The B. S. M. G. Report

Jonathots Daily Blog

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When God is touted by the fool

We quickly lose the Golden Rule

BAD

Yellin’ grandmas and spittin’ grandpas.

This week I stood back in awe over people my age and much older who have relinquished their gravitas and dignity in pursuit of appearing to be common street brawlers.

Yes, elected humans who would never think of being volatile in front of their grandkids for fear of passing on a horrible impression decided to throw fits on national television under the guise of being “tough.”

It is fascinating to me that at no time in my growing up years did any teacher, principal, minister or counselor suggest that the solution for dealing with a bully was to imitate his or her practices.

We need grandmas and grandpas out there who can calm the seas instead of stirring the waters.

Shame on our politicians and national leaders for thinking they convey strength by being abusive or rude.

I am looking for individuals who will stop yelling, take the power of good cheer, and in a clever way make their biting points … without using teeth.

SAD

When you move the stopping place, we no longer know where to cease.

In every argument there is a juncture where words are no longer communicating. Instead, insults and even fists offer their forceful alternative.

In a civilized society, we are responsible to stop and walk away before our physical bodies try to solve emotional problems. Over the past twenty years, we have lost the ability to identify the stopping place.

Do we continue to discuss? Or has the discussion become a prideful rant?

Do we object? Or might we depart until another day?

Do we impeach the President? Or do we simply replace him?

We’ve lost our stopping place.

It is sad that we refuse to comprehend that in losing our stopping place, we also have lost our power.

MAD

This is what makes me mad. It isn’t reality. I can handle the truth, even when it’s not to my liking.

Let me make this clear:

There is no such thing as an innocent “Islam” or a merely zealous “Zionist.”

There isn’t a “concerned” condemning Christian.

Or a well-meaning bumbling Buddhist.

And it isn’t open-minded to tolerate a hapless Hindi.

Any religion which has a leader who promotes his own tribe is worthless.

This is true of both Islam and Judaism.

Any religion that allows for segregation, gossip and Crusades cannot be given a free pass, as we have granted Christianity.

Buddhists who insist that the path to Nirvana is through quelling one’s emotions certainly don’t know humanity.

And for the record, considering Hinduism—nobody’s coming back as a cow.

As long as we allow religions to propagate myths, foolishness, prejudice, anger, segregation and anti-human philosophies, we will be at the mercy of their superstition.

Ragtag religion is hurting us. It’s time for us to look at all religions and make one simple demand:

Come back when you have something to help the human race. Stop complicating the hell out of our lives.

GLAD

I am glad, joyful, impressed and overwhelmed with Charles Wesley.

You might not know who he is.

He didn’t kill, steal and destroy, so the history books don’t contain a lot about his life.

He is a man who, along with his brother, John, led a revival of great social and spiritual significance in England.

He wrote 6,500 hymns.

Now, I consider myself to be a composer. I have quite a catalogue. But even in my more “braggart modes,” I would claim three or four hundred musical compositions.

6,500 is not only super-dedicated, but supernatural.

This week I was glad for Charles Wesley. Because as I sat in my living room, staring at my beautiful Christmas tree, from my radio, a choir sang, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

The music is by Felix Mendelssohn, but the lyrics are from Charles Wesley.

When I heard the last verse, the words swept over my soul and nearly took my breath away, leaving me like the saved, lost man I truly am.

Hail the son of righteousness

Light and life to all he brings

Risen with healing in his wings

Mild he lays his glory by

Born that man no more may die

Born to raise the sons of Earth

Born to give them second birth.

Yes, I cried.

I wept over the concept of having a Savior come to me, a son of Earth.

And I especially thanked Charles Wesley for confirming that Jesus came to give me second birth.

Jesonian … January 27th, 2018

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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Considering what a contrarian Jesus of Nazareth was to structure, practices, piety and legalism, it is sometimes difficult to understand how he ended up bleeding out a religion.

It’s not just his own words, which abhor the strict nature of religiosity, but also the reaction of those who were the faithful partakers–how they deemed him ignorant, a drunkard, a glutton, an evil man who was demon possessed, and a friend of sinners.

Not a rousing recommendation.

Let us start on the basis that all religions have one similar goal–to promote the notion that there is some sort of Supreme Being(s) or enlightenment which prompts us to worship.

Also, when you put the religions of the world in the order of their inception, you gain an interesting insight.

Buddhism and Hinduism preceded Christ, as did Judaism. Then came Jesus. But the only religion that had the benefit of eyeballing the fallacies of following faith without rhyme and reason was Mohammed. Yet the Muslim faith is riddled with the misleading trap doors that open up to fanaticism.

