covered firearms in the “Second Amendment,” not the First.
“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 & State.”_Thomas Jefferson
If there was any doubt as to intent, Thomas Jefferson spells it out plainly. The “First Amendment” was designed – amongst other things – to build a wall of separation between Church and State.
Separation Of Church And State – It’s Necessary
Michael Angelo’s The Creation Of Adam
It is a flaw in human nature to assume that things will remain in the future as they are today. Christians who are the predominate religion in the United States, are all for things like prayer in schools, passing laws that fit their Biblical understanding of morality and having various
Science In The Classroom
Biblical doctrines taught in our schools. “Creationism” is but one such example. What they never stop to think is, what if over time things change? Our population is growing, views are changing. What happens if some other religion becomes the predominate religion in this country? Would they be equally comfortable with our laws being changed to reflect a new reality? Would they be comfortable with their children going to school and being asked to pray to a different God?
These things are imminently possible, though rarely considered. The protections of the First Amendment with respect to Religion, actually do quite a bit to protect Christians. People who embrace other faiths are just as devout, just as convinced of their “truth” as any Christian is of theirs.
War On Christianity?
Blue Laws are the results of Religion forcing it’s self on our secular society.
It is popular today to pretend there is a war on the Christian faith. It is just that, pretending.It is not a war when people push back against anyone – Christians in particular – who try to force their religious beliefs and practices on our secular society. “Blue Laws” are an excellent example of this. They don’t actually work and are more of a nuisance than anything else. The outlawing of Liquor sales on Sundays is a result of Christians forcing their religious beliefs onto secular society. If you don’t want to drink Liquor on Sunday, then don’t! However, why are you trying to force your religious ideologies on me?
The End Of Christianity
Yet another fallen Idol! You’d think they’d remember prohibitions against idolatry?
When the Christian Church attempts to hijack our legal system and bend it to their ideology, what they’re really admitting is that they have embraced a failed philosophy and in their hearts they know what they’re proclaiming to be fact, verified by faith, is nothing more than a myth. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot proclaim a sovereign deity, monitoring and in control of everything, then in the very next breath, say we as human beings need to enact laws to force everyone to fulfil His will. If you truly believe that God is in control, take your hands off the wheel! If you cannot do that, then perhaps you should keep your religion and your faith to yourself. The Separation of Church and State is Necessary!
With the run up to this Presidential election, my predominant focus has been on politics. However it is the mission of this blog to deal with both politics and religion. So, without further ado, let us turn our attention to matters religious.
Some Beginning Propositions
God:
When I speak of God, I’m speaking of an entity, being, spirit, collective intelligence that is self-aware, exists outside of the space-time continuum as well as within it. I am proposing that this thing we call God is omnipotent – all powerful – omnipresent – there is no space where it isn’t – and omniscient – it knows all that is, isn’t, may be and won’t be. God does not engage in deception or misrepresentation.
If we can agree that God would have to possess these attributes, then we may also make some assumptions about how such an entity might handle it’s interactions where they intersect our reality.
Holy Bible:
A collection of books by various authors, mostly unknown, that purports to contain historical accounts of events, some of which are paranormal and attributed to God. Believers see divine providence and assert that the inter-connected content is ordained by God. Many believe it to be inerrant although that number is dwindling.
Error:
An assertion that is either factually inaccurate, a contradiction leading to a mutually exclusive outcome. (If something is one way, then it cannot be another way e.g. If you’re in Alaska you cannot also be in Florida at the same time.) A prophecy that did not come to pass.
Brief History of the Bible
“All roads lead towards truth… but then detour into dogma, tradition and ritual. To reach truth you must be willing to cross the wilderness without roads, paths or signposts. TRUTH: You will always find it in the last place you look.”
__Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.
King James Version of the “Holy Bible.”
If you take a look at your Bible the first thing you’ll notice on the cover are the words, “Holy Bible.” The second thing you’ll notice will be the version.It might say, “King James Version,” “Revised Standard Version,” or some other of the numerous versions that exist today. You should ask yourself immediately the following two things:
Who determined that this book – Bible – was “holy?”
How many versions can there be of “God’s Words?”
If I deliver a set of instructions to you on how to fix an omelette, there may be other ways to fix an omelette, but it won’t be my way. If I say only put diced ham and cheese in the omelette and you add onions, green peppers and mushrooms, you may indeed have a very tasty omelette, but that’s not what I ordered.
A collection of very ancient religious texts. Considered by Christians to be Mythology. One man’s myth is another man’s religion.
If you ask the average person what the oldest written text ever found was, particularly if they identify as “Christian,” you’re bound to hear, “the Bible.” This is one of the things in the minds of many that give the document such weight. The reality is, the Hindu Vedas are in fact older than the Bible by hundreds of years. Remember, we’re talking about written texts. Not engraved texts found on walls, on cuneiform tablets or inscribed on Egyptian – KeMeTian – temples, tombs and pyramids.
Human knowledge has followed two tracks. There is what people actually knew or believed and related orally. Then there is what someone actually took the time to write down in or on some medium. For example. You no doubt know the way to your mother’s house or the home of some other relative. You do not need a GPS. You can hop in your car and go. Probably most of the people in your family also know the way. Why haven’t you written the directions down and drawn a map? Simple answer – in the form of a question – “who needs one?”
Now if your beloved relative has transitioned out of this life into the next, and you want to visit their grave site, you may suddenly have the need to write down directions. You may record the cemetery where they’re buried, the plot number, directions for how to find it as well as a detailed drawing. You may in fact distribute this amongst your other relatives. You now have a reason to write this information down and record it.
Things are written down for a reason. Those reasons are as varied as the people who write them. Some things are written down for no other reason than to profit from them. Some things are written down to commemorate an event. Some things are written down to bring fame and recognition to the writer. There may be truth in what is written. What is written may also be a complete work of fiction. Yes, human beings have often written fiction or told fictitious stories down through history.
“Until the Lions tell their tale, the story of the hunt will always glorify the hunters.” __African Proverb
History is just that: His-Story! Just because something was written down, doesn’t make it either factual or true. In 1,000 years should some archaeologist from the future dig up a copy of Dr. Suess’ “The Cat in the Hat,” should that archaeologist infer that we lived in a time when there were 6′ Cats wearing multicolored hats walking around, getting children in trouble? Theodor Seuss Geisel was not an actual doctor. Pretty much everyone knows this today… however, 1,000 years from now? One may only guess what learned conclusion they might come to.
Nobody Knows Who Wrote The Bible
Most people do not know that nobody actually knows who actually wrote the books in their Bibles. The names of the actual authors are unknown and at this point unknowable. The first five books of the Bible which come from the Jewish Torah are referred to as the Pentateuch. In your Bible these would be the books, Genesis through Deuteronomy inclusive. Tradition has it that Moses wrote them, however his death is recorded within those books and unless he figured out a way to write from beyond the grave… at the very least, he had help from persons unknown.
P-52 Papyrus. Possibly the oldest fragment of the Gospel of John.
The same is true for the New Testament. The Gospels were written from 90 to 300 years after the death of Jesus. They haven’t found any autographed copies or fragments of copies signed by the original authors. It is most probable that whomever actually wrote the Gospels, had never met Jesus, never heard his teachings directly but were writing down traditions and stories that had been circulating within the community of the followers of Jesus.
What about books like the “Book of Ruth,” Song of Solomon,” “Psalms of David” etc? Those books certainly carry the names of their supposed authors, but the reality is, there is no proof that the persons named actually wrote their books and precious little proof that many of them actually lived. Does this strike you as odd? You must remember that customs and conventions thousands of years ago were not as they are today. It was not unknown for someone to write a book and put someone famous’ name on it to lend more credence and weight to what they were writing.
Literacy Rates – Publishing Costs
One of the problems with looking back at history is we filter history through the lens of today. 2,000 years ago, less than 10% of the population was actually literate. By that I mean could read and write. Less than 20% could read just a little. They couldn’t write but they could figure out simple messages if they saw them written down. This means 80% of the population not only could not read, but they could not even sign their names if you asked them to.
Books, scrolls and writing were the province of the extremely wealthy and even then, only the wealthy who actually took an interest in such things. In today’s dollars with a denarii figured at roughly $21, a single sheet of papyrus cost $30. A book would cost anywhere between $10,000 to $100,000 or more to have in your library. There were no printing presses so each book had to be painstakingly copied letter by letter by a Scribe and they didn’t come cheap. A Scribe was paid between $420 and $525 per 100 lines of text. This probably had a lot to do with why so few people invested the time in learning to read or write. Compared to growing your food, tending your livestock, repairing your domicile and making enough money to pay your taxes and care for yourself and your family, being literate was way down on the list of priorities.
Journalistic integrity in ancient times? About like Fox News today. Unfair and unbalanced.
Thus, when you hear about ancient texts you need to understand that they were commissioned by someone of great wealth and power. It wasn’t by someone who woke up one day and thought, hey! I believe I’ll write the great Hebrew, Greek, Egyptian novel, get rich and famous and go on the lecture circuit. The person had a particular story they wanted told, a particular version of history they wanted recorded and they wanted it told or recorded their way! Most often, it was to show them in the very best light or show someone else in a very negative light. There was no such thing as “journalistic integrity.” There was no obligation to even report the facts. This was a bought and paid for story plain and simple.
Think about what this means for the notion of some poor wandering prophet writing down a book of prophecies based on voices he hears speaking to him out of thin air. Some of the prophets were so poor they had to beg bread. Some spent more time in the wilderness than they did in what passed for cities, villages or towns. Where did they learn to read and write? Where did they and how did they get the money to buy writing materials. If they did not write themselves, where did they get the money to hire Scribes?
Let us also make note of another misconception. The Bible – Bible means a “collection of books” – did not exist until someone carefully selected these books, assemble them together and call them a “Bible.” The people whom wrote these books, whomever they actually were, at the time they wrote them did not consider themselves to be writing sacredtexts. At no time did they think to themselves, what I’m writing will be included in a Bible that people will worship and revere. As I said earlier, they had their motives most of which were more political than holy.
How Your Bible Came To Be
Constantine was the pagan – Sun worshipper – emperor of Rome who created Christianity and created your Bible.
The Genesis of your Bible – not the book Genesis – can be traced back to a Pagan Roman Emperor by the name of Constantine. The myths surrounding him notwithstanding, Constantine was a Pagan. He was not baptized a “Christian” until he was on his deathbed. One might speculate as to whether or not he even knew he was being baptized when it happened.
Constantine was interested in consolidating his power and unifying his empire. He believed that a “universal” – that is what the word Catholic means – religion would serve to do just that. Isn’t it interesting that he chose a religion that contains an admonition to pay your taxes? “Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and to God the things which are God’s.” We cannot have a religion that risks the revenue stream now can we?
Also, the concept of a wonderful afterlife would be good for his soldiers. If you die in service to the emperor, not to worry, right into paradise you go! Might even make them fight with abandon. They’ve got nothing to lose and heaven to gain. Moral provisions? Also a good thing. Cuts down on crime within the empire. Frankly? Adopting “Christianity” as the “Universal” religion had quite an upside.
Image depicting the Nicene Council of 325 AD. Where Jesus became God by a vote of the Bishops.
To this end, Constantine convened a series of councils known as the “Nicene Councils,” the first being circa 325 AD. About 300 “Bishops” from around the empire were summoned to Nice to hammer out this new religion. Think about this for a moment. If you’ve already got Bishops, shouldn’t the religion already be codified and set up? The fact you’ve got Bishops suggests there is already a church with a hierarchy, structure and rules.
The conventional wisdom is, the Nicene councils were to bring about agreement between all these various sects, who basically all believed the same thing.Now some may have a problem with this. I do. Nevertheless, let’s proceed.
Nicene Councils
Little known fact. Not everyone thought Jesus was divine. Indeed this matter had to be debated and put up for a vote. Thus was Jesus’ divinity established by the vote of a group of Bishops. Many things taken for granted or as articles of faith today, were nothing of the sort when “Christianity” was launched. One might say that the very myth of Jesus was fleshed out and given substance at the several councils of Nicaea.
Without going into all the disputes and reportedly a fist fight, they finally began to make progress in setting up the Religion that Constantine wanted. He was certainly paying the costs involved with setting things up.
Fifty Bibles For Fifty Churches
Constantine had plans to open up 50 churches across his empire. In each church he wanted a Bible – an authorized collection of texts – that could be read from and taught from. Since no such Bible existed, one had to be assembled (created) and once again, disputes raged and tempers flared.
In the Acts of Peter, the Cross follows Jesus out of the tomb and talks.
There were numerous “Gospels” floating around. Many you’ve never heard of today. There were books like “The Acts of Peter the Apostle” and the “Gospel of Peter.” The “Gospel of Thomas” and a host of others you’d be hard pressed to find today. Some of the stories they related were… shall we say, pretty far out there! I mean, talking Crosses? Really??? Nevertheless, there were people who revered these Gospels, cherished them and believed every word of them.
The story is told that the dispute over which books should be included raged so hotly that finally Constantine intervened. His solution was to collect the books and place them in a tower over the weekend and let God decide. Supposedly this was done. When they checked the tower on the first of the week, God had removed all the books except for the ones he wanted included in their Bible. Now, the more astute amongst you might ask the next question. To wit: Who had the key to the tower?
Thus we got the first Catholic – Universal – Bible with the four Gospels that we’ve all come to know and love. Of course this process has been ongoing over the centuries with new books added. The Old Testament began to take shape. Even today the Catholic Bible contains several books not included in the “authorized King James” version of the Bible.
Biblical Errors
When reading your Bible it is important to ask yourself some basic questions. Some of them are so obvious we take the answers for granted, but we really shouldn’t.
Who is the author’s intended audience?
If it’s a conversation, who is there recording the conversation?
Are there any witnesses?
What is the author’s intent in relaying this information?
Is this believable?
Is this consistent with other Biblical assertions?
Was this translated correctly?
Job got caught on the bad end of a bet between God and Satan.
Everything in the Bible is not written as an instruction for you. Your church would look at you funny if you showed up one Sunday with a cow in tow to be sacrificed as a sin offering. There are conversations recorded in the Bible – word for word dialogues – when there was nobody around to record them. For instance, the oldest book of the Bible, the Book of Job, contains a conversation between God and Satan. The Bible says that the “sons of God” were present, but we have no books written by Angels. So who recorded the conversation? Presumably no human beings were sitting in on a meeting of the”sons of God.” You would think they would have been noticed.
The Devil tempting Jesus. We have a word for word dialogue, but who was there to record it?
A similar problem occurs in the New Testament when Jesus is led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. Again, whom was there? Which brave, intrepid Disciple went along to record the dialogue between Jesus and Satan? Did that Disciple eat while Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights? The account gives a verbatim dialogue between Jesus and Satan, yet there was no one present to record it.
These are basic questions you should consider when reading an account. When we go to the movies, even if it is something like “Lincoln,” what we’re viewing is an artistic re-imagining of events that the writers and producer of the movie were not present to have witnessed. We may find the movie enjoyable, thought provoking and inspiring, but we do not take it for gospel. It’s a movie. Woven into it’s very fabric is a message or depiction that the producer, writers and directors wish to portray.
Biblical Errors In The Old Testament
Genesis starts off with a bang! Physicist might call it “the Big Bang.” Nevertheless, we have an account of events which took place when there was no human being to record what actually happened or was said. Let’s look at the first two chapters of Genesis which give two mutually exclusive – if it is one way then it cannot be the other way – accounts of the creation of Man.
Happier times? Or a time that never was?
In the first chapter, Man is created on the 6th day but afterall the animals are created. Turn the page to the second chapter and you have a slightly different retelling of the creation of Man. This one is much more poetic. However, if you read it carefully, in this chapter man is created beforeall the animals are created. Indeed, the reason given for the creation of the animals is so that man will not be alone. Since it cannot have been both ways, we have a conflict or a Biblical error. Since God was the only one around, he ought to have known exactly how He did things. It seems doubtful that God would get confused as to the order of events.
Some Biblical errors fall right on top of one another. Consider the question, has anyone actually seen God? Depends on which passage you happen to be reading. In the Book of Exodus, your Bibles says that God spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. However a few verses later, Moses asks God to show him his face and God says, “no man may see my face and live.” Then to really muddy the waters, in the New Testament in John, the Bible says that “no man has seen God at any time.” So, which is it? All of these passages cannot be right. When we have mutually exclusive accounts, we have Biblical errors.
