This raises so many questions ... and most of them end with a punch line. For starters, is this for real? All we can do is hope.
I have seen religious tracts, such as from Chick Publications, that often times feature other religious groups and Satan as comic caricatures. But this one goes beyond any I've seen before. It's the only one I could find that makes Jesus out to be so ... well ... bad ass.
As for the recommended colors, what exact hue is "Flesh of Christ?"
According to this article, believers in God are happier than atheists and non-believers. They are better able to deal with tragedy and the suffering of day-to-day life.
But then, for me, there's the problem of cognitive dissonance: A psychological state that describes the uncomfortable feeling between what one holds to be true and what one knows to be true.
As a child, I was coming up on the age of accountability, according to our Southern Baptist church at the time. At the age of 12, I was told, all those thoughts I'd had about our Sunday school teacher, and the neighbor girl, and the pretty ladies in the magazines, were suddenly the evidence that would be used against me in the court of eternal damnation.
Out of one side of his mouth, our preacher was lecturing to us on the Lord's merciful nature, and how anything can be forgiven by letting God into your heart. Out of the other side, fire and brimstone rained down from the heavens. A sinful life would be repaid by eternity spent in a lake of fire.
After weeks of laying in bed at night, tossing and turning and wondering whether my lustful mind would end me up in eternal pain, I rejected religion outright.
If God is a being that would damn people to an eternity of pain for having thoughts they could not control, then I wouldn't reward said Supreme Being with my worship.
Years later, I came to understand God and religion differently, and have found a religion of sorts to pursue for myself: Without the dogma ... an understanding of eternity and of God through a mystical, almost Buddhist lens.
But in terms of traditional Christianity, and traditional religion, I'd still probably be listed under the "non-believer" category.
Would I be happier if I thought someone else was behind the wheel, someone warm and fuzzy who made all decisions based on what was best for me? Absolutely. But that is not my reality.
And for further proof: A cow wandered onto U.S. Highway 101 near Giuntolli Lane yesterday and was killed when a car slammed into it, spraying cowflesh everywhere. Now tell me, would a just God let an innocent cow be so vaporized? These are the questions I need answered.
So someone has just now figured out that Moses probably had to be high to see and hear that burning bush?
Or, conversely, was it the burning bush that got him high? As the Times-Standard's positive blogger would say, think about it.
Whoa there, letter-writers hell-bent on demanding my resignation: I'm just kidding, and it's not blasphemy if the joke's on Moses, right? Still, I've never conversed with a shrub and the moments when I was most tempted? Definitely under the influence.
So yesterday was the big day when Anonymous took on the Scientologists with protests across the world. The LA Times covers it here: 'Anonymous' takes anti-Scientology to the streets'
I take issue with one aspect of the Times's reporting: it says it is only alleged that Scientology demands payment for spiritual clarity. WRONG: To receive any religious service whatsoever within the church requires payment. That's not allegation, that's fact. Ask Tom Cruise.
I can't believe what people believe. I like science fiction, but the mythology behind scientology goes a little bit far for my taste.
Here's my experience from scientology. As a naturally curious 12-year-old, I read Dianetics thought it could be an answer to all my problems. I called the number on the back page for more information, and was promptly told that to take more classes, and receive more info, I needed more money. The operator then told me to get my parent's credit card and come back to the phone.
Curious, but not stupid, I asked my dad if I could use his card. When he found out why, he got on the horn and yelled few words I can repeat here at the the scientologist on the other end. That was the end of my relationship with scientology.
But I read with interest now that a number of computer geeks and hackers have declared war on the "religion," saying they will remove the Tom Cruises of the world from the Internet. Can they do that? Can they even say that? Well, they are. And they've put out a spooky little manifesto video to boot:
Life get curiouser and curiouser.
This map says Humboldt County, and most of the west, is predominantly Catholic. I don't buy it. That being the case, the fact that much of the Southeast is dominated by Southern Baptists rings a bit truer.
I was raised in the Southern Baptist household, and heard the whole fire-and-brimstone spiel. Perhaps that's why I would now most closely identify with Buddhists over the Jesuits. Something about being burned alive for all eternity turned me off to Christianity.