Amos's River of Justice

Category: Christianity in the World

  • Life in the Age of Pisces

    Do the planets exert an influence on human affairs? Considering what we know about life in the Age of Pisces, I think the answer is yes. I would like to share the observations that lead me to this conclusion. If any of them contradict theological foundations, that is not my intention and I would appreciate corrections and/or criticism. Before I begin, I want to distinguish between two approaches that I have observed in discussions of religion. One is impartial and informational; the other is from the point of view of a believer. The word ‘impartial’ does not imply indifference or lack of belief; believers might use either approach.

    The Early Roman Empire

    According to T.R. Glover’s book, The Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire, none of the religions that we now believe to be ancient are older than 700 BC. These religions include the worship of Orpheus, Dionysos, and Osiris–all figures with Hermetic attributes. It seems that life in the Age of Pisces, ruled by the planets Jupiter and Neptune, was bound to have Hermetic characteristics. (Glover writes from the point of view of an atheist, arguing that the whole point of religion is to organize a society. I disagree with him on that point.)

    Catholic Theology and The Caduceus of Mercury

    Walter Friedlander’s book, The Golden Wand of Medicine, attributes a malevolent influence to the symbol of the Caduceus of Mercury (or Hermes). Since reading this book I’ve been terrified of this influence in the United States. I still hope to find a guarantee of safety in Catholic theology. I’m aware of theological debates that identify this influence and argue against it. However it may be unrealistic to expect a guarantee.

    Part of the debate that arose between Père Jérôme and Albert Gleizes1 had to do with Gleizes’ opinion that Church theology since the thirteenth century had to be thrown out. He thought Thomas Aquinas had taken everything in the wrong direction. In his opinion, the effects of this error were evident in sacred art. However, the Church had already decided in favor of Aquinas. As I understand it, part of the reason Aquinas prevailed was St Augustine’s Hermeticism.

    Perennialism

    Gleizes believed that Christianity was based on an older tradition and that it had lost its knowledge of the sacred. The idea of a basis in an older tradition by itself is not controversial, since it could refer to Judaism. But Gleizes depended on Guénon’s idea of a great world tradition. He thought Christianity is simply a part of this older tradition in his view.

    The most obvious danger of Gleize’s stance from a Catholic point of view would be the claim that Christianity had ceased to radiate spirituality. So, it is not exactly surprising that this created problems between Gleizes and his friend, Père Jérôme.

    Jupiter and Neptune Ruled Pisces

    Jupiter and Neptune ruled the Age of Pisces. Both planets are associated with the Hindu deity Siva, and Siva is associated with Hermes. According to Edward Moor’s book, The Hindu Pantheon,2 we can identify “most of the principal Hindu deities with Jove or Jupiter (page 47). The Jupiter Marinus, or Neptune of the Romans, resembles Mahadeva (Siva) in his generative character.”

    Siva is the husband of Bhavani, whose relation to the waters is revealed when her image is restored at the conclusion of the great festival of Durgotsava (page 48). “In the character of destroyer also, we may look upon this Indian deity as corresponding with the Stygian Jove or Pluto, especially since Cali, or Time in the feminine gender, is a name of his consort, who will be found to be Proserpine” (page 46).  

    Christianity Originated From Judaism

    Robert Eisler argues that Christianity is not derived from those older religions. In his book, Orpheus the Fisher, he argues for the Jewish origin of Christianity.

    In the preface, page v, he says:

    Christianity, considering its Greek influences, seems remarkable for its loyalty to the Jewish religion, and at the same time its rejection of the pagan gods of Greece and Rome.

    However, the planets continue to influence our age.

    The Protestant Reformation

    It is possible that the Protestant Reformation unwittingly opened the floodgates to aspects of the Age of Pisces that had previously been suppressed by the Roman Church.

     

    1. Peter Brooke, Albert Gleizes: For and Against the Twentieth Century. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2001. ↩︎
    2. Edward Moor, The Hindu Pantheon. J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church-Yard, London, 1810. ↩︎

  • Sex Abuse Scandal or Free-Market Coup?

