Christian Anarchy is the only sensible answer...

[ChristianAnarchist]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_have_been_considered_deities

I guess I should have qualified my statement by meaning any major religion.  I know there are many people (many in assylums) who make claims that they are God or a god or Jesus Christ.  A small following of 100-1000 people do not to me indicate any real trend towards acceptance.  Acceptance is not always a good qualification, but in order to narrow down the field, we have to have some way to rule out those which would be deemed by most as just "colorful" characters...

Now I know we now have a problem in defining what is a "major" religion or what amount of followers deserves examination in detail.  In this regard I really don't know where to start - 1000? 10000?? More??

[ReverendRyan]

OK then.... How about:

Haile Selassie (700,000)
Sun Myung Moon (2 million)
Sathya Sai Baba (10 million)
Guan Yu (850 million)
Krishna (1 billion)

[ChristianAnarchist]

OK then.... How about:

Haile Selassie (700,000)

Other than wiki, could not find a good link to what rastafarians believe.  Please provide.

Sun Myung Moon (2 million)

He can't be all bad iin my opinion having been convicted of tax fraud and "conspiracy" (I thought there were no conspiracies...)

The following quote from the unification church web site seems to indicate that he is not Jesus or God but rather God's "champion"...

"I believe that Rev. Moon is the one anointed by God as His champion to eliminate evil and to establish the reign of God on Earth. Jesus visited Rev. Moon as a 15 year old boy..."

Sathya Sai Baba (10 million)

The following from their web site likewise does not seem to promote him as God incarnate...

"Sathya Sai Baba is a highly revered spiritual leader and world teacher, whose life and message are inspiring millions of people throughout the world to turn God-ward and to lead more purposeful and moral lives. His timeless and universal teachings, along with the manner in which he leads his own life, are attracting seekers of Truth from all the religions of the world. Yet, he is not seeking to start a new religion. Nor does he wish to direct followers to any particular religion. Rather, he urges us to continue to follow the religion of our choice and/or upbringing."

Guan Yu (850 million)

I was able to find many references to his historial significance as a general but nothing about his role as "god".  If you can help me out here with a link that would be nice.  Being married to a Chinese I will say that the Chinese have many historical characters who are looked at more along the lines of "Superman" or other super heros with super powers (kung fu) but not as "God" himself...

Krishna (1 billion)

Does appear to be believed one of many "gods" of a family of "gods" in that particular religion.  Perhaps the most "Christ like" of any religion.  I will look into this more...

[ReverendRyan]

Not trying to argue with ya, just saying there are other people that can fit your parameters. I would definitely say hinduism is the most christ-like of the most mainstream religions. In fact, early christian missionaries had a hard time in India because hindus were more than willing to accept that Jesus was the son of god or god in human form, they just thought it was silly that it was a one-time occurrence. Hinduism is a monotheistic religion: all forms of god are manifestations of the one god, just like the christian trinity. There are just sects that disagree on which form is "the" one god. I encourage you to look into it more, you'll find more similarities than you'd expect.

Moon, on the other hand, believes he is basically the second form of Jesus, on earth to finish what jesus didn't. His followers believe this but downplay the godman concept for more mainstream acceptance. after all, they say he is "the one anointed by God" and "christ" means "annointed." And as far as "conspiracy" that makes him pretty christlike, doesn't it? After all, that was pretty much Jesus' trumped-up charges wasn't it?

[ChristianAnarchist]

I actually find many interesting similarities to the "One God" and early Confucianism.   Confucius in his early writings spoke of the "one God" and the "Creator" very much as the Jewish God and Father of Jesus.  This is one of the reasons that I accept SOME of what each culture has to offer as I believe the reality of the Creator has become manifest in pretty much every culture that ever existed...

Current stats for this thread = 1431 posts (add about an additional 300 deleted) and 11292 views...

[Bill Brasky]

I like Amish people.  Not that I know a whole bunch of 'em, but they seem to have their heads on straight.  They've got their whole little Amish thing goin' on. 

Most of 'em live about a hundred miles from here (me), hard workers.  They could build a house like a motherfucker. 

They dont like voodoo modern stuff, no biggie.  They do okay.

I'd rather fire up my truck and honk down the highway for groceries and a pack 'o smokes. 

We're both right, 'cause nobodys wrong in this equation. 

[bonerjoe]

In a free society individuals should be allowed to choose how to live their lives. I believe the Amish have adapted a way of life that exemplifies personal responsibility and the freedom found in Capitalism.

Ever see "Devil's Playground"? It's interesting if you haven't.

"Devil's Playground
Guide Rating -

Rumspringa refers to the Amish rite of passage which begins when an Amish child reaches 16 years of age, and continues until they decide whether or not they want to join or leave the Amish church. It is the subject of Lucy Walker's debut effort as a documentary film maker in "Devil's Playground."
At sixteen, the Amish are permitted to leave the community and explore what they refer to as the "English World" and the adults in the community call the "Devil's Playground." An Amish person is not baptized as a child, but as a young adult, when they are called uponto make one of the most important decisions of their lives.
"Devil's Playground" follows several teens through their experiences during rumspringa, but the main focus is on Faron, the son of an Amish preacher. When he is exposed to the world "outside," he becomes addicted to crank, or crystal meth. He ends up dealing to support his habit, and hooks up with an "English" girlfriend. He acknowledges that he will probably have to say good by to her when he rejoins his community, which from the beginning of his Rumspringa never seems to be in doubt. Faron frequently says that he believes in the Amish church, it's a good religion, and makes two attempts to get off the drugs, knowing he must if he is going to return "home." "

[ChristianAnarchist]

I like Amish people.  Not that I know a whole bunch of 'em, but they seem to have their heads on straight.  They've got their whole little Amish thing goin' on. 

Most of 'em live about a hundred miles from here (me), hard workers.  They could build a house like a motherfucker. 

They dont like voodoo modern stuff, no biggie.  They do okay.

I'd rather fire up my truck and honk down the highway for groceries and a pack 'o smokes. 

We're both right, 'cause nobodys wrong in this equation. 

I have to admit that I like my modern toys, but I feel that our ultimate destruction will be from technology (or rather the misuse of it).  When I worked on the "Z-pinch" at UNR we had a discussion on the history of the machine and the first time this thing was fired, there was speculation that the dense magnetic field created by it might start a tiny singularity (black hole) that would instantly drop through the bottom of the chamber and head for the center of the planet and beyond.  It would eventually reach the other side of the planet and reverse direction.  It would continue to do so for perhaps several years constantly eating up matter and growing until the planet starts to self-destruct (along with us).  Of course the reasonable thing to do in a situation where "pressing a button" just might destroy the planet is of course to press it and see it the planet is destroyed (not), but that's exactly what they decided to do.  Fortunately, that machine is not capable of creating a singularity and so far, none of our machines can.  Some day however...

[ladyattis]

There are no naked singularities. In fact, singularities are not even a natural phenomena, they are mathematical artifacts of faulty assumptions.

--  Bridget

[bonerjoe]

Tiny singularity...isn't saying "tiny" sort of redundant?

[Timothy]

Why would I say that Christian Anarchy is the only sensible answer...

Well, if you're Christian to begin with, yes, that would make sense.

5.  Since they have no legitimate power, we are already living in anarchy, you just don't know it.

So, we would replace the fictional authoritarian government with a fictional authoritarian God?

[ladyattis]

Tiny singularity...isn't that an oxymoron?

Yes, because singularity means an infinitely small point in which all known rules of spacetime do not apply. Normally it has a temperature exceeding any known heat source as well.

-- Bridget

[ChristianAnarchist]

5.  Since they have no legitimate power, we are already living in anarchy, you just don't know it.

So, we would replace the fictional authoritarian government with a fictional authoritarian God?

No, I propose that we replace a fictional authority with a legitimate (and personal) authority - our Creator).  Now whether He exists is really not for us to make real or fiction.  He either does exist or He does not.  What we personally believe does not change that fact.  Now if He is indeed a real entity (as I believe in my personal reasoning) then of course He HAS ultimate authority over us no mater what our opinion is.  Proving His existance is not currently within our realm (maybe will never be) but neither can one rule out the possibility of his existance.  I like "A Brief History Of Time" by Hawking in that he really lays out that point in his book better than I ever could.  I suggest reading it.

[ChristianAnarchist]

Since Danielle asked me to explain how I can ignore what the "gov" says when it appears in the Bible that we have been instructed to "obey", I decided the proper place for that explanation is in this thread.  Now if you don't want to read it, it's your choice to click on something else. 

"Obeying Authority"

The following passage in Romans makes it appear that we really must do what bushy boy and Kim-Jung-Il tell us to...

Romans 13:1  ¶Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
5  Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6  For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7  ¶Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

Now we have us a delema.  Jesus has told us to obey God.  Now Paul tells us to obey Kim.  Why the conflict??

The early Church had Rome to contend with.  I believe that statements like the above were written in such a way to appear to tell the followers to obey the authorities while really not (a kind of "coded" message to the believers).  If you examine the subject of the passage, it's"higher powers" and "rulers". 

Acts 5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Here it becomes necessary to use some resoning to determine why there appears to be a conflict. In Acts 12:4 Peter gets help from God to excape from prison.  Why would God get himself in trouble with the "authorities" by helping someone defy the "powers" if He wants us to obey them?  There was another time Paul makes haste to get away from "them" as well.

I believe that the "powers" and "rulers" are not of this world, but the next.  I don't see how one can obey two masters (Matthew 6:24) so I have determined in my mind that there is nowhere that any letters from the early Church teachers (New Testiment) tell us to obey any institution of men.  There are many examples where the early Church DEFIED the institutions of men.

These "powers" and "rulers" have certian qualities.  They are the the "minister of God" and they are "not a terror to good works, but to the evil".  So we have an indication by their actions that the "gov" cannot possibly be who Paul is talking about.  Now if you can show me that bushy boy or Kim are "ministers of God" and that they are "not a terror to good works, but to the evil" then you got me.  I'll have to move to North Korea because Kim makes a better dictator...

[ReverendRyan]

A bump is a bump, no matter the length of the post. Give it up.