AN OPINION ABOUT RELIGION THAT�S HARD TO DISAGREE WITH � EVEN IF YOU�RE RELIGIOUS
BY RICHARD ENOS
Years ago I had a work colleague who considered himself an intellectual.
He was also a member of a religious denomination.
It was his stated belief that only people who belonged to his particular denomination
would be saved, and the entire rest of humanity was doomed.
When I asked him how he, as an intelligent person, could hold such a polarizing position,
he delivered a line that I will never forget: �What would be my faith if I believed otherwise?�
Faith is a tricky, amorphous thing.
In one way or another, most of us have experienced definite and noticeable manifestations of
faith in our lives; however as a collective we have not yet gained the ability to discern
between faith as a natural human phenomenon, and faith as characterized by institutions
that portend to be authorities on the subject.
These institutions make faith more accessible and easier to grasp, because they constrain
and �dumb down� this spiritual experience within their particular limited paradigm.
These institutions, you may have guessed, are called religions.
Mechanism Of Control The word �religion� comes from the latin
word religiare which means �to bind.� How fitting.
Because it describes exactly what religions do: followers are bound to the particular
set of characteristics of that religion that differentiate it from other representations
of things that are universal: faith, love, and our inherent connection to divinity.
Here�s how it works.
Highly evolved masters throughout history who have spoken about spiritual truth may
gain a following.
The elite few in power do what they can to quash this movement.
In some cases, though, their efforts fail, because the master�s grasp and expression
of truth is too powerful, and has inspired too much joy and inspiration among followers.
So Plan B then becomes to infiltrate, co-opt, and eventually control the movement.
Over time it becomes a religion, that is, it binds people to the enactment of external
rituals whose actual meaning has become obscured.
The Catholic Church Let�s take the Catholic Church as an example.
It starts with Jesus, a highly evolved master who preached the same spiritual truths as
all other highly evolved masters, but in a particularly effective and illuminating way,
one that resonated with many of the people of his time.
And so he was crucified, ultimately by powerful people who did not like the threat Jesus posed
to their power over others, since he encouraged people to think for themselves and have their
own personal relationship with God.
Is it not the height of irony that these teachings were taken over by powerful authorities that
sought to place themselves as intermediaries between people and God?
Authority, of course, would prefer that its subordinates would have no idea about the
joy and satisfaction of a powerful personal relationship with Divinity.
But if unable to quash a powerful spiritual movement that had been grown by its followers,
the next best thing is for authority to declare itself as �head� of the movement.
Constantine the Great This is exactly what Roman emperor Constantine
did in 313 A.D.
He ended the ubiquitous persecution of Christians by declaring a particular sect of Christianity
the official religion of Rome, and himself a Christian ruler and Head of the Church.
He became a great patron of this now-budding institution.
Once he had the �official� sanctioned version of Christianity established, what
would be the next step?
Of course, label all other offshoots of the teachings of Jesus Christ, many of which had
retained a much higher purity, as heretical and blasphemous.
Devotees of branches such as Gnostic Christianity were forced to go underground, although likely
some members would simply adopt the official religion which, after all, was still a form
of Christianity guided by the teachings of Jesus.
The Canonized Bible What was next?
Get it all in writing.
Councils were convened by government and church authorities to put together a �canonized�
Bible by determining which writings were truly �the words of God.� Lol.
In actual fact, the determinations of what would and wouldn�t make the final cut in
the official Christian bible was predicated on what would enable the Bible to be a tool
of control for Church authority.
As an example, any gospel that hinted at Jesus discussing reincarnation was summarily set
aside; after all, how could Church authority control their followers through fear and the
threat of eternal punishment if those followers thought they would simply come back in subsequent
lifetimes to eventually get it right?
Once power was consolidated by the word, and the authorities of the church became the only
people who could interpret the word for the masses, would that be good enough?
The Crusades No.
Holding power over others tends to breed the desire for more power.
