Jim R

Thank you Brother Rog, I looked up Jeep's posts and explored some of the links you supplied. Before I settled into the course I spent hours and hours exploring criticisms of ACIM. I entered into the course not beleiving or at least doubting that Jesus had dictated ACIM. It was only after some time in ACIM that I understood that truly its author is Jesus. Like Marcus Borg I think too much emphasis in traditional Christianity is put on believing and not enough on experiencing and knowing. Some don't believe that ACIM is divine in its origins they just practice its spiritual psychology and find it a good guide to life. If ACIM is not for you, then so be it, it is not for you. Many feel a spiritual hunger though that the Bible doesn't always meet. They need another point of reference to approach sprirituality. Those are the people that may need ACIM. The Bible became much more relevant for me AFTER a couple of years in ACIM.

I am a big fan of " A Course in Miracles'. I know there is at least one other member out there who is also, maybe "Mystictrek"? I foresee the day when a new kind of "progressive Christianity" will be the "survivor" faith in our culture and " A Course in Miracles" will be referenced by many of these progressive survivors. " A Course in Miracles' will be an "extra-biblical" authority just as The Book of Mormon is to Mormons and the Talmud and Mishnah is to Jews. As I have studied Borg, and Spong, and Fox, I have came to realize that what 'A Course in Miracles" teaches is in their writings too. The Course is in the Bible, too. Actually before discovering "A Course in Miracles" I had pretty much given up on the Bible and what seemed to be its mixed message. It was only after becoming a student of ACIM (A Course in Miracles) that I was able once again to see the love and the truth in the Bible. Only after ACIM, was I able to understand Borg, and Fox, and Spong. I am not saying, by the way, that everyone needs to study ACIM. They do not. However some do.If you asked me to define my spirituality, I would say that exoterically I am a progressive, non-traditional Christian, who ascribes to a non-literalist metaphysical interpretation of the Bible, and esoterically and mystically I study a path defined by a work called "A Course in Miracles" . "A Course in Miracles" was written by Jesus and scribed by a woman named Helen Schucman.The book itself is published by A Foundation for Inner Peace. It has a lengthy text, a workbook, and a teacher's manual. The text is very biblical like in its writing though much more consisitent in content and theme. The workbook is 365 lessons, one a day, that brings the student into a new reality and a new consciousness, step by step, by undergoing a reversal in thought process.(I was a dull student and took a year and a half to do my lessons). ACIM is very psychological as well as spiritual in its content. In this, it is more like Eastern religion,especially Buddhism,than traditional Christianity.Although,some of the more disciplined Catholic orders, such as the Jesuits, have their spiritual "exercises" so the mind training isn't without precedent. The Teachers manual is for those who would teach the course, though I would recommend it as a good synopsis of the course. If your Jesus is dead and "up there" some where, very far removed, this would make no sense whatsoever. However, if your Jesus is very much alive and lives in you heart, and the mind and heart of others, then such a phenomena as " A Course in Miracles" could exist. If something is still missing in your spiritual study, try "A Course in Miracles'. If the Bible just isn't enough, or you need something else, try the course. If you are satisfied, and your spiritual hunger has been met, then good for you and you do not need the course. There are actually several schools of thought out there already,and I recomend "The Circle of Atonement" as a school to study the course. I put this under "Other Wisdom Traditions" and will not project my beleifs about ACIM into other forums , so I hope no one feels this is inappropriate for this site.

Jutan, I dislike mel Gibson and "Passion of the Christ" so much that I forgot to welcome you . Flowperson did a nice job of welcoming you,though. I have only been around a few months myself so I will have to adjust to the idea that to a new person, I might represent the forum. Yes I think Jesus was God's Son, both human and divine, and so am I and so are you.I don't beleive, he is God the Creator, he is God's creation.We both use the same Bible and see different things. I see "Equality (with God) is not a thing to be grasped","The Kingdom of God is within" and when asked about miracles he was performing , Jesus said we could do this and more if we had faith. It is my job to be "Christlike" and achieve what Jesus did. Jesus "shows me the way", and Buddha and others were "way showers" too. I choose Jesus to show me my path. we are all God's children. God doesn't want to murder any of us. As far as sin goes, there are no sins only mistakes. We don't need to ask God for forgiveness,because there is nothing to forgive. We were created perfect by a perfect being. God is love. The hateful male God in the sky that punishes and burns people up and had his Son brutally murdered after telling us that "Thou Shalt not Kill' is a God created by man. He is a God made in our own image, murderous, vain, jealous, and unpredictable. The message of traditional Chritianity is insane. For even after having sent his son to be murdered for sins that I hadn't committed yet, I still have to believe x,y, and z or receive certain sacraments or He is still going to burn me in hell for eternity. So if I get burned in hell for eternity anyway beacuse I din't believe x,y. and z, then Jesus didn't really die for my sins, did he? Using that model I would still get punished for eternity for not having the correct "point of view". Jesus gave us two great commandments, the Hebrew Bible has ten, and the entire scripture is basically about the golden rule, yet traditional Chritianity tells me God is going to murder me anyway becasue I don't have the 'correct point of view" or I don't talk in tongues or I don't perform the correct sacraments. It is all nonsense. it is all man made. Made by a man who hates and fears God. I love God. God loves me. He is not going to murder me and he didn't murder Jesus. People murdered Jesus, not God. True freedom in Christ is knowing that God is all love and realizing you have nothing to fear.

Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" was a sadistic bloody awful Hollywood nighmare creep show sold as "religious" and produced and directed by what had to be a twisted and sick mind. It reflects everything that is wrong with fundamentalist Christianity and reinforces the idea of "human sacrifice". I reject the notion that a blood thirsty 'Father' set up his son for execution and a bloody murder for the sins that I hadn't committed yet.When we see those old movies where the natives or primitives have to sacrifice a virgin to the volcano God, we think that is pretty wild and an ancient ignorant idea. But yet the same idea of blood sacrifice to appease an angry punishing male God in the sky is the cornerstone of fundamentalist Christianity. Jesus went to the cross because he taught compassion for the poor,helped the disenfrachised,fed the hungry, and defended the outcasts. The religious powers and the governmental powers saw him as a threat and executed him,just like Martin Luther King and Gahndi were killed. 30 to 100 years later his followers had to explain the crucifiction in the only way they knew, so they made it an analogy to the ancient Jewish idea of the lamb for sacrifice on passover. Mel gibson just exploited the whole idea with a sick movie. By the way, I hear Apocalypto" is even sicker and bloodier with even more human sacrifice. Do you think Mel Gibson might have a few issues to deal with? Some issues surrounding God and blood sacrifice that accompany his substance abuse and paranoria? Only the difference between him and you and I is he has the money to put his torment out there on the screen. Also, what does that say about our society that we are flocking to see "Apocalyto" in droves?

Bill, I think a lot of Progressives anf Latinos want a good strong border and a humane immigration policy. In the 2004 election Kerry gave a speech in Arizona where he said he was basically going to have a liberal border crossing policy and his ratings among Latinos went down. Constant waves of improversished immigrants. guest worker programs, and un documented workers keep wages down, and the biggest victims of this wage depression are other Latinos. A sane immigration policy and strong well patrolled border is good for all. Big Brother can't spell it out for you, but winning in Iraq is control of oil production. If Iraqi oil were flooding the market now prices would be depressed and there would be more good old fashioned capitalist competition. The Republicans don't want that. They want maximum profit for their home boys, the big oil companies. (Watch now as gas prices start to rise. Big oil didn't want you mad at their fellow gangsters when you went to the polls. Big Brother media will give you another spin, but it is no coincidence.) Nobody wants to send their child off to die for good "geo-political' postioning and the profit margins of big oil. But if Iraq is lumped in with the "war on terror" suddenly it becomes much more heroic. Lets use an European analogy to explain what happened in Iraq. On 9/11 we are attacked by a right wing extremist Catholic group, consiting mostly of European Latins. 15 of the attackers were from France, 2 from Italy, and two from Portugal .So we attacked Spain, who had absolutely nothing to do with the attack. But we don't like the leader of Spain and we want to control the oil production in Spain. But what the hell, they are all European, they are all Latins, and they are Catholic countries. Americans would be outraged over the stupidity and heavy handedness of such logic. Yet, that is exactly what we did in Iraq. I am overjoyed that John Dingell, John Conyers, Henry Waxman, Dennis Kucinich, Nancy Pelosi, and Barbara Boxer are poised to take positions of power.And Vermont sent Bernie Sanders to the Senate! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray ! WWJT?(Who Would Jesus Torture?)

Open Letter to the Newly Elected Democratic Congress Hello, my name is Joe Average American. I just elected you to the House of Representatives and the Senate. I have 2 children at home and one out of the home. My household income is somewhere in the general vicinity of the American median income. I put up signs in my yard and on the roads for you. I put bumper stickers on my car for you. I talked to people for you and encouraged them to vote for Democrats because it is time for a change. I made telephone calls for Move.Org for the Senate races in Virginia, Missouri, and Montana for you. I contributed money for local candidates, no not thousands, just a few hundred, but remember, I am Joe Average, not Joe Millionaire. The catch is though, I am not a do good chuckle head, I want something. The first thing on my agenda is I don’t want to you fully cooperate or even compromise with the most corrupt, inefficient, administration in the history of our country. I voted for you because I want change! I want you to protect Social Security, not set up “private accounts” that give Bush’s boys on Wall Street more money to gamble with. I want some protection in my old age. If I want to gamble, I can play the market without the federal government’s nose in it. I want single payer universal health care. The health care situation is out of control, the profits of the insurance companies are obscene. The insurance companies brutalize both the patient and the doctor. Do something about our border. National security is not served when literally millions of people are pouring across our border illegally. Not only do we need a strong Border Patrol we need heavy fines and imprisonment for EMPLOYERS that hire illegal. These are wealthy agri-business and construction firms that put money into the pockets of politicians. The 700 hundred mile fence on a 2,000 mile border is a farce and we both know it. It is just another boondoggle and money maker for the Republican’s pals in the construction business while it looks like the government is doing something about the border problem. Related to the border issue, could we please have a sane, humane immigration policy? No you are not going to put 12 million people on buses and planes and send them back to their countries of origins. Can we please deal with people who have often been here for years and years, working, paying taxes, and having children, in a humane way in country that says in part in its ‘Pledge of Allegiance’, “with liberty and justice for all”? I want you to do something about corporate welfare, tax breaks for the wealthy, and subsidies for the oil companies. It is obscene that our government gives tax breaks and subsides to Big Oil while they rape us at the gas pump; yet the same administration cuts Veteran’s programs and screams about entitlement programs. Can you please start to put people before profits? We are a sick people in an increasingly toxic environment. Some of us “average” types are starting to figure out that when dope head and verbal abuser of the disabled, Rush Limbaugh says “the government needs to get out of the way and let business regulate itself”, that means big business gets to poison our food, pollute our air, and foul the waterways, Please I want a healthy earth and a healthy America, we need environmental regulation. Finally, make peace. The biggest reason Joe and Jane Average American voted for you is we want peace. We want America to be beacon of light for the world, not a bully who the world fears and hates. God Bless you in your mission! Stand up to tyranny! Respectfully, Joe Average American Jim Ramelis Gould City Michigan

Focusing on the discussion raised about the vocabulary in Point 1, I would definitely go with "way" as opposed to "approach". One huge reason is it links to the original vocabulary, as pointed out earlier in another post. Early believers followed "The Way".

Russ, I think you are geting to the heart of the matter and bringing the topic full circle back to the premise of Point 2. True spirituality is not about dogma, a book, a creed, and is not exclusive. True spirituality is an experience of the love of God. That is why we need to recognize other's paths as being just as valid as ours. Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, too are on a path to God that can lead to the love of God and the love of their fellow man. Once we have started to experience the love of God and are extending that love to others, we are in sync with Jesus' two great commandments. We are then doing what we are supposed to do, leave the judging to God.

Hello Mystictrek and all, My name is Jim R and am I am relatively new to the forum. I am a Course in Miracles afficiando. I have been exclusively ACIM (A Course in Miracles) for a few years now and have only recently realized that I am to reach out to the world under the umbrella of progressive Christianity and teach ACIM a a side to anyone who wants to walk the path. (Marianne Williamson and Jon Mundy are doing to same thing,if you are familiar with them )ACIM is a radical Zen like Christianity that is indeed progressive. It has completely transformed me. Jesus says in ACIM that it is an easy course but most find it difficult. Its poetry becomes music, and indeed after some study it is understandable. For most though it is hard and Americans aren't used to "hard" so I am going to teach the basics of ACIM as prgressive Chirsitanity. By studying ACIM I have learned patience, tolerance,love, how to give peace and how to receive it, and how to connect to God. The poetry of ACIM is no longer gibberish but at one time it was. Now it is a "third testament" , it is Jesus talking to humanity. He is not dead. Jesus is very alive and still talks , both to your heart and in ACIM. ACIM is in the Bible, it is just a matter of how one reads the Bible. I hope to be blogging more on this site. Mystictrek, I blog regularly on the web site of Circle of Atonement. If you want to study ACIM, The Circle of Atonement is the way to go. I think you can visit free for a day or two but then the blogs are members only and you have to pay $50 to be a member. Check out the blogs for free. I write as "Jim R" there also and moderate the forum."Topic of The Week". I am spiritual and I am political and you will be hearing from me. If you want to study ACIM, lets get together on line I will help you for free. Love and Light Jim R