Redemption: The Dehumanization of the Spirit

…[I]t is the West that has preserved the value of individual human beings, and it is the West that transformed individual freedom into a vast creative force that is still improving our lives, under names like “free markets,” “inventions that make life better,” “fundamental scientific discoveries,” “the age of exploration,” political liberty, free speech and free thought, freedom of religion and conscience — all products of the Western Enlightenment. The Enlightenment gave us the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, by far the most humane and practical political statements ever produced by Western Civ.

Individualism is the key to Western creativity, to our unsurpassed productivity, and to the simple privilege of being left alone. All the creative work of the last 500 years come from stubborn individuals, from Michelangelo to Bill Gates. (via American Thinker, The Angel Chorus in Judeo-Christian Civilization, by James Lewis)

What a mess! What a complicated, miserable mess of thoughts. Give it whatever name you like, but this is the thinking of the Americanized Christian subculture in which I was indoctrinated.

The author speaks of the “dehumanization” of man by the philosophy of Obama and those of his ilk. Quoting him again:

This is not a philosophy of hope but the worst kind of dehumanization. That is what people like Obama, Robert Reich, and their ilk believe about you. Your life depreciates like an old car — unless you are politically connected. It is an ice-cold way of thinking about human beings, the very opposite of what our Western traditions tell us. (via American Thinker, The Angel Chorus in Judeo-Christian Civilization, by James Lewis)

What he refers to as “Western Enlightenment” is in truth the “humanizing” of the spirit; the “despiritualization” of the spiritual. He’s got it backwards; upside down; wrong. His is the philosophy of man, which follows the human improvement of the human over time, rather than the divine restoration of the spirit which has been “humanized” and destroyed by lies.

What he nostalgically and affectionately describes as the West’s “Judeo-Christian” roots is pure foolishness. Christ was the death of Judaism, not its maturity and perpetuation. And  ”Western Enlightenment” is in truth the descent of the unenlightened into ever deepening darkness.

Follow “our Western traditions” and perpetuate the humanization of the spirit which began in the Garden of Eden, and ends in death. Follow Christ to the dehumanization of the spirit through the knowledge of the truth which is immortal life.

Happy New Year!

BBC News – World dangerously unprepared for future disasters

The world is “dangerously unprepared” for future disasters because rich nations are not doing enough… Andrew Mitchell blames the failure of several countries to pay into the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). (via BBC News – World dangerously unprepared for future disasters)

Taken by itself the headline is the word of God to the world. But the article reveals the mortal way of thinking, which is the real disaster, and for which mortal wealth is no answer.

The concern expressed in the article is for a disastrous shortage of riches with which to deal with future disasters. Obviously, the mere existence of the concern, as well as the global economy, confirms that riches are no less subject to disaster than anything else in this world.

The disaster for which the world is dangerously unprepared is thinking that disaster is a mortal rather than a spiritual matter. The mortal was created for destruction and awaits its disaster. And the disaster that awaits the mortal is the disaster that awaits the spirit who thinks that disaster is a mortal matter. Mortal wealth will save no one from mortal or spiritual disaster. Disaster has a spiritual cause and is a spiritual experience.

The good news is that the disaster to which the mortal is subject need not be a spiritual disaster, now or in the future. The Spirit that causes disaster can save the spirit from the disaster that the world is already experiencing and expecting. Today, for as long as it is called today, is the day of the salvation of the spirit from mortal disaster.

“Keep Christ in Christmas?” – III

The President and First Lady were asked ten questions by Barbara Walters in an ABC 20/20 interview aired on Friday, December 23, 2010. The following were among the questions and answers:

BARBARA WALTERS: On what occasion do you lie?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Usually, the only time I lie is very personal interactions with family members…
MICHELLE OBAMA: Things where the truth would hurt other people.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Right, the things where truth would hurt other people. Not too many big things. [...]
MICHELLE OBAMA: I think the same thing. When it would hurt somebody else’s feelings. When the truth isn’t helpful. (President Obama, First Lady Tackle 10 Personal Questions, via abcnews.go.com)

BARBARA WALTERS: Which historical figure do you most admire?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: [Abraham] Lincoln and [Mohandas] Gandhi are the two people, when I think about what they achieved, two very different men. … What I admire most about them is under huge pressure, monumental changes that they brought about but they never lost their moral bearings.
MICHELLE OBAMA: … Coretta Scott King … (President Obama, First Lady Tackle 10 Personal Questions, via abcnews.go.com)

