Message 3

I told you the above as evidence that what I'm saying about spirits and a spirit world is true. Nowadays there is an onslaught of media, scholarship and culture that is, apparently, trying to convince you it isn't. Scientists, academics, researchers, "debunkers" are bombarding the public with all kinds of scientific theories and other information, the ultimate purpose of which is, I think, to convince people that there is nothing but a material universe--that's all there is--there's no spirit world, no supernatural, there are no gods or goddesses, there's no afterlife, when people die there is nothing left of them at all, humans have no soul. Period. And yet, interestingly, while all that is going on, many scientists are now beginning to doubt Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution, which is one of the major foundations of the materialist worldview (there is no spirit world, only a material one), and are concluding that there is no way that life could have arisen spontaneuosly, by random chance, over millions of years. Many scientists are saying that there must be some kind of intelligent force that created life, even the simplest lower life forms. There may be what is called microevolution, which is slight adaptations in species that already exist, but they don't see how there could be macroevolution, complete species arising out of nothing, by only random chance.

Now I'm going to turn (before I get to "The End Times") to a subject I think is of great importance...the disastrous state of institutional Christianity.

People need to know that institutional Christianity, i.e., the religious organizations here on earth, is quite a bit different from the real and original religion, and the real and original Jesus Christ. There's good evidence that that is so--this isn't just my opinion. It's a complicated story.

Go back in your mind to the very beginning, when, according to scripture, Jesus commissioned Peter to found the new religion. Jesus said that "the gates of Hell shall not prevail" against this new church. This is a strong declaration that nothing would stop his new religion, not Rome, nor even all the powers of supernatural evil. Supernatural good would make sure the new church succeeded. But I don't think this means that it wouldn't be severely battered by the time it reached port, in the distant future. The basic core of it would remain, but this core would be surrounded, drowned out and watered down by all kinds of false ideas and doctrines, and all kinds of nonsense, and I think that's what we have today. I think this is true of all the denominations, Catholic, Protestant, etc. Some things they say are true, others aren't. It's a hodgepodge. Misunderstandings and misinterpretations abound. I've been shocked by some of the things I've heard big name preachers say on television--things that are intended to justify their own particular points of view and versions of Christianity. Everybody has their own version, nowadays. It looks like they are actually making up their own versions of Christianity, and then "selling" these to the public (and making alot of money doing so, and building their own religious "fiefdoms"). It's an outrage, but the people doing this kind of thing I think are mixed-up, lost, and confused. They have some good intentions, but some bad ones, also, ulterior motives. They're in denial of this, I think, their own corruption, irrationality and lack of honesty about what they're really doing. They're self-righteous. "We are righteous men of God! How dare anyone accuse us of any error or fault. Everything we do is divinely inspired and, thus, infallible!", they undoubtedly would say if anyone took them to task about their error-ridden and at times preposterous ideas and beliefs. You might be interested to hear that people like this have predecessors, who were just like them, used the same tactics, had the same kinds of faults. They lived in ancient Israel, at the time of Jesus. They were called the Pharisees.

The real, historical Jesus Christ, whose real name was "Yeshua", battled the Pharisees fiercely throughout his three year ministry. It deteriorated into an all-out brawl, bare-knuckle, you might say--mostly of words, but deeds, also, as seen in the "rousting" of the money changers from the Temple. As an example of the verbal battle, consider this:

"The Pharisees travel miles to make a convert, then turn him into twice

the son of Hell that they are themselves."

That's blunt language, I'd say, and laced with sarcasm. Surprisingly modern, also--sounds alot like the way people talk nowadays. Or this:

"The Pharisees tithe down to the very number of mint leaves in their

gardens, and then kick widows and poor people out of their homes

without pity."

Doesn't sound like the usual ethereal holy man rhetoric you're led to believe is all Yeshua uttered. He's ridiculing and heaping scorn on the Pharisees. You can see how and why the Pharisees were so enraged, to the point of plotting assassination. This is somebody who despised them, and didn't hesitate to show it, publicly. Not exactly the caesar milquetoast "wimp" of institutional Christianity, who supposedly didn't believe in fighting back. If you look at the original writings of the New Testament, you see somebody who seldom misses an opportunity to hit back, against his enemies.