    When Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò decided to publish his letter, he went to the conservative Catholic network, with sites such as LifeSiteNews.com and National Catholic Register (owned by EWTN). In Italy he went to conservative bloggers like Aldo Maria Valli and Marco Tosatti. It was Valli and Viganò who timed the letter’s release during Francis’s trip to Ireland.

    Timothy Busch, a ‘Koch Brothers-like’ conservative Catholic sits on the board of EWTN. Viganò also discussed his plan with Busch. Busch claims the Register personally assured him that Pope Benedict had confirmed Viganò’s account. (This has been denied by Benedict’s secretary.) Busch is not only on the board of EWTN and many other Catholic organizations, he’s the namesake for the business school at Catholic University, a graduate school known for working to reconcile free markets and capitalism with Catholic teaching. This brings us to the Koch brothers, who have been making large contributions to this business school.

    The Koch’s have made good use of the pro-life movement, even though they are pro-choice and pro-gay marriage. The Tea-Party, the Chamber of Commerce, and the pro-life movement have been important tools for the destruction of democracy in Kansas.

    And then of course we have liberal corporate Democrat Josh Shapiro and his Pennsylvania grand jury. Shapiro would seem to be disconnected from the conservative Catholic media, but what they all have in common is support for free market capitalism, which would probably explain the efforts to implicate Francis in the scandal.

    By the way, it can be argued that it’s not the investigation itself that’s a problem. It’s the United States’ use of grand juries, and Pennsylvania’s grand jury in particular.

  • Priests Are Being Attacked in the United States: Now I’ve Seen Everything

    Someone has been attacking priests. It’s supposedly a response to the Pennsylvania investigation. We don’t know if these are organized attacks, or if several people just happened to have the same idea at the same time. It seems more likely it was organized, but either way it is insane behavior. Of all the things that have happened since this conversation began, this is the most shocking and disturbing. These priests have done nothing wrong. They were doing the best they could to serve their communities.

    One of the attackers is quoted as saying, “This is for the little kids,” but he obviously knows nothing about kids. The kids I have known would have sympathy for the victim. This attacker’s decision to go out and find someone to beat up is entirely his responsibility.

    Maybe for the time being, church members could make sure their priests are not left alone. As for the men who carried out the attacks, they should be very worried. These priests belong to the Creator. He will watch over them and bring their attackers to justice.

  • Christians on the Front Line in Syria

    https://youtu.be/uuog5AqE4SU

  • Undoing Partitions in the Middle East

    Here in the United States we call it divide-and-rule.  In the Middle East they call it partitioning. The Council for Interreligious dialogue is working in Iraq to eradicate finatical discourse in the name of religion.  You could say they are working to rebuild the cooperation that has been torn down by the global bullies.  And it’s working.  Below is the text of an April 25  article on La Croix International:

    The local Mandean community will host the next meeting of the Iraqi Council for Interreligious Dialogue on April 26. These meetings between Shiite and Sunni Muslims, Christians, Yazidis and Mandeans are a genuine achievement in a country where inter-communal mistrust is the general rule.

    Forty people joined the last meeting of the Iraqi Council for Interreligious Dialogue hosted by the Chaldean Patriarchate of Baghdad on March 1. They included Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Yazidis, Orthodox and Catholic Christians as well as Mandeans and even an audacious few of no religion.

    “Together before God to eradicate fanatical discourse in the name of religion” provided the day’s theme of discussion.

    Although it is now rare for members of different ethnic and religious communities to meet together, the discussions were “very frank and very free,” several participants reported.

    With his usual frankness, Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako of Babylon, who hosted the meeting, raised several challenging questions.

    “On Judgment Day, will God ask us whether we are Shiite or Sunni Muslim, Catholic or Orthodox Christians, Mandeans or Yazidis? The question God is likely to ask us will rather be ‘What did you do for your brother? What did you offer your people?’” he said.

