America Is A Really Christian Nation

I know the headline in this L.A. Times article about a recent Pew Survey "believed to be one of the most comprehensive snapshots of religious affiliation" was "More in U.S. jump to new faiths, poll finds" but it was the numbers that kind of shocked me.

• 51% of Americans are protestants
• 43% of people aged 18-29 are protestants
• 78.4% of Americans are Christians
• about 5% belong to other faith traditions
• 16.1% are unaffiliated with any religion.
• Secular unaffiliated Americans account for 6.3% of the population; religious unaffiliated, 5.8%; atheists, 1.6%; and agnostics, 2.4%.
• At 1.7% of the population, Jews make up the next-largest religious group. Buddhists are 0.7% of the population; Muslims 0.6%; and Hindus and New Age followers, both 0.4%.

78.4% seems like a HUGE number. I'm not sure how that compares to other "Western" countries, and I may look into that but out of 300 million people that's a hell of a lot of people

[UPDATe- even in Italy where it seemed everyone was Catholic and I saw more nuns and priest in like 6 months than I ever did in America, only 74% of people believe in God and if you care here is a list of Christians per country]

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Or As Belinda Carlisle Might Sing "Ooh Heaven is a Place on Earth"

(horrible title I know, but a great song)

An esteemed British theologian NT Wright believes that Christians are Wrong about Heaven and blames Maria Shriver.
I do too, on both counts. Here is his interview with Time magazine and just on an intellectual basis I'm more inclined to believe this guy than Maria Shriver or some illiterate i a store front church

It therefore comes as a something of a shock that Wright [Ed Note: The N.T. just has to stand for New Testament], one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought. As Bishop of Durham, he is the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England and a major player in the strife-riven global Anglican Communion; as a much-read theologian and Biblical scholar he has taught at Cambridge and is a hero to conservative Christians worldwide, doesn't believe in heaven — at least, not in the way that millions of Christians understand the term. In his new book, Surprised by Hope (HarperOne), Wright quotes a children's book by California first lady Maria Shriver called What's Heaven, which describes it as "a beautiful place where you can sit on soft clouds and talk... If you're good throughout your life, then you get to go [there]... When your life is finished here on earth, God sends angels down to take you heaven to be with him." That, says Wright is a good example of "what not to say." The Biblical truth, he continues, "is very, very different."

TIME: At one point you call the common view of heaven a "distortion and serious diminution of Christian hope."

Wright: It really is. I've often heard people say, "I'm going to heaven soon, and I won't need this stupid body there, thank goodness.' That's a very damaging distortion, all the more so for being unintentional.

TIME: How so? It seems like a typical sentiment.

Wright: There are several important respects in which it's unsupported by the New Testament. First, the timing. In the Bible we are told that you die, and enter an intermediate state. St. Paul is very clear that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead already, but that nobody else has yet. Secondly, our physical state. The New Testament says that when Christ does return, the dead will experience a whole new life: not just our soul, but our bodies. And finally, the location. At no point do the resurrection narratives in the four Gospels say, "Jesus has been raised, therefore we are all going to heaven." It says that Christ is coming here, to join together the heavens and the Earth in an act of new creation.

TIME: Is there anything more in the Bible about the period between death and the resurrection of the dead?

Wright: We know that we will be with God and with Christ, resting and being refreshed. Paul writes that it will be conscious, but compared with being bodily alive, it will be like being asleep. The Wisdom of Solomon, a Jewish text from about the same time as Jesus, says "the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God," and that seems like a poetic way to put the Christian understanding, as well.

TIME: But it's not where the real action is, so to speak?

Wright: No. Our culture is very interested in life after death, but the New Testament is much more interested in what I've called the life after life after death — in the ultimate resurrection into the new heavens and the new Earth. Jesus' resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return. Part of this will be the resurrection of all the dead, who will "awake," be embodied and participate in the renewal. John Polkinghorne, a physicist and a priest, has put it this way: "God will download our software onto his hardware until the time he gives us new hardware to run the software again for ourselves." That gets to two things nicely: that the period after death is a period when we are in God's presence but not active in our own bodies, and also that the more important transformation will be when we are again embodied and administering Christ's kingdom.

TIME: That is rather different from the common understanding. Did some Biblical verse contribute to our confusion?

Wright: There is Luke 23, where Jesus says to the good thief on the cross, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." But in Luke, we know first of all that Christ himself will not be resurrected for three days, so "paradise" cannot be a resurrection. It has to be an intermediate state. And chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation, where there is a vision of worship in heaven that people imagine describes our worship at the end of time. In fact it's describing the worship that's going on right now. If you read the book through, you see that at the end we don't have a description of heaven, but, as I said, of the new heavens and the new earth joined together.

TIME: Why, then, have we misread those verses?

Wright: It has, originally, to do with the translation of Jewish ideas into Greek. The New Testament is deeply, deeply Jewish, and the Jews had for some time been intuiting a final, physical resurrection. They believed that the world of space and time and matter is messed up, but remains basically good, and God will eventually sort it out and put it right again. Belief in that goodness is absolutely essential to Christianity, both theologically and morally. But Greek-speaking Christians influenced by Plato saw our cosmos as shabby and misshapen and full of lies, and the idea was not to make it right, but to escape it and leave behind our material bodies. The church at its best has always come back toward the Hebrew view, but there have been times when the Greek view was very influential.

TIME: Can you give some historical examples?

Wright: Two obvious ones are Dante's great poetry, which sets up a Heaven, Purgatory and Hell immediately after death, and Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine chapel, which portrays heaven and hell as equal and opposite last destinations. Both had enormous influence on Western culture, so much so that many Christians think that is Christianity.

TIME: But it's not.

Wright: Never at any point do the Gospels or Paul say Jesus has been raised, therefore we are we are all going to heaven. They all say, Jesus is raised, therefore the new creation has begun, and we have a job to do.

TIME: That sounds a lot like... work.

Wright: It's more exciting than hanging around listening to nice music*. In Revelation and Paul's letters we are told that God's people will actually be running the new world on God's behalf. The idea of our participation in the new creation goes back to Genesis, when humans are supposed to be running the Garden and looking after the animals. If you transpose that all the way through, it's a picture like the one that you get at the end of Revelation.

TIME: And it ties in to what you've written about this all having a moral dimension.

Wright: Both that, and the idea of bodily resurrection that people deny when they talk about their "souls going to Heaven." If people think "my physical body doesn't matter very much," then who cares what I do with it? And if people think that our world, our cosmos, doesn't matter much, who cares what we do with that? Much of "traditional" Christianity gives the impression that God has these rather arbitrary rules about how you have to behave, and if you disobey them you go to hell, rather than to heaven. What the New Testament really says is God wants you to be a renewed human being helping him to renew his creation, and his resurrection was the opening bell. And when he returns to fulfil the plan, you won't be going up there to him, he'll be coming down here**.

TIME: That's very different from, say, the vision put out in the Left Behind books.

Wright: Yes. If there's going to be an Armageddon, and we'll all be in heaven already or raptured up just in time, it really doesn't matter if you have acid rain or greenhouse gases prior to that. Or, for that matter, whether you bombed civilians in Iraq. All that really matters is saving souls for that disembodied heaven.

TIME: Has anyone you've talked to expressed disappointment at the loss of the old view?

Wright: Yes, you might get disappointment in the case where somebody has recently gone through the death of somebody they love and they are wanting simply to be with them. And I'd say that's understandable. But the end of Revelation describes a marvelous human participation in God's plan. And in almost all cases, when I've explained this to people, there's a sense of excitement and a sense of, "Why haven't we been told this before?"

*so very true. If I were to go to heaven (snickering from the gallery) I'm sure I'd get bored of it in a few days.
**which means that there should be a, y'know actual Earth not ravaged by global warming or nuclear war for "him" to come back to. Someone needs to write Bush a memo.

