Living on Borrowed Time: Us and Alien Civilizations

Living on Borrowed Time

Mathematics indicate that there should be millions of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy alone, as much as 5 billion years more advanced than us, colonizing the space around them, but where are their radio signals? The signals should be there, but we aren't receiving them. This has been so baffling that it is referred to as a paradox (the Fermi Paradox). There are several possible explanations for this, and they are all bad for us.

Looking at the history of Planet Earth (the only experience we have on the matter), whenever one exploring civilization has encountered another, it has always ended bad for the one less technologically advanced. We civilizations don't know how to play nice with one another. Considering this, it is likely that another civilization long ago experienced the same thing, having warred among themselves and with other early alien civilizations. Seeing no benefit in waiting until other civilizations advanced to the point of being a threat to them, they began a practice of wiping out developing worlds as soon as they discover them (i.e. receive their transmissions). They may conceivably study them first and even record their histories and anthropological records out of curiosity, but having nothing to gain from an inferior culture (scientifically, artistically, spiritually) that they haven't developed themselves over the aeons, they exterminate them. This may explain why there are no transmissions coming our way. Every time one is sent out, the preeminent civilization wipes them out, and only those wise enough to remain silent continue developing in a dark corner somewhere.

A Loud-Mouth Star System

Earth has been transmitting radio waves willy-nilly for two centuries, even transmitting introductions to whomever might receive them, including coordinates on how to find us (not that they wouldn't know how to track a signal). Currently, our signals have reached a circle around our system with a radius of 200 light years, and gaining an additional light year every year (obviously). The closest star to us is only 4 light years away, so 200 light years in every direction is covering some ground. We're pretty far out from the galactic center, where such an advanced race may have developed, which may buy us some time. It will still take another 118,000 years or so for the entire galaxy to know we're here, and by then potentially millions of advanced civilizations will be aware of us, but it won't take near that long for someone capable of faster than light travel to discover us and send a mission to destroy us. In fact, it could happen any time now. We may well have signed our own extermination order the day we invented radio and been living on borrowed time ever since. Aren't you glad you didn't miss Rush Limbaugh and Mannheim Steamroller broadcasts? Much of the continuous broadcasting has documented our pettiness and insanity.

A Quarantined World

Another possible scenario is that there are plenty of transmissions going back and forth out there, but we can't receive them and they can't receive ours because an advanced alien civilization has already discovered us and placed a dampening field or cloak around our solar system that blocks transmissions. (If you dismiss this as far fetched, you haven't really considered the possibilities. We've come a long way in a few hundred years, and can't yet begin to imagine what a few million would make us capable of.) This could be good news or bad, depending on the intentions of those beings. We could be quarantined for our own good or the good of others. We could be a zoo or a prison colony like Australia once was, the abandoned descendants of a human civilization that has already conquered the stars. In this case, we could have also signed our death warrant the day our deep space probes penetrated the shield. It also begs the question, "What are they keeping us alive for?" or if the quarantine has nothing to do with us, the more frightening question is "What are they keeping us in here with?" Our own solar system is still near completely unexplored, and capable of harboring anything from alien life to biological weapons to space mines or even a secret storage of weapons (why not hide it in an uninteresting system inhabited by mere primitive life?).

Suicide Squad

We've already developed the capability of annihilating ourselves and have previously been on the brink, proving that we are dominated by mad men here at home so bent on ruling that they are willing to destroy everything in the attempt. Some alien mission may yet arrive intent on our destruction only to find that we have already done the job ourselves. Another prominent hypothesis attached to the Fermi Paradox is that developing worlds tend to destroy themselves early on before colonizing the stars, another reason we aren't finding them today. This seems very likely to have happened repeatedly considering our own history, but unlikely to have happened universally, considering the sheer number of developing worlds in this galaxy. It seems even less likely to happen closer to the galactic center (as opposed to our less fashionable end of the galaxy) where worlds are more likely to discover each other and set aside their petty differences in the presence of potential outside threats (and possibly destroy each other instead). In all that possibility, it is likely that at least some similarly developing worlds in the galaxy's ancient past would form a truce, alliance or trade pact that would allow each other to coexist. Such pacts wouldn't stop the combined federation from agreeing to wipe out newcomers, however, so all the above scenarios can still apply if we succeed at not wiping ourselves out first. Our race's best hope for not committing suicide is the discovery of other galaxy exploring civilizations not bent on our immanent destruction and taking the logical next step of putting the trillions of dollars of resources and human effort that is currently spent on all our collective wars with each other into the technologies that will allow us to harness our solar system's power and colonize other worlds so as not to leave all our proverbial eggs in one basket.