    The next meeting of the Council, which is scheduled  for  April 26, will be hosted by the Mandean (or Sabean) community.

    The Sunni community will host the May meeting, which will fall during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and participants will break their fast together.

    Then it will be the turn of the Yazidis to host a meeting, a highly symbolic occasion for this multi-millennial religion, which was undoubtedly the most persecuted by ISIS.

    “Five years ago, it was far from certain that people would accept to be seated at the same table,” said Sayyed Jawad Al-Khoei, who founded the Council with Dominican Father Amir Jaje.

    “Progressively, confidence began to develop and we have even become friends,” he said. “Now many people want to join us.”

    A Shiite, Jawad Al-Khoei, who is secretary-general of an institute for training in Islamic sciences at Najaf, particularly recalled a significant meeting in which ten women from various communities were invited to share a meal.

    “One of them cried. She told us ‘I am here with you seated at the same table but my child has been rejected by his classmates who called him a kafir (unbeliever),” he said.

    In Jawad Al-Khoei’s view, the creation of the Interreligious Council has had a direct impact on the Iraqi crisis.

    “It became a necessity when ISIS forced people to come together,” he said during a visit to France for a Senate conference on “Citizenship and Justice in the Middle East” and another at the Catholic Institute of Paris on “Dialogue between Shiites and Christians.”

    “We did not have any major ambitions except to break down the barriers between us or to agree to share a meal together when many regard this as impure,” he said.

    “Once we are able to identify the main problems, we will contact the NGOs to work with them,” he said.

    In an effort to build confidence, the Council meets behind closed doors and declines aid from government or from political parties.

    In another oddity in a country where honors are often sought, the group has no president, treasurer or secretary.

    How do the highest Iraqi Shiite authorities look on the initiative?

    “As soon as you do something in Iraq, you are criticized,” said Jawad Al-Khoei.

    “There are certainly many conservatives who disapprove,” said the young cleric. “However, the general atmosphere is positive and we could not have begun without protection from the most significant ayatollahs.”

    Ignoring the opponents of interreligious dialogue, the Council seeks to rely on the “silent majority” of the Iraqi community.

    “If, at worst, jihadists represent 2 to 3 percent of the population, those who are opposed to violence represent a far greater number,” Jawad Al-Khoei said.

    “Most Muslims have no problem with Christians or Yazidis but they simply do not know them,” he said.

    “We need to show them that dialogue is possible and that religious leaders guide them in this direction,” Jawad Al-Khoei said.

    During the last meeting, several possible actions were discussed, including requesting the Iraqi Parliament to ban extremist religious discourse, to review school programs and to end each celebration with a prayer “for all the Iraqi people and not just for one ethnic group.”

     

  • Is April 17, 2018 Important to the War Hawks?

    Previously I wrote about the occult speech that Christine Lagarde gave in 2014, and about how she provided misleading instructions for the calculation of the dates in her speech.  I was thinking about how the starting dates for World Wars I and II happen to add up to the number 7, a number highlighted by Lagarde in her speech, and I decided to calculate the date of April 17, 2018. I used 17 as the day because in occult circles the number 17 is a significant number. The result was disturbing.

    According to Eisler the Greek alphabet is the basis for the calculation. The letters of the Greek alphabet are numbered from 1 to 24 and then the numbers are assigned to the letters in a given word. The numbers are then added together in a specific way. The number 17 adds up to 8 (1+7=8).

    April is Απρίλιος in Greek. The letters in the word ‘April’ add up to 96. This can be reduced to 15 (9+6) and then to 6 (1+5) but it’s not necessary to reduce it.  You can use 96, 15 or 6. When you add the month, April, the day, 17, and the year 2018 it always comes out to 7. Use the number 96: (9+6+1+7+2+1+8= 34 and 3+4=7); or the number 15: (1+5+1+7+2+1+8=25 and 2+5=7); or number 6: (6+1+7+2+1+8=25 and 2+5=7).

