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How Should People of Faith - Or Atheists Who Want to Talk With Them - Think of Bank Crime?
Anthony Freda/Daniel Zollinger
What Would Jesus – Or the Rabbis of Old – Do?
Preface: If you are an atheist and believe that religion is crazy, please remember that some 85% of the American population identifies itself as Christian and millions more identify themselves as Jewish. Very few Americans are atheists. (And the majority don't trust atheists.) Therefore, knowing a few bible verses may be essential for atheists to be able to speak to people of faith.
The head of Goldman Sachs said he’s doing “God’s work” with his banking activities. The head of Barclays also told his congregation that banking as practiced by his company was not antithetical to Christian principles.
Are they right? Is big banking as practiced by the giant banks in harmony with Christian or traditional Jewish principles?
Do Justice
Initially, the Bible does not counsel us to ignore the breaking of laws by the the powerful.
In fact, the Bible mentions justice over 200 times — more than just about any other topic. The Bible asks us to do justice and to stand up to ANYONE — including the rich or powerful — who do injustice or oppress the people.
Indeed, one of the first things God asks of us is to do justice:
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
While many churches and synagogues have become obsessed with other issues, many have arguably ignored this most important of God’s demands of us. As pointed out by a leading Christian ministry, which rescues underage girls trapped as sex slaves in third world countries:
In Scripture there is a constant call to seek justice. Jesus got upset at the Pharisees because they neglected the weightier matters of the law, which He defined as justice and the love of God . . . Isaiah 58 complains about the fact that while the people of God are praying and praying and praying, they are not doing anything about the injustice.
Should Christians just pray for justice and leave the rest to God?
That’s not what the Bible asks us to do. Instead, Hebrews 11:33 tells us that we are God’s hands for dispensing justice, and God uses us to “administer justice.”
We have to “walk our talk” and put our prayers into action.
God demands that we do everything in our power to act as “God’s hands” in bringing justice. And as Saint Augustine reminds us, “Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.”
Indeed:
The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, He was appalled that there was no one to intervene. (Isaiah 59:15-16)
This is the only place in the Bible where the word “appalled” is used for the way God feels — in other words, the only thing which we know God is appalled by is if people are not doing justice.
There are hundreds of other references to justice in the Bible, including:
- Blessed are they who maintain justice . . . . (Psalm 106:3)
- This is what the LORD says: Maintain justice and do what is right . . . . (Isiah 56:1)
- This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. (Jeremiah 22:3,13-17)
- Follow justice and justice alone. (Deuteronomy 16:19, 20)
- For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice . . . . (Job 11:5,7)
- Learn to do right! Seek justice . . . . (Isaiah 1:17)
But shouldn’t we be deferential to the rich and powerful bankers?
No. Colossians 3:25 explains:
For the wrongdoer will have punishment for the wrong he has done, without respect for any man’s position.
So if the powerful players in the giant banks broke the laws, they must be held to account.
Fraud and Manipulation of Money
The big banks have engaged in systemic, continuous ongoing criminal fraud.
Allowing the banks to commit crime with impunity is not what Jesus would do. What would Jesus do? Turn over the tables of the money-changers. (economists agree.)
Moreover, the giant banks are manipulating every market in the world.
As Ron Paul notes, the Bible forbids altering the quality of money (which, at the time and place, was entirely in the form of coins):
Even the Bible is clear that altering the quality of money is an immoral act. We are instructed to follow the rules of “just weights and measures.” “You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin” (Leviticus 19:35-36). “Diverse weights are an abomination to the LORD, and a false balance is not good” (Proverbs 20:23). The general principle can be summed as “You shall not steal.”
Proverbs 11:1 also provides:
Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight.
So to the extent that the giant banks have engaged in any dishonest acts or the manipulation of currencies, they are violating scripture.
Oppression of the Poor
Finally, the Bible condemns oppression of the poor for the benefit of the affluent:
He that oppresses the poor to increase his riches, and he that gives to the rich, shall surely come to want. (Proverbs 22:16)
To the extent that the giant banks have oppressed the poor to increase their riches, they are violating scripture.
Shouldn’t We Wait Until the Economy Recovers?
Apologists for Wall Street criminals argue that we should wait until the economy recovers before we prosecute the criminals.
But Ecclesiastes 8:11 notes:
When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.
Nobel prize winning economists agree.
Important Postscript: Not all bankers are bad people. For example, many bankers at smaller banks and credit unions are good people who are trying to help their communities. Each must be judged by his own acts.
Moreover, corrupt government officials are half the problem. Indeed, the big banks wouldn’t have grown so large, or gotten away with so many bad acts, had corrupt officials in Washington not condoned their actions.
The Wall Street criminals themselves are not the real problem. The deeper problem is the malignant, symbiotic relationship between corrupt government officials and corrupt bankers.
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" Not all bankers are bad people."
And not all are good, know thy banker.
PS: Love the illustration, much kudos to the maker.
Actually all men and women are bad people by God's standards since man is in a fallen state with a sinful heart.
Jail all the Banksters for their earthly crimes and then get them some Jesus so they can repent. Banksters have broken man's law and God's law.
And atheists out there, Christians do not think they are good people and everyone else is a bad person. Christians know we are all bad people who need Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit, try to act better like Him.
An Athiest would not do what these people do, because it is immoral, wrong, and hurts other people, which has nothing to do with god and is a human thing.
Religious people would let it ride, because they can always repent in their penthouses.
Saying you are a man or women of god raises my suspicions. Those boys on 911 were men of god, and I'm sure they felt they were headed to heaven for one hell of a virgin orgy.
I suggest the writer of this article review the history of the 'church'. Goldman Sachs has nothing on these guys.
Hey, Bring on the Asteroid, How did your mother earth treat the people of Thailand on tsunami day? How did your mother earth treat the hurrican Sandy victims? How did your mother earth treat the tornado victims in Tuscaloosa? I was there. I saw how she treated them. If that is your mother I would hate like hell to meet your father. Though I know his name. Saddens me with all your worldly knowledge you can't see God's hand in a sunrise. I will pray for you. All creation groaneth for the manifestation of the sons of God. Not infestation, a rising and a showing of all that is good, true, loving and of good report. Savor the sunshine because God is just he causes it to rain on the just and unjust.
How did your god treat the people of Thailand on tsunami day? How did your god treat the hurricane Sandy victims? How did your god treat the tornado victims in Tuscaloosa? Mother nature is impassive so it is rational that people both live and die by the natural processes of the earth. Your god is supposed to be omniscient and ompnipotent and never intervenes in the suffering of innocents.
You are yet another fifty year old american theist nutter who has suffered through indoctrination of religious thinking and a crumbling education system. All the arguments posted on this thread by theists have been pathetic in the extreme. The age old classic argument which makes me laugh is it requires something complex to create something complex like a human being. Reductio ad absurdem, what complex being created the complex god.
Theists arguments don't even abide the most basic precepts of logic or rationality. Amny of the theists here are probably borderline alcoholic, uneducated and in their 50-60's. Strange how these stereotypes are so prevalent.
I am 41, hardly ever drink, and have two graduate degrees. What were you saying again? Oh yeah, God loves you.
Speaking on behalf of god, damn you are well connected. Does god love the little boys who are raped by members of the clergy. Does he love them when the upstanding superiors of the rapists cover up the crime and send the perpetrator to a distant church to repeat offend.
Your god is non existent in the external world and only exists in your internal world called your mind and only then because you were programmed that way.
Load of crap GW, just like the original George Washington and the other Founding Fathers who only wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in favour of land and slave owners.
You refuse to come out with the facts/truth that 9/11 was an inside job.
How about this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mKWYqzEwoM
I charge you with being an American Exceptionalist, whereas the Washiington has been the most destructive empire to ever rule this planet ... currently about 900 military bases in about 150 countrties + never ending wars all around the world.
