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POPSSecret Quest: The Path of the Christian Gnostics Discover the secret quest of the Christian Gnostics, who have emerged in different forms throughout history, walking the hidden path towards spiritual transformation. Part 1 examines the question, "What is a Gnostic?". Starting with the early years of Christianity, this video explores the Gnostic origins of Jesus and his disciples and the secret aspects of his teachings. Discover how the theology of Paul of Tarsus diverged from the Gnostic teachings of Jesus and came to compete with the Church of Jerusalem, which was led by Jesus' disciples. With the fall of the Church of Jerusalem, Pauline Christianity became dominant. Those who knew and practiced the secret heart of Jesus' teachings went underground — hidden from view but continuing their quest for spiritual enlightenment.
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POPS15 Quotes by Famous Atheists Bertrand Russell: “You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better treatment of the colored races, or every mitigation of slavery, every moral progress that there has been in the world, has been consistently opposed by the organized churches of the world. I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.”
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POPSAtheists Need to Chill Michael Shermer makes a point that needs to be made. Atheists need to remember what they stand for , not merely what they are against . Ridicule and contempt have no place in science, and haters should not tarnish its reputation by association. In the words of the greatest consciousness raiser of the 20th century, Martin Luther King, Jr., in his epic "I Have a Dream" speech: "In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline." If atheists do not want theists to prejudge them in a negative light, then they must not do unto theists the same.
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POPSWe can agree on one thing: WE HATE HOMOSEXUALS It's amazing how groups of people that would otherwise be mortal enemies seem to be able to come together when it comes to declaring their hate for homosexuals. And most of the people that are protesting the loudest are doing so because they're trying to suppress their own secret urges.
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POPSDiabetic girl dies as parents pray "She said her family believed in the Bible and that healing came from God. But she insisted that they were not "crazy religious people" "Even after her death, her parents, Dale and Leilani Neumann, who did not belong to any organised faith, prayed over her body in the hope that she might be resurrected."
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POPSThe Biggest Threat to the West Lies Within Itself, Not with Islam Simon Jenkins on threats to peace and democracy. This defeatism led the American Congress to allow its president to authorise torture and detention without trial in what Senator Robert Byrd called “the slow unravelling of the people’s liberties”. It enabled a British Home Office to curb free speech and habeas corpus. It arms police, fortifies buildings and impedes the free movement of citizens. It makes every Christian suspicious of every Muslim.
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POPSNo Moses, no Joshua, no (so-called) monotheism "In the text you have the story of the Israelites coming from outside, and then besieging the Canaanite cities, destroying them and then becoming a nation in the land of Canaan. Whereas archaeology tells us something which is the opposite. According to archaeology, the rise of early Israel is an outcome of the collapse of Canaanite society, not the reason for that collapse." * The principle of monotheism (the worship of a single deity), established first by the Jews and later to form the foundation for both Christianity and Islam, took much longer to take root than most people assume. In fact, the archaeological discovery of troves of household idols in ancient Canaanite towns and cities proves that the Israelites practiced polytheism long after they had been thought to have discarded the practice.
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POPSMan Made Life Whoa. The implications from this will be enormous. If this project succeeds expect a concerted campaign of denial and attack from the religious conservatives.
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POPSTablet ignites debate on messiah and resurrection "This should shake our basic view of Christianity," he said as he sat in his office of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem where he is a senior fellow in addition to being the Yehezkel Kaufman Professor of Biblical Studies at Hebrew University. "Resurrection after three days becomes a motif developed before Jesus, which runs contrary to nearly all scholarship. What happens in the New Testament was adopted by Jesus and his followers based on an earlier messiah story."
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POPSHello All You Godless Infidels And Happy Heathens Gaylor said this to start her show, Hello all you godless infidels, out-of-the-closet atheists and happy heathens. You can turn on the radio or TV 24/7 to be preached at. This is one hour a week of the public airwaves that offers an alternative. This program is an antidote to the domination of public airwaves by the religious right. Your humble correspondent eagerly await the nauseating and hypocritical outcry from Fox Noise and the religious right in this country which is sure to come. For to them, freedom of religion has never meant freedom from religion and certainly not from our own brand of home-grown Christianity which more and more Americans are viewing as blatantly hypocritical, judgmental and overbearing.
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POPSMan Made Gods This article does not lend itself to a short clip. If you're interested follow the link to the original and take the time to read it in full. It explores certain concepts that are at the root of why people believe in gods. Excellent food for thought. This is just part of a series of articles on this subject. Stay tuned!
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POPSWho would Jesus torture Welcome to the new Christianity. Or is it The new BS. Maybe those of you who would condone torture during the week and attend your temples and cathedrals on Sunday truly don't believe in your God. Why else would you make an argument for rather then against. Now it shouldn't bother me I,m a heathen, fortunately I still maintain a since of moral decency, you know, like what is written in some of those dumb ass documents like the CONSTITUTION and THE BILL OF RIGHTS. If all you so called people of faith would get together there would be more then enough voices to effect a change, right? After all yours is the moral outraged, just and family oriented party is it not? Just like to say Thank you for living up to my worst suspicions. The entire lot are self-righteous, blathering hypocrites.