As readers of The Urantia Book, you’d think we might occasionally search “teh internets” to see what’s out there that speaks of it. Well we do— occasionally. Recently we found a segment on The UB from a TV series called “Strange Universe,” circa 1996. The mildly galactic, silly-subliminal strobe-fest, complete with a shot of the alien autopsy stuffed in for good measure, topped off with the “alien bible” tag all smothered in tacky music— still isn’t too campy and overbearing. Best of all, nobody really tells any inexcusable whoppers about the book; always a plus.

As indifferent observers, the media insists “no one knows who wrote the book”; generally, real readers say they accept the authors as given. But the “keeping it under the pillows” nonsense probably didn’t impress anyone other than the copywriter.

I hadn’t heard the rumor a book was spotted in the white house, but if there is, it’s clear that it hasn’t been opened by Chimpy. Bush’s confession that Jesus is his “favorite philosopher” is more than telling, in that Jesus was not, of course, a philosopher, but a savior; a Divine Redeemer, and the Son of God.

It is also not surprising teh TV wanted to focus on the supposed “angry backlash” by the percentage of Christians who can’t abide any sort of updating, or even a divinely expanded historical retelling of the entire life and teachings of the very being they claim to know, love, and follow.

I’m sure some defenders of the infallible Bible sent a strongly-worded letter regarding the retelling of Christ’s life that essentially invalidates all the hatred, ignorance, and fear that has seeped into their religion and belief. But then, most rational Christian denominations already dismiss such doctrines. It’s teh few who do not that will tend to never loosen their death grip on the dogma and doctrines of traditional, evolutionary religion. After all, “the faith once delivered to the saints” must, in theory, be both final and infallible. I don’t think they’d even let Jesus mess with it.

Meanwhile, the rest of the entire “strange” universe keeps plunging majestically through space to the music of the meter of the infinite thought and the eternal purpose of the First Great Source and Center of all things and beings. The Urantia teachings, the most recent revelation of truth propounded in the spiritual realm, has barely begun to trickle into the present-day cultural stream. The advent of greatly improved global communications may eventually create a planet-wide mutational awakening that captures the imagination of entire nations.

Here’s hoping it’s ours.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

WASHINGTON — John McCain defended his plan for veterans’ college benefits Monday, as both he, and Barack Obama spoke to veterans on Memorial Day. Hillary Clinton campaigned Monday in Puerto Rico. Obama and McCain have sparred from a distance recently over the bill, sometimes with what the MSM calls “heated words.”

In his comments on Memorial Day, McCain did not mention Obama by name, such a clever fellow, but it was clear he was talking Obama. McCain said his was the right position rather than “the politically expedient one,” suggesting Obama was on the wrong side of the Jim Webb bill, which passed the senate last week. The bill will substantially increase educational benefits for service members. A more limited version that McCain had supported, was blocked.

McCain: “I am running for the office of commander in chief. That is the highest privilege in this country, and it imposes the greatest responsibilities. And this is why I am committed to our bill, despite the support Senator Webb’s bill has received. It would be easier, much easier politically for me to have joined Senator Webb in offering his legislation.”

Umm. . . So you support your own bill because you’re “running for the office of commander in chief”?? You can’t join with the twenty-five members of your own party and support the Webb bill because— it’s not yours?? Isn’t this the same moronic partisan-think that has created the most polarized government in our history?

Because McCain said Webb’s measure would give the same benefit to everyone regardless of how many times he or she has reenlisted. He said he feared that would depress reenlistments by those wanting to attend college after only a “few years in uniform.” McCain said the bill he favored would have increased scholarships based on length of service.

Now remember, McCain, despite his whoring around for fringe religionists like John Hagee and Rod Parsley, portrays himself as a conservative, mainstream, unbaptized Baptist. One must assume that somewhere along the way, he’s heard the parable of the vineyard workers. All but you heathens will recall, that’s the one where the vineyard owner hired workers at a denarius a day, or roughly $20 bucks; bottom line, it was a fair wage for a day’s work.

Anyway, the guy— let’s just call him Vino— goes out to the market for his morning cappuccino, and seeing laborers standing around, says, ” Go work in my vineyard, and I’ll pay you whatever is right.” And the same thing happens at lunchtime, and at three in the afternoon, and yep, again at five as well; and Vino, generous vintner that he is, gives them all the same offer.

But when the men who had been slogging grapes since nine in the morning saw these guys dragging in after five, they imagined they should get more than the promised denarius. But when Vino pays up, the bitching started: “These guys who were hired last worked only one stinkin’ hour, and yet you paid them the same as us, who have worked the entire day in the frakkin’ scorchin’ sun.”