    A word of warning–it’s too easy to ascribe real meaning to these interpretations.  I have no idea if I’m calculating the numbers correctly.  Furthermore, according to some YouTubers, September 23, 2017 was supposed to bring the apocalypse but it passed like any other day. And when Condoleeza Rice likened the destruction of the Middle East to‘painful birth’ she was referring to chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation.  It’s likely she was only trying to reassure her fundamentalist base–we don’t know if she associated her administration’s policies with the Book of Revelation.  The question is, should we take Trump’s threats of immediate war more seriously?

    The following is Robert Eisler’s discussion of the number 17.  I’m aware that some of his theories are controversial.   His theory that Jesus was a zealot has been refuted by Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) and I accept Ratzinger’s correction of Eisler’s theory.  However I trust Eisler’s knowledge of numerology.  I’ll also mention another possible controversy: in this chapter he talks about the similarity of Christian beliefs to pagan beliefs, but I don’t think that’s his view. In the next chapter he agrues that ancient Judaism is the source of the Christian stories, not paganism.  However I welcome corrections to the way I’m using this material.

    Page 118 of Orpheus the Fisher Eisler includes a discussion of John 21:7-11:

    Again, part of the secret hidden behind the number 153 of the fish is explained by S. Augustine (Tract. 123 in Joann. Ev.) on Pythagorean principles. Indeed, again according to Philo (vol. i., p. 10, Mangey), the ‘fulfilment’ of any potentiality, say 3, is 1+2+3=6; the ‘fulfilment’ of 4, the famous tetraktys, is 1+2+3+4=10, etc. Consequently the ‘fulfilment’ of 17 is 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15+16+17=153; now, as Augustine has well pointed out, ‘ten’ is with Philo the number of the decalogue, while ‘seven’ represents, according to Rev. 1:4, 3:1, the Holy Spirit. Thus ‘seventeen’ symbolises the ‘fulfilment’ of the ‘law’ by the superaddition of ‘grace,’ the charismatic gift of the Spirit, which descends upon man in the Christian baptism, and ‘one hundred and fifty-three’ is again the ‘fulfilment’ of this most holy and most significant number ‘seventeen. 

    The following is a link to an audio program discussing this problem:

    September 2015 Heresy & the Cult of Christian Numerology & Kabbalah Practice

  • Adam and Eve’s Bargain Wedding

    Before I go on I want to discuss a statement I made previously in which I said the story of Adam and Eve is used to justify marriage without compensation for women. If you consider the theological implications of the Fall you might see a possible problem with my theory. On the other hand, saying that a story has been used in a certain way is not the same thing as saying it was written for that purpose. And the story of Adam and Eve has been used in a certain way. The deist John Locke denied rights to women based on the story of Adam and Eve. Apparently this can be done regardless of a culture’s religious beliefs, or lack thereof. My point in the previous article was that if bridewealth was practiced in the Old Testament after the Fall, compensation for women never officially ended. Therefore when Paul Ryan withholds benefits and entitlements and then tells women to have more children, it is an unprincipled act.

  • Mega-Church and New World Order

    This is the beginning of my effort to provide additional links pertaining to my articles.  I haven’t done this previously because I’ve assumed they would already be available to my readers.  Relevant articles and videos seem to appear in my news feed  and I sort of figured they would be available to my readers as well.  Now that I’ve said this I realize how ridiculous it sounds, but there it is.   The following videos support the previous article concerning religious confusion.

    This next one is extremely long, so you might want to watch it in smaller pieces.   I’ll  have more to say about the general situation in the next post.

  • Kenneth Clark’s Tour of Western Civilization

    I became aware of Kenneth Clark through a YouTube video by Bishop Robert Barron entitled Bishop Barron on Heroic Materialism. This is the first of thirteen episodes. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

    https://youtu.be/w6qYjisp51M

  • Do Neo Conservatives Understand Christmas?

