Submitted by NewOldSalt on Tue, Jan 3, 2012 - 9:58 pm
Flip-flop-orama-Obama who now believes in more and more war, torture, warrantless arrests, indefinite imprisonment without a trial, and assassinations is now burning up billions of gallons of fuel and goodwill by sending war ships to Iran.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Fri, Dec 30, 2011 - 4:23 pm
Now that Ron Paul is doing better and better in the polls (more and more people who hear him like him), the crazies who hate Ron Paul are coming out of the wood work. And I mean that to be somewhat literal, they are those who are destroying our country; weakening it and eating it’s strengths.
I’ve read a few diatribes against Dr. Paul.
Supposedly he hates gays and thinks they should be executed; but in reality he’s a cosponsor of a bill with Barney Frank!
The tone of the anti-Ron-Paul essays I’ve read sound exactly like the Prohibitionists who claim ending Prohibition will mean everyone will flock to the drug stores to buy heroin, become addicts, and lay dying in the streets with vomit in their mouths.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Wed, Dec 21, 2011 - 1:35 pm
I was one of the last generation of kids to deliver the Boston Globe, by hand, from my bike, and from a sled in the snow.
It was much bigger then, and not delivered by adults driving cars. Now it’s smaller than some of the inserts that used to be inside it.
It’s much smaller now, and although I can’t say I read much of it back then, I can say it reads like garbage these days. You can tell they care much more about their advertisers than their readers.
A few days ago they boo-hooed over big box Best Buy. You know, they are the new “mom & pop” stores; those touchy-feely corporations.
The journalist acts as though shoppers have never compared prices before. As though we need to stop evolving and become luddites. As though merchants haven’t been in collusion with manufacturers for DECADES to produce a plethora of remarkably similar, yet varying slightly, products which make it difficult to compare between stores.
This is why they can so boldly state that if you find the same item for less somewhere else, they’ll refund the difference. Well that’s because Store X has an agreement for exclusive supply on Item POOP35-BNC-123-xck, and Store Y doesn’t (and can’t) carry that version, instead the product they carry differs in some minuscule ways, it’s part POOP35-BNC-123-xks. And so the game continues.
The next day, again on the front page, they insinuate the “occupy” movement has tons of homeless people, there are many injecting drug users among them, and all drug users become homeless. Oh yeah, and they also have mental illness.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Sun, Dec 18, 2011 - 11:30 pm
While other presidential candidates fumble for how to answer whether they have the power to go to war against Iran, saying, “… well … I’d have to check with the lawyers … I’d have to check with counsel …” Ron Paul knew instantly to look to the Constitution!
Clearly the other candidates do not care about the Constitution, are ignorant of it, are as much pawns of the military as many presidents (including Obama) have been, have lots of financial reasons to go to war, and/or are just plain sick in the head and think war is good and war prevents problems, contrary to recent and past history.
Like the many Independents and many Democrats who will vote for Ron Paul in the Primaries I think Ron Paul has the best chance of making the most changes we need. Will I agree with all those changes? No. But he will help remove so much garbage that has been plastered over our Founding Documents; that is what’s needed, not more baloney on top of old baloney. The Constitution has been smothered with junk. And Democrats and Republicans alike only add more junk on top of the junk.
Personally I am in favor of a single payer healthcare system. I am quite certain Ron Paul has no intention of instituting one or promoting one. Doesn’t bother me. Presidents have term limits.
But before we can have an intelligent Single Payer system we have to get rid of so much garbage that had been laid on us.
Barack Obama was the only political candidate I ever gave money to. However, already I’ve donated, hm, nearly ten times as much to Ron Paul, please donate money to Ron Paul’s campaign.
We’ve already seen that Obama is a poor example of change. Although Ron Paul has been in Washington for about two decades he seems to understand the fundamental concepts of what plagues our badly broken system and he’s consistently pushed to fix it. The main hope is he will have more leverage and that more people will listen to him when he’s President.
You know Ron Paul makes sense when so many people of such varied backgrounds say he’s right.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Thu, Dec 1, 2011 - 4:31 pm
Please use this quick educational video to learn how to vote for Ron Paul in the primaries. It gives a quick overview of the various ways it’s handled in the states. Some states allow anyone of any party to go in and vote for the candidate, other states require you to be registered as a member of that party before (LONG BEFORE) you can vote in the primaries, so the time to start the process is NOW!
Submitted by NewOldSalt Admin on Mon, Nov 14, 2011 - 1:02 pm
Isn’t it so sad that the media whores — sell-outs to the mega-corpses — can’t seem to recall the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution? Um, the one that says:
Original
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.
Modern
Congress shall not establish a state religion. Congress shall not prevent people from following their religious convictions.
Congress shall honor the freedom of citizens to speak publicly, peaceably assemble, and publish.
