An Allegory of Religion --OR-- God is a Cheeseburger

al·le·go·ry -noun
1) a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.
2) a symbolical narrative.

I'm flipping this meat patty here on the Faith & Spirituality forum first... however I intend to take this baby all the way, quoting Buzz Lightyear, "To infinity and beyond!" (^_^)

For quite the period of time, I have been searching for a means to bridge the gap in understanding between man and fellow man; in particular, a way of explaining how utterly insane it is to view the world through the myopic lens of intolerant pride. We, as humanity, have so much more in common than we have been allowing ourselves to perceive... We are all here in the pursuit of Happiness, longing for the freedom to express ourselves here on Earth. Crime, murder, and war are not in our nature, but rather are symptoms of our intolerant pride focused on our closest sanctuaries...


Here is an allegory:


Let us say the pursuit of God (verily, the pursuit of Happiness) is the pursuit of a cheeseburger.

So in pursuit of a cheeseburger, we go to the McDonald's franchise (Christianity) - where they most certainly provide a cheeseburger (surrendering unto the Son to be born again).

The McDonald's cheeseburger meets all the qualifications of a cheeseburger: a meat patty between two buns topped with real cheese (God is ALL and is defined as Life, Light, Love, Truth, and Happiness).

It would be insane to proclaim that there is no cheeseburger at McDonald's - and it would stand to reason that customers of McDonald's would become agitated at any attempts to discredit their McDonald's by saying no cheeseburger exists there.

And yet, it would be equally insane of McDonald's customers to claim that McDonald's is the ONLY place one can find a cheeseburger.

*There is the Burger King franchise (Islam) - they provide a cheeseburger (the prophet Muhammad's total surrender to Allah) just like McDonald's!
*There is the Wendy's franchise (Buddhism) - they provide a cheeseburger (Buddha's path to Nirvana) just like McDonald's!
*There is the Carl's Jr. franchise (Native American Spirituality) - they provide a cheeseburger (Oneness with Great Spirit) just like McDonald's!

In fact, it is easy to see that ALL of those franchises provide a cheeseburger!

It is equally easy to see that one can go to McDonald's all of one's life and NEVER order a cheeseburger.

It is true that there is only ONE cheeseburger (a cheeseburger is a cheeseburger as long as it meets the requirements), but it is just as true that none of these franchises can claim that they have the ONLY cheeseburger (as long as a cheeseburger meets the requirements, it is a cheeseburger). All I need to prove the omnipresence of cheeseburgers is to walk down the street to another franchise to see that a cheeseburger is being sold here as well as the other one up the street.

If I walked into Burger King and shouted at the faithful Burger King customers that the cheeseburgers here are fake and that the REAL cheeseburger is down at McDonald's - it is easy to see how the customers could get a little war-like toward McDonald's.

Likewise, it would be equally easy to see that if I walked into Carl's Jr. and proclaimed that since I am a customer of McDonald's (which according to my intolerant pride provides the ONLY cheeseburger in existence) that this franchise no longer exists and has now become a McDonald's, how some of the Carl's Jr. customers could become a little confused, depressed, and even spiteful.

To say that I can only know a cheeseburger through McDonald's is a delusional idea caused by intolerant pride.

However, if one still wants to believe that the McDonald's cheeseburger is the ONLY cheeseburger in existence, that is the prerogative of the individual... But the symptoms of intolerant pride will remain: the crime, murder, and war of a mind unwilling to see that cheeseburgers are--

--EVERYWHERE!

...

And while I used McDonald's as the example of intolerance, it only takes a quick glance around the other franchises to see that each one is responsible for breeding a certain amount of intolerance toward the other franchises. Each one is attempting to capture a person's attention, screaming, "Look at me, LOOK AT ME! My cheeseburger is REAL! Come, take a bite! FEEL the soft buns of bread in your mouth! CHEW the tender meat patty overflowing with juicy goodness! TASTE the delectable delight of the 100% real cheese on your tongue! THIS IS A CHEESEBURGER!"

...and it is true... It IS a cheeseburger... isn't it?

The magnetic allure of religion is that it IS true - or at least, can be as long as the cheeseburger keeps on being a cheeseburger, as long as it meets the requirements... Since all franchises were offering the same menu in a different fashion, there was little reason for a customer to stick with any one particular franchise.