I don’t blame God. No seatbelts? No air bags? Plenty of power? A 57 Chevy can be a dangerous thing.
While perhaps not a Biblical error, there are some accounts in the Bible that are simply absurd. For instance, it turns out that God is powerless against chariots made out of iron. The Bible recounts a series of battles in which Judah was successful. It says “the Lord was with Judah.” he could drive out the inhabitants of the mountains, but not the people in the valley because they had “chariots of iron.” Thus, according to the Bible, the creator of the universe, the one who can speak worlds into existence, hang the stars in space… when it comes to iron chariots? Powerless! I wonder how he’d do against a 57 Chevy?
Biblical Prophecy
One of the things that Biblical apologist hang their hats on is Biblical prophecy. They love to declare that fulfilled prophecies prove the divine inspiration of the Bible. Are they right? Before we explore this topic let me relate a little story from the early years in my wife’s and my relationship.
Electronic bugging device
We hadn’t been together very long and we were still figuring one another out. She knew that I was a private investigator/bodyguard. She knew that I had done work for the FEDS. She also knew that I put people under surveillance for a living. These are things that she knew about my professional life.
Lange’s butcher shop. Pete Lange the owner at work. Not the shop we visited but you get the picture.
On the day in question, I accompanied her to a butcher shop. She was going to cater an event for the weekend and we were buying the meat in bulk. I sat in the car and waited while she went in to negotiate for what she needed. She was in there for quite some time. When she came out she apologized and of course began explaining. I told her not to worry. I fully understood. Then I dropped my bomb shell. I said, “well, hell! If some fool hadn’t called asking the butcher whether or not they processed deer, that hunters brought in, you would have been out of there in no time.”
Her mouth dropped open. A frown creased her face and she exclaimed, “how did you know that???” I smiled and told her, “sweetheart, you and me are so linked, all I have to do is tune into your frequency and it’s almost as if I’m right there with you.”
She wasn’t buying my paranormal explanation… at all! She immediately began going through her purse searching. I asked, “what are you looking for?”
“A bug!” “Obviously you’ve planted a bug on me.” At this point I broke out in laughter!
“A bug???” “What makes you think I’d do something like that?”
“You’re a detective. Did you plant a bug on me???” By this point I was nearly splitting my sides with laughter. Of course she didn’t see any humor in the situation in the least. From her perspective this was a trust issue.
Realizing that I’d better let her off the hook, I explained pulling out my cellphone, “I was the fool that called.” We both had a good laugh together then. The point is, she was so focused on the arcane she missed the obvious. The simplest explanation is often the most correct. No need for bugs or listening devices. I knew about the call because I was the one who had placed it.
When it comes to the Bible, we look at it as though everything was written in sequential, chronological order. Most people do not realize that the Book of Job was written before the Book of Genesis. The Book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible. Thus when you read about some prophecy and then a few chapters or books later it seems to come true, you simply accept that as proof. I could write a book predicting the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and write it such that it appeared to be a prophecy. Today we have copyrights that record publishing dates. Back then, they didn’t have this system.
Even so, contrary to popular belief, all prophecies in the Bible did not come true. Let’s look at a couple of rather startling failures.
The Prophecy Against Tyre
When it comes to unambiguous failures, this one has to be pretty high on the list. You can read about it in the 26th chapter of Ezekiel. According to Ezekiel, God is extremely angry with Tyre. He is so angry, he tells Ezekiel that he is going to utterly destroy Tyre. He really vents his spleen! Death, destruction, fire and the sword. As a matter of fact, when God gets through, Tyre will be nothing but a rock useful for drying the nets of fishermen.
First a brief description: Tyre was an ancient city that sat on an island about a half a mile off the coast of Lebanon. The walls of the city came right down to the shoreline. Thus, there was no place to land a sizeable force or set up siege engines. You had to attack it by boat and once they closed the gates, the city was easily defended. The defenders of Tyre could rain down all sorts of misery on anyone attempting to attack their city.
The prophecy against Tyre is one of the most specific prophecies you will find in your Bible. Ezekiel tells you that Nebuchadnezzar will accomplish this destruction. The great thing about this prophecy is, we can test it today. Verse 21 of the 26th Chapter of Ezekiel specifically says that so utter will the destruction of Tyre be, that it will never again be found though people search for it. That’s pretty specific. Keep that verse in mind.
Here is what actually happened. Nebuchadnezzar did attack the city. He was unable to take it and in fact went broke trying. Thus he turned his forces towards Egypt in hopes of collecting some loot. Tyre was eventually taken by none other than, Alexander of Macedon, commonly known as “Alexander the Great.” To accomplish this feat, Alexander built a half mile long causeway by throwing rocks and debris into the water, all the way out to the island. He then made a road on top of it and rolled his siege engines right up to the city gates.
This is how Alexander the Great conquered Tyre.
However, instead of utterly destroying the city and putting everyone to the sword, he did what most who are bent on world conquest did. He left a garrison, set up a governor, taxed the people and moved on. I guess if you want to rule the world, it defeats your purpose if you destroy everything in your path.
This is what it looks like today. The narrow causeway Alexander built has now become all filled in by Mother Nature and there are now houses and buildings there.
What about “never being able to find Tyre again, even if you search for it?” That part is easily testable today. We know that Jesus visited Tyre in his time and we know that the people of Tyre were causing head aches for King Herod. The final nail in the coffin? You can not only visit Tyre in Lebanon today – It’s now called Sour – but if you search the coastline in Google Maps, you can actually see the remains of the causeway Alexander built out to the little island. Is this a Biblical error? You tell me. I say it is.
Virgin Birth Prophecy
This one is a prophecy every Christian knows… possibly by “heart.” “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bare a son and shall call his name Immanuel.” You will find this prophecy in Isaiah 7:14. This passage is guaranteed to be read every Christmas in almost every Christian church. Almost every Christian agrees that this is a prophecy of Jesus’ birth given 700 years before the fact. Sounds pretty convincing doesn’t it?
Depiction of a Battle during Biblical times.
The problem is, this passage is rarely if ever read in context. It is important to ask, who was the Isaiah talking to and why was he giving the prophecy. If you read the entire passage you find that King Ahaz was worried about two armies massing on his borders in preparation to attack him. Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the king of Israel were preparing to launch a combined attack. To put things mildly, King Ahaz had a lot on his mind.
The Prophet comes to him with a message from God telling him not to worry. The message is, these two kings will not attack. Given his circumstance, you might imagine that King Ahaz didn’t really have much time for prophets. I imagine he must have smiled and nodded and clearly blew Isaiah off.
The important thing to remember is that this prophecy was for Ahaz’s time and needed to take place immediately to have any relevance. The fulfilment of this prophecy some 700 years later, wouldn’t really have proven anything or done king Ahaz any good. Thus on it’s face, this prophecy could not have been about the birth of Jesus.
Those more astute Bible scholars will note that the word “virgin” is a mistranslation. The actual word is “maiden” which of course isn’t that miraculous. Maidens conceive all the time. However there is another problem. Those two kings whom Ahaz was told would not attack? It turns out they did indeed attack. Thus we have yet another failed prophecy and of course a Biblical error.
There are numerous failed prophecies in the Bible. I have only listed a few. What about the New Testament? What about the prophecies of Jesus?
Prophecy Of The Second Coming
Every practicing Christian looks forward to the “Second Coming of Jesus.” The impending arrival of Jesus is used to drum up business for churches and win new converts. It could happen at any minute. It could happen right now.
According to the Bible, the 2nd Coming has already happened.
There is a problem with this notion. If one believes the Bible, the “Second Coming” would already have to of happened. Why do I say this. In Matthew 16:28, Jesus plainly states – to those standing around him, hearing his voice – that some of those present, will not experience death before they see him coming in his Kingdom. For the words of Jesus to be true, there would have to be some people walking around who are over 2,000 years old.
Hopefully you will agree, there are no 2,000 year old people living today. Thus if the prophecy was correct and fulfilled, This entire thing we call Christianity is moot. Jesus has already come back, got his folks and gone. Another failed prophecy and Biblical error.
Three Days and Three Nights Prophecy
Ask almost any Christian, how long was Jesus in the tomb, you get almost instantly the answer, “three days and three nights.” This comes directly from a prophecy Jesus gave concerning his death, burial and resurrection in Matthew 12:40. Jesus says, as the Prophet Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so shall the “Son of Man” be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.
