Muhammad Rasheed's Blog, page 210

The Different Tribes in the Nation

Muhammad Rasheed - Black Americans don’t have a hive mind. They don’t all think alike or even share the same dreams. They don’t share the same ideological worldview. I don’t expect to be able to identify on every level with every Black American I run into. What I do is celebrate the accomplishments and victories of those Black Americans because of the general, high-level ties I have with them. This is very important, and is a component to the survival and prosperity for our people that we all claim to want. We all need to come together on a greater, national level. We don’t need to focus on the small stuff that separates us into tribes and cliques.
We need to start seeing ourselves as a nation within a nation. Strong and independent, but willing to work with other nations for our mutual benefit, and with a commitment towards peace.
Raven Whmy - Africans are naturally COMMUNAL. Whatever the hive mind is, it isnt that. The idea that collective thinking is bad and individusl thought is good is a western dichotomous assumtion thst causes us more hsrm than good bec it is anti africsn AND pretends to ignore how human thought actually works. Thought is first and foremost CULTURAL which is a communal or collective humsn process thst no humsns on earth live without. Either we are practicing and thinking in our own natural cultural modes, we have been forced to follow somone elses which is what hsppened during slsvery amd colonialism , or we are practicing some hybrid--which is what "african american" means to me. All collective thought is not mindless following. Okay? If black americans are all that you say above it is bec we were FORCED out of our natuRAL COMMUNAL CULTURAL MODE.
Raven Whmy - I hear your points in total Muhammad, but NO LONGER sharing the same ideological world view was forced on us by the lash and is the worst thing that ever happened to us. It is the result if TRAUMA, not something to defend or celebrate.
Muhammad Rasheed - Raven Whmy wrote: “Africans are naturally COMMUNAL. Whatever the hive mind is, it isnt that.”
The “hive mind” concept is based on the idea that all people of a particular race, or ethnic group, think exactly alike. Uniformly sharing the exact same ideology, creeds, and worldview. It’s a component of stereotyping, is a racist view, and is absolutely negative. 
Raven Whmy wrote: “The idea that collective thinking is bad and individusl thought is good is a western dichotomous assumtion thst causes us more hsrm than good bec it is anti africsn AND pretends to ignore how human thought actually works.”
Whether each form of thinking is good or bad is dependant upon whatever message they represent. If the collective are thinking in a particular way that helps stifle growth and development, then it is bad to belong to that collective thought group. If the individual is operating out of a thought package that will sow only destruction in the lives of those around him/her, then that individual’s thoughts are also bad and must be crushed.
Raven Whmy wrote: “Thought is first and foremost CULTURAL which is a communal or collective humsn process thst no humsns on earth live without.”
“Culture” is but one of the many filters (albeit a significant one) that the individual’s thought is processed through. But those thoughts start at the individual level. When we aren’t thinking, and operating on our default setting of however we were raised, then our culture will guide our thoughts. But when we take the time to think about our actions, cultural bias/preference becomes but one of the options in the critical thought process.
Raven Whmy wrote: “Either we are practicing and thinking in our own natural cultural modes, we have been forced to follow somone elses which is what hsppened during slsvery amd colonialism , or we are practicing some hybrid--which is what "african american" means to me.”
Following a hybrid would be best in my opinion. A system composed of an eclectic mixture of systems and thought processes that have been proven to work in various environments, and for various peoples’. The people of the world are different so that they may learn from one another, both in what to do and what not to do, for our ultimate survival and prosperity as a species. 
Raven Whmy wrote: “All collective thought is not mindless following. Okay?”
True. Some analyze the collective thought doctrine and deliberately decide to be a part of it, considering it a good fit for them as an individual, and look to make a meaningful contribution to the whole. Others, by contrast, simply became conscious and found themselves in that system, following along because they found the people around them following along. In that case “mindless” is quite the accurate descriptor. 
Raven Whmy wrote: “If black americans are all that you say above it is bec we were FORCED out of our natuRAL COMMUNAL CULTURAL MODE.”
We didn’t all think alike when we were in Africa either, Raven. That continent is vast, and we are very, very old. The ancient land is composed of many differing viewpoints, opinions, worldviews… well before the European showed up drooling and lusting for the fount of Massa Musa’s gold. Sure individual tribes perhaps practiced their local communal thinking, but our people had their epic battles, songs of great heroes, dastardly villains, and many interpretations of the tales to be told, all of their own. The human species begins at the [cellular] individual level and branches outward. The individual is the most important aspect of the whole. If he/she is sick, then the whole shebang will be sick and corrupt. If the individual is happy and assured, the the entire community will be strong and resilient. 
Raven Whmy wrote: “I hear your points in total Muhammad, but NO LONGER sharing the same ideological world view was forced on us by the lash and is the worst thing that ever happened to us. It is the result if TRAUMA, not something to defend or celebrate.”
What that ideological worldview actually was, that you believe was forced upon us, is worth exploring and analyzing. Tell me.
See Also:  A Real Black President

The Cure for Integration
Pulling Ahead of the Pack

The Black Age Institute

FELLOW - In academia, a member of a group of learned people who work together as peers in the pursuit of mutual knowledge or practice. It may also indicate an individual recipient of a graduate-level merit-based form of funding.

THINK TANK - An organization that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, or culture. (also called policy institute, research institute, etc.)

FOUNDATION - In the United States is a type of charitable organization, and an entity with "foundation" in its name would generally be expected in most cases to be a charitable foundation. However, an organization may have the word "foundation" in its name and not be a charitable foundation of any sort. However, state law may impose restrictions. For example, Michigan permits its use only for nonprofits with "the purpose of receiving and administering funds for perpetuation of the memory of persons, preservation of objects of historical or natural interest, educational, charitable, or religious purposes, or public welfare." The distinction between community foundations and private foundations elaborates on this point.

Community foundations are instruments of civil society designed to pool donations into a coordinated investment and grant-making facility dedicated primarily to the social improvement of a given place. In other words, a community foundation is like a public foundation. This type of foundation requires community representation in the governing board and grants made to improve the community. Often there will be a city that has a community foundation where the governing board comprises many leaders of the business, religious, and local interests. Such grants that the community foundation would then make would have to benefit the people of that city. Express public involvement and oversight in community foundations allow their classification as public charities rather than private foundations.

