May 30, 2011

Netanyahu: The Tail That is Wagging the American Dog!



Regarding the Jerkweed Prime Minister of Israel: Tear down that wall Mr. Netanyahu!


I heard someone say,that dogs will take it out of one place, and stick it in another without washing it off. And that makes me think of Netanyahu, other current and former Israeli-hardliners, Israel's relationship with the former Soviet Union, the United States and vice versa.



I keep wondering, how does this man, have more power in the United States, and with America's leadership than rank and file Americans do? "Go back to your military base, Netanyahu".



I was stunned several years ago, when during one of his frequent visits to the United States of America, Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, publicly made condescending remarks about former President Jimmy Carter, and he made his comments before an American audience no less. I wish that I had been an audience member at the time!



His exact words were: “Jimmy Carter, he wasn't a very good president, was he”? And not just because it was former democratic President Jimmy Carter that he was referring to, I couldn't get over the fact that he was arrogant enough to make such a obstreperous comment about an American president in the United States of America no less. I thought to myself, who was this jerk, and how dare he make such comments, and even worse than that, why wasn't he chastised and told to show respect for our leaders, individuals that the American people elected to office?



On the other hand, American leaders and Secretaries of State, go out of their way to ensure that they never offend Israel, and the provocative warhawks within Israel's leadership. Hmm!



Just yesterday, a week after his meeting with President Obama (a man that I did not vote for by the way),Netanyahu, received 27 standing ovations from members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican. And their behavior was in deference to Netanyahu's untoward behavior to yet another American President (a sitting American president no less). How could this be, I wondered?



What immediately came to mind was, just how hostile and unprincipled this man must be when dealing with his Arab and Palestinian neighbors during negotiations, given that he will openly exhibit such hostile feelings and untoward behaviors towards American Presidents, his friends. Clearly then, this man could not and cannot be an even broker, or to put it another way, a principled negotiator, when dealing with the Arab and Palestinian people. History has proven that to be true time and time again. Simply consider how Israel continues to violate treaties, and to build settlements in the West Bank.



Let me see, Israel and the Arab/Palestinians or in this hemisphere, the United States v Cuba ... Neither nation is behaving in good faith with their border neighbors are they? In fact, both nations behave in the same manner with their border neighbors, dishonestly and with complete disdain!



But getting back to Israel and the hawkish and insubordinate behavior of their leaders on American soil, one has to wonder, who is in charge, especially, when our money is being used to underwrite Israel's untoward behavior towards Arabs, Palestinians, American presidents and the American people? Clearly, when it comes right down to it, Israel is the tail that is wagging the American dog, for when the hawks in Israel bark, even American President's back down. What must this say to other powerful nations in the world? Not even America's other allies, receive this kind of attention or leeway.



One can easily tell, by watching Israel's hawkish leaders and their comfy relationship with the United States of America - Israel's number one sponsor and supporter of terror - that their leaders lack respect for America, America's leaders and all of the American people. Folks, we are being used too, or are we? I will come back to which nation is using the other later, given the apparent and unhealthy quid-pro-quo relationship that exists between those nations.



Part II


What does all of this say to the American people and the rest of the world? I know what it says to me. And to think that the Republicans got upset about President Chavez's sulfur comments, that were directed at then sitting President George H. Bush Jr. following his speech the day before at the United Nations, several years ago. On the other hand, Israel's leaders get a bye, when they do the same thing, when their leaders insult certain American leaders. The former incident with President Bush Jr., was also accompanied by an incident, where an Arab lobbed a shoe at President George H.W. Bush Jr. while he was speaking overseas!



The customary manner in which American President's cower to Israeli hawks and warhawks like Netanyahu, and in the past late terrorist Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - don't forget him, it gives me pause if not downright concern! The arrogance of Netanyahu, he amazes me, not to mention the manner in which a sitting president acquiesces and afterward the Congress praises him, given his insolence. Netanyahu not only disparages America's leaders, he is also sending a message to the American people who voted for them, that he doesn't respect us either. He only wants what he wants from us, to provide Israel with aid, trade, weapons and cover at the United Nations.



Clearly, Israel's hawkish leaders are more important to our leader/servants in Washington DC, than the will of the people who elected them, happens to be. Israel's leaders tried to make it appear that former and late leader of the PLO, Yasser Arafat was a terrorist? Hmm, what about Sharon and Netanyahu – both are the moral equivalent of each other from my point of view. Yasser, he was fighting for freedom from oppression, Israel's oppression!



The Apostle Paul once wrote: “My earnest desire and prayer for Israel, is that Israel might be saved, for I bear them record that they have a zeal, but it is not according to knowledge. For they have left the righteousness of God and have gone about to establish their own righteousness”. Get it, self righteousness!



I don't always agree with the former Apostle, however, I can see where he was coming from, based upon what I have observed from Israel, 2000 years later. What was it that Paul recognized about Israel in the Common Era, that apparently has not changed until this day? Was it the same kind of stubborn hard-headiness, or exceptionalist behaviors and attitudes, that we are witnessing today, 2000 years later? Some writers have said that Israel, was and is today, the harbinger of 'A Chosen People Complex'! Think about it - they believe that they are better than everyone else in the world, some of them, even Americans.



Was the Apostle Paul anti-Semitic or a traitor, given his criticisms of his own brethren? Perceptions haven't changed much have they, except among American Christians perhaps? Christians, will rationalize or justify whatever Israel does, behavior that they would condemn, if it was exhibited by any other nation.



If the Apostle were alive today and would have spoken the same words, he would be considered to be anti-Semitic, in spite of his own Semitic heritage, by Jews Christians, particularly, if they had to choose between American foreign policy and Paul. Am I anti-Semitic too, you're wondering? Answer, not that I know of, I simply believe in truth, justice and speaking truth to power - even America's and Israel's power.



Can you see the similarities between the Apostle's conclusions, and many of our own perceptions about Israel today? Israel, in collusion with the USA, often seems to be making up its own rules when it comes to its venal policies, and did I say with the full backing and support of America's leadership at Washington. Having America on your side, a permanent member in the U.N. Security Council, helps Israel to get away with murder, with the approval of most American Christians!



There is another common denominator that seems to exist between conservatives in America, and conservatives in Israel. If you were to criticize conservatives in either group, you would be labeled either an anti-Semitic in the case of Israel, or a non-patriot in the eyes of Republican leaders in America.



III.


Isn't it sad that such a beautiful term, conservative, is used to describe such a venal and self-centered group of people, in particular the hard-liners on the Republican Right, which is often wrong? I suspect that the term 'selfish', would be more apropos!



How does jerkweed Netanyahu, and former Israeli leaders like Ariel Sharon get away with their disrespectful behavior towards America's leadership? Clearly, they have something on the United States and its leaders.They know something about America and its behind-the-scenes covert operations and policies that we don't know about. And no matter, what some Americans are fine with that, while some of us are not.



Consider when Ronald Reagan was still alive, our late President conspired with Israel,to sell arms to the Contras, whereby circumventing the will of the American people and Congress. Another quasi-conservative, former President George H.W. Bush, was also involved.



Late Senator Barry Goldwater, who was the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee at the time was furious when he discovered that the President colluded with Israel in defiance of Congress and the people of the United States of America. Had I been head of the Senate Intelligence committee, I would have been furious too, and would have moved to have Reagan impeached.