If you ask them the next question; “what days of the week was Jesus crucified and resurrected on?” You’ll get the orthodox answer: “He was crucified on Good Friday and resurrected on Easter Sunday Morning. If you want to have some fun, ask them to count 3 days and 3 nights between Good Friday and Easter Sunday Morning. Can’t be done. Biblical error? Of course it is.
Some will attempt to massage the days to make the prophecy fit, however there are numerous sites that have published a comprehensive time line for the “Passion Week.” Jesus time from his entry into Jerusalem until his crucifixion is well documented.
Biblical Errors In The New Testament
While it is beyond the scope of this article to provide a comprehensive list of all the Biblical errors, let’s explore a few in the New Testament. Just as Genesis started off with a bang, so too does the Book of Matthew. This error involves simple mathematics. If you can count to 42 you can prove this error.
In the very first chapter of the Book of Matthew, a genealogy is given for Jesus. Verse 17 breaks it into 3 sets of 14 “generations.” 3 times 14 equals 42 generations between Jesus and Abraham. Since the passage lists all the generations, all you need to do is go through and count whom begat whom and see if you come up with 42. Simple enough. Simple mathematics. The problem? There are not 42 generations listed. If you don’t believe me, count for yourself.
Of course it is interesting to note, they trace Jesus’ linage through Joseph whom if you believe the “immaculate conception” was not his father. Details, details. However, we have yet another Biblical error.
While we’re on the subject of genealogies, if you think tracing your lineage back to Abraham is impressive, In the “Gospel of Luke,” Jesus’ lineage is traced all the way back to Adam! However, yet another problem appears. Who exactly was Joseph’s father/Jesus’ grandfather? In Luke, Joseph’s father was named “Heli.” In Matthew, Joseph’s father was named “Jacob.” Once again, both assertions cannot be correct. Yet another Biblical error. Confusing? Your Bible says that God is not the author of confusion.
Paul The Apostle?
Saul the persecutor of the Jesus movement, becomes Paul the Apostle… or does he?
It is interesting to note, most of the books contained in your New Testament were not written by anyone who actually met Jesus while he was living nor directly heard his teachings. They were written by a man known as Saul of Tarsus. By his own testimony his mission was to destroy “the Jesus Movement.” One might ask if his mission ever changed? But I digress. Following his “conversion” experience on the road to Damascus, He becomes a follower of Jesus, his name is changed – he becomes known as – Paul and declares himself an Apostle.
Let’s examine his accounts of his conversion experience. You’ll find them recorded in the following passages:
As always, when listening to someone relate a subjective experience, the testimony of any eyewitnesses who may have been present, is crucial. Read the 3 accounts and then answer the following questions regarding what the eyewitnesses supposedly experienced.
What did they see?
What did they hear?
What did they do? (Fall down? Stand? Nothing?)
Remember, these accounts are contained in what people – possibly you – believe to be “The Word of God.” Since Paul is relating each account, one might think he would be able to keep his story straight?
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” __Mark Twain
Paul seems to have a problem with keeping his stories straight. Another example of this problem is in what I call, “Paul’s Great Escape.” You may recall the story of some people coming to get Paul and him being let down in a basket by a rope and making his escape? You’ll find these accounts in the following passages.
It is important to remember, these are not spur of the moment accounts, told right after the event when the adrenaline is flowing. These are writtenaccounts that were carefully thought out, composed and then transcribed letter by letter. In the first account of “Paul’s Great Escape,” it is some evil Jews who were out to murder him. However in the second account, we are told it was a civil matter and people were seeking his arrest. Since it cannot be both ways, once again we have a Biblical error.
It Is Worse Than You Know
It turns out, that there are actually more errors in the New Testament than there are words in the New Testament. Many people simply assume that Jesus spoke Elizabethan English. It is easy to forget that Jesus actually spoke Aramaic. The problem? The earliest surviving texts are allwritten in Greek. Thus, textually, we begin at least one generation removed. There is what Jesus, the Apostles may have actually said or did and then what people wrote down and reported them as having said or done.
Dr. Bart Ehrman. Head of the theology department of Chapel Hill University.
Those who would have actually been eyewitnesses, would have written about it – those few who could actually read and write – in Aramaic. Those texts are lost to time. What came next were the Greek translations of these unknown and unreviewable texts. We do not have the first generation Greek texts. What we have are copies of copies of copies, on and on and on of these texts. Each one transcribed a letter at a time by various unknown Scribes. Did they make any errors? Of course they did. Dr. Bart Ehrman gives an excellent explanation. Here is a 10 minute segment of a presentation on this subject.
You cannot make the argument that God performed the miracle of giving man his written word and then did not perform the second miracle of preserving that written word. The first miracle is meaningless without the second.
To deal with allthe Biblical errors would require a several volume set of rather lengthy books. If you’ve made it thus far, you have some idea of how long such an undertaking might be. There are numerous other contradictions and flat out scientifically verifiable factual errors in the Bible. For instance, when Jesus was being tempted by the Devil in the wilderness and he’s taken to a very high point where heis shown all the kingdoms of the Earth,this would only be possible if the Earth were flat. Since God surely knows the absurdity of such a claim, it is highly doubtful that He would have been involved with the dissemination of a factually inaccurate account. You can go to the moon and you will not be able to see the complete surface of the Earth.
Conclusion
All you need is to agree that any one Biblical error exists. Once you find just one, you have to admit there may be others. Thus you really do not know what actually was said or done. I suspect the ultimate irony is, the Bible it’s self tells you that it is not the Word of God. Simply read the very first chapter of the Gospel of John. You are told that the Word of God is not a book or a collection of books. The question is, do you really believe your Bible?
Humanity has been a work in progress. Within our DNA we carry the history of human evolution. It is ironic that those who purport to know so much about the moment life begins, are usually profoundly ignorant, or simply ignore the graphic and irrefutable evidence of embryonic development. Those who have studied fetal development have noted the stages of human evolution displayed at the various stages of development.
Within each human being there exists the reptilian brain upon which the higher functioning brain sections reside.
At an early point we look like the first “Lung Fish” that crawled up on to dry land from the primordial seas. We have gills which shrink, become vestigial and eventually disappear. We have tails which shorten and are absorbed and become our lower spines. These are the gross stages which can be observed as we develop. Similarly, our brains develop in stages. However, instead of the early prototype brain being absorbed or changing… it is still present in every human being. Although it serves it’s purpose, I propose that the more evolved a person becomes, the less prevalent that purpose in day to day human interactions.
Why The Reptilian Brain?
At one time in human evolution, millions of years ago before we became primates, our survival depended upon, finding something to eat, knowing how and when to defend ourselves or fight, knowing when to flee danger and of course, procreation. This was the sum total of our existence. We still see this behavior in crocodilians today.
Finding food while NOT becoming food was crucial. The Reptilian portion of our brains made this possible.
To find food you have to be able to learn to recognize food. Pattern recognition is critical. In Africa there are rivers where wildebeest cross at certain times of the year during their migrations. Without the ability to tell time or know dates on the calender, crocodiles gather at these sites at the appointed time to get a meal. They have learned to recognize patterns and thus, they collectively engage in what might well be considered a feeding ritual.
Except when mating or engaging in a group feeding ritual, adult crocodiles are extremely territorial. There are reasons for this. A crocodile doesn’t want any competitors poaching in it’s territory. When it comes to mating, the issues are similar. The bigger, stronger males are the ones who pass their genes on to the next generation. For the reptilian brain, that is what it’s all about.
Reptilian Brain In Humans
The reptilian part of the human brain contributes in varying degrees to common forms of human behavior. Obsessive-Compulsive behavior has it’s root in the reptilian part of the human brain. Rituals, mysticism and superstition – religion – also has it’s root in the reptilian part of the human brain. It is interesting that in many religious traditions, serpents figure heavily. Conformity, adherence to traditions, reticence to break out a mold or rut and all forms of deception are the product of the reptilian part of our brain.
Most married couples didn’t meet in a Bar. Yet, this hunting preserve is idolized by the reptilian brain in the human mating ritual.
