Do Republicans really want to turn us into Greece?
By louisehartmann
There are less than 20 days until the March 1st Sequester deadline. And Washington is gearing up for a major fight. If politicians can't come to a compromise, the looming $85 billion of Republican austerity is set to make devastating cuts to programs many Americans depend on. Despite non-defense spending being 14% lower than it has been in a half-century, deficit hawks in the Republican party want more austerity imposed on the working poor in our nation.
Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee estimate that additional cuts will have a devastating impact on food safety, aviation safety, early education, disaster relief, and law enforcement. And vital programs like WIC, which helps low-income women provide food for their infants and toddlers, may be forced to tell 600,000 women and children to go hungry.
In his weekly YouTube address over the weekend, President Obama again called on Congress to act now in order to avoid “deep, indiscriminate” cuts. He called out the Republicans directly saying, “they would rather ask more from the vast majority of Americans and put our recovery at risk, than close even a single tax loophole that benefits the wealthy.” Rather than working to avert the impending crisis, House Republicans like Speaker John Boehner are simply using it to attack our President...coining the ridiculous term “Obama-quester.”
No country, in the history of the world, has ever cut it's way to prosperity. We can only hope that Congress starts considering a smarter approach – like the Sanders-Schakowsky Corporate Tax Fairness Act – and prevent devastating austerity. Stay tuned.
Comments
#2
They will never miss a meal, They will never lose their homes. In fact they will probably profit when the taxpayers bail them out. We need to have a Congressional Reform Amenmdment.
The 28th Amendment Congressional Reform
1. Anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP}, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.
2. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.
3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow in to the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. Social Secutiy funds may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
Congressional pay will rise by the lower of Consumer Price Index (CPI) or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/1/14. The American people did not make these contract with Congressmen/women.
Congress made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!
]~;^}>
#3
Do Republicans really want to turn us into Greece?
Thom & Louise: I'm assuming that is a rhetorical question. The answer has been repeated often enough. The answer is "Yes" they do. They stated right from the outset that they were prepared to make the whole country fail to make Obama fail as a president. We can say this for them; they were true to their threats. Do they deserve to remain as elected representatives, or even to retain their American citizenship. My answer to that is a resounding NO.
#4
]~;^}> I like it!
#5
Hey Palindromedary! I left you a message from the previous blog with a poem I wrote 25 years ago. Here I will reprint it for you. (Never underestimate the power of positive thinking) From Fridays blog:
Not so fast Palindromedary. There is an Empire that hasn't been created yet; that, I believe will never 'fade away'. It doesn't exist yet but 25 years ago I wrote this poem about it. Let me share it with you.
MY EMPIRE
(By M. G. C. A.)
One day I will find an Island,
A land to call my own.
Here I will build My Empire
With people of every tone.
I will do away with Social Norms.
All crimes will be cast to sea.
Life will be a wonderous treasure
And My People will be truely free.
In this world there will be but ONE LAW!
This one thing all My People must do--
Is to always Love your neighbor,
As they will always Love you.
My Children will grow rich with Love
To this end I will surely see
They will tear down the Fences that separate them
And Unite their community.
Everyone will cooperate with their neighbor
To build a better life.
For every Father there will be a Son
And for every Man a Wife.
Unfortunately, I will be alone
For this Island I've already found--
It lies in the seas of my thoughts...
In my Imaginary Playground.
#6
Other than that I think your fears are well founded. Remember the Greek creation myth with the government of Chronos versus the government of his father or the government of Zeus his son. Chronos was oppressive out of paranoia from his crimes. Your concerns are quite legitimate. It wouldn't be too difficult to defend from such an outrage with our armed citizenry. However, war in the streets wouldn't be too readily accepted by our 'spoiled citizenry' as you call them. The important point I want to make is to not loose site of the ultimate goal. A free and prosperous society. The preservation of our Constitutional Government is key in this goal. We must bare this in mind if we act beyond our private citizen status purview.
#7
Japan has for the last 12 years been spending it's way to prosperity.
Sequester was crafted by the White House staff was it not?
#8
I was so happy to hear you talk about MMT today! You have a very good grasp of the subject and my friend Arliss Bunny (bunnygirl60 on Daily Kos) is also pleased for the recognition of her article . May I suggest you ask Professor Stephanie Kelton of UMKC onto your show. She gave a presentation a few weeks ago to a local Association of Financial Professionals and had them excited to learn more. She is excellent at explaining and answering questions on the subject. She runs the blog New Economic Perspectives and is on twitter at @deficitowl. Other possible interviews; Warren Mosler (http://moslereconomics.com/), Bill Mitchell (University of Newcastle, Australia), or William K. Black of UMKC.
