I'm so glad it's finally Friday! I've been swamped at work today, but at least it's the end of the week! I'm definitely ready for the weekend! So, first of all, I want to say congratulations to all the talented ladies who made it to the next round in the Scrapartist Apprentice contest. I'm bummed that I wasn't among them, but maybe it worked out for the best since the next round requires some hand-drawing and I am really, really bad at that LOL! Anyway, I'll keep on learning and hopefully the right designing opportunity will come along for me when the time is right :) Thanks to all of you who have used my goodies and supported me along the way - it is much appreciated!
On a happier note, I did some shopping today and bought myself a bunch of stuff at the Scrapgirls sale! I just love their stuff :) And, I think I might scoop up a few things at Designer Digitals too, I just can't get into the store right now - I think it's my work screening it out, not sure. Oh, and I also got a paper pack from Jessica Bolton at Scrapbookgraphics - another store and designer I love :) Plus, there's lots of great new stuff in Carrie's shop at Fishscraps that I'm dying to play with and some great things at Scrapartist and Digichick too - so much fun stuff out there and hopefully now I'll have a little more time to scrap!
Finally, on a political note, if you haven't seen or heard about David Kuo's new book, "Tempting Faith," I highly recommend doing so. As a Christian myself, I have always felt that my faith informed my politics and that it was important for people of faith (along with everyone else) to get involved in our political system. But, I also feel very strongly that the separation of church and state is critical. Truly, the secular government may be one of the greatest human inventions ever. It just gets ugly when people play on religion to advance their political agenda and vice-versa. Kuo's book is the perfect evidence of how true that has been in the current White House. I saw Kuo on Stephen Colbert last night and he put it perfectly to my mind (this isn't an exact quote mind you, but it's close), "People need to understand that Jesus and George Bush are not the same person." Amen my brother. Anyway, that's my little rant for today. The more important, broader message - whatever your view, get out and vote in November - our country is at a critical point in history and we should all have a say in where it goes from here!
Friday, October 20, 2006
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2 comments:
Hello Lisa,
David Kuo's book, Tempting Faith, does nothing to dispel claims of an American theocracy as some have asserted. In fact, he has inadvertently provided stunning insights into their true nature and purpose. No leader of an empire ever truly believes the religions used to manipulate subjects. That would be like a drug dealer hooked on his product; its bad for business...
Understanding why religion is strong delusion
Christians often quote things like "know them by their fruits," yet after millennia of being duped into abetting blatantly evil scoundrels, many still don't understand the meaning or import of much of what they read. The same canon paradoxically propounds "faith," which means the complete opposite of "know them by their fruits," i.e., to discern the truth by analyzing deeds and results (works) and to weigh actions instead of merely believing what is said.
The deceptive circular logic of posing a fantasy messiah who urges both discernment of the truth and faith (belief without proof) clearly represents a skillful and purposeful effort to impose ignorance and confusion through "strong delusion." Any sage worth his salt could understand the folly of this contradictory so-called wisdom. This and mountains of evidence demonstrate that faith and religion are the opposite of truth and wisdom. It is no wonder charlatans like Rove, Bush, and others have marked Christians as dupes to be milked as long and as hard as possible. Any accomplished con artist easily recognizes religion as the ultimate scam and fervent followers as ready-made marks and dupes.
We now live in an era where science has proven so much about the vastness, rationality, mathematical preciseness, and structural orderliness throughout every level of our 11-dimension universe. Nonetheless, large percentages of people still conclude that these flawed and contradictory religious canons are the unmodified and infallible "word of God." People who can't (or won't) discern the difference between truth and belief are easily misled about the differences between good and evil, wisdom and folly, perfection and error, reason and irrationality, and right and wrong.
The fact that political leaders have always had close relationships with religious leaders while cooperating to manipulate followers to gain wealth and power is overwhelming evidence that the true purpose of religion is deception and delusion. People who are unable to effectively discern basic moral choices or to reason accurately are easily indoctrinated to follow the dictates of national and imperial leaders who wrap themselves in religious pretense. Truth and wisdom are direct threats to the existence and power of empires. That is why imperial leaders always strive to hide so-called secret knowledge and impose deception and ignorance upon their subjects.
What then is the purpose of "faith" but to prevent otherwise good people from seeking to understand truth and wisdom?
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Peace...
Wow... That was quite a comment. I guess my feeling is that, based on documentaries and other things I've seen/read, I don't know that the current administration really believes what they are preaching. I think religion is a means to an end for political gain, and it is so unfortunate. I am not a religious person. I have my beliefs and try to live my life based on those. I just don't understand the people who say one thing and contradict their "beliefs" with their actions.
Congrats on your efforts in the SA challenges. I think that you should have advanced to the next round! I'm with you on the whole drawing thing though. :)
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