Who Killed Jesus?

A lot of killing is done in the name of religion and who's interpretation of God is correct.  I'm personally of the opinion that our relationship with our Creator or God is unique to ourselves.  A church isn't how that path is made, and they don't have the power to absolve us from any sins they claim we made against God.

I may offend with that opinion, but I'm just being honest.  Reading The Bible and being preached to in a church are two different things.  But, I find the story of Jesus fascinating, just as I do the story of the Roman Catholic Church and the people who get blamed for the death of Jesus.

There has been a love/hate relationship with the Jewish people through the years.  It can be easy to start hating the Jews because sometimes they pull out the "we have suffered more than anybody" card, and it gets old after a while.  I'm not saying the Jews haven't suffered, because they clearly have.  WW2 Is only one instance.

I also believe some of that hate is thrown at them over the idea that they killed Jesus.  That is an outright lie.  Now, the story tries to frame it that way, especially when we get to the story of the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate.  He gave the Jewish people the choice, and they chose to free Barabbas, the known terrorist at least as the Romans saw him.  To the Jews, he was a hero.

Jesus going around claiming He was God was enough to offend a lot of people, especially when it's somebody performing miracle after miracle. But the Jews were fighting for their own cause, and preaching love of your fellow man isn't likely to win the hearts and minds of the people who want to fight. 

Sure, they chose the terrorist, but they weren't the ones making the legal decision.  It matters not what Pontius says in this story.  The story cleverly tries to shift the blame from the Romans to the Jews, when the Romans were the ones who held all the power. 

Yet, people still want to hate the Jews for killing Jesus.  It wasn't like every Jew in the world was there at that moment and took a vote, nor was it that they ran the government that was intent on putting him to death.

What's interesting is what happened after that day.  While the Jews were scattered, the Roman Empire may have fallen, but it didn't die completely.  It became the Roman Catholic Church.  The Pope became it's figurehead leader, called the Vicar (stand in) of Christ.  By who's authority?  Where did Jesus say that man speaks for Him?

So, the very government that authorized the killing of Jesus is the one in charge of officially speaking for Him.  Interesting how that happened.  Maybe, as the story goes, He had to die for our sins, but I find the whole story fascinating.  The Jews get blamed, and the government responsible for nailing Him to the cross essentially takes over as official spokesman. 

And, through the years, how much killing have we had in His name?  Would Jesus approve of that?  Not the Jesus I read about in The Bible.  This is one reason I don't believe in the church as spokesman for Jesus.  They can relate His story, but our relationship with God is our own. 

Nobody on Earth can broker that relationship.  It is up to us by trying to live as good and righteous a life as we can, filled with love and respect for others.  None of us are perfect.  I know I'm not.

What's Your Sign?

Have you ever had somebody ask you want your sign is?  It's like a cliche, a pickup line at the bar.  Or, people believe that their signs make a difference in compatibility.  I'm a Virgo, so they say Capricorns, Tauruses and Virgos are good signs for me.  Also, Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio.  I don't know if that's true.  I know two of my best friends are Libras.

There are traits that people in certain signs have.  Like us Virgos are sometimes very analytical and can live inside our heads a bit.  Or Leo's like to be the center of attention, the big stars.  Leo and Virgo are not compatible, or so they say.  I don't think that's the case.

I think we can be compatible with any sign, provided we know and understand the person we are entering a relationship with.  If each person understands the other and their traits, and there's give and take, it can work for them.  I don't believe in absolutes.  There are shades of gray.

I used to laugh at astrology.  You see Horoscopes in the newspaper and just know they are pretty much B.S.  Today you will have success at work if you are a Virgo.  That's not necessarily true.  Those horoscopes are pretty much for entertainment purposes.

But, an astrologist who really knows what they are doing can use the stars to help a person understand when it's best to pursue business ventures, relationships, buy a new home and all of that.  There is something to all of it, and some rich and influential people understand that.

So, I guess I can understand why "What's Your sign" can be a question people get asked when they meet. It can give them a basic understanding of a person, but your sign isn't all you are.  Staying away from somebody because of their sign may not be a good move.  That person could be your best friend or more.  You never know.

Jumping Through Hoops To Write At A Blog Site

As I continue to search for places to write articles and earn money, I have found that some places  want you to jump through hoops to get something posted.  I understand some of that, but I've read the stuff others have posted at two places in particular.

There are some good articles, but there are others that look like they could easily be posts on a message board.  One site gave me issues about violating their links policy when I didn't post links.  I used a feature their site has that put links in my articles.  Those links did me no good.  I just assumed they helped the site, and that's why the feature was there.

They monitor new writers for three posts, and my third post had no problems.  I assumed the fourth one would clear, but it's a week later and still pending.  It's not a big deal to me.  They pay half a penny per view, so I have earned a couple dimes at this point.  They aren't even bothering to respond and tell me if the article is good or not.  They just ignore me.

It's a bit humiliating to be treated like my writing isn't good enough when I have been published in magazines and newspapers.  I may not be the best writer, but I don't suck either.  Some of the stuff they have posted is questionable in my opinion, but it is there.  Yet, I must wait.  The site looks like a waste of time, and I may pull my articles.  I don't have time to waste over mere pennies.

I joined another site that pays a little better, but now I must wait to see if my first article clears there too.  I almost don't even care at this point.  This is the way these sites go.  It's their playground.  It's their rules, and they can do what they will.  You agree when you sign up.  I know the drill.

I'm in the wrong business.  Perhaps I need to open up a content mill website and let others write for me.  If I had the programming skills and the connections for good ad revenue, I'd do it.  Some of these sites are making good money.  Some don't even care what goes through there as long as its not adult oriented.  They take a cut of everything that goes through.

On the other hand, is opening up a click mine for worthless content really something to do?  I guess you do what you can for the almighty dollar.  After all, I'm posting articles on the internet to try and earn a little money.  And this article is complaining about the process.  How sad is that?

Being Politically Complacent Helped Create This Mess

It seems like things are just getting worse in the world. Quality jobs get harder to find as our quality of life gets worse. The value of our money is going down as well. Could our complacency when it comes to voting and how much thought we put into it be part of the problem?

How many times do you have a conversation about “throwing the bums out” of congress?  It probably happens more times than you recall, but you dismiss those comments as quickly as they are spoken.  How many times is one of the politicians you voted for part of the problem, and yet you don’t even realize it?  Are you paying attention?  Do you just vote out of instinct for the familiar name?

When it comes to voting, people talk on and on about it being our right to vote.  It’s true, it is our right.  However, I believe our founding fathers expected us to put the same amount of effort into voting as we put into our favorite hobbies.  This means learning about the people and the issues we are voting for.  This means paying at least as much attention to the issues as we do to the statistics of our favorite sports team, the latest fashion news and gossip or whatever is happening on our favorite TV shows.

The supposed two party system (there are more than two choices in case you are wondering) has many people in a trance.  You register for a party, and when the election cycle comes around again, you get your party’s “marching orders” flyer in the mail and obediently cast your vote the way you were told to.  That’s the way some people approach it, and it’s really doing as much damage to the process as not voting at all.  What’s the point of that?

If you are on the Republican versus Democrat bandwagon, take a look and ask yourself a question.  The country has leaned one way or the other very heavily at times during the past 20 years, putting one party in control.  What has really changed for the better?  How many politicians are still in office after all these years, acting as if they are entitled to be there no matter what they do?  Do you think this is how it should be?  I’m pretty sure a majority of people shrug their shoulders and say, “That’s just the way it is.”

You have about as many people eligible to vote in this country that chose not to as there are people who do vote.  Why is that?  Are they looking at the system and saying it is so corrupted that they don’t even care?  Maybe they heard the tired old saying that if you don’t vote for either of the two “main” parties, you are throwing your vote away.  That is such an arrogant and condescending attitude.  No party has a right to your vote.  The politician has to earn it, or at least they should.

I understand the realities of the world all too well.  We need to make a living and pay the bills.  Life gets stressful, and we deal with it by diving head first into the things we love the most.  Politics is rarely one of them.  In fact, people hate politics and politicians.  They believe they are getting screwed by the politicians, and in a way, they are right.  But, if somebody came to your house every day and stole something from you, would you just accept it or would you try to stop them?  This is what is happening to this country, and the people we vote into office aren’t stopping it.  It’s just getting worse.  It needs to end.

Part of the reason we got into this mess is because we stopped really paying attention to what happens in Washington and our state houses and local governments.  It became too much work for us to bother with.  We need to pay attention and we need to get informed.  We need to know what that proposition is that we are voting on and just who we are electing into office.  It doesn’t stop there either.  We need to stop just listening to news sound bytes and really pay attention to how what we voted for effects our lives.  Then, we need to remember that when the next election comes around.  If we don’t, it’s likely that things will just get worse as our rights and our quality of life goes down the drain.