Indian Guru Has His Followers Cut Off Their...

Swiss Alps:Facebook-Travel+Leisure...Peace and tranquillity

New York Daily News February 28

Cited

'Nuts! Indian guru coaxes 400 followers to cut off their testicles, grow closer to God

BY DAVID HARDING NEW YORK DAILY NEWS'

New York Daily News

Cited

An Indian spiritual guru and multi-millionaire has convinced up to 400 followers that they should cut off their own testicles, Metro reported.

A lesson that not all theology and philosophy is equally rational.

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Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, 47, said the castrations would bring the men closer to God.

The painful procedures were carried out at a hospital owned by Singh, who is worth $40 million.

He also has around 50 million followers worldwide. Singh has been dubbed the "Guru in Bling."

The men were castrated around the year 2000 but the cases are only now coming to light as Singh is accused of grievous bodily harm by India's Central Bureau of Investigation.

Since the event did these 'geniuses' realize...

Something was missing from their lives?

They had missed the cut?

They presently were not playing with all their marbles?

Cited

One lawyer for the alleged victims said the men were told "only those who get castrated will be able to meet God."

One should avoid a cult-like guru.

One should use reason.

One should pray to God for guidance.

One should use historical, Biblical, Scripture. The Hebrew Bible and New Testament.

One should use a variety of reasonable Biblical, theological and philosophical sources.

One should use reasonable academic sources.

Cited

It is not the first time Singh has been in a scrape with the law.

In 2002 he was charged with conspiracy following the murder of an investigative journalist.

And several female followers have accused him of sexual assault, according to Metro.

Singh has never been convicted.

Reality & Non-Reality

Florence:Facebook-Travel+Leisure

Reality

It has been a very busy work week with several hours of overtime.

A young woman arrives at the office last night and looks at me after talking with my senior partner and states to me: 'You are strong'.

Yes, I look like 'The Thing' from the Fantastic Four, according to one of my friends.

This young woman had jumped her vehicle over a barrier in the parkade and it took my senior colleague and two employees from the fitness room to lift the vehicle back over the barrier.

My colleague dealt with this issue, as it was his issue.

The last parkade 'jumper' occurred a few months ago and my senior colleague and I ended up pushing her car back over the barrier just prior to our shift beginning.

But I had been laughing so hard watching the events unfold as my vehicle was behind hers in the cue entering the building.

It was quite the show with the spinning tires.

Theological and philosophical lesson...

Persons are finite and sinful.

In a security course I took this week the corporate instructor stated that the field of security demonstrates again and again that people are stupid.

I would state that theologically and philosophically because of the fall and results (Genesis, Romans) people are idiotic to varying degrees as finite and sinful.

Non-Reality

When I arrive home late at night from my corporate security shift, prior to sleep I head downstairs to have a late night snack and to check up on my Mother that I homecare for as well.

She sometimes watches home repair programs such as Property Brothers, which seems to be a reasonable show.

Love It or List It Vancouver/Love It or List It, Too, in the United States, seems semi-realistic, although it appears to feature mainly high-priced homes in Vancouver and the North Shore area from the few episodes I have seen.

And usually on a sunny Spring or Summer day.

So, that means with the overcast weather and rain in the area, approximately eight months of the year are out for filming, as is most of Metropolitan Vancouver.

Including Maple Ridge and Surrey.

Love It or List It, which is from Toronto is another story.

I do enjoy seeing the geographic area of Southern Ontario and how the homes and housing prices compare to the Metropolitan Vancouver area.

Hooked On Houses March 28 2013

Cited

Is HGTV’s “Love It or List It” Fake?

'This is one of the top searches that brings people to my blog for answers each day: “Is Love It or List It fake?” Apparently there are a lot of people out there who 1) watch the popular show on HGTV and 2) aren’t buying that all the drama in the episodes is real.'

'Let’s put it this way: these kinds of shows are entertainment. They are not documentaries.

'And if you really believe that the same basic pattern plays out naturally in every episode–the homeowners don’t trust Hilary’s plan, they hate the first house David shows them, Hilary runs into a major construction/financial problem that requires eliminating one of the projects she promised the homeowners she’d do, and then David finds them their dream house–well, I have a bridge to sell you. I’ve heard rumors that two endings are always filmed, with the homeowners saying both “We’re going to love it!” and “We’re going to list it!” Then the producers choose which one to air during the final edit. So…if that’s true (and I don’t know for sure), then the outcome has nothing to do with what happened in real life. At least not all the time.'

End  Citations

The realtor, David, is particularly funny and is also a very good home tour guide.

Starcasem February 6, 2014

Cited

Is Love It or List It fake?

'Although David and Hilary’s credentials are very real, some aspects of the show are staged.

'This shouldn’t be a major shock to viewers, considering each show follows a pattern: Hilary and David are shocked by the homeowners’ expectations, but claim they can get the job done. Hilary runs into a problem with the renovation. David shows a lackluster house. Hilary and David both pull through and the homeowners are torn, but decide whether to “love it” or “list it.”'

'Some people have commented that homeowners’ decisions are almost always predetermine. One woman who supposedly had inside knowledge told Hooked on Houses that some never even intend to move.“(They) signed up for the show so they could get their renovations done at a discount. I’m not sure what the actual discount is, perhaps lower labor costs, but it’s cheaper than if they had hired an independent contractor to do the work.”There are other rumors that homeowners film two endings — one saying “love it” and one saying “list it” — and producers decide which to air.

'The official word is that everything is authentic.“The show is not at all scripted and the reactions of the homeowners to renovation realities and bad news is very real,” Hilary told Women in Business.'

End Citations

The program is not a documentary.

The program is entertaining and educational to some degree, certainly.

But the program is another lesson that reality television is not really full reality.

It is drama based staged reality, which is really non-reality.

Delta: Last Sunday

National Licensing Scheme For All Places Of Worship And Private Schools In Canada?

Perhaps in future decades in British Columbia and Canada, Biblical Christians will primarily worship in a home church scenario, or will risk facing legal measures from the State for worshipping in public.

Vancouver Sun February 17

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'Former B.C. premier Ujjal Dosanjh calls for certification of places of worship'

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'OTTAWA - Former British Columbia premier and federal cabinet minister Ujjal Dosanjh wants a national licensing scheme for all places of worship and private schools in Canada, to ensure they don’t undermine Canadian values.

“We want to know what it is that’s being taught,” Dosanjh told the Senate national security committee Monday. “And if we believe that’s not in consonance with the need to build a caring and inclusive society – a fair society – then we can simply make the law that we won’t give them funds (or charitable status). Let’s starve them out.”

He later told reporters that experts would have to determine how such an oversight system would be administered without violating Charter rights.'

End citations

Red flags.

The former premier and cabinet minister wants to know what is being taught and so he reasons the government should seek licensing control over religious organizations.

He reasons the government should decide what is 'fair' in regard to religious thought.

Since when are politicians and bureaucrats qualified as religious scholars, theologians and philosophers of religion?

Whose Canadian values? 

Those of the secular, liberal elite that are in government. 

Note

I realize there are Biblical Christians that are moderate liberals (I am a moderate conservative) that do not necessarily support much of modern liberal, secular, progressive thought.

It is one thing to 'starve out' radical Islamists, that I acknowledge need to be removed from Western society.

But with this licensing scheme approach, it is also possible that the secular State could also use their coercive and legal powers to 'starve out' all religious movements that do not agree with the present, at the time, 'group think' of the so called progressive thinking liberal, elite that govern Western societies, including Canada.

Biblical Christianity could be targeted.

Groups targeted could include Evangelicals, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox.

The fact that such a licensing system could violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a red flag that such a scheme should not be considered by government, in order to protect minority freedoms and rights as well as those of the majority. 

Cited

'Dosanjh said Monday he fears Muslim extremism will be ignored by mainstream society, with dire consequences, as Sikh extremism eventually led to the Air India attack. The bombing of the 747 jumbo jet killed 329 people: 268 Canadian citizens, 27 Britons, and 24 Indians.'

End Citations

A more intelligent and effective approach for Western governments is as I have stated previously is to deny special religious law as law of the land, such as Sharia (Islamic) Law. This would, in my mind send the message that radical Islam, or any radical form of religion, it is not going to be permitted in a Western nation.

Immigration should also obviously be denied to radical religious and political elements.

At the same time, reasonable freedom of religion and expression should be protected within Western democracy and churches and their institutions should not be licenced by and monitored by government.

This allows a reasonable and good separation between Church/Religion and State.

Story from my personal Facebook page

Vancouver-trekearth

Facebook

Brief Round Table in February

Ontario Travel: Facebook:

'It's like you come out of the sky'. Top floor employee to me Thursday on my patrolling technique. Her male colleague agreed...
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Herman Neutic: Looking at my stacks of academic journals states 'There are a lot of great minds that bridge that gap between faith and reason within Christianity, seemingly more than a comparison with any other world religion'.

Satire And Theology: All world views are problematic from a human perspective as we are finite, but Christianity is the least problematic worldview. I state this after in particular, studying the nature of God, problem of evil, theodicy, free will and determinism formally in academia and also in blogging.

If I was to abandon Christianity because Jesus Christ, the Father and Holy Spirit are deemed as overly intellectually and practically problematic in the modern era, I would still need to solve reasonably the same problems of origin, creation, and evil issues with another worldview.

As Christianity has historical religious documentation as Scripture with the New Testament moving forward with the Church Fathers and theological and Biblical writings, there is reliable scholarship. Also relying on the Hebrew Bible and previous historical revelation and Scripture and related.

This is not fideism, but reasonable faith, philosophy and theology.

Chucky: Difficulties should not lead to a complete rejection.

Satire And Theology: The next worldview will be more problematic, in my opinion.
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Chucky: Fifty Shades of Nay...

Satire And Theology: I know nothing about it, other than I viewed the previews on television. According to a few Christian teachers I have read and listened to, such as Albert Mohler, it is ponographic...
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Red Bartater: 'It seems that in today's world Marvel and DC superheroes, Disney and Star Wars characters are becoming the new folklore for Generations X and Y.'

Satire And Theology:  I noticed last Sunday the Disney Sunday movie featured Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk, and I thought, well at least that was sort of cool, Disney now owning Marvel.

You mentioned, Red B, and you are not even a Rush fan really...

Chucky:  Perhaps the next step will be for Disney to re-tell the classic fairy tales using Marvel and Star Wars characters...although I don't know how that would work in practice...

Satire And Theology:  The Incredible Hulk could replace the Jolly Green Giant in those pea commercials.

Chucky:  Ho Ho Ho!  If Disney owned Green Giant as well...  (currently owned by General Mills)

Satire And Theology  How about corporations allowing the use of their mascots in cross-over superhero movies?  Ronald McDonald and the Burger King could be villains like the Joker and the Green Goblin.

Chucky:  And Green Giant could fight the Hulk.

Satire And Theology: Wagner or Vivaldi, Chucky? (I purchased a CD from each recently). Chucky: Based on what I have heard so far, not being familiar with Wagner, Vivaldi.

Satire And Theology: I would agree, but also would state, I am newer listening to Wagner with only one CD. I realize Wagner is later in the Romantic period, Vivaldi, Baroque.

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General Mills: Minnesota

General Mills (near the Dairy Queen)

Flickr

Charles To Muslims: Follow British Values/No Family Values In Heaven?

London-Daily Mail

Daily Mail February 8

From a story on my Facebook blog

Cited 

’Charles tells UK Muslims to abide by our values: Prince says if you come to live in Britain you must respect us’

This seems reasonable. 

Cited

’Prince Charles risked provoking a new political and religious storm yesterday when he said Muslims living in the UK should follow British values.’

If these comments would risk a political and religious storm it demonstrates that the climate has become far too politically correct in the United Kingdom.

'In a staunch defence of Britain's 'Christian standpoint,' he denounced the radicalisation of young Britons by Islamic fanatics and said they should show more respect to 'the values we hold dear'.’ 

Practically speaking, however, Britain today is a secular nation.

Cited

‘Charles also intends to use his Middle East tour to call for an end to attempts to drive Christians out of the region. IS terrorists slaughtered thousands of Yazidis and Christians in Northern Iraq, and Christians are also threatened in other Muslim countries. If nothing was done, the time could soon come when 'there are no Christians left in the Middle East… they are intimidated to a degree you can't believe,' the Prince said. He rammed home his point in uncharacteristically plain terms: 'The tragedy is even greater because Christians have been in the Middle East for 2,000 years, before Islam came in the 8th Century.'’

I am not concerned with how long Christians have been in the Middle East, rather I am concerned with reasonable intellectual freedom for persons, including freedom of religion. 

Cited

‘It is a most agonising situation, but we must remember that all around the world there is appalling persecution going on, not only of Christians but of Muslims and of other faiths and religions. The radicalisation of people in Britain is a great worry, and the extent to which this is happening is alarming, particularly in a country like ours where we hold values dear.’

Indeed this is a problem of the present and the future. 

If Muslims are to live by British values, Sharia law should not be the law of the land in any context. This would at least in a legal context to some degree prevent some but not all Islamic radicalization. 

All persons in a Western nation should live by the same secular law with reasonable intellectual and religious freedom. If Sharia is followed by Muslims within freedom of religion it should be done without government sanction as law. In a similar way for example, that a Christian can follow church rules and discipline in the United Kingdom or Canada without such being the law of the land.

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No Family Values In Heaven?

The Pastor during the sermon today stated that in heaven, paraphrased, basically family relationships will be over.

I reason he is perhaps basing this on...

Matthew 22:29-30

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

 29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not [a]understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.

30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 

Footnotes: Matthew 22:29 Or knowing New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation 

Mark 12:24-25

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not [a]understand the Scriptures or the power of God?

25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

Footnotes: Mark 12:24 Or know New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

How would resurrected human beings be like the angels in context? Not-exhaustive.

Not married.

Not getting married.

Not procreating.

There are some differences however.

Although both human beings and angelic being are finite, angelic beings are non-corporeal and human beings now in this present realm have a physical body and in the resurrection (the Gospels with Christ and 1 Corinthians 15) have a spiritual body (15: 44).

Therefore, resurrected human beings, although like the angels are not exactly like the angels. Human beings have physicality and there is in my view no good reason to believe all previous connections are abandoned in the new creation.

Remember there is a new heaven and new earth and resurrected body (s), in other words the first sinful realm freed from the problems of evil and sin transitions through the atoning and resurrection work of Christ into the everlasting realm.

I see it as overly speculative to suggest that human relationships in Christ would be abandoned from the previous realm.

As Jesus Christ was recognized as a man in the resurrection, when God willed it, it would also be overly speculative to assume that since Biblically human beings with a spiritual body do not procreate and are like the angels it would mean resurrected human beings were non-sexual. In other words the end of male and female from Genesis 1-3.

Rather, Erickson states heaven could for example feature the suprasexual. Erickson (1994: 1232) which would transcend what was experienced in the previous realm.

ERICKSON, MILLARD (1994) Christian Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.

The Islamic State Works Against Itself?

NBC: Syria

Reuters February 3

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'Islamic State shows burning of hostage, Jordan vows 'earth-shaking' response

BY SULEIMAN AL-KHALIDI AMMAN Tue Feb 3, 2015 6:51pm EST'

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'(Reuters) - Islamic State militants released a video on Tuesday appearing to show a captured Jordanian pilot being burnt alive in a cage, a killing that shocked the world and prompted Jordan to promise an "earth-shaking" response.

A Jordanian official said the authorities would swiftly execute several militants in retaliation, including an Iraqi woman whom Amman had sought to swap for the pilot taken captive after his plane crashed in Syria in December.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the content of the video, which showed a man resembling airman Mouath al-Kasaesbeh standing in a small black cage before being set ablaze.

The furious reaction of the Jordanian authorities made clear they treated it as genuine. Jordan, which has been mounting air raids in Syria as part of the U.S.-led alliance against Islamic State insurgents, would deliver a "strong, earth-shaking and decisive" response, a government spokesman said.

"The revenge will be as big as the calamity that has hit Jordan," army spokesman Colonel Mamdouh al Ameri said in a televised statement confirming the death of the pilot, who was seized by Islamic State in December.'

Cited

'The Jordanian military might also escalate attacks on Islamic State, said retired air force General Mamoun Abu Nowar. "We might even see in a couple of days the rate of sorties increased dramatically.

We might have some special operations against their leadership too," he said. In the Islamic State video, Kasaesbeh is interviewed, describing the mission he was due to carry out before his jet crashed.

The video also showed footage of the aftermath of air strikes, with people trying to remove civilians from debris.

A man resembling Kasaesbeh is shown inside the cage with his clothes dampened, apparently with flammable liquid, and one of the masked fighters holds a torch, setting alight a line of fuel which leads into the cage. The man is set ablaze and kneels to the ground.'

Cited

Islamic State emerged out of al Qaeda in Iraq. It expanded into Syria as the country was plunged into a civil war estimated to have killed 200,000 people since 2011.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said on Tuesday that 51 civilians, including children, had been killed by Syrian air force strikes inside the country within the past day. 

The U.S.-led coalition says it does not coordinate with the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, described by Washington as part of the problem. It does work with the Iraqi government, which is also fighting Islamic State.

End Citations

My condolences to all concerned for loss of life.

Blackburn explains terrorism is the intentional use of violence particularly to bring about widespread fear for political ends. Blackburn (1996: 374).

I can intellectually and philosophically grant that burning persons alive, beheadings and dreaming up other executions/murderous acts and attempts at such, will succeed at terrorizing the public to some degree, and probably will terrorize some in the military and governments as well.

But, as the Reuters' article demonstrates such acts and actions also can cause a severe counter-reaction.

Evil should not be repaid for evil by the individual or State (Romans 12, 1 Peter 3: 9), but I do believe in law and order via the State (Romans 13, 1 Peter 2) in order to counter terrorism within reason and where necessary.

The Islamic State as a political and religious movement while it creates more terrorism on its behalf is also creating more political and religious opposition against itself worldwide.

Therefore philosophically making a world dominated politically and religiously by radical Islam less likely...

The Islamic State is therefore working against itself...

BLACKBURN, SIMON (1996) Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

From Twitter: Absolutely not.