Is Religion Right or Wrong for Humanity?

It is considered to be self-evident that religion in-and-of itself has many advantages:
1. Religion is a source of hope and optimism
2. Religion promotes feelings of good will and sense of belonging
3. Religion supports healthy awareness of self and others

As with all elements of life, there is the other side of the coin:

1. Edgar Pearlstein said, "religion is divisive and provides impetus for discrimination, cruelty, family breakup, and persecution toward those of different religion. Religion is a medium for some people's hypocrisy. Even murder and child neglect are sometimes ordered by the god."
2. "One who spoke “twisted things” was the Roman Catholic theologian Augustine. Jesus had taught his followers to convince others by reasoning from the Scriptures. However, Augustine twisted the meaning of Jesus’ words recorded at Luke 14:23, “Compel them to come in,” to mean that it was all right to use force in the work of converting people. (Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 28:23, 24) Augustine used religion to control people," adds Nando Rodriguez. 

And then there is the invite of what "type" of religion we mean here:

Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings?

"Just to let you guys know, I'm atheist, but I find something a bit misleading about this statement. Let's refer to the invention of the atomic bomb, and the decision to bomb Hiroshima-Nagasaki and how it whipped out more innocent people than all the people who died in the 9/11 terrorist attack. I'm pretty sure this scientific invention didn't take those Japanese people to the moon. I'm not denying that religion hasn't done horrible things in this world. I'm just saying science also has caused evil things for NON-RELIGIOUS PURPOSES."-Disorderly Conduct Online

And then there is the point where worlds collide: 

Israeli Army/Church of Israel

A. Hitler/Catholic Church

Al-Qaida/Islamist Church

US Armed Forces/Christian Church

-DeMaster Thomas-

Enigma

We are all in search of  something more, something greater than ourselves. This online documentary is simply a small part of uncovered truths that only lead to more questions and unfortunately, more lies. So in an effort to remain sensible, sanctuary is inevitable. Some find solace in nature, music or art. Others, even those who are not religious, find a sense of peace simply by sitting quietly in the hallowed halls of an old church. Many believe that evil cannot enter a place of spiritual peace, but that is simply a falsehood. Evil dwells within ergo evil is where ever the one who possesses it, chooses to go.

-DeMaster Thomas

Something in them there skies

Alaska. The last frontier. For the residents maybe. But for travelers and visitors, this incredibly large area of land has been a quiet place of mystery and wonder. There are over a dozen different native cultures in Alaska, from Athabascan to Chugach. Surprisingly, none of these cultures had a formal written language. And while research and historical data give insight to their lifestyles, for many years, there was not much recorded study into their spiritual beliefs.  The hunt for The Source started in Fairbanks, on up through Denali, finally leaving us to set up shop in Anchorage just outside of Kincaid Park. Up until now, the answers were found below. But once we reached the land of daytime nights and nighttime days, we turned to the skies to find answers from above.

So what's really in the skies over Alaska other than cold air and static electricity? Some of the early natives believed and still believe that the gods are present all around them in the skies, the water, the land, and the creatures of the earth. After spending four years going through each indigenous venture in search of the source, we finally ended up in a remote village in Western Alaska with a very special tribe known as the Inuits.

There are so many tales of the Eskimos and their practices, but not many that relate to aliens, UFO's, conspiracy theories, etc. The imagination of the modern world burns at both ends merely miles away from ancient civilization. While there is a root of beliefs, they are quite different from the average Christian, Muslim, Jew of the millennial society. The mentor I worked with, bottom-center in the photo above, agreed only to share if his true native name and rank were kept anonymous. So we will call him "Floyd". "Floyd" explained how it was the Native Americans of the contiguous regions that brought their belief system to Alaska. The Russian influence on the Thule Peoples eventually led to a more developed language and recording of their own history. And then with the unavoidable mix of other people's beliefs with their beliefs, they developed a polygamous system that would clearly define who and what The Source is. Researcher and Historian, Paul Burke put together this chart that clearly highlights many of the gods that "Floyd" explained:

Inuit Gods

Agloolik

Good spirit that lived under the ice and helped with hunting and fishing.

Aipalovik

Evil god of the sea that could hurt boating by biting them.

Akna

Mother goddess of childbirth.

Anguta

Gatherer of the dead. Anguta carries the dead down to the underworld, where they must sleep with him for a year.

Aningan

The moon, brother to the sun whom Moon chases across the sky. Aningan has a great igloo in the sky where he rests. Irdlirvirissong, his demon cousin, lives there as well. The moon is a great hunter, and his sledge is always piled high with seal skins and meat.

