A. W. Woodburne 1947 M.D. THINK -Fear

[JBKlyde]

Absolute freedom from fear is neither possible or desirable. Fear is necessary for the preservation of life. Fear of communicable diseases, fear of the consequences of crime, fear of ignorance as well as "the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom ", are all beneficial fears.

It is the pathological, poisonous fears and phobias that confuse and enervate and result in neurotic bodies, unstable minds and lost morale from which we need freedom. Silly superstitions still breed timidity. Quakery still fosters and fattens on foolish fears. An authority lists the most common fears as, fear of insanity, fear of high places, fear of close places, fear of death, fear of failure, fear of animals, fear of being conspicuous, fear of the dark. Being "scared to death" is possible but infrequent. Yet panic during fires kill many stampeding for exits. Paradoxically, fear of truth keeps some, who suspect cancer, from there doctor till it's too late. Fear of loosing faith closes some minds to to facts. Superb physical courage often overrides fear as demonstrated by the soldier in war and by policemen and detectives and firemen and sailors and airmen. Among-st them are some who though fear-filled, as faithfully face their fate.

But moral courage is more rare and more difficult to practice than physical courage. The Bible tells us that "fear hath torment, but perfect love casteth out fear." So if we would terminate tormenting timidity we simply must quit hating and suspecting people and live lovingly, because "Love thinketh no evil, hopeth all things, endureth all things, and never fails." Giving lip service to the golden rule is not enough, for in actual practice it means having in us it's spirit and the courage to carry it out in daily life.

"And perfect love casteth out fear." Cultivating wholesome fears and conquering corroding fears spells progress in religious life. Are we progressing?? Think it over.

qcc??

[footfootfoot]

Freedom from fear is possible through the purity and essence of our natural fluids.

[Griff]

I know no hunger. The rich ele*ments of earth and sun that are nour*ish*ing my body are giv*ing force to my mind.
Paul C. Bragg

[JBKlyde]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_92jafFpz1G...y_Eegor316.jpg

[JBKlyde]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora's_box

[JBKlyde]

a truth told with bad intent is worse than any lie you can invent.

The way I see God Almighty has Absolute power in my life AND in everything that happens under the sun so If something goes wrong It's nobodys fault it's GOD WILL.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by JBKlyde

The way I see God Almighty has Absolute power in my life AND in everything that happens under the sun so If something goes wrong It's nobodys fault it's GOD WILL.

That right there, has been used to justify some of the most heinous crimes in history.

[JBKlyde]

really?? examples please.. The Crunch only works when the box is in motion. I did acid twice in my entire life time I BLAME that for 10% of my problems today..

[xoxoxoBruce]

How about the Crusades.

[orthodoc]

Or 9/11. The genocide of the Armenians by the Turks. The Trail of Tears. The Gulag. Auschwitz. Saddam Hussein's use of chemical weapons against the Kurds in Halabja. Stalin's artificial 'famine' in Ukraine. Sex trafficking and slavery of women and young girls.

God's will? Nobody at fault?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Um... I don't think some of those things qualify.

9-11? Yeah, Allah's will works.
Armenian/Turks? Not sure, but I thought that was more a political/ethnic thing.
Trail of tears? Political, unless you consider manifest destiny a religious battle cry.
Gulag? Political.
Auschwitz? I doubt Hitler or Himmler ever claimed to be doing God's will.
Halabja? Political power play.
Ukraine? Politics, same as the Irish potato famine.
Sex & Slavery? I doubt the slavers are claiming God's will, but then again, I don't know any.

Certainly all the religious wars, as usually both sides were making the claim. But probably the highest toll is the world wide damage done to indigents by missionaries, as they claimed their mission was God's will. Even if they were riding on the coattails of treasure seekers.

Of course most, if not all, the natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, and shit, which have killed scores of millions, are chalked up to God's will. But they're not what I was talking about, they're not people doing bad shit using God's will as an excuse.

[orthodoc]

Sorry, Bruce ... On rereading, I see where your response to JB was that people claiming to be carrying out God's will had done some of the most heinous things in history (I agree), and he asked you for examples.

I was a little befuddled (I wake up every hour or so at night and read or browse online) and I overlooked your interaction with JB and based my examples strictly on his declaration that nobody is at fault for anything because it's all GOD'S WILL. My bad. Thanks for being generous about it.

[DanaC]

The Witchfinders and burners, the inquisitors, the conquistadors...innumerable atrocities throughout history have been carried out under the banner of Christendom. Massacres of innocents (notably the Cathars) under the direct orders of papal authority. Invasions and conquests given legitimacy by the Church. Genocides of native peoples held up as moral by God's Chosen people.

Do you think there were no preachers preaching slavery as God's will in ante bellum America?

The absolute subjugation of women has at various times in our history been justified on the grounds of biblical evidence of God's will. As has the absolute subjugation of whole races.

And I haven't even touched on more recent attempts to co-opt God's supposed will to very human brutality.

God's will is the banner for a litany of blood and horror. If you are going to fly that flag, do some reading and learn what it means.

[orthodoc]

The banner of shame is certainly not exclusive to Christianity; we just happen to be most familiar with it. Check out what has been perpetrated in the name of Allah all these centuries. The subjugation of women on a biblical basis has nothing on our subjugation by those who use the Koran to justify their actions. And not to single out Islam, although it deserves study - there are plenty of religious traditions through history that subjugate various peoples or segments of populations.

As always, the root problem lies with human beings who use religion to whitewash the murder and other vile acts they decide to carry out.

[DanaC]

yeah. But Klyde is only flying the flag of the christian God. So that's what I was aiming for :p

The difference between female subjugation according to the bible and according to the Koran in the present I'll give you. In historical terms they're absolutely as bad as each other and the bible itself in the form it has come down to us is far more uncompromisingly misogynistic than the Koran.