If you have not read Part One, it may be helpful to read it first before continuing.

Jesus had hate.  In Revelation 2:6, Jesus commends Apostle Paul's followers in Ephesus, telling them: But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate (the Nicolaitanes were idolaters).  Jesus is not saying that he hates the Nicolaitanes, but rather their deeds of selfish religion.  Is it not possible to hate the works of selfish religion without hating the individual worshiper?  My work is about exposing the corruption of religious groups and institutions.  The Catholic individual is not the Catholic institution.

We are creatures of the mind.  Take a child, any child, and teach it that its physical body houses an invisible soul that will live on after its body dies.  Fill its childhood in daily religious rituals.  Threaten the child with the ultimatum: Either you comply with this religion and be saved or you deny this religion and be damned.  Teach the child that evil lives in everything that questions the religion.  Twist and bend the child's mind to a particular religious mindset and what do you have?  You have one more soul to add to the heap of souls anchored to fearful, superstitious, separatist religions.

I recently stumbled across the writings of Avro Manhattan (1914-1990), who had been the foremost authority on the Roman Catholic Church in politics.  He wrote over twenty books and, interestingly, was a British Baron, a Knight of Malta and a Knight Templar.  I want to share edited excerpts from three of his books before bringing up Bill O'Reilly's biggest lie.  The first excerpt is from Manhattan's 1984 publication, Unholy Mother of Intolerance: The Inquisition (http://www.chick.com/bc/1984/inquisition.asp).

Today the Catholic Church claims heartfelt love for all those outside her.  Indeed it would be laughably ridiculous if we were not dealing with tragic matters.  Her sudden desire to "embrace the separated brethren" is nothing but her latest device to make people forget the basic spirit of intolerance and fanaticism.  All her actions in past centuries speak of nothing else.  Her main excuse for intolerance makes strange logic: She is specifically charged by God to save the souls of all Christians. Since the killing of souls was worse than the killing of bodies, she reasoned, and since heretics used their bodies to kill souls, their bodies should pay for the sins of the wicked souls they housed.  Thanks to this Catholic logic, soon the ecclesiastical and temporal machineries of the Western world were enriched with the noble practice of judicial torture, expressly employed by Holy Mother Church for the suppression of heresy, later known as Protestantism.

In 1252 Pope Innocent IV issued Bull AS EXTIRPANDA.  It became the classic in inquisitorial procedure. It provides: that anyone may seize a heretic and despoil him of his property; that every magistrate shall appoint an inquisitorial commission, whose salaries are to be paid by the State; that no law may be passed interfering with these Inquisitors; that heretics who will not confess their heresy shall be tortured; that the confiscated property of heretics shall be thus divided: one-third to the Inquisitors and the bishops, one-third to the city, and one-third to those who aided in the arrest and conviction.

Pope Innocent gave precise instructions to all Inquisitors to enforce the regulations throughout Europe.  Eventually it was made Statute Law.  The regular clergy proved reluctant, so the popes turned to the most fanatical, intolerant and narrow-minded section of the Church structure, the sundry monastic orders.  The two which excelled in their infamous task were the Dominicans and the Franciscans.  Armed with practically unlimited power from the popes, these Inquisitors swarmed all over Europe like theological hornets, setting up tribunals wherever they appeared.  Soon individuals, communities, nations, and indeed, the very hierarchy trembled at the mere mention of their names. Wherever they came, denunciations, accusation, treachery, perjury, torture, woe, and death resulted.

Soon no one was safe from potential arrest.  The spying, denunciation, and hunting down of heretics reached cleric or lay, men or women, noble or common.  No one was immune from the terrorizing omnipresence of the Holy Inquisition.  This reign of Catholic terror lasted for centuries.  Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and yes, even children were murdered… burned alive at the stake.  Simply because they dared to disagree with the Holy Catholic Church or with her popes.  This Catholic terror officially ended less than two hundred years ago.  As recently as 1762 a Protestant pastor was condemned to death in France.  Why?  Simply because he was a Protestant!  By whom?  By the Catholic Church!  Yes, by that same church which now pretends to love her "dear separated brethren."

Indeed, in Europe torture was still enforced by all the Tribunals of the Holy Inquisition until the last century, the pope being forced to abolish it only in 1816.  It was Napoleon, who entered Madrid in 1808, who was to abolish the Inquisition.  When the Spanish Parliament in 1813 declared it incompatible with the Constitution, the Vatican protested.  Super-Catholic Ferdinand VII restored it in 1814, with the full approval of the Church. The Holy Inquisition was finally suppressed by the Liberals in July, 1834.  Yes, SUPPRESSED.  Was not this same spirit still alive in Croatia in 1942 when the Catholic Ustachi mutilated hundreds of thousands of Serbian "heretics?"  Or in South Vietnam in 1960 when Catholic President Diem set out to rid that country of Buddhist "heretics?"  Or in 1983 when Christmas shoppers in Protestant ('heretic') London were blasted into eternity by a Catholic IRA terrorist bomb in a crowded department store?

The second excerpt is the preface from Manhattan's 1986 book, The Vatican's Holocaust (http://www.reformation.org/holocaus.html).

THE VATICAN'S HOLOCAUST is not a misnomer, an accusation, and even less a speculation.  It is a historical fact.  Rabid nationalism and religious dogmatism were its two main ingredients. During the existence of Croatia as an independent Catholic State, over 700,000 men, women and children perished. Many were executed, tortured, died of starvation, buried alive, or were burned to death. Hundreds were forced to become Catholic. Catholic padres ran concentration camps; Catholic priests were officers of the military corps which committed such atrocities. 700,000 in a total population of a few million, proportionally, would be as if one-third of the USA population had been exterminated by a Catholic militia. What has been gathered in this book will vindicate the veracity of these facts.  Dates, names, and places, as well as photos are there to prove them. They should become known to the American public, not to foster vindictiveness, but to warn them of the danger, which racialism and sectarianism, when allied with religious intolerance can bring to any contemporary nation, whether in Europe or in the New World.