As a matter of fact the original George Washington was an oligarch who had zero interest in "we the people".
You and other Usans are deluded; the Contstitution, etc, was only meant to apply to an elite bunch of male land and slave owners.
The Washington Empire you know today is the logical consequence of what the sociopathic/psychopathic Founding Fathers started 200+ years ago, i.e, never ending war ... from the Spanish/Mexican to the current war against Syria.
If you had any sense of history, you would know that the history of war is the narrative of mankind.
Tell me, non-USAan, when and where has this peaceful utopia ever existed....and what happened to it if it did exist?
The demons come out of the woodwork.....
You STILL don't get it GW (or you don't want to). The domestic enemy Usurper's ineligibility ALLOWS the criminal activity because the United States is voluntarily giving up the US Constitution and sovereignty by allowing an ineligible President. When there is no legal executor of the laws then there is no law silly.
A2S1C4 is a self executing Constitutional provision. No law or Congressional statute is necessay to enforce it.
"No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President";
I still haven't seen you tackle this SCOTUS precedent (you choose to ignore inconvenient facts, like most relativists):
"The Constitution does not in words say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners." Minor v. Happersett, 88 US 162, 167 (1874)
Whether you think the domestic enemy's birth story is a lie or not, that is the one told from his own mouth, and by that telling Obama 2 was born of a British subject father, Obama Sr. As such he is not eligible, even if born in the Oval Office. If that story is not true then he has other problems.
TELL THE TRUTH GW!! (or maybe learn something about the Constitution you claim to love)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zavbgO1s8io
You may be an ambassador
To England or France
You might like to gamble
You might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight
Champion of the world
You might be a socialite
With a long string of pearls
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
Yes indeed, you're gonna have to serve somebody
Well it may be the Devil
Or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
Might be a Rock-n-roll addict
Prancing on the stage
Money, Drugs at your command
Women in a cage
You may be a businessman
Or some high degree thief
They may call you doctor
Or they may call you chief
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
Yes you are, you're gonna have to serve somebody
Well it may be the Devil
Or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
You may be a state trooper
You might be a young tough
You may be the head
Of some big TV network
You may be rich or poor
You may be blind or lame
Maybe livin' in another Country
Under another name
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
Yes you are, you're gonna have to serve somebody
Well it may be the Devil
Or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
Maybe a construction worker
Workin' on a home
Might be livin' in a Mansion
You might live in a dome
You may own guns
And you may even own tanks
You may be someone's landlord
You may even own banks
[. From: http://www.elyrics.net .]
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
Yes, you're gonna have to serve somebody
Well it may be the Devil
Or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
You may be a Preacher
Preaching Spiritual Pride
Maybe a City Councilman
Takin' bribes on the side
Maybe working in a Barbershop
You may know how to cut hair
You may be somebody's mistress
Maybe somebody's heir
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
Yes, you're gonna have to serve somebody
Well it may be the Devil
Or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
Might like to wear cotton
Might like to wear silk
Might like to drink whiskey
Might like to drink milk
Might like to eat caviar
You might like to eat bread
Maybe sleeping on the floor
Sleepin' in a king-size bed
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
Yes indeed, you're gonna have to serve somebody
Well it may be the Devil
Or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebodyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zavbgO1s8io
You may call me Terry
You may call me Timmy
You may call me Bobby
Or you may call me Zimmy
You may call me RJ
You may call me Ray
You may call me anything
No matter what you say
You're still gonna have to serve somebody
Yes, you're gonna have to serve somebody
Well it may be the Devil
And it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
Ohh Yeah
Serve Somebody
---BOB DYLAN Gotta Serve Somebody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERur4grAN7Q
Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain
You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud
You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul
And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'TIL I'M SURE YOU'RE DEAD
---Mountain - Vocals: L. West / O. Osbourne (song original by Bob Dylan - lyrics of the Mountain version are little different than Dylan's)
ALL LOVE FROM THE HEART
***
When people start doing wrong today they have the power of modern technology to do it with. Much different today to let the crooks at the top get away with crimes compared to 200 years ago. A single globalist psychopath could wreak havoc.
