Dissecting “Genesis” and “Exodus”

Genesis. The first book of both the Bible and of the Torah. Both Christians and practitioners of Judaism take it as pure history. But is it?

The creation story, the tale of the Garden of Eden, is clearly copied and twisted to fit the “new nation’s” narrative. Or, Perhaps, it was twisted later, after the small faction of Sumerians who would become the so-called Israelites broke away and began wandering. The other thought is that it was taken and rewritten while the Israelites were in captivity in Babylon.

I bring up the former because of the myth of Abram/Abraham. It states clearly that Abram (later called Abraham) lived in or near the rather large city state of Ur. Anyone who knows their history knows that Ur was the first Sumerian city state to build a loose empire which would have two strong dynasties. Ur’s power would inspire Akkad and even Babylon.

Abram was a wealthy man. He had large flocks of sheep and cattle. And, perhaps, camels, swine, and donkeys. Nonetheless, he was wealthy.

Wealth, at that time, was not necessarily counted in currency but rather in how much livestock one had. And how large his household was. After all, the farmer fed the city state. without him, the city would weaken and die.

So, basically, we’re given a story about a wealthy Sumerian man who just picks up and leaves his home and heads to Egypt. But only after having a conversation with his God (Enlil) who told him that he would be the father of a nation. Which literally destroys the idea that the Israelites (and their descendants) were really a separate peoples from what already existed.

But back to the creation cycle. We’ll come back to Abram later.

The telltale signs that the creation story is copied is the discrepancy between the beginning (Gen. 1) of the creation cycle and the second account which admits that men already existed (Gen.2). At the same time, the second account plainly gives away that it was copied from another source as it states “let us create man in our image” rather than “let me make man in my image” (as “God”/YHWH is supposedly the only god and all others were supposedly nonexistent (also stated in the Bible).

How can humanity exist before and still be created by a deity? Well, let’s look at the original source…the Sumerian creations cycle.

According to the Sumerians, humanity already existed when the Annuna (the gods) arrived from their dimension/plane of existence/planet. You see, the gods were basically aliens with advanced technology and weaponry fleeing from a war in their own dimension/on their own planet/plane of existence. The humans that existed are, in the Sumerian records, referred to “the black ones” and are admittedly undeveloped and savage.

The gods, under Enlil, decide to take a handful of these men and alter them genetically so that they resemble them. Enlil wanted them as slaves to care for Edin (Eden), the plain where the gods had planted their garden. The first altered man was called Adam, Sumerian for beast (not red mud/man of mud/man).

The Old Testament (the Torah) talks about the same ‘garden’ but neglects to admit that man was placed there as slaves or that the garden was meant for the gods, not man. Instead, the Biblical account sets man in the garden and paints it as a paradise intended for man’s existence.

According to the Sumerian account, Enki took pity on man and had compassion toward the new being. So much so that he gave the wise woman (who becomes Eve in the Judaic version) the tool (which became a tree) of knowledge. In other words, he taught woman the knowledge of metalworking, something that can be used for both good and evil.

Man was not expelled from Eden for partaking of a tree, but because he decided to wage war and possess the garden of the gods. He deemed himself equal to the gods and wanted what the gods possessed. And thus, the fall of man was decided.(1)

Now, let’s talk about the “great flood”.

There is no proof of a worldwide flood predating Egypt or Sumeria. There is, however, proof of a smaller flood in the Black Sea region. The same flood that created the Black Sea.

The story as recounted in the Old Testament matches up with a portion of the Gilgamesh cycle in Sumerian/Babylonian myth. But with small changes to fit the “new nation’s” narrative.

After all, how do you make your new nation look divinely chosen? You take common narratives and rewrite and reuse them as your own. And you even spruce it up by adding characters that divide the people, yet keep them descendants from a common origin.

I doubt there was even a Noah. Or an Ark. Or the collection of animals. Or Noah’s three sons.

However, we did have a single origin. We all descended from migrants from Africa that spread across the near east and northward to Europe in one or more migrations.

And back to Abram.

Remember how I proved that Abram was Sumerian? And that he was basically a rich man from Ur?

Well, this calls into question the narrative about Egypt and the pharaoh. Depending on what point in Sumerian history this was supposed to happen (Ur was inhabited from around 5000 BCE until 450 BCE and was at its height by 3800 BCE), Egypt did not refer to its kings as Pharaoh until the 18th dynasty (1539-1292 BCE). Thus, the mention of “the Pharaoh of Egypt” is erroneously inaccurate as the term only referred to the palace of the Egyptian king up to that time. Using the title for the king became popular around the reign of Thutmose III (1479-1425 BCE) which would have been much later than Abram (logically).