Private foundations typically have a single major source of funding (usually gifts from one family or corporation rather than funding from many sources) and most have as their primary activity the making of grants to other charitable organizations and to individuals, rather than the direct operation of charitable programs. When a person or a corporation founds a private foundation frequently family members of that person or agents of the corporation are members of the governing board. This limits public scrutiny over the private foundation, which entails unfavorable treatment compared to community foundations.
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1.) Think tanks vary by ideological perspectives, sources of funding, topical emphasis and prospective consumers. Funding sources and the consumers intended also define the workings of think tanks. Some receive direct government assistance, while others rely on private individual or corporate donors. This will invariably affect the degree of academic freedom within each policy institute and to whom or what the institution feels beholden.

Types of regional and national variations of think tanks:

1. Independent civil society think tanks established as non-profit organisations –ideologically identifiable or not
2. Policy research institutes affiliated with a university.
3. Governmentally created or state sponsored think tanks.
4. Corporate created or business affiliated think tanks.
5. Political party think tanks and legacy or personal think tanks.

2.) The Nobel Foundation was founded as a private organisation on 29 June 1900. Its function is to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. In many ways, the Nobel Foundation is similar to an investment company, in that it invests Nobel's money to create a solid funding base for the prizes and the administrative activities. The Nobel Foundation is exempt from all taxes in Sweden (since 1946) and from investment taxes in the United States (since 1953). Since the 1980s, the Foundation's investments have become more profitable and as of 31 December 2007, the assets controlled by the Nobel Foundation amounted to 3.628 billion Swedish kronor (c. US$560 million).
Muhammad Rasheed - The Fellow is the member of the Think Tank. The Foundation is the organization created to pay for the Think Tank, providing members their salaries, the monies needed to fund their endeavors, run the day-to-day administrative operations and expenses.

Muhammad Rasheed - The Black Genre Fiction Institute The Institute of Black Heroes The Black Hero Institute The Institute of Black Age Fiction The Black Age Institute

Chris Rullestad - Wow... this is a pretty boring post for you Rasheed.

Muhammad Rasheed - You think so? I've actually been super-excited about it for the last several hours.

Muhammad Rasheed - I think it's a very worthy Project.

Chris Rullestad - Just trying to rattle your cage man. I would be proud to have written all that.

Muhammad Rasheed - I only wrote the last couple of posts under them; this is all just dot-connecting cherry-picking, as I play around with the potential idea it represents to me in the think tank/fellow concept.

Muhammad Rasheed - The original inspiration is the relationship between the two characters in the film 'Vanilla Sky,' played by Tom Cruise and Jason Lee.

Muhammad Rasheed - Of particular interest are the shear number of different prizes the Nobel Foundation gives out, especially the wide array of those dedicated to science.

I'm thinking of a "Reclaiming the Sciences Award," a sizable grant bestowed upon those Black Americans who have made outstanding contributions to mathematics, technology and science.

Chris Rullestad - This is all very impressive but , I guess I would be excluded...

Muhammad Rasheed - Well, I saw the model working for other industries, and wondered why it wouldn't work for the cartooning industry, particularly for my own people who are often excluded from stuff disproportionately to our numbers (the whole "integration" idea hasn't really been working that well).

So my priority is to solve the problem involving the black cartoonist, and then branch out from there. Naturally the resource and prestige heavy mainstream wouldn't need my help to solve their problems, while their groups have been rejecting my membership requests for the last 11+ years. I'd now like to build our own prestigious cartooning group, with our own highly-coveted, merit-based prize, and recognize our own accomplishments that are often overlooked and/or downplayed by the mainstream. Enough is enough.

Chris Rullestad - I did not realize you were so interested in comics and cartoons. This is great. Please go to my home page and take a look at my comics. Oh, by the way, the same groups that have been rejecting you have also been rejecting me.

Muhammad Rasheed - lol I'm already familiar with your work; that's why we are connected. ;)

Chris Rullestad wrote: "Oh, by the way, the same groups that have been rejecting you have also been rejecting me."

I understand. I'm talking about the fact that there have only been a handful of Black Americans allowed in the mainstream cartooning industry sacred halls (with contemptuous whispers of "affirmative action" whispered behind them), while you ARE "mainstream." I long for a situation where my people can just be ourselves, expressing ourselves to the top of our abilities, and genuinely appreciated for it by our peers. We need our own Home. The "mainstream" is your home, Chris.

Muhammad Rasheed - Chris Rullestad wrote: "I did not realize you were so interested in comics and cartoons."

The Official Web Site of Cartoonist M. Rasheed

Muhammad Rasheed - Praise from a pleased customer for the first five titles of M. Rasheed's graphic novel series Tales of Sinanju: The Destroyer, books 1-10
Chris Rullestad - This conversation depresses me...

Muhammad Rasheed - Why? I think the model can work for artists. If it spreads, then we won't have to worry whether the non-artistically invested will continue our funding or whatever, in those institutions where the arts seem only barely tolerated. we can sustain ourselves, and thrive.

I think this is specifically the type of model we need as artists. It will enable you to simply CREATE! without worrying over your bills because of the uncertainly of the inferior freelance model ("If I don't create XYZ numbers of cartons in a month I'll be homeless!").

Muhammad Rasheed - It's not a depressing topic, it's a topic of Hope & long-overdue Progress. That's why I've been excited about it. Cartoonists in general have been FAR behind the security/prosperity curve, and my people woefully further back still. I think this Project can fix it.

Muhammad Rasheed - You should practice optimism. lol

Chris Rullestad - Your project sounds great. It's all this talk about separatism that bothers me. Your people, my people, your home, my mainstream home... I don't like it one bit and we'll have to just agree to disagree on that.

Muhammad Rasheed - It'll be more constructive if you take the time to tell me why you don't like it.

Muhammad Rasheed - God said He made us different so we will learn from each other... each building a unique body of knowledge inherent in solving our problems. This think tank/fellow concept is a perfect example; a problem already worked out by others that I believe we can use for our own rise up the socio-economic ladder. That's a positive thing. There's nothing wrong with being different, or acknowledging differences. The problems come from hurting people because of their differences. Love, admire, and learn from each other, and celebrate the things that make each other "us."

We'll be fine as long as we don't hate, attack, vilify, etc.

