Ten things Jesus still can't say in church.

Like many who have experienced mystical trans-formative spiritual experiences I once sought to better understand my experience through the lens of traditional religious teaching.   While traditional religious institutions provide the invaluable benefit of a loving like-minded community, these same institutions are often guilty of gradually stripping the spiritual seeker of the intellectual skill-set and virtue known as rational thinking.

Evangelical Christianity and fundamentalist sects of Islam both teach their followers that in order to understand the nature of reality - and therefore one's own mystical experiences - one must first understand the Bible or Quran as "God's Words".  Fundamentalist sects of both religions teach that one should consider everything written in Scripture to be truth - wholly inspired texts that contain no error, contradiction or falsehood.  

This singular religious belief, more than any other religious belief, has the power to transform a rational minded person, endowed with the gift of rational thought, into an irrational one - from a sound minded individual into a disturbingly delusional one. 

Embracing any significant false belief concerning the nature of reality, such as the belief in Biblical inerrancy, will dramatically impact all of one's future thinking.  This is particularly true when a significant false belief has been embraced while under the influence of fear or during an emotionally charged mystical experience.

In order to make some sense of the often cryptic, metaphor-laden sayings that have been attributed to Jesus in the New Testament one needs some understanding of the time in which Jesus lived - a time when speaking plainly the truth to religious or political power was a quick way to exit this world.  

The man Jesus of Nazareth was born into a world steeped in religious superstition - false beliefs concerning the nature of reality.  Judaism had drifted so far off the rails of sanity that its followers had begun to believe their God was demanding animal sacrifices to atone for their sins.  Children born with abnormalities were considered cursed by God because of the sins of the parents.  Psychosomatic illness and serious mental illness was rampant in a religious culture sequestered in fear of the often jealous, judgemental and vengeful God portrayed in Jewish scripture.  Corrupt religious leaders interested in maintaining their political power had begun to teach the Jewish people that they must consider scripture to be 'God's Words' while they themselves often abused and twisted scripture to serve their own ends.  Zealots who took this teaching that scripture is 'God's Word' more seriously began to then teach their followers that certain obscure passages of scripture foretold that a 'Messiah' (a chosen one of God) was coming to free the Jewish people from the chains of Roman rule.  At that time this chosen man of God would establish heaven on earth a world fully controlled by the will of God (the world as it should be). In this coming world all the people on the earth would strictly adhere to the many laws for living detailed in scripture - many of which were irrational and burdensome in nature.  With the establishment of this new world , through his Messiah, God would finally once again be able to shower his blessings on the Jewish people - people currently suffering due to their rebellion against God's Laws set out in scripture.  Many would-be Messiahs came and went, quickly and violently crushed by Rome.

It was into this cauldron of religious and political insanity that Jesus began his ministry.   A ministry intended to provide a way to free the believers of Jewish scripture from the bondage of their own delusions - within the framework of those same delusions.

The teachings of Jesus indeed still provide this ministry today as millions, including myself, can testify.  For those seeking freedom from the fear of a wrathful God and safe passage to a relationship with a loving God, faith in the message of Jesus provides that passage from spiritual death to spiritual life.  The adoption of faith in the existence of the loving consciousness which some call God provides human consciousness with a bridge that leads to the mystical experience of Christ consciousness - the God in you.   Jesus understood well the power 'belief' has to shape the very nature of reality.  The doors of one's perception are guarded by one's beliefs and people will serve and to some extent be subject to the God they themselves have envisioned.

Perhaps the best advice I could offer any spiritual seeker just now considering the sayings attributed to Jesus in scripture, as well as other sayings in sacred texts is this: Proceed with great caution and care when considering any voice in scripture - including a voice attributed to Jesus.  Do not simply assume that any voice found in scripture can necessarily be trusted to be a voice of 'truth'. Become educated concering the long and often sordid history of Christianity and the process by which the Bible came to be created.  Let your own personal experiences be your primary guide and teacher in life and keep a close watch over your own mind - understand that whatever you have allowed yourself to believe to be 'truth' will both open and close your own mind shaping your perception of reality to some extent.  Beware of deluding yourself with the delusions of our ancestors and the delusions of the religious zealots of today.

Delusion - Definition:
An altered state of consciousness induced by embracing a 'false belief' crucial to one's understanding of reality.

Side effects include:
1.  Inaccurate perceptions of reality.
2.  Diminished ability for sound reasoning.
3.  Mistrust / fear of those not holding the false belief.
4.  Strong mental bias for thoughts supporting the false belief.
5.  Strong mental bias against thoughts opposing the false belief.

Below are ten Common Sense Interpretations of some of the more cryptic sayings attributed to Jesus found in the New Testament.  Since there is no way to be certain that ANYONE'S interpretation of ANY passage of scripture reflects the author's true meaning I call these interpretations 'common sense' interpretations because these interpretations stand on their own as truth which can be demonstrated to be truth.


These nine interpretations have been derived from the following set of metaphor pairings - which can prove useful when attempting to interpret other cryptic saying in the New Testament attributed to Jesus.
1.  Eye - 'One's perception, one's understanding of something'
2.  Body - 'One's conscious and unconscious mind'
3.  House - 'The beliefs and understanding governing one's mind'
4.  Kingdom - 'A philosophy or theology - a collectively held understanding'
5.  Son of Man - 'The enlightened individual, enlightened humanity'
6.  Demon - 'Delusion, Consciousness manifesting delusion' 
7.  Angel - 'Insight, Consciousness manifesting insight'
8.  Devil/Satan - 'Falsehood - Consciousness controlled by falsehood'
9.  Hell - 'A state of delusion leading to mental and physical torment'
10. Heaven - 'The world as it should be, the perfected world, the future world'
11. Kingdom of Heaven - "The philosophy of the world as it should be'
 
 
1.  Mark 4:24-25
Be careful if you attempt to interpret sayings attributed to me.  The reasoning you use will be the measure of your success, and even more. Those who have sound reasoning will embrace rational assumptions about both me and my teachings which will lead to more understanding.  Those without sound reasoning will embrace irrational assumptions about me and my teaching which will lead to diminished understanding. 

NIV -"Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you--and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."

2.  Matthew 23:15
Woe to you who teach that scripture is God's Word. You hypocrites. You travel land and sea to win a single convert, and when you find one, you make them twice as delusional as you yourselves have become. 

NIV - "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

3.  Matthew 16:11-12
How can it even be possible that you don't understand I was not talking about bread when I said be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees?  Then the disciples understood that Jesus was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but instead to be on guard against falsehoods concerning the nature of reality which give rise to delusional worldviews - those things being taught by people who believe all scripture is truth.

NIV - How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

4.  Matthew 6:22-23
How you see the world illuminates your mind. If your perception of reality is correct your mind becomes full of insights. If your perception of reality is wrong your mind becomes full of fallacies. Embracing a fallacy as you would embrace insight makes the mind delusional. 

NIV - "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

5.  Matthew 5:29-30
If your understanding of God confuses or disturbs you, better to approach life without an understanding of God than have your whole mind thrown into torment.  If your first hand spiritual experience confuses or disturbs you, it is better to discount or reinterpret that spiritual experience than have your whole mind subjected to torment. 

NIV - If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

6.  Mark 3:22-29
Prominent religious scholars explained, This man dispels demons by Satan's power.  So Jesus called them and answered using symbolic language: How can a delusion be dispelled by falsehood?  Theology that contradicts itself can not stand up to reality.  Minds governed by contradictions or irrationality become unstable.  And if a falsehood is demonstrated to be irrational this will bring to an end that falsehood's power to delude the mind. The fact is a person whose mind is governed by strongly held false beliefs will not let go of those beliefs without first being forced to honestly question those beliefs.  The truth you need to know is this: The psychological consequences of any sin can be alleviated. But while one holds a false belief concerning the nature of God the psychological consequences of that belief will always remain..

NIV - And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons." So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man's house.  Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin."

