Wednesday

Favourite Bible Verses

The vast majority of verses in the bible book of Numbers are NEVER mentioned in any sermon nor taken as a favourite bible verse.  One only has to look at the Top Verses Bible link and check - http://www.topverses.com/
The top verse from Numbers is Numbers 1:2  is ranked: 801 * (800 verses more popular)
"Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one." (NIV)

The lowest verse from Numbers is Numbers 7:62 rank: 31076 *(31075 verses more popular.  There are 31,102 verses in the bible.) "One gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense" (NIV)

Compare this to ....

Top 10 Books
1. Ephesians
2. James
3. Titus
4. 1 John
5. 2 Peter
6. John
7. Philippians
8. Colossians
9. Romans
10. 1 Peter

Top 10 Chapters

1. 2 Peter 1
2. Psalm 1
3. John 2
4. James 4
5. Romans 12
6. Isaiah 53
7. John 3
8. Romans 1
9. James 1
10. Acts 1

One knows that one will hear these verses repeatedly in sermons and quoted by Christians though they make up a small percentrage of the bible.

I note that the very least quoted bible verse is 1 Chronicles 25:23 Rank: 31105
"The sixteenth to Hananiah, his sons and relatives, 12" (NIV)

Tuesday

Evidence for Adam's existence


That Jesus or Paul or the editors of the Genesis narrative (Elohist and Yahwist) may have believed that Adam existed is no proof that Adam actually existed in time and space history.

Assuming that fundamentalist Christians are correct and that Adam was created 4000 CE, then the "proof" they offer up for his existence is all hearsay written at least 3000 years after Adam's supposed  creation, Genesis 2  ( written 960 BCE - Elohist editor) and as late as 4000 years after his supposed creation, I Timothy ( written 100 - 150 CE - a forgery).

Thus the oral tradition about Adam must have survived 3000 to 4000 years completely unchanged to when the bible stories were written ...... and pigs might fly.

Monday

PRAYER ON THE OCCASION OF UTTER BOREDOM IN CHURCH



PRAYER ON THE OCCASION OF UTTER BOREDOM IN CHURCH

Oh Lord,

This service is so dull that I think I must be dead. But if it be, Lord, by your grace and favour, that I am not in fact dead - merely stunned into mind-numbing oblivion by the overall tedium, and general inconsequentiality of the proceedings - grant your servant this: grant that the Vicar becomes 'called up yonder'* to that 'place which you have prepared for him' right away ... if that not be too forward a request, of course.

Amen.

* Note: For those whose theologies allow, "raptured" may be substituted here.

From Martin Wroe & Adrian Reith "101 Things to Do With a Dull Church: the Complete Guide For the Bored Again Christian" (Minstrel, Eastbourne, E. Sussex: 1989) pp 32-33.

Thursday

Christianity and the 2011 Australian census

The Australian 2011 Census figures show a decline in Christian belief from 64% to 61% of our population. This goes along with the steady decline since 1901:

1901 96.1%
1911 95.9%
1921 96.9%
1933 86.4%
1947 88.0%
1954 89.4%
1961 88.3%
1966 88.2%
1971 86.2%
1976 78.6%
1981 76.4%
1986 73.0%
1991 74.0%
1996 70.9%
2001 68.0%
2006 63.9%
2011 61.1%

In just over a hundred years Christianity has lost 35% of the population in Australia. Obviously the Christian church is doing something wonderful to continue in this downward spiral.

The category of "No religion" is up from 18.7% (2006) to 22.3 %.

In a blow to Islamophobia the decline in Christianity (2.8%) was more than the percentage of Muslims in Australia (2.2%).

Tuesday

Australian Christian Lobby & "True Christians"



I note that the Australian Christian Lobby states :
"- That 12.7 million, or 64% of Australians declared themselves as Christians in the 2006 ABS Census.
- That over 2 million Australians attend a place of worship every Sunday"

That means that a mere 10% of the Australian population attend a church weekly. Some the 64% who classified themselves as Christians name themselves as Christians because that is the religion they were brought up in. Most never attend church, don't read the bible, don't think much about their particular denomination or Jesus or God and don't adhere to the man-made dogmas of their denomination.

When Christians want to add people to their church denomination they have extremely strict rules as to who is acceptable and a "true Christian". When they want to lobby politicians to support their causes then they add any person who claims to be a Christian. Quite strange!

