Zhuangzi Prepares To Die II

Scott Bradley

Zhuangzi was dying, and his disciples wanted to give him a lavish funeral. Zhuangzi said to them, 'I will have heaven and earth as my coffin and crypt, the sun and moon for my paired jades, . . . all creatures for my tomb gifts and pallbearers. My funeral accoutrements are already fully prepared! What could possibly be added?'
(Zhuangzi 32; Ziporyn)

What I think this story attempts to convey is that in releasing himself into mystery, in “hiding the world in the world so that nothing can be lost”, Zhuangzi has in life freed himself from the fear of death. It is a “release” because it requires the letting go of one’s grip on identity as if it were a thing not subject to the unavoidable transformations that characterize the phenomenal world. It involves “trust” because it ultimately requires that we affirm the way things appear to be and however they may actually be. Trust does not involve belief in any specific outcome; it is free of content; nothing specific need be ‘true’.

There is the option of belief, of course. There is life after death. We will (hopefully) go to heaven. Yet if this is so, it too is unavoidable and our disposition toward death would be little changed, except of course, that belief has as its mutually-generating, paired counterpart, doubt. Belief is born of doubt, and doubt of belief. Thus, our attempt to fix a firm foundation upon which to rest our anxiety and hope is precisely what makes that foundation unreliable.

I mentioned heaven without reference to its paired counterpart, hell. Of all the horrible ideas ever conceived by humankind and inflicted upon humanity, this must be the most awful. I recently heard a rabbi opine that if there is God, then there must be hell, for otherwise Anne Frank and Hitler would share the same fate. I would suggest that the mentality that gives rise to this is precisely the same that gives rise to the hell on earth that the Jewish State believes it has a right to impose upon the people of Gaza. “All history is a deserted battleground of rights and wrongs,” comments Yuan Hongdao (1568-1610). It is, most ironically, a supposedly moral ‘heaven’ that gives impetus to so much cruelty on earth.

This eschewal of all contentful belief might be mistaken for disbelief. It is not. Disbelief requires that belief be entertained in the first place. To refuse to believe that the moon is made of green cheese is not disbelief, as if disbelief were the only other possible state of mind, and that one must subscribe to one state or the other. Trust is open-heartedness, open-mindedness, and unmediated thankfulness. If we wish to call Reality God, then trust without belief is our purest, vastest expression of thankfulness, and that, I would suggest is true ‘worship’.

You can check out Scott's writings on Zhuangzi here.

Did the Jews Kill Jesus? (Revisited)

Scott Bradley
Original post date: May 18, 2011

I recently heard or read that the Catholic Church has finally decided that “the Jews” did not kill Jesus. This must have been met by a great sigh of relief throughout the Jewish world after all these years of being held guilty of killing God. My friend David David (aka D2) must be dancing a carefree jig to have this burden taken off his head.

But if 'the Jews' didn't kill him, who did? The answer is that some Jews did — or were at least instrumental in getting the job done. These were the Sanhedrin, the supreme religious authorities of the Jews, (sort of like the College of Cardinals, who've killed a few in their day, too).

Why did they do this? Firstly, because he was a total heretic. Before Abraham was, I AM. I and the Father are One. The Jewish people took their monotheism seriously.

Secondly, he was a threat to their power. They, the Sadducees (liberals) and Pharisees (conservatives), were in charge and they didn't need some upstart calling them out in the market.

Thirdly, and most importantly I think, he was a threat to the whole Jewish nation. One of the leaders stood and said, Look, this guy's got to die for the sake of us all. Christians take this as a statement regarding his “redemptive” work, but that was not his meaning. What he was saying was, if this young revolutionary, this self-proclaimed King of the Jews, is not stopped, the Romans are going to stomp us good. They stopped him, but some 40 years later another bunch of zealots were not stopped, and the Romans stomped them good. The Temple was razed and the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world. So maybe these guys didn't have horns after all.

Now, the question I want to ask is: Did “the Jews” kill Ishak Rabin?

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.

"God in the Dock"

Scott Bradley

I have put this title in quotes because I'm sure it has already been used elsewhere, though I can't remember where. The idea of questioning "God" is an important one to me because I was for a long time a Christian and I ultimately abandoned that faith when its "God" could no longer live up to the lofty moral standards he ostensibly proclaimed. "God" must ultimately kill "God".

As an aside, I'd like to address the understandable sense of embarrassment that I feel in saying I was a born-again Christian. I do occasionally have my previous beliefs thrown in my face when I mention some of the moral absurdities of that faith. My answer is simply that when stoned on LSD and you have an incredible transformative experience packaged as Jesus, all the absurdities that go along with it are of little consequence. In other words, I did not become a Christian because I believed its doctrines but because almost accidently (it was with a laugh and as a lark that I prayed the prayer) I had my socks blown off. I saw it happen to another while my friend and I were bumming around S. California shortly thereafter. An AWOL marine, also stoned on LSD, had the same experience before my eyes, and when my friend mentioned Noah (and his ark) the marine exclaimed, "I believe, I believe!"

The revealed God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam made the critical error of identifying with certain beliefs and ‘historical’ deeds which though then acceptable are now seen as monstrous. "Hell" is, in my opinion, the most horrendous idea ever conceived by the mind of man. (Though strictly speaking Judaism has no hell — just a smoldering dump, Jesus was Jewish and thus his ideas were Jewish and likely reflected the Jewish thought of his time.) Of 'historical' events I need only mention a few: choosing one tribe above every other, Passover (being the passing over of that tribe while God murdered the firstborn of all of Egypt), raining fire and brimstone on Sodom, ordering the total genocide of the indigenous peoples of Palestine. (These are all from the Judaic root, but Christianity and Islam have made their own horrendous use of and contributions to them.) If this "God" is God, then we are in deep shit indeed.

Nietzsche wrote that every great idea must ultimately lead to its own negation. Understanding this, we can both affirm the contributions of these traditions — and they are many — and also leave them behind. Judaism gifted the West with a high moral code; yet that morality, once internalized, cannot but renounce the very God supposed to be its author. If God is in the dock, it is because he has failed of his own morality.

This is about my personal journey and I feel no crusading need to disabuse others who still believe of their faith. These things happen when they happen and not because we make them happen, or even because we ever wished them to happen.

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.

Afternoon Matinee: Lewis Black on Evolution

A Strange American Dichotomy

Trey Smith

The morons who rule the American sheeple are not only dumb and blind, they are deaf as well. The ears of the American “superpower” only work when the Israeli prime minister, the crazed Netanyahu, speaks. Then Washington hears everything and rushes to comply.

Israel is a tiny insignificant state, created by the careless British and the stupid Americans. It has no power except what its American protector provides. Yet, despite Israel’s insignificance, it rules Washington.

When a resolution introduced by the Israel Lobby is delivered to Congress, it passes unanimously. If Israel wants war, Israel gets its wish. When Israel commits war crimes against Palestinians and Lebanon and is damned by the hundred plus UN resolutions passed against Israel’s criminal actions, the US bails Israel out of trouble with its veto.

The power that tiny Israel exercises over the “world’s only superpower” is unique in history. Tens of millions of “Christians” bow down to this power, reinforcing it, moved by the exhortations of their “Christian” ministers.
~ from Is Washington Deaf As Well as Criminal? by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts ~

In all honesty, this reverence of Israel has always perplexed me. Led by Christian leaders of all stripes (as well as conservative Jews), Israel can do no wrong in the eyes of the American government.

The part that really befuddles me is the Christian angle. From the standpoint of Christendom, it was the Jews who murdered Jesus. Yes, the crucifixion was carried out by the Roman authorities, but according to the stories in the Bible, this was done at the behest of Jewish leaders. Throughout history Christians have held this interpreted sequence of events against the followers of Judaism and yet these same Christians today bow down at the feet of their chief religious adversary.

Because the Jews have been held responsible for the death of the "Christ," Jews have been discriminated against and worse ever since. The annals of history record that Jews were thrown out of country after country. In those nations in which they were allowed to stay, they often lived under oppressive restrictions. Not only were the Jews tortured and murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust, but they suffered this same fate at the hands of other regimes as well.

I know of a lot of Christians who don't trust Jewish people as far as they can throw them. They paint them as greedy and power hungry. They look down on their religious practices and, of course, they still hold much animus against them for being Jesus killers.

Despite all this negativity toward Jews, fundamentalist Christians are some of the biggest cheerleaders for all things Israel. If Israel wants to attack Egypt or Iran, these people are all for it. If Israel wants to abuse the Palestinians, these people give them a big thumbs up.

What I simply do not understand is how a conservative Christian can hate Jews so much, but love Israel. Has anyone ever pointed out to them that Israel is the homeland OF the Jews?

On Being Oh So Special

Trey Smith

That is the imperial mind at work. Its premises are often embraced implicitly rather than knowingly: American lives are inherently more valuable; foreign lives are expendable in pursuit of American interests; the U.S. has the inalienable right to take action in other countries that nobody is allowed to take in the U.S. (just imagine: “An Iranian drone fired two missiles at a bakery in the northwest U.S. Saturday and killed four suspected militants, Iranian officials said, as Iran pushed on with its drone campaign despite American demands to stop. This was the third such strike in the country in less than a week” or “Thirty five women and children were killed by a Yemeni cruise missile armed with cluster bombs which struck an alleged Marine training camp in Texas”).
~ from The Imperial Mind by Glenn Greenwald ~

If you want to know why a philosophy (or religion) like Taoism finds it so difficult to gain traction in the US, the above paragraph really sums it up. We Americans see ourselves as exceptional and so the vast majority of my countrymen need a belief system that legitimizes the need to feel special. Christianity and Judaism fit the bill as the starring characters of the Bible are the Chosen People.

In Christian parlance, the faithful are the elect. A true Christian is different than other people because he/she enjoys an extra special relationship with the creator. Many Christians hold to the belief that once saved, always saved. Phrased slightly differently, it comes off as once special, always special.

With this idea of American Exceptional embedded in the minds of most Americans, why turn to a philosophy that rather explicitly points out that either no one is special or everyone is? From the Taoist perspective, life is a level playing field. As Lao Tzu points out, the sage is good to the good AND the bad, nice to the nice and the NOT so nice. Tao favors no one.

And that simply doesn't fit into the American ethos.

Where Are the Prophets? Lo Ami

Scott Bradley

At the time of my writing it is the 'holiday season'. In this connection I recently heard a political commentator, a liberal, use his final few seconds of 'rant' to say, “What would Jesus do? He would declare the rights of the impoverished over those of the rich. He would cast the money-changers out of the temple."

Where are the prophets? I hear none.

One of the most powerful phrases in the Prophets (a companion to the Torah and the Writings in what Christians call the Old Testament) consists of two words: Lo ami. Not my people. This 'minor' prophet, I forget which one, declared to the Nation of Israel the word of God: You are not my people. You have oppressed the poor and the dispossessed. You are not my people.

Where is the prophet for the Jewish people of today? Yes, you are among the world's most philanthropic, but until you face up to the horrendous crime being committed against the Palestinian people, and your part in perpetuating it, lo ami. It is not the hostility of the Arab peoples that is your greatest enemy; it is Zionism. The militancy of "never again" can only precipitate more of the same. There are many secular Jews who know and proclaim this. But where is the rabbi? Where is he who believes in the God of Israel who stands up, and in the name of that God declares lo ami?

Where is the Christian conservative, the Bible-thumper, who takes to the pulpit and declares to the Church lo ami? You have sided with the oppressors. You have embraced the Empire and declared it a 'chosen people'. You have become chaplain to the Joint Chiefs, put God's seal of approval on the merchants of death. You care for the unborn, but not for the born. It began long ago with Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor; you abandoned God and kissed the ring of power. The Anabaptists broke free; why can't you? Is it that you fear the lions more than your God? Or is it because hate is so much easier than love?

Where is the Islamic scholar who stands up and declares a fatwa against all Islamic extremism and the despicable oppression of most all Islamic peoples by their own governments? Where is the mullah who declares Islamic culture morally bankrupt, who recognizes that righteousness is a great deal more than covering tits and ass, eschewing pig, and declaring that God is great? Lo ami. If God were great, he would disown you.

You are all morally bankrupt. To your shame, it is those who do not believe that carry the torch of righteousness. You have forsaken your God. Lo ami.

Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukah. Happy Eid (when next it comes).

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.

Afternoon Matinee: On Christianity 1.0: Zoroaster and Zoroastrianism

Did the Jews Kill Jesus?

Did the Jews Kill Jesus?
by Scott Bradley

I recently heard or read that the Catholic Church has finally decided that “the Jews” did not kill Jesus. This must have been met by a great sigh of relief throughout the Jewish world after all these years of being held guilty of killing God. My friend David David (aka D2) must be dancing a carefree jig to have this burden taken off his head.

But if 'the Jews' didn't kill him, who did? The answer is that some Jews did — or were at least instrumental in getting the job done. These were the Sanhedrin, the supreme religious authorities of the Jews, (sort of like the College of Cardinals, who've killed a few in their day, too).

Why did they do this? Firstly, because he was a total heretic. Before Abraham was, I AM. I and the Father are One. The Jewish people took their monotheism seriously.

Secondly, he was a threat to their power. They, the Sadducees (liberals) and Pharisees (conservatives), were in charge and they didn't need some upstart calling them out in the market.

Thirdly, and most importantly I think, he was a threat to the whole Jewish nation. One of the leaders stood and said, Look, this guy's got to die for the sake of us all. Christians take this as a statement regarding his “redemptive” work, but that was not his meaning. What he was saying was, if this young revolutionary, this self-proclaimed King of the Jews, is not stopped, the Romans are going to stomp us good. They stopped him, but some 40 years later another bunch of zealots were not stopped, and the Romans stomped them good. The Temple was razed and the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world. So maybe these guys didn't have horns after all.

Now, the question I want to ask is: Did “the Jews” kill Ishak Rabin?

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.

A Quaint Bible Story

One of the great things about blogging is the links provided by people commenting. Over at Right To Think there has been a lot of humorous and colorful commentary about the post, "Of Ammonites and Moabites…". One of the links provided in the comments section is to a site and book entitled "Illustrated Stories from the Bible".

For the believer, the book borders on blasphemous. However, to the non-believer, it's downright hysterical! One of these days -- when we've got some extra money -- I'm going to have to purchase this book!!

Here's one of the stories (without the wonderful illustrations):

Stoned Out of his Mind
(from Numbers 15:32-36)
by Paul Farrell

This happened while the Israelites were camped in the wilderness. One morning a young Israelite man woke up after a good, restful sleep. He stretched and looked outside. It seemed like a pretty nice day, warm but with a light breeze. His family was going to make a special meal that evening, so he knew they would need wood for the fire. They hadn’t planned ahead very well and had run out the previous night. “Oh well,” he thought, “May as well get started right away." He dressed hurriedly and headed outside. Unfortunately, though, the young man had picked the wrong day to run out of wood.

He walked along whistling to himself trying to enjoy the work, thinking how much fun it would be getting together with the family that night. His brother was always teasing him but he knew it was all in good fun. “Oh there’s a good one,” he thought bending down to pick up a thin stick that would be good for kindling.

After a couple of hours he decided he’d gathered a good bundle, so he headed back to the camp. But he hadn’t realized that several people had been watching him. As he neared them, he could see they were all scowling in a very condescending manner. He ignored them and walked straight passed, but suddenly one of them pointed to him and yelled, "stop!"

“What do you think you’re doing?” he said sternly.

“I was just picking up sticks to keep us warm tonight and so we can cook a special meal,” the young man replied.

“But this is the Sabbath,” one of the other men said indignantly.

The young man broke down sobbing. “I know but we ran out last night,” he pleaded. “It was my fault. I forgot to save enough for today. Please don’t be angry with me?”

“Too late,” the leader of the group said. Then, in a very angry tone he yelled, “seize him!”

They grabbed the man roughly and took him back to the camp to see Moses. When they got there, they told Moses what had happened, but Moses wasn't sure what to do with the man. He said he would have to ask God about it.

So Moses went before Yahweh and asked him what kind of punishment would be appropriate for the man who had picked up sticks. And Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, “You must take this man outside of the camp and have him stoned to death.”

“Righto!” said Moses obediently. “Will do.”

The young man hadn't quite heard Yahweh so he turned to his captors and whispered, “What did God say? Restore his new desk?”

“No." One of his captors whispered back, enunciating more clearly. "He said, stone him to death."

“WHAT!!??” the man yelped. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“No, I’m not kidding you. Now get moving,” said the man holding his arm.

So his accusers dragged the man outside the camp. He was a bit of a handful because by now he was screaming and trying frantically to get away. He kept yelling things like, “There must be some mistake!” and, “This is insane!” but to no avail. God had spoken and the people weren’t about to go against the word of Yahweh. So they stripped him to the waist and tied his hands to a pole.

The news spread quickly throughout the camp and soon word reached his own family.

They were devastated and his mother ran frantically to see what had happened to her son. When she reached the edge of the camp, she could see the lonely figure tied up to the poll. As she approached, he turned towards her. He could see how sad she was and that her mouth was trembling. "How could this have happened?" she said, wiping her tears as they ran down her cheek. They both looked into each other's eyes. "I'm so sorry, Mom" he whispered. "Remember, I love you."

But things were moving rapidly and the man who had picked up sticks could hear the sound of people gathering round him. He pulled hard against the chains trying to see if there was any way of getting free, but they were very solid. He squirmed and winced as he saw people scouring the ground for the right size stones.

They couldn’t be too big because he would die too quickly. But then again, they had to be big enough to cause cuts, abrasions, and contusions all over the face and head. Soon the people who had come, had gathered enough stones and the signal was given.

There was the sound of whizzing as a couple of stones passed his head narrowly missing, and then bang! A stone hit him on the temple. He could feel the blood trickling down his face as another hit him on the cheek. In a split second he was being pummeled from all angles.

He could feel his face and head swelling tremendously and felt intense pressure inside. The pain was excruciating and he was becoming slowly more and more disorientated. The blood was now pouring from his head. His whole upper body was red and the clothes around his waist were soaking soaked in warm blood. The pain was incredible and he just wanted it to be over, but he could still feel the rocks banging away at his raw, mangled face.

The pounding continued for what seemed like an eternity but eventually the man's body started to give out and he slipped into unconsciousness. He fell back against the poll and his limp body slid down to the ground in a mangled heap.

One of the men who had initially accused him of picking up the sticks came over to examine him. He grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back to see if there was any flicker of life left in him. He could barely recognize his face anymore. As he looked closer he could see the man was certainly dead. It was over. The camp was safe from anyone who thought he might pick up sticks on the wrong day.