Bring On Revelations, Shifting Poles, Solar Flares, Space Rocks, or the Next Disaster Du Jour

Three weeks and counting. 12/21/2012. Let me ramble just a hair. I will disclose some of the inner workings of my smallish, ape like brain. Let's start here...

For a guy who believes in a universal intelligence, a guy who believes Jesus Christ was real, I gotta tell you- I think the Book of Revelations is some of the greatest science fiction ever conceived and written. Have you ever wondered why the Catholic Church with held a number of "books" from the Bible yet chose to include Revelations? One man's uncorroborated visions, or prophecy?

The Book of Revelations accomplishes exactly what it was designed to do. It was designed to instill fear into folks and scare them into compliance. That's what churches do. If hell didn't exist, they would have to make one up. That's how they get people to comply. Think about the absolute worst thing you can possibly imagine. First we create some horrible place- let's call it hell, and then we tell you that if you do not act according to our wishes- you will spend all of eternity there. Men have been making up wonderful fear mongering stories forever...

So Revelations is this crazy, horrible story meant to scare the hell out of you. I will tell you how crazy I am. When I discover your true intent, I act contrary to that. I have one other piece of biblical fiction to mention...

The story of Job is utterly fantastic and one of my favorites. God sits idly by while Satan kills Job's daughters, strips Job of his wealth, and ruins his health. Not once did Job blame God. God was just trying to prove some sort of loyalty point. Nobody apparently ever questions this stuff.

That's what loving Gods do? They kill your loved ones to prove a point? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_(biblical_figure)

Maybe Job's daughters just died. Simple as that. Where was Satan during the black plague, Stalin, or Hitler? Surely killing tens of millions of people deserves an honorable mention, doesn't it? Will some great future Pope appoint some scribe to write about those things and include them in a bible 2000 years from now?

Who knows? Here's where I am going with this.

Historically speaking, I have noted this fear mongering theme throughout the annals of time. I have noted it throughout my life. It goes like this. Act the way that we want you to and you will get the reward. Act contrary to the way that we want and you to- and you shall feel the punishment. This reward- punishment theme works good on kids and animals. Sometimes it works on adults too. Remember how William Wallace died at the end of Braveheart? Drawn and quartered, his head stuck on a spike.  Historically accurate, I might add. Not unlike the crucifixion of Christ. Pretty gruesome.

So human beings can be pretty sick about forcing your compliance and obedience. All that has really changed is that we have gotten a little more civilized about how we kill you when you don't act the way that we want. We give you your lethal injection. Or we drop bombs on you with unmanned drones. 

This power, control, reward and punishment theme is everywhere and we have been practicing it for a long time. Fear demands obedience. That's the only thing we know. The Mayans long count calendar ends on 12/21/2012. That's it. There was no doom and gloom, no polar shift, no solar flare predicted. We added all of that ridiculousness because that's what people do. People instill fear in others. Remember the great computer apocalypse of 2000? 

The problem with all of this fear mongering, end of times, rapture nonsense, isn't that it won't happen one day. The end of times comes for all of us. The problem I have is sorting out facts from human contrived fiction. There is actually a fantastic precedent for this. Like a good piece of English 101 writing, I shall end where I began.

Historically speaking, and I am certainly not prepared to deliver references here, the Jewish people have been an enslaved and tortured lot. They were looking for revenge about the time Christ showed up. The revenge thing didn't happen. In fact, Jesus was apparently unmanipulated by all of this fear and hatred nonsense, and he never bought in. In fact, Jesus didn't act at all like a fear mongering human being nor did he ever say anything harsh or terrible or promise to come back and kick some ass like the Book of Revelations claims. In fact, because Jesus did not try to scare us, is precisely why I believe that he was the real deal. A universal intelligence delivered here in the hope that we might learn something. I gotta say, so far, it has not exactly been mission success.

Ultimately, you have to make your own decisions on this rock. I have a hard time buying into any of the disaster concepts except- the man made ones. Those you can believe in. 









Comments

blurred said…
GOOD POST! I'm pretty sure "God" despises our religions being that they are invented to control people using whatever things they dream up using Gods name as a co-signer.

