Our Cyclical Nature

"The day will come when you think it's the end. It will be the beginning.

Metaphysically and spiritually, this quote reflects the profound belief in the cyclical nature of existence. It suggests that what may appear as a finality—whether in life, a journey, or a significant chapter—often serves as the threshold for transformation and renewal.

The aphorism also suggests that what may appear as a finality — in life, a journey, or one of life's myriad chapters — often serves as the starting point for a spiritual awakening.

There is no finality to spirit. Our physical demise is not seen as a termination point, but as opportunities for growth, evolution, and discovering deeper truths. This perspective aligns with many ancient teachings, where the collapse of the old leads to the birth of the new, emphasizing the eternal dance between death and rebirth in the physical and spiritual realms. Our brief sojourn to the dense planet called Earth, is primarily for the maturation of the soul.

Our life on this planet is not a courtroom but a classroom. The purpose of human existence is not judgment or punishment, but education and growth. Life is viewed as an ongoing process of learning, where challenges, experiences, and relationships serve as lessons for the evolution of the Soul. 

This analogy clashes with the notion of life as a space of moral retribution or pious judgment. It implies that mistakes and difficulties are not to be viewed as condemnation, but embraced as opportunities for personal and spiritual refinement. 

In order to grow, we had to leave the transcendent state of Nirvana, where there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self. This buttresses the concept that our earthly existence is a departure from a higher, more sublime reality. 

In many spiritual traditions, the physical world is seen as a temporary stage where souls undergo trials and experiences necessary for their advancement. By leaving our "real" home—our spiritual origin—we enter a realm of duality and impermanence, where growth is facilitated through the experience of contrast: light and darkness, joy and suffering, and separation and reunion. This journey of separation from the spiritual home is not a loss but an essential step for the soul to evolve and eventually return to its source with greater wisdom and understanding.

Everything in existence, including the words we speak, is energy. This energy follows the flow of our attention, meaning that wherever we focus our thoughts and emotions, we direct our personal power. When we harbor negative energy, such as hatred or resentment, we channel that energy into our lives and the world around us. Over time, this can manifest as destructive outcomes, both internally and externally. Energy operates like a magnet, attracting experiences and realities that resonate with our inner state. A mindset rooted in anger or vengeance, no matter how justified by past wrongs, becomes self-destructive, pulling us into lower vibrations and away from our higher spiritual potential.

At the core of every sentient being, experiencing life in human form, is love. This pure, unconditional love represents our true essence, but in this material world, we assume egos—constructed identities that can generate feelings of fear, separation, and hatred. 

While the historical and ongoing injustices faced by the African American community are undeniable, responding to this pain with aggression or malice perpetuates a cycle of suffering. From a spiritual standpoint, such actions create negative karma, binding us to the cycle of birth and rebirth in lower vibrational dimensions. The path to healing and liberation lies not in retaliating, but in transcending the ego and reclaiming the love and higher consciousness that are our true nature. Only through this inner transformation can we break free from the karmic cycles and elevate ourselves to higher levels of spiritual evolution.

Christian Tyranny

Merriam-Webster's definition of 'Free Will' is, "the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion."

The religious and biblical definition is a bit murky, as it implies: "Free will is a precious gift from God, for it lets us love him with our 'whole heart' because we want to." One bible scripture states, "You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind." - Matthew 22:37.

"You must love Jehovah!" There goes free will. So what if we don't want to "love God with our whole heart?" Free will is nullified because this ecclesiastical mandate is predicated on us loving a Creator. No one alive, past or present, regardless of his canonical pontificating, has any ideal whether the apostolic God of the Christian holy book or Allah of the Koran actually exist. The concept of free will from a religious perspective signifies the essence of pious irrationality.

"And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence."

"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatsoever that it is not utterly absurd."

~ Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Before the Christian, Islam, or any apologist of pseudo sacred writings attempts to dismiss the two aforementioned quotes, take a look at the late Dr. Russell's credentials: British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist and Nobel laureate. The 1950 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Bertrand Russell, in recognition of his "varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought."

Compare Russell's intellect - common sense, experience, along with the fact that he never asked his audience for money - to Graham, Robertson, Osteen, Jakes, White, Hinn, Creflo and other evangelical shysters who amass tremendous wealth via gullibility and fear, and the meritorious juxtapositions are not even close.

