Child Porn

The local news headline for March 11, 2010 read, Provincial raids result in 122 charges against 35 people, including some as young as 15”. This headline though shocking is not unique. Almost every week I hear of someone getting charged with possession and distribution of child porn. The sick part is it is usually someone of influence and authority or someone entrusted with the care of children. Apparently one of the men charged is a teacher while another is a well known real estate developer.

A few months ago a Catholic bishop was held at the airport and charged with possession of child porn after security decided to check the contents of his lap top computer. Several other bishops and pastors have also faced charges over the years. Some even after many years when the victims decide to come forward.

The sad news doesn't stop there because closely related to child porn is pedophilia which is also rampant throughout society. News of another decade long investigation recently wrapped up with charges filed against former crown attorneys, top area officials and Roman Catholic clergymen for abusing several young native Indian boys and engaging in a system of cover ups.

I would think that with all the perverts that the police have jailed over the years that these guys would give up their sick per-occupation and seek help. The common question that one might ask is, why are so many grown men sexually attracted to children? Finding a conclusive answer is not as simple as asking the question however.

On one of the social networking sites that I frequent a user posted a question on how she could stop her husband from watching too much porn. His porn obsession was upsetting her because they were Christians and she considered it very ungodly. I attempted to answer her question in a way that she could relate and possibly help her husband instead of causing a fight.

I told her that she should let her husband know that God was using the devil to test him. God was only doing so because he wanted them to become stronger Christians. If her husband’s faith was strong enough he would be able to break the devils grip. A more secular answer would be for her to burn his porn collection and get him to a counselor.

In the case of child porn possession I am not so understanding. I don’t believe that pedophiles can help themselves. I believe in most cases it has to do with mental abnormalities that require medical intervention. If you are one of those that are into sexually exploiting children I would advise you to get help as there are many clinics that specialize in all forms of sexual addictions. If you continue to hide and thrive on your self denial you will be caught and thrown in jail. Hopefully you will end up being the one getting sexually abused.

Origins of Religion

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I consider religion to be humanity's greatest invention. It is a means of explaining one of our basic human instincts, spirituality. That is the inherent feeling that there is something greater than ourselves.

Through research it has been determined that mankind has endured many stages in our development as well as our beliefs. We learned that in our beginnings we existed in a state of Oneness with nature called Animism. After that we became polytheistic meaning to have many gods.

Thousands of years onward we accepted a monotheistic (one god) view. But as we began to gain knowledge of the ways of nature and realized that we could manipulate certain aspects of it we came up with the theory of Evolution (survival of the fittest). Unfortunately the concept of Evolution did not knock out Monotheism but rather it sparked bitter dispute between the Church and Science.

Fast forward to the new millennium and a new theory has emerged that takes a little from all the previous concepts and goes by the name of Spontaneous Evolution. I will explain what it's about but first I will revisit the rest.

Animism
It is believed that Man has always had the instinctual idea that he and everything that exists in nature around him has a life force or spirit. Plants, animals, and even the river and the sea were believed to have a spirit. For instance, the indigenous people of the lands believed that in order to catch an animal you had to first appeal to its spirit. To catch fish you not only had to appeal to the spirit of the fish but also the spirit of river and so on. Early Man strived to live in harmony with nature never taking more than they need in order to maintain the balance. They considered their role to be that of a caretaker that tended the garden.

Polytheism
Logically as time went on we began to ponder the question of "How and why are we here". We developed many polytheistic beliefs according to our separate cultures. Some well-known polytheistic religions include the Sumerian gods and the Egyptian gods, and those of the Ancient Greek and Roman Religions. Most of the beliefs were based on the assumption that we must of been "Created" by gods who live in the heavens above and out of our sight and reach to serve out an ordained purpose here on earth. Some gods were more powerful than others while in most cases the most powerful represented the sun, moon, and earth.

Monotheism
With the introduction of the one god and one creation concept the world entered on a path toward modern civilization. Monotheism was first introduced in ancient Israel with the adoption of Yahweh (God) as the single object of worship and the rejection of the gods of other tribes and nations without, initially denying their existence. Following the death of Jesus and believing that his message was not exclusive to the Jews Jesus followers adopted and spread his message thought the late Roman Empire then the Latin and British empires.


The Arab world adapted monotheism through the writings of the prophet Mohammad who preached that this one god was also not exclusive to the Jews. His book The Holy Quran became the bases for the Islamic religion. Followers became known as Muslims. Today Monotheism is practiced by the majority of the earth’s population and is characteristic of the three major religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as well as many others. All of them view the same God as the creator of the world, who oversees and intervenes in all human events.

Evolution
By the 17th century the Kings and ruling classes of Europe and the Middle East thought they had a monopoly on a life of luxury by keeping the masses subservient through the authority of the scriptures. Then in the mid 1800's there appeared another concept so profound that it could not be ignored or squashed. Born out of mans continued curiosity and his experiments with nature man began to think that if he could manipulate plants and animals by cross breeding them to create new species then maybe we came to exist by the chance of nature and time.

The theory of Evolution was made popular through the publishing of the book (On the Origin of Species) by the Botanist and explorer Charles Darwin. The theory suggests that species always change and get better over time according to their ability to adapt to changes in the environment in which they live. Furthermore two major mechanisms determine which variants will become more common or rare in a species.

One is natural selection, a process that causes helpful traits (those that increase the chance of survival and reproduction) to become more common in a population and causes harmful traits to become more rare. This occurs because individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to reproduce, meaning that more individuals in the next generation will inherit these traits. Over many generations, adaptations occur through a combination of successive, small, random changes in traits, and natural selection of the variants best-suited for their environment.

The other major mechanism driving evolution is genetic drift, an independent process that produces random changes in the frequency of traits in a population. Genetic drift results from the role that chance plays in whether a given trait will be passed on as individuals survive and reproduce.

Spontaneous Evolution
2010 is here and it is quite evident that humanity as a collective has reached a period of global crisis. World population is almost at a critical mass, our food sources are dwindling, and our natural resources are running out. The world seems poised for major catastrophe but can we be saved? According to pioneering biologist Bruce H. Lipton, it's not only possible, it's already occurring. In his theory of Spontaneous Evolution, this world-renowned expert in the emerging science of epigenetic reveals how our changing understanding of biology will help us navigate this turbulent period in our planet's history and how each of us can participate in this global shift.

Instead of far fetched theories about Aliens from other planets or sub-terrain beings Lipton boldly suggests that God is Mother Nature and her only goal is balance. Through his work in molecular biology and his insights into the workings of Cells and living organisms he borrows from the theory of Evolution and goes further.

Lipton suggests that nature is not about survival or the fittest but about adaptation in order to bring about balance. He also returns to the ides that man is the caretaker of that balance since we are the only species that is able to recognize and possibly help Mother Nature to maintain its balance.

Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of BeliefThe Religion of the Samurai A Study of Zen Philosophy and Discipline in China and JapanReligion ExplainedAFRICAN ORIGINS SERIES Class 18: Ancient Egyptian/African Origins of Western religions (Judaism/ChriThe Hidden Truth: Revealing the Ancient Origins of Modern Religions [VHS]

Children Of A Lesser God

Image via WikipediaMy case is not against God but against the false concepts that attempt to give praise to the all mighty. In my opinion all the major religions are flawed. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism individually attempt to claim exclusive ownership of the seat next to God at the exclusion of the rest. In Mans attempt to understand God’s plan are we straying away from the essential essence of that which we desire? Have we remade God into something lesser than the personification of love, peace, and understanding? Are we giving praise to a lesser god?

I logically assume that all humanity was created by one god. Whites, Blacks, Asians, Indians, and the First Nations; why then would that god foster division between the races, cultures, and countries as is evident in the world today. History reveals that division and conflict between men began way before religion. As time went by we developed many god concepts to inspire us until the Hebrews discovered the power of a single universal unseen force that no one could physically destroy.

I have read the Bible and while I admire its many uplifting, heroic, and morally based stories I found many faults as well. It is hard to believe that a god would want to be carried around the countryside in a box while commanding his followers to wipe out their enemy; men, woman, children, and animals alike. Did they discover a power so extraordinary that they could only explain it as "the true God"? Fortunately the story got more civilized by the time Jesus emerged but though he tried to spread love the bloodshed and strife continued up until present day. We exist in constant conflict between races, countries, neighbors and even families over religion. The main reason being that we covet God’s favor over the next man.

We realize that God needs us to submit and live acording to his laws but for doing so we secretly covet a reward. This is called "making conditions". We should never say "if you help me God I will do this or that". We are not God's equal neither does he need anything for security. No one knows what Gods intentions are so by making conditions we fall into a false sense of comfort in thinking that God is our friend and in his favor. When we see others in hardship or disaster, such as hurricane Katrina or the Tsunami in Indonesia we believe it is God’s will. Disaster struck them because they were disobedient in some way.

We have strayed away from the true God to something lesser. If the god that most people in the world worship today is the same god that created humanity then he is flawed. A perfect being cannot attempt to create something in his own likeness and it comes out flawed. The world is filled with too much evil and pain to be created for perfection. We need a deeper understanding of the True God and why he created this existence.