Whereas on the one hand, the reptilian part of our brain tends to simplify things in as much as once you’ve found something that works, why change it? On the other hand, when some pattern of behavior or some approach becomes obsolete, it is that reptilian portion of our brain that impedes progress by making it difficult to adapt and adopt a new sequence of behavior which may be more productive. Take a fisherman for example who has success at a particular fishing hole. He will return to that spot frequently. Even though the fish he catches get smaller, fewer and further between, he will continue to fish his spot and simply chalk it up to the fish not biting.
When you hear the expression, “creature of habit,” that is the reptilian brain at work. Don’t get me wrong, the reptilian portion of our brains has made profound contributions to our survival. However, it will only take us so far. Our ability to adapt and change to new circumstances and situations has been even more important. You may have relied on agriculture as a food source, but when the ice age hit, you had to be able to become a hunter. You may have had to relocate to a warmer latitude. Those who were unwilling to adapt to new circumstances, didn’t make it.
Reptilian Thinking In The GOP.
Michael Steele – The first Black chairman of the Republican National Committee. Elected to this position immediately following the election of President Obama. He actually did an excellent job.
One of the most remarkable things about President Obama’s presidency – other than revealing the latent racism that still exists in our nation – was, it has almost been like an MRI on how Republicans think, operate and sell their agenda to their faithful. When President Obama was elected, for the first time in history the Republicans elected a Black person – Michael Steele – to be chairman of the RNC. It was almost… no, it was exactlylike they said, “we need a Black guy too!”
Notice the mysticism and superstition contained in their decision? In their minds, they were beaten by a “Black Man,” so what did they do? They rushed out and got themselves one hoping to counter President Obama. Did they think the Democrats had their own “Black Magic” and they needed “Black Magic” of their own to counteract the spell? Sound silly? Perhaps. However, when you look at the racism that has flowed from the Republicans since the election of President Obama, what else could it be?
Their reptilian thinking has created what can only be called a reptilian agenda or strategy. Even though Michael Steele actually did an excellent job, he won back the House of Representatives, increased the number of Republican governors and made advances in the Senate, he had to go because he was different. He wasn’t like them. He didn’t fit the standard Republican pattern. This adherence to patterns is another symptom of the reptilian brain at work.
Mysticism And Superstition
This piece of wisdom, written by Kentucky High School teacher Kendra Baker, greeted her students when they came to class. It was written at the top of her “white board.”
The Republicans in this past election appealed to the “Religious Right” like never before. Franklin Graham came out and endorsed a Mormon over a Christian. In all his years, meeting with Presidents from both parties, Billy Graham, Franklin’s father neverendorsed a Presidential candidate. Televangelist were out in force. Pat Robertson, Kenneth Copeland, John Hagee to name but a few, were warning of God’s judgement should President Obama be re-elected. They did everything they could to drive their faithful into voting Republican. You could have called it, “The God Wants You To Vote Republican Campaign.”
Elections??? God’s too busy protecting those crazy Appalachian Snake Handlers… Or NOT!! Turns out one of their Pastors died… you guessed it. He got bit by one of those snakes who’d simply had enough!
Clearly there is no deity, all powerful or otherwise, who is the least bit concerned with our elections. If one presupposes an all powerful God who takes an interest in human political affairs, it also follows that there is nothing we as humans could do to change or prevent whatever outcome He/She/It has already pre-ordained. You cannot out vote God. If you could, then God wouldn’t be much of a God now would he? Yet because of this Reptilian form of reasoning, millions of people believe that their God is somehow interested in and watching their vote. Doesn’t God already know how everyone is going to vote and who is going to win any and every election? If those results were contrary to His purpose, wouldn’t God change things?
Obeisance To Precedent
If you will remember, in 2000 when George Bush ran for President, his chief opponent in the GOP primaries was none other than John McCain. Their battle actually became quite nasty. The allegation was floated that John McCain had a “Black Baby.” The truth was, he and his wife, Cindy McCain had adopted a little girl from a Bangladesh orphanage run by Mother Teresa. They named her Bridget and of course she had dark skin.
Once racist smell blood in the water, they won’t let it go. The dirty tricks of Karl Rove came back to haunt John McCain and his family in 2004. Below the picture is a bumper sticker showing Bridget with Sarah Palin’s special needs child.
This whispering campaign started by Karl Rove was executed in the form of a phony telephone poll. The question was asked, “would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain if you knew he had fathered a Black child out of wedlock?” Note, they never said he did, but the implication was there and it appealed to the latent racism inherent in the Republican Party. All they had to do was notice the little dark skinned girl out with him on campaign stops and put two and two together and of course… reach the wrong conclusion, but it was the conclusion Karl Rove and company wanted them to reach.
Personally? There are certain lines you simply cannot cross with me. When you target my children, you’ve made an enemy for life. Not only did the Bush campaign attack John McCain’s children, they put forward the suggestion that Cindy McCain was a drug addict and that John McCain had left his crippled first wife for Cindy.
In 2004, when Bush was running for his 2nd term, his opponent was John Kerry. Prior to picking Senator John Edwards as a running mate, there was this notion of a dream ticket floating around. That ticket would have involved the unprecedented combination of a Democratic Presidential candidate with a Republican Vice Presidential running mate. Whom was this supposed running mate being whispered around? None other than Senator John McCain. After the outright nastiness of George Bush, Karl Rove and the Republican Party with their personal attacks on McCain’s wife and children, there were signs that John McCain was growing increasingly disenchanted with the GOP. In my opinion, this unprecedented combination of a Democrat and a Republican running together would have been an unbeatable ticket.
Some when selling their soul to the Devil, sign their contracts with their own blood. Others do it with a hug.
Clearly someone in the Bush campaign must have come to a similar conclusion. John McCain was called to a meeting. The end result was at a rally in Florida, he came on stage with George W. Bush and gave him the hug that shocked the American political system. At that point, I lost all respect for John McCain and saw him for what he truly was. A man who would sell his soul for political gain. In hugging Bush, he became the anointed one to run at the head of the GOP ticket in the next election. Which is exactly what he did, and with the blessings of the GOP.
Responding to Partial Representations
President Ronald Reagan
The deification of Ronald Reagan is an excellent example of responding to partial representations. When you ask Republicans why they’re so enamoured with Ronald Reagan, you’ll get very similar results no matter whom you’re asking. “He defeated the Soviet Union and won the ‘Cold War.'” “He was the great communicator.” Some who are more sophisticated politically might say, he made America stronger by increasing military spending.
What you won’t hear about is, he ended the “Windfall Profits Tax” on the oil companies that kept oil prices under control. You won’t hear that he cut funding to education, enacted policies to end collective bargaining and break up unions or that he broke up the air traffic controllers union. Indeed, many of the problems we’re facing today have their genesis in the Reagan administration. Even as bad as I think Ronald Reagan was, if he were running for President today on the GOP ticket, he could never make it past the TEA Party. He was too much of a moderate by today’s standards.
Did he defeat the Soviet Union? Depends on how you look at it. By increasing military spending, he forced the Soviets to try and keep up. He in essence caused them to spend themselves into oblivion. He may have done the same to us. It has just taken longer for us to collapse. Under Ronald Reagan, our national debt took off like a sky rocket. Where were all the Republicans back then? No talk of saddling our children and grandchildren with debt. As certain Jews are supposed to have said when Pontius Pilate said of Jesus, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person.” “let his blood be on us and our children.” So then did the Republicans say, let this debt be on us and our children.
Today however, the story is a bit different. Now that the Democrats are in charge and oh my GOD! They’ve elected a Black President, the Republicans have suddenly become concerned with the debt on the national credit card! Would have been nice if they’d shown some concern before we put two wars on it without the least concern for budgeting.
All Manner Of Deception
“Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
This last election was simply a symphony of deception brought to us by the Republican Party and their propaganda machine. Rather than increase their chances of winning, in the end it doomed them miserably. I do believe the lie that drove the final nail into Mitt Romney’s coffin was his lie about Jeep being moved to China. That was simply a bridge too far. When the Automotive Executives from both GM and Chrysler took out full page ads calling him a liar, he was finished. Like a beheaded chicken, he was still flopping around, but he was dead.
“Mitt Romney is like a well lubed weather vane.” __Jon Huntsman
Mitt Romney’s Strategy? Lie his way to the White House. Results? FAIL!