What is the difference between Jesus and Mohammed?

Mohammed wanted to start a cliqué.  Jesus was avoiding one.

Let’s look at specifics.

When it comes to the basics of spiritual expression–prayer–Jesus constantly warned his followers to make their overtures to God as practical and personal as possible. He said that prayer was necessary but should never be done in public to be seen by others, using vain repetition, or at a wailing wall or on a rug, but instead initiated behind a closed closet door.

When the subject of fasting came up, Jesus said there was nothing wrong with it as long as nobody knew you were doing it. In other words, put on a happy face, wash up and look energized by the experience instead of depleted.

How about worship? When he talked to the woman at the well, she was worried about where to do it and the style of doing it. Just like today–should it be contemporary or traditional? Jesus pointedly informed her that location and style were irrelevant. Worship was to be unfolded “in spirit and in truth.”

Seems like we’re on a roll. How about giving? Jesus claimed that giving was the key to getting. He once again wanted to make sure that generosity was not expressed to impress others, but instead, to instill in our hearts the knowledge that every little bit helps, and someday those we assist might come back our way and be our angels of blessing.

And then there’s the Law. Judaism and the Muslims are intent on maintaining a code of ethics, conduct and social interaction that was conceived more than two thousand years ago, with no respect for the power of freedom and the necessity of evolution.

For you see, Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment of the Law. And what is that fulfillment? Two fold: “He has come to give us life and it more abundantly, and also come that our joy might be full.”

By no means should we condemn or even critique those of the Muslim faith for adhering to their rendition of God. But we must question whether the faith that is promoted has sufficient warnings to scare away all the rascals, fanatics and self-righteous rabble which can try to hurt others by using the words of the Prophets.

• Jesus told his disciples to worship God by being as normal as possible.
• He told them to blend in.
• He told them to honor Caesar instead of hating Caesar.
• He told them they were the light of the world, not the scourge of the Earth.
• And most of all, he told them that they had no right to judge. (He even sealed this point by saying that he–Jesus–could judge and it would be righteous and fair, but he refused to do so.)

Christianity works because we know how to isolate our idiots and make sure it’s clear that they are not really part of the faith.

The Muslims talk a big game, but after decades and decades of terrorism, they are still represented by those who kill women and children.

 

 

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Finding a Message in a World aTwitter: Act III – Resolution… December 13, 2012

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I started my hunt.

I was looking for fellow-people who shared my message–and also for the possibility of some sort of divine order in the universe sympathetic to my cause.

• I spent a few minutes with Buddha. He offered me Nirvana, a state of nothingness, when I was yearning for abundant life.
• Moses had commandments, but was unclear about the payoff. He also insisted on being referred to as a “Chosen People.”
• Mohammed had too much of his father, Abraham, in him. What I mean is, he was more interested in building a great nation to encompass the world with his message than he was in making kinder people.
• Hindi had too many gods. Honestly, sometimes one is enough, if not too much.
• Philosophy seemed to focus on one point in a spectrum of potential–I guess, more or less to sell a book or create temporary controversy.

And then an amazing thing happened. I found a brook within a stream of humanity that seemed to grasp the concept that “NoOne is better than anyone else.”

“All men are created equal.”

“With malice toward none and charity toward all…”

“People  should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.”

Jefferson, Lincolnand King–a plantation owner, a lawyer and a preacher. All three came to the same conclusion as mine. I was onto something. They shared only one thing in common–they had come to America to escape injustice. So this is why I am proud to be an American. At least in our field of activity, the seed of commonality has been sown, even though we permit weeds to prosper. I have brothers and I have sisters. My message has forefathers, contemporaries and even the promise of a future generation of proclaimers.

So then I searched for a God. Why, you may ask? Why not just relish the message? Because on dark nights, when our mission is being battered by critics, we need the fellowship of other human beings and the confirmation that somewhere in the heavens we are being supported.

I found Jesus. Although he is hampered by much religious fussiness and tied to too many failing causes, at the heart of his message is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Pretty close, huh? Almost “NoOne is better than anyone else.”

He also said that God is our Father. If that is true, it usually means that a father doesn’t have favorite children. Jesus gave me a God who doesn’t think that some of His seed is better than others. There you go.

So even though I would not call myself a conventional Christian, I am a follower of Jesus and a believer in my Father who art in heaven. When people try to get religious with me, I go back to my message. When people deny my message, I go to another village.

I will end my life that way–because I know if some people are better than other people, then most certainly, beyond a doubt, there is no God.

The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity