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Religion aside: Is the real spiritual quest in life to remove all forms of bondage and set ourselves free? It can also span across political history as well. Time and time again we witness oppression trying to destroy freedom. Look at those poor people in North Korea. They are living in bondage. They are not filled with the spirit of freedom to take out that pig Kim Jong Ill.
The Protestant Reformation was a freedom movement against an absolute and oppressive Catholic Church. Over time that freedom movement became corrupted and started oppressing non-protestants.
Radical Islam is one of those movements these days that is a arch enemy of freedom. Thankfully the spirits of liberty are finally starting to grow a pair and speak out.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100322/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_gulf_poetry_of_protest
These examples are on a macro level. But the struggle is as ever much alive in the micro level in our everyday lives. Whether we are dealing with corrupt cops or exploitative bosses. Mankind will continue to face the greatest evil which is bondage. Awakening will come to those who realize that we answer to no one.
"Mankind will never be free until the last king is strangled with the intestines of the last priest"
Denis Diderot-French Philosopher | Probably wouldn't hurt to brush up on your scholarship about the Reformation. But your point is well taken. Modern scholarship reveals that the Catholic Church was not oppressive and corrupt as often portrayed by Protestant historians of the past (not so much anymore as Christianity is oh-so-slowly melding back together through the humility and self-confessing nature of The Vatican -- which is why its under attack just as Jesus was under attack by secularists). While there were pockets of corruption in Germany and Holland during the Reformation, the Catholic Church was hugely supported by the masses, which is why the Reformation failed and why there are almost 2 billion Catholics worldwide today.
There's lots of more modern scholarship around that reveals Reformation was a movement by learned, land-owning city-dwellers who wanted to debate the Bible and base faith on human reason, not on the mystery of the Eucharist and the other Catholic sacraments. This "reform" movement never largely impacted the word-of-mouth faith started by Jesus Christ or the examples of the largely devout thousands of priests and nuns throughout Europe. So these moldy old philosophies are now footnotes of history, trotted out by those who still seek faith through reason.
Which brings me to the answer. If you follow Jesus Christ, if you truly have faith, you are obedient to Him. And in your obedience, you give up much of your personal, individual desires and replace desire with service to mankind (as Christ and the Apostles exemplified). So it is in losing yourself that you gain your eternal soul. Buddha couldn't have said it better. Ghandi couldn't have been a better witness (boy did he see the danger of fundamentalism within any faith!!!!).
Buddha and Ghandi however didn't have the full faith and grace of the Catholic Church. Neither does Protestant Christianity, which was formed during the Renaissance as an attempt to reform Catholicism using reason -- masquerading as faith -- to replace the word-of-mouth strength started by Jesus Christ. Neither does Islam, which is why it is being replaced in Africa by Catholicism. One of the great stories of the last 20 years of Church history is the growth of Catholicism by word-of-mouth, by example and by good works in Africa. We can't keep enough Catholic priests in this country to serve everyone; they're all going overseas.
But all truth about the reality of Jesus Christ is manifested in the mysteries, not in the heretical rationalizations that have come about since he walked this earth. Only in the Catholic Church do you have the Living Christ continuing to shepherd the faithful and retrieve the lost. Obedience to His Sacraments is critical, but never easy in a world that seems to always want to make the mystery explainable and logical. It's interesting that the best of the Eastern traditions like the Buddha always stress the "letting go" of reason alone. There is implicit understanding that humanity has its limits. Where Buddhism advises that you learn to live within those limits, Christianity advises that you place your trust in the divine (which means you let go, which is central to the message of Eastern traditions). Protestant developments among the highly educated city folks of Reformation Era Europe have led to a tradition within Christianity of trying to control the mystery through reason, logic, philosophy.... all of that is based on the written tradition of Catholicism, the Bible. It's gotten to the point where you have all manner of revisionist histories from the Protestant offshoots like the Mormons and their gold tablets, the Jehovah Witnesses and their bizarre logic and Christian Identity with the twisted focus on race and genetic heritage. Fortunately, the mystery of Jesus Christ is alive and well where it started: in the Catholic Church. The difference between Protestant worship and Catholic worship is that within Catholicism, there is no effort to base faith on reason alone; that was started by the humanists like Erasmus, the nutty Luther and the governmentally-inclined Calvin. Both had the logic down pat, but they failed to appreciate the mystery. Which is why only city folks followed them, and in the countryside, Catholicism never wavered. The examples of devoted lifetimes of priests spoke much louder than any written thesis or government-imposed religion.
Remember that priests serve. They give up worldly desires, money, in service to their fellow man. His yoke is light. Not all Catholics are asked to give up everything for Christ, but there are systemized methods of expression the mystery of faith. The basic seven Sacraments for example. You can't make logical sense out of them (which is where Protestants get a hard-on because that gives them the opening to attack the practice with logic and reason). There are other mysterious practices like the Rosary, devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus or seasonal acts like Lent or Advent. All of these are designed to separate man from his personal selfishness and focus him on the community of mankind. In paying attention to that, you lose your confinement within yourself. Like the Yes song "All Good People" suggests: "Don't surround yourself with yourself...."
It isn't a matter of strangling kings or denying the servitude of priests. It's a manner of letting go of the need to control through logic and reasoning the mysteries of the divine. Did you watch the Matrix?? The whole trick for Neo was letting go of the brilliantly deceptive illusion of control given by The Matrix and realizing quite simply, "There is no spoon." Once you BELIEVE in what you cannot sense with the receptors given to you or evolved within you -- however you think you got where you are -- you become part of that "divinity" and glow like Neo, expand the very universe with your every breath and transcend your living, mortal confinement. | Why do I enjoy being sexually submissive? In everyday life I tend to be the dominating one in my relationship (if one of us HAS to be dominating), but in my sex life I enjoy being submissive and even some light bondage. Why is this? | | its probably a chance to so put down the reigns so to speak and let someone else take over. | Why is it liberals that..........? you want more government in your life? I thought Liberal meant being Liberated from someone telling you how to live your life?
And yet you want Big Government in our everyday life. You want people to get an unfair advantage (affirmative action) and taking money from one person to give to another (Socialism or Marxism) or keeping people in the bondage of dependency (slavery) like food stamps, housing projects.
Why are some of these people not letting people be themselves? They want the schools to take prayer out of school and force Islamic studies as a "cultural" requirement.
Please help me understand it......are they just so screwed up they cannot think logically? | I can't argue with the points that you made, but it is the far left of the Democratic party that has made such a mess of things - they have too much control over the party-just as the far right has way too much control over the Republican party.
We need a third party to keep the two parties honest. | How can I become a more dominant woman? How can I become a sexually more dominant woman?
I recently discovered that my lover is a submissive, but I love him to much to break up. How can become more dominant? I'd do anything for him and same on his side.
When he admitted it to me, I just answered I was a switch, not knowing what to really answer.
So are there anyway for me to become more dominant in bed? I'm already a pretty tough and strong woman in my everyday life, but how can I be this way in my relationship? I don't mean dominant with all those whips and bondage stuff [though I'm into BDSM], I just want to know how to be wearing the pants, but not to the point where I decide his life...
Thanks! | www.amityworld.com/
And books as these:
www.amazon.com/Art-Sensual-Female…
www.amazon.com/Mistress-Manual-Gi…
www.amazon.com/Female-Domination-… | I feel like im living in bondage, Is this a spiritual battle? CHRISTIANS....
im 19 years old, and i've been through so much in my past, as many people do. im struggling with accepting myself for who i am, and actually getting to know "who i am". i dont know how to love myself. im having trouble soul searching. im constantly bringing myself down, and noticing all my flaws. im going through so much hurt and pain, sadness and depression. i dont have anyone to encourage me or that i can talk to. i feel that im living in bondage and that i'll never be happy. so i turn to God and ask for his help and guidance. i reading books to gain more knowledge, i pray and talk to him everyday. it just seems the closer i try to get to God, the harder life gets for me. im trying to get out of this negative mind set but its just so so so hard! i feel so helpless.
is this a spiritual battle that im going through? is God testing me?
im just going through so much its more than i can bare... could someone give me some advice please???
Christians only please, thanks | When you realize how much God loves you, you will no longer struggle to love yourself. You're only 19, you will come to know who you are by and by...
It sounds like your frustrated that all your studying and praying isn't getting you as close to God as you would like. So don't try so hard... it's exhausting you. Give yourself permission not to know everything. It isn't in knowledge that we come to God, it's faith and trust and humility like a small guy.
Spend more time worshipping (some good Christian/Praise/worship music works the best to aid in that). Spend more time thanking/praising God in prayer, don't think about requests... just think about relationship.
That's what works for me. I know it'll work for you too. Also, find some spiritual people with which you can find your calling and purpose in life. Spiritual people who will be there for you as your friends... look into being a missionary or think about joining the peace corps. Something like that. Everyone needs a life calling and purpose, I think when you find yours and get involved you'll see how wonderful life can be and you will no longer feel that you're in a spiritual battle.
God is with you. Keep the faith... | Is life truly a spiritual battle? CHRISTIANS....
im 19 years old, and i've been through so much in my past, as many people do. im struggling with accepting myself for who i am, and actually getting to know "who i am". i dont know how to love myself. im having trouble soul searching. im constantly bringing myself down, and noticing all my flaws. im going through so much hurt and pain, sadness and depression. i dont have anyone to encourage me or that i can talk to. i feel that im living in bondage and that i'll never be happy. so i turn to God and ask for his help and guidance. i reading books to gain more knowledge, i pray and talk to him everyday. it just seems the closer i try to get to God, the harder life gets for me. im trying to get out of this negative mind set but its just so so so hard! i feel so helpless.
is this a spiritual battle that im going through? is God testing me?
im just going through so much its more than i can bare... could someone give me some advice please???
Christians only please, thanks | Yes, there is an external battle going on where God is fighting and also the devil is fighting to gain control of all of us.
It is kinda like a strong thunderstorm that is raging. It all starts with a warm air mass and a cold front meet and when that happens there are many different things that are in this storm like strong winds, lighten, hail, ect.
You can read through any book of the Bible and you will find the saints dealing with discouragement, frustration, and all kinds of hardships. Abraham had to wait for decades to have the son God promised. Moses spent 40 years leading Israel in circles before
getting to the promised land and then God didn't let him come in! David faced many enemies. Even Elijah battled depression.
I will not mislead you, our spiritual victories can take time. We can not be discouraged when answers are not immediate. Sometimes we do gain instant victory, but other times it can be days, months, or even years.
When we are overloaded with the cares of this life we need some help. Our minds need to rest from worrying about how to take care of problems. Our emotions need to rest from being stressed all the time. Continue to get God involved in every area of your life and allow Him to lead you into rest.
Some ideas to consider:
1.) We need time to rest and eat. Things begin to look better when we're no longer exhausted.
2.) We need some exercise. When depressed, we tend to sit down under the lone tree and remain there. Moving around gets the blood flowing and helps us feel better.
3) We need to keep the communication lines open to God, even if we don't feel His presence. We tend to look for Him in the wind, rain and during the storm missing what He's trying to tell us. Instead we need to listen for His quiet voice.
4) Sometimes we need to make small changes in life and our route.
5) We need to do something for someone else. When we take our eyes off of our circumstances and focus on meeting the needs of other's, we ourselves are helped.
6) We need a support system. Other christian friends who can mentor us, encourage us, correct us.
7) We need to remember we are not alone. The enemy likes to isolate us, much like hunting lions isolate a wounded caribou. When we feel like we are the only ones going through a trial, it is easier for the enemy to overtake us.
And last but not least: DONT GIVE UP - BE PERSISTENT. KEEP PRAYING FOR VICTORY UNTIL YOU GET IT. Hope that helps! | Sexually Psychotic? I am very curious how many others have 'normal' Yahoo ID's that are their everyday ID's and then one like mine I am using now to explore their other side? My other side is an insataible whore who can get extremely aroused by looking at seductive pics of beautiful woman. My other side in real life loves bondage, but only with that 'one' and I keep it very private. My normal self is a PTA mom, soccer mom, active in community, etc. I have two normal and well adjusted daughters. Am I pyschotic or is this fairly normal?
For all you horndogs out there....I am at work, my IM does not work here. | | OK, I'll admit it. I have a couple of accounts, one of which I use for normal, every stuff, and one that I use for, well, other stuff. The question is, which one am I using now? ;-) | Need an unsecured loan! Low 600s credit score, high interest rate debt has us in bondage. Help please! ? Keep getting turned down but we are not behind on anything and always pay our bills on time. No defaults, no bankruptcy, relatively good and stable income, but high loan to credit limit ratio, and a couple of recent over the limits while trying to rob Peter to pay Paul, last year was behind on student loan, now caught up! Tired of having to say no to our guyren when they ask for the smallest things. No breathing room to even go out to eat or a show, not to mention we haven't had a vacation in over 3 years. I have a part time job that helps some. I work everyday my wife works about 50 hours per week, Missing out on my wife and guys. We are makin it but life has to get better than this. Our relationship is strained. We are gettin tired!
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Business & Finance > Personal Finance
| Hi,
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I have been praying the last couple of days for people on yahoo and the Holy Spirit is calling someone today to give their life to Jesus. Are you tired of the way your life has been going? Are you living in bondage of lust. alcoholism, drugs or even witchcraft. Just give your life to Jesus and you will become a free person. He came to give you life and life more abundant.
Pray the following "Jesus come into my life. Be my Lord and Savior today. I repent of my sins. I am tired of living this life and need you to change life's situations for me. I want to live for you the rest of my life"
If you meant this prayer you are now born-again and going to heaven. Start reading your Bible and find a good church. Ask Jesus to guide you everyday, He will. He will also send you other Christians to love and encourage you. This is the greatest decision you have ever made. Jesus Loves You and is going to bless your life. | | I know the Lord will bless you for your question today, and I pray He may continue to use you in the work of His kingdom. | Selfish boyfriend but i love him? ive been living with him for a couple months, dated him for almost 2 years. he completely selfish sometimes. he always starts fights and lately he hasnt been that into sex. but he jacks off multiple times a day. never effected sex life with him before thoough. am i just boring him now b/c im with him everyday or what does anyone think it is? i feel i sho9uld leave him but i dont want to. i lo9vew him too much. any suggestions? ive dressed up for sex tons of times, all kinds of stuff. i even do what he likes that i think is completely weird.... **** him in the *** with a strap on then have sex with him. he doesnt get off on guys vthough, just women with strap ons and fetishism and bondage. anyone have any suggestions???? | Give him some space. Don't wait for him at hoem.Go shopping or out with friends, change your hair style. Sadly, guys get bored easily. You need to change something about you and act a little differently. Try to find something to do without him. Show him that he's not all that!
My bf got a little bored with me once, I could feel it, so I started to have a life without him. Once he sawe how independent I was, and that other guy find me attractive he started giving me more attention. |
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