The thing about Mitt Romney, is he would lie when the truth would have done just fine. So immersed was he in his reptilian brain, he simply forgot about or ignored the fact that anyone with access to the Internet, could pull up a video tape of him taking a position exactly opposite to whichever position he was putting forth at the time. You almost wanted to scream at the television and say, “YOU KNOW WE HEARD YOU SAY JUST THE OPPOSITE LAST WEEK???” Mitt Romney’s campaign redefined surrealism. I should have known when he said, “he was a severely conservative Republican Governor…” we were in for one helluva ride!
Massachusetts is a liberal State with “moderate” leanings. A “severe conservative” couldn’t get past the primaries let alone actually become governor. However, once we cut all ties to the truth, one can say anything I suppose.
In true reptilian fashion, the Republicans dusted off the exact same attacks they used against President Obama in the last election. They worked so well of course? We heard again that he was born in Kenya, he was a secret Muslim, he was a socialist. I suppose no one ever told them that embracing Islam which is theocratic and embracing socialism, is rather hard to do. But hey! It sounds good as a smear.
WARNING!!! Viewing can be hazardous to higher cognitive functioning.
The Republicans kept their televisions tuned to FOX and their radios tuned to Rush Limbaugh and of course they had no clue as to what was happening in the “real world!” You know? The one the rest of us live in? Like one big liars club, they lied to themselves over and over until they all believed it. I personally cannot watch FOX for more than 30 seconds. FOX kills brain cells and I have none I’m willing to part with.
The Clown Prince of Republican Propaganda!
Rush Limbaugh is on the radio almost everyday peddling the same worn out lies like a mother bird feeding her baby birds their daily dose of worms. Just like baby birds Republicans squawked with their mouths agape until they got their fix. One lie after the other. No basis in reality. In many cases, no basis in logic. Here’s an example. The Republican platform claims to be “pro-life.” They’re really pro-fetus. Why? Because they’re absolutely against any of the programs that give an impoverished child a shot at having a productive and successful life. They’re against welfare, WIC, food stamps, head start programs, funding early childhood education, you name it. By all means, have the baby… but once it gets here, you’re on your own!
It seems to me to be a no-brainer, if you want to cut down on abortions, you need to make access to contraception freely available. But no! Not our Republican party! If you give women access to contraceptives, they just might have sex for – oh my gosh! – FUN! Can’t have any of that! Again, no logic.
The depth of their deception was clearly evident in the run up to this election. Republican pollsters were predicting a blow out for Mitt Romney. Everybody who watched FOX News was supremely confident that Mitt Romney was going to win by a large margin. Mitt Romney was so confident, he hadn’t even prepared a concession speech. He was simply awaiting his coronation.
Not only did he lose, he lost by a larger margin than the win FOX News had been predicting. This is what happens when reptilian thinking meets up with a society that requires and demands higher brain functioning. The paradigm shifts so much that adaptation is required. Billionaires threw good money after bad on the theory – it used to be true – that money can buy an election. They were wrong. The paradigm has shifted. Voter suppression efforts that had been so successful in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s didn’t work. The paradigm has shifted. The “dog whistle” pitched messages of racism and “States Rights” that had proved so successful in the past, didn’t work. The paradigm has shifted. To the Republicans I say, IT IS TIME TO EVOLVE… or become extinct. I’d be happy either way.
Those of us who’ve been paying attention to our electoral process have noticed some very disturbing trends and subsequent anomalies. I am probably giving some indication of my age, but I grew up in the era of real voting booths, curtains, tabs and levers.
One of the most important levers you will ever pull.
I remember as a child holding my mother’s hand in a voting booth and watching her flip the little tabs and then pull the lever which opened the curtains and registered her vote. My personal belief is that all parents should take their children to vote with them. It is good training and exposes them at an early age to the most important of our civic responsibilities.
I am not a technophobe. I fully appreciate progress and the role technology plays. Our population is growing, more and more people are voting and we still expect to know the outcomes of our elections on election night. The notion that we could count these votes by hand and still have timely results has become an unreachable proposition.
Enter Computers
Using computers to record and count the votes makes receiving timely results easy. If properly deployed, you could know the final count from any precinct the moment the last person in line votes. Computers are machines, they’re non-partisan and they’re extremely efficient crunching numbers.. or are they?
Computer Scientist Ed Felton uncovering a computer flaw in a New Jersey voting computer.
The facts are, computers have vulnerabilities too. For one, they will do whatever they’re programmed to do. If the person programming them is partisan, computers can be programmed to return partisan results. Computers can also be hacked. They can be given a virus which rewrites their code. I can look at another human being and tell if something is wrong with them. They may appear feverish, sluggish, their speech may be slurred, their eyes may be red. There are thousands of subtle signs we pick up allowing us to know that one of our fellow human beings is just not right. Computers? Not so much.
A computer can be programmed to switch votes to any candidate a programmer, hacker or virus writer chooses and the persons casting their votes would be none the wiser. In many jurisdictions which have now gone to all electronic voting, they have also passed laws mandating the destruction of the paper trail. Those places that use paper ballots where you darken in a circle beside your choice, feed them into an optical scanner, many of those jurisdictions have passed laws mandating the immediate destruction of the paper ballots. The question is why?
Hacking Democracy
This has always been the hard reality of democracy.
In the words of Joseph Stalin, “those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.” The way things work today is, you cast your vote either using a “touch screen” computer system or a paper ballot you’ve filled out and fed through an optical scanner. At the end of voting those electronic votes are sent over the internet to a central computer where the votes from all the precincts are tabulated and the election results are published.
Sounds simple enough. However, there are problems. As I’ve pointed out, what if some or all of the precinct computers… or, for that matter, the main frame computer doing the final tabulations gets hacked or gets a virus? What if the data is intercepted and changed while being transmitted to the central computer?
Manufacturers of these voting systems have gone to great lengths to assure the public of the security of their systems.They have lied! Bev Harris of Black Box Voting.Org has gone to great lengths to highlight and document these problems. No matter whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Liberal, Libertarian or Independent, your vote matters and your vote should count. Our democracy is no stronger than the confidence our citizens have in our electoral process. How difficult is hacking some of our voting machines? Would you believe me if I told you it was so easy a Chimpanzee could do it?
If this disturbs you? It damn well should! What Baxter the Chimp just did was edit or alter the audit log on a Diebold GEMS voting system. Why is this important? According to Diebold for one, this is supposed to be impossible. Clearly a flat out lie. For two, this is one of their security selling points. They claim that should anyone attempt to alter the results of the votes, it would be caught in their audit log. Thus if you could edit the audit log, you can go in and change votes at will, then go back to the audit log and delete any evidence that you’d done anything. Think, stealing the “Hope Diamond” and replacing it with a cubic zirconium replica. The guards, the people filing by the display case would never know the difference.
The Man In The Middle Attack
Suppose you and I were working for an advertising agency and we were competing for the same client. However, unbeknown to you, I had hacked both the email account of the client and your email account. Not only could I read the mail going back and forth between you, I could intercept it and change it.
Bilateral communication between the server and the victim is actually being routed through a third party, unbeknown to either of them.
Imagine if the client sent an e-mail inviting you to a lunch meeting at “Joe’s Bistro” at 1pm. I intercept his e-mail and change the time to 3pm. You get an email you believe to be from the client inviting you to a luncheon meeting at 3pm. I show up at 1pm, close the deal and steal the client. You show up at 3pm and of course, the client is not there. This is a minor variant of the “Man In The Middle” attack. It is very powerful and difficult to detect.
Now let’s apply this to electronic voting. Suppose I have a server set up in… I don’t know, let’s say Tennessee. I hack into your voting system and reroute all precinct votes to my server in Tennessee where I massage them and then send them on to your “voting central” computers. You believe you’re getting them directly from your precincts when in truth, they’re coming from my servers in Tennessee.
The beauty of this approach is, I don’t have to hack any of your voting machines. I merely have to hack into your network or your routers. In so doing, I’ve compromised all the computers in your network from a safe distance and if I do it right, I’m going to be difficult to detect and trace. Has anything like this ever happened? As it turns out, yes it has. There is evidence it happened in 2004. Thom Hartmann gives a very clear presentation on his radio progam.
Those of us who remember watching the election returns back in 2004, may recall that fateful night when it appeared that Kerry was winning. Then suddenly the numbers shifted and the news agencies calling the election simply attributed the sudden change in numbers, to uncounted precincts dumping their numbers all at once. We had no idea that the servers had gone offline for better than 60 seconds. Some of us, had we known, may have become suspicious back then.