Chris Rullestad - Ok, try this out. My heritage is Norwegian. Let's say I'm stranded in a Norwegian airport and I see a black family across the room and I can tell for whatever reason that they're Americans. This is the family that I gravitate towards. These would be the people I would feel the most comfortable with. Does this scenario make sense to you?

Muhammad Rasheed - It doesn't seem like you got to the punchline yet...

Muhammad Rasheed - I'm tracking. Then what happens?

Chris Rullestad - The fact that we're Americans trumps all else

Muhammad Rasheed - "We're Americans trumps all else" couldn't work outside of the narrow confines of your stripped-down scenario. It's never worked that way in all of American history, and actually doesn't reflect how we function as a species. Are you longing for an unnatural state that doesn't even represent an ideal situation? My nationality doesn't represent the best part of me, my status as a believer in the One God of Abraham does. Nothing trumps that. That's number one.

My self-identity as Muhammad Rasheed is next in importance to me, as the individual.

My family… my status as a husband, father, son, brother, etc., comes next.

And then my ethnic group, the Black American. My bare nationality is after that in importance.

Muhammad Rasheed - In your scenario, the nationality connection would be what trumps all else because it would be the only connection you'd have. If they weren't there, and one of the Norwegians was listening to your favorite song, that would be the connection that would draw you into a conversation.

Chris Rullestad - Yes, it's the only connection we have and it;s a very good one.

Muhammad Rasheed - It's a good one in a limited way. If it was a "very" good one then we wouldn't have had the historical conflicts between the two groups.

Chris Rullestad - ...and yes it has worked that way in all of American history. In fact, It's the reason we're the greatest nation on earth. I hope that doesn't sound to hokey.

Chris Rullestad - sorry but you type faster than me

Muhammad Rasheed - I agree we are the greatest nation on earth, but that status comes from the socio-economic opportunities the country is famous for, not from any artificial concept that we all appreciate each other as Americans.

Muhammad Rasheed - hahahah I'm typing with two fingers!

Chris Rullestad - and you're telling me to be more optimistic???

Chris Rullestad - I suppose you think Pollyanna is my mistress...

Muhammad Rasheed - That doesn't have anything to do with optimism. I don't WANT nationalism to be the highest form of connection between two humans. That sounds pagan and perverse to me.

Muhammad Rasheed - Will God judge us based on what nation we lived in? The concept is absurd.

Chris Rullestad - Leave God out of this. I never said that nationalism should be at the very top but I realize that I rate it higher than you do.

Muhammad Rasheed - Chris Rullestad wrote: "...and yes it has worked that way in all of American history."

Dude... do I need to post those evil photos from the other thread again? Come on.

Slavery? And then when I was finally freed, those other guys literally got angry at my progress, donned their infamous hoods, and took that progress from me?

Muhammad Rasheed - Chris Rullestad wrote: "Leave God out of this."

NEVER . Are you the devil???

Chris Rullestad - Laughed out loud

Muhammad Rasheed - Chris Rullestad wrote: "I never said that nationalism should be at the very top but I realize that I rate it higher than you do."

It sounds like that's exactly what you are advocating.

Muhammad Rasheed - JFK's quote about asking what I can do for my country is key here. If I don't build myself up to my ultimate form, what can I possibly contribute to the nation? Muhammad Rasheed - The individual is the basic unit of civilization and our society. If he is weak, then the nation is weak.

Chris Rullestad - Family first, then comes Jesus Christ, my lord and savior, next would be nationalism

Muhammad Rasheed - God bestowed your family onto you. He gave you the gift of life itself, without which, you would not be able to enjoy the other bounties He provides.

God should ALWAYS be first, sir, or you are at risk of paganism.

Chris Rullestad - I know, that really is a close call

Muhammad Rasheed - ^You think that because of the concept behind the quote: "'Mother' is the word for 'God' on the lips of all children."

The Agape Love you feel for your family is the connect you use to the divine. I understand. But you MUST recognize the clear line between the two. God is always first.

Muhammad Rasheed - Do not jeopardize your soul by giving God's devotion over to the creation. That will not end well for you, despite the warm love you feel for your family. Everything on earth is a test. All of it. We are tested with both adversity and prosperity. Belief in God is the reason you are here, not the pleasures of creation.

Chris Rullestad - I think that you are more devoted to god than I am

Muhammad Rasheed - Just be careful. You may wish to meditate on that more.

Chris Rullestad - Unfortunately there are too many people asking what their country can do for them

Muhammad Rasheed - Well, if you give your all to the abstract nationalism before you build yourself up, and the worst happens and you comeback horribly mutilated to a low quality of life you no longer have the strength to rise up from, you are now no good to yourself, nor to your country. And the government bureaucrats will probably treat you like dirt on the other side of it. Nationalism will not save you.

Chris Rullestad - Sounds like you're describing a wounded veteran

Muhammad Rasheed - Yes.

Chris Rullestad - some people actually die for their country...

Chris Rullestad - I admit, I don't really want to do that, but then again, I'm 60 so...

Muhammad Rasheed - Chris Rullestad wrote: "some people actually die for their country..."

Do they? Or did they die protecting their right to worship their Lord, their families, their lives, their homes that reside on the national soil?

Dying for abstract nationalism is paganism. There won't be any reward on the other side of that death. How could there be?

Diehard Cheerleaders Amaze All By Cheering

Antwan Thomas - [shared link] Marx Was Right

I might believe it, Karl Marx's teachings in North America (Canada and the United States) can still work today. Equal Share. Utopia. Perfect Peace.

Muhammad Rasheed - "Marx was right!" said a group of diehard marxists. lol Should I have been equally impressed if Bernanke proclaimed that J.P. Morgan and Carnegie were right?

1.) "He saw that there would come a day when capitalism would exhaust its potential and collapse."

+

2.) "Marx was keenly aware of capitalism’s ability to innovate and adapt."

smh. Shut up.

Muhammad Rasheed - 3.) "But he also knew that capitalist expansion was not eternally sustainable."

Is ANYTHING eternally sustainable???

Muhammad Rasheed - 4.) "And as we witness the denouement of capitalism and the disintegration of globalism, Karl Marx is vindicated as capitalism’s most prescient and important critic."