This calls into question the accuracy, and moreover, the validity of the whole story of Abraham in Egypt. As well as the whole Jacob/Joseph narrative. Unless…

The hypothesis I have is that the origin story of the “Israelite” peoples actually tells a history of more than one peoples. In fact, I would wager that there are at least three histories being combined. My contention is the fact that there is no mention of Israel or the Israelites until after Ramses the Great. Before, only two groups appear in Egypt that are not Egyptians or the Kushites. These groups are the Shasu (mentioned by Ramses II as having rebelled and been conquered, a rather small group) and the Hyksos (name meaning herders), who ruled Egypt during the fifteenth dynasty (1650-1550 BCE) and were a far larger group. the latter were expelled from Egypt after a war, the former migrated out, as a small group, during the reign of Ramses II.

As for the third history, I believe that it may have been the oral histories of the people already in the region that would become the kingdom of Israel. Perhaps, in addition to the Shasu and the Hyksos, there were ten or eleven other groups in the region that allied with them only to be assimilated and made into a ‘tribe’ within the hierarchy.

After all, we know that oral histories are never, and were never, to be trusted. Their inaccuracy comes from the fact that they tend to smash unrelated events into a single false incident. They make up people and origins that do not fit. They tend to combine myth with fact, superstition with actual events, divinity with the mundane.

They even combine totally unrelated histories into a single narrative to create a new world view to unite otherwise unrelated peoples. And when you take into consideration that the linguistic landscape was pretty similar among all peoples within the region in question, with a few possible differences, you can see how three or more oral history narratives could become combined into a single written “history”.

Add to this the common practice of creating godlike heroes-like nonexistent godlike ancestors who could hear “God” or judges and prophets, and even kings, who could perform nigh superhuman feats-and you get a divine origin with long lived ancestors who were like gods and who gave you a right to a land that was never really yours. But a land that you had settled in and began wars on.

Back to Abraham.

Now, let’s look at the portion of the story of Abraham where he sacrifices Isaac. Upon first glance, there seems to be no real origin. But once you look into the myth cycles of the region, you find that the story holds an eerie resemblance to the El/Baal myth cycle and especially the section where El determines that he must sacrifice Baal as a child.

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah merely records two (maybe more) catastrophic events combined with a misrepresented war over control of a resource. The person rerecording the events from oral histories simply places their godlike mythical ancestor and his nephew into the story to make it a divine judgment of two supposedly sinful cities…cities that may not have actually existed.

The largest part of what makes the overall story impossible to believe are the extremely long lives recorded for all from Adam to Abraham and even Isaac and Jacob. This is a telltale sign of mythologizing real people or merely creating mythical ancestors. After all, no one lives for eight hundred years and there is no evidence that anyone had such long lives before known history. In fact, evidence points to the fact that most prehistoric individuals were lucky to make it to the age of sixty.

From Abraham, the Sumerian, to Isaac, Jacob, and their Hyksos descendants…

As I stated before, the only known pre-greco rulers of Egypt were the Hyksos. The Shasu appear only twice in Egyptian records and never as rulers, but rather as subjects within their territories as an empire. And only once in the records of Ramses the Great…as captives of Egypt after a failed rebellion. The Israelites are only mentioned once in Egyptian records…as an upstart kingdom that they defeat under Ramses’ son and successor.

As the only non Egyptian rulers of Egypt, the Hyksos fit the narrative of Joseph, who rose from slave to governor over all of Egypt. In essence, the whole story reads like a gradual rise from merely migrant to ruler, much like the rise of the Hyksos. the Exodus, then, is the combination between the retreat of the Hyksos (complete with the pursuit of the people by the Pharaoh), a retelling of the catastrophic events that followed the destruction of Santorini, and the exit of the Shasu.

The only thing not explained is the whole ‘plagues’ narrative, which isn’t even supported by Egyptian records. Nor are the supposed plagues supported by records in the region. It is as if they were made up or a series of unrelated events that happened over an extended period of time that were related as happening in a short period of time culminating in the expulsion, then pursuit of a people.

My own hypothesis is that the plagues were not actual divine plagues, but small natural events that took place over an extended period of time (about 100-100 years) that became condensed in the oral histories to about a few days to attempt to explain/create a divine intervention where there wasn’t any.

The mistranslation of the phrase “reed sea” to “Red Sea” is another, though more modern, problem. For centuries, we have been led to believe that the people fled through the most improbable place so that the event seemed much more divine. The reality, however, is so much more mundane and the actual route of escape so much less harrowing or divine.

Laws, which we are taught through religion (Christianity/Judaism) were supposedly “God given” and, thus, divine, are much less so when compared to the code of Hammurabi and to the Egyptian codex. The vast majority of the ten commandments, and the supporting social laws, can be found in the laws devised by Hammurabi. Others can be found in Egyptian, Roman, and Greek laws. The latter shows that such laws were far less divine and much more universally observed.

This means that very little of the recorded events were factual. Moses most likely did not exist. The whole record of the flight through Sinai was written down from oral histories. not while it took place. Thus, the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, and all the miracles and catastrophes probably never happened. the wandering also, most likely, never took place.

Or they were separate events that were unrelated to the flight but were, over time, combined with it so that it was a single event. either way, they were not actual events at the time of the departure. they were added later. perhaps after a war or dispute with a neighboring group.