And so the church and the military power of government banded together for �noble�
enterprises such as the Crusades, to spread �the word of God� to heathens of other
cultures.
The basic method was this: invade a culture, completely destroy any traces of their own
systems of spiritual truth, and force them to adopt the �true� spiritual system under
pain of death if they don�t.
Ah, God�s work is carried out in mysterious ways, isn�t it?
In this way the Roman Catholic Church became perhaps the wealthiest and most powerful body
on the planet�as long as it maintained some form of unholy alliance with the military
powers of the day.
On The Defensive In more recent history, the Catholic Church
has had to go a little bit more on the defensive, as people started to �smarten up.� Cue
in the Scientific Revolution, for example.
When Galileo made statements that spoke of scientific proof that the Earth revolved around
the Sun, in direct contrast to Catholic doctrines, the church used threats of torture and death
for heresy to force him to recant his statements.
Soon after, though, the Church had to admit to this truth and position themselves more
as the �spiritual� authority of the world.
This type of thing has happened often over the course of the history of the Catholic
Church.
It must be embarrassing how many times they�ve had to admit their �immutable truths�
were actually falsehoods founded on ignorance (or duplicity).
But they keep doing it anyway to reasonable success.
Like any good control structure, they really try to stay ahead of the curve in order to
maintain power.
What�s next?
The pope himself admitting the possibility of extraterrestrials, and saying he would
be willing to baptize them if they asked?
Wait, Sorry.
That�s already happened.
Well-Informed Controllers But these people are not stupid.
They are smart and well-informed.
They do not follow the core values espoused in Christianity, in any important sense�the
amount of evidence of pedophilia in the Church and the odious efforts to cover it up should
say enough�but they are still seen by many as a positive force.
One advantage they have is access to knowledge about our true history, our origins, and all
aspects about us that would facilitate control over us.
Why do you think the Vatican library is so impenetrable to the general public?
Their ways of control continue today.
Pope Francis has argued that it is dangerous to have a personal relationship with Jesus.
Recently, he has become a strong advocate of a one-world government.
And he may just be a pawn of something bigger and more ominous: the global elite we have
so often referenced.
The Vatican serves as the spiritual arm.
The other tentacles are the City of London, which is the economic center, and Washington,
D.C., the military headquarters.
Does it now make sense that these are the only independent city-states in the modern
world, with borders that insulate them from the true governing authorities of the countries
within which they reside?
In effect, those who would control us don�t care what the means of control is; whatever
offers the promise of increasing their wealth, reach, and domination over the planet will
work.
As one control structure wanes, another arises in its place.
The Antidote Fortunately, the antidote is at hand.
Of course it is our awareness.
Clearly, our awareness has led to a decline in the power and reach of the Catholic Church.
It is more difficult for them to retain followers or gain new ones.
They cannot force people to go to mass, pay their tithes, or adhere to their moral code
of conduct.
But today our greater challenge is not only to free ourselves from any particular control
structure, but more so to grasp the overall pattern of control that is ever-present in
our society, and bring our collective awareness to bear on the fact that we can only be controlled
if at some level we are giving our consent for it.
This awareness will ultimately give us the power as co-creators of our reality to form
a new world that has moved beyond the binds of control.
For more infomation >> AN OPINION ABOUT RELIGION THAT'S HARD TO DISAGREE WITH – EVEN IF YOU'RE RELIGIOUS - Duration: 9:58.-------------------------------------------
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Quick Look at 49ers Day 3 Draft (Rounds 4-7) - Duration: 4:45.
Ayo! It's Bryan here. Today, going to be talking about the San Francisco 49ers.
Last day of the draft, day three. It is finally over. So, this is the saddest time
of the year where I have nothing to talk about in terms of 2018 San Francisco
49ers, but I will still try to find some ways to talk about the 49ers, about
history, about anything. I'll get to that later on in another video, but right now,
I want to talk about the draft, day three. They had made five selections in rounds 4-7.