Capitalism's weakness is no different than the inherent weakness of any other system: It requires flawed humans to run it. The natural enemy of capitalism is the greed of the wealthy, who inevitably attempt to shut down the Free Market -- the circulatory system of capitalism -- to form a monopoly to hoard all profit for their company alone. If the government doesn't protect the system from the greedy, predatory corporatists (for whatever reason) they will usurp capitalism and replace it with their plutocracy. THIS is what we are experiencing, not capitalism gone amuck. Once there is no more competition, then there is no more capitalism. To continue to call it that under those conditions is only raw ignorance fueling ideological bias.

Muhammad Rasheed - But of course the ideological enemy of capitalism, that didn't want the system in the first place, will see what they want to see in hopes of replacing the system with their own twisted mess.

Muhammad Rasheed - 5.) "He knew that reigning ideologies—think neoliberalism—were created to serve the interests of the elites..."

So do you need to tell me what to think in order for your biased contention to function? Free Market Capitalism actually serves the people, enabling them to leave poverty behind. The talented among will be able to rise very high up the socio-economic ladder, where the system will need to be protected from their ambitions. If not, then the system will turn into something else altogether that no longer serves the people.

Muhammad Rasheed - 6.) "Socialism, in other words, would not be possible until capitalism had exhausted its potential for further development."

The ability to "innovate and adapt" are aspects of the human mind, imagination, and will that will not be exhausted. It is only tyrannical men -- like a ruling elite of socialists who feel they can run your life better than you can -- who will set limits upon humans to stifle further development for human civilizations.

Something close to "perfect peace" can perhaps be achieved by checking criminal behavior, not by stifling natural human growth and innovation by forcing it to adhere to an elitist's narrow-minded view of how he wants the world to work.

Swing of the Pendulum

Riley Freeman – [shared meme]

Riley Freeman – Well?

Jules Hernadi - Cute pic.

Tarais Parker - Yea what about the other million

Muhammad Rasheed - Flawlessly protected them from what? Because the bad apple cops are still out there fuckin' up. Clean THAT up.

Riley Freeman - If you were aware of what you had been protected from then they wouldn't have done their jobs. Sleep well knowing this.

Muhammad Rasheed – Justices Rule Police Do Not Have a Constitutional Duty to Protect Someone
Muhammad Rasheed - Meanwhile, in direct opposition to your belief system, the police only function as "heroes" to the wealthy and powerful that they work for. If they help the poor and disenfranchised it was by accident, or because they were bored.

Riley Freeman - By your logic, when people believe that all blacks are ratchet, on welfare, uneducated, dead beats, and completely ghetto that they are in fact correct because there are black people that exist like that right? There is good and bad everywhere in this world. There are far too many bad and corrupt police out there, but corruption is a universal vice that spans across anything and everything, even soccer and art . But does that represent each and every thing in this world? No. But it's corruption news worthy? Yes.

Muhammad Rasheed - Ironically, my ideological enemy believes all blacks are "ratchet" and inherently inferior while he seeks to drown out my angry protests over his cops using their authorized discretion to kill my people dead over minor and imaginary violations of the law. He wants me to understand that his people are human beings... some bad, most good... while wishing the savage and inferior black man would go back to Africa.

By my logic, western society is fundamentally slanted to stomp on blacks while upholding whites, and in general, it isn't ready to treat everybody equal yet. First, the scales must be balanced. White people are not going to be injured if I don't give them the benefit of the doubt. Their stockpiles of privilege will cushion them from any butthurt they might feel when I don't trust them with my life as a matter of principle.

Riley Freeman - Then, by your logic, resistance is futile. But I refuse to belive that.

Muhammad Rasheed - First the scales must be balanced. Then we can get on equal footing.

Muhammad Rasheed - The pendulum must swing past the middle first before it can stop at the center in balance.

Muhammad Rasheed - They may take comfort in the fact that, as it swings to the other side, they will never have to experience the worse of what we experienced.

Muhammad Rasheed - (a pity.)

Riley Freeman - I never said it was equal footing. But, in order for us to get back on track, we have allot of internal affairs to get in order.

Muhammad Rasheed - lol Yes, a lot of psychological damage caused specifically by THEIR bullshit. At least half of it won't be fixed until those scales are balanced, or only more resentments compiled on top of that generational damage will result.

Muhammad Rasheed - I'm not precisely sure what the ultimate point is to these kinds of posts from you are, Riley, but I'm never going to sign up to the "All Lives Matter" kumbaya of that version of the "color blind" narrative while they are still calling me a gorilla from the other side of their legendary forked tongue.

Every Serena Williams win comes with a side of disgusting racism and sexism
Riley Freeman - Our own bullshit has caused us to lose focus and stray from the path began by brothers malcolm and Martin. Only then can we truly hope to get equality.

Muhammad Rasheed - We certainly had help in losing that focus. Dr. Thomas Sowell was an eye witness to when it happened and correctly called out the white liberals for having a direct hand in the derailment. The goal changing dramatically from black empowerment from desegregation, to the flighty "Integration" is responsible for our current unfocused mindset.

Riley Freeman - Color blind narrative? Lol. I laugh at that. The lives in law enforcement that matter to me are my family who are law enforcement. Do they do everything right? Yes. Are they corrupt? No. Do they go bust their ass so people can sleep at night? You bet your ass they do. Anything else is either irrelevant or in your head as far as what your believe this post is about.

Riley Freeman - The problem is that we let every distraction that comes along pull us back to square one. We let the media tell us who our role models are. We let ratchetness be glorified to a beat. We let our kids fall behind. We let others fights become ours. That's the bullshit we gave every day.

Muhammad Rasheed - Riley, I'm uninterested in minute, individual cases of people who do the right thing, because those people have always been around, and yet they can't do anything to help on the institutional level (not without coming together to help as a cohesive, powerful force). Am I abstractly thankful for the white abolitionists, white policy makers, and altruistic white souls that individually helped our people over the centuries? Sure. Of course I am. But slavery STILL happened. The KKK terrorism repealing reconstruction STILL happened. Jim Crow STILL happened. Sharecropping STILL happened. Whole black towns burned to the ground while the gov watched STILL happened. The unfocused derailment in the wake of the Civil Rights Era STILL happened. Individual actions clearly are not helping on the nation-wide institutional level when the real bad guys cause untold destruction with the stroke of a pen right over that little bit of scattered good. My rant is a general philosophical contention beyond the individual level.

Riley Freeman - You know, it's funny that you mention that because I was just talking to someone this very day about how people glance over events in the past like slavery and the native American massacres like they were small tiny afterthoughts in history. I mean seriously?

Muhammad Rasheed - That's because most people make a casual note of those things, but usually don't dig into it to really KNOW it because it makes them uncomfortable. Consequently they only ever attain a surface level impression over those major events that have generational effects.

Muhammad Rasheed - Granted, knowing it until you find yourself shaking with fury isn't helping either, unless you can find something constructive to channel that energy into...

Muhammad Rasheed - Obviously I need to find something more potent than just comics.

Riley Freeman - Have faith my brother. Have faith. One day, eyes will open. Perhaps not in our lifetime but let's prepare the next to go forth and fight the good fight.

Muhammad Rasheed - Well, first they will need to be properly prepared so they will have the tools to do so. Pretending that my ideological enemy's flaky, kumbaya, retcon-of-history-to-make-himself-look-like-the-good-guy is true is not the way to prepare them for the good fight. It would be a sabotage to condemn them to more of the same.

Comedy Gold of the White Rich

Muhammad Rasheed - “Ghetto” is used synonymously with “low brow/low culture,” and the term refers to the unsophisticated among the black poor specifically (“trashy” being the equivalent term for unsophisticated poor whites). Typically reflecting behavior tropes that are raunchy, crude, and even naively stereotypical, “ghetto” is often considered a form of mass appeal humor, as the black poor are used as the butt of jokes by other races, and up the socio-economic ladder. Blacks who aspire to a higher cultural standard typically get offended when confronted by “ghetto” behaviors/traits, as they are obsessed with drawing a clear line between themselves and the unsophisticated among their own race. Upper class whites however, secure in their privileged perch, gleefully mine the “ghetto” sub-culture for new tropes to rapidly turn cliché within the popular culture mainstream, springing forth initially as a mischievous humor category among themselves.

Interestingly, as the common basics of “ghetto” behaviors (promiscuity, an aversion for conventional work, quick tempers, empty bravado, petty crime, etc.) were originally picked up by Black slaves from the poor whites they were often in close contact with, it’s highly possible that the unconscious reason the upper class whites find the “ghetto” sub-culture so amusing, is because it actually reflects the inherent humor in watching someone poorly mimic behavioral traits more precisely performed by the originator.

Tainting the Gift

Steve DelRay – [shared meme]


Steve DelRay – What say ye?
Nancy Jean Striggs - They used Christianity to force our ancestors into submission and to give themselves a false sense of authority. Africans knew that this was a lie. God is not the author of confusion and deceit. This truth is how they survived.
Muhammad Rasheed - The oldest Christian church in the world is in Ethiopia. Christianity has been on the African continent for 2,000 years, and many of the slaves who were brought over probably already were Christian. 
I'm going to assume the "enlightened bruthas" that keep passing along this message watched too damn much Tarzan growing up, instead of researching history.
Steven GO Dubbs - Black people gave Christianity to the world. Jesus was not white nor were the apostles.
Nancy Jean Striggs - Yet, they still tried to use it against us.
Jay Mac - One of Jesus' 12 was African.
Steve DelRay - I ain't "enlightened;" I'm asking questions that I have about God.
Nancy Jean Striggs - I should say European version of Christianity was used to control slaves.
Muhammad Rasheed - Nothing personal, Steve. I've just been seeing this message my whole life, and it's starting to get a little played out.
Muhammad Rasheed - The enemy cherry-picked out of the bible what he wanted you to preach to each other, and told you what the interpretation was to be. He didn't want you to read it for yourself. Reading it for yourself as an enlightened independent scholar is liberating, not enslaving. 
But first, the former slave must empty his cup of that ol' bullshit.
Reginald Bailey - When people posts memes like this and actually believe they are true, it really causes me to wonder about their research ability. A simple Google search will clearly reveal that Christianity was practiced on the continent of Africa long before the American slave trade. i find it disturbing that people are so quick to believe a meme is true without conducting simple research. 
The source for this article is the BBC, so please spare me the "it's biased towards Christianity" nonsense. Thank you 
The Story of Africa| BBC World Service
Paul Daniel - I grew up with a lot of Rastafarians and a couple of my high school, uh, let's say acquaintances were Five Percenters (probably still are, that kind of thing works well in the New York prison system). But the Rastas I know believe that their religion is the original religion of the black man. (And one of them gives me a daily update every day via Facebook to let me and others know that we've been fooled by the white European)
Muhammad Rasheed - "The Rastafari movement is an Abrahamic religion which developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, emperor of Ethiopia (ruled 1930–1974), much in the same way as Jesus in his Second Advent, or as God the Father."
Muhammad Rasheed - "Haile Selassie I (23 July 1892 – 27 August 1975), born Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He was a member of the Solomonic dynasty. Among the Rastafari movement, whose followers are estimated at between 2,000,000 and 4,000,000, Haile Selassie is revered as the returned messiah of the Bible, God incarnate. Beginning in Jamaica in the 1930s, the Rastafari movement perceives Haile Selassie as a messianic figure who will lead a future golden age of eternal peace, righteousness, and prosperity. Haile Selassie was an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian throughout his life."
Dolamar Maxie - The meme is accurate. Africa is a vast continent so vast any map or globe. Most of you all have seen is inaccurate. With that being said christian did not make it west Africa. Where most slaves come from. Had voodoo and other African spiritual s
Muhammad Rasheed - "The House of Solomon is the former ruling Imperial House of the Ethiopian Empire. Its members claim patrilineal descent from Solomon of Israel and the Queen of Sheba. Tradition asserts that the Queen gave birth to Menelik I after her biblically described visit to Solomon in Jerusalem. The dynasty, a bastion of Judaism and later of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, is considered to have ruled Ethiopia in the 10th century BC."
Dolamar Maxie - Christianity in West Africa has a shorter history than Islam. It did not come to that region of Africa until the era of European exploration and colonialism, apart from a few Christians who lived earlier on in the Sahara desert. This period of the spread of Christianity in West Africa began in the 15th century and continued into the 20th century.
Nancy Jean Striggs - You all are so scholarly.
Muhammad Rasheed - Dolamar Maxie wrote: "With that being said christian did not make it west Africa."
Islam made its way to West Africa by the time of the American Slave Trade, so what rational argument can you provide to support the idea that the 500 years older Christianity wouldn't have also made it there?
Dolamar Maxie - Islam began penetrating into West Africa somewhere around the 9th and 10th century CE through missionary efforts and trade networks
Dolamar Maxie - West Africa, like most all regions of the world, is a place where many different religions are practiced. These range from well-known world religions like Islam and Christianity to religious traditions that few people outside of a particular West African region have heard of. In general, certain areas of West Africa have tended not to adopt Christianity and Islam, maintaining many of the religious beliefs and practices of their ancestors
Dolamar Maxie - What religion do blacks practice in Haiti Muhammad Rasheed?
Muhammad Rasheed - Dolamar Maxie wrote: "Islam began penetrating into West Africa somewhere around the 9th and 10th century CE through missionary efforts and trade networks"
What would prevent this from working the exact same way for the 500 years older Christianity?
Muhammad Rasheed - Dolamar Maxie wrote: "What religion do blacks practice in Haiti Muhammad Rasheed?"

Muhammad Rasheed – “Minority religions in Haiti include Islam, Bahá'í Faith, Judaism, and Buddhism.”
Dolamar Maxie - All you have to do is look at the traditional religions practiced today in west Africa and look at the religions practiced in Haiti . What country beat the white man(kind of) ?
Reginald Bailey - Muhammad appears to be presenting facts and Dolamar is presenting opinion. Just my observation; carry on.
Muhammad Rasheed - @ Dolamar… "All I have to do" as opposed to what and for what reason? I would prefer if you would just answer a direct question and then support your claims. That would be awesome.
Dolamar Maxie - Vodou originated in the Caribbean and developed in the French Empire in the 18th century among West African slaves when African religious practice was actively suppressed, and enslaved Africans were forced to convert to Christianity.[14][15] Religious practices of contemporary Vodou are descended from, and closely related to, West African Vodun as practiced by the Fon and Ewe. Vodou also incorporates elements and symbolism from other African peoples including the Yoruba and Kongo; as well as Taíno religious beliefs, Roman Catholicism, and European spirituality including mysticism, Freemasonry, and other influences.[16]
Reginald Bailey - The meme IS NOT accurate because Christianity wasn’t given to black people this way. That blanket and inaccurate statement is asinine.
Dolamar Maxie - Ok
Dolamar Maxie - Blacks in america
Dolamar Maxie - The majority of the Africans who were brought as slaves were from Western and Central Africa. The survival of the belief systems in the New World is remarkable, although the traditions have changed with time and have even taken on some Catholic forms of worship.[39] Two important factors, however, characterize the uniqueness of Haitian Vodou as compared to African Vodun; the transplanted Africans of Haiti, similar to those of Cuba and Brazil, were obliged to disguise their loa or spirits as Roman Catholic saints, an element of a process called syncretism.
Muhammad Rasheed - The original version of "vodou" was practiced in West Africa, but it wasn't a dominant feature of the region's tribal cultures by any means; only some of the pagan tribes there practiced it. The dominant religion by far at the time the American Slave Trade began was Al-Islam. I came across a line, echoing your own, Dolamar, claiming that Christianity wasn't introduced into West Africa until as late as the 19th century, but I have yet to see any rational justification for this idea. It doesn't make any sense. If Islam can get there, why couldn't Christianity?
There's a mystery afoot...
Muhammad Rasheed - The rational explanation would be that the Muslim missionaries specifically targeted the highly receptive Christian tribes, with a near total conversion rate, thus giving the impression, over just a few generations, that Christianity had skipped over the area altogether.
Dolamar Maxie - 1812 first stone church built in west Africa
Dolamar Maxie - Much later than the Ethiopia one
Paul Daniel - For the black Christian, it can be hard to accept that, perhaps, the God you love was given to you by "the enemy." It forces you to accept an uncomfortable truth; that without that slave master, you probably wouldn't be Christian. I'm a black Christian believer, but I've moved on from this point. Sometimes bad things we can't explain happen for our benefit.
Muhammad Rasheed - @ Dolamar… I have no doubt that the Ethiopian church would be older in any event, but I highly doubt that the West African very first Christian house of worship was built in 1812. More than likely that was only according to the European colonialist records once they arrived and began tracking it. The mosques in the region very well may have originally been churches.
Jay Mac - Simon, the Canaanite (also referred to as the "Zealout"?) was the 12th disciple of Jesus. 
Simon traveled to Egypt to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
Christianity is not a modern concept in Africa.
Dolamar Maxie -