Congress shall pass no laws preventing people from seeking justice from the government.
Thus it is so sad to hear from FOX (which claims to be fair and balanced), and the PBS Newshour (which many would say is on the opposite end of the political spectrum), it is sad to hear them both kowtow to their corporate masters who hate having their hypocrisy exposed. They will do their damnedest to make it sound like the people who are gathering are lunatics, insane drug users, violent malcontents, etc…
But the fact is, as I see it, those people who have gathers are reporters, they are reporting to everyone what the story is, granted each story is a bit different, but they are doing a much better job of reporting that FOX and the PBS Newshour (to name just two).
Media whore PBS Newshour a few nights ago reported on two drug overdoses at an “occupy” gathering as though it was a regular occurrence. But the fact is the sick minds who are behind such moronic reporting completely ignore the obvious, that if drugs were legal there would be no overdose deaths! Heroin users could take their drug at a clinic: known purity levels, known dosage, no deaths. So the Newshour and all the other “news” outlets that reported this are just condemning themselves twice over, lies upon lies.
So you bunch of media dolts, keep on spewing your bull s$%@#, keep on speaking for the 1% (and the deceived 9% -- or whatever percentage it is), who knows you may be able to squelch this current uprising. But I’ll tell you this, the next time it comes it will completely overwhelm you because of your head-in-the-sand idiocy. As time goes on it won’t be so easy to characterize by you partisan morons as “left” or “right.”
Meanwhile I expect you haters of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution to ignore it, talk up the religion of money, and do your best to act like you are so pure, objective, fair, and balanced, but instead it’s the opposite.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Thu, Aug 11, 2011 - 10:31 pm
I know it's similar to “spin,” but I’m thinking it would probably be a good idea to stop using the terminology of “flat tax” and start calling it “even tax.” Since that has a better ring to it.
Nothing changes behind the scenes. The concept is still that everyone is taxed at the same percentage, everyone equally.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Wed, May 4, 2011 - 1:05 pm
You can tell a person doesn't deserve power or authority (political, financial, economic, religious, etc…) if they glorify war, if they glorify killing.
You can tell a person doesn't know God if they rejoice over the death of the wicked.
Ezekiel 18:23 (NIV)
Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?
Ezekiel 33:11 (NIV)
As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked […]
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Wed, Apr 20, 2011 - 12:52 pm
Saying we don't need to follow our Constitution in other lands is the same as saying we don't need to follow the Golden Rule because Earth is not Heaven.
Saying we don't need to follow our Constitution in how we treat non-citizens is the same as saying we don't need to follow the Golden Rule because Earth is not Heaven.
One of the fundamental flaws these people have is they think our rights come from a piece of paper. They work hard to deceive others into thinking that if a "right" is not specified on a piece of paper. Of course they work with other deceivers who write shackles around their own souls and include lies in their writing like this, "if a right is not included here, then you do not have that right, you only have rights which we granted you and listed on this paper. Signing this paper, means you believe us, and we are god almighty over you because we have the upper hand, just like God."
Clearly the "Christians" among those who hold that view are greatly mistaken. What did Jesus say? Did he say to only be nice to people who are nice to us? DId he say we should only show love to people who love us?
You people think you can protect society and life on the planet by destroying it. You are of the same mindset of the people who burn others at the stake in order to save their souls. You are just like the evil Drug Warriors and Drug Prohibitionists who perpetrate evil and call it good, who fret over "moral decay" while simultaneously committing the most heinous acts possible.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Wed, Dec 1, 2010 - 5:30 pm
Dear Deceiving Politicians, Industry, and Religious Leaders,
The exposure you all get come Judgement Day is going to make this most recent http://WikiLeaks.org episode look like a grain of sand on the beach.
http://WikiLeaks.org is only publishing some of your written papers. On Judgement Day your thoughts, all your words, the intentions of your actions, and all of your writings will be exposed.
The time to stop lying to us is NOW!
End all these murderous wars, especially the Evil Religion of Drug War and Drug Prohibition.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Wed, Nov 17, 2010 - 3:22 pm
Not long after the shoe bomber was found out, everyone was viewed as a terrorist and our shoes were viewed at terror objects.
Not long after the underwear bomber tried to bring down an airplane by concealing explosives in his underwear, there were many in government who wanted to rummage through your underwear! But their desire to grope us was denied. (Those folks were transferred to work in overseas prisons.) However, perverts are winning out slowly but surely. The U.S. government has now given the go-ahead and mandated you, your spouse, and your children been photograph nude or felt up.
Oxygen Banned!
Most recently, bombs were concealed in inkjet or laser printer cartridges, so now those must be banned!
However, at a Congressional hearing scientists pointed out that without oxygen none of those explosives would be effective! What to do?! The next logical step! BAN OXYGEN!!!
