A blog by request

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One of my regular readers (yes, pray for him), asked me to blog on this subject: Egyptian god Horus and the similarities to Jesus.

He provided these links:

Horus

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horus

http://www.egyptartsite.com/hormyth.html

He suggested I look into some additional information.

I start my commentary with these thoughts:

1) Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

2) Humans have a very well-defined ability to take a simple story and twist it into something has no bearing on the original story.

3) Corollary: Humans screw stuff up.

4) Ancient Hebrew is a language no one alive today completely understands. Our translations are educated guesswork and some words remain undefined. Further, translations are always inexact.

When a lesser evil just won't do.

So, are there similarities between Horus and Jesus? Of course there are. At least there are similarities in what we are able to understand through the ancient records we have of both.

For that matter, the Judeo-Christian religion has a WHOLE LOTTA similarities with other ancient religions from the same time period and earlier. My very close friend and atheist Merle can wax poetic on this subject for hours.

Many Christians will deny these similarities. They are welcome to be self-deluded. Me? I prefer reality no matter how uncomfortable it may be.

I think the similarities come because we are all human and we all start with the same basic reference point: A human outlook. I forget which S.F. writer said it, but he said if an alien race came to Earth and viewed all the major religions, the alien wouldn’t see enough difference in them to matter.

To get and understand that, you REALLY have to step outside a comfort zone and have a mind so wide open it has practically has no borders.

It’s also true. All religions of, by and for humans are based around one fundamental and inescapable fact. We are humans. It all starts there.

Of course there are gonna be similarities.

The question at the heart of this discussion is: Was Jesus real and was He really the son of the being who created the universe? Was Horus real and everything the ancient Egyptians said he was?

I remind you of this oxymoronic fact: You can’t prove a negative. A strict application of the scientific method states a fact is something which fits the available evidence. When new evidence comes along, that fact must be re-evaluated.

With that in mind, no one has absolute proof that God exists nor proof He does not.

It is all guesswork, albeit sometime educated guesswork and sometime hide-bound guesswork. You pick which group to assign the opposition to.

I have some great friends who are atheist. They cannot prove Jesus is not real. They cannot prove the God I believe in is not real. At the same time, I cannot offer them absolute empirical evidence that God and Jesus exist.

Neither can I prove Horus is a myth.

You can’t either.

I can only tell you what I believe and that it works for me. That too is true for all humans. Anyone who tells you they have absolute proof should be viewed with skepticism, preferably at a great distance. My Bible even supports this notion when it states: Faith is a belief in the unseen.

So, for my reader who requested this blog, yep, there sure are similarities between Jesus and Horus and a whole bunch of other historical figures to whom divine powers are ascribed. The religion I have shares tenets of faith with a whole lotta other religions extant and extinct. Does it bother me? Nope.

I have read the Koran, the Book of Mormon, the Apocrypha and would like to read works of other religions. None  of these other books I have read have harmed me. Rather, they have taught me and by learning, I grow as a human.

As for my beliefs, I’m secure in who I am and what I believe. Because I cannot prove them to anyone else’s satisfaction makes them no less valid for me. I can tell you how my beliefs have changed me, hopefully made me a better person, and invite you to journey with me.

Well, that one is shot to...

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Chances are very good you've never hear of the country I write of today. If you have, you probably know very little about it.

Fight the power!

I am now a revolutionary leader in this country. I am not kidding either. Yes. I am serious.

[sigh] There's goes my decade-long winning streak on keeping my New Year's Resolution.

For everyone I just lost: For more than 10 years now I have made the same New Year's Resolution: I resolve to not overthrow the government of any Third World Nation unless I get paid a lot of money.

Yep. Solid record.

Until now.

Yes, I am not kidding. I am a revolutionary leader on the other side of the globe, a fact which probably now has me bumped WAY up on the US list of terrorists and so forth.

I started this piece out telling you the country. Then I realized that might not be a good idea. The leader over there could find out about this and decide to do something about me. So, you'll just have to wonder. Of course, being vague might result in a whole bunch of dictators deciding I'm more trouble than I'm worth...

No idea what this says, but he's got a book!

How did this happen, especially since I have not left South Georgia since February of this year and have not left the South in more than 20 years? Glad you asked.

A gent who is one of the on-ground revolutionary leaders over there (and I shall not give you his name) somehow found out I am a writer who enjoys inflammatory politics and bashing established oligarchies. Said gent has enlisted me, with pay, to write diatribes about the present dictator and why he should step down, resign, quit and otherwise pack his bags.

The work has been picked up by media outlets all over the world. Fortunately, without my name attached. Whew.

