V.3

it is true that Christianity spread so successfully because the populist themes offered the people a better, more hopeful choice than continuing to live under dictatorships. The core of the Christian concept is indeed wonderful. But it should be separated from the garbage. Sure, there are reasons for the old testament's "marry your rapist" quote, but there are weak explanations for all of society's ills. I'm sure the Romans had their reasons for wanting to throw Christians to the lions. I just believe it is the responsibility of any person or organization who promotes the bible to clearly and strongly condemn references that can inspire harm to others, by some who might naively take the bible as "gospel truth". i believe the New Testament's "Revelation" by John is the clearest example of the problem. Preparing for "the rapture" as it relates to the fight over "the holy land" and the "end of all times" is at the root of the hate, wars and killing in the Middle East, which, in turn, plays a significant role in U.S. politics. The Truth About The Revelation Most Bible scholars and theologians agree that someone identifying himself as John wrote the "Revealing" 60-80 years after Jesus's death. They are unsure if it was the apostle John The Baptist because he would have been nearly 100 years old and the Greek writing style was different. Under great stress after being exiled to a small island by the Romans it is believed he envisioned Jesus coming back in his lifetime to enact vengeance on his Roman persecutors. To avoid being executed as a heretic John coded his written attacks against Rome. For example, the sign of the beast, 666, translates to the emperor Nero in Hebrew numerology. The Rapture event (ascension of the believers preceding the Apocalypse) was not even written by John, but was later translated into the story 1800 years later based on an interpretation of earlier passages in the Bible and the vision of some woman (?).

further study indicates: Few people were literate back then, so stories were told word of mouth. The New Testament content was first written by Paul, mostly while under suppression in political prison, about 25 years after the death of JC (I assume the delay in writing was to avoid being accused of heresy and face the same fate as Jesus). Some of the content was 2nd hand info written by followers of Paul and was subject to their slant/point of view. Matthew and Luke borrowed from Paul's material. To be passed on, all of the writings had to be hand copied over the years by the few people who could write, and was subject to their own slant/point of view Church leaders revised the bible over the centuries. The ascension of Jesus provided an inspirational ending, despite conflicting versions in the gospels. Without it, Christianity might very well have died on the cross along with the body of Christ. Jesus, tortured and dying on the cross, asking God "why have you forsaken me?" is a real downer. It is not befitting the "son of God". It is a story of a mere mortal man brutalized by the Romans. But his physical body rising to heaven, instead of just his spirit, added a dramatic special effect and gave the Church something to work with. If, ultimately, God wanted people to believe in him he could have appeared before them like he appeared before Moses. He wouldn't need to have a mortal man do magic tricks like turning water to wine, then allow him to be tortured, then raise the bloody carcass to heaven, then have a handful of other men recall the tale, as best they can, 25 to 75 years later. And rationalizing that Jesus "died for our sins" like a sacrificial lamb may be one of the most absurd concepts in the history of religion, or in the history of rationalizations for that matter. It all sounds like a cruel game that god is playing? Give man a logical, reasoning, questioning mind, then ask him to abandon logic and reason, and not question the word of other flawed men?

I'm a big fan of the central character. I was raised to marvel at his profound wisdom, lessons of compassion, humility and self-sacrifice that still shape my life. Some Jesus quotes make more sense than anything i've every heard. Some don't make any sense at all. Either way, the story of Jesus is the reason the Bible is best selling book of all time! Who wrote it? as historian Reza Aslan points out, "everything written in the new testament about Jesus was written by people who didn't know Jesus when he was alive." the writers were not the apostles. as was very common in the day, they wrote under the names of the apostles as a tribute to them. the term for this kind of writing is "pseud-epigraphy" The apostles were either too old or dead at the time of the writings. furthermore, they were likely incapable of it--illiterate peasants who could neither read or write. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bart-d-ehrman/the-bible-telling-lies-to_b_840301.html imagine Martin Luther King speaking to a small group of poor and illiterate people with no audio or video recording, and several people who weren't there quoting his words at least 50 years or more later. Then, those words being hand-written, copied and recopied by hand for generations and edited by Church leaders with their own agendas, while being translated into different languages. recollecting the "I Have A Dream" speech would be about as credible as trying to recall the details of a sleeping dream.

We need a campaign to make Election Day a national holiday. To get money out of elections we first need to get more people in. As is, the average working person has to find time during the workday or stand in long lines after work. Mail-in voting helps, but not enough. On average, less than half of eligible voters voted in Federal elections over the past 50 years. Do you think George Washington and Abe Lincoln would prefer we honor them with a day off on their birthday or with a day off to ensure that all Americans can exercise the democracy they worked so hard to build? Likewise, which day off do you believe Martin Luther King would advocate to more fully realize his dream? Or, which of his holidays do you think Jesus would gladly trade to allow the meek amongst us a better opportunity to be counted? And, which day do you think would be more significant to how we ring in the new year -- a holiday on Jan. 1st or Nov. 11th? There are many reforms that our country needs to get better. But before the work can begin, we really need a day off!

