“…while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.”
On tap for now:
“Wabi Sabi for Writers” Richard R Powell
Posted in Exercise, Just Thinking, Learning, life, Livable philosophy, Questions, Social commentary, Thinking, Time and effort, tagged culture, Learning, Media, Questions on Tuesday, January 10, 2017| 1 Comment »
On tap for now:
Posted in Exercise, Fitness, Gym, Livable philosophy, Social commentary, tagged exercise, health and fitness on Monday, June 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Al-righty then,
Tonight’s workout was a milestone for me.
Now to preface what I am about to say let me define some terms and set the stage.
1) When I say Swimming I use the term in the loosest possible way imaginable. In fact, think wounded whale on drugs. Yeah… it’s not pretty.
2) Any other reference I make to swimming just refer to #1.
So I had found a sleeveless StayDry style shirt at Goodwill that covers most of my awesome Chris Farley wanna-be upper- body. It does help keep other patrons from being unbearably nauseated and keeps them from going blind due to my neon-whiteness.
I began slowly and stayed at that that speed all night.
The strokes that I know are…
and…
so I used both of them.
Down and back, down and back, down and… you get the picture. I made 35 round trips.
So why is that significant? Well it is kinda a big deal for a non-swimming middle-aged wounded neon bright white whale like me.
See, that’s a mile.
Yep a M-I-L-E.
It took me two hours in the water but I swam a mile this evening.
It was some kinda ugly but I did it!
Of course now I can’t comb my hair… or brush my teeth. In fact, the keyboard is as high as I can get my hands at the moment. I may have to put the tooth brush on the counter and bend over to it to brush my teeth tonight.
It may not be what anyone who was watching would call “swimming” but I did it!
Now let’s go get that last batch of Spartan Challenge sit-ups knocked out.
We are the entity known as Persifler and we have been “Quitter” quit free for 689 days now
Posted in Americanized Religiosity, Charles Finney, Church?, doctrines of grace, God, Gospel, IFB, Just Thinking, Livable philosophy, Manipulation, Obedience, Orthodoxy, Questions, Reformation, Religion, Religiosity, Revival, Revivalism, Semi-Pelagian, Social commentary, Sovereignty of God, Thinking, Toxic Faith, Traditions of Men, Worldviews, tagged BELIEF AND BEHAVIOUR, Control and Power, cult of personality, DANGEROUS CHRISTIAN ACTIVITY, Fundamentalism, Independent Fundamental Baptist Cult, Religion, Sloppy Preaching, Sovereignty of God, Toxic Faith on Sunday, December 29, 2013| 3 Comments »
The altar Call is an outward show of how the pastor can emotionally manipulate his followers to do what he says through guilt and other pressure tactics. It is a power play so that there is visible evidence of a successful sermon. The (so-called) “Altar Call” is the pastor’s way of “proving that he is worth his paycheck.” It is part and parcel of the Man-centered Gospel of the Church Growth Movement in Modern Churchianity.
The church lecture series is all about the man in the pulpit no matter how much he claims to the contrary. The Cult of Personality is the glue that really holds the congregation together. Take away the charisma in the pulpit and the so called church that meets in the temple they have built for themselves will dwindle down and die. The sheeple will find themselves another proxy god to put in the pulpit. They must have their very own idol to listen to and to worship.
“Not a god,” you say? Really? Pastors are the gods over their congregations. His is the only voice allowed to speak during the lecture and he cannot be questioned about anything he says from behind the so called sacred desk. He is infallible and not to be questioned. He demands loyalty and obedience. His word is law. The sheeple are conditioned to passively, and unconditionally accept what the man in the pulpit is saying no matter what he says. The pastor is in fact speaking “ex cathedra” as he is the head of his church no matter who he gives lip-service to.