Its well established by the lawyers, that when you give your money to a bank, its the BANK's MONEY to do with as they wish,
Besides you get an IOU in return for your money,
But nobody can call it 'theft', besides its insured up to $250k
***
Ahh to the jeebuz freaks I say "Give unto caesar that is caesar",.. for whose face is on that greenback? For obama, and thus give your money to the US GUBMINT if you not wish to have to 'lost' by your bank,
But either way only fools hold US dollars these days in any form.
The beauty (if it can be called such) of the current millieu of corruption is its "remote control" nature. The executive sitting in his walnut office surrounded by his opulence signs a stack of papers, believing he should, that it needs to be done, because he always has, that's the way it gets done, that's our proceedure: poor get cheated, injustice is done, corruption continues, people die.
The "system" has separated itself from the act of sin. The NSA has powered up the greatest "remote control" beast in the history of the world in Utah. Do you think it will be able to connect the dots in the process mentioned above, to "see" the sin, to prosecute it, expose it to the light?
I propose its purpose is to empower, not the uncovering of crime, remote control injustice. The Beast. The Abomination that makes Desolate.
It is now in Capture Mode...
duplicate
There is more to this life than meets the eye and the adage of what goes around comes around seems to have some truth to it.
Having said that, many tenets biblical and otherwise were formulated to provide a peaceful existence and separate man from beast.
However, the faithful, atheists and others have and continue to preach one way and do the opposite. That is what makes humanity perfect as we are so imperfect.
We keep on fighting the same problems as was prevalent thousands of years ago.
Blaa bla blaa bla.... Here's the facts : planet that supports life is here. Incredible diversity and codependent relationships rule evolution out as logical cause. How did this place come to be ? It's only logical to assume that something intelligent created something intelligent.
Evolution does not satisfactorily explain our existence. End of story.
"Blaa bla blaa bla.... Here's the facts :"
Ah yes Ocean, thank you for that.
Blah per say blah...blah...blah...is more proper than the pondering of the creation of the human being. Wow huh! What a Creator to gather some earth, air, water, and fire, the four basic elements of earth, and then throw them all together to create the human body. But more than that, to work with the Greater Hierarchies of the multi-dimensional universe to incarnate the soul at the exact time of birth to animate the pile of four elements, thus becoming the fifth element, the spiritual being about to begin another new human experience.
The mysteries of birth and timings and cycles of souls and actual DNA linages from ancient history is fascinating at least. We might ponder using the small percentage of brain capacity we use, what is it, humans use 10% of the brain? Imagine if we could use the other 90%. Or, what if say, an advanced being was say, some very intelligent geneticist and created the human being?
One can equally go so far as to say, is God Love, or is God the Creator Geneticist?
Maybe yes to both.
Can you say Annunaki Queen?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFhM1XZsh6o
If you choose to be wrong because 85% of your neighbors are wrong, you're a coward and you deserve all that will do to you. If these clowns and the 85% of academics who believe things they were told that they don't understand ever apply the scientific method to their belief systems 'we' can all make some damn progress and maybe the species will survive this. Otherwise noone here gets out alive and you can't take it with you, not even Zohar Blankfein.
Gotten a little tired of this one over the years... Faith requires great courage. To believe in nothing requires nothing... truly the cowards way out...
I thought religion was for bombing abortion clinics and stuff like that. I didn't realize that those bombers should also be focusing on WS.
