book review: friedrich nietzsche, beyond good and evil

things i found interesting in friedrich nietzsche's book beyond good and evil:

page xv

In Beyond Good and Evil he maintains that original Christianity represents 'an ongoing suicide of reason' (p.44; 46), ascribing it to an Oriental slave revolt against Roman antiquity. Like Freud after him, Nietzsche considered religion a 'neurosis' (p. 45; 47); it involves an unnatural self-denial and sacrifice. In one of his most interesting observations, Nietzsche compares the history of 'religious cruelty' to a ladder with three important rungs: the first entails the sacrifice of one's loved ones to the deity; the second demands the sacrifice of one's own instincts or inner nature; and the final rung, which we are now coming to know, involves the sacrifice of God himself for the worship of 'stone, stupidity, heaviness, fate, nothingness' (p. 50; 55). Nietzsche here suggests that our modern penchant for science or nihilism, as atheistic as it appears at first glance, is merely a replacement for religious belief.

page xvi

Nietzsche is not unaware of the advantages that religion has brought to human society,
even as it has debased human nature. It has helped humankind to endure an otherwise intolerable existence and has assisted us in constructing a viable social order by demanding that we love each other. But religion also has other essential socializing functions. For a particular group of people Nietzsche mentions the Brahmans by name--religion provides a spirituality that permits them to remove themselves from the mundane and crude world surrounding them. For those who are destined to be rulers it is one means for overcoming resistance in their subjects, since it forms a common bond with ordinary people and pacifies them into obedience. It also serves as a pedagogical and disciplinary device for the ascending classes, teaching them a certain abnegation that ennobles their spirit and allows them to rise above the common rabble. Finally, for the vast masses, religion provides a solace for their suffering and the meaninglessness of their existence, 'something that justifies their everyday lives, all the baseness, all the semi-animal poverty of their souls' (p. 55;61). In general, however, Nietzsche's attitude towards religion is that it represents a stage of human development that must be overcome. Christianity, in particular, has led to a 'degeneration of the European race' (p. 56; 62), and the persistence of Christian belief is a sign that the human being has not developed into a creature that is strong enough to achieve the type of self-contained nobility of spirit Nietzsche envisions.

page xvii

The Jews, he asserts, 'brought about that tour de force of a reversal of values' (p. 83; 195); they negated a noble order in which richness, excess, cruelty, and sensuality were validated, and substituted for it a value system in which poverty, godliness, timidity, and spirituality hold sway. This 'slave revolt in morals' (p. 83; 195) disdains as evil the beast of prey and the man of prey, for Nietzsche the 'most healthy of all tropical plants and brutes' (pp. 834; 197), while affirming abstinence, pity, and a tolerance for suffering. The institution of the Judaeo-Christian 'herd' morality has made modern Europe possible even as it has meant an impoverishment of possibilities and human potential. Nietzsche reasons that there have always been rulers and subjects, and he recognizes that a morality preaching docile obedience is a necessity for the masses.

page xix

He [the free spirit] will rid himself of moralities that preach equality, democracy, the general welfare, and utilitarian values, and affirm instead the natural hierarchy Nietzsche captures repeatedly in the term Rangordnung.

page xx

More problematically Nietzsche propagates a human being that will not feel compassion with the oppressed and the unfortunate in society, and that will not seek to do away with suffering, including his own suffering. Rather, the pity this future man feels will involve the disdain for the manner in which the human race has made itself small and petty, and he will nourish suffering as the aid to 'depth, mystery, mask, spirit, cleverness, greatness' (p. 117; 225). In a controversial aphorism Nietzsche even ventures a reconsideration of cruelty as an essential part of human nature. All higher culture, all great tragedy, everything sublime, all knowledge, he contends, are ultimately based on cruelty, either towards ourselves or towards others. ... The task Nietzsche assigns his free spirits is 'to return man to nature; to master the many conceited and gushing interpretations and secondary meanings that have heretofore been scribbled and painted over that eternal original text homo natura'(p. 123; 230). In terms of present values Nietzsche's free spirit will thus prove to be an 'immoralist' who affirms life and aspires to the heights of culture and creativity.

page 7

We do not object to a judgement just because it is false; ... The question is rather to what extent the judgement furthers life, preserves life, preserves the species, perhaps even cultivates the species; ... Admitting untruth as a condition of life ... and a philosophy that dares this has already placed itself beyond good and evil.

this review is ongoing (not finished)...