    The Neo Conservatives have used fundamentalist Christians to increase their popularity. This was necessary because without American Christians they would have had no political base in the United States. In my opinion, it is a problem that the neocons are not Christians. It is a bigger problem that they are Gnostics.

    Today Gnosticism justifies itself through Quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is called science, but it had metaphysical pretensions from the beginning. That’s why Albert Einstein rejected it. He believed in a God that does not play dice with the universe.

    From an article on transnational interpretation.org:

    Now let’s look at the history of the development of quantum mechanics, which was thoroughly saturated with discussions of consciousness and the mind. First, celebrated mathematical genius and quantum theory pioneer John von Neumann stated in 1955 that ‘N. Bohr, Naturwiss. 17 (1929)…was the first to point out that the dual description…necessitated by the formalism of the quantum mechanical description of nature is fully justified by the physical nature of things [and] that it may be connected with the principle of psychophysical parallelism.’

    The ‘psycho-physical parallelism’ is a purely metaphysical doctrine saying that a physical process in the body is accompanied by a subjective psychological experience in the mind without any causal connection between them. Does this sound ‘New Age-y’ to you? It does to me. Yet Von Neumann not only reports Bohr’s use of this term but explicitly invokes it in his account of ‘measurement’ in quantum theory. [To quote von Neumann]

    “…we must always divide the world into two parts, the one being the observed system, the other the observer. In the former, we can follow up all the physical processes…arbitrarily precisely. In the latter this is meaningless…that this boundary can be pushed arbitrarily deeply into the interior of the body of the observer is the content of the principle of the psycho-physical parallelism.”

    Von Neumann goes on to refer to the ‘ego’ of the observer as that which experiences a single outcome of the measurement, even though the physical system is described only by a set of outcomes. Connecting the two is the mysterious ‘collapse’, for which Von Neumann gives a formal representation but which he explicitly says lies outside any physically describable system. [1]

    Another problem with quantum physics is the lack of consensus as to what kind of social and economic reality is compatible with the quantum universe. Despite of this lack of consensus quantum mechanics has had real consequences in the world. This would probably explain the Bush administration’s lack of a plan for Iraq, even though they were clearly determined from the beginning to destroy it. Condoleezza

    Rice stated as much in a 2006 press conference. When asked how she intended to restore peace to Iraq, she said:

    “I think it would be a mistake. What we’re seeing here, in a sense is the growing—the birth pangs of a new Middle East and whatever we do we have to be certain that we’re pushing forward to the new Middle East not going back to the old one.”[2]

    According to Eric Voegelin, the Gnostic system is its own logic. That’s why it can’t allow logical questions. System building is not philosophy. It is based on the desire to dominate being. True philosophy on the other hand is based on the love of being.

    In answer to a similar question to that asked of Rice, George Bush an aide to George W. Bush demonstrated that he is a system builder:

    “That’s not the way the world really works anymore. We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”

    You might wondering what can be done? After all, quantum mechanics describes the way the universe works, doesn’t it? No, not really. A different physics has always been a possibility. The only real question would be how far back we need to go. In the meantime it is relevant to recall the view of man proposed by William Shakespeare compared to that proposed by Job. This implies two different views of God. The Gnostics gave us the idea of the Superman–just one episode in their struggle to remake mankind. Today they claim to be improving the process of evolution with artificial intelligence. Considering the effects they have had in the world so far, it shouldn’t be surprising that they represent a direct challenge to the Christian religion. Contrary to their pretensions to godliness, Christianity tells us that God became human. And rather than demonstrate his fearsome power He experienced the harsh realities of mortal existence.

    And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed…And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1, 3-7)

    [1] Where did the ‘Wrong’ idea of quantum theory implying consciousness come from? Quantum physicists Transactionalinterpretation.org. Oct 2, 2015

    [2] Thierry Meyssan The Neo Conservatives and the Policies of Constructive Chaos Voltairenet.org, 27 July 2006

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