GW, good post but in trying to bring in the religious "Christian" "Bible Belt" thinking....you are asking for it. When anyone studies the reformation and looked at how justice was perceived at that point...it is horrible. Luther nailed his document to the door and then it started...and the religious groups started whacking each other. Calvin (predestination horseshit) used to boil his adversaries in oil. The horrors that were commited in the "new" understanding what the bible was about and how the sharing of wealth should be (as brothers with the lord) left thousands burning at the stake, boiled in oil, hacked to death (St Bartholemews Day massacre). Even the poor Hungarians were slaughtered because the lords (the wealthy) saw that this was going to continue unless someone stopped it and they did. Christ taught pure communism not capitalism. And look how the whole thing has morphed. Look how Europe (those that went through this horror) regards relgion. They kept the Capitalism side of things and threw out the other. At least they are honest about it. The churches make good bars.
I shudder to think of what could happen in this country by those that interpet religous thinking in regards to making money and keeping it from others. All of Christs tennets will be "rationalized" to keep the money. Why "they" deserve it because they "believe". What happened to the "love your fellow man" in the pure sense because that is what he meant for sure.
gnat strainer much?
"please remember that some 85% of the American population identifies itself as Christian and millions more identify themselves as Jewish"
Is this supposed to be am argument in favour of religious belief. If I shared the same belief as 85% of Americans I'd personally be seriously questioning my belief.
No, that is not the argument at all! The argument is that if you have any desire to have power in influencing people who are not part of the 15%, then you have to learn what persuades them.
But if you would rather be impotent in reaching those 85%, then don't worry about learning anything new ...
The Lord has seen it fit to bring a great Tribulation upon us. It is a test of our Will and our Faith.
We are led by people who pray at the false alter of power and languish themselves in the worship of money desecrated by ill-gotten means. They cannot see the right way, as they are blinded by their greed and selfish actions. They can no longer see their brothers and sisters in man.
The time is upon us to stand and lift up our eyes in honor of the Words of Christ and the Love of our Father. We must reestablish justice equal to all, and return balance to the scales by which we are all judged by each other.
You say "How may I ask this?" I know. Maybe you search but haven't got a job. Maybe you are hungry because you work but can't afford food. Maybe you work and end up only serving the Money-changers outside their Temples of greed. Maybe your family and you have been driven from your Home....
So from where does the strength and power come to see a battle through, when those with whom you do battle have taken from you, and worked to weaken your legs and your heart?
It comes from within.
The promises of the Lord are clear and unfailing.. Isaiah 40:31...
..."But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings,.. like eagles.... They will run and not grow weary.... They will walk and not faint."
Through our Faith and its uniting power within us, we shall bring forth for that which has been waged upon many of us, And we must say we will no longer set by, while the strong victimize the weak, nor the few victimize the many.
The Lord promises of his accounting through the king in the book of Matthew.. Ch 25
"Truly I tell you, whatever you do of one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you do unto me."
So this is not an easy Tribulation. In our hearts, we find it difficult to see His Wisdom.
But, we do have to know we can no longer ignore the rattlings of.... fear and threats of fear... false promises of safety which only garner repression.... worship of the Money-Changers and forced indenture of our children to them... deceptions which destroy our money and our daily working means to money....
....all these things are of the people we have in Washington; while they destroy the long built and once mighty frame of our government, and act to serve themselves abundantly, while serving none of us at all.
In our Faith, we must rise up with all of our brothers and sisters and end this Pestilence these people have wrought upon us, our families, and our country.
What I'd like to do is have a few millions of us brothers and sisters head to Washington with a couple of rifles and fire a few shots over these motherfuckers' heads to get their attention. Then tell them, they and their bullshit are over. As of this minute,
But that might not work out well.
So Plan B is about 10 millions descending on Washington. If so inclined, bring your Scripture, it is our Sword and Shield. It can be called Occupy-the-Capitol-That-Belongs-To-Us-not-You-You-Corporate-Cocksucking-Pieces-of-Shit.
That's a little long and might need some work, but I think in total it will get the point across.
The unemployed, under-employed, and part-time employed can go first. They have the time. And that will make clear what the priorities of Main Street are.
Not right away, but pretty soon, the men in Congress and the WH will start wearing skirts so they can shit and run at the same time.