A Few Questions For “Christians”

When did Christianity become a system of do as I say, not as I do? When did honor your father and mother become Honor your father, but dishonor your mother? When did it matter more what others were doing, but not so much with what you were doing?

When did hate replace love in your doctrine? When did greed become your gospel? When did ignorance replace the desired knowledge and wisdom you were supposed to seek?

When did war become so much more of an interest than peace? And when did you all begin worshiping yourselves instead of the deity you claim to worship? And finally, when did you turn your backs on the one you claim as your savior?

I was raised on the erroneous concept that the Old Testament “laws”, the Mosaic laws, the same laws that Christ supposedly fulfilled and replaced with his easier commands to love and do good, were still in play. Just as you assert, but only where those who do not believe your bullshit dogma are concerned. And your dogma is bullshit. It is based on your own biases. Your own selfish desires. Not on anything “biblical”.

You claim to believe on Christ, but you ignore his commands. You claim that everyone should be following the Old Testament laws, yet you don’t follow them yourselves.

You use everything your farmlands have to give without allowing them to rest. You dishonor your mother’s with your attacks on women’s reproductive rights. Hell. You dishonor your mother’s through abusing your wives and girlfriends!

Your very view that they are your possession dishonors your mothers. Your support of rapists and incestuous fathers literally dishonors your mother and breaks the incest laws that precede the one ‘law’ you obsess over where gays are concerned. Don’t believe me? Look it up! They are all there.

You would sacrifice your mother’s, wives, and daughters to your obsessions. And for what? The illusion of control?

After all, if you feel that you have to control others, you have already lost any control you already had. Control of yourself. The only control you really had.

It isn’t your job to make choices for others. Even your Christ told you that. And yet, you ignore him. Why?

Christ told you to do the following:

Love Your Neighbor

Love God

Do Unto Others as you would want done to you

Forgive Others

Help the Needy, poor, Ill, handicapped, the widows, the orphans, and to clothes the naked and feed the poor

seek not riches of this earth

let the least be the greatest and the greatest, the least

Do not judge

Do not condemn

Your love for others was supposed to be selfless, unconditional, not biases and conditional. your forgiveness was to be without limit or expectation. Your helping others were supposed to be without desire of repayment. wealth and notoriety were supposed to be the furthest things from your mind as was power and prestige. Humility and humaneness were supposed to be your most notable traits.

Instead, you hate, lust, fear, embrace your ignorance, seek repayment for all that you do for others, refuse to forgive, sit in judgment, and condemn all that are not like you. And for what? to feed your egos?

Your lust for power, whether political or simply over women and the LGBTQ+ community, has destroyed your soul along with the hatred you exhibit against anyone not like you and against women and those you do not understand.

Christ never taught about abortion. He never taught about the LGBTQ+ population. And both existed in those times. But he did teach that his death would fulfill the Mosaic laws and make them unimportant for his followers. He also taught that those who lived by violence also died because of violence, thus effectively condemning your love of guns and war.

Still, you want gays and women to live according to your oppressive views and by the Old Testament laws while you, yourselves, do not. That, dear “Christians”, is hypocrisy.

Why do I say that you do not live according to the Mosaic/Levitical laws? Because you dishonor your mother’s through your attacks on women. You eat unclean meat (pork, shell fish, etc.). You do not separate the speckled and spotted from among your herds. You talk against those set above you as your leaders. You wear mixed fabrics. You do not keep the Sabbath. you commit adultery. You curse God/use his name in vain. You refuse, as business owners, to pay an honest wage. you covet (lust after) what your neighbor has. You commit incest in all its forms. You commit murder with your sermons and your thoughts. You choose to create graven images and idols to replace your God. Your farmers do not let the land rest every seven years. You do not show kindness to the foreigner and alien within your borders. You do not observe the Levitical “Holy Days”.

Should I go on? Or do you get the picture?

While you obsess over one little law, a law you could possibly be misinterpreting, there are 612 more you ignore. Even “Christ” admitted that those laws were devised so that man could never truly succeed. They were created to condemn man to death. No matter what.

As a result, He gave you simpler, easier, commands to follow. To love, unconditionally, your neighbor. To do to others what you would want others to do to you. To refrain from judging others. To refrain from condemning others. To give without desire for repayment to all, especially those in need.

And yet, you find these simple commands seemingly impossible to follow. Why? Why are you so selfish?

Civilization

What defines civilization? Where do we set the beginnings? How do we gauge what was civilization and what was not?

The accepted assumptions that are made about the start of civilization is that it rose with the need/beginning of harvesting crops. But what if this is an incorrect assumption? What if this was just ‘the next step’?

I propose that civilization started the moment that primitive humans discovered that they needed to be sheltered from the elements. I propose that Civilization began with dwelling in caves and in temporary hunting camps. I propose that these camps were the first step in humanity’s search for the best possible location to live. I also propose that what we see as the ‘first steps of civilization’ are actually the next steps from that integral true first step.

