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Politics : Should God be replaced? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Solon who wrote (16087)	12/5/2003 7:35:07 PM
From: TigerPaw	Respond to of 28931

Given that state of sublime innocence in his own country, like Adam and Eve in paradise, Bush can muster only one explanation for the terrorists' hatred of his nation: "There are people who hate freedom." In other words, they are so evil that they abhor the good because it is good. (But if the terrorists hate freedom, why have they not attacked Canada, which in some respects is more democratic than the United States? Why is there not the same hatred for Switzerland, Holland or Costa Rica?) thenation.com Manicheism This ancient heresy divides all of reality in two: Absolute Good and Absolute Evil. The Christian church rejected Manicheism as heretical many centuries ago. But on the day after 9/11, the President first stated the position he would continue to maintain: "This will be a monumental struggle of good versus evil, but good will prevail." nd.edu

To: Solon who wrote (16087)	12/6/2003 8:53:24 AM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 28931

Leading Egyptian Feminist Dr. Al-Sa'dawi: Islam Should be Removed from the Egyptian Constitution as the 'Official Religion' The Egyptian author Dr. Nawal Al-Sa'dawi, known for her fervent Arab-nationalism and feminism, gave a comprehensive interview to the liberal Arabic website www.elaph.com on September 20, 2003. The following are excerpts from the interview: memri.org 'The Egyptian Constitution Should be Amended to Remove Islam as the Official Religion' Al-Sa'dawi called for amending the Egyptian constitution and eliminating the article that declares Islam to be the official state religion, "because we have among us Copts, and because religion is a matter between man and God and no one has the right to impose his faith, his God and his rituals on others. Therefore, I am one of the die-hard opponents of a religious state, because our God should not be involved in politics in any fashion. "However, the Copts lived happily and in paramount fairness under the wings of Islam," commented the interviewer. Al-Sa'dawi responded: "We are the sons of one homeland, and we are partners in it, so that no one has to live 'under the wings' of anyone else." As for the "Islamic culture," Al-Sa'dawi said that it was "part of a general culture based on Christianity, Judaism, and the Pharaoh's heritage. There is no pure culture, but an intertwined relationship among the cultures. I am against differentiating between a Western culture and an Eastern culture. We live in one culture, which is a culture of capitalism, patriarchy, classes, and inferiority that, regretfully, also uses religion as a tool for domination." "Egyptian Clerics Respond: 'She Should be Executed, Crucified, or Her Limbs Should be Removed' " cont'd *not a very imaginative bunch are they ? <G>

To: Solon who wrote (16087)	12/18/2003 10:10:16 PM
From: Frederick Smart	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 28931