So, I have written articles for this gent and the movement he's a part of. The pay ain't much, but then  I suspect he had to take up a collection to meet my meager fee.

And I am now involved in the overthrow of a Third World Country and the pay so far won't cover a a steak dinner for two. And so, come late December, I gotta come up with another New Year's Resolution ... unless the revolution DOES succeed and they handsomely reward me,

That ain't gonna happen. Anyone have an idea for a new resolution for me?

The irrational racist

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Was recently accused of being racist for my views on the current president. So, I asked about presidential views.

Here's a pretty close outline to what took place in that conversation. Pretty close, because I expand it to go beyond my short discussion to include the nation as a whole.

Some 92 percent of a certain group of the American populace express support for the current president.

Ask specifics:

Do you support the $15 trillion deficit, largely owed to China?

No.

Do you support the expansion of the wars?

No.

Do you support the targeting of unarmed civilians?

No.

Do you support his positions on same gender marriage?

No.

Do you support the failure to pass a federal budget?

No.

Do you support the increased divisiveness in Washington after he promised to build bridges of support? (Witness statements made while campaigning)

(Consternation and an attempt to say it's not his fault)

Reiterating the same question engenders the same reply. Relying on statements made in the first campaign that he would not engage in partisan bickering and infight, I assign a "No" to this question.

Do you support the federal health care mandate?

Split decision. Majority yes.

Do you support everything in the mandate?

Yes.

Even government paid abortions?

No.

Then how can you support everything in the mandate?
(Evasive answer.)

Do you support the Wall Street bailout which resulted in untold bonuses for Wall Street execs?

No.

Do you support his continuation of the War on Drugs?

Split, but a majority no. (Age factors into this)

Name a major executive or approved-legislative accomplishment, except for the federal health care mandate, which the current president has enacted or created.

Silence.

Why do you support the president?

He's doing a good job.

Where? 
Everywhere!

How can he be doing a good job everywhere if you object to the above items?

You're a racist.

Ah. I'm racist because I look at what a person does as opposed to their outward appearance.

And I don't mean lawyers

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When most people think of parasites, the words disgusting, revolting and similar descriptive phrases come to mind.

Tell these same people they are presently infested with parasites and you'll be met with incredulity, hostility or outright denial.

S'true tho. You, reading this, likely have somewhat under 1 million parasites inhabiting your body. Possibly more. I don't know that anyone has ever done a comprehensive study.

You have eyelashes? You have microscopic parasites living at the base of your eyelashes.

Your skin is pretty much a parasite paradise. One square inch of skin can support hundreds, possibly thousands of the buggers.

And, you can't get rid of 'em completely.

Lemme ask you, what is a parasite?

Before you answer that, think carefully. I'll give you my answer in a bit.

Any guesses?

Having now made you thoroughly uncomfortable in your own skin, I turn your attention to the parasites which are a bit larger, which we can see with the naked eye ... sometimes.

The largest parasitic creature I'm aware of is one few people have ever seen in person but many have seen in pictures. It's a good bit larger than an African elephant and reported to be the largest creature to ever live on earth.

I'ma let you wonder about that one for a bit as well.

Turn your attention to one of my favorite radio shows, RadioLab. This episode discusses parasites. One part of the show in particular discusses the hookworm.

In the segment one man claims a hookworm infestation in his gut cured his asthma and allergies. Really?

Check this out.

a major parasite vector.

And when you're done, cast a parasite-surrounded eyeball on this report. Yup. The study is underway.

Since we have already established that you are pretty much nothing more than a giant parasite factory, what would you think of the idea of having a few hookworms in your intestines if it could make you feel better?

If you said no, I bet you do not suffer from crippling allergies or immune system disorders that can kill you extremely painfully.

 Anyway, back to my question. What is a parasite?

Would you say a parasite is a living thing which must feed on other living things to survive? Does the food source HAVE to be alive?

Is a 2-month old fetus a parasite?

So I ask you again, what is a parasite? If a parasite is a living entity which feeds off other life, then the largest parasite I am aware of is the blue whale. It consumes living critters, plankton and small fish, to survive.

Every human I've ever met above the age of two is also a parasite by that definition Disagree? Every eaten raw vegetables? Fruit? Consumed seeds of any kind.

Unless you are capable of photosynthesis of thermalsynthesis, you are a parasite. Life is a circle after all.

Divided we beat each other up

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I am not long returned from the annual School Prayer breakfast. Among the speakers this year was a man who said the main problem is with the church. Jesus, as he said, wants the church to be unified, yet churches insist on being divided.

Need more fissures...

11 a.m. Sunday morning in America is the most segregated hour in the United States.

As this local preacher spoke, I restrained myself.

I wanted to jump up and point fingers across the room.