Did Karl Rove Try To Steal The 2012 Elections?
I thought about this one long and hard… well, for about 10 minutes, before the evidence convinced me. I was not at all surprised by the election results because I do not get my news from Fox News, and I follow Nate Silver’s 538 blog. Nate has been the most accurate pollster out there for the past several election cycles. If I know this, Karl Rove and the rest of the Republican political strategist certainly know it as well. This brings me to my first point.
Come to find out, on the night of the election, Mitt Romney had not even prepared a concession speech. Yes, I know everybody believes they will win, however prudence demands that we prepare for all eventualities. You cannot become successful in business and rise to the top of the corporate arena without understanding fully how to implement a “Plan B” in the event your first plan doesn’t pan out.
It bothered me that Mitt Romney was so sure of winning what in his own words, he admitted would be an extremely close race, yet he did not prepare a concession speech. This really surprised me. Did he know something, none of the rest of us knew?
When I saw Karl Rove begin stuttering and disputing the election results for Ohio, this clinched it for me. There were two things to note about this. The first is, Mr. Rove seemed to have no problem with the returns in Florida or any of the other States for that matter. Why Ohio? As it turns out, President Obama could have lost both Ohio and Florida and still won the election. Given these facts, why would Mr. Rove nearly lose his composure over Ohio? If everything is fair and in the hands of the voters, why would you dispute the results unless, you believed you had some form of control over those results? Perhaps the truth is finally coming out?
Enter The Hacker Group Anonymous
There exists a group of elite hackers who goes by the name “Anonymous.” Nobody knows who they are. They seem to be distributed world wide so nobody knows where they are. The term “Hacktivist” was invented for Anonymous. It is beyond the scope of this piece to regale you with tales of their exploits, but suffice it to say, they’ve got skillz!
After the election, the following letter was released, presumably from the group, “Anonymous.”
This is a letter supposedly released by Anonymous following the elections explaining what they did and why.
Our Elections Affect The World
Whom we elect to the office of President of these United States, affects the World. Is there any doubt had Al Gore prevailed and George W. Bush not been appointedPresident by a U.S. Supreme Court, stacked by his daddy or if John Kerry had been elected, that our world would be different? With intelligent, competent leadership from a United States President, we would not have had an economic meltdown. Our housing market would not have crashed, causing world wide repercussions.
The integrity of our electoral process is not just of concern to each United States Citizen, our election outcomes also affect the rest of the world. Did Anonymous protect our elections? Personally, I believe they did. They identified the problem in advance, – October 22, 2012 – they posted a YouTube video announcing their intentions to prevent any attempted election fraud.
We know the night of the election, Mitt Romney and his wife Ann were nearly in “shell shock.” If I didn’t know that Mormons abstain from liquor, I would have bet that Ann Romney had one drink too many. I base this on the way she was moving when she finally joined Mitt on stage that night. She had that doe in the headlights look in her eyes.
Mitt had the foresight to have his transition website up and running, but no concession speech? Really? That showed a supreme amount of confidence in what should have been an unknowable outcome. When you add in Karl Rove’s reaction to losing Ohio, it all fits the claims of Anonymous. Karl Rove thought he was flipping a coin with two heads. He was smug as he called “heads.” When the coin came up tails, you could have bought him for a penny.
I am not a religious man, but in this instance I will have to say, “thank God for Anonymous.” I’m glad they were flying cyber- cover for this election. In a democracy, we say that people get the government they deserve. That is only true if their elections are untainted. Getting a government I deserve, I can live with. Getting a government given to me, is intolerable.
My Open Response To An Open Letter To Black Evangelicals
by Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.
I recently came across a letter by Dr. Michael L. Brown. It was entitled, “An Open Letter To My Black Evangelical Friends.” Dr. Brown is a “converted” Jew who is on a mission to lead other Jews into accepting Jesus as their Messiah. Dr. Brown holds a B.A. in the Hebrew language and a Ph.D in Near Eastern languages and literature. He has written a number of books.
Those who know me may be wondering why I as a Devout Agnostic would take the time to respond to Dr. Brown’s letter. Well, for 30 years of my life I was an “Evangelical” and as it turns out, I happen to be Black. Without further ado, I present Dr. Brown’s letter.
I am not writing this letter to accuse but rather to advance understanding. And even though I am white, I am not writing as an outsider but as a fellow evangelical, part of the same spiritual family. May I pose some candid questions?
Are you guilty, on any level, of blind allegiance to the Democratic party? And, on Election Day, did any of you compromise your convictions out of racial solidarity?
I have been very open in my criticism of white evangelicals, pointing out how we often put our trust in the Republican party and how we look to the latest candidate as some kind of political savior, only to be disappointed time and time again, complaining that the Republicans wanted our votes but did not stand up for our values. “We won’t get fooled again,” we say, only to repeat the same cycle four years later.
On Election Day morning, I posted an article entitled “A Warning to Moral Conservatives,” raising concerns that if Mitt Romney was elected, we would be making a grave mistake in looking to him to advance our moral and social agenda. I even wrote an article in June entitled “Mitt Romney Is Not the Answer,” and I often told my evangelical radio listeners that I would not argue with them if they could not vote for Romney because he was a Mormon. So, I do understand black Christian reticence towards Romney (for these reasons, among others).
I simply do not understand how my black evangelical friends who so staunchly oppose same-sex “marriage” and who stand against abortion could cast their vote for the most radically pro-abortion, pro-gay-activist president in our history.
Was there no moral compromise involved in voting for him? Are there no issues that could disqualify him in your eyes? And must Barack Obama be elected and then reelected in order to make up for past injustices, as one black evangelical woman claimed?
In the last few months, black Christian leaders came on my radio show to express their disapproval of the president’s policies, urging their parishioners not to vote for him (without endorsing Romney). And in a recent article, my colleague Bishop Harry Jackson went as far as to say that, “President Obama has become a personality akin to the biblical figure ‘Ishmael’ for the African-American community instead of the ‘child of promise’ we had hoped for. In a nutshell, he has attempted to create a new, unbiblical standard of social justice that promotes abortion, same-sex marriage, a distrust of Israel, and a diminishing of religious liberties.”
Yet when it came to time to vote, the same percentage of black Americans who voted for Obama in 2008 did so again in 2012 (roughly 95%). How can this be? Again, I am not attacking, I am inquiring.
And I am not the only one inquiring. I have been receiving emails and calls from other African American evangelicals asking these same questions.
More disturbingly, some of these black Christians have told me that they have been cut off from family, friends, church members, and even pastors because they opposed the reelection of President Obama. To ask again, how can this be?
One black pastor explained to me that he is convinced that “many African American believers compromised God’s Word during the election in the name of Obama Care and social program such as foods stamps etc.” Is there any truth to this?
If so—and again, I am asking, not accusing—this is not only wrong, it misguided, since Democratic policies have hardly advanced the economic well-being of black America. As noted by Congressman Allen West, “Since 2007, black median household income has declined by 11 percent—the largest decline of all major racial and ethnic groups … In 2011, the poverty rate among black Americans was 27.5 percent. The poverty rate among blacks living in families headed by women is 41 percent.”
To be sure, Republicans have done little to win the confidence of black Americans, and I understand the history of distrust in recent decades. But does this justify the overwhelming black allegiance to the Democratic party?
According to the BlackDignity.org website, “A black baby is three times more likely to be aborted [than] a white baby.” (The BlackGenocide.org website claims the figure is substantially higher; that website should be visited.)
BlackDignity.org also reports that, “Twice as many African-Americans have died from abortion than have died from AIDS, accidents, violent crimes, cancer, and heart disease combined.” And today, in New York City, 60% percent of black babies suffer the fate of abortion, never to see the light of day.
Does it trouble you, my black evangelical friends, that the Democratic platform, not to mention the Democratic National Convention, was almost a celebration of abortion?
In 2008, I warned my listeners that Mr. Obama, if elected, would support the goals of gay activism, including redefining marriage, but many listeners did not believe me. Now that President Obama has actually abused the teaching and example of Jesus to advocate same-sex “marriage,” how could you vote for him again?
One caller to my program on Monday told me candidly that he was shaking in the voting booth, knowing that he couldn’t support President Obama’s pro-abortion, pro-gay-activist policies. Yet, he confessed, he voted for him because he was black.