While on vacation with the President and their children in Hawaii, Michele Obama took part in the NORAD Tracks Santa program, run by the North American Aerospace Defense Command. She told a child who called in to the NORAD center that she had already gotten her Christmas gift, which was being with the President, whom she was afraid would not be able to join the family in Hawaii due to his fight with the US Congress in Washington over taxing the American people. She said:

“We were all praying and praying, and asking Santa, and the Tooth Fairy, and every fairy that they could think of — that’s what Malia and Sasha were doing — that [the President] would be able to be with us on Christmas.” –Michele Obama (Michelle Obama confirms Santa is on his way | Google News)

It appears that the Some-type-of-christian majority need look no further to find why they can not keep Christ in Christmas: Christ is apparently not a big factor in their first family’s thinking. Christ is not included with Santa and the fairies to which their President’s children pray, nor among their President’s and first lady’s most admired historical figures. Furthermore, they think the truth can be harmful, and “usually” do not lie in “too many big things”.

So if it were possible for Christ to be in Christmas, true that Christ had been taken out of Christmas, and true that the President leads and speaks for the majority of Americans, then it must be true that Christ got out of Christmas because the President thinks the truth is harmful to his country and the world.

Regardless of this Christ-in-Christmas non-sense, “the free world” and “its leader” can only hope they will never have to answer to The Truth, for whom they clearly have no respect at the moment.

On a final related (and disturbing) note:

BARBARA WALTERS: If you were to die and come back as a person as a thing, what would you want it to be?

MICHELLE OBAMA: I would want to be Bo. He’s got a great life. He’s got it good. Not a dog. But Bo. (President Obama, First Lady Tackle 10 Personal Questions, via abcnews.go.com)

If a Christian answered an “if you were to die” question, it would be with “I have already been raised from the dead and live forever.” Not only is she, her Lord or her husband not her most admired historical figure, but if she were to die and come back to life, she would want to be a dog named Bo! A dog of all things! This is not a child, but the First Lady of a country which identifies itself as Christian! Amazing. (If this beast mentality is not the mark of the anti-Christ, then there is no Christ or anti-Christ.)

Spiritual Stimulation

Perhaps it is due to my fight against the over-stimulation of the senses during this season that I find these articles spiritually stimulating. While they do not express my point of view, they represent different points of view than are predominant in my immediate culture. Though I sometimes see myself as isolated and wrong because I do not practice the beliefs of those around me, these articles strengthen me in the knowledge that, while it is not good to differ with God, I am not wrong to differ with those who do not know him as I do.

• Why Atheists Love Christmas
• Jews Need ‘Christ’ Put Back in ‘Christmas,’ Too
• No fanfare for Christmas among Amish

“Keep Christ in Christmas?” – II

Is it even possible to keep Christ in Christmas? Simply define “Christ” and “Christmas”, even in the broadest terms, and the reason that not even Christ could keep himself in Christmas becomes apparent (i.e., for those with eyes to see).

“Christ” is the name of a spirit. “Christmas” is the name of a day or season established by spirits in which they express their spirituality (or beliefs).

The admonition to “keep Christ in Christmas” proves the point. Christmas (a day or season) can not keep Christ (a spirit). Spirits must include Christ in their affairs – if, of course, he wants to be included.

Has Christ called for, or agreed to participate in a celebration of his birthday during the season known as Christmas? Only he and those who know him can answer that question. (And they all have one and the same answer – his answer.)

Christmas never was, is not now and never will be a Christian holiday, because there is no such thing as a Christian object, time or practice. “Christian” is the name of spirits like the Spirit of Christ. Nothing but spirits can be Christian. Even if Christians were to celebrate Christmas, it would make neither the celebration or the time Christian.

A Fake Santa and The Real Grinch

WASHINGTON AP — Why do kids believe a chubby guy in a flying sleigh can deliver joy across America? Because their parents do. A whopping 84 percent of grown-ups were once children who trusted in Santa’s magic, and lots cling to it still. Things are changing fast these days… “It’s important for kids to have something to believe in,” says great-grandmother Wanda Smith of Norman, Okla. Despite all the pressures on the rituals of the season, an AP-GfK poll confirms that families are sticking by old St. Nick. (Santa Claus still flying high in new poll – Associated Press)

In multicultural America, Father Christmas isn’t just for Christians any more. Three-fourths of non-Christian adults say they believed in Santa when they were children. And half feel he’s important to their holiday celebrations now. (Santa Claus still flying high in new poll – Associated Press)

In an article I ran across recently, one who identifies himself as a Christian stated that “88% of Americans will identify themselves as some type of Christian” (Displays of faith put Tebow in spotlight – USATODAY.com). In this article I read that 84% of American grown ups are “Santaclausians”, including three-fourths of those who do not identify themselves as some type of Christian.