"god" as a "loving heavenly father"

here's my response to a christian friend on facebook telling me i have a heavenly father who loves me =)

the bible is a collection of (and excluding a lot of) writings from different people, many we dont even know who the author was, and contains contradicting statements about the nature of god. you have a "loving heavenly father" who says and does things like:
* stone your disobedient children (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)
* I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. (Exodus 20:5)
* God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; (Nahum 1:2)
* The LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast. Exodus (13:15)
* Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them. (Ezekiel 8:18)
* Thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 25:17)

the list goes on an on. christians cherry pick the nice scriptures about god, but the bible is full of contradictions or evidence against a loving god. even though i'm not the best father in the world, i'm confident in saying i'm way nicer than the god of the bible. if my child was crying out to me for help, i would help him immediately. i also dont want my children to fear me or mindlessly do everything i say or do.

i think if you feel like you have a connection to a heavenly father, it's not the one in the bible =)

this is a great article:
http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2008/12/richard-dawkins-god-of-old-testament.html

sam harris on islam - the last word with lawrence o'donnell

sam harris on islam - the last word with lawrence o'donnell

04:03 sam harris: islam is at a very different moment in its history and it's as though we're encountering the christians of the 14th century, armed with 21st century weapons. we have a real problem with islam and it's not an accident that we're not having this conversation about the amish or quakers or jains or even buddhists. ideas have consequences and the idea that you can get to paradise by dying in the defense of the faith, in fact dying in the defense of the faith is the best thing that can possibly happen to you--that is a mainstream notion in islam.

04:37 lawrence o'donnell: is there any lesson in how catholicism worked its way through its homicidal phase of a couple of centuries, for present day islamic extremists?
sam harris: yes, the problem is that we just dont have 500 years to work it out. we were burning heretics alive for 5 centuries in europe and it's understandable, based on a certain reading of the bible. we have incredibly destructive technology spreading all over the world and it's getting increasingly easy for one person to screw up life for millions. and so i think we have some decades at best, to get straight about this and to build a viable, global civilization that is compatible with human well-being and religious demagoguery of any kind is the worse piece of software to have running on your brain when it comes to actually engage that challenge.

what percent of religious belief is based on the old testament, globally?

what percentage of world religions are abrahamic (based on the old testament)?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_religious_groups#Largest_religions_or_belief_systems_by_number_of_adherents

low: 38%
2200+1650+187.9+0.7=4038.6
2200+1650+187.9+0.7+1000+1500+3000+1000+65+29+12+3+3+2+1+1+0.8+0.63=10656.03
4038.6/10656.03=0.378996681

high: 61%
2,000+1,570+828+400+600+400+27+24+14+8+7.6+1+3+2+1+1+0.8+0.7+0.63=5888.73
2,000+1,570+14+7.6+0.7=5888.73=3592.3
3592.3/5888.73=0.610029667

the two-tongued "mysterious logic" of christianity

sent to my by email from a good friend:

You proclaim with certainty that if I use my mind, I can see, with clarity, the truth of the Bible. That with intuition from my heart, and the soundness of my brain, the word will be revealed as truth, because truth is clear and illuminating. You insist the existence of God is clear to any person who, logically, thinks it through.

You tell me that the world around us evidences a creator. That without a cause, there can be no effect. That entropy demands the complexity of life proves its own impossibility, therefore necessitating a transcendent God. You plead with me to use human reason to "see" that the precision of the Universe demands that there must be God. That it is the only, "scientifically" plausible conclusion. You base your arguments in logic, and arrive at conclusions with linguistic ingenuity worthy of the finest debate . You explain the inner workings of cells and other precise scientifically derived mechanics which evidence profound design. You stand confident on the shoulders of great scientific giants whose works form the basis of your arguments. You understand that to convince, it is pristine facts, logic, and reason which must form the basis of human communication as otherwise we would be lost in an ocean of falsehood and uncertainty.

But when 15,000 innocent men women and children die in a Tsunami, you tell me that God works in mysterious ways. When I ask about babies who were not fortunate to receive the "word" being "saved" or "damned" you explain that we shouldn't expect to understand with our limited minds things in the heavenly realm. Things, like - God. You tell me that God doesn't have to be logical. You assure me there is no problem since the great mystery of God is his beauty.

You use "logic" when it suits you.

You use "mystery" when it suits you.

This, Christian, is called duplicity and according to you, it is a trait of the devil.

respect abraham? No. Fuck you.

christopher hitchens in the hitchslaps compilation:
05:27 "my children, who are everthing to me, and who are my only chance of even getting a glimpse of a second life, let alone an immortal one, i'll tell you something, if i was told to sacrifice them to prove my devotion to god, if i was told to do what all monotheists are told to do, and admire the man [abraham] who said 'yes i'll gut my own kid to show my love of god', i'd say 'No. Fuck you.'"

religulous, by bill maher - movie review - favorite quotes

this will be an ongoing post until i've gone through the whole movie, but i am going to start listing my favorite points and quotes from this wonderful movie (Bill Maher == BM):

*********
00:11:00
*********

BM: So, Dr. Collins, you are a brilliant, brilliant scientist, the head of the Human Genome Project. Now here's what's so puzzling is that you are the one scientist--

[subtext: 93% of scientists in the american national academy of sciences are atheist or agnostic]

the one famous scientist anyway--who's also religious. Explain that to me.

Dr. Francis Collins (DFC): I would argue that if you look at the evidence, the historical evidence of Christ's existence is overwhelming.

BM: What evidence? I mean, I've never even heard anyone propose that there's evidence.

DFC: When I read the New Testament, it reads to me as the record of eyewitnesses who put down what they saw.

BM: You know they weren't eyewitnesses.

DFC: They were close to that.

BM: No.

DFC: Within a couple of decades of eyewitnesses.

BM: Okay. Would that stand up in a laboratory as absolute foolproof evidence that something happened?

DFC: You are setting up a standard for proof that I think would really be an almost impossible standard to meet.

*********
00:12:58
*********

BM: I'm surprised that things that are very important to the story, like the virgin birth, isn't in all four of them.

DFC: Wouldn't you really expect that kind of discordance when you're thinking about the way in which these documents came into being?

BM: But you'd think if you were one of Christ's biographers, that would be sort of an important thing not to leave out. "Oh, God, he was also born of a virgin."

BM: They don't notice the virgin birth. You know, I think that is something if you were any sort of reporter you'd put into the story. What editor looks at the facts and goes, "Yeah, but take out the thing about the virgin birth. That's not interesting."

*********
00:15:35
*********

BM: Reverend. Is that what I call you?

Jeremiah Cummings (JC): No, just call me... doctor.

BM: Doctor?

[subtext: Jeremiah Cummings is not a doctor.]

JC: Yeah.

[subtext: he does not have a degree...of any kind.]

*********
00:16:06
*********

JC: teddy pendergrass, who led the song, he was ordained a minister when he was 10 years old.

BM: what do you think it says about religion and how serious it is, when you can be a minister when you're 10?

*********
00:20:22
*********

BM:
Sodom and Gomorrah.

Apparently, it was a pretty wicked place.

How wicked?

Well let's just say that what happened in Gomorrah, stayed in Gomorrah.

That is until God got wind of it, so he sent two angels to investigate.

Now the angels went to the house of the one godly man in town-- Lot.

And the townspeople tried to rape them.

Now Lot, not wanting his town to get the reputation as the kind of place that would rape angels, offered up to the mob his own daughters to rape.

And he was the good guy in town.


*********
00:22:48
*********

Pastor John Westcott (Exchange Ministries) (JW): But I will be honest with you. The reality's a lot of people come here and go right back into whatever they came from.

BM: Because they're gay!

JW: I believe that it's sin.

BM: Excuse me, but don't you have it, no pun intended, ass-backwards?

JW: Meaning?

BM: Meaning homosexuality is something that occurs in nature.

...

JW: Nobody's born gay. There's no scientific or--


BM: Really? Have you ever met Little Richard?

...

JW: There's no scientific data that proves that anyone is--there's no gay gene.

***WHAT BILL MAHER SHOULD HAVE SAID HERE: there's no heterosexual gene either =)***

...

BM: All of the proscriptions against homosexuality come from the Old Testament. Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. And if it's so important, why didn't he ever bring it up?

JW: We could pick lots of little things that he didn't specifically talk about.