Throughout history, religion has been used to financially manipulate the global population. Dating back to the First Crusade (1095-1099) Christianity and Islam have fought wars to control the region dubbed, "The Holy Land" while molding the minds of billions of converts, initially catechized by force.

From History.com:

"The Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of holy sites considered sacred by both groups. In all, eight major Crusade expeditions occurred between 1096 and 1291. The bloody, violent and often ruthless conflicts propelled the status of European Christians, making them major players in the fight for land in the Middle East."

Millions of African−Americans are Christians today because their ancestors were converted against their will to the religion of the slave-master.

Hundreds of thousands of American−Indians are Christians today because the Christian missionaries converted their ancestors against their will.

Ditto for Europe. When Rome controlled most of the world, the Roman Emperor Constantine in 325 CE, forced Christianity onto his subjects.

"Christianity was a minority religion during much of the Roman Empire, and the early Christians were persecuted during that time. When 'Constantine I' converted to Christianity, it became the dominant religion in the Roman Empire. In the view of many historians, the Constantinian shift turned Christianity from a persecuted religion into one capable of persecution and sometimes eager to persecute. There are a number of examples of forced conversion throughout the history of Christianity: during the Roman Empire, in the Middle Ages, Inquisitions in Spain and Goa, and campaigns by Russian rulers."

Those who identify with Christianity may want to do a little research on 'Constantine the Great', the architect of their macabre belief system. Constantine the Great executed his son Crispus in 326 CE, at the age of twenty-one.  In the same year, because of his guilt in killing his son, 'Saint Constantine' executed his wife, Flavia Maxima Fausta, by "suffocation in an over-heated bath." "The Emperor ordered the damnatio memoriae [condemnation of memory, meaning that a person must not be remembered] of his wife with the result that no contemporary source records details of her fate."

In 392 CE Emperor Theodosius I decreed that Christianity was the only legal religion of the Roman Empire and forbade pagan practices:

"It is Our will that all the peoples who are ruled by the administration of Our Clemency shall practice that religion which the divine Peter the Apostle transmitted to the Romans.... The rest, whom We adjudge demented and insane, shall sustain the infamy of heretical dogmas, their meeting places shall not receive the name of churches, and they shall be smitten first by divine vengeance and secondly by the retribution of Our own initiative." (Codex Theodosianus XVI 1.2.)

Massacre of Verden

October 782 CE: During the Saxon Wars, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, forcibly Roman Catholicized the Saxons from their native Germanic paganism by way of warfare and law upon conquest. The Massacre of Verden saw the mass execution of 4,500 Saxons under order of King Charlemagne.


Christianization of Lithuania

"The Christianization of Lithuania occurred in 1387, initiated by King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Władysław II Jagiełło and his cousin Vytautas. It signified the official [forced] adoption of Christianity by Lithuanians, the last pagan nation in Europe. This event ended one of the most complicated and lengthiest processes of Christianization in European history."

The people of Lithuania did not become Christians because they read the gospels and decided to accept their teachings. On the contrary, the people of Lithuania were forced into Christianity against their will, as a result of relentless military force.

Eastern Europe

Upon converting to Christianity in the 10th century, Vladimir the Great, the ruler of Kievan Rus', ordered Kiev's citizens to undergo a mass baptism in the Dnieper river.

Ivan the Terrible

In August 1552, forces of Ivan the Terrible, operating from the Russian castle of Sviyazhsk, laid siege to Kazan. The Muslim population faced slaughter, expulsion, forced resettlement, and conversion to Christianity. The forces defeated the Tatar inland troops, burnt Archa and some castles. On October 3, after two months of siege and destruction of the citadel walls, the Russians entered the city. Some defenders managed to escape but most were put to the sword and the population was slaughtered. The Kazan Chronicle reports about 110,000 killed.

An interesting fact about Ivan the Terrible:

"In addition to being a horrible animal-torturing and rival-executing scoundrel, he was also a very devout Christian. He ordered reforms to be made that would further Christianize Russia. He would sometimes go into fits of religious devotion, confessing his sins or banging his head against the floor with the same eagerness that he showed when slicing open live birds."

 Marranos

Jews endured the wrath and forced hand of Christianity as well. Millions of Jews from the fourth century CE until the 20th Century were forced to "kiss the sword" of Christ, or be put to death by that sword. Therefore, many Jews died at the hands of Christians in the name of Jesus. Fortunately, many Jews managed to survive by lying - saying they converted, but secretly remained Jews. The Christian Church finally realized what was happening and in 1492, the Spanish Inquisition tried to purge the country of these "Secret" Jews, called Marranos.

Goa Inquisition - Portuguese Colonial Period

To bring the article writers point home regarding Christian terrorism, listed below are ten of the many atrocities associated with the Goa Inquisition.

1. Indigenous people were forced to adhere to Portuguese religious beliefs, abandoning their faith.
2. Goa Inquisition was almost on par with Inquisition in Spain 1478, in terms of gory treatment and violence in the name of religion.
3. The new Christian Missionaries from Portugal mandated that all Hindu temples be closed by 1541.
4. The beautiful Goa enclave with fine beaches and azure waters, in particular, became a horrible place of horrors of unimaginable proportion just for the simple reason that the natives refused to accept Portuguese religious beliefs and refused to get converted under compulsion or duress to Christianity.
5. It is a paradox that Francis Xavier, the devil in the guise of a priest, who forced the King of Portugal to legally introduce the Inquisition in Goa and ordering the torture of tens of thousands of Hindus and Jews, using various innovative methods, was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622.
6. The preachers used many dreaded methods of torture to force the innocent people to swallow their preaching of Gospel. According to Richard Zimler, who wrote "Guardian of the Dawn," on the Inquisition in Goa mentioned the missionaries used the “machinery of death” for forceful conversion.
7. Using torture, people were required to pass the ‘act of faith’ (auto-da-fe) by being stretched out on the rack; if they failed they would be burnt at the stake.
8. Dismembering children limb by limb in front of their parents whose eyes were taped continued till they agreed to convert was the most cruel method used by the catholic faithful and they found this method very effective.
9. Death awaited those non-Christians or heretics (kept in shackles by priests) who refused to give up their faith or divulge the names of those who are non-Christians. Death was by strangulation or burning alive in public. These atrocities continued until 1812 when the Inquisition was finally abolished.
10. Those who persistently refused to give up their ancient Hindu practices were declared apostates or heretics and condemned to death. In 1736, over 42 Hindu practices were prohibited.

From the article: 35 Brutal facts of Goa Inquisition (Christian Terrorism) - Portuguese Colonial Period

Christianity should not take pride in their large numbers. In fact, the collective feeling of all who subscribe should be one of unmitigated shame. Practically all Christian ancestors of Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Hindus, Persians, Indians, Native and African Americans, had no choice in the matter. Either accept Jesus as your savior or face a brutal death.

In the 21st century, Christianity is aggressively introduced in a non-violent manner, via an army of missionaries beating on your door and brainwashing your children in school classrooms, extracurricular activities and intramural sports.

"I am now convinced that children should not be subjected to the frightfulness of the Christian religion. ... If the concept of a father who plots to have his own son put to death is presented to children as beautiful and as worthy of society's admiration, what types of human behavior can be presented to them as reprehensible?" - Ruth Hurmence Green (1915-1981)

There have been a plethora of forced conversions throughout the history of religion. Christianity and Islam have been at the forefront - primarily Christianity. There are so many more examples as to why Christianity is the "fraud of the age."

Christianity, along with all other theistic belief systems, is the fraud of the age. It serves to detach the human species from the natural world, and likewise each other. It supports blind submission to authority. It reduces human responsibility to the effect that God controls everything, and in turn, awful crimes can be justified in the name of the divine pursuit. Most importantly, it empowers those who know the truth but use the myth to manipulate and control societies. The religious myth is the most powerful device ever created and serves as the psychological soil upon which other myths can flourish. ~ Zeitgeist

Sources

• Christianity and Homosexuality 
• Christianization of Kievan Rus
• Christianization of Lithuania
• Codex Theodosianus 
• Constantinian Shift
• Ivan the Terrible
• Marrano
• Massacre of Verden  
• Personal Tragedies of Constantine the Great
• Pope vs Muslims
• Secret History of Mexican and Black Slaves
• Spanish Inquisition
• The Crusades
• Vladimir the Great

Hereafter is a Hustle

Jesse Williams acceptance speech for his BET Humanitarian Award was captivating. His reference to the "Hereafter" being a "Hustle," was the inspiration for this article.