I believe that there has been an ongoing secret, innocuous and hidden, quid pro quo relationship between the leadership of these two nations since and before 1947. Could you blame Senator Goldwater for being furious? Israeli's knew more about what America was doing, than Mr. Goldwater did?



This kind of duplicity at the top, appears to be something that is deeply rooted within the foreign policy agenda of both nations, and, Israel, America's satrap does what it is told to do. Or on the other hand, is it the other way around, given this quid pro quo relationship between the leaders of both nations? Poor President Obama, has been left out of the deal apparently, because of his African and democratic roots. And a name like, OBAMA, doesn't help. I betcha, Sharon can hardly get used to a man who looks like, and carries the surname of his enemies, especially when he is the President of Sharon's United States of America, a nation that he controls.



He knows that due to President Obama's heritage, that he cannot be trusted by Israel to do what needs to be done from their point of view, that is to kill his close kin in the Middle-East and beyond.



Here is something else to ponder: Who would our government officials sell out first, if they had to decide between American citizens and members of the Israeli terrorist cabal?



The answer is obvious - the American citizen would loose to Israel's anti-Palestinian and Arab warhawks, and their Washington DC, counterparts. Get it, Sharon and company were, and are more of a priority to past and present secret interests and Presidents in Washington DC, than are the majority of America's citizens. America is not the fair broker that it pretends to be in the Middle-East or with its own citizens. And America, has a dog in the Middle-East fight, despite its pretense of having dealt with an even-hand in the past and present with the Palestinian People, and in the east-west divide.



President Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and possibly President Obama, I am certain, knows that. And, the Arab and Palestinian people know it too! Perhaps someone from Wiki Leaks can get to the bottom of this, and afterward inform the American people as to what is really going on behind the scenes between US and Israeli leaders. It would appear that the members of Wiki-Leaks are more likely to provide full disclosure to the American people, than the leaders of either nation will ever do!



Isn't it sad when the American people have to rely on espionage to get the real truth about our own leadership and their secret-friends in the Israel and America's foreign policy agenda?



American officials, past and present, are clearly speaking with a forked-tongue, when it comes to Israel and the rest of the Middle-East. And, I suspect that the Palestinian people know it (that Israel is really an American proxy that is performing America's bidding in the Middle-East), just as the American people already suspect. I hear echoes of what the late W.E. B. DuBois said about "the problem problem of the Color Line in the 20th century”. He was apparently right on more than one count, and the problem is alive and well in the 21st century too.



IV.


I can still recall, several decades ago, when the majority of civilized nations of the world boycotted the racist apartheid regime in South Africa, given its continued suppression and discrimination of the black majority in the nation of South Africa (to include 3 decades of imprisonment of liberator Nelson Mandela). At the time, Israel stood out among the other nations of the world in this regard. Israel ignored the boycott, and continued to sell weapons to the racist government (weapons that were used against black Africans and paid for with American money).



In fact, Israel stood with a minority group of whites in order to further imprison the majority of blacks in South Africa. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why Israel empathized with the white-racist oppressor-regime in South Africa, because Israel, was doing the same to the majority people-of-color, that surrounded and share the homeland.



What happened to Israel? Syndicated Journalist Mark Shields, read a quotation from a Iraeli leader with regard to their liberation from ancient Egypt, that went something like this: After being the children of bondage in Egypt, never would the people of Israel hold any other people in bondage. And when you get right down to it, isn't that what Israel has been doing, holding people in bondage?



In both instances, Israel was and is helping to hold people of color in bondage in South Africa and the Middle-East, since 1947, the costs being underwritten in part with American tax-dollars; to be succinct, your and my tax dollars. It would appear that America's leaders, as they have done in the past are on the side of the insidious oppressors, against the oppressed. And all of us can recall that sad display as it relates to what took place IN THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE SLAVE, America, for 200 years. At the time, Americans , with the full support of government (all 3 branches..),against non-whites in America!



Many Americans of late, have referred to Israel as “America's 51st State”. From all indications, it is America's most powerful state, and it is to the extent that America's leadership cowers and bows before it, like no other state in the Union, and not even to the American people!



Black Americans are caught in the middle of this quagmire in this sense: The Jewish community in America, has been indispensable when it came to supporting human rights and freedom for Americans, Cynthia McKinney, Malik El Shabazz, Reverend Jesse Jackson and Minister Farrakhan being notable exceptions. Who can forget or overlook the work done, past and present, by Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center, or the Jewish community for underwriting the cost of the NAACP's work since it began, paying for the March on Washington, Annenberg's 50M dollar donation to the UNCF...



And even though we appreciate what the Jewish community has done, and is still doing for us today, how can oppressed people, including Jewish people, support the oppression of other people that are friends of individuals who helped to support our liberation? And therefore, Israeli's expectation that black Americans should support AIPAC, even when it is misbehaving, is insulting. Again, our Jewish friends supported us right up to the time that our hawkish freedom and justice fighters leaders, former U.S. Representative and Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney, the Late Malik El Shabazz, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Minister Luis Farrakhan stood up for our rights.



How come Israel and AIPAC get to stand up for their perceived rights, and we are punished when we do, or better yet, Arabs and Palestinians, who are in the same positions that Israel was in before 1947, can't stand up for there's? Wouldn't you that think that Israel would understand what it is that the people that they are oppressing, are experiencing? I guess not, for who who or what groups of leaders from any nation, are more radical than Israel's leadership happens to be at this time, and on many occasions before?



For the 3rd time, former Representative and Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney, the late Malik El Shabazz, Reverend Jesse Jack and Minister Farrakhan ... all know that. Once upon a time, our church rented a room from the Jewish Center in Palo Alto California for overflow purposes. Upon arriving one Sunday, where I taught a special class on Sunday mornings, a caricaturized picture of the Reverend Jesse Jackson, was hung prominently, just above the light switch. It was placed in an obvious place, where we, mostly African-Americans, would see it. The caption under the Reverend's picture was, 'Big Mouth'. My God I thought, we support you with our tax dollars, and you insult us on Sunday no less, at a Christian Bible Study Hmm!



None of the above possess nukes, blacks, Arabs or Palestinians (their governments wouldn't permit it). None of our leaders, have killed anyone (well, Minister Farrakhan, admitted that he may have contributed to the violence inside the FOI, that resulted in El Shabazz's death when speaking to his late widow Betty Shabbaz). When John Brown, attempted to arm us so that we could fight for our freedom, look what happened to him? He was killed for fighting for liberation of an oppressed people, and he was white? I wonder, how come our liberation didn’t matter for so long, on the other hand, our people were sent to fight for freedom in other nations and for other races, only to return to The Land of the Free and The Home of the Slave, to be discriminated against, even by its own government? Tch tch tch!



Having said that, did or does what our friends in the Jewish community do to justly help free us from our oppressors, preclude us from speaking up and out to Israel and our friends, when they misbehave in the same manner that our oppressors did with us in America.? The answer is, I think not! Israel, benefits from my tax dollars too, and I and my counterparts have something to say about how our tax dollars are spent - get it, something to say! Truthfully, we know that our leaders will spend our taxpayers to liberate other people, and the same tax dollars to punish us.



Clearly, the leadership in Israel, is behaving much like the Klan and our government did here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Slave when it comes to the Arab and Palestinian people. Similar to the manner in which black Americans have been summarily tossed off of their lands, at the drop of an oppressor's whim, Arabs and Palestinians were evicted in the same manner from the Middle-East in 1947, 48!



V.


Christians in and outside of America ought to ask themselves, what would Jesus do? Or what would he tell a powerful and fully armed Israel to do when it comes to Palestinians (Philistines) and Arabs? I don't recall Jesus telling his Jewish brothers and sisters to strike out against the Roman Government? Jesus, even stopped his disciples from calling down "HELLFIRE Missiles", to be used to destroy people who did not receive them, their message or ways of believing and doing things. Jesus, rebuked his followers. Why won't the USA, a nation that sought freed from its perceived oppressors, England at the time, do the same thing, and tell Israel to knock it off, and to TEAR DOWN THAT WALL MR. Netanyahu!



Now as I understand it, during a briefing that I sat in on at the National Press Club in Washington DC several years ago, it was conservatives in Israel who were the culprits, not the rank and file Jewish citizens, who were the aggressors. I also learned that the majority of Israel's citizens, prefer to and get along just fine with Arabs and Palestinians in Israel, just as blacks and whites once did in this nation, before being dissuaded from doing so by hard-liners inside and outside of government.



The same is taking place in Israel today, their hawks discourage Israel 'citizens from having anything to do with Arabs and Palestinians, and we are all aware of the Israeli Wall that has been erected to divide the two nations in order to keep the people apart. No folks, I am not talking about the Wailing Wall. Israel, has erected its own form of Berlin Wall, that is being used to separate the East from the West, so that never the twain shall meet, that is if the warhawks can help it. Now what do America's leaders have to do with that, I wonder? Tear Down That Wall Mr. Netanyahu!



Haven't our leaders, past and present, who are in charge of our foreign policy apparatus, played footsies long enough with the Israeli warhawks? It would appear that they have done so to the extent that now when a sitting President wants Israel to return to the 1947 territorial agreement, that the unprincipled Israeli Prime Minister, offers disdain for the sitting President of the United States. Have the chickens come home to roost?



Israel's government, current and former descendants of European Jews, going back to and before Sharon - leave much to be desired! Even as far back into antiquity as one might care to explore, Israel has on occasion been smart enough to align itself with powerful empires like the Babylonian empire.



In recent history, Israel has been allied with the Soviet Union, prior to being aligned with the United States. Most of us know that a significant number of the inhabitants of Israel are secularists, which would explain their cozy relationship with the Soviets ( before getting in bed with the United States). Clearly, Israel's leadership will get in bed with Satan in order to preserve, or have what they want – and I am not saying that the Soviets were Satan.



Keep in mind that people in other nations believe that we, the do one thing and say something else nation believe that we are the Great Satan. And I believe that our leaders in Washington, some of them past and present, know where Satan sleeps at too!



Does Netanyahu, similar to late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, have any respect for the United, States and its leadership, or isn't it a fact that the Prime Minister has sold his allegiance to the highest-bidder just as his predecessors did, the USA of late? And isn't it true that he is simply using the people of the United States and America's treasury on a quid pro quo basis, so that the hawks and hardliners in Israel can get what they want. And what does the USA get in return one must ask?



I believe that the USA receives American management and surveillance of the Middle-East by proxy with the help of Israel's secret intelligence agencies, including the Masoud. And Americans should keep in mind that Israel has also spied on the United States too in the past, just as it is doing in the Middle-East (at the behest of it's friends, now, thecurrent United States of Israel)! Oops, whose side are they on, and which nation is using which nation, and which nation is the satrap?



The democratization of Northern Africa and the Mediterranean, to include Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria … is causing America and its duplicitous foreign policy apparatus to rethink things, I suspect and Israel knows that. Because when it comes to the Middle-East and Israel, certainly the leadership of Israel does not want to see Democracy take hold in the Mediterranean. If that were to occur, it would provide an edge to the majority Arab and Palestinian nations. Israel knows that the USA will appear to be a hypocrite if it continues to stand up for Israel's malfeasance.



And America is simply waiting to be on the side of whoever emerges as the winner in the Mediterranean, assuming that true democracy takes place within the oil-rich Palestinian and Arab nations.



Israel is not a majority Christian nation either, even though Israel depends on Christians from all over the world, particularly the United States for direct financial aid, intelligence information and military support. Again, we can see that the tail is wagging the dog, and the dog is willing to be wagged in order to get what it wants in the Middle-East. However, the real dog in the fight is apparently about to be exposed given the changes that are taking place in the world, especially the Mediterranean ...


VI.


Who could have ever have imagined the USA abandoning Israel?


It might happen folks, for once Israel is no longer needed, and America, who has more to gain if it can get Arabs and Palestinians to switch sides. If that were to happen, Israel, would become isolated, and have to go back to the Russian Orbit , another major power to align with it, or China perhaps. And boy oh boy, what all would the Israel's have to share with the Russians, about American intelligence.



I suspect that what the people of both nations will have to do, is what nationals all over the world are doing, given the failure of leadership by their current and past leaders. The people will have to wrest power back from government officials who clearly have their own set and secret agendas.



And the latter differs, by and large, from what the people want and need in order to take care of the commonwealth and the people. The people of Israel need to engage in direct talks with the American people, not the jaundiced power-brokers who make deals with Israel's leadership in America. The people of Israel also need to learn what it is that the majority of Americans want, especially if they ever expect to receive support in the future from informed Americans like me.



And I will say this again, even as a post-modern Christian, Jesus, would likely have spoken truth to Israeli's power, and explained how the 1974 deal, unfairly, came into being. Jesus would also likely explain that a lie would not stand. And most of know that the 1947 deal was a lie, one that did not take into consideration the current inhabitants of the land or their needs.



Jesus would show Israel's leaders, that in the manner that the Roman government of the common era controlled Israel by military force, threats and economic strangulation, that Israel was doing the same to the Arabs and Palestinians in the region. The people of Israel ought to understand that if the shift of power continues around the world, the result could be a different United Nations, with 15 different members of the Security Council, 5 being permanent. And the United Nations might issue a new resolution, one which could result in a power shift in favor of the Palestinians; anything is possible.



Would Israel's leaders listen to Jesus this time around? We all know that they did not listen to him before, however, more is at stake now. Can you say financial aid. If Jesus showed up and Netanyahu upstaged Jesus, as he is doing now with America's sitting President, Christians would be furious - or would they prefer American foreign policy over Jesus?



A change in the balance of power is already in the offing. And in other words, someday, the holy lands might be returned to the Arabs and Palestinian people, despite what biblical eschatologists, who also have a dog in the fight, believe and teach. Israel, and its Godly supporters in the West and some Arab and Palestinian, should ask themselves: whose will is it that they are pursuing? Is it God's will or there own? I suspect that it is the latter. If Jesus' sermon on the mount meant anything, what I take from it is this, give them the land if they want it, especially, if you believe that God has a better place for you.



Clearly, that war torn land is not holy, even as most Christians believe that it is – it's dirt folks. If the Temple is going to be rebuilt in Jerusalem …, then God will do it right, in spite of Israel, the Palestinians or anyone else!



It is time to do something different, if nothing more than having the people of the world to stand up together and to stop others from taking advantage of people who are caught in between 2 powerful groups in the world, and an insidious plot that is being held together by walls, weapons, checkpoints and the threat of annihilation.



As I close, I repeat what I said before, if the USA were to switch sides and become friendly with the emerging democracies in the area, Netanyahu, would blow the whole Middle-East up before he would cede power. So, before and if that would happen, and as flippant as it may sound - we have plenty of open spaces in the United States. We could easily absorb and accommodate 5m Middle-Eastern repatriated Jews and their descendants, in the name of peace. All of us know that there are factions on both sides that have no desire to see peace, not just the Palestinians and Arabs. If Israel wants to behave like a Western nation, well, why not simply join us in the West, say Montana or Wyoming, two beautiful but under-inhabited states!



