Discussion from the Wrong Planet website as linked and quoted below.
Note: this information provided for educational purposes only with no commercial vested interests pursuant to fair use under US code, per potential copyright concerns.
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp5945478.html#5945478
techstepgenr8tion wrote:
I had the chance to take two laps through the bible last year with a refreshed mind (ie. not doctrinally tied down when I started). Very complicated book, in that it has so much intercourse with other cultures of that era – regardless of it’s proclamations of their doom – that one has an incredibly hard time understanding it unless they see it as a tapestry of concepts.
If anyone really wants to understand the Christ story though, the best place to start is read some big/epic Platonist or neoplatonist authors, even the Hermetic corpus, and then go back and try on the Gospel of John. John seems to be insinuating heavily and in barely veiled ways that all human beings are aspects of the one, that Christ was the nexus of consciousness or group soul of humanity joining us in the flesh for an hour, and that this was a truly in-the-know delegate of the One Self speaking to all the little selves.
aghogday (my username on the wrong planet) wrote:
This is precisely what true christianity is about. Jesus the man spoke in parables. Parables are not meant to be taken literally. Unfortunately some people are still taking those parables literally.
As far as the myths about Jesus being born of a literal virgin and him walking on water and him being crucified and literally resurrected from the dead; this is a result of literally thinking people doing just that; taking parables as literal rather than metaphoric truth. This is also a result of time and imperfections in the transfer of human communication through the complexity of the written word.
I went to see the movie SON OF GOD and it was clear to see in the end of the movie when the Apostle said i am the way (after Jesus left) that it was a parable that meant that GOD lives within us; not some fairy tale bearded man in the sky that reins with a patriarchal hand. Apparently the folks that produced the movie understood the truth of this.
Adults who are restricted by a life full of cultural rules to repress the instinctual nature of a social animal human being are for the most part adverse to anyone who ventures out of the social norm.
Most often folks who do this are described as insane by adults. But often children look at their behavior in a more open way as they are not fully brain washed yet by the norms of culture.
But here’s the thing..two of the most influential men in the last two Centuries Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein were also considered crazy..in real life.
Simply for one reason and one reason only…
They did not adhere to the cultural norm…
Oops, sorry for the ellipses.
That is out of the cultural norm..here.. too.
I lived a life full of repression of my instinctual social animal human nature from my freedom to express the feminine side of my nature as a balanced human being to even being able to smile in the hallway of my middle school without being called a fa***t.
I don’t like to be repressed.
And the only way to influence change in the word is to dare to be different.
But again, the core cause of human suffering is repression of our instinctual social animal human nature.
A great metaphor for this is hawks are not evolved to to fly on sidewalks and neither are human beings.
I walk in a spiraling motion in three hundred and sixty degrees wherever I go. This is not substantially different than how an American Indian hunting with crude weapons would stalk an animal for subsistence or even gather berries in the woods.
Children love it up to about age 15 and follow me all over stores and video tape me with their Smart Phones.
Most adults simply ignore me.
I am a menacing looking guy in real life just for my muscular physical presence, lack of fear and facial expression when i am laser focused on my TAI CHI style of walking.
Only one redneck guy who weighed about 270LBS had the nerve to tell me to my face that it looked ridiculous.
I told him I was a martial artist and this is what we do when we are not kicking ass and yes it does look like martial arts and is martial arts for all practical intents and purposes; and no i do not believe in fighting so I was telling the truth.
After that he scurried away.
Seeing the world in the eyes of a little child is the path to true happiness.
Life does not have to be as complicated as folks make it.
Bliss is possible NOW.
This is the message of the human man Jesus who was not much different inherently than i or you perhaps, except that he was free.
A man that lived by instinct and love, instead of repression of his human social animal nature, as directed by the prison of Human designed culture through the tools of complex language and collective intelligence.
It is THIS SIMPLE.
LET IT GO..
FLOW…
THAT IS A PARABLE.
by the way
ISA is the path to happiness; NOT KSA.
ISA equals Instinct Skills and Ability.
KSA equals Knowledge Skills and Ability.
Most animals live FREE by ISA and humans imprisoned by the abstract constructs of complex language, collective intelligence and culture, in general, live by KSA.
_________________
KATiE MiA FredericK!iI
Gravatar is one of the coolest things ever!!!
http://en.gravatar.com/katiemiafrederick
AdditionAlly..