Solon.... >>>>"Most 'Christians' don't worship God or Jesus Christ, His Son. They worship attributes of God. They worship his Power, His Glory, His Mercy. In doing so they are little different from the Greeks or the Romans who chose a god (or gods) to worship because they wished to partake in that attribute that god represented. The main difference is that there is only one name to this god that they worship so it appears to be the same God that Christians belong to">>>> >>So what is your point? Do you think that worshipping "attributes" is any sicker or dangerous than worshipping somebody's willie-nillie son? The attribute people are on the right track. Although it ought to have nothing to do with sycophantic "worship". Every human by natural right is equal to the universe and everything in it. N0 human needs to "worship" anybody. They all start with worshipping an INVISIBLE man; and they all progress to worshipping men whom are ALL TOO visible. And what these men mainly want is sex/power and lots of it. They will make you a Priestess (or a Priest) if you are truly obedient--and if you are very very good at what you do! So respecting attributes which expand human character is definitely miles ahead of "worshipping"--invisible or not. Our greatest poets, novelists, scientists, and philosophers have made this very clear to us and it explains the joy we find in their writings and in their thoughts. As to your diatribe against the "State". The gross exaggeration and lack of balance is typical of those whom think with their emotions instead of their brain; and it is rather too fanatical to attract thoughtful discourse. It lacks any reference to a fair or considered perspective; I would be surprised if it attracted other than "wow!", "Great!" or "Gee, that resonates with me!".>> The only thing I wrote in that post was the first part: "When I look out at the landscape of our world I see SLAVERY - the organized controlled parasitic abuse-use of the individual energy, light and love which comes from our Almighty Creator - which is being masked by a combination of greed, diversions, distractions and fears through laws, processes and institutions that feed on our misplaced individual energy and trust through fear and misunderstanding. This modern form of political-economic-social slavery is more diabolical than the physical slavery of control which was practiced by our ancestors. And as it is centered on the fraud of fractional reserve banking-credit - ie. paper money that has zero-no inherent value. This form of modern SLAVERY is, like mind-control, actually claiming to own/control the rights, energy, time and trust of every individual who walks the face of this wonderful world we live in. This modern form of SLAVERY operates like a dam blocking the free-flowing life force. It's like a dam that first blocks, then diverts and finally controls the boat - which corresponds to force of our individual mind-body - which should flow freely down this River of Life-Force energy called life." - Frederick Smart I shared the rest to simply invoke dialogue. Sorry for responding so late. I've been pretty busy this month. As for worship, every simple act of helping, serving and loving others is the essence of worship. Anything away from this simple action-based definition is just more illusion and poppycock. When we risk we live. Risk is the essence of life. Risk is being and becoming one and the same in the present moment. It's when we stop risking that we stop living. The absense of risk is the essence of evil. Evil manifests when the energy of others is used, abused, consumed, restricted, defined, controlled, claimed and otherwise profaned and destroyed. To "effect this" one must be aligned in opposition to the Divine Order and Providence of the energy, light, truth and love that is offered and flows freely and unconditionally from our Almighty Creator. Remember when you/we were growing up and the veil of our childhood innocence gradually was challenged and, for some, removed altogether? Either a time of thoughtful introspection, abandonment - or something in between - began to manifest in our lives as we continued to search for the true meaning in our lives. For some this search focused outward toward the material world. For others this search took them inward toward the spiritual world. There has always been this balance between the natural-material and the spiritual realms which seek to claim some or all of our personal time, trust and energy. It's as if the universal being carries on this ongoing relationship - whether we are aware of it or not - with each one of us from day to day. Always caring, nurturing, guiding, correcting, helping and serving each one of us toward the same ONE (1) end which is our spiritual salvation as we continue to negotiate this Life-Light-Truth-Force river of freedom called life. >>Every human by natural right is equal to the universe and everything in it. N0 human needs to "worship" anybody.>> I agree, but there's one little thing missing Solon: LOVE. Love is the universal catalyst that connects everyone and everything together as ONE (1). Love is the essential chord of the universe. Worshipping is really all about manifesting love. And love is goodness in ACTION. Love is the smile of an innocent child laughing and playing in the snow. Love is the sound of birds waking up in the morning. Love is a flower in bloom. The essence of love is communicated by the gentle purr of a cat. When love (goodness) and light (truth) are conjoined you have the universal intelligence manifesting in the midst of our lives. This is what I refer to as "smart bandwidth" - ie. the connectivity of light and love. Emanuel Swedenborg goes into great detail documenting the universal design of this correspondence - as it manifests in our actions, in nature and throughout the heavens and into the hells. My/our former big/fat Tabbycat, Ida, sitting and purring in my lap was an example of love in ACTION. Climbing to the top of a mountain and celebrating the sight, sounds and feeling of wonder while being thankful to our creator for this experience is an example of love in ACTION. Having a loving relationship which brings children into the world and cares for them, laughs with them, teachs them while being their for them is an example of love - ie. worship - in ACTION. We have so much to appreciate in our lives. And when we look at the world and each other from this perspective of thanksgiving and appreciation we cannot help but fall in love - ie. worship - in the various ACTIONS that naturally manifest in our lives. For our lives are either an expression of love and service to others or the antithesis of the expression of love and service to others. And that's about as simple as I can "spit it out" Solon. Thanks for sharing!! Peace and God Bless, 119293!!