But the Vino, stoked on his own juice, was ready for them. He says: “‘My friends, I’m not doin’ you wrong. Didn’t each of you agree to work a day for a Jackson? So take your Twenty and hit the road! It’s my business to give to those who came last just as much as I gave to you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my own money? Or do you begrudge my generosity because I desire to be good and to show mercy?”

Well, long story short, McCain doesn’t understand the common generosity of the American people’s wish to compensate our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines— those who step into harm’s way to defend our nation— with a decent educational opportunity wherewith they can become productive citizens with a good life like, ahem, the rest of us.

On Saturday Barack Obama told veterans while campaigning in Puerto Rico : “I don’t understand why John McCain would side with George Bush and oppose our plan to make college more affordable for our veterans. George Bush and John McCain may think our plan is too generous. I could not disagree more.”

McCain says: “I take a back seat to no one in my affection, respect, and devotion to veterans.” Well. A back seat to no one— besides the senators, congressmen and women, and citizens who stepped up to support the troops by paying them the Jackson they’ve earned whether they served little, or much. That’s generosity. That’s American.

ADAM and EVE by Ernst Fuchs

Our friend Sherry at A Feather Adrift has written another thought provoking essay on a range of religious issues. I’ve winnowed out several of her interesting questions for comment here. If you have time I suggest you read it there before you read this response.

Is God fully omniscient in time and space?
It is literally true that God is all and in all. He inhabits the “circle of eternity.” God is possessed of unlimited power to know all things; he alone can be in two places, in numberless places. But even that is not all of God. The Infinite can be finally revealed only in infinity; the cause can never be fully comprehended by an analysis of effects; the living God is immeasurably greater than the sum total of creation that has come into being as a result of the creative acts of his unfettered free will.

As an infinite being, God comprehends the end from the beginning of “time,” because both time and space are “sub-absolute.” Space is not infinite, even though it takes origin from Paradise; we do not know the absolute limits of space, but we do know that the absolute of time is eternity.

It may be helpful to realize there are three different levels of time cognizance:
1. Mind-perceived time— consciousness of sequence, motion, and a sense of duration.
2. Spirit-perceived time— insight into motion Godward and the awareness of the motion of ascent to levels of increasing divinity.
3. Personality creates a unique time sense out of insight into Reality, plus a consciousness of presence and an awareness of duration.

Why doesn’t God reveal himself scientifically?
To Science, God is a possibility; to psychology a desirability, to philosophy a probability, to religion a certainty, an actuality of religious experience. Science seeks to identify, analyze, and classify the segmented parts of the limitless cosmos. Reason is the proof of science, faith (not mere belief) is the proof of religion, even as logic is the proof of philosophy. But science must end its reason-search in the hypothesis of a First Cause, because science can never validate God.

Only the personal experience of the faith sons of the Father can effect the actual spiritual realization of the personality of God. You cannot pray to a chemical formula, supplicate a mathematical equation, worship a hypothesis, confide in a postulate, commune with a process, serve an abstraction, or hold loving fellowship with a law. Reason then, would demand that a philosophy which cannot find the God of probability should be very respectful of the religious faith which can, and does, find the God of certitude.

And science should never discount religious experience on grounds of credulity, not so long as it persists in the assumption that our intellectual and philosophic endowments emerged from increasingly lesser intelligences the further back they go, to take origin in primitive life which was utterly devoid of any and all ability to think and feel.

Obviously there is a vast gulf between the infinity of God and the finiteness of man. As truth one may know God, but to understand enough to explain God, one must explore the fact of the universe of universes. The vast gulf between the experience of the truth of God, and ignorance as to the fact of God can be bridged only by living faith. Modern science has left true religion— the teachings of Jesus as translated in the lives of his believers— untouched. All science has done is to destroy the childlike illusions of many of the misinterpretations of life.

Can atheists be “just as moral as the next person”?
Static ethics and traditional morality are just slightly super-animal. Ethics and morals become truly human when they are dynamic and progressive. Morality is not necessarily spiritual; it may be wholly and purely human. But morality without religion fails to reveal ultimate goodness, and it also fails to provide for the survival of even its own moral values. Religion provides for the enhancement and assured survival of everything morality recognizes and approves.

Man can, intellectually, deny God, and yet be morally good, loyal, filial, honest, and even idealistic. And in so doing, man may graft many purely humanistic branches onto his basic spiritual nature, and apparently prove his atheistic contentions. But such an experience is devoid of survival values, God-knowingness, and God-ascension. In such an experience only social fruits are forthcoming, not spiritual.