Maybe if some folks get bored completely overwhelming Washington DC. They can go over and put a fuckin' torch to K-Street. Ain't nobody gonna care if that ShitSwamp of snakes gets burned out of town. How 'bout the Fed building, too?
In Jesus Christ's Name,
Amen.
How was that?.
(i'm definitely going to hell for that one)
Testify, brother ;)
Not sure I agree but I see your point. From a staunch scientific background I can't see any purpose in wasting any more time on religion. The best way to "beat" these people is through education and the promotion of scientific endevour. Have you seen christians talking in tongues. These are seriously deranged people. Although this is a selective example to make a point, why on earth would anyone be bothered learning anything about christians who talk in tongues. What more can we learn about what makes these people tick. It is a transitory phase during the development of the cerebral cortex.
I've been debating with religious nuts most of my life and the only thing that will heal the human mind is time and education. It will be many centuries more before these systems of control over humans are footnortes in history. Religion, christianity as we know it today is vastly different from christianity only a few decades ago. It's already changing before our very eyes. It won't exist in it's current form in a hundred years. My guess is that once we have sufficiently destroyed the environment humans will quickly revert to paganism in some fashion and worship mother nature as the true giver of life. Whatever the current system of belief is humans are programmed to defend it.
And there is nothing wrong with education and scientific endeavour. I believe God wants us to know everything. It is a process. I believe everything is always changing and what I believe changes all the time. Evolution if you like ;)
You on the other hand seem to have all the answers all carved into stone and wouldn't consider a new idea if it smacked you in the face :)
I have a lot of colleagues who think that way. Take science legend Francis Collins, he believes that doing science is the best opportunity he has for worship. Doesn't hurt anyone, keeps him happy, and the science still gets done. My agnostic mouth: zipped.
Fundies are a whole different story. If they want to reject science then by all means do so, but don't be hypocrites; give up the use of any modern technology that depended on physics, chemistry, etc, to be developed. Some would be fine with that, problem is they'd drag their poor families with them.
If you want to speak to someone you best do it in their language.
And if the first thing you do is call them "nuts" they probably won't even bother listening to you.
"The best way to "beat" these people is through education and the promotion of scientific endevour."
I will be the first to thank science for lifesaving discoveries but I will not be "beaten" to believe in the flavor of the day theories that come and go and tweaked while having only one agenda - to promote mankind ahead of our Creator and in doing so reeks of pure egoism.
I pretty much see organised religion the same way. If people want to pursue their own spiritual journey then so be it, good for them and it's none of my business. But when I see a power structure with layers of management, a select few standing up front demanding loyalty, trust, faith, without proof, plenty of clear evidence of corruption, a core text that actively preaches "do not think, do not question, just believe", etc, then what I see is just another bunch of crooks with just another means of control. The organisation in organised religion is just another political entity driven by the same thing that drives all other political entities: insatiable thirst for more power, whatever the cost.
Again, different story for individuals truly thinking for themselves and following their own course. This is why I have something of a soft spot for Bahai which at least makes SOME attempt to avoid the politics.
Personally, I find reading science, engineering and mathematics far more enlightening and valuable as a source of answers than any philosophy that depends only on faith. These fields depend on solid proof, something to think about the next time you fly on a jet aircraft or look out the window of the 60th storey. The proof that the hard sciences are the most powerful way to uncover Truth is all around us in the technology we use everyday, yet after thousands of years of trying, philosophers still haven't got anything to show beyond a bunch of blah, blah, blah.
We live in an age that has given over wisdom for knowledge... a poor substitute...
I'd say that it's more correct, for most people, to say that we live in an age where both knowledge and wisdom have been given over for entertainment.
I wouldn't be so hard on knowledge: it's a gradient ranging from high quality information that assists formation of wisdom through to pure noise that simply distracts and inhibits formation of wisdom. It's up to the individual to have enough basic wisdom to apply an information filter (taking a sledgehammer to the TV is a great start).
