| Recently the Pastor General, a kind of theological | | | | to quote Jesus, he makes stuff up himself and misses |
| CEO, of the Worldwide Church of God, said ... | | | | grand opportunities to back the literal Jesus. Jesus was |
| "For people who feel dirty, Jesus offers cleansing. For | | | | not a literal person ever for Paul. Jesus was in the sky, |
| people who feel ashamed, he offers honor. For people | | | | in the heavens, he was the mystical and ritual son of |
| who feel that they have a debt to pay, he offers | | | | God. A mystical Jesus is a ritual Jesus and the Jesus |
| forgiveness. For people who feel alienated, he offers | | | | of most Churches who can somehow offer cleansing, |
| reconciliation. For people who feel enslaved, he offers | | | | honor, forgiveness, reconciliation, freedom, adoption |
| freedom. | | | | rest and peace from the sky or in the human heart. |
| For those who feel like they don't belong, he offers | | | | These feelings are obtained in the Christian church by |
| adoption into a permanent family. For those who feel | | | | ritual. |
| tired, he offers rest. For those who are anxious, he | | | | While the WCG and others have said that baptism is |
| offers peace. | | | | not a requirement for being a Christian, (only God |
| RITUALS OFFER ONLY THE NEED FOR THEIR | | | | knows how they get around what the New |
| CONTINUAL REPETITION." | | | | Testament says about this topic, even their beloved |
| (Emphasis mine) | | | | Paul), it is a ritual that brings one to feeling cleansed. |
| I would differ with that and state that humans always | | | | Ritual washings are almost mandatory parts of all |
| have and always will need ritual as an outward | | | | human religions. Before the Lamb of God, humans |
| expression of the inner consciousness. Any church | | | | were washed in the blood of the Bull Taurus, during the |
| that thinks it is free of ritual in some real way where | | | | age of Taurus. This ritual is the origin of the New |
| some generic "knowing" Jesus works better, is kidding | | | | Testament statement, "his blood be upon us and upon |
| itself. | | | | our children" spoken by the crowd when Pilate is |
| The Worldwide Church of God, was and still is a | | | | suppose to have offered to save Jesus. (You don't |
| church, like all churches of ritual. The debate is not over | | | | know Pilate.) It's a line form and ancient ritual and a |
| to have them or not but rather it has always been | | | | misused one as well. |
| over whose rituals are outdated, of the devil or God's | | | | It is no coincidence that on an ancient temple that now |
| true and right rituals. | | | | sits as the base for the Vatican were the Mithraic |
| Take Christmas, now celebrated by WCG with gusto | | | | words from the age of Taurus religion, "whosoever |
| where in the past it was recognized for what it is, a | | | | does not eat of my flesh and drink of my blood , has |
| pagan celebration of the rebirth of the Sun. In this case, | | | | not eternal life." It wasn't talking about Jesus, but the |
| and with respect to Christian celebration of Christmas | | | | ritual is very old indeed and still practiced "as oft as ye |
| as the birthday of the Son of God, there is nothing | | | | drink it" even by the New and Improved Worldwide |
| new under the SUN. | | | | Church of God, now renamed International Grace |
| To review. In reality, humans notice that as the year | | | | Fellowship or something like that, who knows. |
| wore on, the sun sank lower and lower in the southern | | | | All humans need rituals. Sometimes I smudge my |
| sky. The days grew shorter, the nights longer and the | | | | apartment and myself. This means I light some sage, |
| weather more ominous. By December 22nd the sun | | | | waft the smoke over myself or others in a ritual of |
| was at it's lowest and appeared to just sit, of all things, | | | | both cleansing and awareness. And it smells great! |
| in the grave for three days and three nights. But, on | | | | Does the smoke do anything? No, it just wafts, but the |
| the December 25th, with Virgo, the Virgin at her Zenith | | | | ritual touches the subconscious and makes a point |
| the Sun came up a bit sooner and moved a bit north. | | | | about being human. |
| It's a miracle, the Virgin did indeed bring forth the SUN. | | | | I also meditate which is pretty darn difficult for Mr. Brain |
| And thus all pagan god/men get December 25th as | | | | Runs Like a Train. It's a ritual. A sitting a certain way |
| their birthday, when the Sun of God or the Son of God | | | | for a certain time in a certain place thinking no certain |
| is born, depending. Cool beans huh! This information is | | | | things about nothing to achieve a subconscious result. It |
| about as new as the ..the...SUN! | | | | brings a peace and calm and maybe I can avoid the |
| To celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus is to | | | | calm my anxious soul meds by a ritual. I can pass the |
| celebrate this ritual fear of darkness and birth of the | | | | flame of one candle to another and another with each |
| Sun to rise out of the wilderness of darkness and | | | | previous candle going out but the flame moving on. Is |
| defeat the Devil, which we might view in this context | | | | that flame the same flame I had or is it different. Is it a |
| as Darkness=evil=D-evil. It is no coincidence that Jesus | | | | type of how our spirit can move on form candle to |
| ministry begins at about age 30 and with being | | | | candle as each preceding candle or life goes out? Is it |
| tempted by the "Devil" to not be the Son of God. Just | | | | a way to explain reincarnation? Sure, maybe, dunno. It's |
| as the Sun still struggles against darkness through | | | | a ritual. |
| winter to not be the Sun of God. But by Spring, at the | | | | Every Western Christian Church thrives on ritual. Many |
| Equinox, meaning equal days and nights in length, all is | | | | Churches thrive on smoke and mirrors too but that's |
| well as the Sun is risen after being crossified on the | | | | another kind of worship format. Any church that thinks |
| intersection of the ecliptic, the line the sun follows | | | | it has found some kind of Jesus that replaces ritual is |
| through the constellations of the zodiac and the | | | | kidding itself. Humans have gone from pagan to |