American Christians who believe in biblical eschatology have a romantic attachment with Israel, regardless of what it does, or who its soldiers kill, and they use the Bible to justify and rationalize their thirst for Arab and Palestinian blood. They will support Israel, even when Israel is wrong, Christians, particularly in America, expect, believe, crave and look forward to Armageddon (East v West), just ask Pat Robertson. American Christians have their own motives for supporting Israeli malfeasance, the kind that is buttressed by the United States of America. Many of you have already been proven wrong about Gog and Magog. In fact, the Soviet Empire disappeared, but the uber power that occupies Babylon now, is the United States of America with its largest embassy in the world.



There are some of us who us simply believe that in the same manner that Jesus believed, that is that we should stand up for justice for all people, even if it means giving up a coat, pride or land! Besides, if Netanyahu were to move to America, I'm sure that he would get the Constitution amended, and run for President of the United States of America in a short period of time. And if that won't work, I am certain that an Israeli homeland in Montana, where he would continue to engage in war I'm sure, against American militia groups – another strange breed – he should feel right at home. And Netanyahu should bring his nukes with him, I guarantee that the good old boys in the Militia groups here, have there's already - he should feel right at home



Wake up Christians, stop being so gullible and remember this passage, when it comes to modern (mostly securalist Israel) Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Romans 9:6



I can recall what an Afghan-American citizen told me, during my recent tenure in the nation's capitol, he said: “There is a saying in my nation that to America, we are just a rubber, and once America finishes with us, they will pull us off and discard us (the Afghan people)"! Israel, should keep that in mind, and the USA should think about the same when it comes down to Israel.



Clearly, the USA, let the Afghan government and people know what it really thought about it and them, when it crossed their territorial borders, ignored their sovereignty and got Osama. I suspect that Iraq and other nations of the world already know it too!



Solomon

May 21, 2011

Reverend Camping: Was He Raptured?




The Real Question About May 21st: Calling Earth from Pegasus 51B, we have not seen any signs of unusual intruders attempting to enter Earth's atmosphere. And we have not seen any one being beamed up to the mother ship, or traveling in any 'chariots' of fire'. What year were you expecting this event to take place? Star date 2011!



Reverend Camping predicted that at the very least, "the Bible guaranteed that the Rapture would take place today May 21, 2011 …"


The real question that Reverend Camping should be prepared to answer is whether or not he is still on earth, missed the Rapture and should simply stick with Civil Engineering.


I don't have time this evening to drive over to the East Bay to ask him, however, I have a strong feeling that the Reverend is still here. He is in good company however, because based on what I read in the Apostle Paul's letter to the Church at Thessaloniki (the modern day pronunciation), he also erred with respect to the timing of the Rapture.


The Apostle Paul was under the impression that he would be alive and well at the time of the Rapture. Some of this reminds me of a church group called The Triumphant Church. I don't know whether it still exists today or not. The members of this group were going to escape death altogether. Religion makes people crazy, where truth, makes you free! The truth about religion is going to have to be exposed for the one's who will listen. Religion means, 'to bind'. And too many humans have been and are still being bound by religion.


Hopefully, the latest exercise in predicting the end of the world, by another religious sycophant, will put an end to religious prognostication and prognosticators. However, even and if that were to occur, it wouldn't put a stop to religious obfuscation, or religion's monopoly on truth.


Folks, it really is time to move on and to admit that although the canon is a useful collection of books, Constantine's Canon, has its problems. Many religious teachers and preachers cannot admit that publicly, even the one's who know better. Why? Because in the past they taught their followers that the Canon is inerrant. Now how can these preachers and teachers who know better, go back and say to sycophants, "oops, I may have overstated my claim, now that I have learned a bit more about its origin and construction". Sensible people wouldn't be upset at all - all of make mistakes.


Most of us were handed the book, and were told 'this is the inerrant word of God'. Well, who would question God! Well, later in life, some of us did have some questions, and discovered that the Canon is not inerrant, and I suspect that is true of all holy books! Am I boring or frightening you?


To the group that cannot admit the truth, that you erred - or the one's who don't know any better, I would simply say this: ask God, admit that you were sincerely wrong (without any intentional malfeasance), so that we can move on and find out what (IT) this great phenomenon really wants from or to give us. And if the terms phenomenon or (IT) offends you; God, not a name anyway, has been referred to by many appellations throughout history. Our nascent predecessors taught us this: that there was something unseen, that it was greater than 'human and non human kind', and human intelligence and knowledge ... and as result we believed!


Truthfully, all of what we have learned so far from the past, should also teach us that members of today's post-enlightenment period are interested in truth, should continue our search in another direction, one that takes us beyond uncorroborated, and unsubstantiated, although I suspect, well-intentioned writings.


I suspect that the God-phenomenon should never have been relegated to or described from a strictly a religious point of view. Why? Too much poetry, myth, magic, borrowed texts, imagery hyperbole ... was mixed in with reality. And that is the problem with the book, as well as with religious pundits and proponents of, 'the book only'. Clearly, the real phenomenon that we ought to be making an effort to understand exceeds anything that religion can comprehend or teach. In other words, religion only touches the surface. We cannot ignore the facts of the Universe, that won't fit into a religious paradigm. If I were God, I would be insulted by the religious organizations that attempt to know me.


The best thing that has come out of religion is this statement I suspect: Seek The Truth! Why? According to the Canon, and several of its writers, even God tired of religious exercises, sacrifices, oblations …, and Jesus told the people, mostly religious and descendants of Abraham mind you, to seek the truth.


And just in case you're wondering about me? The answer is, where religion left-off, I pressed on, a lot of good people have. Now having said that, there are some good things about religion, for example, religion is a good starting place for beginners, as long as everything about it is explained in a proper context. However, even biblical writers suggest just that there is a place of understanding that exceeds the principle phase, the place where most religious people get stuck. In other words, the author of the Philippians discourse wrote, "leave the principles and go on to perfection".


Most religions, and most religious people, from what I have observed are stuck in the principle phase, I believe. And, and nothing is going to move them past memorizing scriptures, fasting twice a week and paying their tithes, while waiting to be beamed up to the Mother Ship. Don't forget that most of the greats, that were written about in the Canon, never held Constantine's Canon, not even Enoch, Elijah, Elisha, Jesus ... come to mind, and some of them apparently were beamed or carried up in chariots of fire, and appearing and reappearing from other dimensions.


Religious people today are satisfied with the Eucharist ...


And what do I really think about all of these old-school preachers and teachers (of the unadulterated word of God). Well, I know many of them intimately. I have helped to put stocks on their feet, when their backs gave out. I have driven some, septu-and octogenarians; and some of them have driven me to and from camp meetings. Many of them have been kind to me, and some cruel (never ask a question that differs from or question their pre-held beliefs).


Having said that, when I consider the nature of these individuals by comparison with the current school of religious acolytes ... I have found all of them to be sincere in terms of what they believe. The former believe that they are representatives of the true God, the Bible is inerrant, and that they are teaching the word of God.


However, what they are really doing is teaching from a historical perspective that were written by, translated or interpreted by individuals who were not the most reliable, even though many of them were also well-intended writers, storytellers, teachers, historians and preachers who wrote about their experiences or perceptions... It is not for me to fight with them, even the ones who walk among us today.