Sunday

Find me on Facebook


Like my Facebook Muscian page at https://www.facebook.com/marktindallmusician and get more updates and information on my original music and music in general.

Wednesday

Church - Jesus social club

The church is a social club for Jesus where you pay to listen to a monologue, sing Jesus Jingles, attend brainwashing sessions and do free volunatry work for the Jesus social club. I left it many times till I finally wanted, and got, a divorce from Jesus. When you divorce Jesus and permanently leave the Jesus social club your fellow Jesus social club members no longer want to associate with you.

Tuesday

ORAL TRADITION


An indication how the oral tradition about the historic Jesus of Nazareth was passed down (and distorted) to eventually be recorded in the gospels.

#####################################

John A T Robinson was a New Testament scholar, author and a former Anglican Bishop of Woolwich, England who died on 5th December 1983 at Cambridge. These are words stated during his last supper. Feel free to add your bit to this oral history handed down to me by someone who knew somone who knew someone who said that his great uncle's best friend's daugher had heard her mother's aunt state that she had heard the man outside of Hoyts say these exact words. It is therefore a very reliable source. ...

~~~~~~~~~

On the evening of 4th December 1983 John A T Robinson stated:

Look at all my trials and tribulations
Sinking in a gentle pool of wine
Don't disturb me now I'm reading my bible
Till this evening is this morning life is fine

Always hoped that I'd be a bible scholar
Knew that I would make it if I tried
Then when I retire I could write my books
So they'll still talk about me when I've died

For all I care this wine could be my blood
For all I care this bread could be my body
If you would remember me when you eat and drink . . .
I must be mad thinking I'll be remembered - yes
I must be out of my head!
Look at your blank faces! My name will mean nothing
Ten minutes after I'm dead!
One of you misquotes me
One of you reinterprets me

What's that in the bread it's gone to my head
Till this evening is this morning life is fine

Will no-one stay awake with me?
Wade? Gladys? Jesus?

Saturday

Janis Joplin "Mary Jane"

 Bessie Smith

Janis Joplin

Link to song by Janis Joplin "Mary Jane" http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DFsbrA_buNo  A standard 12 bar blues.

Janis Joplin sang "Mary Jane" before she was famous. The song is credited as being a cover of a Bessie Smith song. That is obviously incorrect.

The usual lyrics stated for the second verse are:
"Oh if a man should look tame now, mean and mature,
They all turn out the same."

The real lyrics are:
"Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe
They all turn out the same"

Bessie Smith died in 1937 so could not have possibly referenced Elizabeth Taylor (born 1932) and Marilyn Monroe (born 1926) who were not famous at te time of Bessie Smith's death.

CORRECT LYRICS

Now when I go to work, I work all day,
Always turns out the same.
When I bring home my hard-earned pay
I spend my money all on Mary Jane.
Mary Jane, Mary Jane, Lord, my Mary Jane.

Oh, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe
They all turn out the same.
'cause they can't do nothing to make a man feel good
Like my old Mary Jane.
Mary Jane, Mary Jane, Lord, my Mary Jane.

Now I walk down the street and I look for a friend
One that can lend me some change.
And he never questions my reason why,
'cause he too loves Mary Jane.
Mary Jane, Mary Jane, Lord, my Mary Jane.

Well, I have known women that wanted no man,
Some that I wanted to play.
But I never knew what happened in this world
Till I met up with Mary Jane,
Mary Jane, Mary Jane, Lord, my Mary Jane.

Oh, when I'm feelin' lonesome and I'm feelin' blue,
There's only one way to change.
Now I walk down the street now lookin' for that man,
One that knows my Mary Jane,
Mary Jane, Mary Jane, Lord, my Mary Jane.

Sunday

First Abolish The Customer: 202 Arguments Against Economic Ratonalism


From Bob Ellis "First Abolish The Customer: 202 Arguments Against Economic Rationalism" (Penguin:1998)

... a belief all economic rationalists share - that this decisive, sudden process of sacking people is good for society, or good for the society as a whole. By sacking people in their hundreds of thousands, the theory at its heart asserts, you create employment and stimulate spending. p.4

Land mines, not coal mines.
Land mines make more money. p.20

To compete with slaves we must become slaves ourselves, or something very close to slaves. p.35

An economic rationalist would have sacked Michelangelo ...Joern Utzon ... Charlie Chaplin ... Orson Welles ... J R R Tolkien. pp.42-44

Economic rationalism as a system and democracy as a system are incompatible, ultimately incompatible. And one of them has to go. p.47

The greed of a few hundred thousand shareholders now outweighs ... the need and suffering of five billion ordinary people, with rent to pay, and children to clothe and send to school. ... Some people are as disposable as Kleenex. pp.68-69

For competitive wages read slave wages. p.70

One man's profit is another man's loss. p.72

'The foremost problem now facing a modern economy, ' said Syd Hickman ...' is what do you do with the dumb blokes?' p.88

... why any company's profits should be, theoretically, limitless. Why they cannot, like wages, be pegged. p.92

If it is permissible for human beings to harass and humiliate and ruin other human beings in the name of profit, and to do so without let or fine or hindrance, then it is not a democratic system we are talking of, it is a tyranny. pp. 100-101

If a government can make laws hindering the sale of heroin and tobacco merely because they ruin lives and sometimes ends them, why - as a matter of philosophical debate - cannot they make laws that hinder the evils of economic rationalism? it also ruins lives, and ends them. pp.135-136

[Economic rationalists] will buy up the Apple Corporation and sell of its component songs to Michael Jackson for millions. But they would have never bought Paul McCartney his first guitar. p.150