Aukaneck

God that lived in the sea, whose movements created the waves.

Aumanil

God that lived on land and controlled the movements of the whales.

Ek Chua

God of merchants and cacao growers. Black faced with a huge nose.

Irdlirvirisissong

The demon cousin of the moon. Sometimes Irdlirvirissong comes out into the sky to dance and clown and make the people laugh. But if anyone is nearby, the people must restrain themselves or the demon clown will dry them up and eat their intestines.

Keelut

Evil Earth spirit with the appearance of a dog.

Sedna

Goddess of the sea and the creatures of the sea. A one-eyed giant. A frightful old hag, but she was young and beautiful when her father threw her in the sea as a sacrifice. A sorcerer wishing to visit Sedna must pass through the realms of death and then cross an abyss where a wheel of ice spins eternally and a cauldron of seal meat stews endlessly. To return he must cross another abyss on a bridge as narrow as a knife edge.

Sun

A beautiful young maiden carrying a torch who is chased through the sky by her brother Aningan, the moon. The planet Jupiter is the mother of the sun and very dangerous to magicians. If they are careless, she will devour their livers.

TEKKEITSERTOK**

God of the Earth that was the most powerful and owned all of the deer.

TEKKEITSERKTOCK**

The earth god, master of hunting to whom all deer belong.

Tootega

Old woman deity that was able to walk on water.

Torngasak

The good spirit, representing everything in nature good and helpful to man.

After all the rituals, food, traditions and folklore; rich with history and adventure out in the Bush with "Floyd's" people, it was not until the last meeting with "Floyd" on a cold October night, sitting in a cafe on 5th Ave in downtown Anchorage, that he finally revealed the best kept secret he said was "hidden in plain sight." He said, "there's something in them there skies." He explained that all the Inuit gods have a Master; a single source of infinite energy that is omnipresent and ever-changing. The spirit of the source is revealed in the winter skies in the form of the Aurora Borealis. Science defines it one way, but "Floyd" explained that long before scientists came along, the Aurora Borealis was called by its true name; the TiamaiT. He said, "the TiamaiT is the birthplace of the source; seek and ye shall find and ye shall be granted wisdom. Turn your mind to the sky and be open to receive."

So with that being said, the quest for the source was turned to many a night, studying under the midnight sun, recording the colors, shapes, patterns, and sounds. At first I was not sure what to look for, so I left it all open to interpretation. Just as I was about to give up, it came to me. It was not the Northern Lights I was supposed to be researching, it was the TiamaiT. What is it? Where is it? Is "it" even an "it" at all? There had to be more.

Feeling like the search in the skies was hopeless, I wrote off the entire experience as a great five years of living the wonderful Alaskan lifestyle, not realizing all the while, the real lessons were soon to come and the real truths would later be revealed. The data was recording all right, going straight to my subconscious, being stored, processed and deciphered. It was more than just dancing lights of colors in the sky, it was a language; being transmitted through sound. The sounds were then subconsciously translated into images: images that looked a lot like this:

X

marks the spot

{sleep now}

-DeMaster Thomas-

Searching for the Source

While many nations, tribes, and spiritual leaders argue of who and what the source was or is, it is quite likely that when the truth is revealed in the end, all will find they are both right and wrong in their theories. The source of all that is and all that is not was created from and within itself. Its creations are tangible and intangible. Its knowledge of self is from itself. Contrary to all of humankind's belief, this source was of nothingness and everything and from this came a balance of twelve columns of existence, also known as the Elders. Each column possesses an intricate element for everything and nothing to exist or not exist in one way or another. One of the columns of the source is known as Time. Believe it or not, time was created before the God that is believed to have created the Universe. Again explaining why God cannot manipulate it or rewind it for personal gain or purpose. Time is an elemental column of pure existence and will not be diluted, changed or switched.
-DeMaster Thomas

 There are no limits to the incomprehensible multi-verses as you have come to know them. 

Truth: Time gave birth to a creator. Truth: Creator gave birth to a metaphysical being. 

Truth: Metaphysical  being gave birth to the homo sapien. Truth: Metaphysical being walks among the homo sapien and gives eternal life to its past, present and future. Truth: There is life after physical death. The purpose: So that you may know experientially only what you first knew conceptually.

The search for the source was a dream. A concept. Today, we argue over the existence of Jesus Christ only to find he was none of the things most believed he was. He explained very clearly that he was not of this world and not bound by any race, creed, color, religion or political system. He is the occult: not a cult. This is another area where humans got it wrong a long time ago. Because of the lack of understanding of existence and how it works, legalism, socialism and faulted belief systems rule our culture, rule our world, and worst of all, rule our way of thinking and comprehending truth. There is only a purpose and need for one begotten Son. There is only a purpose and need for one life and one death. But for our feeble little hearts and extremely confused minds, this is simply not enough. We as a unique species: beg for more. So I call on the source for more than knowledge; I am asking for wisdom. (DeMaster Thomas)

The search for the source started in Africa, led to Mexico, and points to Alaska. The truth awaits. Sleep now.

-DeMaster Thomas

How to Stop Time

Einstein demonstrated that time is relative.

But the rabbit-hole goes much deeper. Quantum physics discovered that consciousness is entangled in matter in some inexplicable ways; but other than the very fast, or very small, or very large, we tend to assume our “ordinary” reality conforms more to the laws of Newton. Simple cause and effect unfolding with clockwork constancy —well, it’s time to shatter this assumption. Let’s stop time.

Find a clock with a smooth sweeping second hand. The one on the link below will work, but depending on how much is running on your computer, it may or may not be completely smooth. If it appears relatively smooth, it will still work, you’ll be able to factor out what you are controlling. After watching the second hand for a bit, look off to the side of the clock, outside of the box, and about 15 to 20 minutes ahead of the second hand. You should still be able to see the second hand, but you won’t be looking directly at it. Now just relax and see if you can stop the second hand. If it starts catching up to the point you are looking at, jump ahead to another spot about 20 minutes ahead. With very little practice you are extremely likely to make a most remarkable discovery. You can stop time. Perhaps at first for only a second or two, but with practice, you’ll be able to freeze it for longer. If you can’t get it right away, try playing with your focus point, move it further away or closer to the frame of the clock. Or look at one of the hour markers on the clock about 20 to 30 minutes ahead. After you get it, try counting internally. The count you reach is the number of discrete thought processes you performed in zero clock time.

Once you’ve accomplished this amazing feat, what does it mean? Some people think it’s just a simple optical illusion, that they merely stopped seeing the second hand which was actually still moving (which gets entertaining with banishing incantations of blind spots, foveal vision, saccades and such.) But if they ask themselves why it started moving again from the point it stopped (and most won’t), their explanation doesn’t quite pan out. Some will just dismiss it as a curious blip that doesn’t really fit into their radar about “reality” and it won’t be cause for further concern. But a few of us will notice the crack between experience and beliefs and want to play. Does it stop sound at the same time? For some people, for others not, which is curiouser still. Maybe consciousness can be more than a passive observer of this “constant” called time?

-DeMaster Thomas

CLICK HERE

Put it to the Test

Time is and of itself is a constant element. It cannot be manipulated. The pure essence of time cannot be diluted, changed or switched. Ergo there is no way to "undo" something that has already been done. If a concept has become reality, there is no way to turn back time to reverse the creation of the reality back to just an idea. The reality is permanent and part of the infinite. Only the actual act of time itself can remedy the effects of reality. In other words, A caused B to happen. But Time caused C to happen, which makes the most of whatever B was. Case in point. The death of a loved one. A car accident. A graduation from school. Getting pregnant. Going out on a date with friends. A winning team at a football game. Events take place. The outcome of those events can never be "undone". However, time can alter the individual reaction to the event. But the event cannot alter time. Fine. We as a natural being accept this is the way of the workings of the universe and until science fiction becomes science fact - we will - for now, believe there is no way to "go back" in time and change the outcome of an event to suit the future pattern of existence. After all, if that were the case, no one in natural reality would ever make it past the next living and waking hour of the day. There would always be someone somewhere every hour of the day, rewinding the clock for their own personal gain. God forbid (pun intended) we learn nothing from "The Butterfly Effect."

Standard Home use-Night Camera

 But there is no law of the natural world that says we cannot record it. So. Put it to the test. There is suggestion that time in-and-of itself is doing its own alterations in the permanent history vault of existence. We see examples of this all the time in movies and television shows. One really good example is in the movie, "The Matrix" where there is a scene that mentions Deja Vu is a glitch in the Matrix itself-a snag in the programming. It is not supposed to be seen by the average naked eye. It is supposed to happen without being noticed so that you as a cognitive being go on about your way without detection that things are being altered around you. But the human mind records everything it experiences. You may not know it, but your entire life is being recorded on the greatest microchip and hard drive known to humankind-the brain. And the brain remembers things far differently than you do. So when something happens in the world and you go back and remember it but its supposed to be the first time its happened, the mind is not stupid. It's just letting you know that "time" made a small subtle change or turn in the pattern of events. Now, it's important to remember that again, time is a constant element. Time cannot be altered in any way. Otherwise, the creator could just "go back" in time and say there was no battle in heaven and erase the existence of a fallen being that brought corrupted knowledge to the humans which shaped and molded the world we live in today. It would have never happened. "Sin" would not exist. There would be no point for anything if all you had to do was press the "easy" button and go back and erase whatever just happened. No one would ever have a bad day anymore. No death. No sin. No accidents. I think I made my point. Back to the test. 

