tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post5285832212834663686..comments2024-03-18T21:33:35.309-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: The Messiah, the Establishment, and Political HalitosisGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-51174682146230064742007-03-07T11:30:00.000-08:002007-03-07T11:30:00.000-08:00ricky raccoon:The same thing happened to me at abo...ricky raccoon:<BR/><BR/>The same thing happened to me at about the same time, and the strange thing was that it was a dream that appreared to bring me back. I dreamed I was a different person, answering to a different name (!), and living a similar life in a similar town-- but with a few odd things about it, since it was a dream after all. When I woke up I realized that I had been depressed for years without having been able to put my finger on what was wrong (my prayers consisted mostly of "HALLLP!"). I guess it worked as sort of a vacation or a breather... in any case, my depression went away and never came back.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76700712919067913542007-03-05T21:35:00.000-08:002007-03-05T21:35:00.000-08:00Alan,When I saw your "gnusis" comment earlier, it ...Alan,<BR/><BR/>When I saw your "gnusis" comment earlier, it gave me quite the mental picture...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81780293627574539672007-03-05T19:55:00.000-08:002007-03-05T19:55:00.000-08:00Ricky,I can understand your reservation about the ...Ricky,<BR/>I can understand your reservation about the authenticity of the signers of the St. Petersburg Declaration. My understanding is that all of the signers are apostates from Islam and only one is still a Muslim. Given that, I do not suspect them of taqiyya (deception). <BR/> <BR/>I'm in suspended judgment mode at this time leaning toward<BR/>hopeful. I see it as a positive start and it's appropriate that is was written and "posted" by Muslims living in the West as semi-untouchables. It's hard for me to imagine this will turn out to have the same impact on Islam as Luther's "95 Theses" did on Catholicism and gnowing the awesome Power of God to work miracles I'm turning it over to Him and will await further revelations and instructions.<BR/><BR/>(It's fun instructing my spell check dictionary to 'learn' coonspellings.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-80865256148518242372007-03-05T19:41:00.000-08:002007-03-05T19:41:00.000-08:00Will,Ay, Dios mio! That link is scary!It's worse i...Will,<BR/><BR/>Ay, Dios mio! That link is scary!<BR/><BR/>It's worse in Spanish, too.<BR/><BR/>***<BR/><BR/>But speaking of better Spanish, just a little while ago I was marveling that the expression for "childbirth" in Spanish, is "dar a luz" or, "to give Light."<BR/><BR/>:)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-85995292341269125932007-03-05T19:28:00.000-08:002007-03-05T19:28:00.000-08:00Jacob C.I suffered a bout of depression myself abo...Jacob C.<BR/><BR/>I suffered a bout of depression myself about 15 years ago. Had to reach an emotional rock bottom… the end of the bungee… before I could begin to spring back. Someone I had neglected was waiting for me there. But even then I didn’t fully realize who it was. As horribly painful as it was to go through I am thankful for it. A bit difficult to describe…like there was no stopping it coming on and something that had to happen when it did. I hope you have recovered from yours.<BR/><BR/>RE the dreams, I had a similar experience, but at the same time felt I desperately needed sleep. Like a crashed computer that needs a reboot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-21432500681275943972007-03-05T19:14:00.000-08:002007-03-05T19:14:00.000-08:00Ms. E.,If we can take these conversions as sincere...Ms. E.,<BR/>If we can take these conversions as sincere it’s interesting how TV is somehow breaking through to them. Maybe this is why their leaders fear Western values so much – it’s ability to break through.