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The Meanings of Life

according to David Servan-Schrieber of Ode Magazine

When I was 15, a church sermon left its mark on me. The priest began with the question, “Where should we seek God?” Years later, I found my own answer. I believe what for centuries has been called “finding God” means finding meaning in our lives. A new perspective has emerged from neuroscience in the past 20 years. What gives life its richness does not come from reason and intellect. It comes instead from a well-balanced emotional brain, that deepest and most archaic part of the nervous system. And what does a balanced emotional brain need? Above all, strong connections, full relationships. These can be found in four areas of our lives:

1. Our physical existence: If we don’t allow ourselves to taste, smell, touch, listen and look while concentrating on the present moment, we are not connected to our bodies. Yoga, an ancient source of wisdom, is first and foremost an education in connecting to our physical beings. Exercise, too—which engages our attention, our agility, our strength and builds endurance in our cells—is another means of connecting. As we grow aware of our bodies’ reactions to the world, we are connected to the roots of our emotions.
2. Intimacy: The emotional brain is connected to the body, but it is also designed to regulate our emotional relationships. Naturally, love is an effective way of giving us meaning. When we look each other in the eyes and feel our hearts beating faster, we stop asking existential questions. All that involves us in intimate relationships anchors us firmly in our existence. We don’t question the meaning of life when we take a child by the hand on his first day at school, or when we watch our daughter singing in a choir. All those to whom we feel close connect us to life and give it meaning.
3. The community: I had a 30-year-old patient whose life expectancy was limited to a few months by cancer. He was no longer working as an electrician and spent his time moping in front of the television, in anguish at his approaching death. I saw him once a week and we talked about his fear and what his life had been like. He ended up volunteering his time to repair the air-conditioning system in his local church. He spent several hours at the church almost every day. People greeted him by name when they met him in the corridors. When he was working on the roof, they waved to him, and brought him food and drink. In a few weeks, even though his health was getting worse, his anxiety abated. All it took, in the end, was to feel useful and appreciated.
4. Spirituality: It is possible to feel connected to a dimension beyond the body. For some, the greatest source of meaning is the sense of being in the presence of something much greater. We often feel this simply when we are face to face with nature, or in certain places that remind us how insignificant we are in the universe. Strangely, it is at the precise moments when we experience how small we are that life itself seems to fill with meaning—and so do we.

My conclusion from that? Live, Love, Cast seeds outward and Cultivate Within.

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Give Peace A Chance…Just Not Alcatraz

I really wish I had registered to vote in San Francisco Or at least I wish I read The Chronicle Or watched local news (and I wonder why I'm always so out of the local loop) because then I would’ve known about this, about Proposition C before

If San Francisco voters approve a Feb. 5 ballot initiative that would restore operating power of Alcatraz back to the city and county of San Francisco, it could possibly open the doors for a “Global Peace Center,” the final iteration of Mill Valley resident and Light Party founder Da Vid’s ambitious renovation plan for the island tourist attraction.

“I think people are sick of seeing the negative connotation of a prison on Alcatraz,” said Vid, who helped spearhead a campaign that garnered 20,000 signatures for the initiative, allowing it to appear on the February ballot. “This is just the beginning. We have people who think when this project is finished it will be the eighth world wonder.”

Alcatraz is currently administered by the National Park Service under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. If voters approve the initiative, Vid said, the next step would be to work with city officials to identify funding sources for the island complex. Vid said proposed plans for the island include a statue of St. Francis, a multimedia entertainment center and a world cultures conference room.

Vid said he is working close with Native Americans — who hold Alcatraz in a sacred context — on developing the project.

Marshall Jack, a member of the Paiute and Washoe tribes, said the Global Peace Center would be a “win-win situation.”

“It is an opportunity for Native Americans to give back to the world,” said Jack, also known as Golden Eagle. “This project is a step in the right direction, to show that people of different backgrounds can work together to make something beautiful.”

The path to the Global Peace Center has plenty of barriers. Any motion to remove property from the National Park Service would have to get approval from Congress, and proposed alterations to the Alcatraz prison complex, which is a National Historic Landmark, would have to get approval from California’s Office of Historic Preservation.

The overhaul could also alarm environmentalists concerned about damage to the numerous bird habitats on the island, said National Parks Service spokesperson Rich Weideman. Weideman also said that recent work done to restore Alcatraz’s historic gardens would be derailed by the change.
Fisherman’s Wharf merchants, who base much of their marketing around Alcatraz merchandise, would not be pleased with the change, said Fisherman Wharf Community Benefits District spokeswoman Karen Bell.

-LA Examiner





The idea is the brainstorm of the Light Party's founder, Da Vid

(Oh, so that’s the Light and Freedom Party that’s always on the ballot. Good to know)



From the website:

Alcatraz, a former Federal penitentiary and a sacred site for First Nation people, is currently administered by the Department of the Interior. Through a political process, be it an initiative, an act of Congress or direct purchase of the island, we have the means and opportunity to transform Alcatraz Island into a Global Peace Center.

The choice is simple, do we really want an old and decaying prison to continue to be a prominent landmark for the San Francisco Bay Area, or do we want to take this opportunity to create a New Alcatraz, one which will mark a new emerging paradigm committed to progressive, enlightened values ?!

San Francisco, the "Geneva of the West" and a major center for the rapidly emerging Pacific Rim community of nations, is ideally suited for this majestic and noble project. From the signing of The United Nations Charter to the present day peace movement, San Francisco, the City of St. Francis, has a storied history as a progressive center for spiritual enlightenment, environmental awareness, and an engaged socially conscience populace and business community.

The Alcatraz Conversion Project involves removing the main prison block and in its place, we envision constructing an International Conference Center For Non-Violent Conflict Resolution, along with the Harmonium, an aesthetically beautiful multi-faceted geodesic dome. The Harmonium will employ advanced three dimensional holographic sound technologies and other special effect technologies which will which will promote and elicit a deep meditative, transpersonal and transcendental experience! An Ascension Experience!! In addition, we envision a dramatic Statue of St. Francis, welcoming all to the San Francisco Bay Area plus an Alcatraz Museum which will archive the long and short term history of THE ROCK.

The Global Peace Center, based on the geometry of the Hexagram, will be magnificently landscaped, and redesigned with graceful curves by removing its jagged cliffs. A permanent MEDICINE WHEEL and a LABYRINTH will be constructed, thus providing sacred sanctuary and ceremonial spaces. The island will be an international showcase for sustainable energy technologies, ie: solar, wind and ocean thermal generated energy systems.

We believe The Alcatraz Conversion Project will activate the creative spiritual and business intelligence of the Bay Area and beyond, and serve as a powerful, catalytic statement that will "Inspire, Delight, Heal and Enlighten". Through this process we will re-consecrate Alcatraz Island as a sacred site, and thus acknowledge the Native American people, while simultaneously giving birth to a new and peaceful paradigm for all humanity.

IN SUMMARY: The Alcatraz Conversion Project is both a challenge and a golden opportunity to initiate a tremendous community project, one which has the potential to positively transform the energy of the entire Bay Area and the world and thus catalyze a Global Renaissance.

The Opportunity Is Here..The Choice Is Ours To Make...

"Where There Is Vision , We, The People Prosper

Yup. Seems about right. I can see it now, instead of people calling it The Rock we'll soon have The Crock (there was no way I could pass up something like that)

In case you’re interested in or have the belief that

"Majestic in its Simplicity, Revolutionary as a Political Metaphor, The Global Peace Center Proclaims Global Renaissance!
A New Epoch! A Time of Enduring Peace for All Humanity...
By Converting Alcatraz Island, a place of pain and suffering,
Into a "JEWEL OF LIGHT". We will activate Powerful Forces for Cooperation, Reconciliation & Healing

You can visit the Global Peace Foundation website here
(and if you’re really, really really into it you can watch an 81 minute Alcatraz Conversion Interview here. Have fun)
Oh Goddess, I really do love this city sometimes.

[found on Wonkette ]

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Bizarre Beliefs Weekly

Where I judge and mock people based on their beliefs.
Why?
Because it’s Sunday, there are a lot of kooks out there and besides why should Scientologists be the only ones made fun of?

This week: Nuwaubianism
(all information cribbed from my god, Wikipedia)

Nuwaubianism is an umbrella term for the religious doctrines, historical and scientific beliefs of the followers of Malachi Z. York. These are sometimes referred to by such terms as “Nuwaubu”/“Nuwaupu”, “Wu-Nuwaubu”, “Right Knowledge”, “Sound Right Reasoning”, “Overstanding”, and “Factology” but have had many other names through the years. The Nuwaubians originated as a Black Muslim group in New York in the 1970s, and have gone through many changes since.

Nuwaubianism is an esoteric cosmology, a collection of religious teachings, a group of religious, tribal, and fraternal organizations, and a set of cultural practices that is multifaceted and ever-changing.

Nuwaubianism borrows from a wide range of sources which include Theosophy-derived New Age movements such as Astara as well as the Rosicrucians, Freemasonry, the Shriners, the Moorish Science Temple of America, the revisionist Christianity and Islam of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the numerology of Rashad Khalifa, the ancient astronaut theories of Zecharia Sitchin, the works of Richard Shaver (a proponent of the Hollow Earth theory), David Icke, the UFO mythology of greys and reptilians, the political and legal theories of patriot mythology, modern scientific and pseudoscientific legends like those of Area 51, the Philadelphia Experiment, Project Blue Book, Montauk Project, and MJ-12, popular conspiracy theories such as those about the Illuminati or the Bilderberg Group, and even a paperback on fortune-telling. The all-embracing belief system of Nuwaubianism actually pre-dates several of the influences that subsequently absorbed and adopted.