So in celebration of God’s gift of Truth the majority of American adults approve of giving their young joy by keeping the lie of a gift-giving Santa alive.

Are the statistics reliable? How could they be? The majority of Americans are more particular about fiction than fact! They identify with one type of mythical Santa, and many types of Christ. Do they call themselves Santaclausians? No. They call themselves Christians. The majority of Americans clearly do not care much about what they believe.

True Christians find their joy in the only type of Christ there is, which is the type who saves them from the lies that were robbing them of life, including the lie that a mythical character gives immortal joy through perishable gifts. True Christians find their joy in the knowledge of The Truth, which is freedom from the imitation life in this mortal world.

Though there is no real Santa, there is a real Grinch. Grinch’s real name is Satan, and it’s just like him to make grinches of those who disapprove of lying to children.

“Keep Christ in Christmas”?

The marquis in front of a local structure erroneously called a church reads, “Keep Christ in Christmas”.

What is Christmas? Who is the Christ who got out? Was Christ ever in Christmas? Who put him there? Maybe he got out because he wanted out. How did he get out? Was he locked in? Were there guards?

Alas, perhaps their Christ is as mythical as their Santa, and he got out of their Christmas like Santa gets in and out of their chimneys!

True Christians know that Christ never leaves those in whom he chooses to live. So if he must be kept in this thing called Christmas lest he get out of it, then he was never in it.

The Truth Will Set You Free

“… the products are fake and the websites selling them are breaking federal law by selling copies of high-end merchandise without giving credit or money to the real designers and creators. And while the products can look as good as the real thing, federal authorities warn that buying fake merchandise can be dangerous.” (via Feds Set To Launch Campaign To Crack Down On Sellers Of Fake Goods | Fox News.)

Are there federal laws against misrepresenting the truth about God and his people as there are federal laws against misrepresenting the truth about goods? Thankfully not. As God proved through The Law, law exposes but can not alter the thoughts and ways of those who differ. (That this nation is not even predominantly comprised of the friends of Jesus Christ is proven by the fact that even those who identify themselves as Christians believe that what God wanted from the beginning was a law-abiding people.) The significance of my observation is simply what it says about this nation’s perception of itself and its god.

Is there danger in misrepresenting the truth about God and his people? Only if he is as real as a handbag, and cares as much about what others think about him as do those who create and enforce laws care what others think about them and their goods. The handbag, authentic or fake, does not care. The folks who make and enforce the laws are the ones who care.

About what do those who make and enforce laws about fake handbags care? What is the threat of fake handbags, and to whom are they a threat? Obviously, fake goods are a threat to the credit and compensation of their creators.

Unlike the one and only, true and living God in whom the majority of those in this nation claim to believe, the Goods, which are the true god of this nation, warrant proper identification, and penalty for failure to properly identify, in order that the creators get the credit and compensation they want. God is irrelevant to those to whom Goods are god. He is to them whatever one makes, or does not make of him; he is whomever one wants him to be. His own thoughts about himself, his children and all of the goods which he created (and to which man has laid claimed for his own use), are scarcely worthy of consideration, let alone worthy of making the news.

According to his people, the god of this nation founded this nation so that its people could worship any god they choose with immunity from him (though as recent conflicts between those of different religions indicate, the other gods of whom this nation’s god is allegedly tolerant do not share his alleged tolerance; but then this nation always trips over the obvious fact that tolerance must be mutual or it is no less a problem than what requires it; they are intolerant and will make war with the intolerant; if this were not true there would be no federal laws against counterfeiters – I digress, somewhat).

So far as I am concerned, like the rest of the nations of this world, this nation is blind to the real danger. As The Truth, God is no less relevant than the truth about handbags. There are no real fake gods, and the real God fathers no fakes. The genuine children of God are the only ones concerned with, and the only ones qualified to tell the difference between the genuine and the look-alikes.

No, I do not believe that when God declared that “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”, he meant free from the danger of buying fake handbags!

Thought Provoking Article (IMO)

ESSAY: 9/11 brought us together, but was it unity? (by Liz Sidoti, AP Political Editor, Associated Press, Sep 06, 2011).