<BR/><BR/>I’m watching the Bill Evans links on YouTube that Dr Bob sent and what a treasure they are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm6V7bWnVpw<BR/>Beam this type of content to the Middle East and it’s bound to have an effect eventually. Watching Evans speak and spontaneously think out loud must be obvious to anyone …of Evans’ genuine sincerity here. A sharp contrast is the obvious brutal-ness and fake-ness spewed by the Amadinijads and the Mullahs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-64315172558965238622007-03-05T18:59:00.000-08:002007-03-05T18:59:00.000-08:00When I was depressed, I developed a fear of sleep ...When I was depressed, I developed a fear of sleep that has stayed with me, in one form or antoher, ever since. Only now am I beginning to understand it.<BR/><BR/>For me, dreams are the bane of restful sleep. When I dream, it's often of things that are just next door to reality - I'm often tricked into thinking myself awake, and for some reason this leads to my awakening twice as tired as I was when I went to bed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-30787434533294619112007-03-05T18:17:00.000-08:002007-03-05T18:17:00.000-08:00Thanks Ms. E.,That news is encouraging.Just a litt...Thanks Ms. E.,<BR/>That news is encouraging.<BR/>Just a little gun shy as I’ve heard their Sharia law permits them to lie about such things. That particular clause scares the ---- out of me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-58615814338189507462007-03-05T18:06:00.000-08:002007-03-05T18:06:00.000-08:00More Good Gnus: The Saint Petersburg Declaration....More Good Gnus: <A HREF="http://secularislam.org/blog/post/SI_Blog/21/The-St-Petersburg-Declaration" REL="nofollow">The Saint Petersburg Declaration.</A><BR/>Released by the delegates to the Secular Islam Summit, St. Petersburg, Florida on March 5, 2007Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-28695300509240312502007-03-05T17:33:00.000-08:002007-03-05T17:33:00.000-08:00Good Gnus: "God is working incredibly among the M...<A HREF="http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/03/texas_based_ministry_helps_ira.php" REL="nofollow"> Good Gnus: </A>"God is working incredibly among the Muslim community [of Iranians who have moved to Belgium -ed.]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-35036295349181646762007-03-05T17:03:00.000-08:002007-03-05T17:03:00.000-08:00"One thing the group -- any group -- is always hop...<I>"One thing the group -- any group -- is always hoping for is the messiah."</I><BR/><BR/>Is it not a short jump to say that in recent months we have seen the same misplaced behavior coming from the President of the Iranian Republic, with his absurd assertions about the Madhi returning soon [as soon as we get out nukes completed] to establish the Caliphate [and "save" Islam from the evils of non-believers by annihilating them]?<BR/><BR/>In the meantime, Ah-ma-deen-ah-ZHAD and his Shi'a group are busying themselves with building alliances with the other Islamic Establishment: Abdullah, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.<BR/><BR/>Back in the States now - they've been weighing in at JihadWatch.org today on the likelihood of major reforms coming about within Islam. I'm inclined to vote 'No', at least not within the next, say 1000 years, what with the 'no escape' clauses and no freedom to seek the Truth and certain death being the consequence for making a public breach with the Islamic Establishment. The only slim chance I can see is if a charismatic, Islamic prime-mover appears in the West and burns Muhammad's book on primetimeTV beamed around the world for 40 days, then Islam might have a snowball's chance in hell of entering a Reformation Age.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-87607952591308554442007-03-05T15:57:00.000-08:002007-03-05T15:57:00.000-08:00Will,Well that's a cheery link! A sign of the time...Will,<BR/>Well that's a cheery link! A sign of the times, no doubt.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-4569202684009449232007-03-05T15:35:00.000-08:002007-03-05T15:35:00.000-08:00Will said:"Messiahs have always been in demand, of...Will said:<BR/>"Messiahs have always been in demand, of course, but if these are indeed the days when "Spirit pours out on all flesh" - a.k.a. the Rain of Prana or the Universal K - folks looking for a messiah are likely to find one, and a very compelling one too. Thus the need to stay awake."<BR/><BR/>Yes indeed! It's gotten to the point that I now stay awake almost constantly when I sleep, in my dreams.<BR/><BR/>This has produced, or unveiled many O--k realizations for me.<BR/>I'll actually be meditating and contemplating posts and comments from the OC oasis of ideas, musings, truths and Truths.