On that scale, I've found science and applied science to be very high value. Investigating protein crystal structures, chromatin state regulation, cell signal transduction, astrophysics, quantum mechanics, etc, has been more educational regarding my place in the universe than any holy book I've encountered. In fact, I'd say holy books actively inhibit a correct view of things by massively overstating our importance.
I taught college inorganic chemistry. I do not object to the sciences. They do a wonderful job of organizing the material universe. But there is a limit to human understanding... Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle... most certainly... But I prefer .... God's thinking is as far from man's thinking as the East is from the West... The former is what I would consider knowledge (( man's understanding) as would those who seem to believe they have a lock on rational thought... except they snicker and call all else children's stories). The latter I would call wisdom.
Not often we wax metaphysical on this site... but then we can all use a break from economic collapse ( orchestrated or otherwise), the coming world war, and wether or not gold is a barbarous relic. I happen to believe this last, by the way, but then I am a barbarian...
It does make for a pleasant change! I had a two hour coffee this morning with a relative who was in town briefly and is a Catholic priest (more open minded than most, he thinks the preceding pope was a jackass and favours progress).
One of the best conversations in a long time, covering a lot of ground, me coming from the agnostic scientific angle, him coming from the spiritual angle. Turns out we agreed on basically everything, (particularly that literalist fundamentalists really don't help at all).
What everybody seems to forget is that the banks own the government. The government is suppossed to be constrained by the Constitution. However, they either ignore it or pick and choose which parts they like. "We the people of the the United Staes of America" has been replaced by "We the banks of the United States of America". In the same way that Congress picks and choses which laws it obeys, so do the banks. Now that the Fed is now the owner of Trillions of Dollars of Treasury Debt", things are unlikely to change in the future. If the Supreme Court can not reign in Congress, nobody can.
Or the government owns the banks... is there really a difference...
I am tired of thinking about bank crime.
I want to be thinking about criminal punishment.
A. Pretty sure that Blankfein's god is Lucifer ... the god of the bankers, jews and secret societies IS Lucifer and this has been documented many times.
B. Being just and using evil acts to control injustice are two completely different things. One cannot expect or demand that people commit evil acts in the name of justice.
C. Please do not forget Jubilees, judgment anf the Harbinger
He worships Mammon surely.
Banks, Terrorism and other Existential Threats: The Real Invisible Hand
A request for assistance from ZH readers (known for being enthusiastic commenters) :
We have prepared a series of three papers and a podcast on the dangers of the use of fiat/digital currency combined with the near total dependency of most of our economies on the international payments and settlements system. This leaves us vulnerable to a systemic collapse, an insider threat and/or a foreign attack (read China, Iran, Hezbollah). In short, banks and anyone who deals with a bank is on the frontline of a new form of warfare.
These research papers and the podcast mark the first time that anyone has been drawn attention to the line between fiat vulnerability and the payments and settlement system. We will be writing a fourth paper on potential solutions and options for moving ahead. Any comments or ideas are welcome here or at cohost@brokenmirrors.ca
CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT
** *The Broken Mirrors website is not set up to be a for-profit website or business (yet). However, we do intend to make the transition to making money sometime in early 2014 as we develop the work on the site and an associated online training program. In other words, no direct financial gain from this posting.
Banks, Terrorism and other Existential Threats: The Real Invisible Hand
We can begin the discussion with a simple proposition: what bankers are allowing to happen (consciously or not) at Central Banks and Financial Institutions is far more fearsome than what terrorists have planned in the past. A failure of their jointly operated payments and settlements system would do more systemic damage to the advanced economies than any terrorist attack has done to date. The payments and settlements system is virtually invisible to the public, intelligence and security agencies and most politicians. Yet this ‘invisible’ system has implicated itself into the everyday lives of the populations of almost all of the developed economies.