I'd say corporations are an organized group of people too often doing evil deeds, motivated by money. Then, they go home, pet the dog and love their family like other people. At work it's only their stock price that matters. The team and investors are a mob pushing them to abandon principles to achieve competitive goals. The non-stock holders who get hurt are the collateral damage of their bunker-buster greed bomb. Unethical behavior is "normalized." Including taking risks with consumer's health and environment, covering up resulting disasters and scandals, shipping jobs overseas for slave wages and child labor, manipulating laws and legislation, etc..

dying to know the truth? does a caterpillar die when it encases itself in its tomb? does a blossom die when the flower falls from the tree? is water destroyed when it evaporates in summer or freezes in winter? or do they all just change form? the caterpillar into a butterfly the blossom into fruit the water into a cloud the cloud into rain the rain into a snowflake the snowflake into a puddle, lake, or river to begin the cycle all over again how foolish to believe we are different. to believe our own cosmic cycle begins with seed and ends with rotted fruit is like believing water is gone when it evaporates into the air what is water? is it soft or hard, still or flowing, hot or cold, dense or light as air? the human body is mostly made of water. what is a human being? a solid physical body or a spirit as light as air? we are the caterpillar the blossom like water ever changing eternally flowing

In a lecture on teachings from the Tao Te Ching, Dr. Wayne Dyer says that we come into this world with a round-trip ticket, destined to return to where we came from. But, before then, to be free from our earthly body and connect with our source, we must learn to "die while we're alive". He shares this ancient parable from India: For me, the process includes stripping away the things that aren't real. I remember a joke from a little book of elephant jokes from when i was a kid, "How do you sculpt an elephant? Chisel away everything that doesn't look like an elephant". So, to understand what i am, it helps to know what i am not. To paraphrase, Dr. Dyer says our ego tells us:

"I AM that i am" is a Bible reference. I refute many things in that book. But i can't refute the power of those words. Unlike myself, my older sister was religious. A week after she was diagnosed with brain cancer, she told me she heard the words "i am" in her head. She didn't know what it meant. Within days, she, coincidentally, found a pamphlet a neighbor had left. It referenced the "i am." Within days, as i was leaving my mother's house, i stopped and remembered i wanted to look the phrase up in her Bible. I opened the book and found it was bookmarked on the "i am" page. Like the neighbor, my mother was not told what my sister heard. The bookmark was just where she had stopped reading last. Months later i took a look at a booklet a spiritual friend had left at my house. Yup. Entitled, The I AM Prophecy. Flipping the TV channels i stopped on a Dr Wayne Dyer lecture at the moment he was philosophizing about the "i am" philosophy. I researched and found there is evidence supporting the concept, relating to synapse science. i am, that i am i am that which i believe i am what i program my brain to believe, is what i am. In my sister's case, she could find comfort in knowing she was not a human being having occasional spiritual experiences. She was a spirit having a temporary human experience. i recall the Hindu saying Dr Dyer quoted as: this real you water cannot wet and fire cannot burn we are eternal unborn and undying

i'm probably more sure of "i am spirit" than anything else i've written on this forum. The rest is easily corrupted, in various degrees, by my ego. The words serve as a a mantra for grounding and a reminder of what matters and the way i want to live. It's easy to be drawn into "the matrix." The hypnotic spell (i.e. bull💩) of our environmental programming. Like the character "Neo" we can probably do amazing things to if we stay connected to our true self/source, which, in turn, connects us to everything in the system. how powerful we would be if you were connected to EVERYTHING, but how little we would have to apply that power, because we would all be in harmony! consider how a fragile, simple minded ant can form a strong colony by connecting their shared objectives & intelligence!

i am spirit my gender, color, and species do not define me. my earth-ware was programmed with a basic operating system for survival and reproduction but connecting to my true source is the key to unlocking my advanced features and unlimited potential i am spirit my body was born into this time, this country, this culture. my ego commands that i identify with them, but i do not have to obey. my soul is not bound to them, or to the possessions i will leave behind when i depart earth's cocoon. until then, i will do my best to remember what i was taught to forget; that i am connected to all things, and i will not let the unholy alliance of my time, my country, my culture, and my ego restrict me, separate me, or isolate me i am spirit i am a citizen of the universe, guided by my conscience, not the laws of man -- that change over time and imaginary borders on a map i am spirit love is my religion, my sexual preference, my currency. peace is my political party, my ambition. i honor all sentient creatures' life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. when there is potential for conflict, my greatest defense is no offense. i do not win unless no one loses | i am spirit truth nourishes me, justice gets me high, happiness is the measure of my success, sacrifice is the measure of my heroes. compassion and consideration for all living things is the custom i adhere to every day i am spirit i recognize that humility is cool, honesty and humor are more attractive than clothes or hair style, friends are more precious than gold and family is the best investment money can't buy i am spirit lying beneath a tree in my backyard can be as inspiring as standing on the edge of the grand canyon i can not distinguish the beauty of a puppy from a rattlesnake or the value of the pebbles beneath my feet from diamonds. both are invaluable but for the possession of neither would i spill a drop of blood i am spirit i do not live in fear of physical or emotional pain they cannot penetrate my soul. i question human behavior, but do not judge human beings their soul is as pure as my own i am spirit my physical body is measured in inches, pounds, years, months, and days. it took millenniums to evolve from stars but each morning i can reboot to an upgraded, de-fragmented mind. today, i release shareware version 50.10.16 to the world free for download via email or text, words over the phone, visual queues in person, or quantum connection via the universe... sonnyV3 Note: The above algorithm is free to use and distribute. Consider it, open source, SHAREWARE FOR THE SOUL Contribute your own code here at newBluePlanet.com