I don't know Trent Baalke was running
this draft or John Lynch, but whew. They drafted a lot of injured players I would
say. I'm looking at this. I wasn't able to watch it live, but I was able to follow
it and see what's going on. I don't know every single college player. I'm not the
biggest college football fan, but the times I do have to watch it is near the
end this football season, near the playoff time where I get to see the prospects.
That's pretty much the only time I watch college football. I don't watch it on a
weekly basis every Saturday. I'm more of an NFL guy. So, I'm an NFL lifer I would
say. Right now, I want to talk about the draft picks right now. I don't know if I
want to go in depth. Maybe later on, but I just want to go through a little list
and then see what I think of it. So they drafted
Kentavius Street [Sorry, bad with names], defensive end from North Carolina State. Hey, North Carolina. Got to
represent right there. Bradley Chubb's teammate, but ended up
tearing his Achilles [ACL] doing workouts. That's very unfortunate, but hopefully, he
can make a fast recovery. D.J. Reed from Kansas State cornerback.
Who else? Who else did they draft? They drafted Marcell Harris, safety, Florida.
He tore his Achilles, which is very risky to do that. To draft a guy that has a really
major injury just like Street, but hey. I guess John Lynch believes in him. So, we'll
see what happens and they also drafted Jullian Taylor,
defensive tackle, Temple and one last player. Richie James, wide receiver from
Middle Tennessee State. So, I'm guessing for rounds 4-7, I guess
they didn't see any value as immediate starters, but for the most part, I see all
these guys as being long-term starters and I'm kind of concerned about that
because we tried that last time with Trent Baalke and not a lot of them
worked out I would say. I mean, you had freaking Tank Carradine. He was okay, but
he had a torn ACL coming out of Florida State and didn't really pan out well. He's
currently with the Raiders. A lot of other players I got injured I forgot
exactly who, but hopefully, it all works out. I believe in John Lynch. I believe in Kyle
Shanahan. I have to #TrustTheProcess and I will trust the process.
So, if I had to give a grade, short term? I'd probably give it a mmm... a "B" to be honest
with you. I would give it an "A" if they were starters immediately, but I
think they're going to stockpile these guys and hopefully in a year or two, whenever
Street and the guy from Florida [Harris]. I forgot his name already, but whenever they heal up
from their ACL and Achille tears respectively, then hopefully, they'll be
ready to play in the NFL in 2019, 2020. We'll see what happens, but I guess they
feel comfortable with their starters from what I'm seeing right now and also,
they did not draft an EDGE rusher. I think Street was the only guy they drafted
from a defensive linemen perspective. So, I guess they really trust their
defensive linemen and hopefully, they do because I'm a little bit concerned and
the sack totals from last year really do open my eyes a little bit. Haha, Asian
joke right there, but whatever. It's really concerning. The sack totals and
the interception ratio or whatever. The turnovers, the takeaways, they really do
concern me as well because this defense needs to do a lot more work. This defense
needs to have a big step improvement and I think this year, they might be better.
I don't know I got to see what's happening with Reuben Foster. There's still
a lot going on there. It's not the end of the story, but these draft picks.