We reside in a world where 34,000 children a day die from poverty and preventable diseases. Two-thirds of the world earns less than $2 per day, and one-fifth of the world is under-fed or starving to death. Why should "Believers" have to wait for an apocryphal 'Hereafter'?

Holocaust

The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews (including 1.5 million children) by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

https://www.ushmm.org/learn/holocaust-encyclopedia

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

The trans-Atlantic slave trade was the largest movement of people in history. Between 10 and 15 million Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic between 1500 and 1900. But this figure grossly understates the actual number of Africans enslaved, killed, or displaced as a result of the slave trade. At least 2 million Africans--10 to 15 percent--died during the infamous "Middle Passage" across the Atlantic. Another 15 to 30 percent died during the march to or confinement along the coast. Altogether, for every 100 slaves who reached the New World, another 40 had died in Africa or during the Middle Passage.

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=446

Nuclear Attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Within the first two to four months following the bombings, the acute effects of the atomic bombings had killed 90,000–146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000–80,000 in Nagasaki; roughly half of the deaths in each city occurred on the first day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki

Deadliest Wars

• World War II: 40-85 million deaths; 1939-1945 (Worldwide)
• Mongol Conquest: 40-70 million deaths; 1206-1324 (Eurasia)
• Three Kingdoms War: 36-40 million deaths; 184-280 (China)
• Spanish Conquest of Mexico: 24.3 million deaths; 1519-1632 (Mexico)
• World War I/Great War: 40 million deaths; 1914-1918 (Worldwide)
• Chinese Civil War: 8 million deaths; 1927-1949 (China)
• Russian Civil War: 5-9 million deaths; 1917-1922 (Russia)
• Thirty Years' War: 3-11.5 million deaths; 1618-1648 (Europe)
• War in Afghanistan: 1.24-2 million deaths; 1978-present (Afghanistan)
• War on Terror: 272,000-2 million deaths; 2001-present (Worldwide)

The huge impropriety of the distribution of wealth across the globe is orchestrated by the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican. The Vatican hoards the world's wealth, profits from it on the stock market, and has the unmitigated gall to base their pious rhetoric on giving - you giving your money to them. The privately owned U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, and Central Banks around the world are methods used by International Banking Cartels, and a few of the most influential families in the world.

Throughout history, these families have done whatever it took to achieve their goals. History’s most devastating wars and financial crises were orchestrated by these influential families. Governments, standing armies and sitting presidents have and always will be pawns played by the financially elite to manipulate humanity.

Remain submissive, wait on a Savior, and the Church promises you "Golden Streets" and "Eternity with the Christian God" or "Eternity with Allah" in the "Hereafter."

Caucasoid Domination

Comedian Louis CK, in his stand-up 2008 Netflix special entitled, "Chewed Up," quipped:

"I'm a very lucky guy, I got a lot going for me, I'm healthy, relatively young, I'm white - thank God for that sh#t boy. That is a huge leg up, are you kidding me? Oh, god, I love being white, I really do.. Seriously, if you're not white, you're missing out, cause this sh#t is thoroughly good."

"Let me be clear, I'm not saying that white people are better, I'm saying that being white is clearly better, who could even argue. If it were an option, I would re-up every year - 'oh yea, I'll take white again, absolutely.. I've been enjoying that, I'm going to stick with white - Thank you!' "

"Here's how great it is to be white, I could get in a time machine and go to any time, and it would be f##king awesome when I get there." That is exclusively a white priviledge. Black people can't f##k with time machines. A black guy and a time machine is like, 'hey, anything before 1980, no thank you, I don't want to go'. " But I [white person] can go to any time... (to continue, see video top-right).

Caucasoid world domination is successful primarily because of controlling the money supply via Central Banks and the United States Federal Reserve. Mayer Rothschild stated in the late 1700's, "Give me control of a nation's money supply and I care not who makes its laws."War and religion are tools used by those in power to subjugate, manipulate, and deceive the masses.

"Hereafter" is defined as: (1) after this in sequence or in time... (2) in some future time or state. From a religious perspective, the word pertains to going to 'Heaven or Hell' after one's physical demise. These fabricated places are all part of a Roman story lifted from Egyptian mythology.

If at our core, we are pure energy, and there is no body after your physical death, how would all the 'pain and suffering' described in various holy books be applicable to a sentient being after his or her death? The story is not feasible, it's not logical and it is total balderdash.

In closing, let's look at one scripture in the biblical story of Balaam. Numbers 22:28: Then the Lord opened the donkey's mouth, and it said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"

Did a donkey actually speak? Definitely not. Many of the holy books, specifically the Bible and the Quran, are replete with anthropomorphisms and mythical tales, ascribed to an invisible, punishing, vindictive, jealous deity (be it God or Allah). A deity who plays favorites, has a chosen people, and will punish you eternally (with no body), in horrific ways, if you do not believe in his existence.

The Hereafter is a hustle!

Expanding Consciousness

No one gets away with anything; your Spirit won’t allow it. When you make the transition from this life to the next, your own Spirit evaluates your life in a panoramic, non-judgmental review. The emotions and feelings of those individuals that you mistreated or abused will be displayed. You will feel the exact emotion of what the recipient felt at the time of your transgression.

If your Spirit deems it necessary to experience the pain and suffering you subjected to another in your lifetime, then a karmic effect is created that leads to another physical incarnation. In this subsequent life you will, at some point, experience a very similar, if not harsher punishment than what you meted out in your previous embodiment. The Universe is Fair!

Often on the daily news you hear of a tragedy that occurred to an individual who, by all accounts, had all their “ducks in a row.” He or she was a model student/citizen and had no enemies to speak of, but inexplicably that person was murdered in a horrible fashion. Absolutely no one can explain why anyone would commit such a heinous crime to such a “loving and caring” person. The explanation is rather simple. I don’t mean to be harsh, so if the reader has recently loss a loved one in such a traumatic fashion, please accept my apology. But it’s the karmic effect of the Spirit allowing you to experience a similar fate. In this life, you are the victim. In your last earthly experience, you were the perpetrator.



Look at all the innocent victims of 911. Over 3000 American lives tragically lost. Miraculously, some people didn’t report to work that day, or missed their train or carpool. Some called in sick or just didn’t feel like coming to work that day. Those people’s lives were spared. But many of the people who did go to work on 09/11/2001 suffered a horrible demise. No one can imagine the fear these people experienced shortly before their physical deaths. Many had the option to jump to their deaths, be crushed, or burned; some options huh? As difficult as it might be for you to imagine, the pain and suffering the 911 victims felt could very well have been the pain and suffering they brought on others in a previous life. Now you’re thinking, no way would Mary Ann be that type of person in this life or any life. But Mary Ann the ego, was a different human being in a previous life. The Mary Ann you knew was Tim, Tukiko, or Surayya in a previous existence. A being with the same spirit, but with a different earthly body, and a totally different experience.
Take the ex-gridiron great, Orenthal James (OJ) Simpson. Many feel he got away with murder, however, his Spirit will deal with it when it is time and the law of cause and effect, or reaping what you sow (and this is not Biblical, but a Universal Law), will ensure OJ will learn and grow spiritually from the harm that he’s done in this life. His re-incarnated spirit will face a scenario of a young man/woman who has it all together and inexplicably, a tragedy will occur. Or the entity will suffer from the onset of life till the end of that life. Whichever is the case, it will be a tragedy just as brutal, if not more, as the murders of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown.

"If we abused people in one life, our higher self would probably cause us to reincarnate into a situation where we'd get abused to make us realize the misery we've caused others."

If your Spirit were not wearing the blinders of religion, tradition, customs, hereditary bollocks, and blind faith, you could clearly see this. You would see it because the Spirit speaks clearly if you listen. Be still and know!

A late relative of mine, Raymond, was born with a predisposition to shyness. As Ray approached his late teens he began to slowly but surely overcome his bashfulness. In his early 20’s however, he had a major setback. Someone spiked his drink with an almost lethal dose of something (we never found out who did this or what the substance was) and he was never the same. He was diagnosed with severe social anxiety disorder; his weight increased to over 400 lbs, and he was on medication for the rest of his short life. He passed away at the age of 33 having lived for 13 years in a bizarre, sad, almost vegetative state. Raymond did not harm a soul in his short trip to this earthly plain, but he lived a sad, painful life. So you ask, why?

I am certain that Raymond’s 33 years on this earth was the karmic effect of a previous life. This type retribution is applicable to anyone. The Universal Law of Cause and Effect is just as real as the Law of Gravity. It shows no favoritism and the wheels that turn this immutable law is our very own collective spirits; our collective consciousness. The Universe is Fair!

I believe that our collective selves make up the God factor. Man has created a God of vengeance; a judgmental Spiritual Being waiting to judge our lives at the time of death. Here are 3 quotes to help me with my point.

Abraham Hicks ..

God is consciousness that is expanding.” The best explanation I've heard so far, about who or what God is. Abraham went on to say, “Sometimes humans feel unsettled about this [definition] because there are so many who have been happier seeing God as just an exaggerated version of man; someone very much like Man but bigger, [and] hopefully smarter.

Steven Pavlina ..

When enough people switch their primary polarization from fear to unconditional love, this planet will become a true paradise. That’s a good thing for all of us, one that’s more important than all the money in the world.

Kevin R. Williams ..

Discovering a higher reality and the supremacy of love: It is the illusion of separation (i.e., that we are not, in fact, all part of one giant Whole), which is the source of many of the problems humanity has faced. This constant desire for self apart from the Whole must be overcome in order to become the spiritual beings we really are. We are actually spirit beings having a highly evolved human experience. Everything on the physical and soul level is slowly evolving toward perfect unity with the Whole. Here in the physical realm, we are "enrolled" in a "World-School" for a class called Introduction to Eternal Life 101 to learn how to live with and love the people around us forever.

NDE (Near Death Experience) research reveals an open secret about our lives on Earth. Life is a test. It is a gigantic examination that we will be graded on after death. There is no judgment except self-judgment and we should not even do that. There is no condemnation but self-condemnation and we should not do this either. The life review after death is for our educational benefit, enlightenment, and soul evolution. The life review is where we discover what we have been filling the void within us our entire life. The more we fill our void with love for others, the more we have evolved as soul. The love we have found within our void is what draws us into the light.

Edgar Case

In simple terms, we are children of God. If God had kids, wouldn't they be Godlike themselves? But God's kids are souls, not people as we normally experience them. We've become hardened by our concrete, physical existence, and forget that we are souls. So to say that we are children of God seems only a wistful, poetic image, certainly not a literal truth. It is true, however, and it is coming time to get back to that truth. It will set us free. It should also enhance our self-esteem and give us the will toward assuming a creative responsibility toward life.

This is the Power of Love, the power that we have as spiritual beings. Power, that if ever harnessed for the overall good of Mankind, would clearly show the components of "God."

There is a Native American saying, “No tree has branches so foolish as to fight among themselves.” To display our collective spiritual power we need to stop fighting amongst ourselves and understand that ... We are one!

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Opportunities await! Get paid for blogging.

Spiritual Subterfuge

Read, read, read is what I preach to my children. Almost daily they hear this chorus about the necessity of reading. Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. Our society’s lack of reading clearly explains why people are so spiritually gullible and unaware. As a whole, we refuse to read. When and if we do read it's limited to the bible, a love story, or some other work of fiction (bible excluded).

Let's look at death; most people fear the "grim reaper." Why? Fear and Ignorance are the culprits. We fear an eternal damnation. The prophecies in the book of Revelation tend to scare the hell out of people (pardon the pun). You would be surprised the burden that's lifted when/if you ever realize that hell is just a story created by man. A story created in order to intimidate you into giving a good portion of your income to the church. It was true thousands of years ago, and it is true today. Don't believe me? You think I'm a "blasphemer?"

Let's break the "tithes" or "tithing" down and analyze this religious phenomenon. The median household income in the United States is about $50,000 annually. That averages out to $4166 per month, multiplied by 10% for tithing, equals $416 per month. This is the amount that should go to the church. That's a car note. And I won't mention one thing about gas prices. Bear in mind, most middle income couples make at least 20k to 30k more than the medium income. If you give less than your allotted 10% you're going to hell, right? Or does God give you a pass? Or can you make it up in other ways?

I was in the Dollar store today and this particular store always plays gospel music. That's fine; I have no problem with gospel music. Today, however, something came over me when I heard what sounded like an "Old Negro Spiritual." It sounded like one of those very soulful, religious, Mahalia Jackson songs from decades ago. By the way, I have the utmost respect for the late Ms. Jackson. Anyway, as I listened it dawned on me that, these are the type songs that were sang in, and originated from the cotton fields, from the slave quarters centuries ago.

Look back on the history of Black People in America you'll realize that the majority of Black America today are the descendants of slaves brought to America on slave ships. You know the story. Once on American soil, those slaves were forbidden to read. Their masters clearly enforced the law, "You cannot read. It is illegal for you to read." The slave master did all the reading, mostly from the bible, and it was solely up to the him to interpret what was read. It was the slave masters responsibility to interpret the "good book" for your ancestors. This is the religion that has been passed down to the African American of today. This applies to the European American as well; your ancestors passed your religion down to you as well. The difference is, those unwilling pioneers from Africa did not practice the Christian religion that was forced upon them. If you are ok with this concept then you have to be ok with the belief that the genocidal atrocity that was slavery was necessary to save the souls of black people.

I look back on my Baptist upbringing and take myself back to the Sunday morning church service. I think about Ms. Daniels, a lifetime member of Greater Bethlehem Baptist Church. She would sit in the same seat and instead of saying "Amen" from time to time, her words of approval were, "Sho-nough, Sho-nough." I'll translate that for the ebonically challenged, she was saying, "Sure enough, sure enough." What I see clearly now is that Ms. Daniels and the majority of the older members of the church could not read. Thus, their interpretation of the bible, religion, and spirituality came almost entirely from the philandering, pedophiliac minister (not all the ministers of G.B.B.C. were pedophiles but that's another subject). Well, guess what, Ms. Daniels, and many others passed their religious interpretation on to you! Sho-nough, sho-nough!

Remember in church when "the spirit" would move people to "shout." Remember the "shouting" in church? This is when an individual (usually female) would be "touched by the Holy Spirit" in a way that would make them scream uncontrollably and they would have to be restrained by members of the church, or be ushered out into the hall. Where is that "shouting" today? You don't see that in the churches today. The shouting has been replaced by "speaking in tongues" (ecstatic speech or prayer using an unintelligible language that is considered a gift of the Holy Spirit). Back-in-the-day, shouting, or being "happy" in church, was also considered a "gift of the Holy Spirit." Did God or the Holy Spirit alter his gift-giving or did Man alter it?

As stated in the movie Zeitgeist:

The more you begin to investigate, what we think we understand, where we came from, what we think we're doing, the more you begin to see we've been lied to. We've been lied to by every institution, what makes you think for one minute that the Religious Institution is the only one that' never been touched? The Religious Institution's of this world are at the bottom of the dirt. The Religious Institutions in this world are put there by the same people who gave you your government, your corrupt education, who set up your International Banking Cartels ...

It's about Control .. about controlling your mind!

As stated in the book NDE (Near Death Experiences) by Kevin R. Williams

Some people erroneously believe one must have a certain religious affiliation or believe in God to have a pleasant afterlife experience. However, even in this physical world, one does not have to be religious to experience love and happiness. In the same vein, to have a pleasant afterlife experience, one does not have to be religious. Experiencers say it is not the religion one professes which matters. It is the spiritual condition of their inner nature that matters. People primarily motivated by fear, anger, hatred and evil, will generally find themselves together with like-minded people after their death.

Simple logic suggest that a loving, merciful, caring God would not demand of its' progeny, "Give me - the church, your pastor, Jesus, whomever - 10 % of your earnings, off the top, before taxes, before anything you do, or plan on doing with your hard-earned income, to prove your love and obedience to me. If you do not do this, I still love you, but the consequences of not doing so are eternal damnation in a place of unremitting pain and suffering until the end of time and beyond. A loving Creator would not offer such a scenario because the origins of the aforementioned quagmire are rooted in greed and evil. Greed and Evil are characteristics of Man, not God. To adhere to a doctrine of forcible love and obedience would be perpetual blackmail at the highest degree.

B.E.S.

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