Thus, the need to develop domesticated crops to harvest and to domesticate certain animals for food were results of, not the main indicators, civilization. There is a possibility that domestication was a gradual process that took place as the transient camp phase of civilization was commonplace.

Evidence that supports this is the findings at Jericho, one of the oldest cities in the Mesopotamian region. Evidence points to its being settled around 9000 BCE after being a hunting settlement since around 10,000 BCE. Thus, it’s start as a hunting settlement points to civilization beginning at that stage.

Overused Words In American Vocabulary

1. Patriot: Someone who knows that their country and their fellow citizens are connected/one and the same and love both unconditionally, defending both loyally and faithfully in desperate times when both are threatened.
2. socialism: a word created to convince the voter to vote against their own best interests. Anything that the wealthy see as a threat to their power is ‘socialism’ and they will pay a politician to convince their constituents that they do not need it.
3. Communism (in reference to a certain political structure/system): Communism is an economic system, similar to Marxism and Socialism, that is often confused (most notably by politicians, but also by lay people who cannot tell the difference and rely on politicians to tell them what things are) with authoritarian style governments. Remove the word “Communism” and politicians would not be able to recognize authoritarianism. This fact was proven when the Soviet Union fell and was replaced by the Russian Federation. While Russia did attempt to move toward a democracy, this movement was aborted when Vladimir Putin was elected as their president.
4. “American”: Everyone from the western hemisphere are Americans. We are not the sole ‘Americans’. We are citizens of the U.S.
5. Rights. While the Constitution guarantees many things, not everything falls under the moniker of ‘rights’. The Constitution does not cover your health or your opinion. Nor does it cover your ability to abuse the rights it does give.
6. Success (especially when applied to the wealthy): the wealthy are not successful. most of them inherited their wealth and did not actually have to work for it. This includes Trump and the Kardasshians as well as Gates, Musk, Bezos, and other “entrepreneurs” and CEOs who control the marketplace. Although many of the CEOs did not inherit their wealth, they really do not work for it. Nor did they build the companies that they strip of profits through frilly incentive packages that are not available to the ones who actually do the work.
7. Failure: this word is used for unsuccessful attempts at creating something. True failure is never trying, not finding that something doesn’t work.
8. capitalism: an economic system that has not existed in this country for decades since we now have mid to late stage monopolism that fosters greed above all else. True Capitalism takes into account the human aspect (the consumer, the employee) and realizes that the employees is a company’s first line of investors/consumer. What we have now totally omits the employee and couldn’t care less about the satisfaction of the consumer. It is all about profits and selling stock in the company to make corporate debt seem like profit.
9. “Christian”: This was never, nor is it, a “Christian nation”. The idea that we were a Christian nation was invented in the 1940s to make us seem better than the USSR, which we wrongly correlated with ‘atheism’. Russia, then the USSR, was (as it still is) controlled largely by the Russian Orthodox Church which had the government refuse entrance to any other church. they were also deeply entranced in the Soviet government. the average US citizen just never heard much about their involvement. After all, the Soviet government was authoritarian (communism, as an economic system, does not offer a spot for a central leader, which makes it easy for authoritarianism to take it over). Despite our claims of being ‘Christian’, we have never acted the part. We have always been the bully, trying to force others to be as we are instead of allowing for individuality (which is what real love for one’s neighbor does, it allows others to be as they are and places no restrictions/expectation/conditions upon them).
10. Profit. that which profits a man rarely benefits him. Likewise, that which benefits him rarely makes him a profit. Greed cannot tell the two apart. It seems to believe that it can profit from something meant to benefit all, such as education and healthcare.

Social Health

An ailing/dying society cares nothing for it’s citizenry. It cares only for material wealth and selfish lusts. The leadership is corrupt and unapologetic, even to the verge of open contempt for the masses.

Everything is done for the profit with no concern with the benefit. Benefit is seen as pervasive evil, gluttonous profits/ greed as a core good. Even by the religious.

As a result, a social cancer begins to grow. One that begins to grow and consume the society until purification begins. As purification sets in, the foundations begin to rot. Crumble.

Social evils – hate of fellow citizenry, greed, collective ignorance/stupidity, fear of change to the point of retrogression, etc. – begin to rot away support structures within the society, allowing a slow collapse. The self becomes more important than the collective. objects, possessions, become more important than mores/morality.

Laws begin to collapse. Concern for human life becomes nil. The learned/wise become seen as the enemy as ignorance is seen as better than learning and growing. Brutality becomes more preferred to compassion.

By contrast, a healthy society takes care of its citizenry. It seems to the health of the people. As well as their total welfare.

No one races to become the wealthiest. Or the one with the most possessions. Nor does the society rush into needless wars.

War becomes almost unnecessary along with religion, greed, and hate. The negative traits of the noble savage is almost unheard of. Why?

Because the society has advanced, not remained affixed to what was. History is seen as something to learn from and grow from. Not to embrace as the way.

Change is effected through learning from the past mistakes. Notes are taken and steps made to prevent the recurrence of any mistake or false belief. Myths are discarded with mistranslated/wrong ideologies.