“I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption, it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or certainty of corruption by full authority. There is no worse heresy than the fact that the office sanctifies the holder of it.” -Lord Acton expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887
_________________________
My premise is that any man who is given authority over others will, if left unchecked, make full use of that authority for both personal gain and personal power. The amount of corruption by this person will ultimately be decided by the amount of power that is available. As Lord Acton says, “Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or certainty of corruption by full authority.”
In modern Christianity most church congregations are based on a simple design. The authority is vested in the persons of the (so called) clergy, usually at the consent of, or at least the tacit agreement of the (so called) laity. This Catholic Idea of Clergy/Laity came from the teachings of Ignatius, Irenaeus, Cyprias, and Augustine who created and promoted the whole “Christian” class/ caste system. While not addressing the theological issues of this problem Lord Acton actually does a marvelous job of attacking just such a system, “There is no worse heresy than the fact that the office sanctifies the holder of it.” As true today as when Acton said it.
-excerpted from my blog: https://persifler.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/corruption-is-directly-proportional-to-the-level-of-control-that-is-available/
The “Altar Call” is nothing more than a way for the Pastor to practice his manipulation tactics while stroking his own ego. I dare say that what most people claim to be a movement of the Holy Spirit is at best ginned up emotionalism brought on through guilt and spiritual/emotional manipulation. Why would I say such a thing? Because the “feeling” is generally gone by the time you reach the parking lot, that’s why.
Finally, and most importantly, the Altar Call promotes a man-centered humanistic approach to religion and “salvation.” It portrays a weak frail god who can only work in “his building” following the pastor’s sermon. I have heard testimonies from folks who sweated bullets all week long until they could get to the Altar Call part of the service so they could get saved. That screams of a god in a box who is so weak and so inept that that he has to have the work of the Man of god (little “g” on purpose) in order to save someone. I have also heard of so called soul winners who got people to say the sinners prayer on visitation coaching them to come to church on Sunday and come down during the altar call in order to make their decision official with the preacher. *groan* No, no I don’t have all the answers. I’m just now asking the right questions. I just know that this Kabuki theatre that is being called “Church” these days is a sham and a shame.
Posted in Exercise, Health and Fitness, Social commentary, Sound and Fury, tagged exercise, health and fitness, Yoga on Wednesday, October 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »
“Down Dog” will bark.
Posted in Americanized Religiosity, Charles Finney, Control and Corruption, doctrines of grace, Fundy-ism, IFB, Just Thinking, Livable philosophy, Manipulation, Orthodoxy, Reformation, Religion, Religiosity, Semi-Pelagian, Shadows, Social commentary, Sovereignty of God, Thinking, Toxic Faith, Traditions of Men, Worldviews, tagged BELIEF AND BEHAVIOUR, Control and Power, cult of personality, culture, Doctrines of Grace, Fundamentalism, Fundies, Fundy-ism, Independent Fundamental Baptist Cult, KJVO, Power and corruption, Reformation, Religion, Sloppy Preaching, Sovereignty of God, thinking, Toxic Faith, Worldview on Sunday, September 15, 2013| 1 Comment »
Over on http://www.stufffundieslike.com forum a question was asked:
Why Did You Leave? Would You Go Back?
For those of you who have left Fundamentalism, and I think that’s probably most of you who post here, why did you leave? Was it the theology, or was it the culture? If it was the theology, what specifically about the theology drove you away? If it was the culture, what specifically about the culture drove you away?
My answer:
Why did I leave?
Most of you know my story and the history of deception and lies I encountered in the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement.
http://www.stufffundieslike.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=45
Why did I leave? Why didn’t I stay and fight?
I believe that there is nothing worth salvaging in the IFB movement. I believe it is a religious cult movement that should die a very public, and very convincing death. The heart and core of IFB error is Theological Error. The error lies in how the IFB presents and views God in relation to both the individual and the “Ministry” of the Local, sanctified, separated, sold-out, sanctimonious sect of believing believers. According to IFB dogma the “Local church” is superior to all other things Christian. In theory and in words they say they worship a sovereign God… but in practice God’s sovereignty ends with the
preeminence of the individual’s free-will. In a nutshell, God is viewed as a reactive deity who frets around his heaven wringing his hands hoping that there will be someone to stand in the gap, make up the hedge, and come up with a masterful formula for winning souls to Christ. Because we know that Church in the IFB is all about the numbers.