Hopefully, they're good. Fred Warner, I'm a big fan of. I'm hoping that he can do a
really good job with the 49ers this year and we'll just see what happens. So,
overall, I'd give it a "B," but maybe an "A+" long-term if it works out. Hopefully, it's
not a Trent Baalke situation where these guys are injured and they'll never
recover to 100%. That's the only thing I'm really concerned about,
but other than that, I think this looks kind of okay. So, this is a really unusual
draft I would say later on. The 1st round, 2nd round, I think their
immediate starters. Rounds 4-7, they were just looking for
long-term fixes, which is not that bad at all. They have a really good talent
core right now. Jimmy Garoppolo leading this franchise. The defense is kind of
improving hopefully on paper and when they get on the field, I think they can
do a really good job. First test against the Minnesota Vikings. That should be a
fun one, week one. We'll see what happens with these draft picks. So yeah. That's
pretty much it you guys. Didn't really go in depth with every single player. Maybe
I'll do it in another video. I just want to talk about what their mindset was
from rounds 4-7 and hopefully, it works out. Please let me
know what you guys think about rounds 4-7. Was it good? Was it
bad? Do you think they're going to be good long-term, short-term maybe? Well, some of
them aren't going to be good short-term because they're injured. They're coming
off of a really big injury. They can't play in 2018, but hopefully long-term,
it'll work out. I like to hear what you guys have to say about this and if you
guys like this, please "Like," SUBSCRIBE, do whatever you want with this and I'll be
catching you guys up another time. So, I would have a nice day, nice weekend,
nice whatever and I'll see y'all this week. I'll probably do an in depth video
with all these guys, but I'll see what happens. So bye guys. Love y'all. See all
this week!
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Lord of the Rings: Before the Ages (Part 2 of 2) - Duration: 9:57.
With Valinor thriving and the Valar eager to meet the children of Iluvatar, Varda, the
wife of Manwe, brought about the Noontide of the Blessed, creating the stars in the
sky to bring light back the rest of the world, allowing for the first of the Children to
awaken and walk the lands of Middle Earth.
These free thinking creatures of beauty and wisdom came to be known as Elves, and were
unlike any other creature in the world as they came directly from the mind of Iluvatar,
and were granted the gift of immortality.
Waking in the land of Cuivienen, it was Melkor who first discovered them and started capturing
those who wandered alone in the forests, twisting their minds with darkness and corruption in
order to breed a new race known as the Orcs to serve the Dark Lord.
Roughly a century after the awakening of the Elves, many of the early Dwarves also awoke
in the east, such as the Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks and Stonefoots, who possibly settled
the Orocarni Mountains.
Others however awoke further west, with Duran the Deathless settling the Longbeard clan
in the fortress of Khazad Dum within the Misty Mountains, while the Broadbeams and Firebeards
built Nogrod and Belegost in the Blue Mountains.
The Ents also awoke in these early years, roaming the vast forests of middle earth,
and coming into contact with the Elves who taught them how to speak, imparting a desire
to learn new things and expand their knowledge.
According to Treebeard, possibly the Oldest living being in all of Middle Earth, the race
of Trolls later created by Melkor were made in mockery of the Ents, just as the Orcs were
a corrupted version of the Elves.
Eventually, the great hunter Orome discovered what Melkor was doing with the Elder Children
and returned to Valinor to reveal all he knew.
Outraged by his actions, the Valar and Maiar marched against the Dark Lord in the War for
Sake of the Elves, defeating his forces at Angband in the Battle of the Powers and sending
part of their army to protect the Elves from the rest of the conflict.
Melkor then retreated into Utumno where he was besieged for years until they breached
his defences, leaving Tulkas the Strong to cast him down, taking the Dark Lord to Valinor
in chains.
Yet despite their victory, the Valar did not discover the mighty vaults and hidden caverns
of Melkor's fortresses, where many evil things still lingered, and also failed to
capture many of his other servants including Sauron.
The devastation of the war caused yet another reshaping of the continents, yet with Melkor
sentenced to three ages of captivity in the Halls of Mandos, there came a time of peace,
where the Children of Iluvatar once again roamed the forests freely.
Desiring to bring the Elves to Aman under their protection, the Valar sent Orome to
meet with them, bringing back three ambassadors to see the light of the trees of Valinor.
The ambassadors then returned to middle Earth and convinced many of the Elves to join them
in a great journey west.
Yet not all would go, and so the Elves fractured into the Avari who remained in Cuivienen and
the Eldar who departed.