Journalist Adam Heimlich reviewed a number of York’s booklets in 2000 and wrote:
A partial list, from my notes, of places I’d encountered Nuwaubian notions before includes Chariots of the Gods and the Rael’s [sic] embellishments on that book, conspiracy lit, UFO lit, the human potential movement, Buddhism and new-age, astrology, theosophy and Blavatsky, Leonard Jeffries and other Afrocentrics, Cayce, LaRouche, alternative medicine, self-help lit, Satanism, the Atkins diet, numerology and yoga. Many of these York mentions by name. There are also extensive discourses on the Torah, Gospels and Koran, as well as on Rastafarianism, the Nation of Islam and the Five Percent Nation

York’s first publication was released in 1967 when he was 22 years old, and was entitled Bible Interpretations and Explanations. It taught biblical theology in a way that was distinct from a westernized orthodox Christian standard. At this time York referred to himself as Amunubi Rahkaptah, an Egyptian/Semitic hybrid name (Amun=Faithful, Nubi=Informer, Rah=Soul, Ka=Spirit, Ptah=Opener). His follow up publication along the same line of thought was a four part series called The Nine Ball, published in 1971, that was authored by three divine incantations of York known as “Wu Nupu, Asu Nupu and Naba Nupu.” The Nine Ball’s opening slogan was “LIBERATION INFORMATION for the Woolly-Haired People called the ETHIOPIAN RACE.” It focused on cosmology with an Afrocentric slant. In later lectures York claims his initial attempts at reaching his people though this teaching failed, and so he decided to adopt a more mainstream religious form.

In 1967, York began to teach Islam under the name “Imam Isa Abdullah Ibn Abu Bakr Muhammad” and started the Ansar Pure Sufi community. This eventually progressed and integrated under morphing organizational titles into, Islam (Ansaarullah), Sufism (Sons of the Green Light) Judaism (Nubian Islamic Hebrews), Christianity (The Holy Tabernacle Ministeries, The Egyptian Church of Karast), Freemasonry (The Nuwaubian Grand Lodge, The Supreme Grand Lodge, The International Supreme Council of Arab Shrinedom), Sumerian (Ancient Mystic Order of Melchizedek) and finally Egyptology (The Ancient Egyptian Order) where he began to once again refer to himself as “Amunubi Rahkaptah.” In each school York used a plethora of titles for himself, all befitting a “High Priest.”

During the 1980s York began using the phrase “I came giving you want you wanted, so that you would want what I have to give,” to explain his ever morphing and growing doctrine.

Some of York’s followers consider him to be a living god. At times he has encouraged this interpretation, and at other times, York has suggested that he is merely channeling the divine through various personalities He has also identified himself as Al-Khidr (“the green one”) and as Melchizedek (who York says is also the archangel Michael). In later years York dismissed bodily worship of himself in a preface that was published within all of his books:

" I am not the Lord Adonai, Jesus Messiah “The Christ”; nor am I a holy man, nor a preacher. I am a Master Teacher, a guide."

Nuwaubians also may view themselves as gods, using such sources as the Bible and Torah to validate their claims. Nuwaubians do not see the use of the word “god” as just referring to a universal creator, but also a title that one receives upon reaching a state of perfection or absolute power.

Much of the purpose of Nuwaubian doctrine and practice is to counteract what they call “the spell of Leviathan” or “the spell of Kingu.” In Nuwaubian mythology, Leviathan is a god associated with the moon, sex, and spirit — also known as Lucifer, Sin, Set, Thoth, Siva, Hermes, Jehovah, Poseidon and the biblical serpent.

Nuwaubians believe that the Spell of Leviathan was cast by the devil thousands of years ago to hypnotize Black people into “spiritual ignorance and racial indifference” through such media as the Bible and certain elements of popular culture.

Leviathan has many aliases:

Sam is short for one of his titles, SamaEl meaning “poison those of EL.” He knows his name. He calls himself Uncle Sam or Dr. Seuss (Zues) with his famous statement, “Sam I Am, I Am Sam.” This is what they teach the children; not ours however, for they will get right knowledge

Some of the Nuwaubian racial doctrine borrows from Moorish Science and the Nation of Islam. York’s racial philosophy explicitly indicates that certain blacks – "Nubians" or “Melanites” – are of a superior race in fact as well as in descent.

Periodically Nuwaubians will claim not to belong to a racist belief system, for instance quoting York’s statement: “We accept as fact that no one race of people is better than the other. In fact no one wins the race in racism.”

However, other statements from York and his followers indicate that his philosophy does ascribe moral characteristics based on race. For instance, in one lecture York said: “White people are the devil. They say the Nuwaubians are not racist – bullcrap! I am. He might not be; that’s his prerogative. I am. White people are devils — always was, always will be.”

"We must realize that when a people is trying to make themselves look bigger than others, they may take the main characters and heroes of a false or true story in religion and/or mythology and build their own story around the heroes and characters, and this means that the story may be greatly changed to suit the purpose of those rewriting it. "

—Rakhptah, Amunubi (Malachi York), Bible Interpretations and Explanations booklet one (1967), p. 22

While race is a centrally important concept in Nuwaubian thought, York’s teachings include many different racial origin myths that are difficult to reconcile. One version has the “Mongoloid” and “Caucasoid” races descending as inferior mutant versions of the original “Negroes”, with the Caucasians suffering from genetic albinism as evidence that they are at “the end of their genes.”However, most whites are said to not really be Caucasian, but Negroid Mulattos or “coloreds”; it is only those with blond hair and blue eyes who are Aryan Caucasians.

White people (sometimes also referred to as “Amorites,” “Hyksos,” “Canaanites,” “Tamahu,” or “Mankind”) are said in one Nuwaubian myth to have been originally created as a race of killers to serve blacks as a slave army, but this plan went awry:

The Caucasian has not been chosen to lead the world. They lack true emotions in their creation. We never intended them to be peaceful. They were bred to be killers, with low reproduction levels and a short life span. What you call Negroid was to live 1,000 years each and the other humans 120 years. But the warrior seed of Caucasians only 60 years. They were only created to fight other invading races, to protect the God race Negroids. But they went insane, lost control when they were left unattended. They were never to taste blood. They did, and their true nature came out.… Because their reproduction levels were cut short, their sexual organs were made the smallest so that the female of their race will want to breed with Negroids to breed themselves out of existence after 6,000 years. It took 600 years to breed them, part man and part beast.

Nubians are said to be only accidentally a “brown” race – they have rusted in Earth’s atmosphere from their original green color because the magnesium in their melanin has been replaced by iron. The original, supreme, “Ether 9 beings” in Nuwaubian mythology were also green because of chlorophyll in their skin.

Some human varieties are explained by variations in extra-terrestrial descent. Morbidly obese people, for instance, may be descended from the grotesque and elephant-nosed Deros (see also: Richard Sharpe Shaver); people with Down’s Syndrome may be descended from the 48-chromosomed Teros. (Some Teros are said to live underground on Earth today, with some resembling humans so much that they can come to the surface and mingle with us without being noticed.)

Another Nuwaubian explanation of racial difference has various human types evolving from various primate species, with some Caucasians deriving from cross-breeding the baboon and orangutan, Pygmys from the chimpanzee and gibbon, and so forth.

Other Nuwaubian explanations of racial differences draw on the Hebrew creation myths from Genesis: “Nubians are Hamites through the sons of Ham and Mizraim (Genesis 10:6). The paleman is a Hamite through Ham’s fourth son, Libana (Canaan) whose descendants inherited his curse of leprosy (Genesis 10:15-18) Another explanation has Caucasians descended from Cain: “Adam and Eve were sent to the Aegean Islands between Asia and Europe, where they started having children, and each couple’s first born child was an Albino and those Albinos are called Cain in the Bible, and Cain is short for Caucasian”

The pale man originated from the Caucasus mountains, where there was very little plant life and not much means for salt. This condition forced him to rob the Nubian female of her chastity in order to keep his seed alive, it’s called integration. The Caucasian woman who was left in the mountains, resorted to lying with and having sex with beasts: such as the jackal, which is an ancestor of today’s dog. The phrase “dog is man’s best friend” came from this situation. The dog would lick the festered sores of the leper and clean them for him. His seed was kept alive because the Caucasian woman and the jackal mated. This is where you get people who possess an animalistic nature.

Nuwaubians believe that miscegenation is causing a new race to develop, the “Neutranoids,” who are of no discernible distinct race and are being encouraged and exploited by sinister forces who are against “right racism” and humanity’s natural diversity

In Nuwaubian doctrine, there is a moral law that people are required to respect each other, and also a moral law that races are required to respect each other. The “Code of Races” requires that a person not do something wrong to another person because they are of a different race (“unless justice requires it”), and also requires that people be loyal to their own race.

During a 6,000 year “moon cycle,” people are said to be freed to violate these moral laws — but the consequences of this are not avoided but only deferred, and may fall upon the children of the wrong-doer, or their children. We are said to be currently at the end of this cycle and the guilty people and guilty races are due to meet their just punishment in an Armageddon in which only the innocent will survive

York once explained the “Tamahus” (whites) this way: “[They] have an unlit solar plexus sun, they only have a moon or lunar plexus. It reflects your sun light as they take your soul (sun).” White people with their “thin yellow or opaque hair” reflect the sun, and so “the sun’s energy can’t keep them charged with sol (soul).”