there used to be an Avoid Plugin that would Block Products Made By Child Labor it should absolutely be expanded to other products and services but it also does not exist anymore. imagine how many products would be blocked and how powerful the effect would be if significant numbers of people used the tool? Even better, imagine if one of the browser developers had the software installed as a standard plug-in to their browser! Or better yet, an open source, corporate independent browser that displays consumer advocate warnings when you visit sites whose companies have had violations, fines, or judgements against them! I'm talking about a browser with the mindset of of the old Ralph Nader built into it!

"the Revolution Will Not Be Televised" -- It Will Be Scanned there used to be a site called buycott.com, but it does not exist anymore. It had a phone app you could use to scan a product before buying it. It would check a database to determine the profiting corporation behind the product and let you know the companies political profile. Consider the potential of educated consumers instantly pulling up that info. It makes the concept of "voting with your wallet" a practical reality. In today's world of ever increasing corporate power and decreasing democracy, consumer's purchasing power is our greatest strength and source of influence.

As for eventually reversing the ruling which allowed for unlimited big donor campaign contributions? It's not enough. That just gets us back to the money corruption level we where at before. The level of money corruption after Citizen's United became law: OVERPOWERING! The level of money corruption before Citizen's United became law: OVERPOWERING!

A great example of the cart before the horse was the healthcare insurance reform that became Obama-Care. Because we didn't enact ELECTION REFORM first, the healthcare reform ended up being as much reform as the health insurance industry WOULD ALLOW. They basically wrote the Bill. WE didn't have the political power to pass universal healthcare like every other developed nation. Until then, it doesn't really matter who is elected. Big donors contribute to both Party's campaigns to hedge their bets so they will control either candidate once they're in office. Meanwhile the Left & Right voters, in the 99%, keep trying to out-contribute each other during each election for the privilege of getting trumped by the 1% when it's time to pass a Bill. Don't forget, the 1% has almost as much money as the majority of the rest of American's combined. They've always got more to spend, and their campaign contributions always pay off well in regards to what their BRIBES eventually do for their bottom line.

i had to take away a point for the outrageously awful fight sequences where they frequently karate chop someone on the neck and they're out cold. TV show remakes or "re-imaginings" as a movie are very rare, and, imo, The Next Generation and the others series that followed are no exception. i couldn't watch more than 10 minutes of any of them the audacity of the producers to replace the virile and courageous Captain Kirk with a bald guy with an English accent. And substitute the female crew's short skirts with body suits, throw in a guy with a carburetor air filter over his eyes, another one with a bad, robotic-silver paint job on his face, and replace morality plots with i-don't-know-what because there's so much sci-fi jargon only a techno-nerd could follow it! no heart and soul, and i imagine, it may be progressive, but not liberal

i grew up in a neighborhood in a Queens, NY where everywhere i looked there was a smart-ass. Including, regrettably, in the mirror. But it was, otherwise, a diverse community. And my world was being shaped by a very active 1970s counter-culture movement and a particularly bold and profound era of music and cinema. what this virtual world turns into, depends on the sum of ideas and ideals of all its members. Speaking for myself, I'd like this to be a space where: opinions are commercial free and don't require corporate, Party, or candidate approval. cultural, religious, and sexual diversity is embraced, not merely "tolerated." the earth and all it's resources and life forms are nurtured rather than merely exploited. the greed of a few doesn't outweigh the needs of the many, and private profits don't dictate public policy. worshipers adhere to the best examples of spiritual founders rather than the agendas of religious institutions. patriotism is a measure of how much the people of a country are willing to sacrifice for each other. i've written and recorded music most of life. I do like to express myself—to write, obviously. So this forum also serves as a tool for me to connect with other creative, expressive people. It can serve personal, political and professional purposes for you as well. my birth name is salvator and my middle initial is v. The "V" is not "For Vendetta," as in the activist film. I believe in the method of protest practiced by Gandhi and MLK. Along with Jesus and Buddha, they make up only 4 widely recognized "saviors" in a history of 100 billion humans. Since the 5th slot is open, and salvator v means "savior 5," i've obviously got a lot of work to do. Btw, i mostly write in lowercase because it makes me feel like i'm bucking conformity. i'll also be sharing my rock & roll fantasy, which stands for me transitioning from my father, Vito (v1), to son (v2), to spirit (v3—my true self) create your own inspirational identity and imagine a world the new you would want to live in. It will be my pleasure to meet and work with you to broadcast our intention to make that kind of world a reality.

the WILDCARDS == ==

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The Game Box: The Board: front and back: