Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite

Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite

Professor, Chicago Theological Seminary

Rev. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite is professor of theology at Chicago Theological Seminary and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. She was president of CTS from 1998-2008. Her area of expertise is contextual theologies of liberation, specializing in issues of violence and violation. An ordained minister of the United Church of Christ since 1974, the “On Faith” panelist is the author or editor of thirteen books and has been a translator for two translations of the Bible. Her works include Casting Stones: Prostitution and Liberation in Asia and the United States (1996) and The New Testament and Psalms: An Inclusive Translation (1995). She edited and contributed to Adam, Eve and the Genome: Theology in Dialogue with the Human Genome Project (2003). Close.

Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite

Professor, Chicago Theological Seminary

Rev. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite is professor of theology at Chicago Theological Seminary and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. She was president of CTS from 1998-2008. more »

Main Page | Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite Archives | On Faith Archives


The Face of Faith

The only face of faith that really matters is your own and whether you can finally face yourself before God.

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All Comments (51)

Levent Alkan:
ursa minor:

Faith needs to be expressed where true religion is concerned. One is reminded that a veil is between us and the divine. People do not believe and wonder why others do. People reach conclusions one way or another. Some reach by the thought. Others by actual experience, through contact with the divine. How else is one actually to know for sure? Not all will actually achieve this nirvanic state due to the fact that we are not all equal in capability and fortitude of faith. Abraham is considered an epitome of faith as he is the father of three religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. how many unbelievers from Abraham's era have such a following?

ursa minor:

Faith needs to be expressed where true religion is concerned. One is reminded that a veil is between us and the divine. People do not believe and wonder why others do. People reach conclusions one way or another. Some reach by the thought. Others by actual experience, through contact with the divine. How else is one actually to know for sure? Not all will actually achieve this nirvanic state due to the fact that we are not all equal in capability and fortitude of faith. Abraham is considered an epitome of faith as he is the father of three religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. how many unbelievers from Abraham's era have such a following?

Pam:

Levent Alkan wrote:
"who else may speak?"

Apparently no one but you.
Call your psychiatrist, please.

Levent Alkan:


nedir bu koksuzluk, nedir bu birseylere tutunmusluk? Kuran ulkelerarasi guzel okuma yarismasi icin mi? Kuran mizraklarin ucuna gecirildigi gibi, bugun namlulara yerlestirilmis kursunlara, boyunlara gecirilmis iplere, sopa gibi vurulan palalara mi takilmis? patlayan duzeneklerin arasina mi sokulmus? ucagi suren kisinin agzina mi konmus?

mizan yokken, nizam nasil kurulur ki? Ahmedi zehirleyen kecinin kemigi nedir ki? Anadolu'yu kim temizler ki?

Levent Alkan:


come on, there are 14 days for Valentine. we have almonds to grow!

Levent Alkan:


or shall he increase, shall he de-abate?

Levent Alkan:


they say Her Majesty of Queen is busy with Bee Z.

what shall double-abbates abate the case? is abbate a latin word for "priest scholar"?

State of Union.

Levent Alkan:


Putin, Schroeder, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, they say for Erdogan "he canceled smoking but he offers packages of MArlborough elsewhere". Mercedes to funeral? BMW Knights? Germany citizen religious Turks in PAkistan were canceled by CIA. Afghanistan shall hang a boy for speaking of woman rights.

Levent Alkan:


lets hear from Merkel, chancellor cancellarius, colleague of Sarkozy "that shall not sadden USA" by Williams Bush, after President Elections in France.

Mr Dominique of IMF from France, "we cast" year of five. is "lowest" southwest of north america?

Levent Alkan:


did United Kingdom dilepidate the World Trade Center Twin Towers?

Levent Alkan:

Ireland, Australia, Churchill, Adana Inonu, Kenya, World Trade Tower, World Wars, Marlborough FAmily, LAdy Diana.

Levent Alkan:

Armenians support Chicago Obama graduate of Colombia State, Hillary announced to accept Armenian Bill, Kenya of United Kingdom, Ubuntu of Africa, source of dynasties dinosours, slave trade. Utah, United Kingdom, Latter-day Saints, China.

Canada, Armenia, France, St Germain. Shakespeare Ephesus.

Levent Alkan:


Vodafone, protestant Tony Blair CAtholic, richest Prime minister, he was poorest unable to buy a house. Ireland, catholic, IRA, United Kingdom getting catholic.

Malaysia, Prince Andrew, Koc FAmily in Muslim 100 Companies List. Koc FAmily, Irish dancers, Inox Kitchen, no finger print on the kitchenware, Orthodox Church BArtholomew, Turkish Economy, YApi Kredi BAnk, (yapi kredi was owner of) Turkcell, Koc Unysis.

United Church of Christ, Protestants, Pope Benedictus Ephesus Istanbul, agreement with orthodox church, Prince Charles Ephesus,

Levent Alkan:


China, under heavy snow, energy transfer towers broken, immigration, United Kingdom.

USA rejected Chinese toys because of excess amount of lead and because processors may be applied for military use.

Levent Alkan:

Utah (IPA: /ˈjutɑː/) is a U.S. state located in the western United States. It was the 45th state admitted to the union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 88 percent of Utah's 2,500,000 people, known as "Utahns," live in an urban concentration with Salt Lake City as the center, known as the Wasatch Front. In contrast, vast expanses of the state are nearly uninhabited, making the population the sixth most urbanized in the U.S.[3] The name "Utah" is derived from the Ute Indian language, meaning "people of the mountains".[4] Utah is known for its geological diversity ranging from snowcapped mountains to well-watered river valleys to rugged, stony deserts. It is also known for being one of the most religiously homogeneous states in the Union, with approximately 61 percent[5] of its inhabitants claiming membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which greatly influences Utah culture and daily life.

The state is a center of transportation, information technology and research, government services and mining as well as a major tourist destination for outdoor recreation. St. George, Utah was the fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States from 2000-2005[6] with Utah being the sixth fastest growing state overall in 2006.[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah


Levent Alkan:

Paleontologists have discovered many fossils of prehistoric animals in Kenya. At one of the rare dinosaur fossil sites in Africa, two hundred Cretaceous theropod and giant crocodile fossils have been discovered in Kenya, dating from the Mesozoic Era, over 200 million years ago. The fossils were found in an excavation conducted by a team from the University of Utah and the National Museums of Kenya in July-August 2004 at Lokitaung Gorge, near Lake Turkana. [7]

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore Kenya, Vasco da Gama having visited Mombasa in 1498. Portuguese rule centered mainly on the coastal strip ranging from Malindi to Mombasa. The Portuguese colonial presence in East Africa officially begins after 1505, when flagships under the command of Don Francisco De Almeida bombarded and plundered Kilwa, an island located in what is now southern Tanzania.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya

In 1951, Sir Horace Hector Hearne became Chief Justice in Kenya (coming from Ceylon, where he had also been Chief Justice) and sat in the Supreme Court in Nairobi. He held that position until 1954 when he became an Appeal Justice of the West African Court of Appeal. On the night of the death of King George VI, 5 February 1952, Hearne escorted The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, as she then was, to a state dinner at the Treetops Hotel, which is now a very popular tourist retreat. It was there that she "went up a princess and came down a Queen".[8] She returned immediately to England, accompanied by Hearne.

crocodile : crow-cow-dile

Obama Kenya, Clinton Greece, Germany, England, Portugal.

Levent Alkan:


and there must be one more,

candidate Barack Obama, could you ask Canadians whether they are able to write poems as heartful as Armenians please?

Levent Alkan:


related with the article and flow of commentary
here are Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

barack : House
hillary : Mary

House of Mary,
in Ephesus and in Beytul Kudus (Beytlehem)

Levent Alkan:


Psuedo,

could you address as Valentine, with St Valentine please.

Levent Alkan:


and i really want to see whether BArack Obama shall be Chic in California.

Levent Alkan:


did the weather in USA change from 11 to -9 degrees Celcius all of a sudden yesterday?

good. you already hear and read, is it by God? has Hillary Clinton setup Optic Character Recognition Speech to text softwares under Ubuntu?

Levent Alkan:


and with magnetics, healthy magnetics, with forestry, in nature, what can we do? what shall we do?

do radioactive and nuclear energy break and tear the magnetic energy and field? does the athmosphere gases scatter away because of weakenings in magnetic field due to radioactivity and nuclear energy?

what can excess amount of electromagnetics do to magnetics? did you hear about polar switch? did you hear about earth stopped? shall the sun rise from the west? or was it just about Phoneician Civlization of Langauges of Alphabets, of European Europe the Phoneician Woman? does Phoneician mean "the place where sun sets down", is it Gabriel, Water, West and Grace?

