I have a sense of humor, but when I sat down yesterday to write a poem for my library group I began by writing down my stream of consciousness and this is the way it went: Hurry, Armageddon (where is the messiah?) Uncle;  Home Sweet Home: Refugees;  Here they come marching down the street, the militants on parade!;  Down By the Riverside….Let’s study war;  Long live birth control;  Mother-love abortions;  Not back to tooth and claw–we never left;  An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth, A War for Death;  Was cave man this bad;  Retribution, piss off;   I love you, MAGA;  You Were a Beautiful Baby, but look at you now;  Say No to Pompadors;  Do What I Say, Not What ;   Don’t Let Them Know;  Control the Public for their own good;  A Serpent’s Tooth;  Are lessons of war all gold;  Punishment by the fathers…and fathers…and fathers,,,and…;   One Upsmanship is upside down;  Reprehensible Indefensible;  My war or yours? Let’s screw;   Is Liberalism Worth Saving;  Does size make wise;  Light’s not light. Is dark light;  Why me?  Why not…

It was Time Change, and mid-night after all those thoughts and having “educated” myself on world religions I realized how peculiar it is for personkind all over the world* to have so much emotion and energy involved in religion.  The fervor over religion reminds me of the energy involved in following sports in the USA, although more deadly.

During my search on the internet I came across the footage of a 19-year old woman who had been forced to marry against her wishes and had sought to leave the marriage with another man. She was being stoned to death on video camera by a large circle of men. Death was accomplished by men who were probably proud of themselves, and probably included men  of her own family.  Religion had triumphed again.

More on the topic tomorrow.

_____________________

My sense of humor?

“If you live each day as it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.”― Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc.

From <https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/special-features/death-in-las-vegas/26-famous-quotes-about-death-to-remind-you-of-being-human/>

_____________________________

*More anon.  I need to put in a good word for Buddism and Shintoism, however, and perhaps the Quakers.

WORDS…What comes to you? ….Spreading, sheltering, spiritual, shading. solitary, stolid….  and I am reminded of  Alan Watts’ lines:

“Death seems simply to be a return to that unknown inwardness out of which we were born…the truly inward source of one’s life was never born…Outwardly I am one apple among many. Inwardly I am the tree.”

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/4452080-death-seems-simply-to-be-a-return-to-that-unknown>

____________________

All I thought I knew about world religions was that there was one I was be afraid of, because they killed and/or stoned errant women and traveled to other countries to kill those who disrespected their god.  I am currently attempting to understand religions of the world on the Internet. There’s so much I never knew! I hope the following wasn’t written by A.I.  Let me know if you suspect an error:

______________________

Jesus is also revered in the Baha’i faith, the Druze faith, and Islam. In Islam, Jesus (often referred to by his Quranic name ʿĪsā) is considered the penultimate prophet of God and the messiah, who will return before the Day of Judgement. Muslims believe Jesus was born of the virgin Mary but was neither God nor a son of God. Most Muslims do not believe that he was killed or crucified but that God raised him into Heaven while he was still alive.[j] In contrast, Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill messianic prophecies, was not lawfully anointed and was neither divine nor resurrected. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus>

______________________

The very first church was founded in Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago when 3,000 people responded to the first gospel sermon that was preached by Peter (Acts 2:14-41). It was a 100 percent Jewish church. Peter and all of Jesus’ apostles were Jewish. All the people who responded were Jewish. And the person who soon emerged as the leader of the Jerusalem church was the Jewish brother of Jesus named James.

Needless to say, these people did not shed their Jewishness overnight, nor did they build a church with a steeple and an organ. They continued to live as Jews, and they continued to practice the Jewish religion.

Take Paul for example. He was a trained rabbi committed to the annihilation of the Jesus-believing Jewish sect that came quickly to be called the Nazarenes. When he experienced his radical Damascus road conversion (Acts 9:1-9), Paul did not suddenly become a Gentile. He continued behaving as a Jew.