The Eldar were then further divided into three groups, with the Vanyar following their leader
Ingwe, the Noldor following Finwe, and the Teleri led by Elwe.
Yet as they travelled, Elwe heard the singing of Melian, a Maia who once tended the gardens
of Lorien, but left Valinor to explore the forests of Middle Earth.
Elwe was entranced by her beauty and voice, and when they touched hands a spell was cast
which froze them in place for many years.
The Teleri, alarmed by the disappearance of their leader, stayed behind to search for
him while the Vanyar and Noldor completed the journey west, farried across the sea of
belegaer upon an island sent by Ulmo.
When Elwe could not be found, the Teleri broke apart, with some continuing on to Valinor,
while others, having grown attached to these lands, settled in Middle Earth.
Many of those Teleri that continued west, came to settle on the island ferry, which
came to be known as Tol Eressea and which settled off the coast of Aman, where their
people became expert ship builders.
When at last Melian and Elwe awoke from the incantation, they were deeply in love and
went on to rule over the Sindarin elves of the kingdom of Doriath.
After 3 ages spent in captivity, Melkor was once again brought before the Valar to plead
his case.
The Dark Lord, eager for freedom and revenge, feigned regret for his past actions, claiming
that he wanted to return to the light of Iluvatar, and his brother Manwe, being so good hearted
believed the lie, allowing him to go free.
Yet many others remained wary of Melkor, watching him closely, and so he was patient, continuing
with his ruse by being helpful and acting reformed while in secret he plotted against
the Valar and the Elves who he despised.
Slowly, he began sowing discord among them, choosing to target the Elf Feanor, eldest
son of the noldor High King Finwe.
Feanor was a powerful elf of great skill and renown, responsible for the creation of the
Silmarils, three gems which contained light from the two trees and were so precious that
no one, not even their creator could ever reproduce their likeness again.
Although Feanor was among those who did not trust Melkor, the Dark Lord used trickery
to convince him his younger half brother Fingolfin was plotting to usurp his place as heir to
the throne.
Enraged, Feanor publically threatened Fingolfin with death and so was exiled in punishment,
making his home in the fortress of Formenos.
Finwe his father, joined him in exile until Feanor finally realized he had been deceived
and returned to make peace.
However with Feanor away from Formenos, Melkor and his new ally the Ungoliant, a primordial
evil in the form of a giant spider, revealed their master plan, plunging Aman into darkness
by destroying the two trees.
Melkor then moved against Formenos, killing Feanor's father Finwe and stealing the Silmarils
before departing for Middle Earth.
When Feanor learned what occurred, he was consumed with rage and renamed Melkor to Morgoth,
the Black Enemy, swearing an oath to recapture the silmarils by any means necessary, then
leading an army of Noldor towards the coast where they demanded ships from the Teleri
to cross the sea.
When they refused, Feanor and those most loyal to him slew the Teleri, in what came to be
known as the First Kinslaying, afterwhich they were cursed by Mandos and forbidden from
returning to Valinor.
After the theft of the Silmarils and journey to Middle Earth, Melkor and the Ungoliant
turned against each other, fighting for possession of the jewels.
After consuming the light of the 2 trees, Ungoliant proved so powerful she nearly overcame
the Dark Lord, but his screams alerted the nearby Balrogs, sleeping underneath the ruined
fortress of Angband, who responded to their masters call and chased her away into the
south, where she became mother to the great spiders.
With Melkor returned to his seat of power, he gathered together his armies, intent on
ruling over the continent.
However he faced resistance from the Elves who remained behind during the great journey
west resulting in the First Battle of Beleriand, the initial conflict in the War of Great Jewels.
This battle saw Morgoth and his lieutenants Sauron and Gothmog leading their forces against
an alliance of Sindarin and Laiquendi elves, fighting alongside the Dwarves of Nogrod and
Belegost.
Although the alliance was successfully able to repel the invasion in the east, the cost
was heavy, and victory remained incomplete, as the sindarin elves who dwelt in the Havens
of the Falas under Lord Cirdan, remaining under siege.