One hopeful example of this is the star KIC 8462852, which has been periodically dimming for no known reason. We don't know why yet, but one possible explanation is that it could be orbited by a large manufactured solar array that is collecting huge amounts of energy for an advanced civilization. Such a civilization could likely have unlimited free energy for all its citizens, and therefore be capable of advancing technologically at an astounding pace. As of October 2015, SETI, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, has turned it's attention to this system looking for radio transmissions. If we find them, this could be just the shift we need from a global to a galactic consciousness (read more about this planet here: http://www.space.com/30855-alien-life-search-kepler-megastructure.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=more-from-space). We will have quite some catching up to do, unmired by this reward and subservience based system of control that we are currently held back by, which keeps us fighting among ourselves rather than catching up with our galactic neighbors. Fortunately, Stephen Hawking and investor Yuri Milner announced a $100 million SETI initiative called Breakthrough Listen, which will help SETI continue its mission. (Read more about this and the Fermi Paradox here: http://www.space.com/30043-seti-search-for-extraterrestrial-intelligence-infographic.html).

The Cat's Out of The Bag

It's a good bet the Empire knows we're here. Whether further development is racing toward our own destruction or racing to escape it, it's a little late to stop now because we can't call back the transmissions we've sent. Nor are we likely to convince everyone to stop developing technologically and revert back to primitive tribal cultures. At this point, we should work to shift on our own to a galactic mentality and move toward developing as fast as we can, both technologically and mentally. Remember, an alien race may be billions of years more advanced than us, leaving us little hope to defend ourselves. We may do well to conduct ourselves in such a way as to seem nonthreatening and hope to be spared. They may not care much, having annihilated many such civilizations in the past. If so, having off world colonies may give our species a chance to survive a devastating event. Developing faster than light travel may make this even more likely. One thing's for sure, we need to come together, appear sane and look to the future (for as long as we have one).

Also read Stephen Hawkings comments on life in the universe I came across after publishing this article: http://www.hawking.org.uk/life-in-the-universe.html

Power Vs. Force - An alternative to subjective Good-Evil and Right-Wrong paradigms.

Everything you need to know about the world revolves on the Power vs Force dynamic. You can answer any question and decide where to stand on any issue by this simple assessment: Is it Power or Force?

The world has been stuck in a feedback loop that has trapped it within a Force paradigm, which is why things do not change in spite of so much conflict, including the cycles of tyranny and revolution. Within that paradigm, all we can ever do is perpetuate it while convincing ourselves that we are the side of good in the application of force. We can never convince our opponent, and vice-versa. Rightness then becomes merely a justification of forceful actions, and we have many ways to convince ourselves that we are justified. But we will never actually be on the "good" side because Force is not "good."

To achieve change, we must shift to a Power paradigm. We must inspire goodness and love and peace. All those weapons and soldiers and prison walls were never conceived to inspire goodness and love and peace. They were born of fear and designed to instill fear - to maintain control through force. They are the weapons of tyranny and breed more of the same.

Power is the ability to do good. Like electrons - we do not force them down the wire; we let them flow. We create the path and let them move on their own. Power is to let the river flow where it will and build around it, utilizing it. It is to be harmonious with nature. 

Force is inefficient and requires more and more effort to sustain itself while it fights with and destroys nature. Power seeks to teach and inspire good where Force seeks to control. Although the application of Force may modify some behavior, it destroys a part of the individual's personality and chokes his nature, forcing him in an unnatural path rather than let him flourish into the greatest version of his potential.

The world is in a state of Force and control and some individuals and collective groups are doing the controlling while others go along. Certain values and objectives have asserted themselves over those of others. The objective currently is to keep people existing, producing, serving those values, and without that, the individuals are not valued in and of themselves. They are not encouraged to be happy or seek happiness, but told what is happiness and how to be happy with the rewards and incentives that keep them serving until they are no longer useful. People are commodities, and have to be kept in line to continue being useful.