In Acts 22:3 Paul refers to himself as a Jew, not as a former Jew. He continued to call himself a Pharisee (Acts 23:6). In other places in his writings, he refers to himself as an Israelite (Romans 11:1) and a Hebrew (2 Corinthians 11:22).

Paul continued to attend synagogue services on the Sabbath (Acts 13:14; 14:1; and 17:1-3). He continued to observe the Jewish feast days as one “zealous for the law” (Acts 21:20). When he was accused of teaching Jews to abandon the Law, Paul took some men with him to the Temple to observe the Jewish purification rites (Acts 21:18-26). In like manner, Paul insisted that Timothy (a Jew) undergo circumcision so that he might be effective in witnessing Jesus to other Jews (Acts 16:1-3).1

While continuing to be an observant Jew, Paul took every opportunity to emphasize that Torah-observance was not a condition of salvation and should not be imposed upon Gentiles (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). He declared in Romans 3:20 that no one can be justified by observing the Law, and he severely rebuked the Galatian church for teaching such an apostate doctrine (Galatians 1:6-9). He called it “a gospel contrary to that which we preached” (Galatians 1:8-9).

The leaders of the Jewish church in Jerusalem agreed with Paul on this important issue, and they made this clear at the first church conference which was held in Jerusalem in about 48 AD (some 18 years after the establishment of the Church). The conference was prompted in response to Judaizers who were teaching that salvation depended upon circumcision and observance of the Law of Moses (Acts 15:1 & 5). Following extensive debate, the church conference issued a ruling that circumcision and Torah-observance would not be required of Gentile converts (Acts 15:23-29).

So, the very first believers in Yeshua were all Jews who continued to be observant Jews. What set them apart from other Jews was their conviction that they had found the promised Messiah. Some argue that another distinction was that they started a custom of meeting on the first day of the week to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection through the partaking of communion. This assertion is based on Acts 20:7 where it says that Paul and some Christians in Troas (in Greece) met “on the first day of the week… to break bread.” However, the breaking of bread most likely refers to a fellowship meal (see also Acts 2:42 & 46). We know from the records of the early Church Fathers that as late as the 3rd Century many Christians were still meeting on the Jewish Sabbath.

From <https://www.oneforisrael.org/bible-based-teaching-from-israel/messianic-judaism-messianic-jews/?gclid=CjwKCAjwkY2qBhBDEiwAoQXK5bhyi4MHv5CdpaV8dxOzQcgSQ5LsknroYZtvsmFlUlIPwfJpK3cVpxoCV0wQAvD_BwE>

_____________________

I find strolling through Google fun and enlightening.  The quotations I found there are a gas, but that’s another post.  Don’t forget the time change tonight, and I hope we all enjoy our extra hour’s sleep….in the USA, anyway.

To change the world….

A first step could be dropping negative terms for other humans.  Like:

Pages in category “Pejorative terms for people”   From <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Pejorative_terms_for_people>

WIIKIPEDIA HAS 121 Pages for “Perjorative terms for people.”  These are under eight (8) categories:

•  Class-related slurs‎ (68 P)

E    Ethnic and religious slurs‎ (6 C, 80 P)

P     Pejorative demonyms‎ (16 P)

       Pejorative terms for in-group non-members‎ (20 P)

       Pejorative terms for people with disabilities‎ (1 C, 25 P)

       Political pejoratives for people‎ (66 P)

S     Sex- and gender-related slurs‎ (3 C, 10 P)

This is a fairy forest with tons of information. I couldn’t find the 8th category, though.  Have a go at it!

Meanwhile, I tried to look up on Google a list of the 15 most derogatory terms used by Trump and ended up with my computer being “locked up.”  Who says there’s not skullduggery afloat behind the internet?  (Oops!  Did I say skullduggery? Sorry. Have to watch myself….or does that count?)  Smile.

In case the following never ended up in a post, here’s the result of my attempt to educate myself so I can save it:  (The info, that is).

________________________

SAD

Alter Net reports that an American is making violent threats against workers that help immigrants.