Seagulls are not evolved
to fly on sidewalks in the sky..
By..
‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’
and
‘The ALL Seeing eye of
Horus’
a
way
or
2
addition
ALLY
ANd in proof that i let it go and flow..
i make my body a work of poetry
in art..in photography..
completely
nude..
IN
perhaps..one of the
largest taboos..
for a mid 50’s male
in our
culture..
Our forefathers died
for our freedom of expression
in this country..
i
honor
gOD in the FULL GIFT OF LIFE
GOD
GIVES
ME
BY DOING THIS..
AND I HONOR COUNTRY
AS WELL..
FOR ALL THE FREEDOMS
THOSE WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES..
BRING
TO
ME
NOW
!
i
am
free
GOD
IS
FREE
!
and here’s the rest of my ‘story’..
linked
here..
NOW
!
in this restricted blog for
the mature and
totALLY
free
reading AND
viewing audience..
as ya
will..:)
http://myfreelancestripperblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/let-it-goflowpart2.html
i
sail
on
land with shoes
and
bare
feat
KATiE MiA FredericK!iI 
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp5945610.html#5945610
More discussion from the Wrong Planet website on this topic:
Cash__ wrote:
If the gist of Christianity is to be nice to other people, then religion and god are still unnecessary. People can and are nice without god or religion every day.
If the gist of Christianity is to be nice to other people, then it’s no different then what my grandmother used to teach me. So as far as teachers are concerned, my grandmother is equal to Jesus.
Your summary of Christianity makes it trivial and unnecessary.
aghogday wrote:
Well of course.
But some folks don’t have the ethical equivalent of your grandmother; christianity, when practiced as such by TRUE CHRISTIANS.
This is part of common sense, otherwise known as cognitive empathy and or social cognition.
Myths house the vehicles and vessels (otherwise known as words) that carry universal truths (the essence; the meaning) for all human beings; not just the ones with wise grandparents.
The real historical man Jesus was all about common sense; not the bullshit of some religious and cultural ideology, as well as folks who ‘think’ they ‘KNOW’ IT ALL.
THINKING HAS VERY little to do with Universal TRUTH.
And knowing; TRUE knowing; has very little to do with what we understand as the English language or any other HUMAN CULTURAL abstract construct to lock us out of truth of SIMPLY BEING HUMAN; AKA TRUE KNOWING.
_________________
KATiE MiA FredericK!iI
Gravatar is one of the coolest things ever!!!
http://en.gravatar.com/katiemiafrederick
simon_says
Phoenix
Phoenix
Joined: Jan 21, 2011
Posts: 2879
PostPosted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:48 am
Breaking the message of Jesus down to its core has led to many different versions of the historical Jesus. Professional scholars can’t even agree which one is correct and which one is the embellishment.
aghogday
KATiE MiA FredericK!iI
Phoenix
Joined: Nov 26, 2010
Age: 53
Posts: 6081
PostPosted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 9:10 am
simon_says wrote:
Breaking the message of Jesus down to its core has led to many different versions of the historical Jesus. Professional scholars can’t even agree which one is correct and which one is the embellishment.
aghogday wrote:
What rings true is as simple as that.
This is not rocket science.
It is the human instinct of LOVE.
All the research in the world will not change a damn thing about
LOVE and that is what the REAL Jesus was ALL
about; LOVE.
I know as i am LOVE and LOVE is TRUE KNOWINOW.
(KNOWINOW) is a metaphor for the human instinct for truth in the NOW that requires no words; it is not word salad and THE TRUTH IS extremely hard to convey in words.
But i try and i do not give up ever NOW.
_________________
KATiE MiA FredericK!iI
Gravatar is one of the coolest things ever!!!
http://en.gravatar.com/katiemiafrederick
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp5945680.html#5945680
Stannis wrote:
Faith is indifferent to the objective desirability of particular values.
Aghogday wrote:
Well of course.
Faith is a human attribute, like being able to see the sky or smell some roses.
It is neither knowledge, language, or values.
Not all people experience faith and not all people either see or smell.
Some folks are literally disabled by not experiencing the human attribute of faith.
It’s not something that can be effectively described in words, unless a person experiences it.
Been there in both places done both parts in REAL life experience.
Faith is real.
Words are empty shells with no essence or meaning as that relates to the human experience of Faith when
not experienced in one’s true reality.
The GOD that IS ALL, needs no words to describe IT (god) when one experiences the REAL HUMAN ATTRIBUTE of
FAITH.
But here’s the thing many folks with TRUE faith in all that IS(AKA GOD) are happy to be here all the time.
Whereas more folks that do not, generally speaking per suicide rates in countries that profess little to no faith in anything are not as happy.
And anyone who says they do want to be happy is not sane as far as i am concerned no matter what they say.
If faith gets folks to happiness, it is worth it’s weight in GOLD.
And by the reports of the majority of 7 billions folks in the world, it does, ergo TRUE Success in life is an integral part of FAITH and vice a versa.
The challenge for me is to spark someone like me that had no experience of faith before into someone similar to me now who lives in bliss all the time as all i have is faith in the all that IS(aka GOD).
It is really not that complicated it’s just about trust in being that is ALL IT IS(aka GOD).
And no, most people are not as deep as i am and do not describe it in a detailed and very deep manner like i do but
this takes nothing away from the reality or strength of what is real about faith in their individual experience in life regardless of a person’s ability to describe their experience or potential experiences of others with the English language or whatever other language may be in play to use metaphors to describe human attributes that are not concrete experiences in life.
Sorry, that is a very long sentence, but that is how i talk when i put my computer hat on.
_________________
KATiE MiA FredericK!iI
Gravatar is one of the coolest things ever!!!
http://en.gravatar.com/katiemiafrederick
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp5948811.html#5948811
aghogday wrote:
Perhaps some structured religions may change, in fact that’s almost a certainty, but no, it would be somewhat ludicrous to suggest that religion as it is technically defined: “an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to an order of existence”, will ever go away.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion
Science provides technical information, but it will never serve as emotional fulfillment for human beings in the most important aspect of life to go on to the next moment.
Religion in all it’s almost infinite number of manifestations provides this for human beings and as long as ‘they’ exist religion WILL EXIST, AS RELIGION IS PART OF CULTURE AND CULTURE IS PART OF HUMAN NATURE.
There is no escape from this other than self delusion at the core of delusion otherwise known as the repression of one’s emotional life.
Dance, music, and song, expressed freely as a full human being is enough religion for me, and I will take it as is as such.
Other folks need a little more to feel comfortable, and they will find what suits them, if they look long enough too.
_________________
KATiE MiA FredericK!iI
Gravatar is one of the coolest things ever!!!
http://en.gravatar.com/katiemiafrederick
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp5948828.html#5948828
AngelRho wrote:
I don’t think so. I mean, if you only look at it in evolutionary terms, we’re religious for a reason. Survival of the fittest, you know. Religion appeals to the more nuanced expressions of human thought and emotion and has more explanatory power that resonates with the human psyche than straight empiricism. I imagine life without would be just…well…depressing.
aghogday wrote:
This, and there is some evidence of this in countries that do have low rates of religious participation correlating with substantially higher suicide rates.
It is only common sense.
Religions foster connectedness within the tribe, and humans as social animals must have these connections and successful ones to thrive, overall.
Religion is the most successful way to do this to date.
And the opportunities for connectedness in an increasingly nomadic society with only nuclear instead of extended families, are fewer than ever, which actually makes religion more important than ever to serve this vital purpose for the social animal, human being.
People who do not participate are at greater risk for depression over the long run for one simple reason, fewer real life flesh and blood social connections.
The internet will never work as a full substitute for this.
Humans do need to feel the full emotional contagion of another human being in real life, to truly bond for comfort and happiness in life.
It is the social animal nature of human being that we are evolved as such for hundreds of thousands of years.
Technology is not going to change that.
The rates of suicide in Japan and the lack of interest in real life sexual intercourse among young folks is evidence enough of this as the clean cup crews come to dispose of what is left of older folks who have no real life extended family or real life social connections.
Technology provides avenues for dopamine stimulation and basic human communication, but it will never serve as a full substitute for two or more flesh and blood human beings connecting in a positive way in real life.
It is biology, psychology, social science, religion, and anthropology 101.
But it requires knowledge in all these fields to gain a complete understanding of this real human reality across all human cultures.
There are biochemicals, traditions, rituals, culture, emotions and most of all love to consider all as one human condition.
But this is not the type of stuff that science alone can fully address.
Religion provides the glue that keeps it all together, for social animal human beings.
_________________
KATiE MiA FredericK!iI
Gravatar is one of the coolest things ever!!!
http://en.gravatar.com/katiemiafrederick