I also liked how you framed the static gold supply as the cause of currency devaluation. It was spot on. You obviously have done your homework - as usual.
I will be listening with renewed interest every day.
#9
I agree with Pulladigm. Sounds good. At 64 years old I'm broke in a broken system. I've been self employed for over 25 years in an occupation that has almost become obsolete as a result of technology. This occupation used to provide a great income and supported myself and my family of six quite nicely. I have to admit I really challenged my ambition when I started my business and at the highest point I employed seven professionals with a living wage and equal benefits for myself and my employees and my landlord for the eight thousand square foot building I leased. I had a good retirement built up etc. When the technology took a turn then the stock market tanked I was without work trying to hold it together in hopes of a turnaround. When the value of the majority of my retirement investment was at an all time low I owed quite a bit of money. I was forced to withdraw my funds and pay my debts, lay off employees, and swim on my own. I was forced to get a second mortgage on my houe that was almost paid off. I went through a series of graveyard jobs to support myself in manufacturing, and security, limo driving on the weekends etc. until i was laid off and was unable to find alternate work. Cancelling my health insurance was my last draw but we just could not afford it anymore. Thats when my wife got thyroid cancer and diagnosed with rheumatoid
arthritis. She become house bound but not considered disabled enough for SSI. I had a triple bypass a year ago. I don't smoke or abuse drugs or alcahol and in fact am an amateur athlete. We have two disabled peope in our house including my 98 year old mother who can no longer care for herself. I make a living flipping cars, selling on ebay, and the occasional professional assignment. We get food stamps, pay around $800 per month for perscription medication. around $500 per month to our healthcare debt, and most months we can't make our refi payment on our home. We are on the edge all the time. My primary care physician has me on a regiment of anti depressants.
I apply daily for any kind of jobs. I have had a few interviews without success. One human resource person said, " honestly I'll level with you. While we can't desciminate on age, any modern corporation will not hire you based on your age and potential health liability. Now don't tell anyone I said that because I will deny it." Were screwed and I was unable to pay our house payment this month. Not sure what we will do. I've tried it all. I did the ultimate American dream, paid more than my appropriate amount of taxes, supported several families, and fell flat on my face without a future or a plan. Unemployable and destitute. My cell phone service was shut off this afternoon, and this will be my last email for a while due to internet service cancellation. Now some black hole from our nations sphincter muscle wants to endorse austerity while the 6 hour a week golf crowd wants to dance on the backs of the destitute. I say tax with proportional justice, and then convert to a national sales tax and abolish the IRS. Declare lobbying illegal with life imprisonment consequences, and require all elected officials to live within their poorest district on mimimum wage as long as they hold their office.
#10
DAnneMarc: Nice poem. Guess I am not quite so imaginative or positive about our future. I probably don't have much time left anyway to see a change for the positive. Everyone around me seems to be dying off..acquaintances, family members...I expect I will soon be next. It's hard to be optimistic...especially when I look back and see how fast time has flown and know that the remaining time will be even shorter. It reminds me of the opening scenes of the "2001, A Space Odyssey". One second you are born the next second you are old. But, I guess I am lucky, in a way, because I lived during a time when we made a decent living without the worries of medical insurance because it was part of the package of employment. Young people, now, may very well find themselves foraging for food in the alleyways and tearing each other apart to survive.
I'm just glad that I have been a little more fortunate than Delster. But most of us are just a rupturous membrane away from destitution and despair. Anything can happen unexpectedly that will change everything.
#11
2950-10k: Great way to put it! What imagery!
#12
DAnneMarc: Kronos, in Greek mythology, along with all the other ancient mythologies..Egyptian.. Mesopotamian.. etc. are fun for us to read. But, most people isolate themselves from them because they are held to be the result of over imaginative superstitious people who had no other way to pretend to know the universe. We have our modern day superstitions and imaginative stories in an attempt to explain the universe that competes with scientific method. Some people can't, or won't, understand science so they resort to superstitious beliefs. Many don't even realize that much of what they hold to be 'truths' are really plagiarized from the more ancient superstitions. One early church father (this has actually been know for quite some time), upon trying to explain why the church teachings were so similar to the ancient superstitions so he explained.."the Devil made this all so to try people's faith." Sounds like perfect non-sense to me.