<BR/><BR/>Because Truth, by it's very super-nature, directly opposes compromise, negotiation and "middle ground"; that 'feel good' and comfortable illusion that glorifies the self over God,<BR/>and lust over Love, and falsehood or truth over Truth.<BR/><BR/>What you see is what you get, and what you get, is what you see, where Reality is allowed to smash illusion to nothingness within.<BR/>Die mind parasites, die!USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-82341566972290108082007-03-05T15:02:00.000-08:002007-03-05T15:02:00.000-08:00Van said:"Oh! A Roman nose coffee spurter! And me ...Van said:<BR/>"Oh! A Roman nose coffee spurter! And me trying to read quick before dashing out to an appt... now I gotta change.... Ben, we may need to start a support group for this.... Ah well, clothes can wait, back to the reading...."<BR/><BR/>Yes we do, Van.<BR/>I don't know how many times I was reading at OC in between changing!<BR/><BR/>Mandatory disclaimer: In a truly platonic, truth-seeking, non-perverse kind of way, of course.USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-5069984092935848132007-03-05T15:01:00.000-08:002007-03-05T15:01:00.000-08:00>>One thing the group -- any group -- is always ho...>>One thing the group -- any group -- is always hoping for is the messiah.<<<BR/><BR/>Speaking of which: how about this new self-proclaimed messiah, Jose Miranda of the Growing In Grace ministry. (http://www.cegenglish.com/) Evidently, Miranda's flock is now large enough - and Miranda wealthy enough - to garner some national media attention. <BR/><BR/>Miranda's agenda is decidedly neo-gnostic, in the heretical sense. We can't sin anymore, he says, because Christ washed away all sin. In fact, the devil doesn't exist anymore, and as soon as we accept this, things'll be fine. <BR/><BR/>Further - and things get a bit murky here - Miranda claims that after the Resurrection, Christ became the anti-christ. (I'm assuming that Miranda is re-defining "anti-christ" into something other than its traditional meaning) Anyway, now Christ has returned - in the form of Jose Miranda, naturally. Which means, of course, that Miranda is both Christ and anti-christ. And so he claims.<BR/><BR/>This intermingling of Christ with Satan is nothing new in the annals of heretical gnosticism. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Miranda's version has gained considerable traction with more than a few followers of his, many of whom are gleefully tattooing themselves with a 666. No sin, no burden of guilt, no self-work necessary, etc. Plus there's an inviting hint of free license. I do tend to think, however, that the main attraction is Miranda himself, who must have some sort of beguiling charisma working for him.<BR/><BR/>Messiahs have always been in demand, of course, but if these are indeed the days when "Spirit pours out on all flesh" - a.k.a. the Rain of Prana or the Universal K - folks looking for a messiah are likely to find one, and a very compelling one too. Thus the need to stay awake.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-38288080416379552352007-03-05T14:57:00.000-08:002007-03-05T14:57:00.000-08:00Joan said:"I think this is the truly the "unpardon...Joan said:<BR/>"I think this is the truly the <BR/>"unpardonable sin": To see real Truth, and know it is true, and then deny it for your own interests."<BR/><BR/>'Xactly! As Skully would say.<BR/>That is perhaps the best definition of 'unpardonable sin" that I have ever read.<BR/><BR/>It's the intent, stupid! Which seperates the lost from the damned, and the found from the lost.USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1455705344650361702007-03-05T14:48:00.000-08:002007-03-05T14:48:00.000-08:00Ricky R. said:"Spring is coming and I think this '...Ricky R. said:<BR/>"Spring is coming and I think this 'coon still has some shedding to do."<BR/><BR/>Amen to that! <BR/>Reminds me of that song...I don't recall the title, but it went something like this, far as I remember anyways:<BR/>When it's shuuucklin' time in Nebraskaaa...<BR/><BR/>That's all I recall...and it looks kinda stupid now that I see it in virtual print, but the main thing in any event, is the corn and shucking, so there you go. <BR/>:^)USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-20942417251010643542007-03-05T14:39:00.000-08:002007-03-05T14:39:00.000-08:00Udderly fantastic, Bob! You even threw in some sol...Udderly fantastic, Bob! <BR/>You even threw in some solid food and red meat, BBQ'ed to juicy perfection!