Was he alone in doing so? Again, I am not accusing. I am only asking.
Michael Brownis the author of The Real Kosher Jesus and the host of the nationally syndicated talk radio show The Line of Fire on the Salem Radio Network. He is also president of FIRE School of Ministry and director of the Coalition of Conscience.
My Response
First of all, I find Dr. Brown’s concern heart warming, and highly suspicious. Black people are only 13% of the population. Not all Black people are “Evangelicals.” When you drill down even further, yes President Obama received better than 93% of the Black votes, you must remember that not 100% of the Black population voted or is even eligible to vote. Census data includes everybody, including children.
Thus, for some peculiar reason, Dr. Brown finds himself not only concerned but feels compelled to address his concerns to an extremely small subset of society. I love his rhetorical flourish wherein he claims to be “one of us.” When did that happen? I do make a point of knowing the people sitting around my dinner table. He doesn’t look familiar. If in fact he was a “family member” he would not be asking the questions he is asking.”Advancing understanding” is a euphemism for setting us Black Folk straight, by bestowing upon us his version of the proper understanding.
Blind Allegiance And Racial Solidarity
Here revealed, are his real concerns. Frankly? I find this highly offensive… and it is racist! What he is really saying is that we poor Black folk – Evangelicals in particular – are blind. We are limited in our vision and understanding. We poor Black folk don’t know what’s best for us and Bless God! Deliverance has come! A converted Jew is going to lead us into that promised land! Hallelujah! NOT!
Too add insult to injury, we’re voting for President Obama merely because we’re Black and he’s Black. Did white Evangelicals vote for Mitt Romney merely because he’s white? Well, truth be told, most of them did!
Hypocrisy
In an effort to rehabilitate his argument, Dr. Brown really puts his foot in it. In classic polemic style, he endeavors to strike a balance by declaring that he warned the white Evangelicals against believing that the Republican party would advance their goals or that Romney would support their aims. This smoke screen is a false equivalence. Why? It lacks the interjection of race. It is like that spoonful of sugar to make his rather bitter medicine go down. Look! I made similar claims about Romney and the Republicans! Actually? No you didn’t! A similar claim would be asking if they were voting Republican and voting for Romney because he’s white? Those words did not pass his lips and the presumptuous assumption – though unstated – is that white people are above voting for a candidate based entirely on his color.
Abortion, Gay Marriage, Activism And Other Nonsense
The mantra that President Obama is the most activist, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage President in history is a claim made out of either ignorance or intentional mendacity. Roe v. Wade has been a Constitutionally protected law since 1973. On Inauguration day in 2008, we and the entire world watched as President Barack Hussein Obama, placed his hand atop a Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States.
The Constitution does not define marriage but it does call for equality under the law. Today there are laws forbidding discrimination on the basis of race, creed, gender and sexual orientation. These are the laws President Obama swore to uphold and this is exactly what he’s doing. He could have ended DADT with an executive order. He did not. He allowed it to work it’s way through the congressional process
Clearly Dr. Brown needs to take a refresher on basic civics. He should have learned how our government works when he was back in high school. Presidents sign Bills into law – or they veto them – afterthey are presented to him by the United States congress. Activist? One of the main complaints from the “Left” was that President Obama was not out selling either his programs or his accomplishments. While the “right” has been calling him an activist without citing examples, the “left” has been complaining that he has not been activist enough! Know what that means? He’s probably got it just about right!
Please do not come crying to the Black Community about your abortion problem. Yes, that’s right! It is your problem. White people, Evangelical or otherwise haven’t given a damn about Black people since we’ve been here. Our roots in this country go back to 1619. How far back do yours go? One half of my family was here to greet the Pilgrims, the other half was brought over as cargo. We have a long an ugly history when it comes to our interactions with white people.
The only religious institution that took a principled stand on the abortion issue from the very beginning was the Catholic Church. They were against it from day one. The Protestant faiths, uttered not a peep until the “bean counters” did a study in the mid 80’s and discovered two things that shocked them.
More white babies were being aborted than any other race.
By 2050 white people would become a minority in the USA.
It was then that all hell broke loose! I was there sitting on the front row when Jerry Falwell’s “Moral Majority” was brought on board with Dobson’s “Focus on the Family,” The Schaefers, both Francis and Franky, to crank up the religious opposition to abortions. For 10 years not a peep. Then overnight, abortions became the sin of our nation.
I know abortions came from the Eugenics Movement of Nazi Germany. Margaret Sanger, the founder of “Planned Parenthood” was a fan of the Eugenics movement and fully supported the reducing of what they called the “undesirables” in society. When abortions became legal, clinics began popping up in minority/Black and depressed communities all around the country. You never find an abortion clinic or a Planned Parenthood office in an affluent/white community. This isn’t by accident. This is by design. What they never counted on was the fact that white women would go wherever they had to for abortion services.
I actually break all of this down at length in my piece on Abortion Myth-Direction. You’ll have to pardon my schadenfruede. When people create a program designed for my genocide and it backfires and gets them instead? Yeah, I’m going to smile and probably feel pretty good about it.
The Mendacity of Dr. Brown’s position is further buttressed by his ignoring of the Republican positions on what we do to preserve life after it gets here. Let’s call a spade a spade. What this things is all about, is forcing white women to get pregnant and have more babies. In essence lets turn them into breeders…in Jesus’ name amen! Why do I say this? Look at what they’re now taking issue with. Birth control? If your issue is with decreasing the number of abortions, making access to birth control readily available is a no-brainer! But of course abortion is only half of their problem. What they really want is to get the white birthrate up. Good luck! Black people, Evangelical or otherwise are not going to become the tip of your spear in the war to preserve a white majority in this country. Not going to happen.
Theological Implications
Let us be frank. The Bible says that the hope of the hypocrite shall perish. It is the very height of hypocrisy to promote the theory that God is sovereign and in control, to pray that his will be done in this election and them to throw a tantrum because things didn’t go your way. Have you stopped to consider, perhaps the problem is, you’renoton God’s side? Either God is in control or he is not. Of course, I could be getting this all wrong and perhaps you believe that Black people are more powerful than God and that we – our 13% – can thwart the very will of God merely by voting. I begin to understand all the voter suppression attempts we had to endure just to cast our votes.
The deeper issue is the fact, Dr. Brown and other Evangelicals believe the Government should be used to enforce their beliefs on a secular public. They are really admitting that the Church has failed in it’s mission and probably ought to be allowed to wither into oblivion. We do not live under a theocracy and it is not nor should it ever be the Governments responsibility to support the ideology of any religious institution. Yet we see religious institutions fighting tooth and nail to seize governmental power and bend the government into alignment with their particular brand of theology.
The fact abortions are legal doesn’t mean you have to get one. I could fly to Las Vegas tonight and spend the evening at a legal brothel. It is legal and I certainly have the means to do so. I am happily married and I have no desire to do so. The fact that it is legal doesn’t mean I have to do it.
In the Bible, Jesus said, “if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.” Was Jesus lying? If not, then the Church must not be lifting him up. It is not the Government’s job to lead people to Christ, that’s the Church’s job. Preachers get paid a lot of money – dare I say too much money – to now be whining about the Government. We did not elect a “Pastor in Chief.” We voted for and elected an “Commander in Chief!” Don’t get it twisted!
While we’re on the subject of theology… I noticed no where in Dr. Brown’s polemic where he actually addressed the problems with Mormonism.
Galatians 1:8
King James Version (KJV)
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Perhaps Black Evangelicals refused to vote for the Mormon because they know their Bibles better than Dr. Brown does? Perhaps they take issue with a candidate who is a Bishop in a church that taught for years, Black skin is a curse from God. Perhaps they couldn’t vote for the Mormon because they do not believeGod came down and had physical sex with Mary to create Jesus. Perhaps Black Evangelicals do not believe that Jesus and Lucifer are brothers. The irony is, Christianity was forced onto African Slaves. Now their descendants believe in it and practice it more devoutly than the hypocrites who forced it on them originally.
by Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.
There are powerful forces at work here. It is time to pull our collective heads from the sand and ask why some group deems it necessary that the American people be disarmed and defenseless. What do they have planned for us? When you follow the money, you will find that it flows to Europe. There are forces that are determined to create a one world Government. George Herbert Walker Bush let slip when he mentioned “The New World Order.” What’s wrong with the current “World Order?” Why do we need a new one?