John Ralston Saul in ... The Unconscious Civilization, reports how employees who have narrowly survived the sack that extinguished their workmates and friends become, as a rule, very nervous, and haggard, and overworked, and uncreative. p. 154

Orwell's Animal Farm ... 'All men are equal, but some are more equal than others.' p.162

One man's surplus is another man's deficit. p. 163

There is always an alternative. p.180

Homer Simpson's words, 'Who, whom? Who benefits, Marge?' p.205

Expendable as Kleenex. This is the matter of which we dare not speak, and now it is said. p.209

Friday

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Rhoda Hahn (Psychiatrist) gives expert video advice on: What are the signs of narcissistic personality disorder?; What are the causes of narcissistic personality disorder?; What are the treatments for narcissistic personality disorder? and more...


What is "narcissistic personality disorder"?

Narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by patients with, who display grandiosity, envy and an inability to have empathy or, you know, put themselves in another person's shoes. You know, be able to imagine what another person might feel like. Despite all of their crowing about themselves and always tooting their own horn, the underlying dynamic of narcissistic personality disorder is someone with very poor self-esteem. So the person that the narcissist is trying to convince how wonderful they are isn't necessarily all the rest of us. It's them.


What are the signs of narcissistic personality disorder?

A person with narcissistic personality disorder is an individual who will display an over-inflated sense of themselves, and their accomplishments, and they will be completely floored when other people don't see them in that same light. They have a constant need for admiration ... need constant admiration; it all needs to be positive, all the time. They will feel that they are incredibly special and they can only interact with other people who are equally special. People with narcissistic personality disorder will only get into social settings if they feel like they will gain from them. ... Now, while people with narcissistic personality disorder are off and running around tooting their own horn, I think one of the reasons that they have so much social dysfunction, and why other people tend to dislike them intensely, is not so much because they're constantly bragging about themselves (although in fact it is irritating), but because I think implied in all of that bragging about themselves is a very thinly veiled devaluation of whatever it is you're doing. So, it's not only, 'I'm so great,' but there is an implied 'and you're not' which tends to upset people, and make you not very popular. ..                   

                                                             

What are the dangers of narcissistic personality disorder?

The danger of narcissistic personality disorder is basically having everyone that you come into contact with hate your guts. It's very difficult to like these individuals. As I mentioned before, one of the problems is that despite the fact they are always tooting their own horn, which gets tiresome in and of itself, is that there is a very thinly veiled evaluation of you. It's "I'm so great and you're not," which people get pretty angry about. I think that people with narcissistic personality disorder are often very exploitive and will take advantage of you if they think they can get something out of it. ...

from http://www.videojug.com/interview/narcissistic-personality-disorder

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This explains recent events and so many obnoxious people whom I have met.

Tuesday

Saturday

Hell - infinite punishment for finite sins.

All finite humans have finite lifespans in which they do finite acts. The Christian notion of sin is a finite act. Hell, however, is infinite punishment for finite sins. No finite sin warrants an infinite punishment.

Wednesday

GUNS & DEATH RATE USA / AUSTRALIA

No-one requires a firearm in a city except law enforcement. Australia has strict gun laws and as a result a dramatically smaller death rate death-rate per 100,000 population in one year from guns than the USA.

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Number of Deaths Due to Injury by Firearms per 100,000 Population, 2008

Total USA = 10.3

from http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparemaptable.jsp?ind=113&cat=2

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By 2002/03, Australia's rate of 0.27 firearm-related homicides per 100,000 population had dropped to one-fifteenth that of the United States.

from http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1502

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Australian report has more to say .....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The risk of dying by gunshot has halved since Australia destroyed 700,000 privately owned firearms, according to a new study published today in the international research journal, Injury Prevention.

...

"From 1996 to 2003, the total number of gun deaths each year fell from 521 to 289, suggesting that the removal of more than 700,000 guns was associated with a faster declining rate of gun suicide and gun homicide," said Adjunct Associate Professor Philip Alpers, also from the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney. "This was a milestone public health and safety issue, driven by an overwhelming swing in public opinion, and promptly delivered by governments."

After 112 people were shot dead in 11 mass shootings* in a decade, Australia collected and destroyed categories of firearms designed to kill many people quickly. ...

"On top of that, and despite the new gun laws not being designed to reduce gun suicide, domestic shootings, and the much less common 'stranger danger' individual gun homicides, firearm fatalities in the three largest categories - total firearm deaths, firearm homicides and firearm suicides - all at least doubled their previous rates of decline following the revised firearm legislation."

While the rates per 100,000 of total firearm deaths, firearm suicides and firearm homicides were already reducing by an average of 3 per cent each year until 1996, these average rates of decline doubled to 6 per centeach year (total gun death), and more than doubled to 7.4 per cent(gun suicide) and 7.5 per centeach year (gun homicide) following the introduction of new gun laws.

By 2002/03, Australia's rate of 0.27 firearm-related homicides per 100,000 population had dropped to one-fifteenth that of the United States.

The authors conclude that "The Australian example provides evidence that removing large numbers of firearms from a community can be associated with a sudden and on-going decline in mass shootings, and accelerating declines in total firearm-related deaths, firearm homicides and firearm suicides."

from http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1502

Saturday

The bible is a poor moral standard

Chrisians wish to place a man-made fallible bible as their moral standard and enforce that arbitrary standard on all other human beings.

The bible itself never states that it should be the moral standard for Christians and never states that the whole bible is "God's Word". All such pronouncements are man-made dogmas.

The bible is full of contradictions and errors and is thus a very poor moral standard.

The choice of the bible as a moral standard is arbitrary. Jesus never states that some bible to be complied after his death is a moral standard to be followed for all time. Some of the moral standards within the bible are evil by today's legal standards. For example, slavery is condoned in both Old and New Testamnents. 

Moral standards within the bible have also changed over time. In Old Testament times was permissable to have mulitple wives and concubines. The New Testament states that one shoud only have one wife and no concubines.

Punishments for breaking the moral code in the bible have also changed. In the Old Testament many of the punishment for breaking a moral code was death - Leviticus 20:9, Exodus 21:17.

Genocide an mass murder of children is condoned in the bible in Genesis 6:5-9; Deuteronomy 7:1-2; Joshua 6:21; Joshua 10:40-41,

Joshua 8:24 - City of Ai
Joshua 10:26 - Joshua murdered five defenseless kings of the Amorites in cold blood.
Joshua 10:28 - City of Makkedah
Joshua 10:29 - City of Libnah
Joshua 10:31 - City of Lachish
Joshua 10:33 - City of Gezer "...Joshua smote him and his people until he had left him none remaining."
Joshua 10:34 - City of Elgon "They left none remaining."
Joshua 10:37 - City of Hebron
Joshua 10:38 - City of Debir
Numbers 21:2-3 - City of Hormah
Numbers 21:33-35: Land of Bashan "...they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land."
Deuteronomy 2:21-24: The Ammonite, Horim, and Avim people.
Deuteronomy 2:26-35 - Land of Heshbon "...we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain."
Judges 4:16 - City of Sisera

The bible condones the murder of children.

The near ritual murder involving Isaac in Genesis 22:1-18.
Mass murder of the first-born of Egypt in Exodus 7:3; Exodus 7:13-14; Exodus 12:29-30:
Mass murder of 42 little children in 2 Kings 2:23-24.
Executing a whole family for the sins of the father in Joshua 7:20-25.
Mass murder of the Midianite children in Numbers 31:1-18.
Mass murder of Babylonian babies in Psalms 137:8-9.

I would suggest that the bible should be the very last choice as a moral standard as it is so unethical and inmmoral in multiple parts of its texts. The bible condones slavery, polygamy, concubinage, death penalty for trivial crimes, genocide and mass murder of children. Such standards are not objective but entirely subjective and man-made.

Monday

AUSTRALIAN ARTISTS LIVING IN POVERTY

Far more is spent by ordinary Aussies on football, cricket and beer than art. The arts inspire people to think and question. Art takes time to produce. Art is a real job. The public is largely uneducated in art. Art education of the general public should also be included in any budget. Art is a national treasure and should be subsidised by the state.

Most of the artists that I know (over all forms of art) are currently struggling due to the economic climate brought about by the greed of those in the finance industry who have "steady jobs".

One only has to look at our greatest Australian artists and the poverty that they live(d) in. Famous Aussie muscician Billy Thorpe almost went bankrupot several times. Famous Aussie actress Naomi Hazelhurst had to survive on the dole. Famous Aussie poet Henry Lawson lived in poverty and the handouts of friends. Famous Aboriginal Aussie painter Albert Namatjira lived in poverty.

We would have had no art whatsoever from artists if they had to hold down a "steady job" while creating their art. Australia would have been impoversihed had that happened. In ancient Greece work / " a steady job" was for the lower uneducated classes. Art and philospohy was what people of intellect and culture engaged in. Ancient Greece changed the world. All a "steady job" does is produce mindless products to be consumed. No thought, no culture, no change.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/may2004/art-m07.shtml

Thousands of Australian artists living in poverty

... the overwhelming majority of artists are living in dire poverty.

Financial problems and time constraints are identified as the major factors inhibiting the development of an artist’s career. Limited work opportunities, poor financial return and lack of access to funding or financial support forces artists to take on other paid work, thus making it difficult for them to sustain their creative work.

The survey found that most artists were unable to work full-time in their chosen profession. ...

Most artists’ incomes were too low to support their basic needs. The survey showed that while a tiny minority of artists were high earners, the majority lived far below the poverty line. Based on figures from the 2000-2001 financial year, half the artists surveyed earned less that $7,300 before tax from their creative endeavours and half earned less than $30,000 from all other income sources.

...

there has been no long-term increase in artists’ earnings over the past 15 years—a period when all other occupations have shown an increase in real terms.

~~~~~~~~~~
From http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/the-poverty-trap-ensnaring-creative-australians/2010/02/19/1266082355060.html

The poverty trap ensnaring creative Australians

A decade after a report revealed the poor financial outlook for artists and performers, little has changed ...

The latest census data suggests things might have become worse for the nation’s artists. ...

There are financial lifelines for lucky artists: public funds are available through community and government grants. The Australia Council is in the first year of awarding start-up grants of up to $10,000 for about 40 student artists under the annual scheme ArtStart.

But Australia makes no specific social provision for artists; Denmark, by contrast, grants select artists a stipend for the rest of their lives.

The lives of many artists are a juggle of casual jobs, commissions, auditions, grants, studio time, unpaid work, short-term contracts and teaching positions. Performers complain of being asked to work without pay or for less than minimum wages.

In ‘‘times of empty bank accounts’’ the Sydney actor, who won acclaim as the lead in Bad Boy Bubby, has been a spot welder, a mail sorter, an online journalist, a university tutor and an unsuccessful french polisher. ...

‘‘If Australians could value artists, these people helping to build and describe stories of us, in the way they value footballers and their careers, then surely they deserve more than an income of $14,000 a year.

Sunday

SLAVERY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT TIMES OF JESUS


Some Christians seem to think that slavery meant that the slaves were merely "servants" and similar to modern day employees. The logical conclusion is that people must have been lining up to be come a slave "Oh, chose me! I want to be your slave! I have all the qualifications that you want."

