The Ten Kings of Revelation 18

[illbill]

This essay relates Bible prophecy to real world occurances. Interesting read.

http://www.realopinion.com/realboards/showthread.php?t=244

[liberal N proud]

1. It always makes me skeptical when people are always trying to put

current or recent events into Bibilical prophecy.
I always find it self serving, they want the end to happen on their time.
This sort of thing has been done time and time again always with a slant that favors the opinion of the writer.
I read these things with caution.

[greyfox]

2. If the shoe fits....

however... maybe we better wear it?

[illbill]

3. I do as well...

[Deja Q]

4. My wiener has a first name too. It's O-S-C-A-R.

Life is what we make of it.

Those in power think that they'll manipulate events to make an ancient big blue book of fairy tales appear like reality. It'll scare people into submission. And that's what they want to do. Makes controlling them easier.

Problem is, fear when overplayed leads to drastic consequences, of which those pulling the strings never get proper justice for. All the blame is put onto those who crack because of the instilled fear.

Okay, it's also equally possible that Revelations is true in spirit. And there are some surprising comparisons that do rather ring true. And I have a knack for being fatuous. But what if those in power are trying to make it look like a parallel prematurely? (Revelations speaketh of no time. Why would it be 2005 instead of 2065?)

[Nightwing]

5. Not a fundie

With all due respect to those that don't believe in God, make no mistake in understanding that we are in an age in which Tribulation, brought on by George W Bush, is upon us.

I'm Roman Catholic and take my faith seriously but I am not one of those radical far right Catholics that bow to this administration at every opportunity. The way I see it is this; Those that are supposed to know better don't. And that applies to EVERY Christian based religion.

Blasphemy is rampant these days but I will not judge people propping up Bush as the second coming. That is for the Almighty to do.

[ET Awful]

7. Mmmhmmm, and there were times of tribulation brought on by

King Richard he started the Crusades too.

[Nightwing]

8. No argument there

There have been several instances where many items of the times led people to believe that they were also in tribulation. However, at no time in history has there been as many signs as there are now. At war with Persia (Iraq/Iran), the king of the east (China/North Korea), the emergence of the anti Christ (GWB), wonders in skies, earthquakes, severe weather related disasters, various plagues around the globe, famine, the reemergence of a new roman empire (the EU), wars and rumors of war.

But that is my belief and I respect yours.

[illbill]

9. .

By no means are these my views. I just posted them because they are of interest to a lot of people.

GWB the anti-christ? Hook me up with what you're smoking. After the Repubs win yet again in 2008, Bush will be forgotten and harsher problems will lay ahead for Dems and the World in general.

[ET Awful]

11. Mmmmhmmmmm, all of those things existed during the Crusades

In fact, they've existed throughout history, all it took was anyone who was trying to make events fit their preconceived notions to stand up on a pulpit and yell THIS IS THE END.

I'll base my beliefs on evidence, rather than on derivative legends modified by people throughout history to fit their needs of the time.

[Skidmore]

6. No wonder I couldn't find tin foil for my Holiday ham.

Bill needs a life.

[sam sarrha]

10. Jewish scholars long ago Identified the "John" who wrote the revelation as

as a political commentator that lived about 80 years after the death of Jesus. it was not written by the John in the bible.

the interwoven metaphor's of the revelation are actually code of the time to veil the subject from the Romans who were quick to feed dissenters to the lions.

the 'revelation' is a political Rant about the persecution of new Christian movement by the Romans.

the Prophecies you see in it are just float-sum and jetsam of your mind that bobs just below the surface...it is just turds and i flush that crap. You are just brainwashed by fear mongers and puppet masters for their own purposes.. to make money and have power and influence over others.. and they find the products of our public and private religious schools RIPE for the picking.

i grew up in the Free Holiness Pentecostal Church.. i now see them as fundamentalist extremists. I had Revelation crammed down my throat in Sunday School from the time i was five years old till i escaped on my 18th birthday... that all they taught Revelations and romans.. and maybe twice a year Acts.

as far as Prophecy in the bible of the neoFundamentalists.... I am really confused how they so blindly embrace Mysticism and burn the books of the pagans and heathens who are not even nearly so Freek'n OFF THE WALL in their mysticism which is Melina older than yours and teaches compassion, peace and cooperstion..which is why the propagandists want to destroy them. yours is a Death Cult... "Every body is going to die and burn in hell for ever at the return of the King, the Man god, except me and the other CHOSEN.. the special true believers of a really serious misconception and distortion of the truth in the face of overwhelming evidence.

I have Issues about this subject.. i was the victim of psychological emotional and physical abuse, Nothing Less than torture, for years in the church and at home concerning the church that insincerity harps on this fraud. the early fathers int the ecumenical councils over the centuries knew of the history of revelations but left it in because you never know when you might need a scary bedtime story to scare the sheep into submission. do some research on the councils of the early church ..keeping in mind the totalitarian feudal nature of the times.

i dint feel it is a good this movement is a healthy thing, it is not the teachings of the Christ.. it is a Freek'n dream...a nightmare in a period of history where LIFE was a Nightmare !! It has become a Death cult, my brothers life has been ruined because of this crap. he has lost his entire Executive retirement thru the influence of these charlatans.

Christ taught one thing the Peace that one finds through total love.

actually if you want to really understand what he was talking about read some Drama. Buddhism was being carried around the Silk Road Trade Route that went "Right thru Palestine". I never could understand how Jesus developed such a Radical Liberal Philosophy being a Jew of that time... if you know anything about Buddhism it is obvious that Jesus was influenced by the teaching of Siddhartha, which at that time were 1,500 years old and were carried abroad thru the Silk Road. apparently he didn't get a complete copy of the Dharma, if he had the world might be a very different place.

i wish you well, i hope you find a practice that makes you a more compassionate person. Remember Revelation isn't the teaching of Jesus. it does not teach peace.. it is not positive.

my favorite Quote, "A negative thought continues and increases exponentially until replaced by a positive thought, however the positive thoughts must be cultivated." HHDL

the propagandists in the chruch and in politics know this well and use it on people like you and my brother.. start worry and fear and FAN the FLAMES...make money, get power and 'things'. keep them unhappy and afraid.. but motivated by the righteous belief that they are special for believing in the thing that that makes themselves and others unhappy.. not what the Christ taught..that isn't Christian..it is the work of the devil.

[Skidmore]

12. Well said, Sam.

I hear, and understand. Your experiences and mine are very similar, and it appears that we have arrived at the same understanding of things spiritual.

[sam sarrha]

15. Samsara in Buddhism Means "Tribulation", it is a world of 'Suffering'

Samsara is the world of suffering or unhappiness, desire, aversion, jealousy, anger, hate, even love if you are attached to it...

The Buddha said that the way out of suffering is basically just living a good positive life..the 8 fold path, while learning to train the mind. the Tibetans have developed the system over the last 1,400 years into a system called the Lojong, or the Seven Point Mind Training.

it develops a focused mind, where the propagandists and puppet masters use the antithesis to disturb the mind and lead it astray by attaching discursive and destructive negative emotions to words.. the Reich wing has done this amazingly well on the word liberal. redefined and demonized the fundamental principal of Democracy in about 10 years, which is the belief that change should come through the democratic constitutional process of fair elections and laws that are fair and protect the rights of all citizens.

[UTUSN]

17. Great Info and Perspective, Sam. Thanks.

You just clarified more for me than just about anybody over years. Thanks.

[theblasmo]

13. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Those of us who don't believe in this stuff are really worried about the people who do. They've been able to make connections like this for thousands of years, and have always been wrong. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop them from trying to make everyone else's lives be "touched" by their beliefs, almost all of which can be proven wrong with a conversation with an unbiased religious historian. 666? Numerical code for Nero Caesar. You can thank those people who've slapped narratives onto everyday events for their own benefit, such as good ol' Hal Lindsey and Pat Robertson, for providing yet another simple solution to the anomie of American life: don't worry, at some point you -- who have proved yourself more worthy than others by following our code -- and many other Americans will be saved by God. Note that the "American" bit is the scariest part, since they've been able to tie their own mytholgy up with American mythology. This is not what Roger Williams meant when he said that line about a "City on a Hill." That means several thousand people are trying to CREATE the conditions that would bring about the end of the world, since they do not perceive it to be the end. Now those people -- and a group that's more than willing to take advantage of them -- are in control of the most powerful nation on the planet. Fear for us, people.

[sam sarrha]

16. that is the way the world works, your mind latently creates your reality

.. bad Karma is what happens when you influence other people to with you on your bad acid trip into Hell.

in my Buddhist practice book there is a 'Declaration" that goes like this..
-------------------------
"From beginning-less samsara, in this and other lives, i have unwittingly committed many non-virtues or caused others to do the same.
Bewildered by the confusion of my ignorance, i have rejoiced in my own and others non-virtue. Seeing these mistakes, I declare all tho you protectors from the depth of my heart."
-----------------------------


i really like that part.. It is what helped me to quit drinking.. it helped me with the guilt and shame of 30 years of being an asshole obnoxious drunk.. which i found to be the major obstacle to sobriaty.. it also helps socially to stay positive, lacking the social skills that most people developed during the 30 i was only involved in aquiring and consuming alcohol.

after 3 years of attening 2 Dhama class a week and saturday meditation classes, and monthly meditation retreats..... i sitting was in a group meditation and had a "revelation" myself....

I realized that Buddhism was a lot like an A.A. Meeting for people Addicted to Conventional Thought.

[ET Awful]

14. What I've always wondered is this . . .

If "God" is omnipotent, and man offended him through sin, why is it necessary for "God" to have his "only begotten son" massacred in orderr to gain forgiveness for mankind?

If "God" is really omnipotent and all powerful, is it not well within his ability to forgive WITHOUT having to have his son tortured and killed?

It creates a bit of a paradox. If he's all powerful, then his forgiveness is his to give, and doesn't require anyone (especially his own son) to suffer and die to earn it. So explain to me why someone who is all powerful needs to go through all the trouble.

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. A good old-fashioned conspiracy rant

against the usual suspects that tells you nothing (apart from a few made up 'facts', like Russia being the permanent chairman of the UN). It treads the edge of being anti-semitic (it's against Jewish bankers, rather than all Jews, as far as I can see).

But at the end, you get what might have been the point of the whole sorry activity:

"Take a look at the 7 goals of the Illuminati, CFR, Bilderbergers and UN members:
...
5. Abolition of inheritance by raising high inheritance taxes"

Yes, the whole thing may be a desperate right wing attempt to con a few more fundamentalists and gullible people into voting against inheritance taxes, since they're the work of the devil. It's a pile of crap, from start to finish.