New discoveries are embraced. Archaeological. Medical. Technological.

And as these discoveries are made, the society grows and evolves with them. So that it might survive anything that might come along to threaten it’s existence. As a result, the society is made stronger.

Currently, our society is most assuredly suffering from the former. Our political and religious structures have held us back from evolving. advancing.

Moreover, our individual greed, hate, fear, ignorance, and lust have also held us back. These have kept us from learning and growing. From evolving both spiritually and physically. As well as mentally.

We have remained the noble savage humanity has always been. Ignorant. Self absorbed. Arrogant.

Too afraid of the change we so desperately need to allow. Afraid that all we have been taught was no more than a lie. Afraid that we won’t survive the changes.

We use religion and politics as our excuses. Crutches that we believe will prevent change. Illusions that keep us blind to our true mission.

We should be part of the latter, a healthy and strong society. We should be growing, evolving, caring for our fellow citizenry, desiring only that which benefits all of us instead of what profits the few. We should be banishing those who hold us back, peeling away the false teachings, the religious fallacies, and the wrong traditions in order to become something better. Something more.

We should be much closer to what science fiction predicted, and yet much further ahead. Indeed, we should be light years ahead of what we are. Mentally. Socially. Spiritually. Emotionally.

We are not. Nor will we be until we come to the realization that the old must die away and something new must be born from the ashes. If we do not, we will surely be the cause of our own extinction.

Paganism (And Changes In Focus)

I’m not going to go into what we consider paganism. that isn’t the true subject of this post. Instead, I am going to focus on the paganism that is ignored.

There is an age old weakness to all religions. This weakness is the human propensity to become obsessed with different things. Sports. Political figures. The wealthy. Individual biases. One’s own ignorance. Greed. Self. Power (the illusion thereof, not actual power), etc.

Obsession with something makes it your god. It controls you. Devours your time and resources.

Worshiping people also makes them your gods whether they are religious ‘leaders’, politicians, public figures, sports athletes, or entertainers. So does worshiping political ideologies. And possessions. as well as worshiping/obsessing over Old Testament ‘laws’ that are not part of the secular law.

The fact remains that claiming to be Christian does not make you Christian. What makes you Christian is if you follow Christ’s commands. Not the Old Testament. Not your own biases.

Unfortunately, too many who claim to be ‘Christian’ do not love their neighbors unconditionally, least of all as they love themselves. Instead, they hate their neighbors whether it is because their neighbors is homosexual, or transgender, or black, or Asian-American, or Muslim. or Jewish, or openly pagan…or whatever difference they take exception to. Many don’t even refrain from taking offense at something said by others. Instead, they seem to take pride in taking offense with what is taught, especially if it is true history and not what they wish it to be, or with something someone has said that opposes what their faulty opinion of things is.

Instead of working on themselves, when the mirror of the world shows them a flaw/weakness in their own character, they obsess over changing those that they cannot change. Those whose own open declaration offends them the most or whose color offends their ignorance. Instead of learning, they refuse truth (knowledge/wisdom) because it goes against their past teachings, no matter how flawed and wrong those teachings were.

Instead of seeking to understand, and accept, they choose to force their own ignorance upon those around them. Even going so far as to call for the death of those whose lifestyle, color, religion, or place of origin offends them. They delight in the doctrine of greed, even refusing to help those that Christ commanded them to take care of out of fear that someone who doesn’t deserve will gain help. Never mind that with such an assumption they literally claim that no one is deserving of such help.

They refuse to pay an honest wage, seeking only to further their own monetary wealth and not benefiting the community as a whole. in fact, their doctrine of greed is a religion all its own. It demands that they obsess over what they imagine that they do not have.

And in their obsession, They worship it all. And yet, they do not worship the God, or the ‘Savior’ , they claim to worship. In their hate, they prove that they really do not believe what they claim to believe. As well as in their greed and selfish conditionality.

But they also make gods out of football players, basketball players, ministers, politicians, guns, wealth (and the pursuit thereof), as well as their own ignorance. Their foolishness. In essence, they lie to themselves about who or what they worship and they cannot (or will not) recognize it as being so. And in this, they cannot (or will not) admit it.

Mentally lazy, they allow ministers to tell them what to believe, how to vote, and what is in the book they claim to read (but do not). They allow politicians to lie to them and tell them what they believe, politically, but refuse to research to make sure that it is all true or not. As a result, they have been unconsciously enslaved by both and the worship of both.

They allow themselves to be told who to hate, who should be slaves to them, and who should be killed because of not being a part of the lie. In essence, what was intended to be a lifestyle change has been twisted into a religion and stripped of all that made it starkly different from its parent belief system. It has become the oppressor that it was warned would come, the liar that they were warned would rise. It has even become the political tool that it was never intended to be.

A tool loaded with idols. A tool that allows the ‘believer’ to do as they will without any thought of retribution as long as it fits within the parameters of the religion.