The other invisible factor lurking in the background is the fiat currency system used by almost all developed nations. Those bank notes in your pocket or wallet are called ‘fiat currency’ as there is little to nothing that supports them other than pure faith – which is by definition invisible. When individuals lose faith in their government or their financial system, the currency can become nearly worthless in a rapid manner: history is littered with failed fiat currencies.
The intelligence community as a whole has not seriously examined the potential for the application of the use of force (cyber or otherwise) within this economic domain. Nor is it clear that most Western governments have any ability to respond to such an attack (or internal failure) should such an event occur. As Jason Healey, the former White House Director of Cyber Infrastructure Protection noted in a recent address, if the United States is engaged in a cyberwar, Americans would be far better served by contacting Microsoft or AT&T rather than the Department of Homeland Security.
For more on this see:
Banks, Terrorism and other Existential Threats: The Real Invisible Hand http://www.brokenmirrors.ca/?p=230 (intro, list of papers and links)
The Invisible War in Your Wallet – The Sixth Domain of Warfare is You http://www.brokenmirrors.ca/?p=203 (the invisible links between banks, terrorism and existential threats, the international payments and settlements system, the existential threat resident in the current limitations of the (il)legitimacy of the fiat currency system, impact of a failure on the economy and you)
Welcome To The Front – Social and Economic Warfare is all about You http://www.brokenmirrors.ca/?p=252 (future scenario involving the People’s Republic of China, China’s capabilities and intentions, how a potential conflict scenario could develop, previous payments and settlements attacks and failures, conclusions about the state of system security)
The Transformation of the Sixth Domain: Economic Warfare and You in the Information Age. http://warontherocks.com/2013/10/podcast-the-war-in-your-wallet-the-real-invisible-hand/ or at http://www.brokenmirrors.ca/?p=261 Podcast (economic warfare, scenarios, fiat currency history, fiat currency current situation, pushing back against the system, community resilience)
FUTURE PAPER: We intend to write one more paper on the payments and settlements system which would identify the path ahead. Reader comments and ideas will be included and we want your views! This paper will address issues around the functioning of ATMs in the event of a payments and settlements crisis and whether or not individual FIs would be able/willing to provide cash to only their own customers. Would this cause a run on the banks? If there is a breakdown in the payments and settlements system, what would happen to note exchange and provision systems and how would cash get to the FIs? What would be the effect on securities exchanges, cheques clearing, retail debits, direct deposits, derivatives and foreign currency exchanges? How would they be settled without the payments and settlement system?
Please leave comments here or send directly, in confidence, to cohost@brokenmirrors.ca
Any atheists who wish to slam religion as being illogical are missing the point.
First of all, social psychologists say that most people make decisions based upon frames. If you don't know about frames, you'll be able to persuade very few people who think differently from you.
More importantly, please honestly ask yourself:
If the latter, you're acting like a partisan who only wants to attack the other side of the aisle (Obama, Boehner, etc.) instead of actually working to SOLVE problems by rallying around what's important.
Get it?
Oh Sir GW, thank you for this great, and as usual, fantastic journalism in your reporting.
Tons of great commentary from the crew too. Give thanks to all.
The picture above is classic.
Wanna know a funny thing. Were such a person(s) here in this modern time, another initiate ya know, you can bet he or she would be doing exactly as the picture above depicts and more so, hanging out on ZH!
These portals are the trenches and...This Ain't No Party, This Ain't No Disco.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVHNwBbkSj4
no, GW, not sure I get it. and any public debate involving religion is always dangerous, imho. nevertheless:
in my experience (or current worldview), all Christian denominations that were somehow influenced by Calvin are way different from the rest, and similar to some Jewish philosophical strains
to put it bluntly, if your deity is one that has everything foreordained and you know that you are loved from above according to your wealth, you tend to be convinced that you are doing "God's work", even if you are accumulating riches by trading slaves. plenty of historical examples for that
to this line of thinking, your parable of Jesus and the moneychangers is just taken out of context
you have to share values in order to shame someone, GW. tribal/cultural taboos work only inside of the similar tribes/cultures