Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Jefferson on Jesus

I haven’t made a “serious” post in a few days.

Florida Senate candidate Republican Kathleen Harris had a few interesting things to say recently, including:

“That lie we have been told, the separation of church and state,”

She gives voice to the Radical Right’s view that America is a “Christian Nation” and not intended by our founders to be a secular nation.

These assertions are made by a dubious view of history that ignores the complexity of our Founder’s political and religious beliefs.

Take, for example, Thomas Jefferson.

Here’s what Jefferson wrote about Jesus in a 1803 letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush:

“Jesus…His parentage was obscure; his condition poor; his education null; his natural endowments great; his life correct and innocent…

“…the doctrines which he really delivered were defective as a whole, and fragments only of what he did deliver have come to us mutilated, misstated, and often unintelligible.

“They have been still more disfigured by the corruptions of schismatizing followers, who have found an interest in sophisticating and perverting the simple doctrines he taught, by engrafting on them the mysticicms of a Grecian sophist, frittering them into subtleties and obscuring them with jargon…

“The question of his being a member of the Godhead, or in direct communication with it, claimed for him by some of his followers, and denied by others, is foreign to the present view.”

In short, Jefferson viewed Jesus as a great human being who offered a moral philosophy that was perverted by his followers, including the disciples and the church. He clearly did not believe in the infallibility of the Bible and did not believe Jesus was a deity.

As to the claim about the founders did not intend America to be a secular nation, here’s Jefferson in a letter to Elbridge Gerry in 1799:

“I am for freedom of religion and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another.”

1 comment:

Seven Star Hand said...

Hello Scott and all,

Hope this is not too off-topic for you. It gets to the root of the problem of deluded and greedy politicians who seek to impose their own ignorance on millions of others. Because of our reliance on money, politics, and religion, we are teetering on the verge of worldwide disaster. Idiots like Ms. Harris couldn't care less about everyone else as long as they get their hands on wealth and power, even if it means pretending to serve the Creator. It is long past time that people stand up for truth and justice and give these scoundrels their due.

Understanding the Fatal Flaws in Judeo-Christian-Islamic Prophecy

I pose to you and others that the context and meaning of these ancient texts have been lost on those confused by the assertions of religious leaders and founders. Ancient wisdom has been purposely recast and obfuscated into religion and mysticism. Consequently, the interpretations presented about the sources and meaning of these texts and the philosophy and cosmology of ancient Hebrew sages is completely wrong. Before you scoff and write me off, you should understand that I speak from personal knowledge and experience...

Remember the saying that "the truth will set you (and others) free?" How does "opening one's eyes to the truth" relate to "making the blind see again" or "shining the light" or "illuminating a subject?" Notice the inherent symbolism associated with this supposed New Testament "miracle?"

Did you ever consider that Christianity is the False Prophet symbolized in the Apocalypse, that Rome (Vatican/Papacy) is the so-called anti-messiah, and Jesus Christ is the false messiah? I have produced stunning and comprehensive proof that this is the true interpretation of pivotal prophecies long confounded by Christianity's founders and leaders. Recasting the symbolism of earlier Hebrew texts as literal events in the New Testament is one of the central deceptions associated with Christianity.

As certain world leaders strive to instigate a fabricated "battle of Armageddon," it is vital to understand and spread the truth about these ancient texts to help bring about an end to such abominable evil. You can never expect philosophies based on lies and great error to lead to peace and harmony. How many more millennia of terrible proof is necessary before humanity finally gets a clue that most have been utterly deceived by the very concept of religion.

Without it, Bush, the Neo-Cons, and their cohorts could never have gained and retained political power by manipulating an already deluded and susceptible constituency. Likewise, their thinly-veiled partners in crime, Bin Laden and his ilk, could never have succeeded in their roles in this centuries-old Vatican-led grand deception.

Have you ever heard of Machiavelli? What better way to hide the truth than to divide people among three related but divergent religions (or other strong delusions) that each obscure the truth while claiming that each is the truth!

Want to see the symbol for the tri-part endless loop and logic-trap that such a three-part Machiavellian delusion forms? Ever seen a Triquetra ( and here)? Pay very close attention to its visual relationship to 666, the most famous of all triangular numbers.

Now consider how money, religion, and politics are inseparable because of the inescapable trap (bottomless pit) they form...

We are all trapped in a web of deception woven with money, religion, and politics. The great evils that bedevil us all will never cease until humanity finally awakens, shakes off these strong delusions, and forges a new path to the future.

Here is Wisdom...

Peace...