tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60799852009-04-21T12:49:42.306-07:00These are thoughts from a mind that has opened, and sometimes opens again.Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-35676346369417246532009-04-21T12:46:00.000-07:002009-04-21T12:49:38.466-07:00

The value of religion is to keep the gullible masses in check. Unfortunately the apposing forces of domination, the trouble makers like Jesus or myself have not been doing our job in stimulating the masses to question the authority of the religions or wake them up from their unconscious gullibility.Religions are not like educational systems that have a program in which if you follow it you will

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-38670511079109537612009-02-06T13:55:00.000-08:002009-02-06T13:56:18.482-08:00

When I think of sloth I am reminded of something that Jesus said, “Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy burdened and I shall give you rest” (Matt 11:29). Then I think about the “Protestant Work Ethic and how Protestant Christianity teaches people to work harder and be slaves who are “good servants to their masters” (Paul’s language). Christians are taught to believe, obey and submit to

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-15609472680226703872009-01-29T20:15:00.000-08:002009-02-06T13:58:06.339-08:00

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Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-74391336315549151182009-01-05T13:43:00.000-08:002009-01-05T13:46:34.602-08:00

by Jen Angel http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=3022#2 In the last few years, psychologists and researchers have been digging up hard data on a question previously left to philosophers: What makes us happy? Researchers like the father-son team Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener, Stanford psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky, and ethicist Stephen Post have studied people all over the world

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-17638881022371296532007-11-13T16:03:00.000-08:002007-11-13T16:05:05.878-08:00

“The measure you give is the measure you shall receive.” Jesus If you love yourself then you are loved. If the whole world loves you but you do not love yourself then you will not know love. If the whole world hates you but you love yourself then you will know love. It does not matter whether or not God loves you or Jesus loves you or anybody loves you, if YOU do not love yourself then you

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-90895065511511257992007-06-19T11:29:00.000-07:002007-06-19T11:30:03.974-07:00

I wonder if people who are about to die have some sense of impending doom, some ‘knowingness’ that they are about to die.  Just before my father died of a massive heart attack he called my mother, whom he had not talked to in almost twenty years, to wish her a happy birthday, which was the next day.  Within an hour of that phone call my father was dead.  He also called both of my sisters but

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-76261327643692171182007-06-16T13:03:00.000-07:002007-06-16T13:25:59.168-07:00

Jesus was lazy and so was the Buddha. Both of them could read and presumable write but neither of them wrote anything down; probably because they were lazy. They were too lazy to be industrious and they did not ‘create’ anything. They just enjoyed talking and that is all they really did. They had no home to support or take care of. They had no bank account. Their possessions were only

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-38681916346945803852007-05-25T14:31:00.000-07:002007-05-25T14:36:26.732-07:00

From a web page titled “All Have Sinned” (http://www.santacruzbible.org/findingGod/allHaveSinned.php) Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God, so we cannot know Him personally or experience His love Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 6:23 "The wages of sin is death" [spiritual separation from God]. Romans 8:6-8 "The mind of sinful man is death, but the

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-58128045004275406112007-05-04T13:00:00.000-07:002007-05-04T13:06:55.589-07:00

I find that atheist tend to “throw the baby out with the bath water” in that they reject the god concept while missing the underlining REASON for creating the concept of god. The etymology of the title “Holy Bible” shows that it means Health Book; meaning that it was a primitive attempt by primitive people to share what they had learned that was healthy for the mind, body and society. Atheists

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-29898583121694315082007-05-02T09:22:00.000-07:002007-05-02T09:24:45.867-07:00

I saw a video on YouTube that asked the question, What is Love, so I thought I would offer my experience of my exploration of that questions.

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-9061274110470346092007-04-29T19:14:00.000-07:002007-04-29T19:20:11.571-07:00

I went to church tonight and was amazed at how dumb the eulogy was. The minister was trying to talk the people into thinking they were dumb animals: sheep. Maybe they really are that dumb...

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-12037552661772207712007-03-27T15:00:00.000-07:002007-05-02T09:31:30.195-07:00

We all judge ourself and we are our harshest critic. Judgment can be good and even fun until we start to believe that it is true. We are the "God" that judges ourselves when we "die" to our busyness.

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-45945365692710451702007-03-26T16:20:00.000-07:002007-05-02T09:33:52.611-07:00

Support the War, pay your taxes. If you pay taxes you support war, terrorism, torture and murder. Only the gullible believe that a society based on violence or the threat of violence is necessary.