Historian Robin Lane Fox in "Pagans and Christians in the Mediterranean World" (Penguin:2006) disagrees. This is what he states about slavery during the time period of Jesus and the early Christian church: ....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paul's short letter to Philemon nowhere suggested that there was a Christian duty to free a slave, even a Christian slave. p. 295

Christian leaders did nothing to disturb [slavery]. When Christian slaves in an Asian church community began to propose their freedom should be bought from community funds, Ignatius of Antioch advised firmly against the suggestion. ... Christian leaders began from a principle of the equality of man, yet argued that worldly differences should continue undisturbed. The greater slavery was to man's passions. p. 296

... the accepted attitudes of some Christian leaders is not in doubt. It's priorities are not those of a faith concerned to free slaves from their masters, or to urge masters to let them be released. p. 297

Christian masters were not specially encouraged to set a slave free. ... Many masters required slaves to buy their freedom or to leave a child in their place, so that a younger slave could be bought or acuired on release of an older, wasting asset.  p. 298

Not until the fourth century [CE] and the rise of monastic communities do we find clear hints of Chrisian attempts to better a slave's position. p.299

Among Romans, the most acceptable homosexuality was an act conducted by citizens on slaves and foreigners. [Not punishable by law] ... Before marriage a young man could also turn to prostitutes or slaves. p. 342

As men of all ages slept with their slaves, natural children were a widespread fact of life. p. 343

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Further more the treatment of slaves in Jesus' time was dreadful, immoral and unethical yet neither Jesus nor Paul ever stated any thing against it.

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The master's power over the slave was called (dominica potestas), and it was absolute. Torture, degradation, unwarranted punishment, and even killing a slave when he was old or sick, in the eyes of the law, slaves were property who could not legally hold property, make contracts, or marry, and could testify in court only under torture. The death of his master did not free a slave.

From http://www.classicsunveiled.com/romel/html/slavery.html

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... Up to the days of Augustus, a marriage between a slave needed not be recognized by its master and enjoyed no protection in law. The children of such a couple would be born as slaves. A slave who ran away would face branding or possibly even death. The treatment of slaves was totally in the hands of the owner, and usually varied according to their abilities.

...

Roman law regarded slaves as mere chattels. They were subject to the will of their masters, against which they enjoyed no protection. Punishments inflicted upon slaves were merciless. Hard labour, whippings, branding, breaking of the joints or bones, branding of the forehead with letters denoting the slave as a runaway, liar or thief (FUG, KAL, FUR) and crucifixion were all punishments which were inflicted upon slaves. So too, being thrown to the wild beasts in the circuses or even being burnt alive in a cloak soaked in pitch.

...

the Roman view of slaves was one of contempt. Slaves were people one looked down upon. Kindness toward them was rare, even seen as a sign of weakness. ...

from http://www.roman-empire.net/society/society.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


... There were several ways you could become a slave in Rome. Some became slaves because they could not pay back the money they had borrowed. The government would also take people into slavery if they could not pay their taxes. There were also many cases of poor people selling their children as slaves to richer neighbours.

... Roman generals in their campaigns abroad sent back thousands of captured soldiers to be sold as slaves.

...

Slave traders would follow the Roman army abroad on their campaigns. After a battle they would buy the defeated soldiers and their families, and then arrange for them to be sent back to Rome and the other major settlements in the empire.

...

It was common practice to have them in work-teams of ten slaves. Branded on the forehead, chained together and guarded by a foreman carrying a whip, there was little chance of escape.

Slaves who did manage to run away were guilty of theft (they had stolen their master's property), and if caught they would suffer terrible tortures as a means of frightening other slaves.

...

After Emperor Constantine became converted to Christianity, the life of slaves improved slightly. For example, a law was passed in AD 319 that made it illegal to kill slaves. Owners of slaves were also forced to stop branding their slaves on the face and instead had to put their mark on the hands and legs.

However, Christianity did not bring an end to slavery. Christians argued that Jesus never criticised slavery in his sermons. The Church not only refrained from attacking the system of slavery but continued to use large numbers of slaves to work monastery lands.

from http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ROMslaves.htm

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The bible does not tell the full story about slavery. They were not merely "servants" having a nice safe work evironment.

Tuesday

What about the symbolism of the Bible?

"What about the symbolism of the Bible? ... The Biblical image of the universe simply won't do any more neither will the Biblical notion of a race of God, which all others are meant to serve ... nor again, the idea of a code of laws delivered from on high and to be valid for all time. The social problems of the world today are not those of a corner of the old Levant, sixth century B.C. Societies ...are not static; nor can the laws of one serve another. ... Thus we know -- whether we dare to say so or not -- that our clergies have no more right to claim unassailable authority for their moral law than for their science. And even, finally, in their intimate role of giving spiritual advice, the clergy have now been overtaken by the scientific psychiatrists -- and indeed to such a degree that many clergymen are themselves turning to psychologists to be taught how best to serve their pastoral function. The magic of their own traditional symbols works no longer to heal but only to confuse.... in our own beautiful world, not only have our public religious symbols lost their claim to authority and passed away, but the ways of life they once supported have also disappeared" - Joseph Campbell, "Myths To Live By" (Penguin Compass, 1972) pp. 130 -131

Wednesday

GOD'S INERRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY



"God: The Ultimate Biography" (Ebury Press: 1987) by "Holy Ghost writer Jeremy Pascal." (obviously a God inspired prophet) - GOD'S INERRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY!

