Just what is a Monopoly?

We have laws against monopolies. But we still seem to have them.

They're just not your Father's monopolies anymore. Examples are the ten largest banks in America now. They were consolidated into these banks recently because of the huge economic issues we've had that have lead us to the current situation in America and around the world.

The Dutch ING bank has just been forced by their home country to sell off their American assets so that Holland wouldn't have to pay so much to straighten out the bank's situation. Seems Holland, regardless of their reputation and orientation on drugs (regardless of how functional it is there), has their act together.

The American banks, it would seem, were too big to let fail and rather than sell off, we added to them.

So perhaps we need to reexamine at what a monopoly is?

It used to be that a monopoly (as in AT&T in the old days, "Ma Bell" had America literally by the privates), needed at some point, to be broken up to allow the fresh air of capitalism and free market to allow motivations for lower pricing and innovations.

But it's starting to look, and it may have been this way for a while (or forever), that even having more than one, is not enough. It's a good possibility that in only having about ten major banks in the country, as we've seen, if one goes down they can all go down.

I know many people who live within ten miles of me have pulled their money from Bank of America and other large banks, some of these people having lost jobs when Washington Mutual went under, and have put their money in the local county bank, which actually had higher rates on things like CDs and lower costs on bank accounts.

We may have consolidated America's major banks in order to avoid a catastrophe, but perhaps we now need to start looking at solidifying them, and breaking them down into smaller institutions. These banks have been fighting the idea of limiting compensations (salaries, bonuses, etc.) since the beginning of "The Troubles" here.

So listening to them, may be problematic as a drowning person is when you are trying to save them. Or once you get someone out of trouble and they learn nothing and simply want to continue making money as before in a broken fashion that is bound to lead them back into debt yet again at some future point.

But perhaps now a days, a monopoly isn't just one, but more than one, to make a dysfunctional failure capable system of economy and perhaps, we need to protect that economy. Maybe, just regulation is needed, or maybe something more, like looking at a monopoly as a small group that can fail and bring down the country. It seems to me we need to break up these banks as soon as they are healthy enough to be split up. Multi-National companies have also become a nightmare management consideration both internally and externally in recent years.

Let me say here, that I'm no financial expert. I got a degree in Psychology in order to avoid math. Then I found I had to take a year of the hardest math or Algebra that I'd ever experienced, that of Psychology Statistics. And I learned a lot, though my other classes all suffered gradewise because of it. But I learned how you can say one thing, when something else is true. Or how one thing can look to be true, when something else really is. Or, how something that is counter-intuitive is what needs to be done, when everyone is doing something completely different.

Either way, I don't think this is what was originally intended by the country's Founders. They didn't want people to be oppressed by either Lords of Royalty, or Lords of Banking.

Still, the brilliant minds of economy can't even agree on what needs to be done. So aside from the fact that some fixes are counter-intuitive, it does seem reasonable that to have all your eggs in one basket, is a formula for catastrophe.

It's only a matter of time. Deregulation has allowed some very bad things to happen. And in fixing those bad things, to consolidate those who have done this, is if not insane, severely unwise.

I had always dreamed of retiring at 50, but at this rate, we may all retire when we drop dead. But even then, the banks will probably find a way to charge us for our lengthy stay.

Then again, there is good news in that, as it will finally be over. For those who will be reincarnated, welcome back, you may have to work longer hours, and thanks to advances in health care and genetics in life extension, maybe even later in life next time, if something isn't done to stop this continual and ever increasing crawling into the pockets of the banks and corporations.

The Czar's War on (American Citizens) Drugs

President Obama has declared the "War on Drugs" to be over. But some Police authorities are saying he isn't doing enough to see that through to completion. This wasn't going to be a diatribe on Cannabis but it's the prime example to use, but try to read beyond that, as the true issue is the abuse of American citizens rights to have more freedom than is currently being allowed and Cannabis is only one tiny example of that.