To accurately record the change in your time in comparison to the universal time, take a standard stop watch battery powered, a regular clock or cell phone clock or wrist watch, any will do, and set up a night cam in your room or where you sleep. What you will find may astound you. Before you go to sleep, confirm all the times are in sync. When you wake in the morning for the first time, check the times again, if you are able, lay down and go back to sleep for at least another hour or two. When you wake, you will find that your night cam has recorded you sleeping while the world was changing around you. Your time on your stop watch and your regular clock, cell phone, etc., will not be the same time. They should actually be off precisely the exact amount of time you fell back to sleep. If you slept for another hour, the times should differ by one hour. If you slept for another 2 hours, the time will differ by that amount. Now the question is does this really work? I suppose you will have to try it to find out. Good luck. See you in your dreams.

-DeMaster Thomas

Can you hear me now...Good

Fore the mouths of fools will speak death into reality

John Lennon (Singer):

Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:

"Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about that. I am certain. Jesus was okay, but his subjects were too simple. Today we are more famous than Him" (1966).

Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.

Tancredo Neves (President of Brazil):

During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency.


Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.

Cazuza (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet):

During A show in Canecio ( Rio De Janeiro), while smoking his cigar, he puffed out some smoke into the air and said: "God, that's for you."

He died at the age of 32 of AIDS in a horrible manner.

Thomas Andrews (the man who built the Titanic):

After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic would be.

With an ironic tone he said: "Not even God can sink it"

The result: Iceberg-straight ahead.

Norma-Jeane Mortenson (Actress):

She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation at a show. He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her. After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said: "I don't need your Jesus".

A week later, she was found dead in the bedroom of her Brentwood home.

Bon Scott (Singer):

The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang:

"Don't stop me, I'm going down all the way, down the highway to hell".

On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead from choking on his own vomit.

Campinas 2005:

 

In Campinas, Brazil a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend. The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her friends and she said to the daughter holding her hand, who was already seated in the car:

"My Daughter, Go With God And May He Protect You.."

She responded: "Only if He (God) travels in the trunk, cause inside here, it's already full."

Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident, everyone had died,

the car could not be recognized what type of car it had been, but surprisingly, the trunk was intact.

The police said there was no way the trunk could have remained intact. To their surprise, inside the trunk was a crate of eggs, none were broken .

Christine Hewitt (Jamaican Journalist and entertainer):

Said that the Bible (Word of God) was the worst book ever written.

In June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle .

This is a popular post on the Internet and while it may be mainly an argument for the spiritual or religious, it really feeds the curiosity to question, is there more beyond what we see? Is there more beyond what we think? And more importantly, is there more beyond life than what we imagine? 

I think another great line from pop-culture is from the film, A Few Good Men, we all know it, "He is dead because he had no honor. And God was watching." Can we literally speak life and death into reality? Thinking deeper, can we dream about someone living or dying and bring that upon them? If so, then the same is true for things a bit more positive such as love, money and career. After all, there is another popular study out there called the law of attraction. Either way, it starts with the thought, it is given fuel by the word and then engulfed into flames by the action. This is how creation works. From concept to reality. Beginning to end.

-DeMaster Thomas

God's Calling-it's for You

So, how can we know if a dream about an angel is a real angelic appearance?

Here are some guidelines I have developed as a result of my study of the Bible, my postgraduate work in dreams at the Yale Divinity School, and my talks with people about their experiences.

1. The result of the dream will draw attention to God more than the angel. Angels are God’s messengers and their purpose is always to bring glory to God, not to themselves.
2. The dreams usually leave a person with feelings of awe and wonder and that God is loving. This is true even when the angel appears to a person who is rebelling against God and is deep in sin. The angel may appear to judge and to scare a person straight. Often, when this occurs, the angel does not even give a message in words, but the experience of God’s presence is shattering and life-transforming and points to a God who cares deeply.
3. Is this dream sensible or illogical? We need to use common sense. While a dream or a vision may come from God and be a positive life-changing event, the dream may also come from images buried in our subconscious. God does not send his angels to tell us silly or terrible things. It is always wise to share your experience with a trusted member of your faith community. Sharing with another person helps us evaluate the authenticity of what may be an angelic encounter.
4. Does this dream contradict what is taught in the Bible? God does not contradict himself. See my past column: Good Angels, Bad Angels.
5. Does this encounter leave you more renewed and more resolved to serve God? If is the encounter is genuine it will move you to love God more deeply and to live out your faith more consistently.