I quote from pages 7 - 12:

"I should have thought that this is the one autobiography that needs no introduction. .. the fact that in a galaxy as yet undiscovered by Homo Sapiens another of my books - God On Gardening - has outsold even the Bible. .... Although the Bible has done very well in it is only a biography and an unauthorised one at that. I DIDN'T EVEN WRITE IT. ... With such a large team of authors, inaccuracies are bound to creep in and I will correct them in the course of this definitive, work. ... I've decided it was time to write My version of the facts, just to put the record straight, correct the errors and cover some omissions, not least the matter of the Eleven Commandments ...

God.

The Author of all creation."

God personally wrote it as is proven by the verses from GOD'S INERRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY above.

This also proves that God did not write the bible as God states on page 10 above in GOD'S INERRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY" I didn't even write it [The bible]."

PROOF that "God: The Ultimate Biography" is GOD'S INERRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

1. The amazing care that was required in copying GOD'S INERRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY, according to Ebury Press.

2. Textual critics have thousands upon thousands of printed copies of GOD'S INERRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY to research and compare.

3. No passages in GOD'S INERRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY are even questionable.

4. Textual critics find the all copies of GOD'S INERRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY in 100% agreement.

5. The autographs of GOD'S INERRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY are extant and held by Ebury Press. Jeremy Pascal inspected them.

6. If we have good copies of GOD'S INERRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY, we have a divine message.

7. GOD'S INERRANT AUTOBIOGRAPHY has sufficient internal claims that it is God's word, true, it will not pass away, God breathed, the work of the Holy Spirit superintending the writing process of God as the only author.

Tuesday

Excerpts from my poetry book "Original Copy"



My poetry book "Original Copy" was first published April, 1997.  Named because you can never have an original copy. Books were signed with an "Original Copy" stamp.

Cover Design: Steve James (Genesis Art P/L)

Illustrations: Lyn Francis & Bea Jones

Photographs: Alex Stravopolous

Copyright © Mark Tindall 1997.

ISBN 0 646 31585 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For Bev. - In celebration of 21 years. I love you.

Badger (Dr Brett Tindall). - Your user friendliness led to a mortality experience but you tolerated my Vogon poetry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the back cover blurb ..........

I first met Mark Tindall in 1992 at the poetry readings around Newcastle. His work stood out. it was clear, outward looking and comprehensible. refreshingly non-narcissistic. And as a result - popular.

Diverse in style and theme - from searching satire, indignant invective and biting irony, to the tenderly lyrical, this collection is a true reflection of Mark's poetry, his philosophy, and his world view.

Whether one poses an individual spiritual solution to the crisis of humanity or a social political remedy, or both - ORIGINAL COPY offers stimulating, entertaining reading.

GEOFFREY LENNIE Poet

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIBBO (Matthew 23)

G'day Gibbo!
I'd like to have a little chat
your most irreverent Reverendship
if you'll take the time
to step down from your pious pulpit
and remove your coat of many deceptions
as black as your blood

I've visited your whitewashed sanctuary
built to protect endangered species
of bigots, hypocrites and Pharisees

I sat in your pews
bored to death
with Jesus by my side
dressed in casual gear

we were placed up the back
so we wouldn't spoil the well dressed flock
of sheep without a shepherd
baaing and following each other
in respectable bland fashion

as you sang a dirge of hymns
written by dead people
for people dead inside
Jesus yawned, closed His eyes
and fell asleep

as you began pontificating to the masses
at the start of your dreary sermon
Jesus began snoring

as you said
"Let Jeeeeee-sus intayalife!"
Jesus woke with a start
gathering His whip in His hand
but He promptly fell asleep again
your sing-song voice
lulling us all with its
rising and falling
rising and falling
lying and boring Him to death
with sanctimonious drivel

the dribble ran down
your yellow teeth and chubby cheeks
to your turkey neck below

your fat-filled gut
shook beneath your robes
as you began your repetitious marathon prayers