The last excerpt is the preface from Manhattan's 1984 book, Vietnam—Why Did We Go? (http://reformation.org/vietnam.html).

With an immense collection of facts, photos, names and dates, Manhattan proves that the Vietnam War began as a religious conflict. He shows how America was manipulated into supporting Catholic oppression in Vietnam supposedly to fight communism.  Manhattan explains: How religious pamphlets and radio broadcasts convinced one million Catholics to leave North Vietnam and live under Catholic rule in the South, overwhelming the Buddhists; How brutal persecution of Vietnamese Buddhists led to rioting and suicides by fire in the streets; Why the reports of what was really happening, written by American military and civil advisers, failed to reach the U.S. President; Why the project backfired, and as U.S. soldiers continued to die, the Vatican made a secret deal with Ho Chi Minh.

Catholic mouthpieces, like Bill O'Reilly, paint a whole different picture of the Vatican, as he did two months ago while talking about America's use of water-boarding on prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba,

Bill O'Reilly (The O'Reilly Factor, June 4, 2009):

Three men water-boarded does not make a terror nation.  Every other nation in the world has done far worse than we have, with the possible exception of the Vatican.

Not only does O'Reilly lie-by-omission about the Vatican's long and vicious history of religious terrorism, but exalts the Vatican over all the nations of the world.  It is pure propaganda, made even more outrageous because he delivered this gargantuan lie two weeks after the release of a 2,600 page report detailing the sexual and physical abuse by Catholic clergy upon orphans in Ireland—abuse that the Vatican had known about since the 1930's (http://www.awid.org/eng/Women-s-Rights-in-the-News/Women-s-Rights-in-the-News/Ireland-Catholic-Church-shamed-by-abuse-report).

I have watched nearly all of O'Reilly's shows since 2001.  I like his political debates and often have agreement, but he is sorely incorrect in his exaltation of "traditionalist religion" and his fear of secularism.  Why fear secularism and its desire for religion to be out of politics and the public square when Jesus' Message is effectively secular, having ultimately nothing to do with one's religion?  O'Reilly's "War on Christmas" series that starts back up every December is also untrue, as he never teaches the fact that the high, holy holiday is a lie, created as a marketing tool.  The Vatican stole the greatest annual pagan festival celebrating the birth of the sun-god and turned it into the birthday of the Son of God for the purpose of drawing pagans into the fold.  It made December 25 the birth date of Jesus, though the glaringly evident truth is that the birth date of Jesus remains unrecorded and unknown.

O'Reilly repeatedly tells us about how important it is to help "the children," and though he surely cares about some children I do not think he cares about those children in Ireland abused by his beloved Catholic Church.  Before abortion doctor George Tiller was murdered a few months ago, O'Reilly had delivered report after report on "Tiller, the Baby Killer," even comparing him to a Nazi.  I have not heard O'Reilly say one word about those children raped and beaten in Ireland for over seventy years that the Vatican covered up.  Where is O'Reilly's outrage at the Vatican and why hasn't he compared it with the Nazis?  Instead, he exalts the Vatican as being possibly the only nation that has never committed terrorism.  Tell that to the Muslim babies whose skulls were broken against the walls of Jerusalem during the First Crusade.  Tell that to the multitudes slaughtered during the six centuries (!) of the Inquisition.  Tell that to the unknown volume of children raped by "holy" Catholic priests and authority figures.

God forbid a child abused by Catholic teachers and clergy should grow up to write books exposing the corrupt teachings of Corporate Christianity and its leading media evangelists.  I am that person.  I have sent multiple copies of both my award-winning books to O'Reilly over the years.  He is in The Christian Right… or Wrong in several places, in a good light.  Though his name is not mentioned in Selfless Spirit, Selfish Ego, I debunk the War on Christmas and the fear of secularists.  To date, he has never acknowledged receipt of any of my book submissions.  When will this man educate himself about Jesus' Message and stop exalting traditionalist religion?  He advertises himself as "fair and balanced."  He can say he is fair and balanced until his tongue falls out of his head, but saying it does not make it true.

Traditionalist religion does not teach the most basic Biblical revelations.  God is an invisible Spirit (John 4:24; Colossians 1:15).  God is love and only good (First John 4:16; Mark 10:18).  God is the Source or Selfless Giver of the Spirit (Revelation 22:1).  The governance of God's righteous justice is "as you sow, so shall you reap" (Galatians 6:7-8).  We are known to God not by our religion, but by our character magnifying His Spirit (First John 4:16; Luke 10:30-37).

There is not a pulpit on Earth (that I know of) teaching that God is the invisible Spirit of Selfless Love that, no matter one's religion, lives and grows within all who live and grow in the Spirit.  When shall the world learn that all who have the Spirit shall have Salvation, and that "belief in God" is not justified by verbal confessions but by the "voice" of our hearts and motivations magnifying the Spirit?  These revelations are denied by Christ-idolaters who want the whole world converted to Corporate Christianity and denied by Muhammad-idolaters who want the whole world converted to Islam (the Qu'ran repeatedly instructs Muslims to honor Jesus and His Gospel).