The Tam’a-hu’s Time Is Over And They Are Falling Out Daily Because They Are Not Sun People. They Are Moon People, And The Moon Cycle Is Over. They Are Dying Of Cancer And Diseases Caused By The Intense Heat And Rays Of The Sun’s Ultraviolet Rays That’s Depleting The Ozone Layer. The Luciferian Which Means “Light Bearer” Is Using His Same Tactic Of Depleting The Ozone Layer On This Planet Like He Did On Rizq.

Furthermore:

The Caucasoids Has Thinner Skin Than You, Thinner Flank Hair, Lighter Eyes, With No Soul. The Caucasoid Try To Claim That The Only Difference Between A White Man And A Black Man Is The Skin Color, However, The DNA Analysis Which Is Under Your Black Or White Skin, Determines That Under The Skin, The Whole Structure Of These Two Races Are Totally Different. The Caucasoid Breath Differently Than The Negroids Do. We As Negroid, Breath In Thru Our Nose, While The Caucasoids Breathe Mostly In Their Mouth. The Caucasoids Are Trying To Intake Your Breath That You Breath Out, Because They Need It To Keep Their Pilot—Lunar Plexus Lit Inside To Try And Re-light Their Central Light. That's Why Those That Hang Around, Live With Or Marry Blacks, Change, Act And Think Like Blacks. Other Caucasoids Walk Stiff, While Negroids Walk With Soul And Life. The Caucasoid Breed In Litters Like Animals, 6 Or 7 At A Time, While Negroids Give Birth To 1 Or 2 Babies At A Time. Their Hair Grows Lank And Lifeless Towards The Ground, While Our Hair Grows Up, And Is Full Of Energy Toward The Sun. We As Negroids Are Physically, Mentally, And Spiritually Different Than The Caucasoids.


York has claimed to be an extraterrestrial master teacher from the planet Rizq. York wrote, “We have been coming to this planet before it had your life form on it.… My incarnation as an Ilah Mutajassid or Avatara was originally in the year 1945 A.D. In order to get here I travelled by one of the smaller passenger crafts called SHAM out of a Motherplane called MERKABAH or NIBIRU.” This version of York came to Earth on 16 March 1970. (Comet Bennett, which was visible on that date, is said to have really been York’s spacecraft).

York taught that the Motherplane/NIBIRU would launch the Crystal City or New Jerusalem (see: Book of Revelation 21:2) to our solar system from its position in Orion. A 40-year process of taking the 144,000 Chosen Few (see: Book of Revelation 14:1) — 12,000 each from the Twelve Tribes of Israel — into the Planet Craft NIBIRU began on 12 August 2003 and will end on 12 August 2043.

These Chosen Few will be groomed for 1,000 years and returned to Earth for the final battle against the Luciferians and also to redeem man from the 6,000 year rulership of the Devil and his seed. Though August 12, 2003, the beginning of this process, passed without incident, it has been taught that the August 14, 2003 blackout of the Eastern United States and Canada marked the beginning of this Rapture-like event. The superficial similarity of these beliefs to those of the Heaven’s Gate cult led to some worried newspaper articles after that cult’s mass suicide during the appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997, in which the cult was reported to have said that a spacecraft was following the comet.

York told his followers that in 1952, grotesque extraterrestrial Andromedeans that resembled the Predator met with and frightened U.S. President Harry S. Truman. Other extraterrestrials have been trading with Earth since the Eisenhower administration, and are responsible for giving us technologies ranging from the polio vaccine to the hula hoop. Earth is said to still be visited by extraterrestrials, some of which prey on human children.

Currently, there are said to be over 70 different species of “Grey” and 16 different species of “Reptilians” on Earth. Human fetuses are said to go through Reptilian and Grey stages during their development (and if they are born prematurely, they will remain Reptilians or Greys).

Among the reasons why these things are not widely acknowledged, according to York, is that extraterrestrials plant ideas and images in the minds of the makers of Hollywood movies about extraterrestrials so that these fictional stories can be used to discredit people who know the truth. Examples of movies with such encoded content about the reality of aliens among us are those in the Star Wars series:

Yoda… is short for Judah. Freemasons are inspired by one entity and that is a grey, by the name of Yoda. Yoda guides Freemasonry back to Judah, with the ancient Israel masonry. The British “Covenant Of Man” symbolizes the empire striking back. America is the empire fighting to overthrow Europe.… The word Yoda is not an English word as you have been led to believe. Its root word yawdaw appears 111 times in the Old Testament, means “to give thanks or praise, throw down, cast, shoot.” The word Yadah meaning, to “to praise, give thanks” stems from the root word Yawdaw and appears only two times in the Old Testament (Daniel 2:23, Daniel 6:10). Not to mention the fact Yoda played in [the film] Return of the Jedi, and the word jedi is the same as yeti, it’s just a matter of a letter, it’s really the same word. Yeti is the name of Sasquatch (Bigfoot), also called Seti which is equivalent to the Extraterrestrials called the Seirians.

Other Nuwaubian beliefs:

• Saturn is not actually a planet, but a gaseous ball adjacent to Titan, one of Saturn's moons which the Nuwauabians regard as a planet. The head and hat of Santa Claus are symbolic representations of Saturn, Titan, and Saturn's rings.
• Thomas Paine plagiarized the U.S. Constitution from the unwritten Constitution of the Iroquois.
• The Pyramids of Egypt are, among other things, electromagnetic antennas that create standing columnar waves of tachyon energy to prevent the wobbling of the Earth.
• “The Koran called the Holy Qur’aan or the glorious Qur’aan as held in the hands of Muslims today is a product of Jewish scholars and the Catholic Church’s branch of the Jesuit priest under Pope Augustine.”
• “[A]ll courtrooms in America today are commercial marketplaces dealing in matters bearing exclusively upon private, commercial scrip known as Federal Reserve Notes. Today’s courtrooms are impersonal businesses under jurisdiction of a foreign, occupying, military power that are managed from the bench (from the Italian banca:bank) by merchant bankers called ‘judges’ and ‘magistrates’ who enforce private, copyrighted, corporate policy (known as code) wholly owned by British corporations.”
• The Earth is hollow and contains cities populated by different species of people, such as the Deros, the Teros, the Flugelrods, the Duwanis, the Dunakial, and the Anunnaqi. The legends of the Sumerians, Ancient Egyptians, Aztecs, Olmecs, Mayans, Hopi, and Hindus speak of these things (for instance, the story of the river Styx). Many of the chambers of the Egyptian pyramids lead to this subterranean world.
• Human origins
• Everyone is originally conceived as twins, but usually only one of the twins survives to be born.
• It is important to bury the afterbirth so that Satan does not use it to make a duplicate of the recently-born child.
• Furthermore, some aborted fetuses survive their abortion to live in the sewers, where they are being gathered and organized to take over the world.
• People were once perfectly symmetrical and ambidextrous, but then a meteorite struck Earth and tilted its axis causing handedness and shifting the heart off-center in the chest.
• Reincarnation has a physical as well as spiritual aspect:
• The physical body, when one dies, recycles from the ground in which it’s planted, it then penetrates into the atmosphere as film or dust particles and are breathed into the nostrils of human beings where they are recycled by triggering nerves in the sinus cavity. This sinus cavity works like a kidney to sift out the unneeded particles and relates the chemical composure [sic] of that which is needed into the mother’s blood stream and the human flesh is reanimated and this is the process by which a child is given form or flesh in the Mother’s womb.
• Each of us has seven clones: "Clones are in tune with each other unconsciously and linked etherically, which means anything that happens to you the cloned counterparts of you feels also. For instance you may feel a sharp pain, for no apparent reason like your hand may feel like it has been cut and that is because your clones hand may have been. You can have an emotional break down out of the “clear blue sky” because one of your counterparts did. For instance me, I have had smoke come out of my mouth, it was a strange tobacco, for no apparent reason. It turned out my duplicate in Tibet smokes and the smoke came through me. I do not smoke anything."
• Women existed for many generations before they invented men through genetic manipulation.– yet: " The great pharmacist and chemist Nergal Shar’etsar Ruler of the Underworld, was also involved in the breeding process of the new beings (Homo Sapiens). When Adam was a child of two years of age, three years of real time, the scientist Nergal went into his bone marrow to take blood to mix it in to create Eve, which was then implanted into the womb of Anath, Mother of Eve. This bone marrow is what religious scholars say is the rib (tsala’) in the Bible."
• Homo sapiens is the result of cloning experiments that were done on Mars using Homo erectus.
• “When the Earth shifts, babies will stop being born and that day will come soon. Babies are not really being born anymore. They are being cloned.”
• Edward Leedskalnin and Nikola Tesla were Venusians.
• Animal origins
• Birds evolved from fish, not from reptiles. And some species of dinosaur, for instance the Tyrannosaurus Rex, evolved from extra-terrestrial greys.
• The pig was created by Imhotep and Zoser during the time of Abraham, by grafting cells from the dog, cat and rat together, and was designed to help dispose of leprous corpses.
• Anti-Nubian conspiracies
• “Haven’t you ever wondered why for the simplest blood tests your doctor needs 4 tubes of blood? Where is all this blood going? The albino man’s ‘blood bank’ is just a sophisticated way of getting all the blood he needs! It is still a form of vampirism.”
• Alcoholic beverages are made cheaply available to Nubians by the powers that be in order to preserve their blood and organs better “(just like they preserve organs in jars in laboratories)” for later extraction.
• Disco was created by the devil to win the souls of the Nubians: “The evil one knows that he can control the music world as long as his agents are within the A & R (Artists and Repertoire, who are responsible for choosing who makes it in the music world) of the well known companies. He cannot evaluate Latin or Black music because he (the evil one) has no soul. He only duplicates it… He had to come up with something to win our souls through his means, and he did it with disco.”
• There is an underground road connecting New York and London. Furthermore, Alternative 3 is a fact, and Mars is being prepared for the evacuation of Earth’s intellectual and political elite.
• “[P]eople like the Pope, and Queen of England and various political leaders of various countries and some members of the clergy gather at the major Sabbats to invoke the malevolent one. On each of these occasions a Nubian man is sacrificed.”
• The Illuminati have nurtured a child, Satan's son, who was born on 6 June 1966 at the Dakota House on 72nd Street in New York to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis of the Rothschild/Kennedy families. The Pope was present at the birth and performed necromantic ceremonies. The child was raised by former U.S. president Richard Nixon and now lives in Belgium, where it is hooked up bodily to a computer called “The Beast 3M” or “3666.” [ED. Note: That was one my absolute favorite]