If you truly believe in God— by faith know him and love him— don’t permit the reality of such an experience to be in any way lessened or detracted from by the doubting insinuations of science, the caviling of logic, the postulates of philosophy, or the clever suggestions of well-meaning souls who would create a religion without God. Live your faith, and it will grow to be of such towering strength it can never be shaken.

How do we define ourselves as “sentient” spiritual creatures?
Unspiritual animals know only the past and live in the present. Spirit-indwelt human beings have prevision— insight— we may visualize the future. “Sentience” must eventually come to be defined as self-conscious personality indwelt by Spirit. Animals are not “self-conscious,” thus they can never experience consciousness
of consciousness.

Self-consciousness implies the recognition of the reality of selves other than the conscious self, and further implies that such awareness is mutual; that the self is known as it knows. But you cannot become so absolutely certain of a fellow being’s reality as you can of the reality of the presence of God that lives within you.

Were Adam and Eve real people?
Despite what current paleontology and DNA might suggest, Adam and Eve were real beings, but they were not evolutionary human beings born on this world. As one might reasonably expect, the true story of their “creation,” as it has come down through 37,000 years of word of mouth, has been stripped of nearly all truth and recognition of the original events.

My first recommendation to anyone interested in the real story of Adam and Eve, or any cosmological question, is to read The Urantia Book. There’s simply no substitute for spiritual revelation. Since that is a formidable commitment of both time and mental reflection, suffice it to say for our our purposes here that Adam and Eve were of a material order of divine sons who come to the evolving worlds of space; these Material Sons and Daughters are the last physical link in the chain of personalities extending from divinity and perfection above, down to humanity and material existence below. Their dispensations usually last many thousands of years, as they attempt to engraft the higher forms of creature life on the primitive men of the evolutionary worlds of space. Unfortunately, that did not fully happen on our world.

It’s hard not to think of the story of Adam and Eve in purely symbolic terms if all you’ve ever been exposed to is the Biblical account. The story of creating Eve out of Adam’s rib is a confused condensation of their arrival and the “celestial surgery” connected with the interchange of living substances associated with the coming of a corporeal staff of celestials, more than four hundred and fifty thousand years previously. It’s too long a story to unfold here, but it must be said that the so-called parents of the human race were at once the recipients of the most blessed, and the most tragic of circumstances of all of the several planetary “dispensations” of celestial over-care that have occurred here-to-for on our world.

The origins of the human race, as even our partial scientific understanding must attest, is a complex, multi-faceted mystery of staggering proportions; as it quite naturally impinges on every realm of human experience. That science has no business in spiritual matters is still a difficult hurdle for most critics of religion to understand, and only further complicates the examination of the interrelatedness of our planetary origins with our universe destiny as creatures.

That said, there are still many things about our origins that can be known, and known now, that will take science many, many more decades to factually unravel. That this knowing must use living faith to achieve its certainty in no way lessens its relevance to individuals in pursuit of intelligent and worthy cosmological understanding. It will probably remain a sad fact that many otherwise brilliant atheistic individuals will never discover the true nature of living faith, preferring instead the much more ludicrous but serviceable definition of faith as mere belief.

The fact that vast time is involved in the attainment of God makes the presence and personality of the Infinite none the less real. Our individual ascension is a part of the circuit of the vast universe, and though we may swing around it countless times, we may expect, in spirit and in status, to be ever swinging inward. We can depend upon being translated from sphere to sphere, from the far outer circuits where we are now, to ever nearer the inner center, and our destination, Paradise. And some day, doubt not, we shall stand in the divine and central presence and see him, figuratively speaking, face to face.

Radical Preacher and Pig Religionist, John Hagee

Blogging at the Nation, John Nichols shared the following remarks of radical preacher John Hagee regarding Hurricane Katrina and the city of New Orleans’ “sinful” acceptance of homosexuality:

“What happened in New Orleans looked like the curse of God…” Hagee explained after the city experienced a national disaster that cost at least 1,836 lives – making it the deadliest hurricane in American history – and permanently dislocated tens of thousands of Americans from not just their homes but the communities of their birth and upbringing.

“Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans” Hagee told NPR’s Terry Gross in a 2006 interview. What was God judging? “New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God,” said McCain’s backer, who explained that “there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came.”

Blaming homosexuals for the deadliest hurricane in history is a textbook example of the precepts of Pig Religion in action. This sort of self-indulgent, self-righteous bigotry is the inevitable result of an ignorant and slavish commitment to the fetish word of authority, and has become the hallmark of Pig Religion.

Pig Religion is, above all else, a fetish religion, above even the love of God; but most practitioners of Pig Religion are almost completely lacking in any understanding of fetishism as the single most damaging aspect of their own religion. In order to understand how such a strange and perverse practice evolved, we must journey back a long way to its roots.