Dolamar Maxie - Egypt doesn't count that's where lot of the bible ideas come from
Muhammad Rasheed - @ Jay Mac… Considering Egypt's importance as a major trade center and cultural seat, it is frankly impossible to believe that traders from West Africa wouldn't have brought Christianity back in 1500 years. The idea is ridiculous. The Christian community merely converted to Islam, that's why their numbers were so low.
Muhammad Rasheed - Dolamar Maxie wrote: "Egypt doesn't count..."
Are you a white supremacist spy?
Muhammad Rasheed - That's their favorite line.
Dolamar Maxie - Missed the part where I said that's where a lot of Bible ideas come from. I'm black and have real live Haitian roots. But Egypt was mixed racially whether you believe it or not
Nancy Jean Striggs - Look where Egypt is located. Do you all believe in an organisms ability to adapt to its environment?
Muhammad Rasheed - @ Dolamar…The point was that Egypt was a MAJOR cultural seat and trade spot, and people traveled there frequently for business and learning. Why WOULDN'T the West African merchants and scholars had done the same to bring Christianity back with them, too? 
The idea that they hadn't even heard of it until the white man showed up is the precise eurocentric thinking I would expect from him and his indoctrinated dupes.
Muhammad Rasheed - Not to mention the usual proselytizing zeal of the Abrahamic religious converts. Of course Christianity had made its way to West Africa early in its history. There is no rational explanation as for why it wouldn't have.
Muhammad Rasheed - But I am open to hearing one from you if you'd care to provide it.
Muhammad Rasheed - Dolamar Maxie wrote: "...whether you believe it or not"
Whether I do or not depends on the force & scope of the facts, reason and logic my opponent uses to support his claims. It'll certainly take more than a shallow passionate opinion.  
Muhammad Rasheed - Since you brought it up, I do recognize that Egypt was racially diverse during the time of the founding of Christianity. As important a hub of culture, trade, and learning as Egypt was, for as long as it was, it would be odd if all kinds of ethic groups and nationalities HADN’T wanted to move there over the ages. 
The actual important concept about the place is that the Golden Age of Ancient Egypt -- when their greatest wonders were created, at the height of when they impressed the whole world in stunned awe and wonder – was a fully Black African Egypt. It didn’t become racially diverse until well after it had become a shadow of its former majesty. No doubt the two events are related.
Steve DelRay - I guess I should have put "How Christianity was indoctrinated to the enslaved African in America."
Muhammad Rasheed - "How the white slave master twisted the message of God to fit his own agenda."
Muhammad Rasheed - "Part one."
Dolamar Maxie - Muhammad Rasheed you have only said there is not a reason why. Or if Islam did it why Christians didn't .
Muhammad Rasheed - DO you have a reason?
Speak.
Muhammad Rasheed - So far you seem more than happy to accept the European Colonialist account of events. I am unimpressed by that.
Dolamar Maxie - I haven't seen any evidence that they did. Show me the Carfax on it
Steve DelRay - I was trying to be witty, and brevity is the soul of wit.
Dolamar Maxie - I don't have all the answers just most of them.
Jay Mac - LOL!
Muhammad, Dolamar doesn't stop. He can keep this going for about 12 days. You should see our other group (Religious & Creation topics)...
Dolamar Maxie - Muhammad Rasheed why are white people hiding Christianity in west Africa but not other parts of Africa and why do they not hide Islam???
Dolamar Maxie - Lmao Jay Mac is right on that one. You all are making me have a very unproductive day at work
Muhammad Rasheed - To me, the evidence that they did is the demonstrated fact that Islam did. Christian numbers were low in the area because the Muslims converted them. Is that difficult to believe? Remember in those days, the early Christians were expecting a new prophet to "comfort" them. The European theologians didn't retcon the interpretations to say "holy spirit" until AFTER their epic debates with the Muslim scholars.
Muhammad Rasheed - Dolamar Maxie wrote: "Muhammad Rasheed why are white people hiding Christianity in west Africa but not other parts of Africa and why do they not hide Islam???"
This is supposed to make sense? Who said anything about them hiding it? The question was, why were the numbers of Christians so low in West Africa before the European Colonialists showed up, even though Islam was flourishing in the area? The most logical explanation was that the early West African Christians simply converted to Islam.
The LEAST logical explanation was that Christianity had never arrived in West Africa until the White Man bestowed it upon them from a flying white horse from heaven, or whatever they said.
Muhammad Rasheed - Jay Mac wrote: "LOL! Muhammad, Dolamar doesn't stop."
I don't mind if he doesn't stop, just as long as he contributes something worthwhile to make the effort worth it.
Muhammad Rasheed - So far I've learned something interesting about Christianity in West Africa, but I had to puzzle it out on my own. Notice he's not even trying to solve the questions that the discussion creates. That's inherently problematic to me.
Twelve days of WHAT exactly? Lol
Dolamar Maxie – “So far you seem more than happy to accept the European Colonialist account of events. I am unimpressed by that.” -Muhammad Rasheed 
so how does me asking why are white people hiding it don't make sense? When you said I am believing white people
Dolamar Maxie - Then you just make up an account saying they converted to Muslim with 0 evidence to back that claim. But you want facts
Muhammad Rasheed - I want facts, or lacking that, I want a reasonable & logical argument as to how you arrived at your opinion. Can you provide such?
Muhammad Rasheed - I took the time to explain how I arrived at the conversion theory. I am patiently waiting for a logical challenge to pick it apart. Are you skilled enough at discourse to do so?
Muhammad Rasheed - Dolamar Maxie wrote: "...so how does me asking why are white people hiding"
Why ARE you saying that? Why would they be hiding it when you just admitted that they boast about being the first to bring it to West Africa? For what reason would they try to hide it? That's the part that's not making sense.
Dolamar Maxie - Oh really questioning my intelligence? Care to compare standardized test scores? Act ? Sat? IQ?
Muhammad Rasheed - I will be more than satisfied with you simply doing your part to add to the discussion. Your intelligence level will reveal itself then. So far I find you wanting. Get your game up.
Muhammad Rasheed - A point drops every time you duck a question btw.
Dolamar Maxie - If you don't agree keep it at that. Cause you will lose the intelligence battle post them Act,sat,Iq
Muhammad Rasheed - Dolamar Maxie wrote: "Why would Christians converting to Islam be more logical than Africans converted to Islam from traditional African religions???"
Is this supposed to be a real question? Because they had 1,500 years to find out about Christianity, that's why. If they can find out about Islam in less than 200 years, they can certainly find out about Christianity in over a millennium. Are you even trying?
Dolamar Maxie - [quote] History of Middle East by Radhey Shyam Chaurasia
Dolamar Maxie - Happy now
Dolamar Maxie – [quote] History of Middle East by Radhey Shyam Chaurasia
Muhammad Rasheed - Dolamar, nothing you've demonstrated in this thread causes me to respect your intellect. Posting scores of any kind will not impress me. Intelligence is a practical application of cognitive ability, not a test score.
Dolamar Maxie - [quote] History of Middle East by Radhey Shyam Chaurasia
Dolamar Maxie - Happy now
Dolamar Maxie - Right on . Facebook smart . let me know when you are hiring
Muhammad Rasheed - "Happy now" with what? Your copy/paste powers? When you regurgitated the myth of Islam being spread by force? Is that the extent of your mental powers?
Bye, Felisha.
Dolamar Maxie - You evidence is it was around longer. Any statues of Horus in west Africa? I mean it was around before Christianity what about enil and enki
Muhammad Rasheed - Dolamar Maxie quoted: "Because Islam advanced by force, it met with hostility and resistance in Europe, where Christianity was already strong. But in other areas, such as Egypt and Syria, it was accepted readily by people who had been living under suppressive rule"
None of this is true. Islam spread because the people were receptive to the message. Some monarchs took offense at the new prophet's mission, and were threatened by the united Arab tribes, and attacked, but that wasn't the norm by any means. The ruler of Egypt sent the Arab prophet gifts as tribute and bid him send his missionaries with Peace. To western Europe, the fast spreading of Islam reminded them of the old reports of the golden horde of Genghis, so they assumed it was the same, but it was not.
Dolamar Maxie - Says the guy that copied and pasted some Rastafarian, Ethiopian ect right on
Dolamar Maxie - No copy and paste
Muhammad Rasheed - Do you really think the early Muslim converts would've allowed statues of pagan deities in their area? Hm?
Muhammad Rasheed - I copy/pasted the Rastifari info for my own quick reference, as well as for anyone else reading who wanted a quick refresher. I wasn't posting it to convince you of anything. Primarily I wanted to know why they were worshiping a human, which made their entire message lose a great deal of credibility.
Dolamar Maxie - [quote] History of Middle East by Radhey Shyam Chaurasia
Dolamar Maxie - They still have anunnaki statues in Iraq Iran ect. Hell isis just fucked some up. So yea
Muhammad Rasheed - Dolamar Maxie wrote: "The original concept of jihad did not include agressive warfare against non-Muslims, but 'holy war' was sometimes waged by Muslims whose interpretation of the Koran allowed them such latitude. Jihad was directly responsible for some of the early conquests of Islam outside of the Arabian peninsula."
These two sentences are contradictory, and serve as anti-Islam propaganda. And why are there so many misspellings?
Muhammad Rasheed - lol Were they still worshiping them, or were they in UNESCO recognized cultural museums?
Muhammad Rasheed - Anytime you feel like putting together a cohesive argument and actually start making a point. Anytime. 
Or does copy/pasting represent the full extent of your test score skill?
Dolamar Maxie - Run it by me again. Nigga working. Pardon me for not using my full magnitude of my Facebook intelligence while I'm working. Its hot outchea
Muhammad Rasheed - lol Run what by you again? Are you taking part in this discussion or not? What is your point exactly? hahaha
Dolamar Maxie - School me on it. Everything I want to have knowledge like you Muhammad Rasheed. so tell me about Christianity in west Africa
Muhammad Rasheed - So you want me to create, package, and present your arguments for you because you find yourself stumped?
Is this a trait that high test scores track?
Dolamar Maxie - No, aren't you suppose to enlighten or is that what Christian s do, look down on people that ask for help? What would Jesus do?
Muhammad Rasheed - Is this a demonstration of your high test score level intellect? Question ducking, wanting other people to develop your arguments for you, and assuming the guy with the traditional Muslim name is a Christian?
Muhammad Rasheed - Wow.
Dolamar Maxie - Not my argument your argument. Lay it out. Or is that too difficult
Muhammad Rasheed - This entire thread is basically my laid out argument at this point. Simply scroll up and read it, assuming your high test scores track your ability to at least do that much...?
Muhammad Rasheed - It is YOUR laid out argument that is conspicuously missing, chief.
Muhammad Rasheed - If you will recall, I explained my logic thread as to how I came to the conclusion that the early West African Christians converted to Islam. You made a weak effort to refute it, but abandoned the topic to brag about your test scores when I countered.
Muhammad Rasheed - And then you copy/pasted from Radhey Shyam Chaurasia's book without ever trying to use the data to develop an argument for it to support. It still sits up there like a brick, lonely and abandoned.
Is this supposed to be your idea of scholarship then? A pity.
Dolamar Maxie - Copy and paste your posts together for me. It is too much for me to scroll up. Thanks in advance
Muhammad Rasheed - I find it too much to do your work for you. Obviously this means we're done. Have a good day.
Peace.
Dolamar Maxie -  Thanks.