On the other hand, it is for I and others like me to do what we believe that we are called upon to do today, that is to help ourselves and other individuals who desire the truth (including secularists), who have been held or stuck in primordial religious mud. Where the Spirit of the Lord is: there is freedom, right? I believe that we have got a lot of work to do yet, that could even lead to extending the life-cycle and much more, perhaps our relocating in space, escaping from these time-censured bodies, watching our loved-ones suffer from disease and going to sleep. I also believe that we have missed out on a lot of great discovery due to misguided, there is only one way, religious sycophants. And the way, is typically there way. In other words, their minds and keen understanding are unparalleled.


We have trusted too much, in my opinion n outdated, unproven ... materials, and teachers of the same, some of which could be a good starting place for kids, however, we are not children anymore. Didn't the Apostle Paul touch on that theme in his writings. And what did he do for all intent and purposes, with respect to the Jews and the other Apostles, he moved on, even to the extent that he got up in the Chief Apostles face. Let's move on folks!


BTW, Jesus had to do the same in his day, and it cost him his life! In the long-run, I believe that Reverend Camping is going to help more than he is going to hurt. And thinking human beings, that really do not have an ulterior mind, those of us who are not mad at God or have some other nefarious agenda, should simply try to get along with everybody, but at the same time, we should resume our Search for the Real God (whatever it turns out to be)! If we continue the typical patty!ern, and if we could, 3000 years from now, we will still be waiting on the Rapture and denying the truth that surrounds and is within us!

Solomon, or to some Suliman

Beam em up Scotty!


May 18, 2011

Scotty: Beam Them Up To The Mother Ship Please!

Regarding Reverend Camping's, rapture and end of the world predictions: The real fire that has been burning on the outer edges of the Universe beginning with the Big Bang, is still burning, apparently.

So, don't be too quick to leave the safe-haven of Earth - we were put here for a reason, and I feel strongly that our work has not been done yet. Earth, could be a nice place to live, if people would behave and live without religious crusades, jihads, fatwahs and religious fanaticism ..., among other things!


Listen, I Never Thought I Would Say This, However... thank you Reverend Camping! I have been looking for someone to prove that what I have been saying, writing, preaching and teaching for years, is the truth. The truth about what? That it is time to move on, and to put religion (and its anachronistic teachers ...) into a proper historical context too; NOT the God phenomena! Having said that: I know that there will be others who will pick up the mantle and run with it, when retrograde religious teachers are retired. I predict that scientists, will unwittingly, become the prophets of the 21st Century and beyond.


That makes me think of a time at Stanford U, when the religious community, that I was a part of with On-Campus Ministries, was asked to "stop placing a burden on the students at Stanford". We were told to instead, witness to students, exclusively, around the on-campus United States Post Office branch. But having said that, the dean permitted me to baptize individuals in on campus Lake Lagunita, and I did.


My Prospostion:

We need to pursue what is real: Let's consider who this man, Reverend Camping is, first of all? Reverend Camping is a man, a Civil Engineer by profession, who studied and graduated, just down the hill from the Graduate Theological Union (a consortium of Christian Schools), that sits on the scenic hill, just above and on the Campus of the University of California at Berkeley. I am a frequent visitor of both the Campus and the GTU's library!


Reverend Camping is a man of no mean spirit, one who in his zeal has embraced the bible (Constantine's Canon), studied it, teaches from it and believes that it is the final authority … In that sense he should not be accused of quackery, something that his latest foray into end-time predictions, has caused many to believe. Even though he appears to be a quack, he is like too many other religious people that all of us have come into contact with - individuals, who are inflexible, and a bit too much in love with their own minds, egos and craft!


I enjoyed listening to him on a Bay Area Talkshow, KGO Radio, this past Sunday. Professor Brent Walters, Professor in the Department of Religious Studies, at San Jose State University, invited him to speak for an uninterrupted hour, in the 3rd segment, of his 3-hour long Sunday morning radio show. It might be fortuitous, given that Reverend Camping was nearly 15 minutes late getting to the show, which might prove that when it comes to keeping time – well, you see where I am going? Reverend Camping spoke, for approximately 45 minutes, with only an occasional interruption, typically when he was asked to clarify a point.


The very capable Professor Walters, was kind and gracious to Reverend Camping. Reverend Camping’s predictions, that the Rapture of the Saints will occur on May 21, 2011 of this year, and that the world will end five days later, is not been hidden from the public eye. All across the country, his prediction that the world is coming to an end … has been posted on billboards, talked about in the media and preached about on TV and Radio.


Many other preachers, scholars ... who don't agree with him, have already distanced themselves from both he and his reductionist, perhaps, theory. To some, he appears to be a complete idiot. But what is it, that he is really saying? Just look at his website www.familyradio.com, and you will find out. And, this is important because when he was interviewed by Professor Walters, a man who I consider to be a friend, he repeated what is written on his website, that is: “The Bible Guarantees It”.


In other words, he is not predicting the end of the world, he is simply pointing out, based on his interpretation of what is written in Constantine's unadulterated Canon or the Bible, (not in code by the way), that these eschatalogical events will occur over the course of the next few weeks. He might be right about what the bible predicts, and still be wrong! A DaVinci Code all over again? Blasphemy? I know, for the assemblers of Constantine's Canon, could not have a made a mistake here and there, in terms of compiling the canon, correct? In other words, Reverend Camping has already given himself an out, even if everyone is still here on May 22nd!


Most of us, who were raised in the Church (regardless of which religious group or denomination we hailed from), are aware of the following scripture, Matthew 24:36. "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only". According to the biblical writer(s), this is what Jesus said. That day, is what, for sure what most Christians, but not only Christians are waiting for. Somehow most Christians believe that somehow they belong in a better place than earth (er herm), and that they will, uniquely, be reunited with their loved ones in that better place, in deference to what they helped to construct on Earth!


It begs the question Christians, and others, do any of us really deserve Heaven! Man, these people like Reverend Camping and others, hate the world that they helped to ruin, and they do so to the extent, that they can't wait to get out of here. Well, fine I say, for when the majority have been beamed up ... I can enjoy the San Francisco Bay area, the Tahoe basin ... with less congestion.


From what I can see, there is a lot more for us to learn right here on earth, clearly, we have missed some things. I suspect that we have at least wasted the last 2,000 years, in a quest to rule the planet in the name of God. Why? Because like Reverend Camping (who only needs the bible and a few commentaries), most religious individuals are just as limited in their outlook as a result of having restricted themselves to their interpretation of a single book. What we have done is to teach a kind of fanaticism that has led to more division.


What is it that we could have learned and taught, from and in, during ages 1, 2, 3 in the Earth, and up to now, if we had not given in to self-indulgence, fanaticism and dogmatism?


The fact of the matter is that religious people, and religious organizations, have not figured out how to agree with each other on earth, so why in the world would God, reward us, and have us to come to Heaven - wherever that is; not likely up yonder. Er herm, isn't that the reason that Satan, was metaphorically, tossed out of heaven for creating division, self-ambition ... Sound familiar! Why can't religious people get along with religious people, or settle on one doctrine?


Good bye! Nothing in me tells me that I deserve to be in a special place with God, and to leave everyone else behind - I have made a lot of mistakes too you know, haven't you? Haven't all of us come short of the glory?