Bill Webber at
angelquestions@beliefnetstaff.com

Perspective

Derek Speed wrote: (2008)

Man will destroy this planet long before any "death star" will. Pay attention,  firstly it has been proven in a Supreme Court in the United States that there is no such thing as intelligent design by "god". Secondly, it will be the philosophies of religion that destroy the earth. Two thousand years ago, someone named Moses wrote what's called the Ten Commandments, one of those Commandments was "Thou Shalt not Kill". That philosophy makes human life, more valuable than the planet that sustains it. According to experts, there was 1 billion people on this planet two thousand years ago. If no humans killed any humans for the last two thousand years like the bible suggest, what would the current human population of this planet be right now? Keep in mind, the human population has doubled in the last forty years from 3 billion to 6 billion. Take out a pencil and piece of paper, now draw a circle, with another circle around the outside of the circle you just drew. Make it look like a cell and a nucleus. Now think of how a virus works, a virus or parasite like the Ebola Virus. If one of these parasites invade one of our cells, it will do nothing but consume and reproduce, just like the human animal in the "thou shalt not kill" world. Think of planet earth as a cell in our bodies, the earth is the atom and the ozone is the nucleus that protects it. The human animal does nothing but consume and reproduce, because we are not permitted to kill or conflict with each other, it's against "gods" law.
What happens to a cell when its totally consumed by a virus or a parasite, well, it dies. We the human race in the "thou shalt not kill" world will kill our cell or planet. I want you to think of those four words uttered 2 thousand years ago, and then go pick up a dictionary and look up the word Ironic. Why is everything round, bubbles, the earth, the atom, our cells, even our orbit, well it's simple really, the circle is the most efficient shape, the circle of life doesn't start at ocean plankton and end at the lion. We, the human race walk this planet with infinite complacency, convinced of our superiority over it, that way of thinking is going to get us all killed.

The End of the Earth

 End of the Earth Postponed

By Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer
posted: 18 October 2010 06:06 pm ET

Buzz up!

del.icio.us

Digg It!

Newsvine

reddit

It's a good news/bad news situation for believers in the 2012 Mayan apocalypse. The good news is that the Mayan "Long Count" calendar may not end on Dec. 21, 2012 (and, by extension, the world may not end along with it). The bad news for prophecy believers? If the calendar doesn't end in December 2012, no one knows when it actually will — or if it has already. A new critique, published as a chapter in the new textbook "Calendars and Years II: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient and Medieval World" (Oxbow Books, 2010), argues that the accepted conversions of dates from Mayan to the modern calendar may be off by as much as 50 or 100 years. That would throw the supposed and overhyped 2012 apocalypse off by decades and cast into doubt the dates of historical Mayan events. (The doomsday worries are based on the fact that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012, much as our year ends on Dec. 31.)

The Mayan calendar was converted to today's Gregorian calendar using a calculation called the GMT constant, named for the last initials of three early Mayanist researchers. Much of the work emphasized dates recovered from colonial documents that were written in the Mayan language in the Latin alphabet, according to the chapter's author, Gerardo Aldana, University of California, Santa Barbara professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies.

Later, the GMT constant was bolstered by American linguist and anthropologist Floyd Lounsbury, who used data in the Dresden Codex Venus Table, a Mayan calendar and almanac that charts dates relative to the movements of Venus. "He took the position that his work removed the last obstacle to fully accepting the GMT constant," Aldana said in a statement. "Others took his work even further, suggesting that he had proven the GMT constant to be correct."

But according to Aldana, Lounsbury's evidence is far from irrefutable. "If the Venus Table cannot be used to prove the GMT as Lounsbury suggests, its acceptance depends on the reliability of the corroborating data," he said. That historical data, he said, is less reliable than the Table itself, causing the argument for the GMT constant to fall "like a stack of cards." Aldana doesn't have any answers as to what the correct calendar conversion might be, preferring to focus on why the current interpretation may be wrong. Looks like end-of-the-world theorists may need to find another ancient calendar on which to pin their apocalyptic hopes.