"YOU! YOU! YOU!" I wanted to yell. "YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN UNITY!"

I'm right too. Those very preachers at whom I wanted to hurl my accusation have told me - Told. Me. - they are not interested in unity. They are interested in segregation, separation, division and keeping people apart.

They are not going to admit that, in those words. Rather, their exact words are "I am not interested in hearing from (INSERT PERSON) unless he believes (INSERT TINY FRACTION OF THE BIBLE WHICH MINISTER BELIEVES IS THE SUM TOTAL OF THE BOOK)."

I don't want a slave. Nope nope nope.

The semantic comment is prezackly the same in the two quotes above.

And my blood pressure rises...

I have been told point blank and to my face that my interpretation of the Bible is not going to be allowed in many churches in Turner County. I reckon their Bible does not command us to love one another, accept each other and work together to build better individuals, families, communities and world. I reckon their Bible doesn't include the part about Jesus saying we're all sinners and His blood covers us all equally.

Then again, maybe their Bible does, but they reject those parts because it doesn't fit with what they wanna believe.

I reckon their Bible says they are better than I am. I'm good with that. I'm willing to let people like that be better than me. If being like them means I have to exclude certain people who just want to be included, then yeah, paint me purple-striped and kick me out of the community. I'll go hang out with the other people who've also been painted and kicked.

BTW, there's a lot more of them running around than people in churches today.

So I listened to the preacher tell us how the problem is the church is divided. Until the church unifies, things will only get worse.

Gotta say, I agree.

I note he was speaking about Christian unity. While the idea of a Muslim imam, a Sikh leader or a Buddhist also speaking crossed my mind, I quickly dismissed those. Stay on topic, I reminded myself.

I wanted to ask the preacher speaking to us: "So. Unity eh? Willing to let a Catholic Priest come conduct a service at your church."

I can only imagine his horrified expression.

"So, what about a lesbian Episcopal minister?" I wanted to ask.

Of course, had I asked THAT question, I'da been ushered right out of the school gym and invited to never return. Well, not really. No one would have the guts to act on what they were thinking.

They would only THINK it. Thinking it, Jesus says, is the same thing as doing it.

So, what are you thinking right now?

I reckon only perfect people - no. That's hyperbole. Better - I reckon only people with pre-approved sins are allowed in those churches.

And since my sins are not pre-approved, sanctioned and fit their model of a sinner saved by Grace, I'm on the outside looking away.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit I am in favor of separation, division and splits. People who want to bring harm to me and mine because of my belief structure, yep. They ought to be shipped to another planet without a space ship. People who'll let me conduct myself as I choose, I can get along with them.

Yassee, I do not say my choice is the ONLY choice. It's not. My choice works for me. I will gladly explain it to you if you ask, but I will not force it on you. You may believe as you wish as long as you are not going to force me to your belief system, or try to harm and kill me if I refuse.

Jesus wanted (wants) us all to get along. I'm willing to. Are you?

Looking for the moral high ground

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In Israel, when a single person launches an attack on the people of that nation, Israel responds by leveling that person's house if they can determine who did it. In some cases Israel has leveled entire neighborhoods in retaliation for attacks.

Urban renewal Israeli style.

Some folks are gonna say that is too extreme.

Before you get too high and mighty, I point out William T. Sherman did the exact same thing to  the South on his March to the Sea in the War of Northern Aggression.

The US has a history of doing this. But then, so does pretty much every other nation on the planet.

We're also doing the exact same thing in other countries right now.

In feudal Japan, honor was an ideal. Violating honor often meant death. I never understood why a person was allowed to commit suicide. My thought was, why didn't the person just run away?

A longtime bud and feudal Japan historian explained it to. Suicide allowed the person to take their own way out. Had the person run, the entire extended family would have been killed.

But, no lawyers!

I have seen videos from Saddam Hussein's Iraq in which people were pushed off two story buildings. I understand why.

They sacrificed themselves to save their family.

If there is a moral high ground in here anyway, it's the people who sacrificed themselves to save their family.

Is revenge moral high ground? That's a question I'm not qualified to answer. You gotta get well above my pay grade for that one.

Regardless, what does occupying the moral high ground really mean?

Perhaps a better question is: Is being on the moral high ground worth it?

Before you answer that, I remind you of one simple fact: Occupying the moral high ground may make you feel good for a while, but good feelings do not translate into groceries at the store.

When your children are looking to you to put shoes on their feet, food in their stomachs and keep the roof over their head, you have have the moral high ground.

Me? I'm gonna take care of my kids. If that makes people mad, I'll be glad to deal with them.

Left unsaid

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Somewhere I read or heard that when you dream of someone no longer around it means you have unfinished business with them. Be that as it may...

Last night I dreamed of Dad. It was not good.

It was not good because I knew he was dead and I had a question for him which I never got to ask when he was alive.  That hurt. A lot.

My question?

Why?


Why what? you may ask me.

Why everything I wanted to ask him. Why did he decide to become a farmer? Why did he turn down the job in 1966 with IBM? Pick a subject. Anything. I wanted (and still want in many cases) to know why he did what he did.

 I don't know the reasons behind some of the choices he made. Some of the choices he made I can guess at the reasons. Some I know 'cause he told me.

Over the years, I've come to understand many of the things he told me about his choices. Now, I am older than he was when he died. I am more experienced and certainly more widely educated than he was. This has given me insight.

You should know here that some of the reasons he gave me for his choices, I reject. Did when he told me. Over the years I've seen no reasons to change my mind.

But Dad was Dad and he had to make the best of the choices he was presented with. I do the same. Under the exact same circumstances, he and you might decide differently. You may decide the same. That's what makes life interesting; we all make different choices.

I note Dad's dying still hurts ...

There's more to say and maybe, some day, it will be said.

One more thing to say about Dad's death. Thanks to the internet I have found a group of people who surrounded me when Dad died. They took me the same day I got back to college and made sure I got very drunk. I needed it. They saw I needed it and they gave me the support I needed.

Them's friends.

Considering my earlier FB post today about being Christian, you may wonder why I say that. I say it because it is true, I was not a Christian at the time and if it happened to me today, I'd get drunk again. When you get finished ripping into me, I'll show you  the Biblical command which directs a person to get drunk under such circumstances.

Tolerating the intolerant

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No, this is not another Chick Fil A piece.

Betcha

It's a great deal more broad than that. It is a piece on why I'm right and you (not necessarily you, but that guy looking over your shoulder - oops, he's gone now) are wrong.

With a few exceptions I can manage to get along with everyone. Note. I did not say like, enjoy the company of or willingly associate with. I said get along.

The exceptions are those people who can't get along with me.

"WTH Baker! That's 3/4s of the planet!" you tell me.

Not really. More like 3./5ths but I digress.

To get along means to agree that the other can exist. May not like how they exist. But they can exist.

Example: Some Middle Eastern countries do not believe Israel has the right to exist. Ergo, those countries and Israel don't get along. Israel is quite willing for  those countries to

Example: Some people would kill me because of my religious beliefs. Ergo, we can't get along. If you are one of these people who'd like to kill me because of my religious beliefs, please stand up, smile and wait for the flash.

Public service = jail time. WTH?

Example: Child molesters. What part of I'm gonna shoot you to pieces with a snub nosed .22 with shorts is hard for you to understand?

But I'm willing to get along with anyone who'll extend the same courtesy. This includes but is not limited to: Idiots, morons, the actively stupid, racists, bigots, fools, lawyers, politicians, Muslims, Jews, liarberals, cantservatives, liberalterians of the Capital L and lowercase l stripe, damnocrats, reboobicans. Ah heck. Pick a category.

I can even get along with people who do little else but espouse hate speech. Betcha. Run your mouth all you wanna and I'm good with that.

The problem comes when you try to FORCE me to accept your thinking. Then, Houston! We gotta problem!

I can even accept the folks at Westboro Baptist Church. Yep. I can. I do not agree with what they say. When they start trying to force people into the same belief mode, that is not getting along. It's time to draw a line.

My kind of line.

I can get along with the people who say homosexuality is wrong. I can. I cannot get along with the people who try to make this illegal. Gimme dat line!

For that matter, if the conjugal relations are between  two consenting adults, it ain't none of your business or my business who they are or what they are doing. If you don't like it, don't look, watch, discuss, examine, participate or otherwise let stay in your mind for any length of time.

If your religion, belief structure, ass-hatted outlook REQUIRES you to have an opinion, then have it. If your whatever requires you to share that opinion, lemme hand you a microphone.

If your whatever requires you to force others into the same belief structure, please stand, smile and wait for the flash.


This is what separates me from the cantservatives and liarberals. Both sides want the other side shut down. Differences of opinion becomes a matter of trying to get said opinion into the law and forced on other people.

Reciprocity also gets thrown out the window again.

Because if you are going to be TOTALLY fair, when you try to shut down another person, then they have the right to try and shut you down.

Doesn't matter if you agree with them or not. Fair's fair. What's good for the idiot is good for the moron.

That's a concept neither side of Can't Get Along Crowd is willing to accept and embrace. Of course, that's also why they are the Can't Get Along Crowd.

So I'm right, you're wrong. I just want to get along.