BM: But this is a big thing.

...

BM: But what is your explanation for the millions and millions of people around the world who are leading homosexual lives...

JW: Well, it's not millions.

BM: ...have no interest in anyone of the opposite sex? Are they all faking just to piss off Jesus?

JW: They didn't choose this. They didn't desire it.

BM: Right, they were born gay.

JW: No, they weren't born that way. It's because of the insecurity within theirselves.

BM: It takes a lot of security to walk out of the house with assless chaps.

JW: They're not happy, most of them.

BM: They're called gay. They took the word. Some of them look positively thrilled.

JW: No, they are people who are really not complete in who they are as men or women.

BM: That's a pretty big judgment for a Christian.

JW: It's not a judgment.

BM: That's not a judgment? That you are sitting here telling these people who you don't even know that they're incomplete because they're not like you?

JW: I mean, it's not the people you suspect that are gay, that are gay.

BM: People like the Reverend Ted Haggard... "Moral purity is better than immorality." ...who kept meeting homosexual prostitutes in a hotel room and having gay sex with speed.


*********
00:29:06
*********

Steve Burg, Ex Jew for Jesus (SB): God is not that busy where He can't spend time listening to you when you really want to talk to Him, anytime.

BM: If Santa Claus can hit every house in the world in one night--

SB: I don't believe in Santa Claus.

BM: Of course not, that's ridiculous. That's one man flying all around the world and dropping presents down a chimney. That's ridiculous. One man hearing everybody murmur to him at the same time, that I get.

*********
00:29:55
*********

BM: You're 100% sure that after you die, you'll go to a better place.

SB: I know I'll be with God. l'll be with Jesus.

BM: And that's a better place.

SB: Even if it was in a garbage can, which I know it won't be, but even if it was, just the fact that i'm with Jesus, to me, is good.

BM: it's a better place.

SB: it's a better place.

BM: Then why don't you kill yourself?

SB: Because God still has a mission for me here.

BM: Oh, I see.

SB: i'm thinking of Jonah. God sent Jonah on a mission.

BM: When did the part of the story come when Jonah lived in the whale?

SB: It was a great fish.

BM: It's one of my favorite nonsense stories, Jonah living inside of the whale. And their answer unfailingly is ''The Bible doesn't say whale. It says big fish.'' Oh, yeah, big fish, that makes--i'm sorry I was obsessing on that it was a whale. it's a big fish. Of course you could live for three days in a big fish.


*********
00:32:33
*********

BM: How did this country get to be a Christian nation? I've read a lot of quotes from all the Founding Fathers. There are a lot of quotes that explicitly say we're not a Christian nation:
"lighthouses are more useful than churches." -- benjamin franklin
"this would be the best of all possible worlds if there were no religion in it!" -- john adams
"christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man." -- thomas jefferson

Ray Suarez (RS): well, and Jefferson's a particularly interesting case.

BM: Didn't he write his own Bible which divorced the New Testament from what he considered the unnecessary magic, bells and whistles?

RS: He took the Gospels, took out all of Jesus's miracles and took out all of Jesus's statements that claimed divinity, and put out a new book called ''The Faith and Moral Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.'' We tend to lionize these guys and think of them all as the 12 Apostles plus the Founding Fathers, like they're in the same club or something. When in fact, these men understood very well that there was a difference between being Christian and being American.

BM: Right.

RS: In Jefferson's age, fewer people went to church less often.

Guy in BM's van (GBMV): Do you think that there are a lot of people who feel the way you do, but are afraid to speak out?

BM: Absolutely. Are you kidding? Yes, I think it is the great untapped minority in this country. In the last survey, I think it was 16% of Americans who now say they are absolutely unaffiliated with any religion, don't want to be in a religion, just don't go near me with religion. 16% of the population is a huge minority. It's bigger than Jews, blacks, homosexuals, NRA members, lots of people you could name who have lobbies that get everything they want or are at least are in the debate.


*********
00:34:27
*********

BM: So you've described yourself as an Evangelical Christian. You did a campaign ad where you said the most important lessons in life are in this book right here, meaning the Bible. Everyone in politics likes to brag that they're a person of faith. Why is faith good?

Mark Pryor, US Senator, Democrat (MP): Faith has a way of softening people. For example, if you look at the teachings of Jesus, he's very forgiving.

BM: He also said, "If a man doesn't abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers, and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned."

MP: Right. So? i do think, 'cause i'm a Christian, that Jesus is the way to be reconciled. And I do believe the actual literacy of that story. We'll let God sort out all the details of that on Judgment Day.

BM: What about the 10 Commandments? So many politicians talk about the 10 Commandments. Are they really the 10 most important moral--

MP: Are these the 10 suggestions? The 10 recommendations?

BM: But it's not really a wise list of 10. The first four are all about just worshipping God and basically that he's a jealous God, and he doesn't want you to have any other gods. The only two that are really laws are don't steal and don't kill. Why is this the wisest group of 10? lt doesn't include child abuse. lt doesn't include don't torture. lt doesn't include a lot of things-- rape--that I think if we were making a list today, we would probably include.

MP: Society is so different today and our culture is so radically different today.

BM: That's what i'm asking. We're in a different culture. Can you think of anything else that we still cleave to from the Bronze Age?

MP: Well...

christianity in old magickal grimoires - sometimes possibly just a cover?

ive always been a little annoyed by the elements of christianity in older grimoires, thinking that since christianity seems to be made up (archeology/fossil record+dna/theory of evolution, "bible unearthed", etc), then doesnt this in a way discredit everything else in the grimoire?
i used to wonder about this until i read this in joseph c. lisiewski's book ceremonial magic and the power of evocation:

Despite their authors' long-winded Christian stance and admonitions-a socially proper and politically correct carry-over from the days of church punishment if the grammar fell into the hands of an Inquisition tribunal-such texts have their practical use.

the appearance of a christian framework might have been necessary to avoid trouble in times where witches and mages were tortured and burned/killed?

was muhammed supposed to be the successor of jesus?

an interesting little dissertation by Francis Stephen:

Koran accepts virgin birth and second coming of Jesus but not death. The argument was that God would not allow anyone to kill Jesus who was God’s prophet. Prophet Muhammed was poisoned and it caused his death. How did God allow this “slow killing”. God, should also by same logic saved Prophet Muhammed too if he was the last and greatest of all prophets as claimed.Why accept only half of the Old Testament on birth and second coming but not death of Jesus by crucufixion.The reason is there would be no place for Prophet Muhammed or Islam if Koran accepts it. It would end with Jesus who was indeed the greatest of all prophets and Messiah. Prophet Muhammed had a reason to deny Jesus’s death so that he could live to preach Islam otherwise he would not have any followers.Jesus and his apostles were a complete contradiction to Prophet Muhammed. Jesus preached forgiveness, love and peace by saying “if someone slapped your right cheek, offer your left” but prophet Muhammed lived by the sword and he fought wars where there was much killing. Would ever Jesus who always spoke of love,peace and forgiveness picked a successor such as Prophet Muhammed??? who preached and acted just the opposite. Jesus asked his apostles to be honest, upright, faithful and chaste with their spouses and no apostles had any polygamy inclination whatsoever. But Prophet Muhammed was a complete contradiction having not less than 12 wives, one who was only 6 years old. The prophets before Jesus may had numerous wives but Jesus came and literally put a stop to polygamy. This is the New Testament. Jesus came and showed how to lead a family life for those apostles and followers who were married.Arabic traditions and customs are mere excuses for Prophet Muhammaed to be polygamous. Jesus even went against Jewish cusoms and traditions during his lifetime had put a fullstop to this already. If Prophet Muhammed was truly the chosen prophet by Jesus surely he has to honour , abide and agree to Jesus teachngs and way of life and in fact enhancing it rather than creating new contradictions and unacceptable teachings. A religion must be universal and not confined to people,customs and traditions of a particular time, race or people. In fact all other religions or their founders believed and practised monogamy be it Hindusism, Buddhism,Sikkhism,Taoism etc and the only major religion which allows polygamy is Islam. Buddha ,who was a prince, in fact gave up his kingdom,wife and children and chose to be celibate and disowned the material world to achieve nirvana. Prophet Muhammed on the other hand just kept on adding wives.Can such a person who claims to be the last and greatest of all prophets be truly be a messenger of GOD? Can we rely on his teachings,sayings and way of life? Would you ever in the first place marry a girl who is six years old, and for that matter when you are fifty as Prophet Muhammed was? Can you then use the Koran which came from such a character as Prophet Muhammed to judge the Bible?

diony-sus and je-sus - virgin born savior gods

i thought this was interesting. both names end in sus, dionysus and jesus. both are born of a virgin and both can be deemed as saviors (ragnar redbeard's might is right or survival of the fittest) =)

marx, christianity and the afterlife

in an article on defending voodoo and why there was a bit about karl marx and his criticism of christianity:

Marx's critique of Christianity was that by getting people to concentrate on the afterlife, they would tolerate the oppressions which Marx so detested in the early capitalism of England in the early and mid-1800s.

i have also independently made this same observation in my own life. i sometimes find myself justifying laziness because "we're all going to die some time and when we do, things will be so much better".

israel forbidden to do witchcraft, divination and necromancy

in the king james version of the fifth book of moses, deuteronomy chapter 18, verses 9-22 it states:

9 ¶ When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
13 Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.
14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
15 ¶ The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
16 According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
17 And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

here it is saying that the Lord God has given Israel a prophet instead of those listed in verses 10 and 11.

todo: check other translations

robert j. matthews, an lds professor in march 1974, made a compilation of scriptural references to witchcraft, etc in What the Scriptures Say about Astrology, Divination, Spirit Mediums, Magic, Wizardry, and Necromancy. it should be renamed to What the Bible Says about Astrology, Divination, Spirit Mediums, Magic, Wizardry, and Necromancy.

some more recent quotes can be found in an lds ensign (magazine) article about halloween:

Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles warned of such activities when he told young men and women, “A warning: there is a dark side to spiritual things. In a moment of curiosity or reckless bravado some teenagers have been tempted to toy with Satan worship. Don’t you ever do that! Don’t associate with those who do! You have no idea of the danger! Leave it alone! And there are other foolish games and activities that are on that dark side. Leave them alone!” (Ensign, May 1989, 54).

President James E. Faust, while a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, counseled Latter-day Saints to avoid becoming intrigued by Satan and his mysteries: “No good can come from getting close to evil. Like playing with fire, it is too easy to get burned: ‘The knowledge of sin tempteth to its commission.’ … The only safe course is to keep well distanced from him and any of his wicked activities or nefarious practices. The mischief of devil worship, sorcery, casting spells, witchcraft, voodooism, black magic, and all other forms of demonism should be avoided like the plague” (Ensign, Nov. 1987, 33).

in Entrance into the Kingdom of God, by Bernard P. Brockbank he writes:

According to the apostle Paul, the following works of the flesh will keep a person out of the kingdom of God: "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: … they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:19–21)

bjarne christensen, in the lds ensign article of november 1972, the precarious age of aquarious, writes:

The first astrologers are believed to have been pagan priests in the ancient kingdom of Babylonia. In Biblical times, Isaiah, Daniel, and other prophets condemned those who told fortunes and practiced witchcraft as evil for calling on supernatural powers other than God.

one response to test those christians

in the mildly funny article test those christians it suggests a series of tests you can impose on a door knocking evangelist. the author begins with a description of an annoying situation:

Just when you get home for a private, intimate interlude with your lover comes the event stopping knock, knock of the True Christian. What the hell is a normal sane person to do? Go crazy, scream, defecate nude on the floor while in full view of the True Christian? No. We test them. As I presume that like me you are a non-believer too we can have a little fun.

first of all, if i was just about to make love to somebody, i certainly wouldnt answer my door i would just ignore it. i certainly wouldnt be willing to put something that joyous on hold. if they keep knocking or ringing the doorbell, then you just run over to the door and either yell through a nearby window for them to get lost or let out a dog or something, then get back to business =) save yourself some trouble to and hang up a "no solicitors" sign outside your door. so the article really is irrelevant for any intelligent person with better things to do with their time, but for those of you who arent i guess this is right up your alley and just might give you something to do on a lonely friday/saturday night...

the bottle of feces and urine test:

Ask your friend if they have cast out demons. Do they speak with tongues? Have they laid their hands on sick persons who were healed?