<BR/><BR/>Like this tasty entree:<BR/>"Quake has done a good job of describing an important aspect of Sri Aurobindo's yoga, which precisely involves sorting through and disentangling our own "mental group" and determining what is coming from where. For within your own mind is a "messiah" and an "establishment," just as the group, looked at in a certain way, has an "ego." <BR/><BR/>Sortin' through the goulash (or perhaps the goolish and ghoulish in some cases). <BR/><BR/>Or, in computer speak, sloshin' through the spam.<BR/><BR/>Some folks develop a taste for spam goolash it seems.<BR/><BR/>After you discover rib-eye or t-bone, why would anyone want to return to half-baked spam goolash?USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-6815019989877779312007-03-05T13:07:00.000-08:002007-03-05T13:07:00.000-08:00Is it just a case of “Well my Mom and Dad are Musl...Is it just a case of “Well my Mom and Dad are Muslim so…what’s not to like?”Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-54802772116945264942007-03-05T13:05:00.000-08:002007-03-05T13:05:00.000-08:00Joan of Argghh said:“Of course, politics was risky...Joan of Argghh said:<BR/>“Of course, politics was risky business in Rome too, with murder and assassination being a very real threat to those who would stray from the Establishment, so I'll give a minor bit of craven, cowardly slack to the 'Sees.”<BR/><BR/>Is this likewise possible with the ‘moderate’ Muslim today? <BR/>I’ve heard of them but I’ve yet to meet one however – in person or in print. Does Islam have any redeeming qualities? (I’m serious – this is not a rhetorical question). I haven’t read the Quran but I’ve seen enough evil-type passages quoted to make me think otherwise.<BR/><BR/>I’m trying to figure out the attraction. Is it just a terrible well-rooted mind parasite that’s passed on to the next generation and builds and builds onto itself?<BR/>What’s the attraction that so many seem to have for this religion?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-48882807256825752702007-03-05T12:54:00.000-08:002007-03-05T12:54:00.000-08:00motion camouflagethere's no mountain then there is...motion camouflage<BR/>there's no mountain then there is<BR/>lion in long grassrobinstarfishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15665546554663005609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-7318657872577067052007-03-05T11:56:00.000-08:002007-03-05T11:56:00.000-08:00"Look at it this way: what do you call a passionat..."Look at it this way: what do you call a passionate truth seeker whose object -- Truth -- is excluded by his own a priori assumptions? Why, you call him a secularist, or a materialist, or a leftist. By definition, they can never attain what they are seeking, for it can only be found in a vertical realm that is precisely excluded by his materialistic assumptions. "<BR/><BR/>So tru...woops, I mean True.<BR/><BR/>What I'm curious about, is the ability, or maybe 'intent' would be a better word, to see 'truth' not only as separate from 'Truth', but superior to it, more truer than True, so to speak. How is someone able to separate a statement they see to be true, from its moral/vertical aspect? It wouldn't take too much thought to turn '2+2=4' into a moral discussion <I>"... using Reality as a guide, we know that there is a correct and an incorrect answer to this, and because reality is gnoable, we can also see that there are correct and incorrect ideas and those ideas lead to correct or incorrect behavior..."</I> Way back when, even Socrates' targets all knew they were in deep trouble the moment he started talking geometry. <BR/><BR/>Any thoughtful consideration of Truth soon leads a person into a 3-D view of reality and heirarchies naturally abound; how does a person manage to keep a 2-D flatland view of things? There has to be a preconceived rule, a filter as someone mentioned recently, that any lifting of the eyes is <I><B>Bad! Stop IT! </B>Back to the horizontal, keep it real now! That's Bad... I mean wron... er, well anyway don't go there, just keep turning left...</I>. <BR/>How is contemplation of Truth kept to an amoral level?<BR/>Hmm... I smell a post brewing.