The social ills and abuses of our fellow beings, even the petty crimes that our laws are supposed to protect us from, are the natural resistance of individuals to the application of Force that is so dominant and pervasive as to seek to give an artificial purpose to our lives while simultaneously controlling them. Even vices, sexual and substance-driven, are desperate and ill-fated attempts to find truer meaning that resonates over the forced one which doesn't. There is no reason to expect that common attempts by a mind-controlled people to overcome their programming in a world of so much powerful psychological suggestion will be successful. They feel resistant, even as they do not understand what they are resisting, how completely it has taken over their lives or what to do about it to get back on track with their natural course to happiness.

The people of the world are lost and out of touch with their truer selves. They don't know what they need to make them happy, they just know that they aren't. They don't find it in the praise of their society, they can't rectify it in their clinical counselling and they can't medicate it away in a prescription bottle. Even religion, man's attempt to find meaning and purpose has been subjugated into a tool that redirects people back to the values of their controllers. This is why so many people are in and out of their religion, back and forth, constantly falling from grace and repenting. They know they need meaning and security and something to bring them peace and happiness and they enjoy the initial promise that their faith offers to do that, but they are ultimately let down and unsatisfied with where it leads them - back to the life that is out of sync with their true selves, serving the values of others.

We are meant to be free, and to love, and to express and to discover the world and cling together as we struggle to survive in it. The natural world, not the economically driven, artificial one. Struggle and toil in themselves are not out of sync with our nature, and do not drive us from happiness. We can find happiness as we work to make our way in the world, to feed and clothe ourselves and meet our needs. But we have to work toward goals that are in sync with our true nature, and we cannot be forced to do it out of a sense of desperation, or do it in an unnatural way, or live up to imposed expectations and values that do not resonate with our true selves. And we are unhappy living in a world of constant Force and control and dominion.

Understanding the Power vs. Force dynamic is an important first step in bringing order to the current chaos and shifting our efforts into a more positive, love-based path. May we spread the word.

Power Vs. Force concepts are explained more thoroughly in David R. Hawkins book Power Vs Force.

The Dubious Protection of Judges

Another peculiar element to the government data mining scandal is the apparent public acceptance of the pretence that a mere judge's approval is all it takes to legitimize investigators seizing a citizen's personal data accounts. Due process doesn't just involve judges' discretion, but openness about the criteria for probable cause.

Judges are the biggest pack of nobody's with trumped up power and authority the world has ever seen. Backed by a judge doesn't mean anything in the world of warrants. Elected or not, there is no actual difference between a judge granting a warrant to search your personal records and some hired government worker in a white shirt deciding to do it on his own except that they have to go to one extra step, granting it the appearance of legitimacy. The American government experiment has done nothing if not conclude that public election never increases likelihood of an official working for public interests or of behaving honorably. Decisions of whose privacy gets violated and how severely may as well be kept in house, because the extra step does nothing to make me feel better or safer.

We needed to have standards for probable cause to search and to have reviewable case decisions with consequences for judges who violate set standards. We can never ensure that officials will do their jobs fairly and uphold people's rights, but it helps to have consequences for not doing so, and for those who seek to go around them or manipulate  or remove laws  enacted for our protection.

Saying No: protecting personal privacy from government abuse

In the wake of scandal, news outlets are awaiting statements as the administration scrambles to explain the need for violating personal privacy in the collection of personal data from Verizon and online services. But in truth we need no explanation. we caught them doing exactly what we should suspect them to do, and now we should expect them to give us a BS response. Why force them to BS us?

Knowledge is power and without power, governments are ineffective. Their job is to continually reach for it, so it is to be expected for them to violate public privacy and reach for as much power as possible. It is up to the public to protect its own interests; in other words, it is up to private citizens to say no. Any other arrangement encourages the public to complacency.

To avoid complacency, we are wise to reject any explanations the administration provides. if we listen, we are communicating that there is an explanation possible, that some excuse might be sufficient, and it gives them the possibility of coming up with one. It means that we are just looking for the excuse to settle back down and let government do what it wants. 

It is up to us to put pressure on our officials to enforce the Bill of Rights and protect the public from unconstitutional search and seizure, including personal information. It is not the government's responsibility to prevent government from becoming too large and powerful and overreaching its authority; it is the citizens' responsibility. Expecting government to behave itself on its own is encouraging them to misbehave and avoiding our own responsibilities.

It is important for us to take an active roll in communicating with our legislators. It is just as important to communicate with news outlets who report on government activities, as they are the ones who determine whether the government gets away with their abuses. Let them know what we expect, that we are not looking for excuses, that we are taking an active role and looking for solutions.

Co-Creators and Our Duty To Be Happy

As a group of Intenders of the Highest Good, we are people who believe that we are in charge of the universe, or at least we are a part of the force that is. We are co-creators and we have a say in what happens through the power of intention. That is an amazing power, and like all of our abilities, we can intentionally use it, unintentionally use it or not use it. But most of the time, to some degree at least, we are using it one way or another. This is why it is so important to be aware of where our thoughts and emotions are taking us and what they are creating. Am I creating positivity that will emanate out and spread to the rest of universe, making it more positive and filled with love, or am I creating and spreading negativity, that will make the world a darker place? I intend that we are all conduits of positive energy, light and love. You could, in fact, consider that your sacred duty, to be a factory of positive energy that is feeding a steady stream of love and light to the whole world.

It also means that we have a non-selfish reason to be happy! We have a totally selfless motivation to take care of our own needs and desires, to stay happy and make our own lives wonderful and miraculous, because in so doing, we are also creating and emanating that joy in waves of energy that spread outward and affect the whole world and everyone in it for the better!

A Brief Explanation of the Source Field

Quantum Physics suggests that all matter is really composed of energy. All energy is only designated by its frequency, which it changes, changing from one type of energy to another. There exists only the illusion of separateness, the appearance of many substances, when there is only one substance. On its most basic level, all energy is consciousness energy.

The sum total of matter and energy is God. It is known also as “the Source” or “Source Field,” or “Zero Point Field.” It is pure consciousness. This field takes on the shape of whatever it conceives. It created the Multiverse through the power of thought. We are individually thought into creation by this Source Field, and are composed of its substance, and have the same powers of creation through our thoughts. We create ourselves and our lives, future and past, through our thoughts. This also explains Law of Attraction Theory posed in The Secret and other works.

Jesus said, “Through faith, all things are possible,” and “with faith the size of mustard seed, you can move mountains.” Belief gives intensity and focus to thoughts, thereby increasing their power to affect creation or alter the Source Field. All religions, all situations and all myths are conceived in and composed of this Source Field. They are all as real as the Source, or those composed of it, wish them to be at any one moment. Like them, we are merely focused thought, and cease to be when forgotten, and reemerge when remembered. Your own identity is enough focus to give and maintain form to a portion of the Field, giving you existence. “I think, therefore I am.” Death is the surrender of the identity, and the return of that energy to the Field from whence it came.

An Excuse for Not Listening

Two men are sitting in a bar. Both are alcoholics, both having lost their families and destroyed their lives. One man says to the other, "Being an alcoholic has done nothing for us but bring misery. This is no good for us." The other man responds, "I'm not going to listen to you because you don't practice what you preach. You are as bad an alcoholic as me. Who are you to criticise?" The first man closes his mouth and they order another drink in silence.

Meanwhile, across town, two men in a similar situation are sitting in another bar. The first man says the same thing. The second man, however, responds, "You are absolutely right. It's a hard thing for you to admit. I will support you and you can support me, and together we can change."

On Parenting, Discipline and Corporal Punishment

I was physically abused by both my mother and stepfather and didn't realize it was abuse until I was an adult. I got married to a woman with 3 kids and fully intended to use physical means to discipline them. But each time they did something wrong, I found talking to them or sending them to their rooms was sufficient and reserved spanking for a more serious offense at a later date. After five years, when I had never had to resort to it, I clued in that it is not necessary. Raising children, or being in a relationship, or holding your own at the workplace, or maintaining relationships with your friends, are all psychological games, ones that you are losing if you are resorting to violence.

I remember the absolute love and trust I had for my mother as far back as Icould put thoughts together. I remember distinctly trying to imagine that I had been born to another mother and couldn't. The thought terrified me. What happened to that pure trust? Destroyed. Something changed in that relationship and the disciplinarians of our society would place accountability on a child, where others place it in the hands of responsible adults. Who has a greater capacity for understanding cause and effect relationships? Who is more capable of making choices? I have had to spend a significant portion of my adult life trying to forgive and get back to loving her. What a waste of time. And when she lost my trust, she was no longer an effective teacher. Her entire role in my life was compromised. Same goes for an abusive husband. How many times will he hit his wife before the trust is broken and the relationship changed? I have had many teachers, and my mom stands by wondering why it seems I trust everyone but her.

It's not that I think parents who spank their kids are evil. Just ignorant. I wasn't very good at parenting either. It takes work and when they are frustrating, it is human nature to hit them. But that doesn't make it morally defensible, or something we should encourage. We are supposed to be admitting our mistakes and improving. To be a good and effective parent, you have to give yourself the equivalent of a PhD in that topic, by finding out what really works. I wouldn't even undertake to tile my kitchen without studying to find out how to do it right, yet most parents attempt to stumble through the most complex and important task on the planet and their children are ones whose entire future is founded on their parents' choices. If people are always saying how going through military boot camp gave them skills needed for their lives, how much more important is it to have education, nurture and the foundations of trust and genuine social connections in early home life?

Many parents frame this debate as if the only two options are to hit their kids or let them run wild, when there are myriad other ways to communicate with children. When parents defend corporal punishment of their kids, I am blown away, especially with how adamantly they defend the practice. I mean, surely you love your children. If I am telling you that there is a way that you can avoid having to hit them, and that there are practices that are much more effective for teaching and disciplining them, wouldn’t you jump at that opportunity? If I said that you had to work ten times as hard, but that you get a hundred times better results in the end, wouldn’t that be worth it? They are your children, so you decide. How you answer should tell you what kind of parent you are. Be honest with yourself. No one’s judging you but you… oh, and your kids when they grow up.

Philosophy of Stargate

There are 214 episodes and it gets better as it goes along The tv show continues the story of the film. In it, the original humans evolved in another galaxy and had a civil war. One side became religious fundamentalists who wanted to destroy all who opposed them. They were called the Ori. The others were known as the Ancients or the Alterans. They moved to the Milky way Galaxy but the Ori created a plague and began wiping them out. The Alterans found a way to Ascend to a higher plane as spiritual beings with godlike powers. They believed that they should not interfere with lower beings while the Ori began to be worshiped by lowers as gods. The Ori promise their adherents ascension, but are merely using them to draw energy from their devotion.

The Alterrans do not interefere because of the strong temptation to allow one's self to be worshipped, which is like a drug to them, but once in a while a few of them bend the rules a little bit.

The ancients developed the stargates before their ascension and they developed the city of Atlantis, which was in antarctica, but was also a space ship. They removed the city to the Pegasus Galaxy, and this is the basis of Stargate Atlantis tv show.

The show has ties to all of the ancient mythologies. One of the characters himself becomes ascended with the help of one of the ascended ones

In the show, they allow information about the top secret stargate program to be leaked in the form of a hollywood movie and tv show, because it provides cover for the real program. The producers hint at the concept that there is some truth to the fictional show.
Many of these concepts are similar to Gnostic myths where the Aeons, or the spiritual beings from higher levels, sometimes interact with humans to give them knowledge to assist their ascension. Some of them believe that the god of the old testament was really a lesser deity who merely tried to take credit for someone else's creation and use the role of supreme being to oppress mankind.

Some of the philosophical concepts of the show mirror my philosphy, which is that any being that desires to be worshipped, is thus not worthy of it. The show constantly asks the question "what is a god?"

There are different definitions of god and it is important to know which definition is implied when the term is used. To some, merely being Creator is enough to be God. To others, being all powerful makes one a god, or being all knowing or all loving. These are independant concepts and independant attributes that are not necessarily mutally exclusive. Some definitions insist upon all of the above, while others include just a few of them.

The Invention and Evolution of Early Christianity

The following consists of a very concise overview of some key parts of the history of the formation of the New Testament and rise of Christian Theology. It is taken mainly from a series of books and lectures by Professor Bart Ehrman, one of the preeminent authorities in New Testament scholarship.

Jesus and his twelve apostles were illiterate, Aramaic speaking Jews, like most of the lower classes. They did not write the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written long after the fact, and by Greek speaking, literate persons. They are not written by the people the books are attributed to, but later disciples of theirs. Decades of changes took place in oral tradition before the stories were written down.