D.M. Murdock (aka Acharya S.) has a website called
www.truthbeknown.com
She is very knowledgeable about all of the ancient religions and how Christianity has plagiarized them. She has studied all the ancient texts in their original languages (being very fluent in reading those languages..Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and others).
#13
Palindromedary, Reply to #12, I made an attempt to clarify my comment. In my mind the Fed is part of the cartel, but that may be unclear to others, so I edited.....hope it makes sense. Average people of which I'm one, need to understand what the capitalists pulled on us.
#14
In 2007 there was a Mack truck being operated by a drunk driver known as the Wall Street Banking Cartel. He had his drunk buddy known as the Federal Reserve with him. The driver was drunk with money and power, and thanks to deregulation was totally out of control. He ran over a bunch of citizens known as we the people. We were simply on our way to our under paid jobs. The truck crashed and we the people laid there bleeding in the street.
George II quickly tended to the truck driver with 700 billion in socialized care, fixing him and his truck. We the people waited for help that never came. Unable to go back to work at a job loading that same truck we were forced to occupy the street where we lay.
This capitalist crisis eventually cost the Govt. trillions thanks to the drunk buddy, also known as the Fed, loaning trillions to the driver. The driver promptly lent it back to the Govt, in other words we the people, at substantially higher rates than he borrowed it at. The truck driver now sees that he can no longer make money off the backs of his employees, the same people he ran over, and is worried about a Govt. guarantee on his loan, and that quarantee, you guessed it, is AUSTERITY!
This banking cartel is represented by the same little REPUBLICAN men who have brought us endless amounts of economic terrorism known as obstruction. They're the same little men who hide behind the pretense of representing the best interests of gullible citizens like the Tea Party and those of the religious right. The leaders of these little men, Boehner, Cantor, and Turtleman all have what I call Boehnerholism. They're all just as drunk with power as the truck driver.
Paul Krugman needs to dump the booze and splash some ice cold water on all of these damned wet brained scoundrels.
#15
Palindromedary, respectfully I think you miss my point. (Thanks for the sp correction on Kronos) I too like D. M. Murdock have looked deep into ancient beliefs. Perhaps not as deeply as she; but deep enough. This is my explanation for the reference.
Human behavior is natural. Anything natural obeys natural laws and therefore is predictable.
Ancient stories, religious or mythological can be perceived in two ways. The first is literally. In this respect they are 'superstitious' in a sense because they are elevated beyond the meaning of the plot of the story itself. In this respect the true 'moral' of the story can be lost.
The second way to perceive the story is as a 'moral' lesson in human behavior. In this respect we look past the symbology of the main characters and extrapolate the behavior in the story as potentially representing any one, or group, of us in a similar situation. In this respect the story becomes a tool of foreshadowing the events to come given a predictable pattern of behavior.
In this respect you can see that I wasn't talking about the Gods, but rather, comparing the actions of Kronos to the current paradigm. In such a analogy, Osirus, who was slaughtered by Kronos would represent the indigenous Indian peoples who originally occupied the US. Zeus, the son of Kronos, represents the future leadership that will 'come out of' the current Kronos leadership that exists today.
The moral of this Creation myth was that whenever violence is used to obtain power, it will in turn be overthrown by its own internal prodigy. The perpetrators will know this fact and become insanely paranoid and while in power persecute it's very own people. In the myth, Kronos--knowing one of his sons would overthrow him one day--ate each son as it was born. He threw his uncles into Tardes, the prison of the underworld. He also placed all his subjects into slavery. Sound familiar?
In my opinion, such ancient stories are valuable because they help to explain the human condition today. They offer valuable insight and understanding of that which defies explanation otherwise. They also help guide us out of hopeless situations by describing the natural resolution and the path to obtain it.
It is also in my humble opinion the real reason why these stories have stood the test of time. It's not so much there Religious significance, but there Sociological and Political significance. I might add, that it is because of there Sociological and Political truth, that these stories retain a Religious respect from the people in the past who gained from them and in turn handed them down to us.
I have also found that most great ancient cultural stories that stand the test of time share similar ideal truths expressed in this Creation myth. I humbly submit that when you say these cultures stole from each other you may miss the point that it wasn't so much a "void of creativity" that was behind the similarities of the stories; but, rather the similarities of human behavior that make the stories appear to be the same. Remember the FBI stories on TV on Dragnet? "These stories are out of the FBI files. The names have been changed to protect the innocent." The same could be said of these ancient stories. Human behavior is a constant. Change the names and the places and you get a great epic tale that stands the test of time. Any great author that is worth his/her salt knows this little trick.