“Hagee and all fetishists are hypocritically betraying themselves “into the clutches of bigotry, fanaticism, superstition, [and] intolerance” through their willing embrace of the doctrinal fetish of the Bible as the infallible word of God.”

Our primitive ancestors made anything extraordinary into a fetish. A man gets sick, something weird happens, he gets well— must’ve been that delicious cow pie he ate for dinner last night. [Read more →]

EDITOR’S NOTE: The continuing exposition of the remarkable, recently discovered account of the crucifixion of Joshua Ben Joseph, aka Jesus Christ, aka, Jesus of Nazareth, aka, the Galilean. . . from the “Daily Matzo,” a parchment rag of circa 30 A.D. Jerusalem, widely distributed around Judea, the only extant copy recently unearthed in a Capernaum coffee and bagel bar known as the “Caper-ccino.”

JERUSALEM — Early this Saturday morning, Temple guards, on orders from the high priest, acting on a tip from an anonymous source, discovered the torn and shattered remains of one Judas Iscariot, in the near vicinity of the deep and narrow ravine west of the city known to all as the Valley of Hinnom; the dump of all Jerusalem.

First reports indicate it appeared the man had attempted to hang himself from a small tree, but the knot tied in the girdle of his cloak gave way, causing Iscariot to be dashed to pieces on the jagged rocks below.

Daily Matzo has learned Iscariot was the only son of a wealthy Sadducee Judean couple, believed to be living in Jericho. Records indicate Iscariot was born in Kerioth, a small town in southern Judea. He was thirty years of age and unmarried when he joined the apostles in January, A.D. 27. There are unconfirmed reports he had sought employment with a fish-drying enterprise at Tarichea, when he became associated with the Galilean prophet.

Iscariot was known to be the treasurer of the twelve apostles of Jesus of Nazareth, and is now a person of great interest in the on-going spectacle of the crucifixion of Jesus yesterday morning at Golgatha. Unnamed sources have come forward this day, purporting intrigues involving Iscariot and the temple high priest, Caiaphas.

A source wishing to remain secret, spoke at length with Daily Matzo of Iscariot’s character, having been a life-long acquaintance of the deceased. In an exclusive interview with Matzo, Iscariot was said to be a “spoiled child,” often “pampered and petted.” As he grew up, he had exaggerated ideas about his self-importance. He was widely known as a poor loser.

He was also said to have had loose and distorted ideas about fairness, and was given to the indulgence of hate and suspicion. He was said to be expert at misinterpretation of the words and acts of his friends. “All through his life, Judas had cultivated the habit of getting even with those whom he fancied had mistreated him,” the source confided.

Relatives of Iscariot, who wish to remain anonymous under these circumstances, have revealed that just this Thursday, Judas had disclosed to certain Sadducean friends of his father’s family, that he had reached the conclusion that, while Jesus was a “well-meaning dreamer and idealist, he was not the expected deliverer of Israel.” He went on to say that he would very much like to find some way of withdrawing gracefully from the whole movement.

Iscariot’s relatives also felt his friends had assured him that his withdrawal would be hailed by Jewish rulers as “a great event,” and they led him to believe that he would forthwith receive high honors from the Sanhedrin, and that he would be in a position to erase the stigma of his well-meant but “unfortunate association with untaught Galileans.”

Judas was said to have been troubled however, and confided to kin he could not quite believe that the mighty works of Jesus had been wrought by the power of the prince of devils, as the Sanhedrin believed; but he was fully convinced that Jesus would allow himself to be destroyed by the Jewish rulers, and he felt he could “not endure the humiliating thought of being identified with a movement of defeat.”

Although it is said Iscariot was a good business man, and was generally regarded as a good thinker, he was not always a truly honest thinker. He was known as a stickler for organization.

Associates close to the apostles, whose whereabouts are unknown since the crucifixion, anonymously point to the case of Judas Iscariot as illustrative of the truthfulness of the saying: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death.”

[See the next segment, "JESUS. IS. DEAD."]

*****You have selected the most read post on this blog.*****

EDITOR’S NOTE: As promised, the startling second installment of the recently unearthed account of the Crucifixion of Joshua Ben Joseph, the Galilean carpenter of Nazareth, as depicted in the “Daily Matzo,” a parchment magazine discovered in a Capernaum coffee and bagel bar known only as the “Caper-ccino.”