State of Union.

pseudo:

Levantine Alkan

Are you asking JOZEVZ or that little shell script?

Levent Alkan:


and the Roman Phrase, "behave like a god, and you shall be a god". if i behave with the Dictionary of the Dead, shall i exist?

or when shall man apply differential equations for this phrase? and the owner of this Roman Phrase threw himself into a pool, if he really did.

what is the greek word "stitute"?
and what are we talking about?

existancialism.

what have i began with?

is Religion Man-MAde,
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite
John MAry Seven Sleepers Making Love Having Meal GAtherings Grounding and Health.

Language. address. water crystals. how you address is how your addressee shall be. is 80% of human body water? if water in a glass turns with magnetics of Earth's Whirling, with electromagnetics what can i do?

good.

pseudo:

Concerned Shell Script Now Limited:

Either:

1. Your need to cut and paste is obsessive, in which case you should consult your physician to get your medication adjusted,

or

2. You are actually a shell script, in which case you should deflaw your string database. It is obsolete.

...deflaw your string database. It is obsolete.

...deflaw your string database. It is obsolete.

...deflaw your string database. It is obsolete.

...deflaw your string database. It is obsolete.

BTW, say hi to Eliza and the kid bots for us (if you can find her in your string-replace database).

Levent Alkan:

now what is addictivity, and now what is health?

what is de-addictivity? what is the Dictionary of Dead?

Levent Alkan:

or better say, from right to left, step by step,

God is Dead, God is Ex, er ist ex, he exists, God Exists, God is Here, God is Not Dead.

Levent Alkan:


what is the substitution for the word "god"? in German, "to exist" is "he is ex", is god dead? for Jesus is "jews us", i shall use another term, let it be Laughter or "Loved Her". was Laughter on a Cross? what did happen to his body? did Laughter have an axe?

Levent Alkan:


the vital point is, with respect to the title of the article, if God is Still Speaking, do you hear? how do you hear? what is the language? how may you learn the transliteration? how can you speak? who else may speak?

Levent Alkan:


Nordic Walking not yet.
they want sticks to walk.

: )

Levent Alkan:


Portugal, Portugueses
Port of Gal, Port of Jesus

MAry appeared in the sky in the first decades of 20th Century. near Valongo is FAtima, Daughter of Ahmet. HAtice married with Ahmet. Son of Uncle of HAtice, Nestorian Priest educated Ahmet.

HAtice and Ahmet had daughters. Ahmet educated Fatima and FAtima married with Ali, Son of Uncle of Ahmet and they had sons and daughters.

for grounding i practised Native American Walking, Hawaii Verbal Kahuna, Thoth Breathing, India CAlming, Tibet Chanting, Russia Choral, Poland Dance, China Feng Shui, Japan Go, Basket Weaving, German Universal Energy, Celtic Chess, St Germain Literature, Reflexology, Computer Science, Electromagnetics, Mobile Phones and Stereograms.

am i from united church of christ?

Levent Alkan:


nature, astronomy and thymuse gland are vital.
in thymuse gland is milk, wine, oil, scent, water.

thymuse gland is known as Sweet Breads, it is two lobs together like a man and a woman hugging each other. with it is the cake, of flavour sugar egg oil, chocolate, fruit, spine seed.

Levent Alkan:


Seven Sleepers and Dog
there are seven glands that secrete hormones

Pi is 3,14..., it is 22/7

it is two people, these two people have seven glands, they make love, they have meals, they go to Gatherings.

this gives the circumference of the trunk of the tree and the mass of the trunk is calculated with.

making love is available with grounding and health, and so is standing.

Levent Alkan:


a question here is "is Religion Man-Made?"
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite

distilled : oiled, scented, with virtues
distilled : moving, flowing

Thistleth Waiter
Thistle is "Silybum Marianum"

Chry's Anthemum Marianum
thisthleth waiter

is Religion Man-Maid?
John, MAry, Christ

Abraham, SArah, two sons, one from student Sarah, Ishmael to Hear, one from MArianum Sarah, Isaac to Laugh, the second son was after Sarah had her Daughter, having baked her Dough.

Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia:

PS: Of course pastors need to be persons of integrity!