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-10571621463771558192007-03-05T11:51:00.000-08:002007-03-05T11:51:00.000-08:00As for myself, I have trouble figuring out which o...As for myself, I have trouble figuring out which of my sudden insights were a result (or direct copying, more likely) of something Bob has already said :-{}<BR/><BR/>An interesting thing I have seen is that once one consciously speaks and acts contrary to truth, seeing truth becomes even harder the next time around... a never-ending spiral down into untroothiness.<BR/><BR/>Joan: So if gnu is the past tense of gno, do we hang ourselves with gnusis?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-21909799252989425992007-03-05T11:50:00.000-08:002007-03-05T11:50:00.000-08:00“James Cameron's triumphant debunking of Christian...“James Cameron's triumphant debunking of Christianity.”<BR/><BR/>Anybody else watch this backslap-fest?<BR/>I wasn’t far off my critique of the pre-stories about this so-called documentary last week. As I said then, any real scientist should be offended what is being sold there as science. Non-science. If I can see it, why can’t they?<BR/><BR/>Help please, I’m having trouble with this equation:<BR/>Step 1.<BR/>If you’re Camera-on (which is the best thing about this doc is that Mr. Camera-on is not in it - so far anyway – I fell asleep 1 ½ hours into it) and you are trying to prove Jesus was a fraud I think that means you don’t ‘believe’ in all this who-ha. Check.<BR/><BR/>Step 2.<BR/>If you’re not a believer then why do you go to all this trouble?<BR/><BR/>I think Camera-on is on his own road to dumbasskiss at the moment judging by the collective gaping yawn in the MSM this morning. I think even they may be embarrassed.<BR/><BR/>When I hear a lib say some truly basic non-sense, I just don’t have the energy to argue. I couldn’t be less interested.<BR/><BR/>Now just so there’s no misunderstanding, I enjoy good documentaries. But when they start being more about the doc maker and not the doc subject and they are no longer offering something of value to the watcher, it’s just repulsive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-90730814761603742192007-03-05T11:29:00.000-08:002007-03-05T11:29:00.000-08:00"Like Paul, both are passionate truth-seekers, but..."Like Paul, both are passionate truth-seekers, but one had his Road to Demascus experience and became blinded by truth, if not Truth. How to explain the difference?"<BR/><BR/>Sorry, Bob, but I must disagree. I do not think that Noam is a truth-seeker in any sense. He operates from the false assumption that the West is a singular evil and uses facts only insofar as they will support that thesis.<BR/><BR/>Conversely, Thomas Sowell was a Marxist, but when confronted by the Truth that government can't be our messiah, he changed. Shelby Steele was also a radical, but there was a still small voice within him that told him he was being a self-righteous prig, and he eventually listened to it. I suspect that if God directly asked Jack Murtha "Why are you persecuting me?" he would likely respond "Because I'm the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee so I can."<BR/><BR/>And when Joan said, "'As such, 'the Establishment must achieve, as one of its functions, an appropriate containment' so as to limit the messiah's "disruptive power.'<BR/><BR/>"I think this is the truly the <BR/>'unpardonable sin": To see real Truth, and know it is true, and then deny it for your own interests."<BR/><BR/>That's a fantastic observation. I've been seeing this manifestation of Pilate via Cauphas lately among the Republican establishment, as well. I worked for a state GOP recently, and I saw countless good ideas discounted largely because they defied institutional inertia. My congresswoman began as a wonderful woman who now is more concerned with paying homage to her growing Washingtonitis than to doing the right thing. Just try giving a congressperson or party bigwig a good ideat that's outside the box and see how they respond.<BR/><BR/>Not unlike the Church that subverted freedom while claiming to worship Christ, we now have a GOP that prioritizes perpetuating power while nearly worshipping the Reagan of "government is the problem."<BR/><BR/>Caiphas is the institutional left, but Pilate are the Republicans who know better but succumb to Cahphas anyway.The Bunnieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13511266187716764503noreply@blogger.com