JERUSALEM — Approximately 200 onlookers, consisting mostly of enemies of Jesus, curious idlers, and perhaps a few supporters, follow along with the Roman soldiers who take Jesus up to Golgatha shortly after nine o’clock this Friday morning, 14 Nisan [April 7, 30 A.D.]. With the crossbeam on his shoulders according to custom, Jesus is led by the captain of the guard, who carries the white boards with the names of the criminals and the nature of their crimes. Two of the boards carry the word “brigand,” but the board for the cross of Jesus has been written by Pilate himself— in Latin, Greek, and Aramaic— and reads: “Jesus of Nazareth— the King of the Jews.”

The customary route to Golgatha is not followed, the captain instead choosing the more direct route via the Damascus gate north out of the city. Still, many women who had known of Jesus’ life of loving ministry dare to follow the procession, weeping and lamenting, in bold disregard of the law prohibiting such displays of sympathy for the condemned. Jesus takes notice of the women and speaks briefly to them saying,

“Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but rather weep for yourselves and for your children. My work is about done— soon I go to my Father— but the times of terrible trouble for Jerusalem are just beginning. Behold, the days are coming in which you shall say: Blessed are the barren and those whose breasts have never suckled their young. In those days will you pray the rocks of the hills to fall on you in order that you may be delivered from the terrors of your troubles.”

Observers marvel at the stamina of the prophet, having had no food or water— and certainly no sleep— since his arrest at Gethsemane park Thursday night. Not surprisingly, he appears near exhaustion, and shortly after passing through the Damascus gate, he falls. Despite several severe kicks to his body by the soldiers, he cannot rise; the captain seeing this, commands the soldiers to stop, and orders a passerby, one Simon from Cyrene, to assume the burden of the crossbeam.

Shortly after nine o’clock the procession reaches Golgatha, and the grim task of nailing the three to their crosses begins. Jesus is quickly garbed with the customary lion cloth provided by the Romans after his clothes are removed, accommodating our people’s great objection to public exposure of the naked human form.

The soldiers first bind the Teacher’s arms with cords to the crossbeam, then nail his hands to the wood. It is said that the ideas, motives, and longings of a lifetime are openly revealed in a crisis. As they nail him to the crossbeam, he is heard to say, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

When they have hoisted this crossbeam up on the post, and after they nail it securely to the upright timber of the cross, they bind and nail his feet to the wood, using one long nail which penetrates both feet. The upright timber has a large peg inserted at the proper height, which serves to support the body weight. As is customary at Golgatha, the cross is not high; the prophet’s feet are but three feet from the ground.

After the Galilean is hoisted on the cross, the captain nails the title up above his head, which reads in three languages, “Jesus of Nazareth— the King of the Jews.” Many who stand under the cross are infuriated by this perceived insult. Pilate, who surely felt he had been intimidated and humiliated, now takes this method of obtaining his petty revenge. He knows too, how the Jerusalem Jews detest the very name of Nazareth, and now he humiliates them. He knows that they will also be cut to the very quick by seeing this executed Galilean called “The King of the Jews.”

When the Jewish leaders learn how Pilate is deriding them with this inscription on the cross of Jesus, they hasten to Golgotha, but they dare not attempt to remove the board, as the Roman soldiers are standing guard. These leaders then mingled with the crowd to incite derision and ridicule, lest anyone give serious regard to the inscription.

Just as the captain is nailing the title above his head, the Apostle John, with Mary the mother of Jesus, Ruth, a sister of Jesus, and Jude, his brother, arrive. Apparently this apostle is the only one of the eleven apostles to witness the crucifixion of their “Master.” As Jesus sees his mother, with John and his brother and sister, he gives them a brief but silent smile.

Meanwhile the four soldiers, as is the custom, divide his clothes among them. One takes the sandals, one the turban, one the girdle, and the fourth his cloak. This leaves his tunic, a seamless vestment reaching down to near the knees, to be cut up into four pieces. But when the soldiers see what an unusual garment it is, they cast lots for it. Jesus looks down on them as they divided his garments, and as the crowd jeers at him.

Before eleven o’clock, upward of one thousand persons are witnessing this spectacle of the crucifixion of the so-called “Son of Man.” If we are to believe him, we are all witnessing the death of the Son of God; we must also assume that a watching universe of angels stands by in silent horror, as they witness God dying the death of the creature, even this, the most ignoble death of a condemned criminal.

Many who pass by wag their heads and, railing at him, say: “You who would destroy the temple and build it again in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, why do you not come down from your cross?”

Some of the rulers of the Jews mock him, saying, “He saved others, but himself he cannot save!”

Others say, “If you are the king of the Jews, come down from the cross, and we will believe in you.” And later on, they mocked him the more, saying: “He trusted in God to deliver him. He even claimed to be the Son of God— look at him now— crucified between two thieves.” Even the two thieves rail at him and cast reproach upon him.