However King Thingol had seen enough of war, and so did not march to help his kin in the
west, instead summoning all who wished to live in peace, bringing them to Doriath, where
Queen Melian used her powers to place a spell upon the land, creating the Girdle of Melian,
an invisible fence that hid their city from outsiders.
In addition no help came from the Dwarves who retreated into their mountains, nor from
the Green Elves, who saw their king Denethor slain in battle, and afterwards returned to
the forests of Ossiriand, pledging to live in secrecy and refusing to participate in
future battles.
However relief finally came for the Elves of the western coast, when the Noldor following
Feanor arrived in the lands of Lammoth, and immediately went to war against the Dark Lord,
forcing his armies to abandon the siege and march north.
Engaging in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath, the Noldor swiftly defeated the enemy, but Feanor became
so enraptured in a battle fever, he led a charge to follow after those in retreat, leading
him to be surrounded by Blarogs as he approached the fortress of Angband.
Though his sons soon arrived and drove the enemy back, they were too late to save their
father who with his final breaths cursed Angband 3 times over before he died, his fiery spirit
so powerful it burned his body to ash.
And so it now fell to his sons led Maedhros, the eldest, to fulfil the oath of Feanor and
recover the Silmarils from their eternal enemy.
Meanwhile, Fingolfin and his followers had been abandoned by Feanor after the kinslaying,
in which they did not participate.
Although Feanor promised to send back the ships they took, he instead burned them upon
arriving in middle earth, forcing Fingolfin to lead his people across the treacherous
mountain of Helcaraxe, the Northern bridge to the east.
The journey was long and many Elves died along the way, but eventually they arrived and reunited
with the remaining Noldor who had been scattered after the death of Feanor.
With the 2 trees gone, the Valar used there last flower and fruit to create the Sun and
Moon in the sky, and so the race of Men awoke in the lands of HIldorian.
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Countdown to Madrid - Duration: 2:28.
The countdown for Real is on: preparations for the Champions League semi-final in the
Spanish capital got under way at Säbener Straße on Sunday morning.
Along with the players who were rested in Saturday's 4-1 win at home
to Eintracht Frankfurt, Javi Martínez
and David Alaba returned to training.
Definitely.
I think I'm on the right track for the game on Tuesday.
Obviously I'll keep doing all I can to make it.
The whole squad share the same belief
that they can overturn the unlucky 2-1 defeat in the first leg
and progress to the final.
Yes, the mood in the team is very, very good.
You can see in training how focused and concentrated we are.
In the dressing room you can tell how much we want it and
that we'll throw everything we have at it.
The players will find out the exact plan for the comeback on the day
before the game after they touch down in Spain.
I believe we'll talk about how we're going to play there
when we arrive in Madrid tomorrow and the coach will certainly prepare us
100 percent for this game.
On Sunday the FC Bayern TV team got a first look
at the legendary stadium where Bayern will be looking
to turn the tie around and reach the final.
Real Madrid host Bayern München here at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Tuesday evening
and the men from Madrid go into the game with confidence,
knowing they've always progressed in the Champions League in front of the 81,000 fans here
whenever they've won the first leg away from home.
But don't write off Bayern yet: Juventus showed how to play here when they won 3-1 in the quarter-finals,
and if Jupp Heynckes' men can have 17 shots on goal
like they did in the first leg, they still have
a realistic chance of reaching the Champions League final.
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After Credits Scene 'Captain America' | Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) Movie Clip HD (+Subtitles) - Duration: 1:08.
Hi, I'm Captain America, here to talk to you...
...about one of the most valuable traits a soldier or student can have.
Patience.
Sometimes patience is the key to victory.
Sometimes it leads to very little...
...and it seems like it's not worth it.
And you wonder...
...why you waited so long for something so disappointing.
How many more of these?
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