According to York, just as with our missing barathary glands we have lost our ability to sense many things, our relationship to time has also degraded and restricted our ability to see certain dimensions:

The time and space relationship is linked to the human and Earth’s bio-rhythms, and that determines how many dimensions for a world, which in your case is a third-dimension reality, are up for grabs. This is dealing with the extra space we have in our time. Let me explain. The clocks on Earth used to have a “tick” and a “tock.” Now there is only the “tick.” So time has been changed, and that missing “tock” is up for grabs that can be utilized by extraterrestrial beings who overstand this “altered time,” and they can come in and out of this dimension at will.
Nuwaubians try to discover the deeper meanings of words by using a method in which words are decomposed into syllables and then phrases are created using similarly-sounding syllables, so that for instance caucasian becomes “carcass-asian,”extraterrestrials becomes “extra-terra-astrals,” gospel becomes “ghost spell,” Jesus becomes “Jah+Zeus,” planet becomes “plan E.T.,” and television becomes “tell lie vision

And about their spiritual leader (name umm..a little uncertain)

[He] himself was far from chaste. He explained to his followers:

I do not live under your law, I am not a student enrolled under Earth principles, I don’t have the morals you have, your idea of morals is different. Go back in ancient times, you’ll find out that Anu was married to his sister… and Ishtar was married to her son back then that existed. …I come from a world where we don’t have your laws, and the way we go about things is different. I come from the Pharaoh’s world and in the Pharaoh’s world the Pharaoh saw Sarah, he saw her with himself so he took her. In Abraham’s world that was the wrong thing to do, but the Pharaoh didn’t care about Abraham’s world because he was living in his world and his ritual…

In 2002, York was arrested and charged with over a hundred counts of sexually molesting dozens of children, some as young as four years old.

According to Bill Osinski, who wrote a book on the case:
“When he was finally indicted, state prosecutors literally had to cut back the number of counts listed — from well beyond a thousand to slightly more than 200 — because they feared a jury simply wouldn’t believe the magnitude of York's evil.… [It] is believed to be the nation’s largest child molestation prosecution ever directed at a single person, in terms of number of victims and number of alleged criminal acts.

York was arrested in 2002, and was later sentenced to 135 years in prison

His followers continue to disseminate his teachings as he continues to develop them from behind bars

(oh and on the cover to one of their publications they used Darth Maul, apparently to represent the Devil and of course they’re Republicans)

(more info-and videos!-here )

So so bizarre
P.S. Barack is a Nuwaubian* or at least a Neutranoid. Wesley Snipes is one though.

*possibly not true

Sphere: Related Content

Tom Cruise Cured Polio

Not only will Thomas Mapother reverse global warming, he will bring back to life all endangered species, solve the Mid-East Peace problem, get that cute guy in the corner to look your way, cut down on your commute, bring back Firefly and Arrested Development, get rid of this damn hangover and make your divorced parents love you again (even though the divorce was all your fault)
I mean his Thetan is really operating and Lafayette Hubbard would be proud

“"We're not playing some minor game in Scientology," Hubbard wrote in a policy paper titled "Keeping Scientology Working," which is required reading for every member. "The whole agonized future of this planet, every man, woman and child on it, and your own destiny for the next endless trillions of years depend on what you do here and now with and in Scientology. This is a deadly serious activity."

Anywhoo, Gawker has the “scientology indoctrination video” that has been talked about and taken down apparently over the past few days. I think it’s like from one of those interview/montages that most award shows have to honor “lifetime achievement” which I guess can be used for indoctrination, though it seems like it was more of an internal “for our eyes only” thing, especially with all of the initials and abbrevs. {What luck! A dictionary}
Anyway here’s what Gawker says about it

“This video's been passed around privately by reporters and writers investigating Cruise's ties with Scientology. Most reporters have been wary of taking on the Scientologists, because they have a history of both litigation, and the harassment of critics. The publication of Andrew Morton's biography of Tom Cruise, which claims he is the second most powerful person in the cult, has seems to have opened the floodgates. Several indoctrination videos were available on Google Video, on Sunday, and showcased on Gawker, before being removed by the person who had originally posted them. Yesterday, for a few hours, the clip of Tom Cruise discussing his beliefs as a Scientologist appeared on Youtube, and was republished by Radar and Defamer. That video is no longer available, most likely after the Church of Scientology sent in a copyright infringement notice. Gawker is now hosting a copy of the video; it's newsworthy; and we will not be removing it.”

Because really, who cares about a little thing like lawsuits when it gets your page views up
(and in case you were wondering the non-Wogs have claimed copyright infringement, I guess they’re Fair Game , but Gawker replies with a bit of a “F.U. LRH nd ur O.T.s; we’re SPs and proud” [Fuck You Lafayette Ron Hubbard and your Operating Thetans: we’re Suppresive Persons and proud])

Anyway here are some excerpts from the most self important person in the most self important cult ever founded by a C-List self important fat science fiction writer with a navy fetish

Tom Cruise:

...I think it’s a privilege to call yourself a Scientologist, and it’s something that you have to earn because a Scientologist does... has the ability to create new and better realities and improve conditions. Being a Scientologist, you look at someone and know absolutely that you can help them.
"Being a Scientologist, when you drive past an accident... you know you have to do something about it because you know you’re the only one that can really help.
"But that’s what drives me... I know that we have an opportunity to really help... effectively change people’s lives and I am dedicated to that. I am absolutely, uncompromisingly dedicated to that.
"We have a responsibility.
"We are the authorities on getting people off drugs, we are the authorities on the mind, we are the authorities on improving conditions... we can rehabilitate criminals.
"...We can bring peace and unite cultures...
"Traveling the world and meeting the people that I’ve met, talking with these leaders in various fields, they want help and they are depending on people who know and who can be effective and do it and that’s us. That is our responsibility to do that.
"It is the time now. Now is the time... Being a Scientologist, people are turning to you, so you better know it, you better know it and if you don’t, go and learn it, but don’t pretend you know it. It’s like we’re here to help.
"If you’re a Scientologist, you see life, you see things the way they are, in all its glory, all of its complexity and the more you know as a Scientologist, you don’t become overwhelmed by it.
"Look, I wish the world was a different place. I’d like to go on vacation and go and romp and play and just do that, you know what I mean. That’s what I want it to be. There’s times I’d like to do that, but I can’t because I know I have to do something about it.
"I have to do it because I can’t live with myself if I don’t, and that really is it.
"So it’s our responsibility to educate, create the new reality. We have that responsibility to say, 'Hey, this is the way it should be done because we do it this way and people are actually getting better.'
"And let’s get it done. Let’s really get it done and have enough love and compassion and toughness that you’re really going to do it and do it right.
"I have to tell you something – it is rough and tumble, and it’s wild and wooly, and it’s a blast, it’s a blast, it really is fun because, dammit, there is nothing better than the going out there and fighting the fight and suddenly you see things are better.
"I want to know that I’ve done everything I could everyday, and I think about those people out there who are depending on us. I think about that and it does make me feel that we’ve got more work. I need more help, get those spectators either in the playing field or out of the arena. Really, that’s how I feel about it.
"I do what I can, and I do it the way I do everything. [laughs] There’s nothing part-of-the way for me."

The thing is a lot of what he’s saying sounds just like fervent Christians or other zealots, about how only those chosen people can save the world and the whole “get in or fuck off” bit.