I glimpsed at your
reptilian hands that strike to shake
as the congregation escapes outside

you hide your slime
by dressing in
platitudes of middle-class niceness

while maggots
are eating your rotting soul inside

Jesus and I left
one visit to your hell-hole was enough

we talked outside
with the sons and daughters of Cain
about truth, life, love
the rainbow above

we sang and danced
we drank red wine
we ran through forests
swam through streams
we laughed aloud
we hugged and kissed

Gibbo
little man
you were never missed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WHEN DAY IS DYING

when day is dying, i walk down streets to the beat of a faltering heart / kicking cans down gutters strewn with used products of factory foulness / i carry baggage of long hours worked / the hurts, the smells, the hell of silenced thought / the fight for freedoms fought in vain / my fellow workers
tamed and maimed by management power plays that stifle life and harm wife and kids who cry in the growing dusk and dust of leaden sky / i lift my eyes to horizons filled with the ills of cars and houses crammed and studded with tv antenna spears and fears of the dark age descending / thousands weave
through the mouse maze dazed at the labouring of drowsy traffic noise / plodding home through the red roof patchwork quilt with false guilt and worn out lives / striving against wastage of mind / winding down hope / doped by the lies of the leading blind / dismayed by the slave trade carried out in offices of steel and glass and fast talking sales pitch money making robbers of time / the church steeple sits in the shadows of the towers of babel waiting for armageddon / a smaller war has been and gone

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE LAKE OF LOVE

The willows fall,
The water waves circles to sands
As we smile
In earthen shadows on the shore,
Casting our lines upon
The lake of love.

The rippling filling
Of breath on breath of wind
Murmurs within our tree-trunk hearts

And I feel

I've touched you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FROM BOX TO BOX TO BOX

From box to box to box
Boxed in, walled up, covered over
Confined to restrictive structures
Jailed for life from birth

From box to box to box
I journey every day
In a box I sleep and wake
And travel in a box on wheels
Past boxes on a road
To a box where I work
Making boxes for the boxed

From box to box to box
Back in a box to my box
At the end of a working day
And eat and sleep
In that boxed in box again

From box to box to box
A never ending cycle
A dreaded treadmill pox
Till the last box
Is buried in the ground

*******************************************************

THIS GENERATION

This generation has
no compassion in the fashion of a saint
for the hopeless poor and jobless
eating crumbs at Lazarus' gate

There is
no screaming in the street
no protest on their feet
no affection for the loveless
no offence at the stench
no wholeness of soul
no questioning fictitious facts
no learning from the past
no yearning for the Kingdom coming

This generation hungers for the food of fools
and laughter in the wings
from happy idiots watching a ship being built
in the suburbs during the Deep Dark Age
of the Godless Beast

This generation sobs quietly
in a corner of a room
as night darkens day
wallowing in their own dirt
buying time and trading it on the black market

This generation sells souls for a pittance
and has no heart nor guts
just heels that tread on necks
just feet working treadmills that go nowhere
just might and weight of force

This generation rots in the dark
guaranteeing despair for their
children's children's children
till Kingdom come

This generation chants i me mine
blocking out the sun and reddening the moon
crumbling this rock to specks of dust
tunnelling to hide their heads from light

This generation chokes
on garbage fed to the brain
as light filters through a slit in the sky

This generation butchers the poor
hanging them from meat hooks in public view
shoeless, jobless, penniless

Wealth buys health and power
but for all
a future without a future
life without living

This generation
crawls and does not walk
sits and does not stand
exists but does not live
they are dying all their lives
in the brave new world of 1984
a tyrants' heaven and workers' hell

They created an age
where shallow shadows search
for water in a desert
for answers where there are none
travelling across the heavens
but leaving their hearts alone

This generation's kingdom is divided
it falls with Icarus to the ground

A useless thing
a company toy

It emits
not a sound, a ripple or a squeak

Thursday

“The Evils of Elvis Presleyism” by Dr. David Otis Fuller

"Elvis Presley is an uneducated Tennessee fellow... with grotesque sideburns, who musicians say plays his guitar very crudely, but with an emotion-soaked voice and sensual body movements has entranced millions of teenagers [to] make him their ‘sex-idol’."  - “The Evils of Elvis Presleyism” by Dr. David Otis Fuller (Baptist Testimony Publishers, Inc.),