From now on there will be no oxygen in airplanes. However, since we live in a world of government and corporation double-speak, what that really means is that passengers will not be allowed to bring their own oxygen on board. From now on passengers must pay a fee to breathe limited amounts of oxygen on airplanes from the little bags and masks which descend from the bottom of the overhead compartments.
Most airline passengers are familiar with the little face masks which drop down from the ceiling in event of emergency that provide air to breathe in case of emergency. If you are not familiar with them, you will find out. Airlines assure us the fees for oxygen will be minimal; early estimates are that it will only be $0.05 to $0.10 per breath.
Since we live in a constant state of panic, all passengers will be required to breathe through those masks, or die. This will appear as a bill you receive after the plane lands. Passengers will NOT be allowed to bring their own oxygen on planes.
At a recent press conference, marketing drones stated, "our research indicates customers are thrilled with this latest upgrade and advancement in safety technology. No one wants terrorist bombs — which require lots of oxygen — to explode next to them. This latest, and government mandated, safety improvement will assure such bombs can not endanger the lives of others.
"We will also offer, for a modest cost per breath, scents and fragrances which are assured to delight you and bring back long forgotten memories. If you are a smoker, we will also offer tobacco scented air with a nicotine infusion. Yes, you heard that right, smoking is back on airplanes!
"Some passengers also indicated they will be glad they don't have to smell odiferous seat-mates; if you know what I mean.
Further Future Safety Breakthroughs
Although this latest safety mandate takes a great step forward in assuring the safety of travelers, there are future updates planned.
Anonymous sources at the FBI, CIA, State Department, Homeland Security, and many other shadow government agencies admitted that pundits were correct, before too long both passengers and their luggage would NOT be allowed on airplanes. High ranking brainiacs in those organizations have pointed out to the President and Congress that if it wasn't for people, and if it wasn't for the luggage they pack, airplanes would be safe. Due to passengers and the luggage they pack, airplanes are TOTALLY exposed to disaster.
Anonymous sources within the airline industry point out the enormous leap forward this will make in passenger safety. "Imagine not having to drive to the airport! Most people don't realize this, but travel by car is far more dangerous than traveling by plane! This proposed safety enhancement of not allowing passengers or their luggage on planes negates the need to get in your unsafe car to drive on crowded and unpredictable roads to the airport!
"In case you can't tell, we are very excited about this. Wannabe flyers still buy a ticket, and we still bill you, and you are still liable for the standard cost per breath for oxygen use, which we will now base on your age, body mass index, health history, and DNA scan, but we know our customers will love this latest assurance to them they will be perfectly safe from terrorists blowing up the airplane.
"In fact, we are pressuring governments around the world to adopt this future-is-here-now breakthrough in passenger safety!
"Ok, can't talk more, gotta run. I just can't wait to get out there and resume inspecting the family jewels, and that place of such joy where little ones are brought into the world. So much fun making sure people are safe and feel safe. Toodles."
Do Not Read These!
Government agents have requested you stay stupid, so please DO NOT read the stories below!
Slashdot Extremists!
Especially DO NOT read the comments or links to stories in the comments pointing out government lies and corruption. Especially do not read the links to how government officials said one thing in the past, but now do the opposite. Especially do not read how government officials profit from the sale of this latest jobs program (buying scanners) so Bush/Obama can cheer the employment of people with "high paying jobs."
One Hundred Naked Citizens: One Hundred Leaked Body Scans
Now just ignore the part about how we lied to you that we would not store any of those images. http://gizmodo.com/5690749/
"The images of our naked bodies will never be public. U.S. Marshals in a Florida Federal courthouse saved 35,000 images on their scanner."
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Wed, Nov 17, 2010 - 1:16 pm
In case you are interested in seeing just how out of touch our government is with its citizens, please read the following transcript or watch the video. John Pistole, administrator, Transportation Security Administration, speaks flawlessly like a politician, although he's not.
He completely ignores nearly every question Margaret asks!
TSA Chief: Disagreement Over Security, Privacy Balance Understandable
And in case you want to know what's coming down the pike:
MARGARET WARNER: But these new methods don't catch something hidden in a body cavity?
JOHN PISTOLE: Correct.
Ok, this means that airplanes will become even more like prisons. Um, the various openings you have in your body where stuff can come out, also means terrorist tools can go in. So for the government to make sure everyone feels as safe as possible they will graduate to…
In fact some might say that our government has bent over and is allowing the terrorists to teach them.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Tue, Nov 16, 2010 - 7:28 pm
I was nearly sick to my stomach last night as I watched the PBS News Hour and heard Massachusetts Senator John Kerry go on and on about how we needed to be in Afghanistan. Hm, something doesn't compute! Wasn't he a member of Vietnam Veteran's Against the War? Hm, according to Wikipedia he was even the spokesperson for them.