| celestial equator. | | | | Jewish to Christian to Jewish to Pagan rituals back |
| Seems the literal Jesus, missing in action the first 30 | | | | and forth for thousands of years. Oh wait, I forgot to |
| years of his life, just as the Sun has to pass | | | | say Egyptian as well. They are all the same with only |
| anonymously through the first 30 degrees of the | | | | the names being changed to protect the naïve |
| Zodiac to get to the January constellation of Aquarius | | | | and innocent. Show me a church that claims such a |
| the Water Bearer, typified as John the Baptist, the first | | | | high ground that excludes rituals as some a shadow |
| event in Jesus adult life according to scripture. After | | | | and nasty throwback to an ignorant time and I will |
| the Son/Sun is baptized by John, Aquarius dips below | | | | show you a church with no heart, a membership that |
| the horizon and goes into prison while the Sun?Son | | | | is wandering around in the wilderness knowns as La |
| hardly comments and goes on his merry ministry. Six | | | | La and better not even be meeting as that would be a |
| months later, Aquarius returns in the morning sky with | | | | ritual done to honor some event or deep theological |
| only his head sticking up and Herod asks if Jesus is | | | | meaning. |
| John the Baptist returned, but that is another part of | | | | You know, most churches keep Sunday. Some keep |
| the ritual we will not elaborate on. | | | | Saturn's Day, but most keep the Day of the Sun with |
| At any rate, any Church that celebrates Christmas as | | | | Bible studies held on Woden's Day (The Our Father) |
| the birthday of the Son is acting out an ancient ritual | | | | night's. There is Moon Day night football and Elder |
| that predates Christianity by thousands of years. As | | | | meetings and for some, the Sabbath begins on Frigga |
| long as humans have been conscious of the cycle of | | | | night at sundown, the Mother of all. |
| the Sun of God, they have based their worship, | | | | The Apostle Paul is said to have said in Galatians 4:10, |
| Christian and Pagan on the cycle of the literal sun | | | | "you observe days, and months, and times and years...I |
| through the one year cycle of the sun through the 12 | | | | am afraid of you," as if he was ever going to change |
| months of the year and the events of their god/men | | | | that. Seems he never read that the sun, moon and |
| following the signs of each month. Did not God say in | | | | stars were given for "signs and for seasons," as we |
| Genesis that the sun was given for signs and seasons | | | | read in Genesis in the creation myth. Mankind has |
| and months and years? It takes a ritual to follow that | | | | noted the signs and seasons and based whole |
| fact around the celestial sphere. | | | | religions, include present day Christianity on the rituals |
| Of course, Easter, the time when the sun rises in the | | | | derived from such observations. Ritual is the means by |
| East and has conquered the darkness of winter, and is | | | | which humans identify with the mystical and the |
| crossified on the intersection of the ecliptic and celestial | | | | spiritual. They are not an end in themselves. They |
| equator is the start, not the end of the story. Truly, | | | | teach. Now it is true that many rituals teach BS and |
| Aries the Lamb or Sun of God, and Jesus the Lamb, | | | | just because someone practices rituals does not |
| the Son of God take away the "sin" of the world, it's | | | | mean it contains any truth. Sometimes a ritual contains |
| darkness of winter, at the Spring equinox by means of | | | | more truth than those who think they know and |
| crossification. | | | | practice it can ever imagine. Sometimes they think |
| It is no coincidence that the Age of Aries died 2000 | | | | they keep the true, original and pure rituals while others |
| years ago at the same time Jesus, the Lamb of God | | | | keep the profane, stupid and ignorant rituals, not |
| died and said he would be with his 12 disciples until the | | | | knowing that what they practice differently is one and |
| end of the age, which may have been Aries, not as | | | | the same in historical fact. |
| we think today. The Son/Sun would be with the 12 | | | | No, to say "Rituals offer only the need for their |
| months, cycles all the way through to the end where it | | | | continual repetition." is to miss some very deep realities |
| started again as a different age, Pices. This | | | | about how human consciousness thrives, experiences, |
| astronomical reality occurs about every 2150 years | | | | and relates to the gods, God, the now here and the |
| due to the procession of the Equinoxes. | | | | here after. Maybe the shedding of blood for "sins" |
| It's all ritual and any church that notes these holidays is | | | | offers only the need for repetition and I think we have |
| tapping into some of the deepest rituals ever | | | | shed just about enough blood on the planet in the |
| conceived by the conscious mind of man. WCG has | | | | name of washing away sin, but rituals are necessary |
| not replaced ritual for some nebulous idea of Jesus | | | | to a healthy spirituality. Maybe we can rethink the |
| doing this or that if we just believe or ask, which is also | | | | cannibalistic eating of flesh and drinking of blood |
| a ritual of sorts. It has just swapped rituals. It is the | | | | symbolically to atone for sins that we really aren't |
| Apostle Paul that has so confused the issue for many | | | | responsible for since Original Sin is a theological |
| in the New Testament and it is Paul who ritualizes the | | | | construct and our fall as humans collectively never |
| man Jesus into the cosmic Christ who he only ever | | | | really happened literally in space and time. It's a control |
| met in hallucinatory visions. | | | | thing and used in a fear, shame and guilt based |
| Get this once and for all. Paul never met the human | | | | theologies. |
| Jesus, never or rarely quotes him or gives any | | | | At least it did not happen in such a way as we better |
| indication that he knows the teachings of Jesus, his | | | | adopt the exact right ritual from the exact right God |
| miracles, sayings or experiences. The Gospels were | | | | for the exact right effect, or we are so going to hell, |
| written long after his death. When Paul would do well | | | | no matter how nice we are. |