It's in the Translation

The Lords Prayer translated from Aramaic into English, rather than from Aramaic to Greek to Latin to English

O cosmic Birther of all radiance and vibration!
Soften the ground of our being and
carve out a space within us where
Your Presence can abide.
Fill us with your creativity so that we
may be empowered to bear the fruit
of your mission.
Let each of our actions bear fruit in
accordance with our desire.
Endow us with the wisdom to produce
and share what each being needs to grow and flourish.
Untie the tangled threads of destiny that
bind us, as we release others from the
entanglement of past mistakes.
Do not let us be seduced by that which would
divert us from our true purpose, but illuminate
the opportunities of the present moment.
For you are the round and the fruitful vision,
the birth-power and fulfillment,
as all is gathered and made whole once again.


<<< more words




The Lord's Prayer in Late Modern English,
Book of Common Prayer, 1928

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done,
on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

St. Paul the Used Car Guy

"Il y a un peu de testicule au fond de nos sentiments les plus sublimes et de notre tendresse la plus épurée" Denis Diderot

I have mentioned to people over the years that St. Paul – the one buried under the big house in Rome – was, basically, a used donkey salesman who successfully packaged and sold Christianity to the masses. This article expands on that image – making it pretty and businesslike, but still at heart, the story of a driven sales guy who could have sold hearing aides to the blind, but decided to go non-profit.

And, this is a real eye opener, Jesus was not really all that nice – it was just revisionist religion and good lighting for the advertisements that allowed him to become less ethnic and more airbrushed and savior like -- much like Leaf Garrett.

Religious Morality

http://saintgasoline.com/2009/03/01/religious-morality/
"Among the many annoying consequences of religion, the misunderstandings concerning morality that it fosters are among the most displeasing.
…
This means that a great many religious people naively assert that morality absolutely requires God’s existence. Some will even claim that if God did not exist, nothing would stop them from going about committing all sorts of crimes. Whenever someone makes such a claim, simply ask him, “So you’d fuck your dog in the ass while ripping out and eating your wife’s eyeballs if God did not exist?”"

I was reading this very informative, straight forward and seemingly scientific article and came to the highlighted section above. My eyes opened wide; I giggled and snorted; I became a fan.

A good example carries a lot of weight -- but a bat shit crazy, over the top explosion of a example stomps the weight down -- sometimes obliterating the thought, but always making the spash colorful.

Kudos.