President Nixon (remember him? the criminal President?) set the War on Drugs up. During the Reagan years, however it turned into the War on drugs users, on American citizens and in some cases Americans who either didn't use drugs or were involved in victimless and certainly non-violent crimes.

Nixon's program focused on education. Reagan on incarceration. During Nixon's time, we were on the way out of the drug infused 60s. It was a drug culture. Mom's took Valium ("Mother's little helper") to help her through the day. Everyone (it seemed) smoked Pot. Pills were almost considered harmless. People would give you drugs free, friends would offer them to you. You could find a Cannabis cigarette on the sidewalk, a not unusual thing in the 70s.

However, perhaps because of the Reagan program, now the drug culture is pretty dead. People point at statistics showing how many drugs are still coming into the country and how many still use drugs, but at some point, that is always going to be there. But the "War on Drugs" is over. So declared by the President. The Drug Czar, an ex Seattle Police Chief, himself wants it over and says they should be focusing more on education and the positive end and no longer on the negative end of punishment of users.

The current "Drug Czar" is Drug Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske. Kerlikowske, a former Seattle police chief, has traveled recently to discuss prescription pill abuse, which he calls the country's fastest-growing substance abuse problem. He says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have classified prescription drug abuse as an epidemic. They aren't even concerned with things like Cannabis  any longer. Read the writing on the wall. 

If I thought Cannabis was a dangerous drug, I would be the first to admit it. But its not, it's just been vilified by those misguided people in positions of authority and now most of them are even saying to knock it off and legalize it. State after state is legalizing it. People who point to it as a gateway drug are deluding themselves. For those who will go into harder drugs, they will do it regardless. For those who say tobacco and alcohol are bad, why legalize yet another drug. It's simply not for them to make that decision. It is up to the American people, not to mention, ethics based upon truth. The one bad thing about Cannabis is inhaling smoke, especially hot smoke. And there are ways to fix that becoming more and more popular. Even Willy Nelson uses a vaporizer because he says, "I hear it's much healthier."

Many Police Chiefs want legalization. We shouldn't be putting users in jail for simple use of a weed that grows naturally and is a medicinal simply by pulling it from the ground. You could use that argument for Opium Poppies too and I might agree. Although I do see the dangers in addictive drugs such as opium. Still, people who get addicted, tend to have personalities that have a propensity toward that kind of thing and they need help, not incarceration.

The point here is not that people using drugs is a difficult thing for the government to regulate. In many cases it is simply none of their business. The point here is in the freedom to use your own mind to live as you choose. If, in some cases you choose to be addicted, or simply to use a drug, that is a medical issue and the government has taken it to be a judicial issues, leading to abusing American citizens; not to mention all the money that taxing things like Cannabis would bring into our not only empty coffers, but coffers with a huge hole in their bases.

This Drug War has turned into a religion with many in the police and judicial side of government. This is definitely something that is politically correct, like Christianity and religion in this country, and something that needs to be muscled under control. No, it will not be fun, easy, or popular with the ignorant and self serving and vocal conservatives. But it needs to be done.

I won't bore you with countries who have done this, but they are out there. We should be treating American citizens with compassion, not punishment. We should be doing what is right, not easy. The American government and people have become fat (no, really, look around at how many fat people there are in America compared to 100 or 200 years ago) and lazy (people want what is fast and easy, thanks MTV and the 60's "me" generation).

In closing, speak up. Stop being a coward. Check out the real issues and statistics. Don't let conservatives bully you into submission. Get angry! People are in jail, people are DEAD, because of this war on drugs. People who should be in the yard, playing with their kids. People have had their children taken away, good people. People who are good citizens, only they choose to smoke some pot.

People who have drug problems go "underground" in their use. Let's legalize things so we can tax them; let people grow what they want. I see tobacco as no different that Cannabis. Except, that tobacco is more dangerous and actually IS addictive. Pot, is not addictive. If anything it may be mentally addictive, but if you quit, you do not die as with Heroin, you do not go into withdrawals, and anything you could claim as withdrawals is less than that with caffeine withdrawals, which I assure, is no fun.

The point here, is always looked at from the wrong perspective. Those who adhere to the "War on Drugs" concept mislead. First, the name is as horrible as the name, "Global Warming" which is a stupid name: "Climate Change" is far more correct. And so too, "War on Americans" is far more accurate. Surely you say, that can't be, people that don't do drugs, aren't being "warred upon". But, they are, they have been and they will be. Check the stats, people who haven't done anything, have had their houses broken into by Law authorities, have been shot, handicapped and in some cases, killed.

Don't fool yourself, as long at this goes on, you can one day be standing in your nightclothes, woken from bed, and thrown to the ground with guns at your head. Only to later hear, "Sorry, it was the house next door we meant to hit." Or, "your child was mad and turned you in to the school." These things have happened. And if they have, then can again.

Not to mention, people on the "three strikes" laws are in prison who shouldn't be. Or the non-violents who are in jail at our expense. We're in a bad economic situation. Let's do everything reasonable to fix this and take this opportunity to clean up some poor government abuses.

What is Faith? Is it really important?

First let me say that it's not a bad thing, to start into an area of deduction or discourse, by assuming that everything you know, is wrong. Just from an academic point of view. It let's you view your beliefs from outside and with a fresh consideration. Otherwise, you find yourself stuck in your static mindset. Then if you come upon the same conclusions, they carry far more weight. See what I mean?

People like to say, "I have "Faith" in God." But, what is Faith. How does "Faith" have anything to do with getting to Heaven. What is the purpose of "Faith"? Is having "Faith" of the purpose to get to Heaven, is it a fear of avoiding going to Hell, is it because your God commands you to have Faith in a belief of that God's existence?

It is true, and research has proved this, that to have a belief in something outside of yourself, allows you to do things beyond what you would normally and reasonably do. If you believe in a force outside yourself, you will rush into battle (believing you have God on your side, or that the regiment is only a minute behind you to pull your ass out of the fight, or the Great Pumpkin, is watching over you).

But it is a belief in economics, really, typically, that is governing most people's desires to please that force beyond themselves. "I will be good" therefore, Heaven. "I will do what I believe God asks" so therefore I will get virgins in Heaven (no matter that I personally think that is more something you'd get in Hell, but hey, whatever, to each his or her own, right?). "I will do God's will" therefore, I please God (and what's behind that? Heaven, not Hell? And which is really the motivating factor, is up for grabs).

We can also here skip the entire concept of why a God, an omnipotent being, would need to be Worshiped.

We don't even need to get into the fact that there are multiple God's around the world meaning different things to different cultures and people. Or how "God parameters" are local and specific to various geographical regions, or how they are temporally located with no concept of a future, other than perhaps, giving out obscure fiction as in Revelations or the Apocalypse, in the Christian Bible.

We don't need to get into how the bible was compiled by a council that was set up by an Emperor who feared losing his empire so much that he switched from his religion to the one that was rapidly becoming most popular in his lands. Or, how that Emperor Constantin had anyone who had books not included in the final "authorized" edition to give up their books or be put to death. Or simply be put to death if found with one.

In the end, Constantin's plan worked, for a while, but in the end things fell apart anyway. But the religion he set up goes on and on. We could go through the same origins of the Qua'ran (or Koran), but aside from being too obvious to bother with, those who adhere to these religions really need to know and look into these things on their own. But, they won't. Because, they don't think they have to. Because, they have "Faith".

But, is Faith really even important? Religious Faith is a strongly held belief in something. It's believing in something even against evidence to the contrary. Strong Faith is a focus, an unswerving coherence to a subject. By saying it's a focus, a coherent thought, one indicates an integrity of personality; that a person is of one mind on this topic. That they will live a life with the core of their being, as that of one who has no disbelief, who follows tenets to further enforce their beliefs.

But do you know many, or any, whom that fits? Even those hard core ones, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhists, if you delve deep into their being, you will find that for most of those, this is not true for them either and that they tend to fool themselves as well as any. True, this is a goal that we poor Humans attain to.

But what makes Faith, the ultimate thing to get us there?

It would seem that more so than Faith, is integrity. Faith, from practice of those I've come into contact with, seems to indicate less Faith and more a faith of ignorance. To ignore the Truth. In many cases to believe in what they really know is false. Some are so deluded that they will admit what they believe has no basis in reality, no proper history to support their beliefs, but they continue to believe, to have faith, anyway.

It is my contention, that Faith in something you have no true knowledge of, other than, "This is what my parents taught me" or "I believe what I'm told" by church, community, whomever, then you are wasting your time. If however, you research and learn the truth of what you believe, then you have hope of having true Faith. Because if you can believe when you learn how religion and the Bible, or other "Holy Books" came to be, and you can still believe, then that is true Faith.

 It is also a total delusion, but still, one has to respect someone that believes in the face of information to the contrary.

So, the only way to achieve whatever it is a religious person is trying to achieve (getting to Heaven, avoiding Hell, getting rewards, pleasing their God figure), needs to learn first where their beliefs came from. Then they needs to have Faith that even in the face of evidence to the contrary, God exists, their religion is the true one, and continue on having their Faith. Of course, at this point it makes no sense to continue on; but well, there it is.

If you find the truth, that religion is a creation of Humans from a distant path where they needed explanations for the mysteries of the Universe, and there was no God who did anything, but men (yes, men, mostly not women back then, which many women would then say, well, that explains a lot), and you still want to believe.

Then if you take the position that this is a way to order your mind, to be a "good" person with the off chance that it is all real, or that what you are being taught is total nonsense but perhaps there is some more (meta)physical reason to do it (reincarnation perhaps, another interesting and pleasing myth; ascension, as some new age beliefs teach; or whatever people can imagine to make themselves feel better), then perhaps it would be understandable why you would want to choose to have such beliefs.

For religion has two soul purposes, honed to perfection over thousands of years: to relieve Humans of their fears of natural life, and to control the minds of groups of people by those in authority.

But then, you have to consider the downsides of these religious beliefs. Yes, they have done some good through history, but I would contend that about a hundred years before the beginning of the religiously created and titled "Dark Ages", religion had becomes superfluous and was no longer necessary, and any advances from then on we could not only have made without religions, but we would have made in a far more accelerated form. For at that point, religion became little more than a "governor" on the engine of Humanity, restricting its progress. Yes, progressing with thought and consideration with a nod to ethics, is important, but that existent outside the belief systems that include ethereal beings.

You can believe the veracity of the above chart or not. The truth is, it is true at least to some extent. How do I know that?

I have Faith in it.

The Intelligent TV Set - 30 years ago

I was on the phone with my friend John recently, whom I've known since 1979. I had just gotten out of the service and he was a friend of my girlfriend. I met her in college that first summer and she introduced me to her friends, including John whom she knew since they were much younger going through the Catholic private school system. I don't know her anymore, though we ended up living together and going through college for years. But I still know John.

The other day, John mentioned my first published short story, "In Memory, Yet Crystal Clear", an homage of sorts to one of my favorite Science Fiction writers at the time, Isaac Asimov and the first section of his autobiography, "In Memory, Yet Green".

John is an artist and should have had a job decades ago as a comic book artist. I had wanted him to do the art for my short story when it got published, but I was told the publisher had an artist on retainer. I hated the art when the story came out but now in looking at it, I don't think it was that bad after all. I'm including a scan of it on here.

I would sometimes jot down a story and show it to these friends. One day John read one of these clips and put it down, angrily saying, "Why in the hell don't you ever write endings to these things! I want closure, I want an ending." The others in the room agreed. "Look, we like your stuff, it just needs an ending." I told him that endings are hard to do, you have to make decisions, accept finality. I really couldn't do it. After getting into college, then I had to do it and I got quite good at it. It made them all very happy.

On another day, they complained that I wrote over their heads, they couldn't understand what I was saying half the time. So I promised, I would start to work on writing endings, and I would gauge my writing to be a bit more accessible. But I said, I would write one more story completely at my own comfort level. Then I would try to start to write from then on at a more comfortable, general level. If newspapers are written at a 9-12th grade level, then I should probably stay around 12th grade level or first year college.

Now I was just starting my first year of college at this time. It was 1980. We were sitting around enjoying the day and getting a slight inebriation on as was custom at those times. Somehow I started to say that I could write anything, that I enjoyed taking the unwritable and making something functional and enjoyable out of it. They didn't believe me.

So I said, "Okay, tell you what. You guys come up with an impossible to write idea and I'll make it work." They smiled, got together and came up with something.

"Okay," they said, "we have something."

"Shoot," I said.

"A guy turns himself into a computer chip."

"Not bad," I said. And over they next week or so, I worked on it.

Finally, I finished it, ending and all. I had them read it. Everyone agreed, it worked. But it was still written too high for them, but they got it. They were, by the way, younger than I was, by some years. They decided that I'd never sell it. I ran it through a word processor years later and it said it was written at a grade seventeen level, which is like a first year College Masters Degree level after a four year college degree.

So I started to send it out. Eventually, after rejections, a guy on the east coast, the publisher of Haunts Horror Quarterly magazine said he'd buy it if I cut 1500 words. I was concerned about that. How do I cut that much? My wife (at the time, my son's mother) said maybe I should see if there's a section that big and cut that. I looked for it. It occured to me that he may have been testing me, to see if I could find a section he wanted removed.

I found a section, not that necessary to the plot, and nearly exactly the right size. I cut it, he bought it. It was my first fiction sale, my first horror fiction sale. I got $28 for it. I still have a copy of that check. I had wanted John to do the drawing for it, but they had a house artist so he didn't get to do it. And I hated the drawing in the magazine. However, in looking at it today, I think it wasn't so bad, really.

Back to today. John asked me, having read the first page today, if I actually wrote the part about the home device that long ago, predicting as he put it, the modern TV set. I said, "Let me check." I pulled out my copy of Haunts, and read it to him. We both were tickled by it for some reason.

And so, the real reason for this note. This story is also to be included in my new anthology currently at the publishers. A release date has not yet been set at this time. Here is that paragraph. No big deal, but what the heck, it's kind of fun.

This paragraph is explaining something one of the main characters invented:

"Our great Philip Carey. Designer of that ubiquitous dream machine, the Intel-Set. The offspring of what had once been acrimoniously called, "Idiot Box" and "Boob Tube"; and such it had been -- back then. Use of the acronym I.S. brings incorrectly to mind the old T.V. device, whose electronic hybrid-descendant today, now also includes within its eclectic system: the home-intelligence interface, the computer module, communications, and all such necessary items compulsory to your All-Modern, Extra-New, Communicative Homo Sapiens, or: "A.M.E.N.C.H." The "Yuppie" and "Dink" of the 1990s, has given way for the Master's coined phrase. A reference from Philip's forgotten, semi-Jewish background. God, Philip always did have a warped sense of humor."

The A Mench thing cracked me up at the time, and in the full context of the story, makes much more sense. It was an interesting story of "social horror" and got even more interesting reactions from people that read it.

Especially at the end where the main character has lost his way but does not understand why those countries furthest from the US all want in on the action, but those closest in Canada and Mexico can't seem to back far enough away from us.

Why? After all murder had been eliminated (by legalizing it). And all advertising was run by one person, regardless of his mental instability having oozed out into the public mind.

Anyway, it's good to have old friends who from time to time, bring up the past revisiting your roots.


There are now two other books available with my short stories:
The Undead Nation Anthology and
Rhonny Reaper's Creature Features.
Both offer their proceeds to research for Cancer and Diabetes, respectively.

Weekend Wise Words

Be Smart. Be Brilliant.

Try not to win, the Stupid Award. I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, but one that comes to mind most quickly, is this one. I was younger, still stupid, and not paying attention.

I once said, with my future wife in the room (this being wife 2.5 and I didn't know we'd be getting married at the time), while standing at the foot of the bed and looking at my king sized waterbed (in 1986) which I'd had for many years at that time, since 1976:

"A lot of women have slept in that bed. I guess in a way, it's a kind of trophy (here's where I realized I was in the room with someone, that it was the woman living me, and looked at her, not able to retract my words)... if you... think about... it."

The next day, her brother came over and I never saw it again.

Don't do things like that.

Why Muslim Cultures Lag Behind

In an anti-jihad article....

The author gives points on why Muslim culture tends not to "get up to speed" as other non-modern cultures have who had modern cultures and technologies encroach into their countries.

• Belief in Magic
• Belief in Conspiracies
• Lack of Innovations
• Lack of devotion to non-family/non tribal/non-clan organizations
• Lack of empowerment of women
• Lack of personal responsibility
• Lack of skilled labour
• Lack of meritocracy

The first item on the list is notable. It is one that will confuse most people who are religious, or believe in a God concept. They will think, how backward these poor ignorant people are. But they won't see that they believe similar things in their own possibly, "modern" life.



An example:


 

Practicing Ashoura

The observance of Ashoura is one of the most important events in the Shia calender. Ashoura marks the anniversary of the martyrdom of Husayn, grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, in what is now Kerbala, Iraq. The death of Husayn was the beginning of the Sunni/Shia split, which persists in Islam to this day.In the past, many Shia men have demonstrated their devotion to Husayn by letting their blood flow freely from self-inflicted wounds. Today, however, many governments have tried to ban this practice, with varying degrees of success. In Lebanon, the practice is permitted, and a bloody commemoration of Ashoura takes place in Nabatieh every year.Most participants make a small cut on their head, and then beat the wound with their palm--or in this case a sword--to keep the wound open and bleeding.


Just more ancient practices. Not a big deal. Right?

Maybe not. But it's important to understand what these forms of mind altering practices lead to. We have to think clearly about following ancient practices, how useful are they, are they only useful to those groups? Or do they somehow further Humankind? Some practices are reasonable and do help move Humans as a whole forward. Meditation, for instance. But once you bring blood into it, something changes. Blood. Flesh.

The Catholic eating of the "Body of Christ". The transmutation of bread to flesh. Human flesh. Then eating it in a ceremony called "Mass". Catholics don't like to think about that. They don't see it as canibalism. It's a religious thing. God said, it his Human flesh. Really? Yeshua (Jesus) according to the Hearsay in the Bible, at the last supper, said to eat meals as if you were eating his flesh and blood, but over the centuries that wasn't good enough, and the Church, changed it into saying they were actually changing bread and wine into flesh and blood. Isn't that a telling thing? Magic, wouldn't you say? Or, is it the divine mystic's wishes?

Magic and magical thought really are what they seem to be. Belief in the unbelievable. Changing bread to flesh, wine to blood, is by definition, "Magic". Deal with it. That, is a fact. The belief of what you are doing, is not a fact. Magical thought is the belief in things that are not scientifically proven, or are not proven "facts". Not a "belief" in so called fact, but a proven fact. Saying that you have an ancient text and therefore because of your "faith" or "belief" in it, that therefore makes it a fact, is a belief in unproven scientifically supported evidence and therefore, by definition, you are believing in nonfactual, unproven, and it's a short leap of "faith" to arrive at the belief that those things are in some way, magical, or that at very least, you are participating in "magical thought".

So just how modern does that make you?

I wouldn't be so quick to laugh at these "backward" cultures, because we in our "modern" cultures, have enough of the backward still exiting among us.

When you support the belief in something that has no foundation in reality, or scientific proof, you allow the possibility for those belief's to go off in tangents, both for the good and the bad. We have also seen, time and time again, that "Historical proofs", has proven to be inaccurate and sometimes, completely fantastical. Remember that in many many cases, history is written by the winners during an era, or are self supporting in their contentions.

This was proven in great detail by the History book "A Distant Mirror" where Historian Barbara Tuchman went to the historical archives of bills of lading, showing what was purchased in certain events, thus "proving" (as best as possible and better so than using Historical accounts and hearsay as has been the case historically and in many cases, History books have cited History books, and so on, until coming to the beginning of the thread, you find it was based upon hearsay or common beliefs!).

Therefore, we see negative and self-serving elements within the Muslim community, terrorism, misconceptions, beliefs in conspiracies against them (some being accurate, or semi accurate) and leading to inappropriate responses to these beliefs.

To allow this kind of belief to be generally accepted, as in other religions, or any religion, then you allow these kinds of things to remain vital and alive. Therefore, Christians also has a responsibility in these terrorists actions. Any culture that believes in mythologies as reality, has a responsibility; Jewish, Buddhists (if they believe magical imaginings), whatever organized nonsense that is around. Like has been said before, if you're not sure what it is, you should be able to recognize it when you see it. But on the other hand, I don't expect everyone will be able to. Why? Because we have so many who are taught not to think critically, to believe in the imaginary. To believe in "magic" is a wonderful thing, to really believe in magic, is by definition, insane.

If they are going to retain their beliefs in questionable Historical events, then they should have a responsibility to do something about those other religions who are going about killing people. However, if you do then have those other religions taking action, you will have a religious war from opposing factions of Humanity. Something we certainly do not need.

So what is the one way to assure we don't have anymore screwed up beliefs in religious murders? That would be the elimination of organized and individualized beliefs in magic and mythology (that is to say religions, Christian, Islamic, Jewish, etc.); disbanding them, eliminating them, and then having people educated in logic, thought based upon reality, and an ethics of a Humane, Full World Community based view of living in a world of tolerance. At very least, it would take those who wish to believe, realize that they are having beliefs in things that are inaccurate or imaginary in some cases.

How can you say, if you believe in ancient myths, that the other guy over there, who also believes in ancient myths, is wrong? Even if they believe in a death based, murder based religion?

Because, what is the basis for saying they are wrong and you are right? Ancient texts with no basis in reality? That simply makes no sense at all.

Foolishness you say? If you cannot see who this is true, then perhaps therein lay the problems we face today with these religious fanatics who have diverged so far from their original intent that they have completely lost their way.

And long will be the road to fix it if everyone does not soon start to realize just what it is they are doing by believing in "facts" that are both questionable, and dangerous.

Cults in America

As I write this, I'm watching a documentary on Sundance Channel called "Join Us" about religious cults. I find it pretty despicable. And then it dawned on me that we should be treating this terrorist issue as if we are dealing with a religious cult that is armed and aggressively moving on outsiders. Whenever you are dabbling in a concept that is totalitarian, like a God Concept, you open yourself to abuse and the abuse can be total.

There is no doubt that cults prey on individuals with a weak mind and a weak sense of individuality. Cults are only religions on steroids and therefore, you have to accept that if you are in a religion, you have a weak sense of individuality. We feed religion by being a part of it. Gods need people to create them, or support them. Why else does any God want to be worshiped. Here's the hard part, to answer that question, one has to actually, THINK about it. But people will say that Faith dictates you not think about it. And therein lay the strength of cults (and organized religions as well).

One could argue that cults are a response to religion failing people. So they go more extreme in order to be "good", or better. This has a lot to do with "Memes" also, but that is another topic for another time; just understand for now that these are words or sets of words that act like a mental "virus" on a person's mind. Look it up.

A group that is all smiles, from what we have seen, if you look beneath the surface of some of them, have some very bad things are happening. As the narrator in the documentary said, now when he drives by an innocuous church along the road, where he used to see a happy congregation he now wonders, what are those people being told, is the power in the leader's hands being judiciously used, or abused? Is the leader mentally stable?

Because many times, you cannot tell unless you have contact with the outside to gauge your progress; and that is always the first things these leaders do, to begin to remove any possible questions to their authority. As one expert said, if you begin to realize you cannot make decisions for yourself any longer without your leaders direction, and you may not notice this due to the nature of this type of insidious brainwashing, then you are definitely in trouble.

Your "self" is beginning to dissolve. Religion should raise your "self" up, energize it, individualize it, make it productive and gregarious, not secretive, unable to function without the group. You shouldn't be wondering why you are feeling at odds, questioning things, etc., if "God" wants you, why would you feel that something is wrong. These leaders will say, it's the Devil or some other form of demon; they LOVE demons.

I'm starting to see that was only the kernel that allowed it to breed this other type of problem. The brainwashing, the cultist abuses of their own people for mislead religious reasons, using individuals as martyrs for their own purposes and outright maniacal purposes.

Consider those who blow themselves up in the name of God, of Allah. What would make someone do that. Up to this point I just thought it was their anger at our abuses over decades of their natural resources and our superiority at their condition and different beliefs.

If we look at these individuals as absorbed by a cult, we have to view their religion as some of them practice in their own country, as a cult positive organization. This may be the fastest way to make this problem go away. It would mean less people being killed in the battle against religious murder, to handle this issue in this way. It would mean a reorienting of religions the world over. But it would have to start with those attacking others, in those countries where it is allowed, supported and happening.

We need to view it as a microcosm within the macrocosm.

As we dealt with massive cults in our country, such as the Moonies, the Branch Dividians, the Jonestown church people, they have now broken into smaller units when they happen, like the Mountain Rock Church as shown in the documentary. We need to educate our police and courts on this. Since 1986, there has been only one place in the US to handle these people on a live in basis, to help them when they escape these types of churches and cults: Wellspring Retreat.

People think that cults are people who are cut of from society and live in a compound, like the Branch Dividians. But the modern cult is different. In one example, they actually built a housing development and moved among people. But they had to cut themselves off from friends and family, give their things to the Pastor until he had completely control over them and they had no sounding boards from the outside to country the Pastor. So whatever he said was God's word.

How is this different from those terrorists who have nothing and go for training, then are told to die for their God who is everything, and this is supported by any who they see on a daily basis, until they literally explode?

And other people around the world should sit back and accept this because it's a religious thing?

I don't think so. I think we need a reorientation on the concept of God world wide. I do believe that the best effort toward this coming to be are cults and especially, the religious terrorists. So, thanks guys.

The two most important things about the terrorists is that we need to find a way to protect these people from themselves and so they don't hurt others, and that we realize they need to be treated like they are abused by a mindwashing cult and deprogram them when necessary.

But for those of you who think that is too easy on them, we will still need to blow some of them away until we can get this under control. Not to worry.

What we need to do in the end, is stop the killing. We need new ways to think our way out of these things. That includes the greed we have put on third world countries, corporate greed and discare of humans, both their employees and those they take from in other countries.

There is a comment from the mother in the new film, "The Tree of Life" that goes, "There are two ways through life: the way of nature and the way of grace," as the mother tells one of her sons, stating the film's theme early on. The trouble seems to be that in organized religions and worse in cults, what "grace" really is, becomes distorted, abused, and can ruin people's live. I find "grace" in life, far more accessible in a museum, or a field in the mountains, than I ever have an any church, or with any religious group.

If you will seek "God" or a large supernormal being or ideal outside of yourself as a way to give meaning to your life, let it enhance your life and those around you; and if you find that it isn't doing that, do something about it, protect yourself and those around you. Perhaps tell the authorities. Just know that if you do tell the authorities, there is a good chance, because of our culture and the place the religion holds with Human beings, they may not be able to help in any way, or even believe or understand you. And there in lay a large part of the problem.