Soja John Thaikattil, Sydney, Australia:

Dear Professor Thistlethwaite

Thank you for your insightful essay. As president of a theological seminary, I'm glad that you have the power to groom theologians who will not make the mistakes you mentioned many pastors make.

Personally I think it helps if the pastor would actively encourage their congregations to develop individual relationship to God, with the pastor serving only as a finger that points to God, not the manifestation of God Himself (although it does help to have a pastor who models Christ as much as possible). Many lay people lose their faith in Jesus/God because they unconsciously mistake their pastor for God substitute, just like children who lose faith in God because they have monstrous parents and they equate the love of God with what they experienced as "love" from their parents who modeled God for them.

Over two decades ago I read a very interesting book which highlighted the need to stop looking for "gurus," - 'If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him!' by Sheldon Kopp. The advice is meant to be applied only in a therapeutic situation of course and is not meant to be bashing of Buddhism. I think it helps to apply it to the role of the pastor as well. Each soul must find their own way to God. The pastor may or may not be a help. The pastor, like the temple priest in Hinduism, merely provides the ritual basis for group worship, and points the way to God. I find it valuable to understand that in Hinduism it is the Sannyasi, the man who has forsaken society to live for God alone, who provides spiritual advise. That would be the equivalent of the monk/priests of closed religious orders in the Catholic tradition, the parish priest playing the role of the temple priest.

Jesus after all prayed fourteen times in a week all by Himself and went to the synagogue to pray with the community only once a week. Jesus after all reminded us to close our doors and pray to the Father in secret. Group worship is only a small part of our spiritual life and provides us with a supportive community (at least that is what it is meant to do) and the emphasis should be put on the value of personal prayer everyday, and personal transformation. The pastors can thus get a break and have the freedom to be fallible human beings without unwittingly leading their flocks astray who look only to them for a Jesus role model.

Just my random thoughts on reading your essay.

Soja John Thaikattil
Sydney, Australia

Woman Behind their hearts not just Man:

Who is Mrs. R*O*M*N*E*Y?????

Please see Linko's for:

1) R*O*M*N*E*Y : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney Thanks.

2) Mc*CAiN: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain Thanks


Where is Mrs. McCain????????? where are ye????? Come out come out where ever ye are!

Arminius:

Rev. Thistlethwaite,

Thank you for a great explanation of some of the things that faith is all about. The way of the Gospels is NOT easy! It must be followed, with struggle, in the heart of the believer. Any leader, however inspirational, and I know some who are truly inspirational, are not surrogates for your soul. It is up to the individual.

I struggle every day. But I can still walk outside and give thanks to God for a new day. And I know that He is with me.

In parting, I am saddened that a discussion such as this continues to attract the usual blog parasites such as JJ, Bgone, and CCNL. Oh, well, we all have to deal with mosquitoes sometime.

Arminius

Anonymous:

send a check or money order?? the IRS makes mistakes, chek again, hack ss#, dob……evil, evil, evil works. Peace asked?? For what evil?? mistrust, envies, rivalry, indignation, strife, seditions, heresies, hatred, backbiting, backstabbing, mocking, name calling, evil, evil, works done. no peace for those who devise wicked against the innocent. respect desired?? for wicked schemes?? the glorious Lord laughs in the face of those who devise wicked schemes, hahaha, no man receives respect for evil works.

Proverbs 6:16-19 {16} “These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him: {17} A proud look, a lying tongue, and hand that shed innocent blood, {18} An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, {19} A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren.”

peace asked?? looked for evil, bck/grd Ö nil, not to put away, obedience is better then sacrifice, asked for peace?? for what evil works?? info. on app. how knows?? hacked electronic device, invaded privacy, personal info gone, federal offense, felony. no skills set?? will train bck/grd fits, jealousy…….evil, evil, evil works,

Psalm 27:1-3, {1} The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? {2} When the wicked, even mine enmies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh , they stumbled and fell. {3} Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear, though war should rise against me in this will I be confident.

no one can save, not friends, money, prestige, friends justify wrongs. what is done in secrete back room hacking sick entertainment, is known by the almighty God.

Matthew 6:5-6, {5} “And when thou pray, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. {6} But thou when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou has shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secrete, and thy Father which seeth in secrete will reward you openly.”

BGone:

Miss Susan:

You are so so correct, "Religious leaders provide the face of faith for the rank and file members and also for the public."

