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Thomas
Jefferson
had encountered great difficulty in the establishment of the "first"
University in American that was not church and/or religiously sponsored
or related. He obviously had the properly conceived notion that, where
religions and their consistently and doggedly insistence that the truth
lies only within those narrowly defined tenants of its own faith, it
would be almost impossible to achieve a true atmosphere of academic
freedom and thought as well as the scientific establishment of new
discoveries. That more than noble effort of Thomas Jefferson, resulting
in the founding of the University of Virginia, was the quintessential
essence of that ideal socio-political circumstance where there would
exist a distinct separation of the church and its mostly conservative
ideologies from that of a modern civil state that should rightly foster
individual achievement and growth over which there should be NO moral
authority. Only in that ideal of circumstances would it be at all
possible to actually have what is aptly called freedom of religion
wherein every single individual remains equally free to pursue the truth
according to his own beliefs and personals needs.
As a great man of letters, I
am very confident that Thomas Jefferson, in the light of modern day
knowledge and scientific realities, would be amusingly appalled at the
present state of affairs where so many individuals still so blindly hold
fast to these embellished religious mythologies that have been so
totally challenged and dispelled by modern discoveries and science
dramatically beginning with those far-reaching theories of Nicolaus
Copernicus (1473-1543) and that were so dramatically confirmed by
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) with his masterful and most timely invention
and use of the telescope. For Galileo's courageous contribution to the
knowledge of his day that we were NOT the center of the universe and
therefore most likely not the singular focus of creation, he was hastily
placed under 'house arrest' by the head of the Catholic Church, and that
atrocious and malign decree was only lifted in the last decade of the
Twentieth Century, some three hundred and fifty years after his death.
Reality has not changed in
its essence from the very first time that man began to explore his
ever-expanding universe; the difficulty lies with man's ability or
inability to successfully and realistically integrate his
antiquated mythologies with the hard sciences of our modern times. The
beginning of any age of mankind is appropriately marked not with just
the simple discovery of some previously undiscovered reality that had
always existed, but most appropriately when the tangible fruits of that
revelation or discovery have actually entered the mainstream of
mankind's day-to-day world. From our own Western culture perspective,
the singular event that might well mark the beginning of this great Age
of Reality could possibly be focused on Pope John Paul II, when on
October 31, 1992, when the Vatican 'revisited' its initial indictment of
Galileo's scientific confirmation of Copernicus' take on our universe's
heavenly bodies and their actual relationship to earth.
Mankind and his innate noble
spirit, has for too long, been held totally captive and spiritually
enslaved to these archaic and notoriously oppressive religions and their
often-time radical leaders who all too frequently subjugate that very
loving nature that every individual man and woman should be equally and
universally heir to. We are so very fortunate to be living in an age of
such magnanimous discoveries. And in most every instance mankind
continues to challenge the spiritual impact of these modern discoveries
and in too few cases might even be able to successfully dispel many of
those notoriously and conservatively held points of view.
There is in reality nothing
new under our own life-giving sun; mankind has only to accept and
broaden his fundamental knowledge of what is already most evident in
nature. Mankind is most fortuitously and finally leaving behind the
very infancy of his once political, social, psychological and spiritual
development, and with this ever-immerging social and spiritual maturity
mankind is fastly entering this most progressive Age of Reality. And,
above all, mankind is seemingly achieving much of this newly discovered
maturity most notably with or without the blessings of many of our world
religions, most notably that multitude of Christian faiths.
These rather large number of
spiritually oppressive churches, temples, and mosques need not be
totally dismissed or even left behind in the dust of modern discoveries;
they should, however, all, so to speak, come clean about the ghastly
multitude of their mostly bogus and certainly mythological claims.
Then, and only then, should these now spiritually irrelevant mythologies
have the greatest of obligations to become more spiritually relevant to
the real needs of their congregations. I would suppose that this
metamorphose could be easily achieved by simply redefining their various
spiritual and social roles to reflect an ideology that truly and
sincerely fosters the love and acceptance of all mankind as well as the
infinitely and most magnanimous beauty of this naturally occurring
diversity of mankind that has been manifested in this wonderful Garden
of Eden.