Trust me, Reverend Camping, is a bible literalist, but he is not a nut, I don't believe that. He is very aware of Jesus' pronouncement, that no man knows the day or hour, just as most believers are aware of and often cite that particular text. The latter explains why so many people, Christians and non-Christians, are flabergasted, disgusted, and equally dismissive of his prediction about the Rapture, the apokalupsis and him to! And the ones who believe in him, are not unhappy with him mind you.


Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die: remember that saying? And isn't that the real problem, that is that we are afraid of dying!


But why would the Reverend put himself out on a dangling limb like the one that he has placed himself out on, one that could destroy his $100 ministry, and his credibility with his followers and sycophants? It is simple: Once again he is only reporting, based upon his years of biblical research, what he believes that "the Bible guarantees", not him. He is not making this report, based upon his own feelings! His conclusions are are based upon the Bible. Professor Walters, gave him an opening, one in which he declined to modify by the way. He insisted that it will happen, in deference to the miscalculations that he made before in the 1970's.


Reverend Camping, in my mind, is the perfect example of what religion can do to a person, even a bright, articulate and educated one.


What do I believe about all of this, Reverend Camping and biblical eschatology? Well, there are historicists, post-millennialist, premillenialists, amillenialists, pretribbers, posttribbers ... within the Christian faith alone and none of them agree to agree. So what does that tell you and me? And don't forget that the Apostle Paul, a man who often shot from the hip, believed that he would apparently be a part of the rapture, without having gone to sleep. At least that is what he appears to be saying, in his letter to the believers at Thessalonica or modern-day Thessaloniki, take your pick.


Now don't forget, there are over 50,000 Christian denominations, and millions of preachers and teachers, who will have an opinion about the end of time, and about Pastor Camping too. And keep in mind that all of us, including me, claim to be infused with the same spirit of God. So, what does that tell you? We don't seem to be very believable do we?


What will, practically every other cleric, imam, priests, guru ..., have to say? They will say that "Reverend Camping is wrong, but I am not wrong"! Keep in mind however, that Reverend Camping's prediction, is pretty close to that of the ancient Mayans, although, they did not predict a rapture - something that the best scholars say, is a prediction based upon a misunderstand or misappropriation of canonical texts.


I can recall prognosticators in the past, who named the day and hour when Jesus would return, the Rapture would occur, and the world would come to an end. One group predicted that Jesus would return to Akron, Ohio, several decades ago. Akron, aka Jamestown, well that is before Lebron headed to Miami, is where I was born. I love the people in Akron, and I love Akron too. But when I heard that Jesus decided to appear in Akron, about 20 years ago, on Copley Road, near the High School that I graduated from, I had more than a few doubts.


Man a group of people lined the streets on Copley Rd., with their bands playing, and there was a great celebration. The problem was that Jesus no-showed!


If only we could be more like Solomon, who wrote: Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow, you die. Obviously, he did not live with the burden that most people, who are influenced by religion and some who are not, lived with and live with today! Too many people are trying to figure out how to get to Heaven, while wasting their lives and potential here on earth.


Why do Christians, and other groups engage in this type eschatological religious canard? One of the reasons that I will speak to, which will explain why they do so in my opinion, is because most religious people are fascinated with this particular theme. Most religious people, from most denominations ... expect to, someday, be beamed up to the Mother Ship!


Religious Christians, not the only religious people mind you, believe that Constantine's Canon is the inerrant word of God


They will tell you that God, not man inspired everything that is in the canon. And even in the face of evidence to the contrary, don't try to convince them otherwise. Action is predicated upon belief, and Christians, I repeated, believe that the book comes from God ITself! When Paul make the apparent statement, roughly 75% of what we refer to as the Bible today did not exist. He would likely be surprised to find out that his letters for example, were considered to be holy scriptures - he even denied in one place that they were, and Peter referred to Paul's writings as just that, writings!


It is for the rest of us, who believe that there is some thing that we refer to in our culture, as the God phenomenon to figure this thing out while at the same time being accused of being apostates, heretics, backsliders, never-were-saved, hypocrites, existentialists, atheists .... by our religious counterparts, who genuinely believe otherwise. Jesus experienced the same kind of hatred. We know that what dyed-in-the wool religious people believe in, is far bigger than, and light years past where most religious people, even Christians, take their points of departure, that is a heal my leg, enlarge my territory, make me a rich preacher, take me to heaven ... point of heaven!


We know, that it will be for us to sensibly pursue an understanding of what IT is, and to join with what we refer to as God (something that might appear to be abstract but is real). Who was the secularist, who wrote the book several years ago: The God of the Brain? I have forgotten his name, but the brother was on to something. Perhaps, the connection exists in the brains, of some of us as he proposed, but not in the rest of us. The rest, I would have to agree, may not have a brain - that was not nice. Okay, he didn't say that! He believed that God was hard-wired in certain human's, brain, perhaps!


My thing is this, I don't care about all of this eschatological stuff, oops, I said it. I've seen what it has done to people, typically only to harm them even more, and to make them look down on other people who do not see things the way they do. Remember, amillenialists, postmillenialists, pretribbers ...., all of them have one thing in common, and it is the "I KNOW" spirit. Why are they right, even though they all disagree, it is because they are too much in love with their own intellect. The reason we call it faith, is because we don't know. Unless, like Mr. McLaughlin used to say, "We have stumbled into the truth"!


Jesus, pretty much said, with respect to the day and hour: "don't worry about it, nobody knows, just do your thing while you are here on Earth, because otherwise you will be overly preoccupied", and to live according to love, and you will fulfill all of the commandments. Let's see, how many human beings have for many years, hours and days predicated their lives upon love, or instead simply waited for the blessed event to occur - knowing that like Charlie Tuna, Starkist will be looking for them?


A friend, who lived in Alabama, shared a true story about a religious relative of his. She apparently joined he and his family on a long trip across the state of Alabama one day. His rural grandmother, I believe it was, had never seen, been to or near a drive-in theater before. To make a long story, while they were traveling, she woke up from her nap and saw a figure of a man on a drive-in theater screen in the distance. She had never seen a drive-in screen before either.


And she spoke these words: "Yonder come Jesus"! This woman believed that she was finally witnessing Jesus' advent into the world. The family laughed and explained, "no mam, that is what we refer to as a drive-in theater, and what you are seeing is a movie".


This woman was a perfect example of how serious people are about the expected blessed event, just as some people were in the common era, given the oppression ... that they were experiencing. It also explains why one would be wasting their time to try to tell some religious people otherwise, or that the book that they rely upon to tell them all things about the past, present and future, would be a waste of time.


Reverend Camping, is playing on sacred ground. And if it is as some of us understand it, that what we refer to God exists outside of our 3-dimensional time-independent world, then if there is a rapture, it is taking place all the time. In other words, in the past, in the present and in the future, all at once. Why? The God phenomenon would be time-dependent, and observing past, present, future and outside of the past, present and the future all at once!


Perhaps Reverend Camping and others like him are already there, and not there, and somewhere else, if you were to use stepped outside of time theory. Or perhaps, Jesus was wrong because he didn't have Constantine's Canon to rely upon, did he?


So why am I writing this piece again? It is, first of all, to thank Reverend Camping for making my point about religion, pro and con. It is what I have been writing about, and saying before, that is: Within a 21st Century Context, we simply need to move on, because much learning about Constantine's bible, has made too many of our peers mad!