But Jesus makes no reply to their taunts.

By half past eleven o’clock most of the jesting and jeering crowd have gone their way; less than fifty remain on the scene as it nears noontime of this special preparation day. The soldiers now prepare to eat lunch and drink their cheap, sour wine as they settled down for the deathwatch. As they drink their wine, they derisively offer a toast to Jesus, saying, “Hail and good fortune! to the king of the Jews!” And they are astonished at his tolerant regard of their ridicule and mocking.

When Jesus sees them eat and drink, he looks down upon them and says, “I thirst.” When the captain of the guard hears Jesus say “I thirst,” he takes some of the wine from his bottle and, putting the saturated sponge stopper upon the end of a javelin, raises it to Jesus so that he can moisten his parched lips.

One of the brigands rails at Jesus: “If you are the Son of God, why do you not save yourself and us?” The other thief says to him, “Do you have no fear even of God? Do you not see that we are suffering justly for our deeds, but that this man suffers unjustly? Better that we should seek forgiveness for our sins and salvation for our souls.” When Jesus heard the thief say this, he turns his face toward him and smiles approvingly. When the thief sees the face of Jesus turned toward him, he musters up his courage and says, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And then Jesus says, “Verily, verily, I say to you today, you shall sometime be with me in Paradise.”

Shortly after twelve o’clock the sky darkens from the fine sand in the air. The people of Jerusalem know this means a hot-wind sandstorm from the Arabian desert is coming. Before one o’clock the sky is so dark the sun is hidden, and the remainder of the crowd hastens back to the city. The Teacher is near death, but seems to be uttering passages from the scriptures, which one of the women says is the twentieth, twenty-first, and twenty-second Psalm, which begins with “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This is to be one of his last utterances.

The sandstorm grows in intensity, and the heavens increasingly darken. The soldiers crouch near the cross, huddled together to protect themselves from the cutting sand. Others watch from a distance, where they are somewhat sheltered by an overhanging rock. When the Galilean, called “Master” unbidden by those who followed him, gives up his life shortly after this hour, less than thirty people are present; the thirteen Roman soldiers and a group of about fifteen apparent believers.

Just before three o’clock, Jesus, with a loud voice, cries out, “It is finished! Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” And when he had thus spoken, he bowed his head, and moved no more. When the Roman centurion saw how Jesus died, to our astonishment he smote his breast and said: “This was indeed a righteous man; truly he must have been a Son of God.”

[See the remaining extant segment from the "Daily Matzo" April 9th— Resurrection Day, "JESUS. IS. NOT. DEAD.]

THE URANTIA BOOK

Anyone who hasn’t noticed the rabid up-tick in the perceived toxic ties between the presidential candidates and their religious affiliations gets a sincere “get well soon,” because you have to be in some kind of coma. The only one who appears to have escaped the holy vetting is Mrs Clinton, which may speak more to the fact she has no real religious associations outside of the little prayer circle she attends in the Senate.

But look. As Clinton thrashes wildly in dead air preparatory to plunging to her political death, Obama and now McCain are getting the religious scrubbing of a lifetime because they’re going to be the nominees. The reasons the electorate is finally paying attention to their religious ties however, run a lot deeper than Fixed Noise’s manufactured crisis ‘o video loops of Jeramiah Wright, or the totally whacktard theologies of the neocon nutballs associated with McCain.

Like it or not human beings are hard-wired to long for something higher, deeper, and more profound than material reality; a higher universe reality— the world of spirit. Religion is a personal and real reality for most of humanity. But when institutionalized religion becomes sanctioned by the state, tacitly or overtly, we’re all in danger of policies being directed by the personal interpretations of the religion-specific values held by a small number of people. Remember: the last time we tried mixing government with religion, we wound up burning people at the stake.

The recent erosion of the fragile wall between church and state produced by policies and attitudes of the Cheney-Bush debacle, which either directly or indirectly facilitate the bizarre theories of a coming apocalypse, are unfortunately only one of several afflictions currently threatening our liberty.

Here’s a check-list of a dozen things, in no particular order, that lovers of freedom and liberty should monitor as frequently as they would a weather station— with constant vigilance. . . followed by examples of how they are threatening our liberty right now, every day.

Usurpation of unwarranted power by either the executive or legislative branches. Signing statements— what, 157 at last count?

Machinations of ignorant and superstitious agitators. Rush Limbaugh; Anne Coulter; Shaun Hannity; Bill O’Reilly; Glen Beck. . .

Retardation of scientific progress. Stem Cell Research; Terri Schiavo. . .

Stalemate of the dominance of mediocrity. “Stay the course” Bush; health care crisis; no energy policy; no higher moral vision. . .