The cooks, for whatever reason, decided that their franchise was the best and that customers should come to THEIR franchise and ONLY their franchise instead of the other ones... It is a sad fact but a fact nonetheless that over time, the cooks of each franchise began to change the recipe of their cheeseburger. A little substitution here, a little additive there - just to spice things up, right? Gotta make sure the customer comes back, ya know? And we gotta give the customer what he wants!

But truly, was it? What choice did the customer have when he isn't even being told what changes are being made to the cheeseburger?

Unbeknownst to the customer, the cheeseburger became less and less of itself. The meat patty, once made fresh, now sits in a freezer long after all the vitamins are processed out in lieu of something more addictive and flashy for the taste buds. The buns, once baked fresh from the oven, now come from plastic bags where they have been as equally processed as the meat. And the cheese... oh, the poor cheese... it cannot legally even be called that anymore - it is a pasteurized process cheese product (it contains less than 45% real cheese)! The cheeseburger has ceased to be, replaced by the BigMac(tm), the Whopper(tm), and the Super Star with Cheese(tm)...

...And to lay blame in any of this on someone outside of yourself is to miss the whole point of the allegory.

As the customers, we cannot curse the cooks for we TASTED the difference - and still let it slide... We wanted OUR franchise to be more special than any of the others - just as badly as the cooks... Perhaps even badly enough to lose sight that it was the cheeseburger we wanted to eat and not a McDonald's BigMac(tm).

As the cooks, we cannot curse the customers for we changed things so subtly and over so much time that it was almost undetectable - we maybe even convinced ourselves that we were not changing the cheeseburger, but only making it better... We wanted OUR franchise to be more special than any of the others - just as badly as the customers... Perhaps even badly enough to lose sight that it was the cheeseburger that we wanted to serve and not a Burger King Whopper(tm).

To be quite honest, this allegory evolved quite a bit from its original form. I know the real cheeseburger (the one with fresh meat patties, wholesome bread, and real cheese) wanted it to be known that the time has come for us to drop our petty intolerances and stare straight into whatever-it-is we are eating or cooking (cuz it sure as hell isn't a cheeseburger anymore) and throw into the garbage: where it belongs.

So in celebration of our discovery, I say we all eat out at that local burger joint! You know, the one that makes em' fresh, wholesome, and real!

Customers! Let us remember to trust our tastebuds and not our pride!
Cooks! Let us remember that we are here to serve cheeseburgers and not the company!
And all of us! May we remember that cheeseburgers are everywhere - as long as we stay true to ourself!

i was tearing up a little there.. seriously.


i gotta say, though...

If someone else is making your cheeseburger, you can become dependent on them FOR that burger. This of course, is silly. Anyone can make a cheeseburger at home! Others may tell them they made it wrong; only the person eating the cheeseburger knows what suits them best. Inviting your friends over to share may not work (WTF-- HORSERADISH?!) because their tastes and tolerances may be different. Sharing a cheeseburger with those you love is wonderful, but i believe everyone should KNOW how to make their own.

Hooray for allegories and parables, we should all learn to take ourselves a little less seriously, and remember that life is about fun.

i find a problem... we know a cheeseburger exists, but we don't know if god exists.

reply to post by TrueAce


I always wondered what Christ meant when he said...

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matthew 5:6






[edit on 8-12-2007 by Sunnydays]

TrueAce, I copied it from the other one. Hope you didn't edit it too much. The other thread just ain't the place.

Originally posted by TrueAce
If you say that my reality is out of alignment with actuality - that is your prerogative. If you say that I will go to hell (and directly go to hell, that I will not pass go, and I will not collect $200) that is your prerogative. If you decide to withhold Love from me, as in you decide to personally condemn me (i.e. "Eat crap and die for all I care, you're not on god's good list") that is still your prerogative...

This is where it gets tricky. So I've learned.

Have you noticed after speaking with enough people that there are different types with generic spirits? They become so transparent, they are easy to work with.

This is the most fascinating thing about the work of the creator's hands in this place.

These statements aren't even directed at fellow man, because they don't pertain to fellow man.

These statements aren't originating from fellow man either.

Anyone who knows the one who said that those who don't believe are condemned already, also know that there is no condemning to do. It's already done.

Although a little light may be shown into the darkness to see whether it's accepted or rejected.


Flesh to flesh isn't the case here and the one who's written in the earth is up to no good.

Originally posted by TrueAce
Let us say the pursuit of God (verily, the pursuit of happiness) is the pursuit of a cheeseburger.

So in pursuit of a cheeseburger, we go to the McDonald's franchise (Christianity) - where they most certainly provide a cheeseburger (surrendering unto the Son to be born again).

But unless McDonald's reveals itself, the customer will not know they have cheeseburgers, let alone exist.

Then the only way one will go to McDonalds to get the cheeseburger, is in the case that McDonalds placed the hunger in the one who's being drawn to them.

Let's say McDonald's has the capability to know their "customers" before they know McDonald's. In which case McDonalds would already know which customers would accept the cheeseburger.

Those who McDonald's was certain wouldn't accept the cheeseburger, out of their infinite LOVE, gave them a taste anyway.


Do you know what all those did? They threw the burger in the floor and trampled it as they stormed out of the place, "Saying I will not have that!".

So McDonald's gave them up to the counterfeit down the road, which little do they know, will burn up before long with them in it.

Originally posted by TrueAce
And yet, it would be equally insane of McDonald's customers to claim that McDonald's is the ONLY place one can find a cheeseburger.

Originally posted by TrueAce
*There is the Burger King franchise (Islam) - they provide a tasty cheeseburger (the prophet Muhammad's total surrender to Allah) just like McDonald's!
*There is the Wendy's franchise (Buddhism) - they provide a tasty cheeseburger (Buddha's path to Nirvana) just like McDonald's!
*There is the Carl's Jr. franchise (Native American Spirituality) - they provide a tasty cheeseburger (Oneness with Great Spirit) just like McDonald's!

In fact, it is easy to see that ALL of those franchises provide a cheeseburger!

In the case you see above, it most certainly would. Even the burger house down the road isn't the only counterfeit that will burn down.

The question is, how does their fire insurance stack up?

Originally posted by TrueAce
It is equally easy to see that one can go to McDonald's all of one's life and NEVER order a cheeseburger.

Or be made ignorant to the fact that it is on the menu?

Originally posted by TrueAce
It is true that there is only ONE cheeseburger (a cheeseburger is a cheeseburger as long as it meets the requirements), but it is just as true that none of these franchises can claim that they have the ONLY cheeseburger (as long as a cheeseburger meets the requirements, it is a cheeseburger).

Little do the thorny customers who McDonald's has locked out know, those other franchises have planned to lock them in before they burn themselves down.

The McDonald's cheeseburger stands at the door and knocks. The question is, who will open and let him in?

Originally posted by TrueAce
If I walked into Burger King and shouted at the faithful Burger King customers that the cheeseburgers here are fake and that the REAL cheeseburger is down at McDonald's - it is easy to see how the customers could get a little war-like toward McDonald's.

Yes especially when the spirit they have knows it was cast down from McDonald's because of the way he treated their cheeseburger and has no way of getting back.

I'm very worried about the vegetarians in your little world.

Do vege-cheese-burgers work along the same lines?

And the Vegan peoples could well be completely screwed... (Ho Hum)

Also with all the fat problems associated with eating in McD's and other such chains will the people who choose to avoid the cheese, still be considered to be involved with the cheese or do they pose other problems.

MonKey

Originally posted by ChiKeyMonKey
Do vege-cheese-burgers work along the same lines?

Nope, they ain't the one true cheeseburger, it's the cheesymeat-way or the highway to eternal iron deficiency, and no-one wants that.

'the only way to McGut is through McCheeseburgers'
Golden Arches, 6:9

Sometimes one is not sure about cheeseburgers, they taste good, yes, but are there evil cheeseburgers and good cheeseburgers?

Which meatwedge do you bow down too?

Some of us just go for an unbelievable pizza!

reply to post by RosieFawn


Wow... I guess I got the point across fairly well then...
Thank you for accepting and allowing Love to reach you through my allegory... (T_T)

By nature human beings are compassionate, courageous, and filled with awe for life... As all of us begin to awaken to the fact that A) we are all human, B) we are all alive, and C) by working together we create greater abundance and prosperity for all involved, the crisis of the world will fade away naturally and be replaced with greatness beyond the limited scope our intolerant pride has ever allowed us to believe in before...

And double wow! (O_O)
What you just said goes above and beyond and, quoting Emeril Lagasse, "Kicks it up a notch!"

We live in a world where anyone and everyone can make a cheeseburger, but for whatever reason most don't even try... and when they see YOU making a cheeseburger they make it their personal goal to attempt to convince you that cheeseburgers can only be made by High Ordained Cooks... Maybe they're just afraid of seeing you succeeding at something they never even tried?

In that case, it's best to laugh WITH them and smile while chewing a mouthful of tasty cheeseburger, fresh from off the grill of RosieFawn! (^_-)

Expanding on your statement, by allowing others to make the cheeseburger for us, we give our power to them and have the eventuality where we doubt that we can make a cheeseburger at all... The good cooks (the best, actually) will ALWAYS share their recipe and exclaim, to quote the Master-Chef Gusteau from the movie Ratatouille, "Anyone can cook!"

And trust me, I am finding these plethora of cooking statements just as funny and well timed as you! I guess we have the perfect amount of cooks in the kitchen then, eh? (Yeah, okay - maybe that one was a stretch LOL)

Expounding on my 'local burger joint' statement:

The best local burger joints I've found cook em' up directly in front of you. They have the grill, their ingredients, and their tools all showing where the customers can see them. The 'mysterious' factor of the cheeseburger is gone, and all are allowed to watch and learn the process of making the cheeseburger (if they are interested) or are just able to observe the process in general to make sure the cook is making the cheeseburger how the customer wants.

All churches (religions even) are best when local. Anything bigger ends up turning into a franchise, which ends up turning a profit... people might say that turning a profit is okay, and as long as it is local I totally agree - the local place will turn that profit TO BENEFIT THE COMMUNITY. A large business entity turns profit into monopoly... To quote Trinity from The Matrix, "You've been down that road Neo. You know exactly where it ends..."

Local churches, businesses, and governments are where everything works perfectly and function at 100% capacity. When 'Big Brother' steps in and takes control, our efficiency drops dramatically and our bureaucracy increases ten fold...

The past age has consisted of us falling away from local communities, but now... hahaha - well, change is in the air (as I'm sure you cheeseburger connoisseurs can smell) - and Constitutional law is about to be returned to the good ol' US of A! Now THAT is a cheeseburger I can bite into!

Anyways, thank YOU RosieFawn, for adding so much to this allegory!
You ARE your own best cook! (^_^)

reply to post by madnessinmysoul


Atheist, am I right?
Sweet... Just replace the word 'God' with 'Energy' and you're set! (^_-)



What, you want more?

Fair enough. (^_^)
Here is what our present day theologians and physicists have to say about their respective fields of study:

*Theologians say: God cannot be destroyed, cannot be taken from, or added to, is moving in and out of form, is everywhere and nowhere at once.
*Physicists say: Energy cannot be destroyed, cannot be taken from, or added to, is moving in and out of form, is everywhere and nowhere at once.

The logical conclusion would be that God and Energy are the same thing, just with different labels.



Still want more, eh?

Fair enough. (^_^)
I'll put Atheism in the allegory I used above.

Let us say this new franchise is In-and-Out Burger (Atheism), and their specialty, of course, is the cheeseburger (a clear understanding of reality/actuality and cause/effect).

As an Atheist one might attempt to live in their head (intellectually) indefinitely, attempting to believe that feelings are superfluous creations... Of course, it would be quite illogical to assume that feelings are useless, as the theory of evolution would state that we evolved with feelings for a LOGICAL reason.

According to Atheism (the belief in Logic over a god-entity), logic should dictate your every action - indeed the entirety of your being. Logic would align itself with the principles of Life/Energy - because logic cannot exist without Life/Energy (the presence of an observer). It is thus only logical that logic would align itself to that which allows it to exist in the first place.

Logic would also dictate that feelings are necessary, they provide the method of measuring how close in alignment one is to the principles of Life/Energy.
Example:

*I cut myself, I hurt, therefore I am going against the principles of Life/Energy by inflicting bodily harm on myself.
*That guy called me an idiot and I subconsciously believe him, I hurt, therefore I am going against the principles of Life/Energy by believing I am an idiot.

The funny thing about feelings are:
No error = no pain.

As long as I am living in error with the principles of Life/Energy, I will have physical/emotional pain.

Fitness and healthy eating issues aside, my physical well-being is nigh guaranteed in a developed country... and yet it seems that behavioral and emotional problems plague us like... well, a plague.

It would then stand to reason, (as it did for me), that until my emotional self is at peace, I must search deep and use every ounce of logic I have to see why and how I am living in error with the principles of Life/Energy.

I might need counseling to help me through deep subconscious self-destructive beliefs that were created before I was capable of accepting or denying information... I might need time apart from society in order to connect with the principles of Life/Energy rather than the principles of society (a common error made by many Atheists)... whatever it is, until that point I am in emotional peace 24/7 I know that on some level I am living my life illogically.

I hope that assisted you in aligning your logic with the principles of Life/Energy... but true Atheists cannot only hear the answer told to them, but must EXPERIENCE it themselves. If your quest continues in search of logical answers, I salute and honor you and wish you clarity in your observations and experiences - may they guide you to perfect understanding.

reply to post by WiseSheep

Before I begin to address your post, I wish to give any others reading this thread the option of being brought up to speed in our sharing of viewpoints.
www.belowtopsecret.com...
(The friendly banter between WiseSheep and I starts at about post 7 - but I'd recommend reading everyone's posts if one has the time, as everyone contributed until we hijacked it...)

It's been an honor and an enlightening experience with you in that thread WiseSheep!

Originally posted by WiseSheep
TrueAce, I copied it from the other one. Hope you didn't edit it too much. The other thread just ain't the place.

Very much agreed.
That thread has served it's purpose, as will this one.

But I do wish you would have read this one's message... Many edits were made and further insights were brought into the light, as well as entire additions made... But moreover, attempting to discuss or dissect my words is a futile attempt when you have not even read what I have to say (which you have just admitted to).

About your condemnation statement (rather than your statement of condemnation ):

Actually... before I go into my tirade (that is the THIRD definition Dictionary.com provides), let me share with you a passage from a book that describes the perspective I am coming from while also revealing a point of view that I have taken to heart long before I read the words of this book.

We're not separate from God; we just think we are. What God creates is one with Him forever, as an idea cannot leave its source.(*) He is love, and He is All That Is.(*) Therefore, when we're not thinking with love, we're actually not thinking at all.(*) We're hallucinating.(*) And that's what the world is, in fact: a vast hallucination of the mortal mind.

We're separated from our own reality by a veil of illusion, and within that illusion we feel great fear. Imagine if God were holding your hand one moment, and the next moment you couldn't find Him. He seemed to have disappeared. Wouldn't feelings of panic set in immediately? Such is our despair.

All religions propose to cure our despair by lifting the veil of illusion. Some of them say it will lift after we die; others suggest it can be lifted while we are still on earth. From a miracle-minded perspective, the glory of God lies not just in what He will reveal to us later, but in what He can and will reveal to us now.

(*) - taken from A Course in Miracles (in case you were curious)

BTW, if you've never heard of A Course in Miracles I dutifully request that you look more into it. It uses Christian terminology but applies to thought-process on a human level in general (I know you'd enjoy it given the chance!). Knowing your time is precious, I only request a humble investigation. I know He will do the rest and will lead you exactly where you need to be. (^_^)

Heaven has the possibility of being NOW - as long as we are under the illusion of separation, most of us say He will give it to us later on (what I call the carrot-on-a-stick syndrome). We will NEVER reach that later if we cannot see in earnest that the later has the potential of being NOW.

Originally posted by WiseSheep
Anyone who knows the one who said that those who don't believe are condemned already, also know that there is no condemning to do. It's already done.

Quite true, but that is because 'the condemned' (quite a judgmental label, isn't it?), as you call, them are living in separation from God RIGHT NOW. They might *think* they cannot be any more happy, but that is usually because they are too afraid to believe (or pursue) in anything better existing.

(---continued below---)

(---continued from above---)

This has everything to do with what I stated in my reply to RosieFawn...

... And some of what I say below is building off a foundation that most people have not heard of yet. The secret to being at peace when those around you are not: It is impossible for another person to create feelings in you.

Example:
If I call George a meathead, and he becomes angry, he is not angry with me as I am entirely outside of George and his reality. Rather, he is angry with himself for taking my words personally (i.e. applying them to his reality - TrueAce thinks I am a meathead so I must be).

We KNOW this is true and see it in our lives consistently as well as constantly: Have you ever met someone you can't hurt/anger through insults?

Another example:
When I call George a meathead, he either cries and runs away or he makes fists and starts swinging at me. When I call Bob a meathead, he just laughs, shakes his head at me, and smiles (the NERVE of that guy SMILING at me when I insult him!). He knows that his mind is his own, and that nothing I say or do to him can take his happiness away - as he and only he can do that to himself.

The greatest minds of our time met much resistance, and yet THEY ACHIEVED GREATNESS ANYWAY. If it was true that others caused us to feel sadness, anger, or helplessness then these great minds would have been INCAPABLE of doing what they did.

When Jesus said to turn the other cheek, he UNDERSTOOD that no one creates anger, jealousy, pity, or sadness in another - it is ENTIRELY internal. This is what Jesus attempted to tell us through his words and actions (i.e. HIS EXAMPLE) - ways of understanding and correctly applying our individual control (i.e. choice) of our personal reality.

www.whyagain.com...
Dr. Michael Ryce is one of the brilliant and courageous human beings in today's world who has heard and accepted the call to assist the world in understanding that WE are RESPONSE-ABLE for our OWN realities! When someone triggers a 'painful reality' in us, it has nothing to do with the person who triggered it and EVERYTHING to do with the person experiencing it.

(His book is AWESOME in every sense of the word and the online e-book is TOTALLY FREE! I fully recommend that everyone look into this, empowerment over your life is completely guaranteed if you take this advice to heart and, more than anything else, APPLY it to your life.)

So anyway... to continue on with what I was saying about my reply to RosieFawn's post...

John becomes angry because Mary made her own cheeseburger rather than accept the one John was given and accepted himself, which happens to be The BigMac(tm). He is angry at himself for seeing the success of Mary's cheeseburger when he did not even attempt to make his own, but is unconscious of this fact and sees the trigger of his 'painful reality' as the cause (which is 100% illusion, the 'painful reality' was already there, Mary just brought it out in John). Delving further into the McDonald's franchise doctrine, he justifies his fury by seeing her as a sinner and takes it upon himself to convert her into a McDonald's customer - which would conveniently 'remove' her as the trigger for that painful reality and which his conscious mind sees as the reason for his anger.

As Dr. Michael Ryce teaches and as I have experienced firsthand again and again, removing the trigger will NEVER cure the 'painful reality', it will only DELAY (keyword: DELAY) it from reaching one's awareness again. This is why those under the illusion will continually try to change people, places, and things around them rather than themselves. They are incapable of seeing themselves (or at least their realities) at fault, their ego reasons that it MUST be the other who is at fault (even though it is THEM who is IN PAIN rather than the other!).

If we believe that changing others will make us happy, we are utterly insane.

(---continued below---)

(---continued from above---)

About your McDonald's / Hunger statement:

We are NATURALLY hungry for the cheeseburger!
Isn't it just common sense we are naturally hungry for our Source? To claim that McDonald's gave us our hunger seems just as insane to me as claiming that McDonald's created our hunger in REAL LIFE!

...

*takes a deep breath*

Reading the rest of your statements in your post, it is very apparent to me (using your own analogy) you would rather burn down with your McDonald's then look at the cheeseburger you are eating and/or investigate what the other cheeseburgers are made of elsewhere...

I find it terribly ironic that your own franchise burns down while you look out the window at the other franchises burning equilaterally with your own. What you see out that very window is your own fate, my friend...

I know beyond any doubt that dying is not the end of Energy - and I Am Energy, as Are You, as Is He, as Is She! Dying is only a transition between states of being. By choosing to burn with one's beliefs, one is choosing to keep self-created principles in lieu of alignment with true principles of Life/Energy... Verily, one is choosing an un-life born of suffering, disease, and madness if one chooses to burn for their beliefs...

McDonald's nor any other franchise has the power to lock the doors of your mind... it has been, is, and only will be YOU who makes the choice in the end. You ARE your own key, and no matter what befalls you in the rest of your journeys in the illusion, you will ALWAYS have the key to unlock the doors which separate you from Him.

*gives a heartfelt hug of surrender*

My friend! My brother! I've communicated everything to you I am capable of! I release you from my efforts and respect your choice to remain indoors of your beloved sanctuary forevermore if that is your heartfelt wish. As a man of the wilderness, I believe that God's sky is incomparable to the ceiling of a man-made cathedral... but I realize that is my preference rather than your own.

I honor your choice to live for your convictions.
I pray you will honor my choice to live for mine.

Originally posted by TrueAce
But moreover, attempting to discuss or dissect my words is a futile attempt when you have not even read what I have to say (which you have just admitted to).

Indeed, I had too many irons in the fire yesterday morning. Whew.

Originally posted by TrueAce
(*) - taken from A Course in Miracles (in case you were curious)

If I didn't know that the creator was in full control of this show. I would say that, that is one poisonous work.

However, knowing that he runs this show, I will sleep well here in a few minutes.

Originally posted by TrueAce
Quite true, but that is because 'the condemned' (quite a judgmental label, isn't it?)

What else will one call it? Whatever the label, the truth behind it is the same unless someone has come along and written a course in spiritual labels and twisted them all around, deceiving themselves.


Have you ever been to a slaughter house? I have the privilege of living in a farming environment and have been a few times.

When you see a load of cattle heading down the slaughtering chute. Does it make any difference whether one calls it taking a stroll down victory lane, or going to get cracked between the eyes and their throat cut?

The latter would tend to show the enormity of the process, would it not?


We who know the LORD personally, know that the vast majority of people will burn alive FOREVER. Without him. Not a minute, not an hour, not a day or a year, FOREVER. So simply referring to the condemned is probably the least of "judgmental" labels as you put it.

Believe it or not simple statements are every now and then given the power to save some from this wretched end.

As it is written, it pleased GOD by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.



Now as for the success of the cheeseburger thing, this life is only a blink, many are given success (by GOD's grace) because they have rejected him and it's all they will have.

Rather than viewing it as a subconscious mindset to change others in order to make them conformable to us. Think of it this way.

Say you have a close neighbor. You don't half way know them, they aren't family, not even a friend. This one thing you know for a fact. Their house will catch fire and burn to the ground with them in it at 5:00 in the morning. They are asleep right now. You do everything you can to wake them up. They fight you all night long refusing to get up. They say, oh your just deluded. People don't burn in houses. Leave me alone, let me sleep. They go back to sleep.

What can you do? Nothing. All one can do is attempt to wake another up.

Originally posted by TrueAce
My friend! My brother! I've communicated everything to you I am capable of!

How many friends and brothers do you have that see you are asleep in a house that is about to burn to the ground and go out of their way to do everything they can to wake you up?

Originally posted by TrueAce
I pray you will honor my choice to live for mine.

Yes I will.

reply to post by ChiKeyMonKey

What are you talking about...?
I thought we all knew at this point that vegetarians and vegans aren't human?



Hey! Whoa! Watch where you're throwing that potato! It was a joke, okay?

I'm actually a flexetarian (someone who avoids meat when possible or savors it in somber gratitude during very special occasions) who drinks soy milk, so I think I have a little leeway when making fun of those stalwart souls who have taken it upon their karma to cleanse their bodies and bring forth clarity into the information highways about the atrocities of the meat and dairy companies.

I'd eat more meat if I knew it was organic (which includes humane treatment) and that the animals were treated humanely and were able to graze their green fields rather than in stalls of isolation.

A note to ravenous meat eaters:
Did you know that there are poisons released into the meat when an animal dies a fearful or traumatic death? Did you know that those poisons are multiplied when an animal is in constant fear or mistreatment? Did you know that the chemicals / growth hormones used in non-organic meat and dairy products is quite harmful to the human biosphere?

Of course, the same can be said of non-organic vegetables and fruits... Pesticides and genetic engineering actually make the plant more poisonous and less nutritious.

I've said it once and I'll say it again, over-processing is the bane of healthy living...

Anyway ChiKeyMonKey, you know it was just an allegory.
But just for you, I change God from a cheeseburger into a USDA certified organic tomato (which are DELICIOUS BTW!). Happy? (^_^)