George Lucas certainly did!
#16
~cont~ The path out of this situation. The myth describes how Zeus began to move against Kronos. He began by freeing his brothers and sisters from Kronos's belly. He befriended the Tyrant Kronos, his father, and offered him wine that caused him to become ill and throw up. Then he freed his uncles, the Cyclopses and the Hundred-handed Giants from the underworld prison. I always thought of a Cyclopse as the media and the Hundred-handed Giants as the Chinese/Foreign labor forces. After that, with their help, ending the reign of Kronos was a cake walk.
Food for thought!
#17
~cont #2~ In a religious sense, however, one may conclude that this Greek Creation Myth was around at the time of Christ. Christ who once said to pray saying, "...Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On Earth, as it is in heaven." Perhaps this was a clue as to how the Kingdom of God will unfold.
It is ironic, indeed, how similar The Greek Creation Myth is to The Book of Revelations in the Bible. Now would that be a coincidence, evidence that human behavior is natural and follows predictable patterns, or proof that God exists and has a plan for us all?
Perhaps all, and perhaps, non of the above. However, I believe it would be wise to consider these stories if for no other reason than our antagonist certainly believe in them. Know your enemy!
A word to the wise!
#18
Quote DAnneMarc:In a religious sense, however, one may conclude that this Greek Creation Myth was around at the time of Christ.
And in a historical sense, as well, because it definitely was around at the time of the Christ myth. All of the old myths were pretty well known and the prophesied new saviors had to compete with the old ones. They not only had to be believed to be capable of similar stunts but they had to out do them. There were others professing magic at the time of the Jesus myth trying to woo the believers.
Everyone, then, all knew that the creators of the Jewish myths had foretold of a coming savior that would lead them out of bondage of the Romans. I kind of favor the idea that the whole Jesus story was created by the Roman Piso family as a way of trying to keep the rebellious Jews in their place.
And so, as you pointed out, new stories are made from old ones. But there are some parallels that just cannot be explained away by begging the sociological similarities associated with just being human. Yes, we are all born, we all eat, we all love and hate, fear and loathe, kill and try to get along, fratricide and matricide as well as infanticide has been around since the beginning. But when you get into more specialized themes like born of a virgin, born in a cave (or manger), birth attended by 3 wise men guided by a star, turning water into wine, feeding the masses with a couple loaves of bread, having 12 disciples, walking on water, casting demons out of swine, raising a man from the dead, healing the sick, dying on a cross, arising 3 days later...etc...then it is pretty apparent that plagiarism was done.
Most modern believers are so certain that those stories in the bible are literally true yet they, in many cases, don't even know about the plagiarism...or they don't want to know. Many devout believers don't even know what's in their bibles. They don't even know, or want to know, all of the sick stories, and the many contradictions, in their bibles. The catholic church hid well many of those things that might be questioned by someone who could read the bible...which was kept largely in latin for over a thousand years. Believers don't care too much to do much thinking...they just want to believe...or they have been brainwashed to believe.
And talk about eating one's young...a more modern account than the Kronos myths was that of Josephus' Cannibal Mary that he wrote about in Antiquities of the Jews.
The year was 70AD during the Roman seige of Jerusalem where many of the Jews in the countryside and surrounding towns were all taking refuge in that city...the population may have reached about 3 million. There were marauding bandits going door to door looking for, and stealing food. People were starving. Mary, daughter of Eleazar of Bathezor, a very wealthy and distinguish family, now with a baby boy, and no apparent husband, was constantly hit on for her food. She had nothing left. So, one day, knowing that she would be raided once again, she cooks her baby and eats part of it. When the raiders got there she invited them in to eat what remained. The raiders were so upset and freaked out that they left in horror never to bother her again. "Eat this flesh of my flesh...and drink this blood of my blood".
Josephus was a Jewish military leader who, while hiding in a cave, while his men got slaughtered by the Romans, was captured and eventually won approval, by the Romans, for his imagination and writing and story telling ability and obsequious flattery. Josephus' imagination and creativity often shows in various references to his works...but then..he gained favor from the wealthy and powerful Roman families because he told them what they wanted to hear...anything that would diss the Jews, perhaps?