The second reason for writing on this topic is to say, that we cannot possibly understand all of what was being said or written 2000 years ago, or what was written, and has been translated over and over again, years later. Have you noticed all of the bibles today, and that if you were to compare them, they all mostly say something different, the same as most religious groups do and practice. And this is just one other reason that religious people need to move on, in terms of searching for God in the present, and to stop looking back. Thank you Reverend Camping!


In conclusion: I repeat, perhaps in a non-linear or 3-D world, perhaps what we refer to as the Rapture, occurs everyday in a parallel, time independent world. Remember, we believe that God is time independent, and has the ability to view and be a part of the past, present and future of our world, all at the same time - without relocating in space. Wouldn't that explain how it is possible to see future events before they occur in a linear 3-dimensional world?


Clearly religion, and most religious teachers are not helping, and some of them have become an embarrassment to what we refer to in general, as God! Reverend Camping will prove that Constantine's canon, should not be our only source, and I thank him for that!


By the way, does anyone else have any claims on South Lake Tahoe and Emerald Bay? If not, I will take them both when everyone else is gone! Remember this scripture that I am fond of in the canon,: 'We will know them by their love', and not as a result of scripture memorization, theosyphying, scriptural memorization, preaching, teaching, standing when they pray, performing miracles, yelling at people... I embellished a bit!


So, beam 'em up Scotty', so that we can have peace on Earth - and who knows, then Jesus might come back and live 'in earth' with us. If he came today, he would likely end up on the cross again, or at least be shot at or robbed! And if we all get beamed up, I will be the brother in the hat, with sunglasses and a beard - don't forget to say whass up!


Solomon

BTW: I asked this question in one of my earlier writings: Did you know that the first human to die, if you accept the canonical story as being literal, died as a result of differences between 2 brothers about religious issues, and the last person or persons to die, will do so the same, as a result of a religious conflagration, apparently between the religious easterners and westerners? Can't we all just get along?

May 13, 2011

The End of the World Again!


The real fire that started, apparently long ago, as a result of the Big Bang, is reportedly an eternal fire that is still burning on the outer edge of the Universe - as the matter world pushes further out into non-matter. In other words, the same explosion that started the known universe has never been extinguished. So, it seems to me that the individuals who believe that they want to beam up, would be better off on the safe haven of earth, where they were put in the first place, apparently. Will there be eventually an implosion?


Folks, I Never Thought I Would Say This but, thank you Reverend Camping, for I have been looking for someone to prove that what I have been writing, teaching and saying along (over the past few years) is the truth. The truth about what? That it is time to move on, and to put religion, and its often sincere, but misguided teachers into a proper historical context and their rightful place in history, for truth is bigger than religion - Jesus proved that to the Pharisees ... over 2000 years ago!


Let's consider who this man is first of all? Reverend Camping is a man, a Civil Engineer and a preacher by profession. He graduated from the Engineering Department at the University of California at Berkeley, one of my favorite haunts. I love to conduct research at the library, just above Scenic Drive, which is a part of the Graduate Theological Union.


Reverend Camping, in my opinion, is a man of no mean spirit. In fact, he is a man, who in his zeal, has studied the bible, embraces and teaches from it like no other. He believes that every word in it, is the unadulterated word of God regardless of any proof to the contrary. And, no one is going to tell him any different. All of us know, have worshipped with or alongside someone like this before. Their minds are made up, so you would be wasting your time if you attempted to confuse them with facts. Other than he and his religious organization, he is convinced that every other religious organization is wrong, in terms of what they believe and are teaching. Senile dementia, organicity, confusion, arrogance or what?


Given his sincerity, he is a man who is in love with his mental power and a belief in his unique ability to understand things that no one else can. Having said that, he should not be accused of quackery perhaps, something that his latest foray into end-time predictions, has caused people to believe. He simply believes in the power of his unique cognitive abilities, to include powers of comprehension. Again, he appears to be a quack, however, he like too many religious people that we all know of, some out on the extreme edge, that are a bit too much in love with their own minds and egos!


Several decades ago, God had to apparently give him a drop kick to the ground, when he made a similar prediction that turned out to be inaccurate. The Apostle Paul was like him, remember. After graduating from the Hillel School, and Professor Gamaliel, having graduated with honors, the Apostle began his first evangelism tour. His first evangelism tour, a bit different from the one wherein the Apostles, who had fasted and prayed and subsequently laid hands on him to do the work of the lord, he sat out to stop the Members of The Way. Why, members of the Way, as far as he was concerned were misguided, and failed to have his abilities to discern right from wrong teaching. What an ego? Now keep in mind that Paul was 'a religious man and a religious scholar, who was only working for God!


He was so zealous, that he sought out and received permission to leave his place (remind you of the Prophet Jonah), and to pursue those misguided religious souls, who saw things a bit different than he and his denomination did. This man, acted upon what he believed, in the most strenuous of ways - even to the point of killing people, similar to what Cain apparently did to his brother, regarding a denominational dispute in the first family. Members of the Way were martyred, similar to Stephen, remember? And the clothing of the martyred were often laid at Paul's feet. Paul felt pretty good about himself, because his misplaced zeal was being exercised, he was convinced for God.


If he would have simply sat down to be retaught, or converted, he would not have been necessary for him to have been stopped by God ITself. Why would, and why has God, often had to stop people like the Apostle? Answer: Because no one else will be able to stop them, that is without knocking them down. These are hard-headed, my mind is made up and don't confuse me with facts individuals. What a hard-headed man the Apostle was. What is interesting is that God after stopped him, he had to send him to one of the lowly members of the Way, the group that he disdained, who had to guide and teach him. Poor Ananias, was afraid of this religious nut. Haven't you met religious people like this who are completeley out of control. Do the Crusades, Jihads, Fatwahs ... come to mind?


I've said it before, the first and the last individuals to die, apparently did so and will do so in the end as a result of religious secularism, fantascism and obsession!


With people like this, you can't teach them anything, because what they have is a psychological problem - their minds again get made up, and facts won't matter. Even after Ananias finished with him, (Paul), he still did not go up to Jerusalem to be retaught, he took off again with a theology that was even new to the Apostles in Jerusalem. At the time, Paul, was not an Apostle himself.


Reverend Camping, reminds me a lot of Paul pre-conversion and post-conversion Paul. Now let's get back to Reverend Camping. I enjoyed listening to him this past Sunday, on a Bay Area Talkshow. Professor Brent Walters, graciously invited him to speak on his show, on KGO Radio, for an hour during the 3rd segment of his 3-hour long Sunday morning radio show. It might be fortuitous to note that Reverend Camping was nearly 15 minutes late arriving at the show, which might say something about the way that he keeps time, er herm, you see where I am going with this!


Reverend Camping’s predictions that the Rapture of the Saints will occur on May 21, 2011, and that the world will end five days later, has not been hidden from the public eye. All across the country, the prediction that the world is coming to an end …, has been posted on billboards, talked about in the media and preached about on TV and Radio. In fact, Reverend Camping has appeared as a guest on several News Talk Shows!


To many other preachers and scholars who won't agree with him, he appears to be a complete idiot - and of course, some of them appear to be the same to other people!

But what is it that he is really saying. Just look at his website www.familyradio.com, and you will appreciate a bit more what he is actually saying. This is important because when he was interviewed by Professor Walters of San Jose State University, a professional acquaintance of mine, he repeated what is written on his website, and it is as follows: “The Bible Guarantees It”.