Numbers and power actually.
I am more convinced than ever that, Most churches today have a “pastor” who oversees the entire operation, and there may be a deacon board that is either working with the pastor or against him… either way it is doubtful that either “office” is operating biblically. With the advent of the Professional Clergy there has been a rise in the cult of personality as well. The Professional is seen in a light that is clearly not biblical and we see that whether by “influence” or by acquired “authority” these men rise to prominence. Even the small rural churches are patterned after this and the pastor is looked on as a man of authority over the congregation. And there is the rub.
Even the meanest paid rural “pastor” would not willingly give up “his power” over even the smallest group of people. It is not about the money, heaven knows many, if not most, small congregations pay at or below the poverty level. No, it is about power to influence and control a group of people and mold their worldviews.(This is the danger of the passive approach to worship where a one-way conversation takes place. The only view allowed in these meetings is the pastor’s. This affords almost total control by the speaker to inject his own views as ‘god breathed’. Whatever the “anointed”, “man of god” says while behind the “sacred desk” will be seen as, and accepted as, the “word of God”.) That is an especially strong allure for men of lesser character who are drawn to such positions. I have no doubt that there are good men who are trying to do what is right in these positions and I commend them and pray for them but the position itself is the enabler, the seductress; and even the best of men will, sooner or later, succumb to the temptation of power. We see a picture of this in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings Trillogy”. As a Ring Bearer, Frodo Baggins had an awful burden to carry yet, even he failed in the end and succumbed to the power of the ring; unable to destroy it he claimed it for himself. The thread through-out the tale is about power, the use and the abuse of it. Many who would have taken the ring would have done so out of a noble purpose but would have been corrupted by it’s power and their corruption would (like Sauron) only be limited by the (unlimited) power of the ring.
Would I go back?
No, not even if my life depended on it.
I truly do not believe that the IFB movement is worth saving, and I truly believe that it is a cult. A very seductive powerful cult that relies more on the abilities of man and less on the power of the god it claims to serve. That may sound harsh and it may be. I know that God does work in the midst of even the very worst of these bunkers. But I do believe that the error and the man made traditionalism and the King James only idolatry that is practiced in these dens of sanctimonious piety is deadly poison to sanctam ecclesiam catholicam; sanctorum communionem. (the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints)
Where am I at spiritually now?
That is the hardest thing about leaving the IFB bassinet, one has to start thinking for oneself. I was fortunate in that about the time I left the enfolding tentacles of the IFB, I broke my ankle. How was that fortunate? I was able to spend almost 6 months examining my worldview. I was able to take a long hard look at who I was in Christ, what I actually believed, why I believed it and I wrestled with several items that I had to abandon because there was no reason other than man-made traditionalism that I was holding to them. It’s much tougher than having someone spoon-feed you how you should act and think. But the realization that you are no longer performing according to someone else’s standards is very spiritually refreshing! Yes, there are often doubts and you find you might be out on a limb that you would not have climbed before… but the learning experience is so worth it.
In conclusion, I know that there are brothers and sisters in Christ who have a death grip on their comfortable religion and practices in the IFB bunkers which they live and breathe. But I have found so much fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ outside the bunker system that I could never go back into the cave to stay.
Posted in Americanized Religiosity, Church?, Control and Corruption, Evangelist, Manipulation, Religion, Religiosity, Social commentary, Spin, The Toilet Gospel, Toxic Faith, Traditions of Men, tagged Business of Religion, Churchianity, marjoe on Saturday, September 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Just updated all the Marjoe Links. This is a must watch documentary.