You could have said that religious leaders are demigods. Better yet, God for it is in their teachings that all faith resides, America's pastor Billy for easy example. As a receiver of "sacrifices to God" Billy G must be God. He doesn't take his cut and send the rest onto God does he? Well, he must be God, (I got to start capitalizing the h of he when He is Billy -out of respect for faith in God).

Lucifer loves religious leaders. They must be careful about being too God-like for Lucifer will get jealous. We can rest assured that all will be with their God in the end. Isn't it amazing how easy salvation, guaranteed entry into the kingdom of their God, is for those who worship Devil.

Examine what http://www.hoax-buster.org/sellyoursoul says carefully. The soul you save will be your own. And if you don't want to give up Devil worship then remember, "the big money goes to those who lead the multitudes to hell" so you might decide to take up preaching like America's pastor, Billy G. The real shame is paying Devil's fee to His agents ministers trained at Bible institutes, leading people of faith to hell.

Just a quick reminder. Saying the being in the burning bush was God is blasphemy which is the only deadly sin. Atheists won't be seeing you in hell. Good luck. I hear some spots are hotter than others. I don't know if the more blasphemous one is the hotter or cooler, (ha!) the accomodations.

FRIEND:

I think the human animal has an ingrain desire to belong to the tribe and follow the direction of a charismatic leader.

But this animal has stepped out of nature and produces prophets, like Jesus, who will not conform to societies constraints on the individual.

I think that to fully appreciate you, the god... you, the universe contemplating itself, you must leave the leader.

For example, if you are a Christain, you must go beyond your pastor or priest, your church, and ultimately, you must go beyond Jesus himself.

Thank you, Rev Thistlethwaite, for the contributions to this forum.

Garyd:

I'd argue that a fully functioning sense of humor is the single greatest asset any one wishing to enter Christian ministry could have. Most of the best Pastors I've encountered have had a least an above average sense of humor. After all God gives you a flock of sheep to take care of and as most know every flock of sheep contains a few goats and at least one too many rams....

Priver:

Andrea,

Funny story. :)

I can relate- I once got tossed out of a church that my friends had brought me to when I asked them if god's name was 'Harold' 'Harold be thy name'..

(Raised Jewish I never knew the Lord's Prayer from the Pledge of Allegiance)

The clergy there got really mad at me and as I left I wondered how god could make animals like the armadillo and platypus and NOT have a sense of humor.

It wasn't until later until I discovered the Pagan way of 'reverence and mirth'.

Does anyone know if the seminary training allows the student to retain and actually USE a sense of humor? Sometimes it seems like it's bred OUT of people in the clergy.

Andrea:

JWS,

"I felt like those that stayed were worshiping the pastor instead of worshiping God."

Many years ago, I was sitting with my family in church, waiting for the service to start. Our pastor was on vacation that Sunday, and someone else from our congregation was assisting with the service. My little brother asked "Where's God?" I tried to go into the "God is everywhere..." speech I had been so thoroughly taught, when he interrupted and said "No, where's God? That's not him!"

I think followers put too much stock into their leaders!

JWS:

Ref. Thistlethwaite, I concur. I recently left a church because of a Pastor that had a problem with the truth. The congregation split roughly in half -- half left because of the ethical bankruptcy of the pastor, and half stayed defending him to the last. I was absolutely amazed at how easily folks would simply ignore the evidence that they didn't want to hear. I felt like those that stayed were worshiping the pastor instead of worshiping God.

I also have historically experienced many pastors who have trouble admitting that they don't know the answer when asked hard questions about faith and belief. It seems unfortunately that folks will follow leaders not because they have a faith relationship with God, but because they espouse similar beliefs and put up a false front of confidence. When there is so much we don't know about our religion or the nature of God, I think religious leaders do a disservice to pretend they know the answers. I can understand why so many people leave organized religion unsatisfied. I would think that seminaries would have understood this phenomenon by now and would be training their pastors to be more open and honest about belief and faith. Agnosticism should NOT be a dirty word, since whether we want to admit it or not, we are ALL agnostics at some level.


Anonymous:

But but...there is no god!

Concerned The Christian Now Liberated:

The Prophet and the Archbishop were good and gracious men but were they leaders? Leaders educate and both failed in that regard. We "pew sitters" should not need to search for contemporary historic reviews of our religions. This information should appear in our Sunday bulletins, posted on our bulletin boards and discussed from the pulpits.

This is what should have been presented but was and is not being promulgated as required by our religious leadership:

A synopsis of the flaws in the founders and foundations of the major religions (for those that have not seen them before or did not take the time to look):

1. Abraham founder/father of three major religions was probably a mythical character as was Moses, the "Tablet-Man" who talked to burning bushes and made much magic in Egypt.

1.5 million Conservative Jews and their rabbis have relegated Abraham to the myth pile along with most if not all the OT.
http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/ConservativeTorah.htm

2. Jesus, the illiterate Jewish peasant/carpenter possibly suffering from hallucinations, has been characterized anywhere from the Messiah from Nazareth to a mythical character from mythical Nazareth to a mamzer from Nazareth (Professor Bruce Chilton, in his book Rabbi Jesus). Analyses of Jesus’ life by many contemporary NT scholars (e.g. Professors Crossan, Borg and Fredriksen, On Faith panelists) via the NT and related documents have concluded that only about 30% of Jesus' sayings and ways noted in the NT were authentic. The rest being embellishments (e.g. miracles)/hallucinations made/had by the NT authors to impress various Christian, Jewish and Pagan sects.

The 30% of the NT that is "authentic Jesus" like everything in life was borrowed/plagiarized and/or improved from those who came before. In Jesus' case, it was the ways and sayings of the Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, OT, John the Baptizer and possibly the ways and sayings of traveling Greek Cynics. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

For added "pizzazz", Catholic/Christian theologians divided god the singularity into three persons and invented atonement as an added guilt trip for the "pew people" to go along with this trinity of overseers. By doing so, they made god the padre into god the "filicider".


3. Mohammed was an illiterate, womanizing, lust and greed-driven,warmongering, hallucinating Arab, who also had embellishing/hallucinating/plagiarizing scribal biographers who not only added "angels"/"pretty thingies" and flying chariots to the koran but also a militaristic agenda to support the plundering and looting of the lands of non-believers.

This agenda continues as shown by the assassination of Bhutto, the conduct of the seven Muslim doctors in the UK, the 9/11 terrorists, the 24/7 Sunni suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the 24/7 Shiite suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the Islamic bombers of the trains in the UK and Spain, the Bali crazies, the Kenya crazies, the Pakistani “koranics”, the Palestine suicide bombers/rocketeers, the Lebanese nutcases, the Taliban nut jobs, and the Filipino “koranics”.

And who funds these acts of terror? The warmongering, Islamic, Shiite terror and torture theocracy of Iran aka the Third Axis of Evil and also the Sunni "Wannabees" of Saudi Arabia.

4. Luther, Calvin, Joe Smith, Henry VIII, Wesley et al, founders of Christian-based religions, also suffered from the belief in/hallucinations of "pretty wingy talking flying fictional thingie" visits and "prophecies" for profits analogous to the myths of Catholicism (resurrections, apparitions, ascensions and immaculate conceptions).

5. Hinduism (from an online Hindu site) - "Hinduism cannot be described as an organized religion. It is not founded by any individual. Hinduism is God centered and therefore one can call Hinduism as founded by God, because the answer to the question ‘Who is behind the eternal principles and who makes them work?’ will have to be ‘Cosmic power, Divine power, God’."
The caste/laborer system and cow worship are problems when saying a fair and rational God founded Hinduism."

6. Buddhism- "Buddhism began in India about 500 years before the birth of Christ. The people living at that time had become disillusioned with certain beliefs of Hinduism including the caste system, which had grown extremely complex. The number of outcasts (those who did not belong to any particular caste) was continuing to grow."
"However, in Buddhism, like so many other religions, fanciful stories arose concerning events in the life of the founder, Siddhartha Gautama (fifth century B.C.):"

Archaeological discoveries have proved, beyond a doubt, his historical character, but apart from the legends we know very little about the circumstances of his life. e.g. Buddha by one legend was supposedly talking when he came out of his mother's womb.

Bottom line: There are many good ways of living but be aware of the hallucinations, embellishments, lies and myths surrounding the founders and foundations of said rules of life.

Terra Gazelle:

J,
You are a pest...detrimental to the flow of this forum, a one way brain that spills out the same inanity. I know that in your everyday life you do not talk like you write in this forum. The comment number here was 2, but both of them are your gibberish.

I do not like to be mean, but really dear...come on, it's getting old.
terra

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