As stated before, these idols range in type. Money. Fame. The illusion of power. Guns. Selfish biases. Ignorant fears. Color of skin. Gender. Sexual persuasion. Religious figures. Political figures. Entertainers. Sports figures. Public figures. Ideologies, both secular and political. Social status. Possessions.

The list is endless. After all, anything one obsesses over is an idol. At the same time, obsession is a form of mental illness. It is an illness that other illnesses tend to spring from.

Paranoia. Belief in conspiracy theories. Irrational fear of being a target. General irrationality. Inability to accept the truth when you are proven wrong.

Indeed. America, and the world in general, is more pagan than it wishes to admit. Humanity is obsessed beyond belief with things that have nothing to do with what they claim to believe.

But when this fact is pointed out, it is laughed off. No one wants to admit, or are unable to admit because of their lack of awareness, that they do not believe in what they have claimed to believe. Instead, they try to justify the unjustifiable. Or deflect.

As a result, they cannot correct their path to fit their claims. They cannot break the cycle of bowing to these gods. They simply cannot break away.

Sadly, they cannot exemplify what they proclaim. Therefore, they are at a loss when faced with the sudden flight from organized religion. Because of the multitude of falsehoods, idols if you will, that assault the ears of those seeking enlightenment, freedom, or peace.

They seem unable to comprehend that their inability to serve as an example of unconditional love is why no one wants to be a part of their group. They cannot see that their hypocrisy is why no one believes that they are what they claim to be. Or they refuse to see.

They believe that they have power when all they have is the illusion. The illusion being the weak man’s idea of power. Forcing others to bend to your will. Making targets out of those who do not live as you wish them to. Legislating away personal freedoms in an attempt to prove that a country is something it never was.

All the while, true power is nothing more than serving those around you. Giving to those who are in need, whether or not they deserve it in your view. helping those who need help despite your bias toward them. Being selfless instead of selfish. seeking to do absolutely no harm, instead, attempting to strengthen and heal all through showing unconditional compassion.

Strangely enough, the only group that shows any amount of compassion are those who are either openly pagan, atheist, or so-called Satanists. This awkward fact makes Christians, Muslims, and the practitioners of Judaism look as if they are no longer following their supposed prophets/God. They relish waging war. They relish hatred for those who do not believe in their religions. they want to control all without realizing that controlling others, whether as head of politics or through law, shows all that they have absolutely no self control. And their lack of self control is not something that can be corrected through legislation or political action. nor can it be fixed through forcing others to bend to their selfish wills as self control only happens when one works on what lies within. After all, one cannot change those around them. They can only change themselves.

The heart. The soul. The mind. The three areas of the self that should be the sole focus of all who proclaim to be followers of Christ, Moses, or Mohammed.

And with the world as our mirror, we are shown exactly what is wrong within ourselves. Even if we do not want to admit it. Whether it be a faulty view of make-believe relations, or a faulty view on homosexuality or transgender people (or any within the LGBTQ+ community), or even how we view our POC neighbors/’illegal’ immigrants. Or even something we, ourselves feel but are too embarrassed to admit. These faults can only be corrected through focusing on their internal existence. Not by oppressing those who are open and honest about who they are and what they believe.

While I admit that I am a Pagan, I am also one of those who is in search of the ultimate truth. I research all that I was taught to find where it originated. As a result, I am amazed at the new information that archaeologists continue to find such as the existence of Jericho 7000 years before the supposed events in the Bible’s Old Testament and the fact that there is no mention-anywhere in Egyptian records or anywhere else in Mediterranean records, of which, there are numerous-of any mass drought or subsequent plagues. Instead, in Egyptian records, there was a massive growth in construction that indicates a population boom (not a drop because of the deaths of the first born).

My point is this. Through my research and present observations, I am convinced that all gods (including the God of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) were once nothing more than venerated ancestors who were, perhaps, great tribal leaders, kings, or spiritual leaders. They were not divine until we made them such. I am also convinced that Christianity is nothing more than a distillation of the religions within the Roman empire, something created to appease all, including the Judaic subjects of the empire while maligning certain gods who had fallen out of favor.

Thus, in my view, even in proclaiming Christianity, we remain pagan. We believe in a religion, not a spiritual journey. And in doing so, we drift further away from our connection with the universe and nature.

And yet, we deny the truth in doing so. That all things are connected, that life is intertwined. One.

We deny that we are just as pagan as those who openly proclaim paganism as their religion. All because we have a book that is supposedly (but not really) divinely inspired. We cannot see that all peoples, all civilizations that rose and fell, claimed divine origin. Egypt. Persia. Rome. Greece. Akkad. Ur. Babylon. The Early Hindu, Chinese, Japanese, and Meso-American/South American empires. Even those that we have so little information on in North America most assuredly claimed divine origin.

Man has never changed. He prefers his pantheons. He prefers to believe himself a divine creation, making himself a god in his own eyes. He prefers to remain pagan even when he proclaims supposed monotheism.

And that polytheism takes many forms. From hero worship (politicians, sports figures, entertainers, wealthy individuals, religious figures, etc.) to ideological worship (fake religious doctrines, personal biases born from ignorance, political ideologies, etc.) and even objects (wealth, guns, possessions, etc.), the pantheons chosen are as varied as the individual. And though pantheons can be similar, we-as humans-are not. We vary as individuals.

Even our perception of similar idols within our pantheons differ. Though we may hate the same, or similar, people, our hate is not exactly the same. Nor do we view others the same. Even within our little cliques.

Patriotism

When we, as a nation, think of patriotism, we think of waving the flag, giving lip service, singing the anthem, going to Independence Day celebrations, barbecues, apple pie, and nationalism. But this is not patriotism. It doesn’t even come close.

A patriot loves his fellow citizens. It doesn’t matter their ethnicity, their sexuality, their gender orientation, their religion, their gender, their place of origin, or even political affiliation. It does not matter if they have tattoos, wear beards, dress weird, work a less exciting job, or have very little to their name.

None of these things should ever enter the picture. Loving your neighbor, your fellow ‘American’, is the deepest form of patriotism you can ever exhibit. It is true patriotism.

And hating your neighbor for any given reason is the deepest form of treason you could ever commit. It is just that simple. There is no ‘in between’, where you can hate certain citizens and still be a patriot. You still betray the very country, even hate the country you claim to love.

Being divisive, playing the political partisanship game, wanting to restrict voting rights for people who do not necessarily look like or agree with you, and trying to remove the rights of others while ‘observing’ your own are all unpatriotic. Unproductive.

To combat this, we must begin teaching the truth in school. We need to teach the true meaning of patriotism. the true path to a more united country.

How? Glad you asked.

At the moment, we have way too many people who confuse rights and privileges as well as well as selfish opinions with fact. We also have way too many who confuse unpatriotic behavior with patriotism. And all because we have never truly had to protect our country from real invaders.

Instead, we have seen threats where there are none. From immigrants. From our minorities. From those who do not believe as we do.

We have never faced the dilemma that Ukraine now faces. We have never had to fight a war against an invader. we have lived relatively sheltered existences, taking for granted the liberty we all share and abusing every right we feel entitled to. We have, in essence, become the only threat to our own democracy through our insistence on believing that our party is the only right party. That our parties would never lie to us.

We claim to be anti establishment and ,yet, we still vote for those who serve the very ‘establishment’ we decry. We refuse to learn from our past, our history. We would rather hide from it by banning it from our class rooms. We would rather ban books that make us uncomfortable than to face that which causes those books to make us uncomfortable.

We have grown complacent in our ignorance. Of what patriotism really is. Of what freedom really costs. Of what our Constitution really means.

We would never be able to defend our own country should another country choose to invade. Why? Because way too many hate the country enough to betray the country by joining the invaders. they would do so in the belief that by doing so, they could annihilate their political opponents. They would also do so because they cannot recognize true authoritarianism without giving it labels.

And they would continue to mistakenly call themselves ‘patriots’. Even though they are not. Nor have they ever been.

Their hate of their fellow countrymen (and women) has seen to that. As has their greed and their refusal to learn. In reality, their betrayal of the country they claim to love took place the moment they decided to hate their neighbors for any imagined reason. Or the minute they decided that the rights of others was less important to their own.

Yes, patriotism means knowing that your rights are directly linked to the rights of others. That encroaching upon another’s rights literally makes yours obsolete. In doing so, you abuse your rights. Misuse them.

And in misusing, you betray the country. And make yourself a liar. And a hypocrite.

We must find our way back to being patriots. We must banish the hate. The fear. The greed. The selfishness.

We must learn to love our neighbors. Without condition. Without expectation.

We must learn compassion and understanding. And root out the ignorance by learning how to accept all as they are. No more abuse of rights. No more misuse.

Only then will we truly be the Patriots we claim to be. Only then will we truly be a united nation. Only then will we become strong.

An Accurate Summary Of The Constitution

I am so tired of hearing people state that being forced to conform to health mandates is against their “constitutional rights”. Contrary to their claim, individual health is not covered by any of the amendments in the Constitution. They aren’t even going against the states’ rights. So what is in the Constitution?

The first amendment comes in sections. Freedom of speech and right to assemble peaceably only cover your right to speak against bad governance and to do so in a peaceful assembly. technically, protests would fall under peaceful assembly, but only if they remain peaceful. Freedom of speech does not cover hate speech, the spreading of baseless opinion, lies, misinformation, or propaganda.

Neither does “freedom of the press”. Free press only covers the dispensation of truthful information. this includes informed, fact based complaints concerning governance. It does not include bias based on political bent or even misleading or twisted interpretations of political proposals.

Then there is freedom of religion. This, like the sections above, does not include hate. It never has. After all, the unspoken responsibility that comes with your ‘rights’ is do no harm. What it does include is your right to observe whatever religion, within reason, that you desire. It does not give you the right to force others to believe what you believe. That is abuse of your ‘right’ and thus is no longer a meaningful right as you are trying to take away-harm, if you will-the rights of those you are attempting to force your religion onto.

The second amendment, simply put, is your right to serve as the country’s defense without coercion. The popular method of gaining the army needed for an invasion at the time when the Constitution was written was conscription. In other words, you were forced to fight for your country, not given a choice. The right to bear arms is not an open gate to ownership. It merely means that you can take up a weapon in a time that the country is under threat of attack. You also have the responsibility to serve, but of your own freewill.

Beyond these amendments lie restrictions upon what the military can and cannot do domestically. Followed by the right of the individual to due process. Beyond those lie the beginnings of the equality of all, starting with the banning of slavery and including the equal vote,or about voting and governance. There is no amendment that deals with an individual’s “personal choice” as a right. Personal choice is a privilege, not a right.

Your inconvenience is not an infringement of your rights. It never has been and never will be. If you are not intelligent enough to do what is in the best interest of the common good (get vaccinated, follow health laws/mandates, etc.) then that is on you. Not anyone else. You aren’t being oppressed, you aren’t being persecuted. You are merely being requested to do what is right, not what is convenient for you.

For the full Constitution, go here: https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/full-text/

…Just The Yolks, Ma’am…

When I made my first attempt at making traditional eggnog, I posted my accomplishment on Facebook. The response was “isn’t that made with raw eggs?” and though I did not respond, it got me thinking. And, well, here is the answer. 

Eggnog is made with just the yolks of the eggs. Four yolks, to be exact. Yes, they begin as raw yolks. 

But anyone who has much knowledge of what alcohol does to anything raw will know that even when you follow an ‘uncooked’ recipe, the egg yolks are ‘cooked’ by the alcohol you add to the recipe. Just as raw meat is partially cooked in any marinade that contains any sort of alcohol (not that I would eat the meat straight from the marinade, I wouldn’t). 

The ‘cooked’ recipes have you ‘steeping’ the nutmeg and cloves in the milk (over a medium burner) before pouring the milk into the beaten egg yolk/sugar mixture. The milk is close to boiling and must be slowly whisked into the egg yolks so that they do not instantly clump. Basically, eggnog is a form of custard that you can drink. It is basically cooked no matter which recipe you use.

The non-alcoholic versions are all prepared like the ‘cooked’ alcoholic forms, but the alcohol (part of the flavor) is left out. This is probably why the non-alcoholic eggnogs are thicker. Creamier.

Still, in short, no matter how you make your eggnog, the egg yolks are basically cooked. Whether by the alcohol, or by the act of steeping the spices in the milk before adding both to the yolks. It isn’t raw. It is custard, just not as thick as plain custard.

A Thought On Lobbying And What It Should Cost

Today, politicians are more like prostitutes than civil servants. They take legalized bribes in the form of lobbyists money and campaign “financing” from the wealthy and the corporations. They turn legislative tricks for those who are willing to pay the most.

This should not be the case. there should be no bribery. There should be no money passing from hand to hand for a return in the form of legislation that is detrimental to the masses. And all legislation dreamed up by corporations and the wealthy does damage to the welfare of the masses. No if’s, ands or buts.

But there is a solution. And one that will raise revenue for both the federal and state governments. this solution is as follows.

Any corporations or wealthy out-of-state wannabe influencer would pay a 90% non-refundable income tax for that election year, even on midterms. They would have to apply to become a temporary election year resident and pay a $100,000 application fee as well. But instead of automatically getting to influence a state/federal election, they would also be better heavily just like anyone seeking employment. If they lie on their application, they would be ineligible until they turned in a truthful application, and even then, maybe not until the next election cycle. They would also be fined for not being fully honest on their application.

But if they proved honest, they would have a chance to be a donor. But their donations would be limited to a maximum of $100,000 per candidate. Anything over that would be refused by the state and the donor would be banned from donating until the next cycle. After three such attempts, they would be banned permanently from contributing to any political campaign.

In this way, the elections would be more fair, No company or billionaires would own more of the politicians’ loyalties than the masses. all would be equal under the law. And the state would make a hefty sum that could be put towards any in state social programs. Or toward the state’s educational system. On the federal level, the money could be placed in a social program or educational fund that would get the most benefit from the money.

In this way, the country and the state’s could maintain a progressive movement toward future needs without raising the taxes on their permanent residents. They would have a base of temporary wealthy election year residents paying in a non-refundable income tax and residential filing fees. At the same time, it would remove the unrestrained power of the corporations, special interests, and wealthy who think they can rule over the people of a state.

To aid in this push for equality, Lobbyists would be stripped of their unrestrained power within the government, both state and federal. The money that seems to flow freely behind closed doors would be banned. any lobbyists found to be paying a senator or House rep for legislative privilege would be arrested, stripped of their place, and tried and convicted of promoting corruption. Any senator or House rep caught would be stripped of their way in Congress, any chairs on any committees, and be arrested and tried and convicted of corruption.

At the same time, there should be a push to remove lobbyists completely from the legislative process. There should be a push to remove them from Congressional Chambers and to place them back where they began…vying for government contracts, not creating legislation.