This great diversity also
carries with it the reality that not all individuals will posses either
the desire or ability to recognize and/or even accept the fundamental
precepts of this wonderfully freeing age; they are equally free to
experience their own life's joy in any manner they see fit. Mankind,
for far too many reasons, has remained in the infancy of his deeper
spirituality and it has only been the purveyors of these now terribly
archaic mythologies that have selfishly profited far beyond any
reasonable or authentic concern for these often blindly led followers’
spiritual wellbeing. It is a reasonable expectation for the infant to
believe in a Santa Clause, BUT to continue these fabled and mythological
beliefs into the mature adulthood is a grave travesty that only feeds
the despots of these infantile mythologies despite all the social order
and good behavior that many of these old religions and mythologies are
totally and rightfully given full credit for fostering.
So, you tell me; what should
these now outdated and benign religions be doing to correct their
misgivings. Bishop John Shelby Spong wrote a book entitled, Why
Christianity Must Change Or Die that only scratched the benign
surface of the problems with America’s number one religion that claims
the same God as is depicted as part of our country’s heritage as
reflected in the expression, “One nation under God.” I am appalled that
we as free Americans still hold to this now failed expression as
we have the most horrid statistical records when it comes to human
failure as in; the broken homes, alcoholism, every crime under the sun,
drug dependency and those countless and growing numbers of what is
presently called “street people” or “the homeless.”
Jesus, as the greatest and
most certainly profound humanitarian that ever lived on this planet
spent most of his adult life seeking some reasonable answer for
mankind’s pour plight and then sharing it with those who cared enough to
try and did so until the troubled times of Constantine the Great.
Elaine Pagels explains the problem in the very first chapter of her best
seller book, Beyond Belief. The title of this first chapter
truly sez and defines it all, From the Feast of Agapé to Constantine.
The operative words here are “Feast of Agapé” as this was the
only real action required in order to respect and reflect the one and
only commandment of Jesus and that is to, “Love your neighbor as I have
loved you.” You see, Constantine had absolutely no need of this
singular power of love, but instead Constantine demanded “Absolute
Obedience” of those slaves that constituted 90% of the population over
which he ruled. That is precisely why the Nicaean Creed is so totally
devoid of even the very mention of Love, which was the one and only
commandment of Jesus of Nazareth that we should learn to “Love” our
neighbors. You tell me, where in the hell did Constantine ever show any
love for his slaves or those countless hordes of enemies that were
ruthlessly murdered and slain under his ruthless and military command.
Constantine was, to the contrary the very epitome of the antichrist and
yet he is hailed by many as the founder of the great Faith. It is no
wonder that Christianity has followed in the footsteps of its founder
and absolutely showed no love for the countless neighbors put to death
and its auspices of serving the one and only vengeful God. This death
wielding God has no place in my universe and that includes the
mythological Jesus created by this devil worshiper, Constantine the
Great.
The reality is quite simple;
Constantine created Christianity to meet his own carnal needs and it was
his Spiritual Mafioso, those bishops that met at Nicaea at Constantine's
demand, that created heaven and hell as a reward or punishment to the
slaves as a means of obtaining from those slaves, their absolute
submission to the dictates of the newly formulated religion (then the
Catholic Church) as well as their absolute obedience to their
slave-owners (the evidence of which was easily supplied by the slaves’
confessions to priests). That is precisely why the Catholic Church’s
FIRST rule over its own parishioners is governed by that one singular
word "obedience" rather than Jesus of Nazareth only commandment of
"love."
So, my good friends whom I
love enough to share this historical reality with; I wish that all of
you who are freed by the inherit truth of this fundamental knowledge
will accept my most humble dedication of these six modest treatises,
that in each instance and in their own unique manner affirmatively
proclaim that mankind has, for his spiritual betterment as well as his
most affirmative future already embarked on that arduous journey that
will hopefully and eventually bring all of mankind entirely into this
truly wonderful and most freedom imbued AGE OF REALITY.
J. Lamah Walker
The
Freedom Seeker
The Father of the
Age of Reality
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