As far as the end of the world stuff, it's simply when the Mayan calendar ends. It's not a prediction. Besides, how smart could the Mayans have been? Their modern day descendants still walk around carrying their laundry on their heads.
Anonymous said…
Except the "Man made Global Warming..."

Lisa
Brian said…
That comment made me laugh except that...the Mayans completely disappeared. Spaceship style.
Brian said…
Yea I forgot that one and it's too damn big to stick in the title...
Marcus said…
When people ask me what my religion is, I reply by saying "none" (yes, I grew up in a household that was nominally Roman Catholic and I attended church a few times, but I've long since abandoned that nonsense). They, other people that is, then jump to the conclusion that I am an atheist since they reason that if I am non-religious, it therefore follows that I do not believe in God (or UI, if you prefer). This is where the conversation usually becomes interesting since I explain to them that a belief in God (and I do believe) does not require religion in order to sustain that belief. What? God without religion? How can that be? It's simply not possible! Yes, it is possible (I would say probable) and my reasoning goes something like this: If God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-seeing (in other words, if God is God, which He is), then why the hell does he need a middleman in order to find His way into the hearts and minds of people everywhere? Why does God need an army of popes, priests, reverends, imams, bishops, rabbis and whoever else in order to get His message across? Isn't God...the Almighty? Can't he find His own way without a messenger or a delivery boy? Does He really need an interpreter? And who's to say that the interpreter, messenger or delivery boy is giving me the straight goods? Nope, no middlemen for me. I communicate with the Big Guy one on one. As far as I'm concerned, religion is nothing more than organized superstition concocted by a bunch of con men and parasites living off the fears and superstitions of the naive, the gullible, the foolish, the lost and the lonely. But this is not to say that there is no good to be found in religion, because there is, but usually at the lower echelons of the organization. There are many good and decent people who do their utmost to bring comfort to the afflicted, with religion as their base, and good for them. Bless them. But as is true with any organization, I do believe that the higher one goes within the hierarchy of religion, the greater the corruption becomes (more power, more corruption). So, no religion for me, thank you. Religion is politics by another name, and don't get me started on that topic!

Voluntary disclosure: there is one hot looking Jehovah's Witness who occasionally comes to my door. Now there's a girl who just might tempt me to soften my views on religion a bit. 38-24-36....oh yeah!
Anonymous said…
You are wise beyond your years, Brian.
blurred said…
All kidding aside, it's a "myth" that the Mayas disappeared. In fact, there are over 7 million of them living today, mostly in southern Mexico and Central America. 44% of Guatemala population is Maya. Granted, modern day distinction is more difficult. For real deal Mayas, research the Lacandon people.
Brian said…
I have always been the same way. I just reject formal religion with it's fear and control dogma. The jehovahs that come to my door are not hot. Yech.

Thanks for stopping by.
Anonymous said…
I find it very intereting when people tell me they don't belong to a religion...."too much fear and control dogma"....and in the next breath explain their own personal invented religion in an attempt to rationalize their own "fears and control dogmas".

The definition of the word religion: "a specific set of fundamental beliefs and practices...". To say that you don't belong to a religion is nothing more than a "head in the sand" attempt to deny your own human nature. Humans are religious. Ask the Mayan's...when you find one in Southern Mexico.

jb

JB
Brian said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brian said…
I am trying to figure out just what it is that you are splitting hairs about.

There is no formal universal intelligence church and if there were- I am not sure how they would be able to threaten me with hell when the concept of hell is simply some man made invention to worry us with.

Given your definition anything that we do, say golf or ski weekly, would be a religion.

So no, JB, I don't subscribe to formal religion or their fear and control bullshit. I believe in a universal intelligence, that someone was sent her to teach the natives some lessons which they missed entirely, and I don't plan nor do I worry about eternal hell or any of the other fairy tales in revelations.



Ralphwig said…
I too hate religion. The control mechanism of the world, but and it's a big but. The book of revaluation is not at all a fearful book when read in context. It's a book that tells what has already happened and from that we cannot fear. Given yes the church still uses it to manipulate but it was never written for. Tat purpose

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