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-89722970567745469142007-03-14T12:04:00.001-07:002007-03-14T12:11:36.322-07:00

Believing happens when people hear some ‘information’ about something that they have an emotional predisposition toward. For instance, if a person has been shunned by Christians and they carry that emotional hurt with them then if there were to hear some ‘information’ challenges the validity of the Christian message they would have that emotional predisposition to want to believe that ‘

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-87443246792518323112007-03-07T13:57:00.000-08:002007-03-07T14:05:55.310-08:00

I see that the root cause of most of humanities problems is a failure to communicate. We do not talk enough with one another, particularly about deep and/or personal things. The problem is not that we do not share our financial wealth; it is that we do not share HOW we got our financial wealth.By developing and teaching good communication skills, the courage to be honest and most importantly

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-54506046279456445102007-03-07T12:55:00.000-08:002007-03-07T12:58:06.117-08:00

The root cause of terrorism is in the very first line of the bible, which comes out of a primitive, unhealthy mind. It says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is a silly construct that comes out of an immature, primitive mind that could not see that there was no beginning and there is no end. But their minds could not handle infinity and eternity so that created

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-17527781794766936302007-02-25T10:43:00.000-08:002007-02-25T10:46:00.330-08:00

I have a Fear of Commitment. No doubt about that, I cannot follow through on just about anything. I have ideas galore but I do not follow though on any of them. Many a time I have what I thought was a good idea, even a great idea, but I have learned to sit with these ideas and watch them gestate to see what happens with them. To date not a one has really survived long enough to even be

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-20933194074873660442007-02-12T13:43:00.000-08:002007-02-07T11:41:20.314-08:00

I want to improve myself and my ability to help people be healthier and happier. Your comments and criticism are appreciated, either here or at YouTube. I want to hear people's criticism and judgments. I recognize that they cannot hurt me, only MY REACTIONS to words and thoughts can cause me harm. I have overcome my unhealthy habit of reacting to words and thoughts so now I am open to

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-59513931015328710662007-02-07T11:30:00.000-08:002007-02-25T10:48:37.420-08:00

The author is Melvin McLeod.(This article [link with title above] was not WRITTEN by the Dali Lama, but ABOUT him and his talks. I find that in this type of situation the writer sometimes does not convey the true mean or intent of the speaker. Understand the words used and their INTENT is important.) Here are some quotes from the article that I like and then my comments: He doesn’t deny

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-82992690938277828932007-02-06T10:08:00.001-08:002007-05-02T09:49:24.457-07:00

Dynamic Compassion is a compassion that goes beyond just respect, service and care. Compassion is the willingness to suffer with others. Dynamic compassion is the underlying cause of change or growth that comes from that willingness to suffer with others. Dynamic compassion is a willingness to engage the world or a situation that is unhealthy, possibly making that situation temporarily more

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-71383374555284255832007-02-01T09:07:00.001-08:002007-02-24T20:35:58.944-08:00

Today I am struck by how people are so afraid of themselves. Everywhere I go I see people afraid. At first they seem afraid of me if they know anything about me, and sometimes even if they do not know anything about me. I see this as a “problem” within society but here in lies the rub; maybe this ‘problem’ is only in MY mind. When I speak about this ‘problem’ with other people

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-1160774512539215702006-10-13T14:16:00.000-07:002007-03-05T14:49:54.980-08:00

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Christians not only are not like Jesus they seem to oppose Jesus’ way and truth. Every time I talk to a Christian I come away amazed just how much they seem to fear Jesus’ way and truth. I do not think they see themselves as apposed to Jesus’ way and truth, but in

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-1157666609099409602006-09-07T15:03:00.000-07:002006-09-07T15:03:29.153-07:00

Rob Brezney writes in his astrology column (www.freewillastrology.com) for Sagittarius last week: “If you want to upset the law that all crows are black,” wrote William James, “you mustn’t show that no crows are, it is enough if you prove one single crow to be white.”  Philosopher Jonathan Zap applies this idea to his ruminations about telepathy.  He says that if there is even one irrefutable

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-1148155527445825902006-05-20T13:05:00.000-07:002007-02-24T20:45:35.062-08:00

From an article by Rabbi Marc Gellman:What are our moral obligations to illegal immigrants_and to the laws of the U.S.?http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12875442/site/newsweek/from/ET/ For me, the ‘obligations’ to obey the government is not as strong as the obligation to obey the God that lives within my heart. I see the “problem’ of immigration not as a problem of immigration but as a problem of

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079985.post-1146603866834854752006-05-02T14:04:00.000-07:002006-05-02T15:13:10.013-07:00

"No great improvements in the lot of mankind are possible until a great change takes place in the fundamental constitution of their modes of thought." JOHN STUART MILL (English philosopher), Autobiography, 1873 No great change is going to happen in our political reality until people start to think beyond their current fundamental constitutions or modes of thought. It is time to think beyond the

Jim Freedomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07322871851244525271noreply@blogger.com0