The end result of this is all kinds of false teachings and doctrines. These things do alot of harm to people, especially if they are inculcated in childhood. People who grow up in these strict "fundamentalist" environments are the most damaged, I think. Every day of their lives, undoubtedly, religion is used as a veritable stick to beat them with--every time they try to just be normal human beings, live a normal life and do normal things, that stick of religion comes down on their heads. So by the time they grow up they have been severely damaged psychologically and emotionally, and are likely fraught with severe religious neuroses, complexes, "quirks". Probably the most common religious neurosis in Christianity would be a morbid, pathological guilt. Accompanying that might be an inordinate sense of shame and worthlessness, a sense of not being good enough. By adulthood these things would probably be repressed into unconsciousness, and the person, on the surface, might exhibit a "forced" joyfulness, "happiness", and enthusiasm for religion, for Jesus. Every fourth word they utter might be "praise Jesus!", "Amen!", "Hallelujah!". But really it's all a sham. In their heart of hearts, they are really crying--lonely, lost children crying in the night--a perpetual night--of false and inhuman religion. People from these kinds of backgrounds have probably never been allowed to be human, to think what they think, feel what they feel, and be their real, natural selves. It's a kind of emotional straitjacketing--they're required in their social milieu to emote the right, approved kinds of emotions. Some of these communities teach their members that it's a sin to ever be angry or just depressed--they have to be joyful and "happy" all the time, otherwise they are not being good Christians, are lacking in "faith" or zeal. It's a kind of emotional dictatorship which is horribly inhuman and destructive to people, in my opinion.

The end result of it all is a Christianity that is basically anti-human, even anti-life. The gist of it all is, it's a sin to be human. People are led to believe, one way or another, that just being human is a "sin" and is condemned by God. Your basic human nature is sinful, evil, and has to be gotten rid of, and you must become something else, a strangely non-human human, a perfect little religious angel who has no basic human nature or desires or instincts or appetites, meaning "carnal" or creaturely nature or appetites. You're not allowed to be a creature, which has basic creaturely desires and appetites, to eat--drink--mate, or fight to protect its own interests and well-being, and in general maximize physical or emotional or social gratification and reduce physical, emotional or social pain, discomfort and "dis-ease" as much as possible. Psychologist Sigmund Freud called this "libido", the inherent impulse of living creatures to maximize gratification or pleasure and minimize pain and suffering. But people have gotten the idea, apparently, that this is considered a "sin" by God and is thus forbidden. Freud realized that this idea, inherent in institutional Christianity (and, actually, in other creeds, such as Buddhism, in which self-deprivation, asceticism, "denial of the flesh" is prominent), was causing catastrophic psychological/emotional damage in people, showing up in all kinds of strange neuroses, complexes, obsessions, psychoses, which were rife in Christian societies. Pathological guilt, shame, sense of inadequacy, the inferiority complex, bizarre obsessions. Freud and other psychologists like him (like Wilhelm Reich) concluded that the religious condemnation of basic creaturely nature and "libido" was producing a severely messed-up and "dysfunctional" society--to the point of insanity, even, not to mention cruelty and inhumanity. Well, that wasn't surprising, because that society was based on a cruel and inhuman religion.

From the very beginning institutional Christianity had, I think, a kind of "torture culture"--it appeared to have a sadistic, "torturer" God, which wanted to torture its own people--not the bad but the good --not foreigners, aliens, but its own. I think this was just a mistaken impression, but over time it got worse and worse and eventually snowballed into the most inhuman and sadistic religion that there ever was.

This anti-human, "pain" culture has persisted to our times. It's leading people to believe that they're not allowed to live, that every day has to be a miserable attempt to "live a Christian life", and you have nothing to look forward to but an awful torture-march down through eternity, in an effort to stop being human and become a perfect little religious angel who has no "libido", no creaturely desires or nature at all--doesn't want to eat, to drink, to mate, to fight for its own interests and well-being, and is happy with a life of little but pain and deprivation--"Hallelujah!". In addition to all that you're required to act like you like all this.

But this is false religion, I think. It's Phariseeism. History has repeated itself--we have the same situation that there was 2000 years ago. It's all gotten out of proportion and has foundered on the shoals of the unreasonable. The institutional religion world has forgotten that one thing, reasonableness, and has strayed off course into extremism, fanaticism and inhumanity. I don't think Christianity was meant to be an impossible millstone around our necks, terribly heavy, so that each day is an impossible burden, a problem that you can never solve--each day it's still there, the problem of being good enough. No matter how hard you try you're still falling short--you still haven't earned God's approval--he's a parent who's never pleased with anything you do. I don't think that's the real God. The real God gives credit where it is due, and, I think, likes to lavish praise on those who make a good effort. Not those who are superhumanly perfect, those who make a good effort. We aren't required to be superhumanly perfect little angels, only humanly adequate human beings who are trying, making a good effort. We're not required to be gods, only human beings who try. That's the difference between the real religion and Phariseeism.

The real Yeshua the prophet set down the definitive word on this in the New Testament, making a distinction between himself and the Pharisees:

"My yoke is easy--my burden is light."

in contrast to the Pharisees who put a difficult yoke on the people, and a heavy burden on them. Terribly heavy. There's good information that the worst oppression in Israel was not from the Romans, but from the Pharisees. Yeshua was saying that in his religion there would be a yoke, but it would be easy, and there would be a burden, but it would be a light one. There would be rules, but they would be reasonable, nothing that any normal human being wouldn't be able to abide by--there would be requirements, but they would be light, not any kind of daily misery or oppression, nothing that would preclude people living a good, fun, enjoyable life. Nothing sadistic, like what you see in institutional religion now, and saw in religion in ancient Israel.

The irony is that institutional Christianity, in spite of all the nice sounding talk and rhetoric about "love" and "saintliness" and "holiness"--"compassion", "forgiveness", "mercy" and such--behind that splendid , glorious facade, is really sadistic and abusive. I'm sorry, I think that is the unfortunate truth. But the good news is, the real Christianity, and the real Jesus Christ, aren't anything like that. They're good--real good, not the artificial, saccharine good of institutional religion. All that's needed here is to get the truth to the people, to the world. To set the record straight, and get the people who have gotten trapped in the dungeon that institutional Christianity has become, over the centuries, out. This isn't to say there is nothing good in institutional Christianity--no, I'm sure many people are trying to do good, but are being harmed by the nearly impossible expectations that are being put on them by a misleading religious system.

O.K. Now you should know that the world has been misled--for centuries--by false religion, and I hope this will make you immune to the evils of a falsified, error-ridden institutional Christianity. So you won't be fooled by it, taken in, and will know that the real version, and its leader, are good, not bad.

I said I would talk next about what people are calling "the End Times". I'll say a bit, but not the whole story, yet. I think it's true, we're on the verge of what's described in Revelation, and of the rise of Nostradamus's third antichrist. This fellow's already established in Europe, and the stage is being set. It's all being orchestrated. All the daily events in the news, it's all building toward this individual's rise to power. The world is being systematically manipulated, deceived and controlled--made fools of. Most of the world I'd say are complete fools of the evil spirit powers, as they do and say exactly what those powers want them to do or say. They're all dancing to exactly the tune those powers are playing. It's odious, and disgraceful, to see. You wonder how so many people can be so stupid, such complete dupes. But I think unconsciously, at least, it's what they want. So, they're all out there, stupidly helping this fellow attain total world power, oblivious of what they're really getting themselves into, and what this fellow really represents. Alot of them have been taken in just as many people were taken in by the communist and fascist political movements in the 20th century. Just like those people who served Hitler, or Lenin and Stalin, not having the slightest idea what those men were really up to, or what they would eventually drag the world into, and believing they were the heroes and "saviors" they pretended to be, many people worldwide are now serving this new evil political figure, aspiring dictator, believing he's the answer to all the world's problems and the hero they've been hoping for, that he's pretending to be. The exact same thing is happening again, the same socio-political-psychological processes which led to the reigns of Napoleon, Lenin, Stalin and Hitler. Those dictators used the exact same tactic--they played the role of the good guy, the champion of the people. Played that role so well they should have gotten an Academy Award. Until they'd attained total power--then they just did whatever they wanted, and showed their true evil nature.

[to be continued...]