In other words, he is not predicting the end of the world based upon any self-volition, he is simply pointing out what is written in the bible, based upon his research. His prediction is close, keep in mind, just off a year, with the Mayan Calendar. And which source document is using to predict these calamities, it is Constantine's Canon. DaVinci Code, all over again? All people try to tell me how the scriptures are coded? I quickly ask, which version of the scriptures? Am I a cynic, hypocrite or backslider. Most Christians would have to say yes, of course. However, I am simply following the Apostle Paul's prediction, he once said to 'test everything'. Peter, and his epistle often warned his followers about false teachers. The way I understand it is this, never follow anything or anyone's teaching without subjecting them or what they have to say to scrutiny.


Why? Even good people, who mean well, can be sincerely wrong!


Most of us who were raised in the Church (regardless of which religious group or denomination) we hailed from, are aware of the following scripture found in Matthew 24:36. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only". That day, is what for sure most Christians, but not Christians only, are waiting for. It is the day when God comes to get them, the good Christians ..., in order to remove them from the great unwashed. Man, these people hate the world, that they helped to ruin. And they do so to the extent that they cannot wait to get out of here, as if they are somehow better than anyone else.


Well, fine I say them, for when the majority of them have been beamed up to the Mother Ship, then you and I can enjoy the San Francisco Bay area easier, with less traffic congestio, and we can get on with the business of discovery, unimpeded!


From what I can see, there is a lot more for us to learn right here, and clearly, we have wasted the last 2,000 years in our quest to understand more, because people like Reverend Camping, who only need Constantine's Canon and a few commentaries to understand man's purpose in life... will be in another place fighting with each other over something.


Trust me, Reverend Camping, a bible literalist, is very aware of Jesus's pronouncement, that non man knows the day and hour ..., just as most believers and non-believers are aware. And that explains why so many believers are disgusted, and equally dismissive of his predictions. So why would he put himself out on a limb like this, one that could destroy his 100 million dollar ministry? It is simple: He is only reporting, what the Bible guarantees? He is not responsible for the errors, in other words, in the canon. Perhaps, in the aftermath of all of this, he will admit that the canon is flawed, not him of course. When it comes to the incredible powers of comprehension that he possesses, he will be quick to say that the Canon, and not he is wrong!


What do I believe about biblical eschatology and all of this? Well, there are historicists, post-millennialialists, pre-millenialists, amillenialists, pretribbers, posttribbers within the Christian faith alone …, and none of them agree, and all of these expected to be beamed up because they are the only ones who understand the truth. So what does that tell you? And don't forget that the Apostle Paul, a man who often shot from the hip, believed that he would apparently be a part of the rapture, without going to sleep. This is what I understand him to be saying in his letter to the Thessalonians, or church at Thessaloniki.


Futhermore, are over 50,000 Christian denominations, and millions of preachers and teachers in religion, who will have an opinion about the end of time, and about Pastor Camping’s prediction. And again, none of them agree on every point with each other. As I stated in a similar paper, what we have here is Babel all over again. On that occasion, people planned their ascent into the heavens, and in turned became confused. We see that scenario being played out all over again.


What they will have to say, the latter group of religious zealots is: He, Reverend Camping, is wrong, but I am not wrong! I can recall all of the prognosticators of the past, who named the day and hour when Jesus would return, the Rapture would occur, or when the world would come to an end. None of them would agree with what I am writing, but I don't feel bad because they don't agree with each other.


Why do they do Christians and other groups engage in this kind of espistlemological and eschatalogical canard? One of the reasons that I will speak to, which will explain why they do so, is because people religious people are fascinated, when it comes to this particular theme, also religious people don't have anything better to do.


Finally, Constantine's canon is the real culprit, particularly among individuals that refuse to do any real work. Okay, and fear. The latter has been drilled into most of us from the time that we were toddlers. Religious people are afraid to think outside of the box, and they have plenty of teachers who will fighten them into remaining into the box.


Thank God, Jesus was not like that, er herm! Of course he learned what religious people will do to you, if you cross them. And these are the people that everyone wants to beam up with, to the Mother Ship. Again, religious people, in Christianity for example, believe that Constantine's Canon is the inerrant word of God. And even with proof to the contrary, don't try to convince otherwise, they still believe it.


I have proposed that we write a new set of books, that includes modern-day data. No one likes that idea. People still want to read about 'pigs running down a hill, after having a spirit of a crazy many injected into him. I wonder what Jesus would say about this story. Perhaps, given their limited mental states, he did so, on the other hand, I doubt that he would have wasted his time - Jesus, was trying to teach people, and to elevate their levels of wareness. . It is for the rest of us, who believe that there is some thing that we refer to in our culture, as the God phenomenon. We know that it is bigger, and past where most religious people, even Christians take their point of departure.


We know that it will be for us to sensibly pursue and understanding, contact, and joining if there is to be one with what we call God. Who was the brother, secularist, who wrote the book: The God of the Brain. I forget his name, but the brother was on to something. Perhaps, the connection exists in the brains of some of us. The rest, I would have agree, may not have a brain. Okay, he didn't say that! He believed that God was hard-wired in certain human's, brain.


My thing is I don't care. Jesus, was pretty much saying, don't worry about it, and to just do your thing while you are on Earth, because otherwise you will be preoccupied with an event that will occur, that (at least in the common era, those folks wouldn't have been smart enough to decipher). Let's see, how many human beings have, and for for many years, hours and days have waited for that to come. And if it was, or is as we understand it, the Rapture - have not taken place yet. Jesus, didn't meet Reverend Camping. But then Jesus didn't have Constantine's canon either, did he?


So why am I writing this piece? It is, first of all, to thank Reverend Camping for making my point about religion. It is what I have been writing and saying, that in a 21st Century Context, we simply need to move on, because much learning about Constantine's bible, has made too many humans mad. The second reason for writing on this topic is to say, that we cannot possibly understand all of what was being said 2000 years, was written and translated years later, or what was meant. And this is just one other reason that religious people need to move on. Thank you Reverend Camping! And in a non-linear or 3-D world, perhaps what we refer to as the Rapture, occurs everyday – remember, we believe that God is Time Independent, and has the ability to view the past, present and future of our world, all at the same time.


BTW Reverend Camping, if you are still alive on May 21st, would you donate some money to Hope for Outdoor People in San Jose California. The organization that I am president of, is trying to help 'outdoor citizens', like Jesus was doing, to get going again. And if you are not going to be here anyway, I will put the money to good use - helping other people, who will be left behind with me.


And may I have the keys to all of your homes, cars, yachts, credit cards, 401Ks, …, so that I can house the individuals who will be left behind. Many of them will likely be here either trying to figure out how they got 'left behind', and whether another ship will be coming by to get them.


And don't worry, perhaps I will get some of them to listen, once the distractions (and religious distract0rs) have been removed to an another plane, so that they can keep, enjoy and expand upon the the wonderful gift that we have here in Earth. So far it has been underutilized, because religion leads to hatred, and hatred to fighting and war, and war leads to death. I want to teach a new paradigm, one that will put people in touch with what put them here in the first place – so they can live in a non-religious paradise on Earth.


Clearly religion, and most religious teachers are not helping, and have become an embarrassment to what we refer to in general, as God! Reverend Camping will prove that Constantine's canon, should not be our only source. By the way, does anyone else have any claims on South Lake Tahoe and Emerald Bay? If not, I will take it!


And finally, 'we will know them by their love', not as a result of scripture memorization ... Why are there so many homeless people in America alone, if all of the people who planned to be beamed up to the mother ship, know anything about love!


Beam 'em up Scotty'!