Ritualistic cannibalism, as practiced by our modern churches, has been copied for thousands of years.
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (John 6:53)
But then, maybe old Josephus with the help of the Piso family, in creating the new myth of Jesus, was just having a little bit of humorous fun...a little tongue in cheek...an inside joke...was Cannibal Mary's young baby son named Jesus? Was Cannibal Mary jokingly referred to when they created the Virgin Mary...no one knows how Cannibal Mary came to have a child.
#19
delster ~ That is a terrible and tragic story. With how you served society you and your family certainly deserve better. You should have retired by now and be taking it easy without any of the financial burdens you are facing. Your only medical worry should be keeping your appointments, taking your medicine, and following your Doctors advice. You shouldn't even have to worry about co-pays. Co-pays, what a stupid joke! Our 'social safety net' is so full of holes it should be called the 'social safety hologram.' It only looks like it's there until you find yourself falling right through it. Thanks for sharing that with us. I hope your situation turns around. Don't give up hope.
I don't know about that national sales tax idea. I like the proportional income tax idea, elimination of lobbying by declaring it illegal, and especially requiring all elected officials to live within their poorest district on minimum wage as long as they hold their office. It's too bad that that last suggestion will never happen. However, it might be possible to require them to spend all their vacations in those districts as long as they are in office. The government could foot the bill for the 'housing' placing them in a predetermined area of the poorest district, and provide a welfare check comparable to other residents in that area so they would have to mingle, shop, and live with their poorest constituents several weeks out of the year. That might open their eyes in a positive way
Good luck Buddy!
#20
Palindromeday ~ I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree about the existence of Jesus. It's a matter of personal faith--just like everything else that can neither be proven or disproven. Other than that you raise good points. Especially about the Church practicing Ritualistic cannibalism. I have often thought the same thing myself. Very creepy!
The verse you quoted from John I believe was meant as metaphor and not literal. Sure the Church professes it literally. But I think if you look closer at the context of the works of Jesus you will see he is talking about his teachings.
(From John 6)
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Besides, being in bad taste (pardon the pun) the suggestion that Josephus, the Piso family, and "Cannibal" Mary created the "myth" of Jesus as a joke completely misses my previous point about stories that stand the test of time. Jokes simply do not endure anymore than pornography does. The only things that endure's generations are based on truth and socio-political value. I'm sure you are aware of how the ancient Scribes dedicated their lives to recording and rerecording these stories--that you are brushing off as nonsense--by hand. They had no photocopiers, printing presses, or even carbon paper. They had conviction and dedication and the support of their familys and society. The preservation of these stories was an expensive group effort that spanned thousands of generations. Being a Scribe used to be a high status, well respected, and well paying career. I respectfully submit that you seriously underestimate the value of these stories.
#21
Quote DAnneMarc:The verse you quoted from John I believe was meant as metaphor and not literal. Sure the Church professes it literally. But I think if you look closer at the context of the works of Jesus you will see he is talking about his teachings.
Of course, that's what people do all the time...pick and choose...what is meant to be literal and what is not meant to be literal. That's part of the reason why there are so many different religions. They all have their own interpretation of what various things in the bible mean.
Quote website:ROMAN PISO FAMILY WROTE THE NEW TESTAMENT, INVENTED "JESUS""We Jews and Church Leaders have known since the beginning of Christianity that it was synthesized by the Roman Piso family for the purpose of maintaining control over the masses and to placate slaves. And, this is why we Jews are the "Chosen People" and why we have endured so much for so many years; we are witnesses to the lie. Our ancestors wrote what they could about
this in our texts."FROM CHAPTER I (The True Authorship of the New Testament)
"The New Testament, the Church, and Christianity, were all the creation of the Calpurnius Piso (pronounced Peso w/ long "E") family (a), who were Roman aristocrats. The New Testament and all the characters in it--Jesus, all the Josephs, all the Marys, all the disciples, apostles, Paul, and John the Baptist--are all fictional."
"The Pisos created the story and the characters; they tied the story into a specific time and place in history; and they connected it with some peripheral actual people, such as the Herods, Gamaliel, the Roman procurators, etc. But Jesus and everyone involved with him were created (that is, fictional!) characters."
#22
Quote website:...Arius Calpurnius Piso wrote, in sequence, the following: Gospel of Matthew (70-75 C.E.)
Present Gospel of Mark (75-80 C.E.) Gospel of Luke (85-90 C.E., with help of Pliny the Younger) In the gospel story he inserted himself by playing the role of not only Jesus, but of all the Josephs, as well. He particularly enjoyed assuming the identity of Joseph. Wishing to create a Jewish hero, a savior, in fictional form, he (and his father before him), felt the identity of a second
Joseph secretly, but very aptly, fit them. For their name Piso had the same four letters, rearranged, as the four Hebrew letters (Yud Vov Samech Fey) which in that language spelled the name Joseph. Thus they saw themselves as the new Joseph. That is why so much of the story of Joseph in Egypt is secretly redone and inserted into the gospel story of Jesus."
#23
Quote another website:One of the best proofs for Flavius Josephus being the primary author of the Gospels and the inventor of "Jesus" is simply the correlations that are found between the works of Flavius Josephus and the New Testament itself. Those correlations will be made available to the public in the upcoming years.It is quite fortunate for us that the Romans were not the only ones who were leaving us records and information of persons and history in those times. The Jews (Pharisees), whom Rome was at war with over this very issue likewise left us what information that they could within their particular circumstance. Like the Romans, they too used
what we refer to as ‘royal language’ as they could not write about this openly either and had to resort to hints, riddles and clues as well. But now that we know just how to read that ‘royal language’, we can also read what they had written - just as they had wrote it and intended it to be read by those whom could do so.Because of what this reveals, it demonstrates to us that history (especially ancient history) as we think we know it, did not happen in the way in which we had previously thought that it had and we must now expect that more and more evidence likewise will be found that is consistent with the way in which it DID happen.
"Flavius Josephus was a penname of Arrius Piso"
#24
Quote DAnneMarc:I'm sure you are aware of how the ancient Scribes dedicated their lives to recording and rerecording these stories--that you are brushing off as nonsense--by hand. They had no photocopiers, printing presses, or even carbon paper. They had conviction and dedication and the support of their familys and society. The preservation of these stories was an expensive group effort that spanned thousands of generations. Being a Scribe used to be a high status, well respected, and well paying career. I respectfully submit that you seriously underestimate the value of these stories.
Honest and well paid scribes? Are you kidding? Have you never seen the movie "The Name of the Rose"? Now, I'm just kidding!
Anyway, I think you give these scribes way too much credit for being honest and precise. Besides there are known forgeries by church fathers and even if you go way back to Constantine and his first Council of Nicea where they packed all of these various early church bishops together to hash out what would be the new "sanctioned" religion. They even paganized much of what became the official religion.
Even before the Council of Nicea, the various churches argued and fought over various beliefs...was Jesus a man, or a god. Did he really die on a cross and arise 3 days later...Was he married or not....and on and on. They were giving old pagan Constantine a constant headache. So he did what any smart guy would do to keep his empire from falling apart. He did the politically most expedient thing. He got all the head troublemakers together and forced them to agree upon the big lie that would be used to unify the multitudinous factions and cults. Besides what came out of the Council of Nicea was a largely paganized religion. They called it Christianity but it was paganized.
Even Pope Leo X said: "What profit has not this fable of Christ brought us?"
A Catholic church for over 1000 years kept everyone in the dark about what was in the bible. And if you really read the bible you are either left with trying to apologize for certain passages (perhaps saying "oh, that part was meant not to be literal, but those other parts were meant to be literal". Pick and choose!
#25
Thank you Palindromedary for the serious and earnest attempts to undermine my faith in God. Good luck! You obviously have no idea what you are up against. I know that I have at least once--maybe twice--in this blog alone mentioned that I value the story and not the character. I believe I at least mentioned once that I believe over emphasis on the character is counter productive. Perhaps I erred. Perhaps you erred.
Regardless, you obviously have no idea what I base my faith upon. Please allow me to enlighten you. My faith is based on Universal Truth and The Word Of God! Historical, or Mythological Characters play little or no role in my faith! I don't care if the Beatitudes were written by Christ, an Apostle, an innocent bystander, Roman Officials, Pharisees, Rabies, or the night Manager of Taco Bell in Seattle, Washington. Universal TRUTH is universal TRUTH!
Please allow me to demonstrate. Universal Truth belongs to us all. Please allow me to postulate my own Universal Truth. Call it the Gospel according to DAnneMarc if you will. If you want, you may call it the Gospel according to Palindromedary. I don't care! These are not my words, but the words of he who sent me. Spread them as you will and I will be happy. I have no intention of "making money" on this. This is a service to God.