Posted in Gym, Just Thinking, life, Livable philosophy, Memories, Questions, Social commentary, Thinking, tagged BELIEF AND BEHAVIOUR, dead dreams, disappointments, Life, personal flaws, Programming, thinking on Friday, September 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »
It has been a while since I updated The Orange and Lime Green Sherbets, or how things are going with Mistress Sadie.
I will have to admit there was, shall we say, a pall in my resolve.
What with “The Wedding” and so much other stuff going on over the summer I found myself dozing while my life was on autopilot. I had let my guard down and when I awoke from my self-induced stupor I realized the enemy had retaken ground that was hard won the first time.
So there I was, faced with the ultimate decision, what do I do? Do I go ahead and take the easy road back to the couch and give up? Or do I man up and dig down deep inside myself and find the Marine that I once was, pick him up dust him off and between the two of us become the man that I once hoped to be but never have been yet?
To tell you the truth everything within me fought against me this week. Every demon from my past, every failure I have ever experienced popped up and sang its tale of woe, weakness and frustration. All my failures, disappointments, and personal flaws whispered to me to just give up and quit. “It’s not worth it,” they said. “Why even try?” they said. “No one cares about or wants you,” they argued. “What difference will it make?”
It dawned on me, they were absolutely right, “What difference WILL it make?” So I quit arguing, and somewhere deep, deep down inside I started to get angry. I stopped engaging my demons and my failures and my dead dreams, and my personal flaws altogether… and in my mind I stood up, turned around and began walking. They all withstood me, began to taunt and make fun of me until I finally growled, “To hell with all of that, I’m doing this for me!” I don’t care about my failures, or my flaws, or even about what anyone thinks of me! I’m doing this for me, and when it’s done I hope to finally meet the man that I once hoped to be. Not the man someone else wants me to be, but the one who I let life beat down, the one I smothered with religiosity, the one I never allowed myself to be.
Today marks the second day back in actual training mode. I went back to Mistress Sadie and she worked me over for 50 minutes. 35-40 minutes was pumping her as hard as I could go. My heart rate peaked at 180 beats/min. She was glistening with my sweat when I finished. I wiped her down and she knew I was back only now the intensity is greater than before. I’m on a mission.
Somewhere in my encounter with Mistress Sadie today I stepped through a portal in my mind, a portal to the id. I had to find the Marine. I knew he was in there, covered with the sands of my time, the dust and sediment of my life. I sent out a distress signal, that he was needed, that I was reactivating him. If this mission was to succeed I was going to have to have him back. His ability to endure the mental challenges was needed. I realize now that it was I who limited his physical abilities and I was the one who held “him” back.
Somewhere around the 20-minute mark he found me. For a brief shining moment I felt him there; he was there to rescue me. He was there to carry me over the pain threshold and for the next 20 minutes he ran with me as we pushed past levels 8-10 on Sadie as we took the hill of level 12 and reached the summit at level 14 for a couple of minutes. Somewhere during the 5 min cool down he nodded and smiled. I came back to this side of the portal, completely spent but encouraged, knowing the Marine is still with me, “Always Faithful.”
I was able to do one Set of the 14 Fitlinxx stations, then to the steam room to relax, finally shower and leave.
So, here I sit.
I’m not the man I once was. With heaven’s help I will become the man I once hoped to be. Not for anyone else or anyone else’s approval, this time I’m doing it for me. (Now I fully understand the meaning behind James 4:14-16. If the Lord allows me to complete this quest, then so be it.) I have examined my life, weighed it in the balances and it comes up lacking. And if I fail, let me die in the attempt, because that would be preferable to this life of mediocrity I now endure.
I am Persifler, not the man I was, but not yet the man I hope to be.