My, how times have changed.
Let's see, sent over to fight a wars we can never win. Too pompous to admit we're long past the point of diminishing returns, killing U.S. citizens and the locals, the parallels between Vietnam and Afghanistan are more than just a few, but that's not the point of this essay. I'm sure you can find them many other places.
Kerry: U.S. Shouldn't Blow Karzai's Criticism Out of Proportion
So very sad! Just like Robert McNamara came out with his book which enraged many, when it was revealed the politicians knew Vietnam was a loosing proposition yet they poured thousands of more lives into it and too much money, one wonders who and when the insider book will come out. A book titled something like "War on Terror: War We Can NEVER Win, but Wasted Many Trillions of Dollars and Dozens of Thousands of Innocent Lives On, Because Dammit, We Wanted Immediate Revenge."
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Wed, Nov 10, 2010 - 2:17 am
There is a sick evil cancer in our society, from the highest levels down to the lowest levels. At least one Presidential Administration that believes in torture. And that evil bloodlust for a scapegoat and to extract revenge goes all the way to the lowest levels of the military and civilian law enforcement.
Instead of upholding the Constitution they swore to uphold, they abuse and torture it! THEY ARE EVIL!
Since many of them probably go to church I will add that they are also COMPLETELY EVIL HYPOCRITES who defy God's teachings.
They write laws which allow themselves to be evil, to act unconstitutionally, to torture the Golden Rule. Then they have the gall to say that what they do is lawful.
They give themselves permission to lie in order to torture you to "confess."
They give themselves permission to act as unlawful as possible in order to "maintain law and order."
Taxi to the Dark Side
Bush, Cheney, etc… promote torture, trash other countries, sign laws which absolve themselves; they are quick to forgive themselves but quick to condemn others. They believe in using torture to get "confessions." They bribe and offer huge sums of money to pay for accusations. Then they act like one person's accusation is an open-and-shut case!
FRONTLINE: The Confessions
Watch the video and read about how law enforcement uses torture to extract confessions and denies the facts. Yes, this is a show about one case, but for decades (at least) there have been many wrongful convictions, forced confessions, evidence hiding, and other grossly unlawful, unprofessional, and anti-christian behaviors by people who wear badges.
Sick minds, hard-hearted bullies, EVIL men and women.
This also shows why these people are also in favor of the Drug War. They love to lie. They love to bully. They love to torture. They love to lord their authority over you.
Drug War
Bullies, Men of Lawlessness, Holier-Than-Thou Children of Satan, a deceived public!
The Drug War is just another never-ending excuse to bully others, torture confessions out of people, act as though most drug users are a danger to society when they are not, "the law" gives themselves undeserved and huge raises as they destroy the lives of innocent people, and many many more ills, including our presence in Afghanistan!
They will suffer everlasting shame and contempt.
Hey Barack Obama, why don't you join with the side of righteousness instead of sickening EVIL!
Hey Barry, you know that part of the Bible where Jesus says that anyone who gives one of his disciples a glass of water, he will be rewarded by God for doing so? Well it goes the other way too. I'm praying like mad that you shout down these evil men and women, they ARE going to the trash heap! (Hell) Please be strong and be the leader you were elected to be! I don't know what it is about some of these people, DAs, some cops, some military people, they are just freaking sickos; they torture their underlings to do the evil for them and make them twice the children of hell they are, see Matthew 23:15.
YOU MUST STOP THEM! THIS DRUG WAR FEEDS THEIR SICK DESIRES! WHAT THEY DO IN THE NAME OF THE GOVERNMENT, LAW AND ORDER, WILL BE DONE TO THEM! This is not some threat from puny, powerless, and penniless me, this is a LAW OF THE UNIVERSE! YES! THEIR OWN EVIL SPIRITS THEY HAVE GIVEN BIRTH TO WILL COME HOME TO THEM AND DO TO THEM WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO OTHERS! Luke 11:24-26 They will probably be tortured and shamed at least 8 times what they have done to others! You DO NOT want to be among them when that happens! PLEASE STAND UP, USE YOUR SPINE, AND DO SOMETHING!
DO YOU REALLY THINK JESUS WAS LYING WHEN HE SAID THAT THOSE IN POWER WILL BE TOSSED OUT?! Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12, Luke 20:9-19 DO YOU REALLY THINK JESUS WAS LYING WHEN HE SAID THAT THOSE WHO EXALT THEMSELVES WILL BE HUMILIATED?! DO YOU REALLY THINK JESUS WAS LYING WHEN HE SAID THAT THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN UNRIGHTEOUSLY SHAMED WILL BE LIFTED UP AND HIGLY EXALTED BY GOD?!
I AM SICKENED BY MANY OF THOSE IN RELIGIOUS POWER, THOSE WITH INDUSTRIAL AND CORPORATE POWER, AND EVIL AND COWARD POLITICIANS.
Here's a last little bit. In my memory Bush was the worst president we've ever had. So many of us thought so we voted for "change!" But what change have we seen? You keep on increasing Drug War spending, you are increasing hatred of us around the world and in the hearts of many Muslims, which you claim you are trying to avoid, you are sending even more kids to die in Afghanistan, and spending outrageous sums doing so! End this freaking damned abomination called Drug War and those terrorists over there will have little-to-no money coming in! But your advisors say, "no we can't do that, what will people think?" So even though you realize Drug War is EVIL and counter-productive, you go along with it. This is your "glass of water" you are giving away, but you are NOT giving it to the right people.
Think of the Drug War, or even the United States, like a tree. Here is a parable from Jesus, Luke 13:5-9.
[…] "But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.
"So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'
"'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'"
As far as I'm concerned there has been little discernible difference between you and Bush. You both moan for "growth." You both plead for "high paying jobs." You both act like you are the owners of horses in a horse race and we're your horses to be whipped so we can go as fast as we can to make your presidency look good. "Can't let other countries beat our (insert lame financial bull crap and money/idol worship here)!" And more than a few other similarities you can read about in my other essays.
You are making a grave error if you think you can speak out against the Drug War upon ending your presidency. Don't forget that Jesus said he can come back at any moment. It is foolish to put off one's "death-bed conversion" until one is old and creaking to pieces, a person can die, or Jesus can return any time. Secret Service, give me a freaking break, this is NO threat on his life, I am praying for him. I am only speaking the truth and hoping he listens! As far as I'm concerned he is in the best position to end this damned evil madness, I want him to succeed and start enacting it NOW; if he dies, it will be yet another setback.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Sat, Oct 30, 2010 - 11:33 pm
It's been a while since I've typed up a dream I've had. This doesn't mean I've not had dreams at night, it just means I'm not logging them here.
But due to a number of dreams I had after Obama was elected, I figured I'd share a dream I had last night.
It wasn't long after Obama was elected President that I had more than a few dreams where I was in a car or pick-up truck and someone else was driving. The thing that made me wonder so much was why, in my dreams, was the car veering so much to the right. I couldn't understand it, didn't we just elect a Democrat? A guy from the left? So why were things veering so much to the right? Well, I still don't know, but I do know this, in many issues that matter to me, we sure were veering far too far to the right for my taste!
Instead of a single-payer system we were forced to become customers of the sickeningly rich health insurance industry. Instead of dialing down or ending the Evil Religion of Hate (Drug War) Obama was funding it even more! Instead of ending the horrendous debacles we're in around the world: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Colombia, etc… we're diving in even more and borrowing insane amounts of money from foreign nations to spend insane amounts of money on war!
So now I have a similarly strange dream. Everyone is talking about how the Republicans will take over in this coming election. Maybe, maybe not, I don't know. And I'm not going to sit here and tell you my dreams are perfect and always come out true. But I will share what I dreamed last night.
Well, I'll share a little bit of my dreams, frankly some of them are very very long and full of too much detail to write up.
But the one that seems pertinent is this. Somehow I was standing next to a big truck, one of those 16 or 18-wheelers. It was full of rice and beans (dried, before cooking) in the back. I had a handful of rice (whole-grain rice, thank you) and tossed it on the back of the truck. But the truck was so full with rice and beans that my handful fell off. So I caught it as it was falling and then threw it, like I was sewing it, off to the distance.
Next I saw the gruff, male, driver. I think he said something about climbing aboard. But instead of getting in the cab I held on to the right side of the cabin. He drove off with me clinging to the side. But at some point he got off the paved road and started driving on a dirt road.
Now here's the odd part. He came to a right hand curve in the road and tried to take it, but instead he didn't, the truck skidded, or at least kept going kind of straight. I must have jumped off right as it plummeted over the edge of road and down a dirt and treed slope in to some water. I watched it all from the refuge of a tree I jumped into once it became clear the truck was not going to make the right hand curve.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Tue, Oct 12, 2010 - 4:38 pm
In the Worship God and Bible Study area of NewOldSalt.com I have written often about being careful about Bible worship. So this essay will be about the more general form called Scripture Worship.
What is Scripture Worship? It is when people idolize their scriptures. Idolizing their scriptures is usually the first step to idolizing one's own interpretation of those scriptures, the next step is (too often) to force others to submit to those scriptures, but more so to the specific interpretation of those scriptures.
One serious stumbling block people set before themselves is the notion that if a religious book is not 100% true then why should they believe any of it?
I know there have been Christians who left Christianity to become Muslim because they believed the Bible could not be 100% trusted, but they thought the Qur'an was worth trusting 100%. But I also know Muslims who no longer believe in or practice Islam for similar reasons.
This is not an essay trying to convince you to convert or join a religion, but I must say you should choose your religion based on its merits. Based on the philosophy. Based on how true it seems.
If you only choose your religion based on the notion of "Can I trust this book 100%?" and "If I can only trust this book 95%, then I'll reject the whole thing instead of trying to figure out the inconsistent parts," you are making a serious error.
What in this life is 100% perfect all the time? Are you? Do you want people to stop trusting you because of a lie you told 10 years ago? Or a slight slant you spun on a topic you are passionate about?
It's typically only students under too much parental (or societal) pressure who think they are failures if they received a grade under 100%.
Humans would not have learned as much as we know now if all of us engaged in such mentally clumsy thinking. In fact, part of each person's growing up includes learning that not everything you hear or read is 100% true; even your parents lied to or misled you on many occasions to insulate you from information you were not ready for.
Hopefully before too long I'll be able to get into some serious Bible scrutiny; for people interested in such things. It's kind of hard to tell about that; there seem to be lots of Bible thumpers out there, but it seems that many so-called Christians really do not know, or do not care to know, what is in the Bible; they just want to use it as a weapon against people they do not like. And it's not just some so-called Christians who use scripture to try to subjugate others. Some societies have religious police, morality police, and other Orwellian-sounding govt. agencies dedicated to promoting religion, although most of those seem to be in predominantly Muslim countries.
So please stop worshipping scripture.
I know there are people who, after reading this, will want to ask me "why are you bashing Christianity?" or "Don't you want Christianity to 'win?'" Or even completely ignore what I wrote above, and all the other essays on this website, and ask "if you don't believe 100% of the Bible, why believe any of it?!"
1. I am not bashing any religion here. I am saying Worship God, DO NOT worship scripture.
2. I am trying to help young minds mature. (Note that not all young minds are in young bodies.)
3. I am not bashing Christianity. If your faith in God is based on the idea your scripture is 100% true and contains no errors, then you are not really a believer in God. You worship scripture, not God. I would add this probably holds true for other religions.
4. War imagery is misguided. The U.S. has been in non-stop wars going back beyond what I can remember. Everything is a war or a fight to some people. Sick minds. People who think Christianity should win in some clash of the religions clearly do not understand the life of Jesus. God's DOES WIN, but it surely doesn't win through guns, wars, idiotic laws, and other bullying from the Holier-Than-Thou crowds.
In fact there is nothing that can stop God from "winning." But the key point most people forget is God does not win by human power. How did Jesus win? Did he kick ass? Did he invent new ways of killing, torturing, shaming, or incarcerating his enemies?
Tangentially related to this is the notion of religion promoted by government. In case you haven't noticed, many of those who worship scripture, especially so-called Christians and Muslims, often arrive at very different interpretations of the exact same scriptures. In other words there are some Bible Worshippers who have quite different interpretations of the Bible, or passages within it, than other Bible Worshippers. The same is true of Islam. Islam has many sects within it, and there are some serious disagreements; disagreements which some of them kill over.
This is why I continue to believe what I wrote in some previous essays about the separation of church and state: essay 1, essay 2.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Sun, Oct 3, 2010 - 2:03 pm
Sorry about that, but my guess is someone didn't like the fact I said that pay day lenders (and the variations on their ilk) were one of the current favorite toys of the devil.
Not long after that was published, there was an attack on this website. Hundreds upon hundreds of inane comments appeared. That was a burden in more ways than just one. Kind of like being snowed under by bullies holding all the cards which they stole or forced others to sign away under duress, haters of freedom, sharing, love.
Over the course of this website's existence I've always moderated comments from the anonymous, yet allowed registered user IDs to leave comments. I've also turned on and off and on and off the ability for the anonymous to leave comments. Right now we're in an "off" spell.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Sun, Aug 1, 2010 - 5:18 pm
Hm. I wonder. Think it has anything to do with another major religion that claims to submit to God? But which seems to promote the opposite? The crushing, oppression, and outright murder of people who disagree with them?
One line in a recent sermon of TD Jakes, that people must learn submission, made me laugh. I had to immediately correct him, people must "re-learn" submission. Children are, or should be, famous for submitting and being humble (as well as humiliated). Think this has anything to do with Jesus' saying that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like children? Luke 18:9-17 Matthew 19:13-15 Mark 10:13-16
What must be taught is NOT learning how to submit, but learning how to judge right judgement. Luke 12:57 And learning how to be humble. A lesson best taught by example, not by forcing others to be humble.
If Jesus was about "submission" then he would NOT have "spoken to the people in parables." He would have given them bunches of rules to submit to; he would have set up clear power structures with clear lines of authority. You see, the "problem" with parables is one must think for one's self. Even if you are listening to someone else describe them or interpret them, you are still required to think, at least a little.