And here are some excerpts from the program that night

International Scientology News, issue 29: December 2004, pp. 40-43.
IAS Twentieth Anniversay Event
ADVANCING SCIENTOLOGY ON A FULLY EPIC SCALE
MR. TOM CRUISE AWARDED FREEEDOM MEDAL OF VALOR

Mr. David Miscavige introduced the final award of the 2004 IAS
Anniversary celebration with these words:

"What I am about to present truly stands as: 'The 20th Anniversary
Freedom Medal Winner.'
"On the one hand, it's because it's an individual who has relentlessly
worked across all sectors where LRH tech is employed and for which
Freedom Medals are earned -- religious freedom, overcoming governmental oppression, bringing an end to psychiatric abuses, injecting LRH tech into society, and disseminating Scientology itself.
Yes--the whole panoply.
"But that really doesn't say it all. For the real picture, I return to
what I referenced at the start of this evening: RESPONSIBILITY. In
'Keeping Scientology Working,' LRH laid down the standard: When
somebody enrolls, consider he's joined for the duration.
"That is the responsibility every Scientologist has. We all know it.
"And while it may sometimes be hard to confront, the fact remains it is our responsibility to be Scientologists no matter where we live or work, no matter our resources, or excuses.
"If you are a Scientologist, you are one of the relative few that hold the answers in your possession that all humankind depend upon.
Because, you don't sit on the only answer that's ever been there. You don't ever give a second thought to the personal stakes involved.

"But now let's take it one step further. How much responsibility can
one take? When his head hits the pillow each night, he'd better know he did all he could. Yes, all manner of reasons could exist to not do so, but let's face it, he might be able to fool others, but NOT himself.
"When you stepped on the path and had your first cognition, you also became a part of the urgent mission to carry it forth.
"But let's take it another step. How much does one have to do to take responsibility for 'doing all he can'? It has zero to do with what 'others' might say.
"No, it rests on one's own shoulders and it's the individual himself who must know he's doing his part and all he can do. After all, you have to live with yourself and when your head hits your pillow it is you who you must live with.

"Bearing that in mind-what happens when your zone of influence is the global stage?
"How much must one do to call themselves a Scientologist? How much so that, when their head hits the pillow, they can live with themselves knowing they did all they could do?

"That's our final story this evening. It's a story that affects every Scientologist, for all of us are the beneficiaries of what he presents.

"And that is why it is my honor to present our first Freedom Medal of Valor to the most dedicated Scientologist I know."

(ok this picture wasn't included in the program

TOM CRUISE
MISSION ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The story of Mr. Tom Cruise, IAS Freedom Medal of Valor winner, was like nothing ever before presented on the IAS stage. It spanned the full spectrum of Scientology activity-anywhere, anytime, all-out, and totally calculated to stamp the Aims of Scientology into reality.

From spearheading LRH Purification tech into the heart of human
disaster, to changing the face of education at national levels, from
eradicating the very thought of psychiatry, to full global
dissemination, it is factually a tale of towering scope, and a litany
of accomplishments which would take a magazine in itself to catalog.

But if there is one suitable measure of it all, it is in the startling
numbers that gauge his impact:

Through print, television, radio and personal contact-the tally of
those he's reached with study tech now tops 250 million people.

More than 50 million people educated on the native evil of psychiatry and why it must be outlawed.

Across 90 nations, 5,000 people hear his word of Scientology -- every
hour.

Every minute, of every hour-someone reaches for LRH technology, or steps onto The Bridge, simply because they know Tom Cruise is a
Scientologist.


Sidebar: Tom Cruise remarks at the IAS event:

"I am honored to be here with you.

[To COB] Thank you, Sir. Thank you for your trust and your confidence in me. I've personally been privileged to see what you do to protect and help and serve all of us. I have never met a more competent, intelligent, tolerant, compassionate being, outside of what I have experienced from LRH.

And I've met the leaders of leaders. I've met them all. So I say to
you, Sir, COB, we are lucky to have you. Thank you.

And to Mr. L. Ron Hubbard, I'll take this as a half-ack, Sir. And
continue on my way. These are the times, people. These are the times we will all remember.

Were you there? What did you do?

I think you know that I am there for you and I do care so very, very
much. So what do you say? Are we going to clean this place up?

Good! Because we're counting on you."

- Mr. Tom Cruise

As I said before I could see some similarities in "other" religious traditions and the zealotry so I was thinking about looking at it more analytically and comparatively but then I saw the other clips from the ceremony and, even though a lot of evangelicals feel it is their duty to change/fix and fight for the betterment of the world (I once “knew” a girl who’s church had a sign as you left the parking lot “you are now entering the battlefield”) but that fanaticism in his eyes, that intensity just seems startingly crazy, and the idea that he single-handedly changed public perceptions of psychology and psychiatric medicine for kids and the idea that those stories that were all about how crazy he is spread the word about his anti-psychiatry campaign, not to mention saluting Lafayette Ron Hubbard like he’s a military commander…just fucking weird. And I have no doubt if he was born in Saudi Arabia he’d be a member of Al-Qaeda with that level of psychotic religious fanaticism.

Oh that and the fact that the music during the September 11th montage was wildly inappropriate; I mean they couldn’t have used something sadder like Sarah Mclachlan’s Angel because whenever I hear Propellerhead’s Spybreak only one thing comes to mind


I’m sure I’ll be writing more about scientology because some other stuff I read is intense and bizarre and I would love to have a nice dinner with “LRH” just to seriously ask him “did you actually think people would, y’know, believe this shit?”
I mean seriously whenever I find out some celebrity is a Scientologist I lose a lot of respect for them

fucked.up.

Sphere: Related Content

The 5th Pillar

I think it started when I saw Malcom X but ever since then, ever since I've known about it I wanted to go on Hajj.

I'm not Muslim, though people used to think I was and a part of me feels like I would be executed in an Islamic country but I've dreamed about going on Hajj just once. Maybe it is that obsession with secret and forbidden knowledge that I have, maybe its the overt surrender to faith and belief, maybe its the oneness and brotherhood that everyone share, maybe it's because in most religions, besides Hinduism there is no proscribed ritual pilgrimage or maybe it's just because I'm not supposed to (and no one puts Baby in a corner) but the whole thing holds a great mystery and appeal to me. Who knows, maybe I'll put on a hijab and learn basic Arabis and take a trip...
But since "today" is the last day of this year's Hajj and because (I have readers in Afghanistan(!)] I can do this I wanted to do some kind of post about it.
So here it is...





from Wikipedia

The Hajj (the holy matrimony of faith and guidance of Islam) is associated with the life of Muhammad, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca predates Islam, and was considered ancient even during his lifetime in the 7th century. Many Muslims believe that it goes back to the time of Abraham in 2000 BC. Pilgrims would join processions of tens of thousands of people, who would simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Hajj, and perform a series of rituals. Each person would walk counter-clockwise seven times about the Kaaba, the cubical building towards which all Muslims pray, kiss the sacred Black Stone on its corner, run back and forth between the hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, drink from the Zamzam Well, go to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil, then proceed to Muzdalifah to gather pebbles, which they would throw at a rock in Mina to perform the ritual of the Stoning of the Devil. The pilgrims would then shave their heads, perform an animal sacrifice, and celebrate the four day global festival of Eid ul-Adha

The Hajj was based on a pilgrimage that was ancient even in the time of Muhammad in the 7th Century. According to Hadith, elements of the Hajj trace back to the time of Abraham, around 2000 BC, and it is believed that the angel Gabriel, who revealed the location of the Zamzam Well, taught the rites of the pilgrimage to Abraham's son, Ishmael.

Each year, tribes from all around the Arabian peninsula would converge on Mecca, as part of the pilgrimage. The exact faith of the tribes was not important at that time, and Christian Arabs were as likely to make the pilgrimage as the pagans. Muslim historians refer to the time before Muhammad as al-Jahiliyah, the "Days of Ignorance", during which the Kaaba contained hundreds of idols representing totems of each of the tribes of the Arabian peninsula. The idols represented multiple faiths, from pagan gods to symbols of Jesus, Mary, Hubal and Allah.

Muhammad was known to regularly perform the Umrah, even before he began receiving revelations. Historically, Muslims would gather at various meeting points in other great cities, and then proceed en masse towards Mecca, in groups that could comprise tens of thousands of pilgrims. Two of the most famous meeting points were in Cairo and Damascus. In Cairo, the Sultan would stand atop a platform of the famous gate Bab Zuwayla, to officially watch the beginning of the annual pilgrimage.

In 632, when Muhammad led his followers from Medina to Mecca, it was the first Hajj to be performed by Muslims alone, and it was at this point that the Hajj became one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The Kaaba had been cleansed of the previous idols, and Muhammad ordained it as the house of God

During the Hajj, male pilgrims are required to dress only in a garment consisting of two sheets of white unhemmed cloth, with the top draped over the torso and the bottom secured by a white sash; plus a pair of sandals. Women are simply required to maintain their hijab - normal modest dress, which does not cover the hands or face.