7.  Matthew 5:17-20 
Don't assume that I have come to abolish scripture.  I have not come to abolish scripture but instead to fulfill scripture's apocalyptic expectations. Because the truth is until people who harbor apocalyptic expectations no longer see a distinction between the world we live in and a coming world as it should be, it will not be possible for them to stop seeing even the most meaningless minutia of scripture as God's law, until they are satisfied the Messiah has come.   Because of this situation if anyone attempts to set aside one of the least significant of these commands that exist in scripture and teaches others to do the same, that person will be labeled by zealots as someone who has little understanding of the world as it should be.  But the person who practices and teaches all the irrational and burdensome commands of scripture will be labeled by the same zealots as someone who has great understanding of the world as it should be.   What I have been telling you is that unless your intellectual integrity surpasses that of those who believe and teach that everything written in scripture is truth you will certainly not acquire any real understanding of the world as it should be.
 
NIV - "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.  Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

8.  Matthew 5:27-28 + Luke 20:34-36
You have been taught that wisdom dictates you must not be sexually unfaithful in marriage.  But I tell you the heart desiring to own someone sexually is already unfaithful.  People living in this age seek to legitimize and control sexual relationships though marriage contracts.   But people worthy of participating in the age to come who have received renewed life don't seek to legitimize and control sexual relationships by entering into marriage contracts.  Instead they live as eternal enlightened individuals.  They are God's children since they have received renewed life.

NIV - "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."  The people of this age marry and are given in marriage.But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection."

9. Mark 14:61-62
But Jesus remained silent and did not answer.  Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the chosen one, the son of the blessed one?  And Jesus said, I am, and you will understand that enlightened individuals will acquire first hand knowledge of established power and they are coming to shine their light on those things that keep people from seeing the world as it should be. 

NIV - "But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One? And Jesus said, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."

10.  Matthew 24:27
For as flashes of insight become understood around the world, so will be the evolution of enlightened humanity.

NIV - "For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."


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Final thoughts:

Embracing the fallacy that the Bible or Quran are ‘God’s Words’, that these books contain no falsehood or contradiction, has made countless Christians, Jews and Muslims unwittingly delusional.  No mind retains the ability to read and judge these books soberly or open-mindedly after embracing as ‘insight’ the belief that these texts contain no falsehood or contradiction.  Fear of scripture often becomes the norm for the uneducated who embrace this belief and absurdity in one's reasoning is the logical outcome for those attempting to rectify the many contradictions found in these texts. 

Each generation ‘God’s Word’ scholar reinterprets end times myths to fit current events and develops the tortured logic necessary to remain blind to the many falsehoods and contradictions found in these texts. Less fortunate victims can find themselves ‘struck down’ by ‘God’s Word’ after reading some troubling passage; their mind suddenly seized with fear that God is, in that moment, judging them. These then become at risk for serious mental illness.

This fallacy is the root of all religious conflict.  It strips people of their power for independent thought and inspires self-fulfilling fatalistic worldviews. The sociopath utilizes this belief to seize control of government and maintain systems of oppression.

Resist the temptation to embrace this fallacy when seeking insight into your own spiritual experiences.

Death throes of a great deception - the fall from grace of the pro-life movement

There have been some unspeakably wicked things done in the name of God over the centuries. In my lifetime I can't think of a more wicked act done in the name of the Christian God than the nefarious campaign to teach Christians that God opposes abortion.

In Frank Schaeffer's autobiographical book - “Crazy For God” - Frank reveals that his father, Francis Schaeffer (the defacto father of the pro-life movement) came to regret his participation in the politics that would spawn the pro-life movement within the American Republican Party. In Frank's later book - “Sex, Mom and God” - Frank illuminates further the corrupt politics that brought regret to his father's last days. Both of these books are excellent resources for anyone interested in the strange history of the anti-abortion heresy being taught in Evangelical churches today for the purpose of garnering political support for the Republican Party in America.

People of faith have wrestled for years with the abortion arguments. Only in the last few years have I come to fully understand the deeply flawed nature of the anti-choice argument.

Safe medical abortion is a relatively new phenomenon in the world. When this procedure was unexpectedly legalized, in 1972, many in the Evangelical Christian world began to wonder out loud where Jesus might stand on the issue of abortion. There were no centuries old church decrees concerning abortion in existence, so the responsibility initially fell on the individual believer to decide for themselves what the "will of God" might be concerning abortion. 

Although abortion was widely embraced as a godsend by many respected Christian thinkers during the 1970's, including Southern Baptist theologians, opposing forces soon emerged intent on re-shaping the layperson's understanding of abortion. Certain Christian anti-abortion activists and authors such as John Rushdoony and Francis Schaeffer began teaching that abortion is an unprecedented form of last days evil and those who practice it commit murder.

With doctrinal uncertainty brewing in Evangelical America, some leaders within the American Republican Party saw an opportunity to seduce a larger segment of the Evangelical voting block away from the Democratic Party by making abortion rights a hot-button political issue among politically minded Evangelicals. Frank Shaeffer and his father were commissioned by Republican political operatives to create several films designed to teach American Evangelicals that God strongly opposes abortion – that abortion is nothing short of murder. These films were then aggressively shown in Evangelical churches throughout America.

This is a thumbnail history of how many Evangelical Christians were first taught to believe God opposes abortion. 

So what's wrong with the pro-life or 'anti-choice' world view - from the traditional Christian perspective?

If it is the will of God that all conception (including conception from rape, incest or fornication) result in live birth, then the pro-life position remains somewhat logical.   But if one believes that not all conception is necessarily the will of God, then the pro-life position becomes not only illogical but highly counterproductive and destructive to society.
 
The logic of the pro-life world view begins its trajectory off the rails by denying that the creation of "human life" is an "extended process" initiated - not by the will of God - but by the will and actions of human beings.  Pro-life advocates proclaim that "human life" begins at conception and all conception is the will of God.  Pro-life believers stray further from logic by insisting that what is of ultimate value to God (and humanity as well) in human life comes into existence at the moment of conception - the soul.  But the most illogical aspect of the pro-life argument occurs with the irrational assumption that it is God's universal will and desire that all human conceptions proceed to full development and result in live birth.   What could possibly be the evidence for such illogical beliefs - in scripture or anywhere else?   There is none.

The belief that God desires for all conceptions to come to term simply because men and women have managed to produce conception is absurd.  It defies logic and even strips God of autonomy.  A similar statement of false logic would be: I successfully robbed a bank so now I should assume God wants me to keep the money.   How can one say that just because a man and woman have managed to mix an egg and sperm together that it must therefore be God's will that a child be born in this world?  In humanity's distant past conception might have been considered an act of the will of God, but doctors today can produce conception on demand in the lab by simply mixing the correct ingredients. Humans and humans alone are who have been given the right to call forth conception from the void - not God - God has no say in the matter ultimately.   Any mad scientist can mix the ingredients together that start the process that can lead to the creation of human life.  God has no say in the matter - by design - for good reasons.

The anti-choice worldview is promoted in our Evangelical churches by means of very powerful manipulations of the emotions, along with a preference for some Scripture over other Scripture.   A well reasoned, common sense approach to human reproduction is denounced as dangerous heresy by pro-life zealots.  Fear and ignorance is the real foundation of the anti-choice argument.

Those who are more apt to be Bible believing Christians would be wise to settle all the conflicting Scriptural arguments concerning human reproduction with the only passage of scripture describing the creation of human life. Genesis 2:17 (KJV) “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Clearly the Bible states that the creation of a living soul is a process and not an instantaneous event that takes place at conception.  The elemental "soul", as traditionally understood by Christian theologians, is one's self-awareness - the awakened self.  The pro-life world view denies that the creation of human life is a process and instead asserts that "human life" begins at conception.  A similar statement of false logic would be:  A stack of lumber is a house.

“God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” (Romans 1:20 NIV).   Science is the study of what has been made.

Scientists now understand, in part, why nature often aborts a partially developed fetus through miscarriage.  Chromosome damage has been regularly discovered in the autopsies of miscarried fetuses.  Chromosome damage leads to DNA replication errors, which causes birth defects.   Evidently nature is much more concerned about ensuring a healthy body for a potential human soul than it is about the destruction of a fetus through miscarriage - because nature is the most prolific abortionist of all.  Researchers currently estimate that well over half of all human conceptions end in spontaneous abortion.   Some conceptions do not manage to implant in the uterus while others detach after an extended period of gestation.  Why is nature involved in such murderous behavior?
 
Our evolving understanding of miscarriage reveals that nature is at work using her particular brand of wisdom to ensure that not all conceptions result in live birth - for the sake of attempting to create the perfect human body for the soul that will inhabit it.  But we also know that nature often fails to create the perfect human body.  Therefore, humans have been called upon to seek to understand how to correct the failings of nature, as we evolve in our understanding of nature, to advance humanity's well being.

Traditionally, the hallmark of any Christian heresy is this:  any belief or doctrine that, in practice, envisions God as “less than wholly good”.

Most people of faith understand - at some level - that a “good” God can not possibly desire any human soul awaken with unhealthy bodies or into environments that would be toxic.  How could a "good" God desire any child be born to a mother that does not want a child or to a mother that can not provide for a child?  However, the pro-life movement clearly values the survival of the fetal body over the well-being of any potential human soul that will inhabit a fully formed human body.

The anti-choice God is the vision of those who do not understand or accept certain aspects of reality.  The anti-choice advocate refuses to take full responsibility for their own part in the creation of human life process.  The anti-choice advocate strips God of any autonomy by declaring that their own actions - the production of conception - dictates the will of God for that conception.  This vision of God makes humanity mindless pawns of their own ignorance and teaches women that they should be willing to bear children against their own will and even against the better interests of society.
 
Clearly the truth of the matter is nature uses her wisdom, at times, to destroy a fetus - to ensure the best "body environment" for the potential human soul to inhabit.  Humanity should follow nature's example by using our own growing body of wisdom to expand on nature's role.   Humanity should judge not just the potential "body environment" but also the "world environment" into which a potential child might be born.   This judgement should include:

Is the mental and physical fitness of the mother and father adequate?   Are there adequate resources to care for the child?  Is there damage to the fetal body that nature might be blind to that would disadvantage the child?  Would pregnancy endanger the life of the mother?   Is the conception against the will of the mother?  And perhaps the most significant of all of a "Good" God's desires for humankind - will the child be wanted and loved?  All of these internal and external environmental factors should be considered by a woman before she could possibly assert that it is "God's Will" that the conception be allowed to come to term.  If these conditions are not met then abortion is the logical, ethical and God given right, even the responsibility, of any woman confronted with an unwanted or damaged conception.

Those who oppose my views will accuse me of advocating a form of eugenics.  I am not.  I am simply advocating that parents rest assured that God is their loving partner in the creation of life process.  Therefore a woman can and must be free to decide for herself, without fear, if they wish to participate in the creation of life process - or not. 
  
Perhaps the greatest sin of the pro-life world view is that it unwittingly asserts that God wills for some children to awaken in the hell of un-wanted-ness or with severe physical deprivation. Tragically, too many of the world's children are born unwanted or into environments of violence and deprivation, simply because of the irrational fears generated by the pro-life movement.

The pro-life deception is capable of ensnaring anyone willing to close their mind to reason in favor of the potent fears surrounding human reproduction.   If human beings are not free to decline to participate in the creation of life process, at any stage of that creation of life process, then God can no longer be defined as good - and humans are nothing more than machines reproducing more machines. 


If the well being of the "potential child" is not the preeminent concern of mankind when considering the fate of any fetus then mankind has dismissed its real responsibilities to the potential child.  No child benefits or thrives by being born unwanted or disadvantaged.   As Jesus said of his friend Judas; "It would have been better for that man to have not been born."