________________________

INCIDENTAL KNOWLEDGE

What are the five major religions in the world? Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism are considered the five major religions. However, the five most popular religions are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shintoism. Judaism, compared to these, is a fairly small religion. From < https://study.com/academy/lesson/different-religions-world-overview-facts.html>

Who are their gods?

CHRISTIANITY:  Yahway or Jehova.  [Or, I presume, God]   — Elohim, the first name of God mentioned in the Bible, emphasizes His role as Creator. In addition to the personal name of God YHWH (pronounced with the vocalizations Yahweh or Jehovah), titles of God used by Christians include the Hebrew titles Elohim, El-Shaddai, and Adonai, as well as Ancient of Days, Father/Abba which is Hebrew, “Most High”.

ISLAM: Allah. The word “Islam” means “submission to the will of God.” Followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslims are monotheistic and worship one, all-knowing God, who in Arabic is known as Allah. Followers of Islam aim to live a life of complete submission to Allah. From <https://www.google.com/search?q=islam+definition Muhammad (Arabic: مُحَمَّد; c. 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is believed to be the Seal of the Prophets within Islam, with the Quran as well as his teachings and practices forming the basis for Islamic religious belief.ISLAM   Jihad Definition & Meaning  The meaning of JIHAD is a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty; also : a personal struggle in devotion to Islam   (Also jehad)   https://www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › jihadhttps://www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › jihad ….   Its original Charter identified Hamas as the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine and declares its members to be Muslims who “fear God and raise the banner of Jihad in the face of the oppressors.” The charter states that “our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious” and calls for the eventual creation of an Islamic state in Palestine, in place of Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and the obliteration or dissolution of Israel. It emphasizes the importance of jihad, stating in article 13, “There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.” The charter also states that Hamas is humanistic, and tolerant of other religions as long as they “stop disputing the sovereignty of Islam in this region”. The Charter adds that “renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion [of Islam]”. The original charter was criticized for its violent language against all Jews, which some commentators characterized as incitement to genocide.

BUDDHISM: Siddhartha Gautama was the first person to reach this state of enlightenment and was, and is still today, known as the Buddha. Buddhists do not believe in any kind of deity or god, although there are supernatural figures who can help or hinder people on the path towards enlightenment

HINDUISM:   Hindu God name: the one supreme god Atman or Brahman has three major forms known as the trinity. All of existence is also a form of god, as he created creation from himself. The Hindu trinity is of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. They are respectively the creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe.  List of Hindu Gods    Hinduism is the dominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. It comprises three major traditions, Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism, whose followers considered Shiva, Vishnu And Gods from the Vedas, Ramayanaand Mahabharata.  Shakti (also called as Devi) to be the supreme deity respectively. Most of the other deities were either related to them or different forms (incarnations) of these deities. Hinduism has been called the “oldest religion” in the world, and many practitioners refer to Hinduism as “the eternal law”. From < https://budaipedia.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Hindu_Gods>  Formed in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Hizballah (the “Party of God”), a Lebanon-based Shia terrorist group, advocates Shia empowerment globally.   From <https://www.google.com/search?q=hezbollah+meaning

JUDAISM:  Yahweh, name for the God of the Israelites.  I just noticed I short-changed this one.  More on Judaism in tomorrow’s blog, the good Lod willing.  Smile.

SHINTOISM:  “Shinto gods” are called kami. They are sacred spirits which take the form of things and concepts important to life, such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers and fertility.   Who is the main god of Shinto?  The Sun Goddess Amaterasu is considered Shinto’s most important kami. Some prominent rocks are worshiped as kami. In contrast to many monotheistic religions, Shinto does not have absolutes.

________________________

JORDAN  —  If your map calls Palestine “Jordan,” then be advised that per Wiki, “In 1946, Jordan gained independence and became officially known in Arabic as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The country captured and annexed the West Bank during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War until it was occupied by Israel in 1967. Jordan renounced its claim to the territory in 1988, became the second Arab state to sign a peace treaty