Mark was written about around 60 AD, Matthew and Luke written closely another two decades later, and John written around 90-100 AD. Paul was the first author to begin writing and he followed one of the four main Christian traditions, referred to as Proto-Orthodox, because it is the tradition that later became known as Orthodox. However, he only has seven undisputed letters, the rest of which are forgeries, often even in contradiction to what Paul writes. The Acts of the Apostles was written by the author of Luke, and gives a revised history of Paul that conflicts with the accounts he gives in his own letters. It has the objective of rewriting history to give a smoother transition from the period of Jesus to that of the Apostles working together with one harmonious message, and to minimize the dissentions and difficulties between the established apostles who had known Jesus personally and the new apostle Paul, who had not. This was because Paul was far from universally accepted as a genuine witness for Christ.

The remainder of the New Testament epistles attributed to the other apostles are all later forgeries. The Revelation of John is not a forgery because the book never claims to be written by any particular John.

Then there are many other gospels, letters and Apocalypses, as well as Acts written by other people. The Acts of Peter, or John or further acts of Paul and his female disciple Thecla. These books were viewed in many communities as sacred scripture for hundreds of years in some cases, and were very much a part of religious belief and worship.

There were four main catagories of Christians, but they subdivided into different sects with some different particular beliefs, traditions, stories and books of sacred scripture. There were the Ebionites, the Marcionites, the Gnostics and the Proto-Orthodox. The Ebionites were strongly rooted in the Jewish Tradition, while the Marcionites were staunchly anti Jewish. The Gnostics had a range of different beliefs. Christian beliefs varied on every point of doctrine, even touching the number of Gods. Was there one god, or three gods, or 365 gods? Was Jesus a man, a prophet, a demigod or God himself?

The books of the New Testament do not solve this problem, because they are as varied. Matthew is more Ebionite, while Luke is more Marcionite and John more influenced by Gnostic thought. They are not chapters in one book by one author, and should not be treated as such. Each author is writing a complete work that represents his own understanding, and they are each different. Matthew and Luke used Mark as a basis for their own records, and they freely changed words that Jesus said, reordered the series of events in order to make certain points. For instance, was Jesus silent when he went to the cross, indicating that he was wholly divine or did he suffer in anguish? Each account creates a very different picture, reflecting differing theologies of the times. When people read them as harmonious, they are in fact creating in their minds a fifth gospel that is unlike any of the others.

The history of how and why the 27 books that currently form the New Testament were selected is intriguing as well, and does anything but solve the problem of authenticity. Each of the books have their own authenticity for their particular doctrines and adherents. The manner in which the 27 "authoritative" books were selected does not indicated anything but a very human process. Then we come into the problem of poor translation, transliteration, and record keeping over the centuries that introduced thousands of errors, ommission, insertions and changes, some of which are insignificant, but many of which are profoundly significant for understanding the original meaning.

What is currently regarded as "Orthodox", literally "correct doctrine", was heavily influenced by Greek and Roman pagan cultures. Concepts such as the Virgin Birth and Christ being both God and man are well attested in Pagan traditions but are very foreign to Judaism.

What we have is evidence that Jesus lived, had followers and taught with many sayings and parables. The best we can do to track down what he actually said involves making educated guesses. Scholars give more weight to a saying if it has multiple attestation (appears in more than one source), if it was recorded earlier (in Mark as opposed to John) and if the language and style is consistent with a first century Aramaic speaking Jew living in Palestine, rather than consistent with a Greek speaking scholar in Athens, Rome, or somewhere else in the Mediterranean.

There is no indication that Jesus ever thought of himself as being the Messiah, or literal son of God, that he would die for the sins of the world or that he was the incarnation of God. The words Messiah and Son of God are typical references to very human kings or leaders, and their use in the early gospels do not indicate the meanings that were later attributed to them. These terms should be interpreted the way their authors understood them, such as the way they were used in the Hebrew bible to refer to men such as King David, also referred to as Son of God.

You can also trace an evolution or progression of ideas in the four gospels. As each subsequent book is written, the miracles become more elaborate and fanciful, and the importance of Jesus becomes greater, until in John he is said to have existed with God in the beginning and in fact was God. Also each successive book is more anti-Jewish than the last, reflecting the growing division between the two religions.

For more information about the evolution of Christianity, I suggest reading the books by New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman, "The Quest for the Historical Jesus" and "Jesus, Interrupted". Also Elaine Pagels' "The Origin of Satan" is a very good read that adaquately addresses the invention of that character.

Interestingly, this information is not priviliged, but has been taught in most every mainstream seminary for over a century. It is just not the kind of message that is appropriate to be taught from the pulpit. Once pasters and priests get to their respective congregations, they seem to quietly and conveniently forget this information.