If so take a bottle from storage prepared especially for the test. It should be filled with (non)toxic, pukey looking stuff that smells to high heaven. Urine and excrement should do. Cap the bottle tightly while in storage. And for heavens sake wrap it in something to hide the mess from sight. In the Bible read Mark 16:17-18 which says that True Christians can pick up serpents and drink harmful things without suffering. Ask our unsuspecting testee to chug the whole bottle. If they object saying "thou shalt not test God" respond by saying that you are testing them, not God. God is not around to be tested anyway. If they don't chug-the-jug you can safely assume they are not a True Christian, only a fraud. Send them away.

friend?
"if so..."? as if casting out demons and healing people isnt impressive enough? =)
i think the author also assumes (and i agree) that this is an example of a moron, because nobody intelligent would submit himself to these silly tests and they would be able to see right through this guy and would just move on.
but for arguments sake and to teach the morons, how about these kind of responses?:
1. i can drink that, but i just dont want to. like you, im also interested in finding people who are genuine, so i dont have a lot of time to play games. have a nice day.
2. the scripture you cited mentions "deadly" so go get some ammonia and bleach and mix them together in the solution to make it really deadly. (do you think the guy really wants a dead guy on his porch? even if he does it you could just take the bottle to the police and say that the guy threatened you with this deadly gas bomb. after all it has his dna in the bottle. but i really suggest you just leave)
3. youre not testing me, you asking me to test god. its not me who will save me from poisons, it is gods power. as a true christian i choose not to test god. i choose to follow jesus' example on the pinnacle of the temple (from the temptation of christ). do you know the story? (youre now asking him the questions. you can then explain that jesus refused to test god when the devil asked him to throw himself off the temple so the angels would catch him.)
4. ok ill do it. and since you already accept and believe that i can cast out demons, speak in new tongues and heal people, then by me surviving this test you would then accept that i am a true believer, thus you believe in christianity (and the snake test is really not relevant since non-true-christians can do the same thing), so would you mind first driving with me to my lawyers office to sign a contract stating that you will give me your house and all you own (i am invoking upon you the previous test you invoked upon me about not denying those who ask)?

arguing, or rather, debating can be fun sometimes, but lets just not waste each others time. agreed? =) you usually will never convince anybody of anything. convincing is usually done by the individual himself after a good deal of contemplative afterthought.

aleppo codex - oldest and most complete hebrew bible

the Aleppo Codex is

seen as the most authoritative source document for both the original biblical text and its vocalization

it is the most complete, extant, copy of the masoretic text (MT), but many of its pages are lost.

The Masoretic Text (MT) is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible regarded almost universally as the official version of the Tanakh.

read the aleppo codex online

the aleppo codex in buyable book form is called the Keter Yerushalayim (jerusalem crown)

i would really like to find a hebrew english version of this.

note: bible in this context is not the same as the christian bible. the jewish bible is comparable to the christian term old testament

many similarities between zoroastrianism and christianity

i've been reading about zoroastrianism and i must say there are very many similarities between it and christianity (and probably many other religions as well). zoroastrianism is seen as one of the oldest religions in the world. similarities with christianity include (but are not limited to):
* battle/struggle between good and evil
* heaven and hell
* a virgin-born savior
* a god who created the world
* Active participation in life through good thoughts, good words and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness
* free will
* rejection of monasticism (similar to lds christianity)
* god/good will eventually prevail over evil and time will end
* At the end of time a savior-figure [a Saoshyant] will bring about a final renovation of the world (frasho.kereti), and in which the dead will be revived (resurrection).
* god (mazda) communicates to humankind through another being (spenta mainyu -- comparable to jesus or the holy ghost)
* evil is represented by a being (angra mainyu -- comparable to the devil)
* people existed as souls before birth and have a protector (fravashi -- comparable to a guardian angel)

update:

Although older (roughly early first millennium BCE, see Zoroaster), Zoroastrianism only enters recorded history in the mid-5th century BCE
...
Zoroastrianism was founded by the Prophet Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) in ancient Iran however it is debated to exactly when he lived as there are estimates erunning from 1700 BC to 500 BC existing. The precise date of the founding of Zoroastrianism is uncertain. An approximate date of 1200-1500 BCE has been established through archaeological evidence and linguistic comparisons with the Hindu text, the Rig Veda. However there is no way of knowing exactly when Zoroaster lived as he lived in what to his people were prehistoric times.

how is this older than christianity? christian scripture places adam and eve at around 4000 BC.