The Ihram clothing is intended to show the equality of all pilgrims in the eyes of Allah, symbolizing the idea that there is no difference between a prince and a pauper when everyone is dressed equally. The Ihram also symbolizes purity and absolution of sins. A place designated for changing into Ihram is called a miqat.

While the pilgrim is wearing the Ihram, they cannot shave, cut their nails, wear deodorant or perfume. They may not swear or quarrel, kill any living thing (even an insect) or engage in sexual intercourse.

On the first day of the Hajj, the 8th day of Dhul Hijjah {the 12th month}, the pilgrims perform their first Tawaf, which involves all of the pilgrims entering The Sacred Mosque (Masjid Al Haram), and walking seven times in a counter-clockwise direction around the Kaaba, kissing the Black Stone (Hajr Al Aswad) on each circuit. If that is not possible due to the crowds, they may simply align themselves with it and point to the stone. Each complete circuit constitutes a "Shout" with 7 circuits constituting a complete tawaf. The place where pilgrims walk is known as "Mutaaf". Only the first three Shouts are compulsory and the rest optional, but invariably almost all perform it seven times.


Eating is not allowed and the tawaf is normally performed all at once, the only exception being the drinking of water. Men are encouraged to perform the first three circuits at a hurried pace, followed by four times, more closely, at a leisurely pace.

After the completion of Tawaf, all the pilgrims have to offer two Rakaat prayers at the Place of Abraham (Muqaam E Ibrahim), a site near the Kaaba. However, again due to large crowds during the days of Hajj, they can instead pray anywhere in the whole mosque.

After Tawaf, the pilgrims perform sa`i, running or walking seven times back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwah. This is a re-enactment of Ibriham's wife, Hajar, frantic search for water for her son, before the Zamzam Well was revealed to her by an angel sent by God. The circuit used to be in the open air, but is now entirely enclosed by the Masjid al-Haram mosque, and can be accessed via air-conditioned tunnels. Pilgrims are advised to walk the circuit, though two green pillars mark a short section of the path where they are allowed to run, along with an 'express lane' for the disabled. The safety procedures are in place because previous incidents in this ritual have resulted in stampedes which ended in the deaths of hundreds of people.

As part of this ritual, the pilgrims also drink water from the Zamzam Well,

The next morning, on the ninth of Dhu al-Hijjah, the pilgrims leave Mina for Mount Arafat. This is considered the highlight of the Hajj, as they stand in contemplative vigil, near a hill from which Muhammad gave his last sermon. Pilgrims must spend the afternoon within a defined area on the plain of Arafat until after sunset. No specific rituals or prayers are required during the stay at Arafat, although many pilgrims spend time praying, talking to God, and thinking about the course of their lives. If a pilgrim does not spend the afternoon on Arafat then their pilgrimage is considered invalid

As soon as the sun sets, the pilgrims leave Arafat for Muzdalifah, an area between Arafat and Mina, where 49 pebbles are gathered for the next day's ritual of the stoning of the Devil (Shaitan). Many pilgrims spend the night sleeping on the ground at Muzdalifah, before returning to Mina

At Mina, the pilgrims perform Ramy al-Jamarat, throwing stones to signify their defiance of the Devil. This symbolizes the trials experienced by Abraham, as he wrestled with whether or not to sacrifice his son per God's demand. The Devil challenged him three times, and three times Abraham refused. Each pillar marks the location of one of these refusals. Each pilgrim must hit each pillar at least seven times.[4] Because of the crowds, in 2004 the pillars were changed to long walls. Pilgrims climb ramps to the multi-leveled Jamarat Bridge, from which they can throw their stones at the three jamarat.



After the Stoning of the Devil, an animal is sacrificed. This symbolizes God having mercy on Abraham, and replacing his son with a ram, which Abraham then sacrificed.

Traditionally the pilgrim slaughtered the animal himself or oversaw the slaughtering. Today many pilgrims buy a sacrifice voucher in Mecca before the greater Hajj begins; this allows an animal to be slaughtered in their name on the 10th without the pilgrim being physically present. Centralized butcher houses will sacrifice a single sheep for each pilgrim, or a cow can represent the sacrifice of seven people. The meat is then packaged and given to charity, shipped to poor people around the world. At the same time as the sacrifices occur at Mecca, Muslims worldwide perform similar sacrifices, in a four day global festival called Eid ul-Adha.

On this or the following day the pilgrims re-visit the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca for a tawaf called the Tawaf az-Ziyarah (or Tawaf al-Ifadah) which is an obligatory part of the Hajj. The night of the 10th is spent back at Mina.

On the afternoon of the 11th, pilgrims must again stone all three jamarat in Mina (seven pebbles per jamarat). The same ritual must be performed on the following day.

Pilgrims must leave Mina for Mecca before sunset on the 12th. If they are unable to leave Mina before sunset, they must perform the stoning ritual again on the 13th before returning to Mecca.

"Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all the other Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors.

"I have been blessed to visit the Holy City of Mecca, I have made my seven circuits around the Ka'ba, led by a young Mutawaf named Muhammad, I drank water from the well of the Zam Zam. I ran seven times back and forth between the hills of Mt. Al-Safa and Al Marwah. I have prayed in the ancient city of Mina, and I have prayed on Mt. Arafat."

"There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue-eyed blondes to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and non-white."

"America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would have been considered white - but the white attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color."

"You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange much of my thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth."

"During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept on the same rug - while praying to the same God - with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the deeds of the white Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana."

"We were truly all the same (brothers) - because their belief in one God had removed the white from their minds, the white from their behavior, and the white from their attitude."

"I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the Oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the Oneness of Man - and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their 'differences' in color."

"With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called 'Christian' white American heart should be more receptive to a proven solution to such a destructive problem. Perhaps it could be in time to save America from imminent disaster - the same destruction brought upon Germany by racism that eventually destroyed the Germans themselves."

"Each hour here in the Holy Land enables me to have greater spiritual insights into what is happening in America between black and white. The American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities - he is only reacting to four hundred years of the conscious racism of the American whites. But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do believe, from the experiences that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on the walls and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth - the only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably must lead to."

"Never have I been so highly honored. Never have I been made to feel more humble and unworthy. Who would believe the blessings that have been heaped upon an American Negro? A few nights ago, a man who would be called in America a white man, a United Nations diplomat, an ambassador, a companion of kings, gave me his hotel suite, his bed. Never would I have even thought of dreaming that I would ever be a recipient of such honors - honors that in America would be bestowed upon a King - not a Negro."

"All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds.

Sincerely,

Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X)

inshallah

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Mitt Gives His "Mormon Speech", America Forms Its Opinion By Watching Big Love

For a "Mormon speech" he only mentions the word Mormon once. Sad. Though of course he took the time to bad mouth Islam (without really addressing the notion of "theoretical tyranny" in other cultures.)
Some thoughts about it (forgive me but I'm doing this on the fly)

• "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom" umm no. Freedom requires nothing but liberty and I have yet to find a religion that is "mainstream" that requires freedom- the whole basis of religion is dogma and strict guidelines proscribing how to act in order to reach "peace." Not to mention conversions by the sword. Religion is almost an antithesis of religion.
• "If I am fortunate to become your President, I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest"- I'm pretty sure you'll be serving the interest of the rich, and Christian.
• "We should acknowledge the Creator as did the Founders – in ceremony and word. He should remain on our currency, in our pledge, in the teaching of our history, and during the holiday season, nativity scenes and menorahs should be welcome in our public places" Under God was written into The Pledge in like the 50s to distinguish us from those Godless communist
• "We believe that every single human being is a child of God – we are all part of the human family. The conviction of the inherent and inalienable worth of every life is still the most revolutionary political proposition ever advanced. John Adams put it that we are ‘thrown into the world all equal and alike" which is exactly why we shouldn't care about civilian casualties, the cost in innocent Iraqi lives while we stay in Iraq forever, or enlarge Gitmo.
• "And you can be certain of this: Any believer in religious freedom, any person who has knelt in prayer to the Almighty, has a friend and ally in me." Atheists do not.

anyway here it is and all I have to say is he's no Kennedy.

Thank you, Mr. President, for your kind introduction.

“It is an honor to be here today. This is an inspiring place because of you and the First Lady and because of the film exhibited across the way in the Presidential library. For those who have not seen it, it shows the President as a young pilot, shot down during the Second World War, being rescued from his life-raft by the crew of an American submarine. It is a moving reminder that when America has faced challenge and peril, Americans rise to the occasion, willing to risk their very lives to defend freedom and preserve our nation. We are in your debt. Thank you, Mr. President.

“Mr. President, your generation rose to the occasion, first to defeat Fascism and then to vanquish the Soviet Union. You left us, your children, a free and strong America. It is why we call yours the greatest generation. It is now my generation’s turn. How we respond to today’s challenges will define our generation. And it will determine what kind of America we will leave our children, and theirs.

“America faces a new generation of challenges. Radical violent Islam seeks to destroy us. An emerging China endeavors to surpass our economic leadership. And we are troubled at home by government overspending, overuse of foreign oil, and the breakdown of the family.

“Over the last year, we have embarked on a national debate on how best to preserve American leadership. Today, I wish to address a topic which I believe is fundamental to America’s greatness: our religious liberty. I will also offer perspectives on how my own faith would inform my Presidency, if I were elected.

“There are some who may feel that religion is not a matter to be seriously considered in the context of the weighty threats that face us. If so, they are at odds with the nation’s founders, for they, when our nation faced its greatest peril, sought the blessings of the Creator. And further, they discovered the essential connection between the survival of a free land and the protection of religious freedom. In John Adams’ words: ‘We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion… Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people.’

“Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.

“Given our grand tradition of religious tolerance and liberty, some wonder whether there are any questions regarding an aspiring candidate’s religion that are appropriate. I believe there are. And I will answer them today.

“Almost 50 years ago another candidate from Massachusetts explained that he was an American running for President, not a Catholic running for President. Like him, I am an American running for President. I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith.

“Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin.

“As Governor, I tried to do the right as best I knew it, serving the law and answering to the Constitution. I did not confuse the particular teachings of my church with the obligations of the office and of the Constitution – and of course, I would not do so as President. I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law.

“As a young man, Lincoln described what he called America’s ‘political religion’ – the commitment to defend the rule of law and the Constitution. When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office, that oath becomes my highest promise to God. If I am fortunate to become your President, I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest. A President must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States.

“There are some for whom these commitments are not enough. They would prefer it if I would simply distance myself from my religion, say that it is more a tradition than my personal conviction, or disavow one or another of its precepts. That I will not do. I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it. My faith is the faith of my fathers – I will be true to them and to my beliefs.

“Some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they are right, so be it. But I think they underestimate the American people. Americans do not respect believers of convenience. Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world.

“There is one fundamental question about which I often am asked. What do I believe about Jesus Christ? I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind. My church’s beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths. Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history. These are not bases for criticism but rather a test of our tolerance. Religious tolerance would be a shallow principle indeed if it were reserved only for faiths with which we agree.

“There are some who would have a presidential candidate describe and explain his church’s distinctive doctrines. To do so would enable the very religious test the founders prohibited in the Constitution. No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith. For if he becomes President he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths.

“I believe that every faith I have encountered draws its adherents closer to God. And in every faith I have come to know, there are features I wish were in my own: I love the profound ceremony of the Catholic Mass, the approachability of God in the prayers of the Evangelicals, the tenderness of spirit among the Pentecostals, the confident independence of the Lutherans, the ancient traditions of the Jews, unchanged through the ages, and the commitment to frequent prayer of the Muslims. As I travel across the country and see our towns and cities, I am always moved by the many houses of worship with their steeples, all pointing to heaven, reminding us of the source of life’s blessings.

“It is important to recognize that while differences in theology exist between the churches in America, we share a common creed of moral convictions. And where the affairs of our nation are concerned, it’s usually a sound rule to focus on the latter – on the great moral principles that urge us all on a common course. Whether it was the cause of abolition, or civil rights, or the right to life itself, no movement of conscience can succeed in America that cannot speak to the convictions of religious people.

“We separate church and state affairs in this country, and for good reason. No religion should dictate to the state nor should the state interfere with the free practice of religion. But in recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning. They seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God. Religion is seen as merely a private affair with no place in public life. It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America – the religion of secularism. They are wrong.

“The founders proscribed the establishment of a state religion, but they did not countenance the elimination of religion from the public square. We are a nation ‘Under God’ and in God, we do indeed trust.

“We should acknowledge the Creator as did the Founders – in ceremony and word. He should remain on our currency, in our pledge, in the teaching of our history, and during the holiday season, nativity scenes and menorahs should be welcome in our public places. Our greatness would not long endure without judges who respect the foundation of faith upon which our Constitution rests. I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from ‘the God who gave us liberty.’

“Nor would I separate us from our religious heritage. Perhaps the most important question to ask a person of faith who seeks a political office, is this: does he share these American values: the equality of human kind, the obligation to serve one another, and a steadfast commitment to liberty?

“They are not unique to any one denomination. They belong to the great moral inheritance we hold in common. They are the firm ground on which Americans of different faiths meet and stand as a nation, united.

“We believe that every single human being is a child of God – we are all part of the human family. The conviction of the inherent and inalienable worth of every life is still the most revolutionary political proposition ever advanced. John Adams put it that we are ‘thrown into the world all equal and alike.’

“The consequence of our common humanity is our responsibility to one another, to our fellow Americans foremost, but also to every child of God. It is an obligation which is fulfilled by Americans every day, here and across the globe, without regard to creed or race or nationality.

“Americans acknowledge that liberty is a gift of God, not an indulgence of government. No people in the history of the world have sacrificed as much for liberty. The lives of hundreds of thousands of America’s sons and daughters were laid down during the last century to preserve freedom, for us and for freedom loving people throughout the world. America took nothing from that Century’s terrible wars – no land from Germany or Japan or Korea; no treasure; no oath of fealty. America’s resolve in the defense of liberty has been tested time and again. It has not been found wanting, nor must it ever be. America must never falter in holding high the banner of freedom.

“These American values, this great moral heritage, is shared and lived in my religion as it is in yours. I was taught in my home to honor God and love my neighbor. I saw my father march with Martin Luther King. I saw my parents provide compassionate care to others, in personal ways to people nearby, and in just as consequential ways in leading national volunteer movements. I am moved by the Lord’s words: ‘For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me…’

“My faith is grounded on these truths. You can witness them in Ann and my marriage and in our family. We are a long way from perfect and we have surely stumbled along the way, but our aspirations, our values, are the self-same as those from the other faiths that stand upon this common foundation. And these convictions will indeed inform my presidency.

“Today’s generations of Americans have always known religious liberty. Perhaps we forget the long and arduous path our nation’s forbearers took to achieve it. They came here from England to seek freedom of religion. But upon finding it for themselves, they at first denied it to others. Because of their diverse beliefs, Ann Hutchinson was exiled from Massachusetts Bay, a banished Roger Williams founded Rhode Island, and two centuries later, Brigham Young set out for the West. Americans were unable to accommodate their commitment to their own faith with an appreciation for the convictions of others to different faiths. In this, they were very much like those of the European nations they had left.

“It was in Philadelphia that our founding fathers defined a revolutionary vision of liberty, grounded on self evident truths about the equality of all, and the inalienable rights with which each is endowed by his Creator.

“We cherish these sacred rights, and secure them in our Constitutional order. Foremost do we protect religious liberty, not as a matter of policy but as a matter of right. There will be no established church, and we are guaranteed the free exercise of our religion.

“I’m not sure that we fully appreciate the profound implications of our tradition of religious liberty. I have visited many of the magnificent cathedrals in Europe. They are so inspired … so grand … so empty. Raised up over generations, long ago, so many of the cathedrals now stand as the postcard backdrop to societies just too busy or too ‘enlightened’ to venture inside and kneel in prayer. The establishment of state religions in Europe did no favor to Europe’s churches. And though you will find many people of strong faith there, the churches themselves seem to be withering away.

“Infinitely worse is the other extreme, the creed of conversion by conquest: violent Jihad, murder as martyrdom… killing Christians, Jews, and Muslims with equal indifference. These radical Islamists do their preaching not by reason or example, but in the coercion of minds and the shedding of blood. We face no greater danger today than theocratic tyranny, and the boundless suffering these states and groups could inflict if given the chance.

“The diversity of our cultural expression, and the vibrancy of our religious dialogue, has kept America in the forefront of civilized nations even as others regard religious freedom as something to be destroyed.

“In such a world, we can be deeply thankful that we live in a land where reason and religion are friends and allies in the cause of liberty, joined against the evils and dangers of the day. And you can be certain of this: Any believer in religious freedom, any person who has knelt in prayer to the Almighty, has a friend and ally in me. And so it is for hundreds of millions of our countrymen: we do not insist on a single strain of religion – rather, we welcome our nation’s symphony of faith.

“Recall the early days of the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, during the fall of 1774. With Boston occupied by British troops, there were rumors of imminent hostilities and fears of an impending war. In this time of peril, someone suggested that they pray. But there were objections. ‘They were too divided in religious sentiments’, what with Episcopalians and Quakers, Anabaptists and Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Catholics.

“Then Sam Adams rose, and said he would hear a prayer from anyone of piety and good character, as long as they were a patriot.

“And so together they prayed, and together they fought, and together, by the grace of God … they founded this great nation.

“In that spirit, let us give thanks to the divine ‘author of liberty.’ And together, let us pray that this land may always be blessed, ‘with freedom’s holy light.’

“God bless the United States of America.”

Yada yada god. You know who else hates Mormons? Jesus (God-whatevs) though to be fair it seems that Jesus isn't too fond of any of this election's crop of candidates

(from Wonkette)

Hmmm,I wonder who Satan's backing.

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