Posted in Americanized Religiosity, Authority, Control and Corruption, Government, Just Thinking, life, Livable philosophy, Manipulation, Obedience, Power, Propaganda, Questions, Religiosity, Shadows, Social commentary, Spin, tagged BELIEF AND BEHAVIOUR, Brave New World, Control and Power, culture, Manipulation, Power and corruption, Programming, Propaganda, Religiosity, Spin, thinking, Thought patrol, Worldview on Sunday, May 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Opening passage:
THE conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.
We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.
Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the inner cabinet.
They govern us by their qualities of natural leadership, their ability to supply needed ideas and by their key position in the social structure. Whatever attitude one chooses to take toward this condition, it remains a fact that in almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons—a trifling fraction of our hundred and twenty million—who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world.
It is not usually realized how necessary these invisible governors are to the orderly functioning of our group life. In theory, every citizen may vote for whom he pleases. Our Constitution does not envisage political parties as part of the mechanism of government, and its framers seem not to have pictured to themselves the existence in our national politics of anything like the modern political machine. But the American voters soon found that without organization and direction their individual votes, cast, perhaps, for dozens or hundreds of candidates, would produce nothing but confusion. Invisible government, in the shape of rudimentary political parties, arose almost overnight. Ever since then we have agreed, for the sake of simplicity and practicality, that party machines should narrow down the field of choice to two candidates, or at most three or four.
Read more here: http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/bernprop.html
Americanized Religiosity is an important part of the Control Mechanism.
As distasteful as this ideology is to the “American Spirit” of rugged individualism it is an accurate observation on the mechanics of how society operates. The important thing is to see it, understand how it works and be aware of how it is being used. Knowledge is power.
Personally I would rather be consciously aware (at least as much as is possible) of how I am being manipulated than blindly following the power masters programming.
Posted in Just Thinking, Livable philosophy, Propaganda, Questions, Social commentary, Thinking, Video, tagged BELIEF AND BEHAVIOUR, Brave New World, Media, Orwellian, Propaganda, thinking, Worldview on Sunday, January 6, 2013| 1 Comment »
Neil Postman’s “Amusing ourselves to Death” interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRabb6_Gr2Y
Marshall Mcluhan’s “The medium is the Message” interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImaH51F4HBw
Francis Schaeffer’s “How then should we live” part X
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29 | 30 | 31 |
persifler on The Heresy of the “Altar… | |
Dennis Asuncion on The Heresy of the “Altar… | |
solaGod on Returning to where I left… | |
Audreymariescadden on Pornography Found On Principal… | |
persifler on Pornography Found On Principal… |
Politics
Posted in Government, Just Thinking, life, Manipulation, Propaganda, Questions, Social commentary, Spin, Thinking, War, World events, tagged culture, Media, Politics, Programming, Propaganda, Questions on Tuesday, January 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Tonight I did something I’ve never done before on social media, I lost it and went off on a rant. I’m so tired of the selective memory and selective outrage from everyone about everything. And I’m afraid that is what the social engineers are hoping for in order to further divide and tear down our society. I fear the damage is already done and we are on the edge of the collapse of American culture.
For years we have been pitted against one another, black on white on brown on red on yellow … male v female, old v young, haves v have-nots, Republicans v Democrats, Atheists v Christian, Muslim v Christian, everyone v Christian. Christian v Christian. You name it, if you can put a label on it then they are against someone or someone is against them. And we just sat back and let it happen. We as a people were more worried about our comfort, our ease or our entertainment, our statuses, our … mundane crap. We let it happen to us.
That’s hard to hear but one only need look at our society these days. Social media has already been caught experimenting with the social media networks so it is not some conspiracy theory or theoretical fantasy. We have all fallen victim of our own personal biases and with the ubiquitous tool of social media we want to proselytize as many other to our way of thinking as we possibly can. Of course each of us believe that we are in the right and that we are the open minded ones… therefore we cannot be wrong.
I feel it may be time to leave social media for an extended sabbatical. I can see that I have been affected by the constant barrage of social network activism from both sides.
The war is upon us.
We have met the enemy
…and he is us.
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