However, if you think all I am trying to do is trash "submission" please let me correct you; dare I say "submit" to another interpretation. ;-) I think the word submission has its place but the word "humble" is really more telling about Jesus' teachings and message.
Checking the 4 Gospels in the NIV yields only two hits on the word "submi" (to make sure I find "submission," "submit," "submitting," etc…). Interestingly they are fairly close to each other, so here is the passage, Luke 10:17-20:
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."
[Jesus] replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
Hm… you see, this is the kind of submission most people have in mind. What was it Jesus said to his disciples? Did he say, "I do not call you friends, I call you servants." Or did he say, "I do not call you servants, I call you friends." Look it up yourself: John 15:14-15.
Humility is what Jesus taught over submission. Let's analyze Jesus' saying, "greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Luke 15:13 Let's analyze it in terms of these words: love, humility, and submission. In terms of love this shows Love of God, and Love of Friends. In terms of humility, this is an act of humility towards God and friends. In terms of submission it is submission to the advice of God; it is NOT an act of submission to man. Therefore we see that Love is the strongest word and humility is also strong in this act. Although I guess I shouldn't doubt that some will try to claim it is an act of submission to the human will to kill, but I disagree that's the intent Jesus meant.
If you search Jesus' teachings in the Gospels for the word humble and humility you will find LOTS of references. And ask yourself this: Did Jesus humble himself to humans or did Jesus submit to humans?
Which words you choose is important. If you find yourself often saying "you know what I meant" or "what I meant to say is" you really need to do some serious introspection and figure out why you are being so inaccurate or hasty with your speech. If you think it's not important, I would like to remind you that another name for Jesus is "The Word!" Also note a proverb which stresses that words are important, Proverbs 25:11. Frankly there are far too many passages I could reference which stress the importance of words and being careful with your speech.
Similarities of the Extremists
One final comment. I have also heard Worshippers of Paul often claim how important it is to submit to humans. To me this is ironic since the people who make this statement tend to be the ones who most vilify the religion I hinted at in the opening paragraph. Ironically it's the Worshippers of Paul who patently admit it's submission to human authority, while the other religion makes the claim it's "submission to God." However, as with both of them, they both believe they are God's appointed to carry out the crushing, shaming, and subjugation of others who do not do what they claim is God's will; instead following Jesus' advice, ~ "just ignore them and leave them alone." See Matthew 18:15-17.
This piece has been placed in Similarities of the Extremists since it meets some of that criteria, in particular the last paragraph. However, it should be noted I am not necessarily saying TD Jakes is an extremist. Note I have written about him before and liked some of his other sermons.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Thu, Jul 22, 2010 - 5:38 am
Recently I was informed by someone a "dying Frankenstein and a mad woman" were working hard to spread fear and terror across the countryside.
Then I realized what the person was talking about. Senator Dianne Feinstein's interest in maintaining the black market in marijuana, the destruction of the environment due to grow operations in national forests, the unrighteous (and expensive) imprisonment of people for using a plant product humanity has been using for thousands of years, and the mass murder of Mexicans.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Tue, Jul 20, 2010 - 6:13 pm
In their ongoing effort to destroy our society and the societies of the world, retailers worked in cahoots with companies specializing in money (banks, credit card companies, pay day lenders, etc…) to tempt people to buy junky stuff they don't need made by near-slaves in foreign lands.
The ignorant politicians and mega-corpses continued their idiotic, backwards, misguided and wrong hatred of marijuana (and other all-natural plants), with their lies characterizing them as leading to reduced productivity, since as they proclaimed, "money is the only thing that matters! We worship money! Long Live Money! DAMN God to HELL for making living things that people like more than money and those who do not worship money!"
However, true-to-form, all their actions are doing is destroying the very foundation which their religion of money rests. Instead of employing people, instead of paying people a fair wage, instead of replenishing the environment, instead of taking days of rest, instead of lowering prices so their products are affordable to more people, instead of humbling themselves like a recent large corporation did, they continue to exalt themselves.
"We can't get rich fast enough! We can't enslave you fast enough! And just to prove that we hate God we will have Christmas in July to show that we only care about money, not that day dream Jesus myth. In fact we can't wait to give each other more presents once we kill off the foul men who tell us our ways are evil and are causing all sorts of problems. Yes, it will be us who fulfill the prophecy of Revelation 11:10.
"Buying and selling is the only thing that matters. We also plead with you to get married and divorced and remarried so you can give more gifts. Please also remember that Jesus commands everyone to 'eat, drink, and be merry.'"
The Banks spoke up, "and we too are helping topple societies as well. We were handed ungodly sums of money because we failed at our basic mission (cough cough wink), and we were only too proud to use lots of that money to reward ourselves. Even though we were forgiven our failures (cough cough wink), we are busy exploding the presence of one of the Devil's favorite toys, the Pay Day Lenders. We were forgiven, but we and our pawns will refuse to forgive you!
"This is because we are desperate to be tortured for our evil deeds! Snicker. Just see the parable of Jesus in Matthew 18:23-35, yes we were forgiven millions, billions, hundreds of billions! But we refuse to forgive you ten dollars! You dirty scum! Just wait and see if that fairy tale Jesus of yours shows up like you mental wimps keep on saying. Ours is the real Prosperity Gospel you dimwits. Ha ha ha."
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Thu, Jul 15, 2010 - 3:47 pm
As unemployment handouts dry up for people, they are complaining about a lack of jobs. But don't these people realize that we needed to defy our own Declaration of Independence by make sure the military has more power than civilians? And not just here, but we need to force a militaristic attitude on all countries.
So stop your whining over lack of food, having your car or house repossessed, and your other unpatriotic complaints. Don't you realize we need to tax you to the heavens and borrow money from foreign governments enough money so we can pay our retired generals $10,000+ per month?
And if you show up and say, like in some of the comments on the page at the Reuters article I link to, and try to take me to task similarly:
… Compared to the excessive pay handed out to the top ranking officials of most major corporations these days, I’d say this isn’t too terrible.
… The pension plan he would receive of $149k a year is chump change compared to what other high ranking offcials in the private (ie large cap ceo’s) and government sector are getting for their pension plans in our country today.
… Yes, 100,000 plus per year is a lot compared to the average salary, but it should not be compared to an average salary. It should be compared to CEO of a major corporation, and then some, and feeling the personal responsibility responsible for the lives of many young men and women under his command.
You will have no sympathy for me. It is that exact mindset which has driven our country morally, intellectually, and financially bankrupt.
Just because CEO's and other executives of U.S. corporations are raping the citizens is no excuse for government employees to do the same!
Please see this graph:
How Does Executive Pay in the U.S. Compare to the Rest of the World?
And before you jump to all the dumbest conclusions possible, as though I am saying the lowest paid employee should now be earning the exact same as the highest paid, that is not what I am saying. I am saying there is an obscene and unjustifiable disparity.
But since I'm a religious guy, and don't believe in violence, etc… I just try to take it in stride. So my message to you all: repent and bear the fruits of repentance! Be sure to check out the parable of Lazarus and the beggar to see what you have coming. Remember, it's not just the Devil, the Beast, and the False Prophet that are tossed in the fiery lake of burning sulfur, its his butt-kissing angels too.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Mon, May 10, 2010 - 4:08 am
I was watching a video interpretation of Genesis a few days ago and something struck me which hasn't before.
We're told that God commanded Adam and Eve "not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil." [Genesis 2:17]
Since, at that point, they had not eaten from it, it only makes sense they had no understanding — no knowledge — of good and evil. And since they did not understand right or wrong — good and evil — how can their eating the fruit be sinful?
Ok, so I can imagine someone saying, "because God told them not to." But I repeat, if they had no understanding that disobeying God was wrong/evil, and that doing what God said was right/good, then again, it doesn't seem to count as a sin.
Hm, so let me brainstorm a bit here and explore things.
Submitted by NewOldSalt on Tue, Apr 27, 2010 - 1:02 am
The Men of Lawlessness continued their push to prevent them or their overlords from being regulated.
"The only good regulation is the one that allows me to drain all the money from your accounts in to mine!" mocked one Man of Lawlessness.
A woman chimed in, "hey, don't be sexist please! There are such things as 'women of lawlessness' too! Didn't you know that the CEO of Mystery Inc. is a woman?
"We have been remarkably successful these past few administrations, the past few decades, and especially the past few years in forcing both major political parties to do things they hated about the other parties.
"The Republicans exploded the size and spending of government under George W. Bush, and most recently we managed to get Barack H. Obama to force citizens to become customers of the for-profit 'health-care' insurance industry! It's pure magic! Pure genius! Pure money worship!"
"Money was meant to be a weapon to abuse others with! 'In God We Trust' Ha! I couldn't laugh harder! In my huge bank account I trust!"
Another Man of Lawlessness commented, "it's not that we're against regulations, while we would rather there be none, it's much less costly to do business when gouging people, defrauding them, and the like are legal; but in the absence of no regulations we would then prefer massively complex regulations.
"You see, if the regulations are so byzantine that no one understands them, then it's nearly the same as no regulations. Why? Because complex regulations are not followed; often, even the lobbyists who write them for the legislators do not understand them.
"And when you have 5, 10, 15, or even 30 government employees overseeing hundreds or thousands of companies with millions of employees, you really think they can learn the new massively complex regulations or have any hope of enforcing them? Ha ha ha!
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