With or without the Bible or Qu'ran, we humans have the free-will, conscious ability to produce the fruits of Selfless Love or Selfishness, and to know the difference.  It should be common sense that the way to everlasting peace comes by mutual companionship producing the fruits of Selfless Love (kindness, peace, truth, goodness, compassion, etc.).  If we treated each other in this manner, as we want to be treated ourselves, divorces and wars would not arise and peace would reign.  BUT NO!  Selfish humans want their separatist, fearful, superstitious, mystery-filled religions instead.  They love that pack mentality of believing that their group is holier over all others.  It is pure self-exaltation.  And what did Jesus say on that subject?

Matthew 23:12

And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Website: www.johncord.com

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Before America's Founding Fathers gave us the Constitution they were acutely aware that their new government could not invite the horrible problems that Europe had been suffering with separatist religion and its "God-anointed" kings, queens, emperors, kaisers and czars.  America's representative government and Freedom of Religion were setup to prevent that from happening.

Freedom of Religion is also about freedom from religion.  People do not want other's religions to rule over their lives.  Those that do not want other's religions pressing upon their lives should, in turn, not press their religion upon other's lives.  If our government stands by Freedom of Religion then why does it involve itself with religion, lifting one above the rest?  Why does it accept money from Christian lobbies?  Because Corporate Christianity rules over America, and has grown to become a political force to be reckoned with through the big money and lobbying power of the Moral Majority, the Christian Coalition, Catholic organizations and the Christian-Zionist group, C.U.F.I. (Christians United for Israel).

Corporate Christianity has been exploiting Jesus Christ for nearly nineteen centuries by denying His Way of Selfless Love for its greater love of selfish, separatist, fearful, superstitious, idolatrous, mystery-laden dogma.  Its biggest lie is Christ-idolatry—the easily-disproved teaching that only Christ-confessors or Christians go to Heaven and everyone else goes to Hell.  To better understand the roots of selfish or false religion within Christianity we must look back upon the State Religion of the Roman Empire, the early Roman Catholic Church.

Jesus was not a builder of worldly temples.  On the contrary, Jesus drew people away from the corrupt temple system in Jerusalem that had made a business of God's word for money, power and control.  He turned over the tables of the moneychangers, calling the temple a den of thieves.  He revealed that the forgiveness of sins comes not by religious ritual but by pouring out brotherly love, and that Heaven comes not by way of one's religion but by one's character personifying His Father's Spirit.  All these marvelous revelations were utterly ignored by the self-serving Roman Empire when creating its brand new Universal or "Catholic" Church, where every evil or sin could be absolved for only its members by way of submission to only its religious rituals.  Though Jesus told us that His Church was not made of stone—not a man-made thing of the world—but made of Spirit, this revelation did not stop the Roman Empire from constructing a system of great cathedrals, making a business of God's word to wield power and control over the people and rake in the dough.

The Roman Empire was the great enemy of Jesus from the beginning, slaughtering Jewish babies in an attempt to kill the newborn Jesus.  Three decades later, after approving and sealing Jesus' crucifixion, the Empire continued to persecute and kill His followers.  Finally, by the 4th century the persecution had grown so unpopular that not only had the Roman citizenry come to respect the faith of the longsuffering Christians, but were converting.  This shift, coupled with a waning Empire, presented Emperor Constantine with an opportunity to strengthen his pagan (polytheistic) realm under one religion, uniting its many peoples of many gods under just one god.  And so the Empire took Christ's Gospel for itself and then proceeded to kill it by instituting idolatrous, superstitious, mystery-filled dogma along with all sorts of graven imagery.  Roman Catholicism soon became the official religion of the Empire, fusing Church and State.  In the following century, after the Empire fell, its divide-and-conquer mentality remained alive and well in the Vatican, which enabled and condoned the Catholic conquering of peoples and nations of the world not with the Selfless Love of Jesus Christ, but with unparalleled thievery, brutality and bloodshed, making the Roman Catholic Church into what is arguably the wealthiest corporation on Earth to this day.

The biggest lie of Catholicism was that its members would have Heaven and everyone else, the "heretics," would burn in Hell.  This was not Christ's Message by a long shot.  In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus told us that He would rather we be heretics that pour out His Father's Spirit upon the world's sufferers than priests and religionists that do not.  He also told us that He shall not know us because we confess His name, but because we do His Father's will.  And what is the will of God?  That selfish humans should not perish, but should repent of their selfishness and walk The Way of Selfless Love by their own free will.  Now, how could the builders of Catholicism missed such crucial revelations?  Why would the Empire lie to the people?  Because it could not afford to cultivate passive men raised upon Jesus' Way of Love when it needed men who would kill upon order.  By guaranteeing the absolution of sins through the Catholic ritual of confession, Roman soldiers were released from suffering a troubled conscience for their brutality and bloodshed for the Empire.  This cleansing ritual was effectively no different from any of the many magical pagan rituals that had once also guaranteed the soldiers spiritual cleansing and peace in the afterlife.

The Roman Empire hated Christ from the time He was born to after He was crucified, persecuting and murdering His followers.  The Empire, unable to kill the faith of early Christians, stole it to serve itself.  The unholy Roman Empire made itself over as the Holy Roman Empire, headed by men who claimed to be chosen by the God of Abraham.  History has no shortage of humans claiming to be chosen or anointed by God in their quests for power and control over the people.

How would the world be different today if the "Mother Church" of Catholicism and its Vatican had taught and exemplified The Way, Truth and Life of Selfless Love instead of self-serving religion?  For starters, rituals guaranteeing Heaven would never have been created.  Christmas would not have been invented as a marketing tool to convert pagans.  The Protestant Reformation would never have happened, as it would not have been necessary.  History would not have unfolded to include Christian anti-Semitism, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the North Atlantic slave trade, the Civil War, World Wars I and II and the Holocaust.  The man-made "restoration of Israel" in 1947 would not have occurred—an event that was prophesied to be delivered not by the forced politics of man, as it happened, but by the Spirit of God.  The warring in the "holy land" continues and will likely spark another World War if the Jews, Christians and Muslims involved continue to refuse to at least follow their First Commandment, honoring God (Spirit of Selfless Love) before all else.

Dear friends, it has been nearly two months since my last blog, though I have signed-on several times to respond to comments and messages.  I have not answered all of them yet and am working on it.  Thank you for your patience and understanding, and for caring about me and my rather intense work.  I wish you love.

END OF PART ONE—Part Two shall pick up with Bill O'Reilly's biggest lie.

Last week on America Online there was a video snippet featuring Brent Jeffs, the nephew of infamous and now-imprisoned polygamist leader, Warren Jeffs of the FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints) Church.  Brent is a survivor of the famous "Lost Boys" story that was world news in the Summer of 2005.  The church's leader and "prophet" Warren Jeffs was not only raping young girls but also his nephew and other boys.  Hundreds of the boys were eventually exiled from the church and community.  Why?

Brent Jeffs (on ABC's Good Morning America, aired May 17, 2009):
These older men knew that if they pushed these young boys out of the town and out of the church, they'd have their chance to take on these young women, these underage girls.

Getting rid of the boys meant there were more underage girls for the older men, the lecherous pedophiles.  Brent Jeffs' story is back in the media because of his new book, "Lost Boy."  Children are abused in the name of religion all over this planet every day in ways not involving pedophilia.  Some grow up to teach the world to recognize and stop it.

Brent Jeffs (on ABC's Good Morning America, aired May 17, 2009):
I had to stand up, stand up for what's right for me, stand up for anyone that's been victimized by Warren or [stand up for] anybody who gets hurt like that.

Sexual abuse is not exclusive to smaller religious sects.  On April 26, 2002, ABC's 20/20 presented a segment about accused pedophile Father Marciel Maciel, the powerful Catholic leader and founder of the "League of Christ," an organization where Catholic boys, aged 10 or older, are trained to become priests and servants of the pope.  One of Father Maciel's eight sworn accusers, Juan Vaca, was responsible for bringing certain boys into Maciel's room at night for sex, sometimes two at a time.  Then came a point when young Mr. Vaca confessed to Father Maciel that he believed this sexual activity was sinful, saying, "But, Father, I think I committed a sin."  Father Maciel replied, "Don't worry.  I absolve you for your sin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Go in peace.  Don't worry about it.  Forget about it."  The eight men repeatedly informed the Vatican and finally, after years of no response, went public in 1997, shortly after which Pope John Paul II elected Father Maciel as the papal representative at a principal meeting of Latin American bishops.  The appalling crime against the eight victims saw Father Maciel being rewarded by the pope.

It seems Warren Jeffs and Father Maciel had a different take on "spare the rod, spoil the child," defining the "rod" as that thing between their legs.  The common interpretation of "spare the rod, spoil the child" is sickening enough, that God wants parents to beat their children.  Bill O'Reilly mentioned this recently.

Bill O'Reilly (on The O'Reilly Factor, FNS, aired May 18, 2009):
… it's more acceptable now to be a selfish parent.  Look, it's a tough one, because if you read my book, Bold Fresh (the exact title is A Bold, Fresh Piece of Humanity: A Memoir) my father was a tough guy.  Alright.  And so was my grandfather, and if you got out of line they'd whack you.  I don't like that.  I don't like the whackin' stuff.  Alright.  And the whackin' stuff—that happened a lot more forty years ago than it happens now.  It happens now, but then it was "spare the rod and spoil the child" and you can whack the kid anytime you want, so I think we've progressed on the positive sense.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "whack" as "to strike with a smart or resounding blow."  What man who calls himself a Christian—a follower of Jesus Christ—would whack his son with enough regularity that his son would later grow up and refer to that abuse as the "whackin' stuff?"  What Christian grandfather would whack his grandson?  Is the mentality of "spare the rod, spoil the child" a Biblical excuse for whacking a child?

We get the phrase "spare the rod, spoil the child" from Proverbs 13:24, which says, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth (corrects; instructs) him betimes (quickly)."  The rod is literally a stick or cane of wood, but does God really want us to beat children?  Of course not.

Consider Psalms 23:4:  Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  We know that every valley is naturally flanked by hills or mountains that cast shadows.  The valley with its meek landscape signifies the Spirit (Selfless Love).  The mountains that cast the "shadow of death" represent the exalted landscape of the anti-Spirit (selfishness).  Both "rod" and "staff" indicate the measuring stick of God or the governance of His righteous justice, which is as you sow, so shall you reap.

The spiritual substance of Psalm 23:4 is:  Though we walk The Way of Selfless Love ('through the valley') in a world overshadowed by selfishness ('shadow of death') we will not fear selfishness ('fear no evil') because the Spirit is with us ('thou art with me')—and we are comforted by the governance of righteous justice ('thy rod and thy staff') that promises that all shall reap what they have sown.

We are not to spare children the revelation of righteous justice and "spoil" them in unenlightenment.  We are to teach them how they are responsible for the things they do publicly and privately and that, ultimately, they shall reap what they have sown.  "Spare the rod, spoil the child" is not about beating children, but teaching them about sowing the seeds and reaping the fruits of Selfless Love instead of sowing and reaping selfishness.

When will the world realize that selfish religion is not the desire or creation of a God that is the Spirit of Selfless Love?  As long as victims tolerate and excuse the abuse, it will continue.  I cannot count the number of times I have been told by devout Christians to stop criticizing Christianity and its powerful leaders and to say only good things.  Just the other day one of my critics sent me this quote from the famous Catholic, Augustin:  Never judge a religion by its abuse.  Augustin is directing the world to accept and tolerate religious abuse by judging religion in every way except by its abuse.  Is it any wonder why the historically brutal, blood-soaked Catholic Church made this man into a saint?

Brent Jeffs was raised in a small Utah community and abused by the leader of a small and little-known Christian sect that now has about 10,000 members—the FLDS Church (http://www.apologeticsindex.org/f/f39.html).  He has written a book about his ordeal and stands up for anyone victimized by predators like his false prophet uncle.  Unlike Brent, I was raised in the most populated city center on Earth (Tokyo/Yokohama) and abused by the biggest Christian religion on Earth—the Catholic Church—with now over a billion members (http://www.adherents.com/adh_branches.html).  Tolerant followers of abusive religion, like "saint" Augustin, would prefer if abused children would grow up to be silent about it.

Humans are creatures of the mind.  The vicious cycle of abusive religion is a business run by a small number of people wielding power and control over a larger number of people.  Abusive religion begins with abusing children, as this is how the cycle continues.  Some of us children grow up to teach the world to recognize and stop the cycle.  Others grow up to teach the world to excuse and tolerate it.

June 15, 2005 article about the "Lost Boys":  http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=851753&page=1

"Lost Boy" by Brent Jeffs—Book Trailer hyperlink:  http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/lost-boy-by-brent-jeffs-book-trailer/18121691

Website: www.johncord.com

Phone Orders:  1-800-643-0765

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* Readers have permission to reproduce, distribute and use this material for non-commercial purposes provided attribution is given to author John Cord and Blue Dolphin Publishing, 2009.

There are plenty of book awards authors can try to win that require applications and fees.  I do not enroll in such award programs and have been particularly blessed that, now, both of my published books have received awards.

In 2004, my last book, The Christian Right or Wrong:  Exposing the Corrupt Teachings of Corporate Christianity and its Leading Media Evangelists was, to my surprise, nominated by The Stonewall Society, a GLBT group, for its 2005 Ethos Award.  It won, I think, because of its chapter on homosexuality that deconstructs the many Christian lies used to justify and build centuries of homophobia.  Someone advised me not to tell anyone, fearing an award from "a bunch of gays" would hurt my work.  The roots of homophobia run deep.  Naturally, I rejected that advice.

A few weeks ago, my newest book, Selfless Spirit, Selfish Ego: The Way to Everlasting Peace for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, was awarded the Book of the Month for May, 2009 by Bruce Robinson, creator of ReligiousTolerance.org.  Please check out his webpage featuring my book at http://www.religioustolerance.org/futurebooks.htm and take a look at the rest of his extraordinarily informative website, which features over 4,475 essays and menus.  The following, about Bruce Robinson, is excerpted from his site.

He is a graduate of the University of Toronto, class of 1959, with a BaSc (Bachelor of Applied Science) degree in Engineering Physics.  He worked for a large multi-national chemical company for 38 years before taking a "golden handshake" and early retirement during a company downsizing.  During his employment, he functioned as a specialist in the development of electronic instrumentation, as a computer programmer working in process computing, and as a group leader.  Technical writing formed a major part of his work assignment.

Bruce was born into a Baptist family in 1936 in Leaside, which at the time was a suburb of Toronto, ON, Canada.  The family switched to the United Church of Canada shortly thereafter. He had been fascinated by religion since his early teen years when he experienced a religious conversion from the "nominal" Christianity of his childhood to the Unitarian faith.  This interest in spirituality and religion continued into adulthood.  He was motivated to organize the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance in early 1995, after becoming convinced that religious intolerance was largely responsible for much of the hatred, mass murder and genocide in Bosnia, and in other world hot spots, like Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Cyprus, Macedonia, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Nigeria, the Philippines, etc.

Many visitors to www.ReligiousTolerance.org question our authors' theological credentials.  We explain that none of our staff have theological degrees.  We feel that a formal theological degree would be counter-productive in our work.  It would probably tend to bias our authors' understanding of religious matters in a liberal direction.  A Bible school diploma would also be counter-productive as it would bias us in a conservative direction.  Either would probably bias our authors in favor of Christianity and against other faith groups.

Advanced theological training is not needed for our work.  We are not theologians or religious innovators.  We are simply reporters on religion, spirituality, and ethics.  We do not create or promote new religious beliefs.  Rather, we explain all of the points of view which others teach on topics as varied as abortion access, equal rights for homosexuals, heaven and hell, God, Satan, and hundreds of other social and religious topics.  The science/engineering degree and industrial experience of our main author has equipped him with the skills that he needs to report the religious scene: logical, analytical thinking, and the ability to express thoughts clearly.

Many visitors to this web site have concluded that because Bruce has written many articles on Christianity, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Satanism, Wicca, homosexuality, and hoax therapeutic techniques that he must be a Christian, Mormon, Satanist, Wiccan, homosexual or therapist.  He is none of these.  His theological beliefs are Agnostic.  His religious affiliation is Unitarian Universalist (inactive).  His moral code follows the Ethic of Reciprocity (a.k.a. the Golden Rule).  His sexual orientation is heterosexual.  His marital status is married.  He has one grown daughter, two adult stepsons, and two granddaughters.

I am deeply grateful to Bruce for having chosen my newest book as his Book of the Month for May, 2009.  Here's to you, Mr. Robinson!  Thank you, sir.

I never had any interest in writing and never studied to be a writer.  My life changed one afternoon in June, 1994.  Before that moment, I would have laughed at the notion of writing books.  Five minutes later, I had begun on my first book and have not stopped writing since.  When no one would represent or publish my work, I self-published and did whatever marketing I could afford.  I tried and tried to find a publisher, year after year, and finally, in 2004, was presented with an opportunity through Blue Dolphin Publishing, a small publisher in Nevada City, California, about two hours from Reno.  So, there you have it.

My last book is the first book I was not able to buy marketing for, simply because I do not have the funds, yet somehow ReligiousTolerance.org found out about it.  If it is a thrill for authors to win awards that come after submitting applications and fees then I am beyond thrilled that Selfless Spirit, Selfish Ego has been unexpectedly honored by Bruce Robinson and his marvelous organization.

I joined MySpace almost 3 years ago.  I have more friends then I have ever had or imagined.  It means everything to me that you see the value of my work and have cared to comment and participate.  Thank you, with all my heart.

Website: www.johncord.com

Phone Orders:  1-800-643-0765

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* Readers have permission to reproduce, distribute and use this material for non-commercial purposes provided attribution is given to author John Cord and Blue Dolphin Publishing, 2009.

Lately, with all the hoopla over America turning into a Socialist nation, I have repeatedly heard one Biblical scripture used in association with Socialism—Genesis 4:9—which asks, "Am I my brother's keeper?"

Some Bible-believers make such a huge deal over this scripture, insisting it is used to sell Socialism.  Now, that would be all well and good if the definition of a Socialist society was firstly about the individual, personal responsibility of pulling one's own weight, paying one's own bills and not being a burden upon society, because that is the heart of the brother's keeper philosophy.

Being our brother's keeper is not about our government brokering our charity through taxes, but about the individual responsibility of not treading upon others.  After all, how can we be our brother's keeper if we will not (as opposed to cannot) even take care of ourselves?  First, we take care of ourselves.  The philosophy of being our brother's keeper is firstly about the personal responsibility of not treading upon others.  This is where charity begins.  It begins "at home."  It starts with YOU taking care of YOU.  This is not a message of selfishness, but common sense.  How would the landscape of charity change if every able human pulled his/her own weight, teaching their children to do the same?

The famous early American slogan, "Don't Tread On Me" rallies those who live their lives not treading upon others.  I will not live my life treading upon you and so, in turn, do not live your life treading upon me.   It is all about personal responsibility.  How can we be our brother's keeper if we are among those being kept?

Website: www.johncord.com

Phone Orders:  1-800-643-0765

Online Orders:  click here

* Readers have permission to reproduce, distribute and use this material for non-commercial purposes provided attribution is given to author John Cord and Blue Dolphin Publishing, 2009.

Last night, Joel and Victoria Osteen were guests on CNN's Larry King Live.

Larry King:
Recent polls show that twelve percent of Americans still believe Obama is a Muslim and thirty-five percent say they don't know his religion, but to most of them it don't matter.

Joel Osteen:
Well, it matters to me.  I can speak for myself.  It matters to me that I know he loves the Lord and, you know, I think it's important that he has convictions from his faith and so to me it matters when I am making my personal decisions.

Larry King:
Does it matter to you, Victoria?

Victoria Osteen:
Well, it does.  It matters to me, just like Joel said your personal decisions are usually based on your standard which you believe and so I think it does matter.  I believe he's a Christian though.  I do.

Why does Obama's religion matter to the Osteens?  Because they teach that only Christians go to Heaven, meaning that, by default, all non-Christians go to Hell.  In fact, near the end of the interview, on the subject of death, Joel says that "...my belief, as a Christian, is when we receive Christ as salvation, I mean, that gives us a guarantee for Heaven."  Osteen teaches nothing new here, as the mandatory ritual of Christ-confession is the central lie upon which Corporate Christianity is built.  It is by this ritual that many Christians like Osteen judge themselves to Heaven.  Is there any greater self-exaltation than to judge oneself to Heaven when none of us are God?  Yet Osteen happily kicks God off His Judgment Throne and sits his butt down instead.  Evidently, the great Texas preacher has not read or does not care about the fact that, per Christ, all who self-exalt shall be abased.

It is commonplace for humans to group together in exclusive religious clubs whereby only members of the club are holier or "saved" or effectively sinless over all other humans.  That is exactly what Joel Osteen preaches.  It is a total denial of Christ's Message, which should come as no surprise, as Corporate Christianity's teachings and Christ's Message are two different things entirely.

Later in the interview, Joel told Larry King that the Bible was "inspired by God," prompting Larry to ask Victoria the following.

Larry King:
Why do you believe it was inspired, Victoria?

Victoria Osteen:
Well, I was raised believing, you know, I was raised in a Christian home with Christian beliefs and it's like anybody who was raised, you know, that was put in me from early childhood and, you know, I've lived that to the best of my ability, the word of God, and it has just blessed my life.  It's been a great standard to live by, I think.  You know what?  It has put love on the inside of me.  It changes me.  It works for me.  It really does.

Really?  What about the two-thirds of humanity that were not raised in Christian homes?  Oh, that's right—they all go to Hell.  The ministry of Joel and Victoria Osteen exalts their kind to Heaven.  All the rest (non-Christians) go to Hell.  If that is "love on the inside" then Christ Himself wants none of it, as that is not His Father's Spirit of Love, but the selfish love of selfish humans enslaved to selfish religion.

Later in the interview, Joel said, "We're all about love and accepting other people and people of other faiths."

Osteen is not a follower or teacher of The Way of Christ, but a shallow Christ-idolater, which is substantively no different than Baal-worship or bowing before a golden calf.  How can Osteen love and accept "people of other faiths" when he teaches that non-Christians go to Hell?  Like Billy Graham and a multitude of false prophets, Osteen does not boldly speak the words, "All non-Christians go to Hell," but that is exactly the message being delivered when he teaches that only Christians (Christ-confessors) go to Heaven.

Osteen speaks out of both sides of his mouth, as do all false prophets.  The false prophet has "two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon," referring to double-mindedness (Revelation 13:11).  The most effective liars seem Christ-like ('like a lamb'), but propagate selfishness or anti-Spirit ('spake as a dragon').  On one hand, Osteen wants us to believe he loves and accepts people of other faiths yet, on the other hand, he teaches that they are all going to Hell.  The false prophet is a slick salesman for selfish religion.

On the subject of the recession and how people are getting depressed due to job and money losses, Osteen explains that "That's why we feel so strongly about just giving people hope [because] even at your lowest moment you never know what God can do.  He can turn any situation around, I mean, you can be just one night from gettin' the break you need, gettin' the job you want."

Osteen denies human free will, believing that we humans are pawns, caught in the crossfire of an invisible war between Satan and God.  Just as Satan manipulates our lives, so too does God, as Osteen reveals that God can turn any bad situation around for us.  Osteen's God is not the God of the Bible, but a selfish god that wants us humans to become self-exalted Christians who, when troubled, wait for Him to change their lives for them.

On the subject of stem-cell research, Osteen instructs that "we have to be careful and not play God and be compassionate and help mankind."  Really?  Osteen plays God every single day of his life, spreading the sinister lie that only Christians get Heaven.  It is because of his love for that lie that IT MATTERS to him that Obama is a Christian and not a Muslim.  If Osteen was a follower of the SPIRIT of Christ instead of a Christ-idolater he would judge Obama not by his religion, but by his character producing the fruits of Selfless Love.  And if our predominantly Christian government was run by followers of the SPIRIT of Christ then maybe we would not have a government overflowing with smarmy lobbyists, lying bankers and thieving tax-evaders.  Washington seems to have become a garden of weeds.

George Washington had it right when he said that "unless we learn to live as Christ lived, we would not be a happy nation."

When asked what is the toughest part of being a preacher's wife, Victoria answered, "Well, you know, you see a lot of hurting people, people who are hurting, and you want the very best for them.  You want to pray for them, and that's difficult."

Fabulously wealthy, Christian preacher-woman Victoria Osteen wants to pray for hurting people and has difficulty doing so.  Boo-hoo.  Osteen teaches that prayer is a ritual, but the Bible reveals it is a way of life that is about keeping the Selfless Spirit at the forefront of everything we think, say and do.  If it is difficult for Mrs. Osteen to ritually pray for them then she should get off her boney knees and do something, like write a check to help them out.

Joel and Victoria have written their own version of the Bible called The Hope For Today Bible.  Joel says his book is a "living translation of the Bible" and an "easy version to read" that contains his notes about particular scripture.

Larry King:
How did you come up with this idea?

Joel Osteen:
You know, as the ministry has grown, we've been doing this ten years now, we just thought, 'How can we make God’s word more applicable to people’s lives?' and I think a lot of the people that watch us maybe weren't raised in church or don't consider themselves religious and I wanted to provide a way to say, you know, 'read this passage, here’s some of my thoughts on it,' not that I’m the expert, but it may help them to understand it better.

Osteen's new version of the Bible is for folks who want an "easy read" written by a man whose ministry continues to deny The Way of Christ for its greater love of Corporate Christianity's separatist, fearful, superstitious lies.  If you do not believe me, read for yourself.  Here are hyperlinks to past blogs about the false (selfish) religion of mega-preacher Osteen.

Joel Osteen Talking in Circles (10-16-08)
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=109267452&blogID=441272519

Prayin' and Praisin' Superstition with the Osteens (11-12-07)
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=109267452&blogID=328035557

Not Too Late for Joel Osteen, America's Slickest Megapreacher (10-20-07)
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=109267452&blogID=320723692

Part 1 - Joel Osteen's Superstitious 'Firstfruits' (03-02-07)
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=109267452&blogID=236446142

Part 2 - Joel Osteen's Satan (03-06-07)
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=109267452&blogID=237903339

God Only Protects Christians - Mega-Preacher Joel Osteen (11-21-06)
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=109267452&blogID=196010455

Website: www.johncord.com

Phone Orders:  1-800-643-0765

Online Orders:  click here

* Readers have permission to reproduce, distribute and use this material for non-commercial purposes provided attribution is given to author John Cord and Blue Dolphin Publishing, 2009.

I have missed you, my friends, and I hope you and your families are well and happy given the tough times.  I regret my current schedule keeps me from spending more time on MySpace.  Thank you for coming to read my work.  I am writing this blog to continue upon the train of thought from my last blog, where we ended with the fact that the great leaders of Judaism, Christianity and Islam continue to lie to the world about the definition of "Jew" and "Gentile."  As far as the Bible is concerned, being a Jew or a Gentile has nothing to do with one's religion or ancestry.  A Jew is one who serves the living Spirit whereas a Gentile is one who serves the dead letter (literalism).

Jews are beacons of The Way of the Spirit, producing the fruits of Selfless Love over selfishness that others might see and follow.  A Jew does not accept or reject others by their religion (or lack of), but knows them by their character alive in the Spirit.  A Jew understands that the Good (God) Message is not about one's worldly religion, but about one's character.

Gentiles are the opposite.  Gentiles deny The Way of Selfless Love as being the way to God, instead teaching that Heaven comes to only those of their literal-based religion.  Gentiles judge themselves holier over all others, their lives anchored to the spiritual sickness of separatism, where everyone who is not a part of their worldly group is unholy or lesser in God or going to hell.  They teach that goodness has ultimately nothing to do with Heaven, but that Heaven comes to only those who perform their religious works, joining their holier-than-thou club.

Those among Jews, Christians and Muslims who are separatists are Gentiles as far as the Bible's Message is concerned.  The warring between these separatists never ends.  They all claim to be followers of the "true religion" of God, but have failed God miserably, as the One and True Religion of God is The Way of Selfless Love.  Either we live it or we don't, regardless of religion.

Where separatist Christianity is concerned, it does not matter how good or evil you are in the end, but whether or not you confess belief in Jesus Christ as your Savior.  Either you perform its religious work of Christ-confession, becoming a Christian, or you go to hell.

Jesus would not have been the Christ but for the Spirit in Him, per Romans 8:11, meaning that the substance of Christ is the Spirit.  Belief in Christ is not ultimately justified by saying, "I believe in Christ," as the Gentiles (literalists) insist, but justified by putting on the armor of God or "wearing" the substance of God, which is entirely about personifying His Spirit of Selfless Love.  By giving life to the Spirit, the Spirit is magnified within us.  It is by the Spirit within us that our souls are quickened unto Heaven.

Romans 8:9-11
9. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
God's Message is not about literal constructs of Jesus Christ, as the Gentiles insist, but about the SPIRIT of Christ alive within us.
10. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
The "Christ in you" is about the SPIRIT of Christ within you that is The Way of Selfless Love.  We humans have the evident, conscious, free-will ability to produce the fruits of unselfishness or selfishness, and to know the difference.  The Bible is telling us that those who produce the fruits of the Selfless Spirit magnify the Spirit or glorify the Christ within them, moving their souls towards Heaven (eternal Oneness with the Spirit).  Those who produce the fruits of selfishness "kill" the Spirit or crucify the Christ within them, moving their souls towards Hell (eternal separation from the Spirit).
11. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
We are quickened unto Heaven by the Spirit in us, not by the dead ritual of confessing "I believe in Jesus as my Savior."  How many crooks on Wall Street and in our government have said those words?  How many pedophile preachers have said those words?  How many rapists and murderers have said those words?  If people are taught to believe they are automatically "saved" by performing a religious ritual like confession then why bother building or bearing a Good (God) Conscience?  If you've got religious rituals to get you off the hook of personal responsibility, guaranteeing Heaven, then why not lie or cheat or steal or rape or murder or diddle little children if you are desiring to do so and think you can otherwise get away with it?

By any other name, "Jesus Christ" is The Way, Truth and Life of the Spirit of Selfless Love.  All who choose the Spirit shall be chosen by the Spirit.  God will not be mocked, for as you sow, so shall you reap (Galatians 6:7).  Those who build the Spirit outwardly, producing the fruits of Selfless Love over selfishness, shall be builded (magnified) in the Spirit inwardly.  It is precisely the building of the Spirit within us that quickens our souls to Heaven (as given above, in Romans 8:11).  This is what "belief in Christ" is ultimately about.  Those who build the Spirit of Selfless Love (Spirit of Christ) over selfishness are the true believers in Christ, regardless of religion.

Jesus reveals in His Parable of the Good Samaritan that He would rather we be heretics who pour out Selfless Love instead of priests and religionists who do not.  His Message is not about one's religion, but about one's character yet, after nearly seventeen centuries, Corporate Christianity still refuses to teach this glaringly evident revelation.

Jews, Christians and Muslims who breed separatist (holier-than-thou), fearful, superstitious religion are not loving and building Spirit ('God'), but loving and building selfishness (anti-God; 'Satan'), which brings us to the topic of the "mark of the beast."

As earlier explained, belief in Jesus Christ is not ultimately justified by literal belief through Christ-confession, but by producing the fruits of Selfless Love, as that is the substance or spiritual meat of Jesus Christ.  Likewise, the "mark of the beast" is not ultimately about being branded with some literal mark, but about producing the fruits of religious separatism, as that is the substance of the "mark."  The mark of the beast is all about religious separatism.  It is the great tool of Satan and his coming anti-Christ, according to the Book of Revelation.

We see how Christianity, Judaism and Islam are built upon religious separatism.  The Book of Revelation predicts that one man (popularly called the 'anti-Christ') will rise to secure power and control over most the world.  The hallmark of the anti-Christ is separatism, as is the hallmark of selfish religion, where the "good" or "saved" are separated from the "evil" or "unsaved" by way of some empty ritual or work.  The mark of the beast is all around us throughout the history of man's religions.  The mark of the beast utilized by separatist Christianity is Christ-confession.  Either you take the mark, confessing belief in Jesus, becoming a Christian, or you are "unsaved" and going to hell.  Separatist Judaism and Islam also draw such a line in the sand, so to speak, where everyone on Earth is "unclean" or "unholy" except those on their side of the line.  However that line of demarcation is manifested, it is substantively the mark of the beast and purely false religion, as we are not "made holy" unto God by religious works, but by our character producing the fruits of His Spirit.

There are Jews, Christians and Muslims all over the world that practice their religion in private, never thinking for a moment that non-members are lesser in God or going to hell, let alone teaching such lies.  Then there are the rest of them—the ones who love those lies, who get some sort of sick comfort by judging their kind to Heaven and everyone else to Hell.  Be not deceived—religious separatism ('mark of the beast'), not politics, is ultimately the source of the never-ending warring between Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Are you branded with the mark of religious separatism?  Do you even care?  Do you see how religious separatism is substantively the mark of the beast, and is the great tool used by those who deny The Way of Selfless Love?

For more about the mark of the beast, here is the hyperlink to my blog titled, Six-Six-Six, from October 13, 2006: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=109267452&blogID=179804704.

Website: www.johncord.com

Phone Orders:  1-800-643-0765

Online Orders:  click here

For an Index of hyperlinks to John Cord's blog titles:  click here

* Readers have permission to reproduce, distribute and use this material for non-commercial purposes provided attribution is given to author John Cord and Blue Dolphin Publishing, 2009.