Domination by vicious minorities. Swift boat morons; Fox News. . .

Control by ambitious and clever would-be dictators. George Bush ala Dick Cheney. . .

Disastrous disruption of panics. Global War on Terror; Gasoline prices; subprime lending crisis. . .

Exploitation by the unscrupulous. Haliburton, KBR, all other war profiteers. . .

Failure of social and economic fairness. Toleration of poverty; no higher education for the poor; ridiculous minimum wage; no health care; no working immigration policy; unfair taxation. . .

Union of church and state. Neocons and Bush on a mission from God; “In God we trust” on our money; paid Christian ministers in the House and Senate. Every elected senator or Congressman knows how to pray, and they certainly can pray on the record if they want to. But there’s no place for paid or voluntary professional clergy of any religion to be in our House and Senate, leading our elected representatives in prayer or worship.

Loss of personal liberty. Habeas Corpus; NSA spying; Fear mongering government regulations.

And now, because I follow Jesus,

let’s close with a short prayer, shall we?

True Religion Is The Top Requirement

Lois: “The world doesn’t need a savior.”
Superman: “Everyday I hear people crying for one.”

Savior Obama?

A SAVIOR IS A PERSON who saves someone or something— especially a country or a cause— from danger. Such a person may come to be regarded with the veneration of a religious figure, like the Savior in Christianity, God or Jesus Christ.

So just how bad must things be before we officially recognize the services of a qualified savior are not just desirable, but required to solve our enormous list of problems?

Three Christians are vying to assure us— or not— that they are the Christian leader we are looking for; each of them publicly committed to the core values and principles taught by Christ himself.

These three Christian candidates however, each reflect different traditions of American Christianity, each adhering to a slightly different doctrine held to be relatively true over all others. We might safely assume all three presumably agree that Jesus is their “Savior,” the source of not only their personal salvation, but also of their Christian values. This might indicate at least, some understanding of the necessity of the role in human social dynamics, but may also do nothing to help them actually fill such er, sandals.

Let’s be clear: NO sane person wants a religious savior as POTUS. The ongoing catastrophe hatched by the comparatively modest breach of the wall between church and state by the religious right with the Bushite collaborators, should shiver the cockles of the most rabid liberal or flaming conservative.

What we’re looking for is a leader who can perform as a savior while not actually thinking they are a savior. But how could the nation not benefit from a Christian president who actually lived the values of the true Savior they each claim to emulate? Especially one who recognizes the absurdity of saying men and women should not inject their “personal morality” into public policy debates; who understands our laws are a codification of morality; and that one’s core religious values must be translated into universal— not religion-specific— values.

Despite one or two pretenders, no one in our political history has inspired more feelings of savior-tude than Barack Obama, who is being both praised and ridiculed for appealing to our innate spiritual hunger for a savior, and not, we must presume, simply because the republicans have fucked things up with unprecedented alacrity and malfeasance. Maybe it’s simply time we had one.

McSavior?

John McCain is the sometimes Episcopalian, sometimes Baptist Christian, who got religion the old fashion way— by praying in a situation where his ass was on the line, and frankly, among the most exciting come-to-Jesus moment one may have, I think, but oddly, not one that always necessarily rises above an intellectual emotional conversion to the lofty plateau of a spiritual one.

Jesus is certainly aware of McCain’s suffering in Vietnam, extending from the moment he was hauled out of Truc Bach Lake near Hanoi, by a dozen or so angry young men to become the captive of the very men, women, and children he had been dropping napalm on a few minutes earlier, and yet, he still draws breath.

And before that, the Lord heard McCain when he said, “Now that I’ve seen what the bombs and the napalm did to the people on our ship, I’m not so sure that I want to drop any more of that stuff on North Vietnam.”

Jesus is aware that, despite McCain’s awakening to the fact the jellied gasoline he’d been dropping on human beings was not unlike “that stuff” that burned 138 of his crewmen to death and nearly him too, when a rocket errantly fired on the deck of the Forrestal, that he continued to do it anyway.

And the Creator of us all heard McCain when he sang “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran.”

And his professed Master and Savior took note of him when he shew his guidance for the Christian nation he would lead by opining: “There will be more wars.”

And Jesus said, “Love your enemies.”

Not exactly top drawer savior material. Next.

Saviorette Clinton?

Hillary Clinton, a Methodist early on, tends to talk about God in the abstract, ever careful to not sound so committed to religion as to jar secular America fully awake to her supposed faith in a being higher in stature than herself. But Jesus was most assuredly awake when she said, “I will fight against the division politics of revenge and retribution. If you put me to work for you, I will work to lift people up, not put them down.”

And Jesus was next to the podium when she said, “Shame on you Barack Obama, shame on you!”

And when she said, “We have a lot of kids who don’t know what work means. They think work is a four-letter word.”

And some years ago, “I’m not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president.”

And, “If I didn’t kick his [Bill's] ass every day, he wouldn’t be worth anything.”

And Jesus knows she speaks the truth when she revealed, “I have to confess that it’s crossed my mind that you could not be a Republican and a Christian.”
And Jesus said, “Love one another.”
Add to that her uncanny ability to drag her nails across the blackboard of unethical polemics for weeks on end (she’s a dirty fighter alright) without breaking one, and you’ve got a candidate who’s learned nothing about the true values her professed Savior proclaims.

Yeah. That’s right.

This is a no-brainer.

Or Obama, because he was photographed wearing a turban?

Obama (right) wearing Turban and Somali Robes

Of course not, since Islam didn’t come into existence for another six centuries or so.

Did Bush wear a turban?

Yeah, but does anyone care?

Did Jesus wear a turban? Most likely, since turbans were far more than a fashion accessory for the Semites who lived in a desert environment, noted for its sudden sandstorms.

Message to the Clinton op research team, and/or the Repugs and the Christian Right: Jesus wore a turban, as did all Aramaic speaking Semite tribes of his time.

Get over it.

As Jesus saw his mother, with John and his brother and sister, he smiled but said nothing. Meanwhile the four soldiers assigned to the Master’s crucifixion, as was the custom, had divided his clothes among them, one taking the sandals, one the turban, one the girdle, and the fourth the cloak. This left the tunic, or seamless vestment reaching down to near the knees, to be cut up into four pieces, but when the soldiers saw what an unusual garment it was, they decided to cast lots for it. Jesus looked down on them while they divided his garments, and the thoughtless crowd jeered at him.
—The Urantia Book

Sponge Mike Squarepants

What kind of person misunderestimates the country’s willingness to amend the United States Constitution to be more in line with the (your most trusted version here): ____________ version of the Bible?

That would be Sponge Mike Squarepants. Sponge Mike, who believes in miracles. In fact, he’d like to be the recipient of a grand miracle to win the nomination for POTUS, having already attributed his 200-some delegates to the favoritism of the Lord.

Miraculous thinking is nothing new for Bible believers. The Hebrews were long nurtured on traditions of miracles and legends of wonders, so it’s no wonder that Christians too expect God to provide miracles to achieve their personal goals.

But if they would take a closer look at Jesus, they would see he revealed the folly of prostituting divine talents for personal aggrandizement or for purely selfish gain. As the Son of God, he could have hung his Hebrew enemies out to dry on thin air, suspended, as it were, in the sky— while legions of angels threw rotten fruit at them twenty-four-seven.

But, he didn’t. He knew that the working of miracles and the execution of wonders would call forth only outward allegiance, by overawing the mind; he knew such performances do not reveal God, much less save men’s souls.

Sponge Mike— forget miraculous divine intervention. It’s not the way the lord would want you to “gitter done.” Know wudda mean? Just squeeze your head until those ideas run out on the floor.

I’m not worried. . . I’m not worried at all;
I’m not worried at all; I’m not worried at all. . . I don’t worry. . .
I’m not worried at all; I’m not worried at all; I’m not worried at all. . .
I’m not worried at all; I’m not worried at all; I’m not worried at all. . .
I’m not worried at all; I’m not worried at all; I’m not worried at all. . .

So long, George. See you on down the trail, pardner.
Your time at the helm of our ship of state has proven to most fully sentient Americans that a well-oiled clownboy and a seething, villainous sidekick who have governed by fear, war, and terror (Wake the fuck up— torture IS terror) you were not the captain we were looking for.

If and when you leave office, a great burden will lift off the shoulders of the planet. No, it will not allow the nation to regain its once proud posture as the beacon of genuine freedom in the world. For some time we will stumble ahead, crippled by the catastrophe your malevolent and murderous idiocy as The Decider has wrought. Despite your ludicrous assertion that Jesus is your “favorite philosopher”— a lie that may have eternal consequences for you, bro— the sheer criminal insanity of your days in public office as the leader of our nation has rendered us all but permanently deformed in the eyes of all nations, both good and bad.

Undoubtedly, the lessons we will learn from your rampage in office will ultimately make us a stronger, wiser nation. But now is not the time to savor that ultimate moment of triumph over evil. Now is the time to galvanize our nation with a healing balm of hope, and the promise of brighter, truer days that re-align us with the flow of truth, beauty, and goodness in the universe.

May the Ancients of Days judge you divinely.