(I might also add, "PLEASE KIDS, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!")
THE WORD OF GOD.
(According to DAnneMarc. M.G.C.A.)
God is love! God's greatest desire for us is the Meaning Of Life. The Meaning Of Life is Happiness! To obtain Happiness we need security, prosperity, and peace. In order to fulfill the wishes of God we must adhere to the four basic tenants of God. Namely:
#1 THE DIVINE TENANT. We must love the Lord our God with our whole heart, soul, and mind. We must respect and be kind to God. To respect God we must speak to It only in private. Public worship or relation to God is an insult to God. Communion with God can only be realized in private.
#2 THE PERSONAL TENANT. We must love ourselves. God exists in each and every one of us. Therefore we must love, respect, and be kind to ourselves the same ways we must love, respect, and be kind to God. Only though loving ourselves can we truly love God.
#3 THE PUBLIC TENANT. In the same way we love God we must love everyone around us. As God exists in ourselves, It also exists in everyone around us. In order to love the Lord our God with our whole heart, soul and mind; we must love everyone around us with our whole heart, soul and mind; in the same way we love ourselves or God. Everyone must be treated with Kindness. For God exists in everyone around us as It does in ourselves. So to love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind is to love everyone around us.
#4 THE ADVERSARY TENANT. We must love our Enemy's. In the same way we love God we must also love our Enemy's. There are three facts that support this contention:
* Our Enemy's are our Best Friends. It is our Enemy's that bring out the best in us all. They motivate and cultivate our strengths and talents. Without the influence of our Enemy's we would be nothing. God has generously provided us with Enemy's. We must accept his gift as sacred.
* God is a part of our Enemy's. In the same way we must love God with our whole heart, soul and mind, we must love our Enemy's. For God exists in our Enemy's. Therefore we must treat our Enemy's with kindness and respect, the same way we do God.
* We need the cooperation of our Enemy's in order to realize the Meaning of Life. Only by loving our Enemy's can we realize security, trust, good business, and prosperity. The Meaning of Life, or Happiness, can only be experienced in an environment of security, prosperity and peace. Therefore, it is essential that we love our Enemy's in order to achieve the wish of God--The Meaning Of Life. We must achieve The Meaning Of Life to respect and honor God; who, we love with our whole heart, soul and mind.
END ~
So you see Palindromedary, Universal Truth can come out of the most unlikely source. If I were you I would let a sleeping dog sleep.
However, if you are so inclined, please be my guest and plagiarize my declaration of the WORD OF GOD that you may fancy for personal reasons. You see, these ARE the Words of God and not mine. As such spreading them around is my goal and not profit. You are even welcome to call this, "The Gospel According to Palindromedary" if you wish. I won't mind.
Of course if you wish to pursue proving that I personally don't exist in order to disprove the "Word Of God," please be my Guest!
By the way, If you succeed at proving that I don't exist I would so appreciate it if you could please do me a favor... Photocopy the evidence that I don't exist and please send it to the IRS before April 15th. Thank You so very much!
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
From Unequal Protection, 2nd Edition:
"Hartmann combines a remarkable piece of historical research with a brilliant literary style to tell the grand story of corporate corruption and its consequences for society with the force and readability of a great novel."
From Screwed:
"If we are going to live in a Democracy, we need to have a healthy middle class. Thom Hartmann shows us how the ‘cons’ have wronged this country, and tells us what needs to be done to reclaim what it is to be American."
From Cracking the Code:
"No one communicates more thoughtfully or effectively on the radio airwaves than Thom Hartmann. He gets inside the arguments and helps people to think them through—to understand how to respond when they’re talking about public issues with coworkers, neighbors, and friends. This book explores some of the key perspectives behind his approach, teaching us not just how to find the facts, but to talk about what they mean in a way that people will hear."
Or, ancient Rome? The harbinger of dystopian disconnect came with the false flag of 9/11. They perpetrated something so shocking that it frightened most Americans out of their freedoms and liberty. They shocked them into a kind of cognitive dissonance leaving them too afraid to look into the facts. Many people admit that "they don't want to know"! It is too easy for them to fall into the trap of accepting the "official conspiracy theory" while out of hand rejecting all others as non-sense...because they've been psychologically manipulated to do so. We will soon have Blackwater (Xe-or whatever name they re-invent) patrolling our streets with foreign mercenaries) and armed drones patrolling our skies.