Sacrificing for God

Corey DeSh Brown - During Islam's Ramadan (emphasis in RAM), there is a sacrifice called the Kurban, when they sacrifice lambs, once per year to please God. In the Hebrew, it's "QRB", which literally means, "to offer the close relative". This is why Abraham took his son to sacrifice him. God didn't want that, and offered a Ram instead. Thus, we "elevated" from human to animal sacrifices. The Jews burned the animals, while converts to Islam began feeding the sacrificed lambs to the poor. However, Jesus the Christ elevated mankind by teaching the Living Sacrifice, which is to "Love your neighbor as yourself".
Muhammad Rasheed - Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "This is why Abraham took his son to sacrifice him."
Islam came way after the sacrifice incident between Abraham and his son, so I don't see how the naming of the Islamic ritual would have a bearing on the 3,000 year older event.
Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "God didn't want that, and offered a Ram instead."
He didn't want Abraham to kill the boy, but he did want the prophet to demonstrate that level of obedience to his Maker. Once he proved that he absolutely was willing to go through with it, he passed. He didn't have to actually do it.
Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "Thus, we 'elevated' from human to animal sacrifices."
How do you figure since he didn't go through with it anyway? At no time did God actually require human sacrifices from His servants.
Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "The Jews burned the animals..."
It's possible that the "burnt flesh" was simply cooked, since in the texts it mentions the "sweet smell" that came from it. That hardly sounds like what WE mean when we say "burnt." Cooked meat is perfectly fine for the poor to consume.
Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "However, Jesus the Christ elevated mankind by teaching the Living Sacrifice..."
When did the Christ ever teach such a thing?
Corey DeSh Brown - Brother... The Kurban during Rammadan is based on Abraham... This is what Muslims from Iraq and Eastern Europe told me and we studied together and I saw the connection with the Jews, being that I studied Hebrew for 25 years... I don't just read in English. God never required a sacrifice of man nor beast, btw.... that's FEAR... as I mentioned before. All Christ taught was LOVE. Love is perfect and covers a multitude of sins. Nothing needs to die in order for it to manifest. Thus, it is the living sacrifice.
Muhammad Rasheed - Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "Brother... The Kurban during Rammadan is based on Abraham..."
I recognize that. In your status you said that the Abraham event was based on the Islamic naming. It sounds like it was just a typo though so it's cool.
Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "God never required a sacrifice of man nor beast, btw.... that's FEAR... as I mentioned before."
He clearly required sacrifices of beasts as He had the children of Israel and the believers of old do it, as well as the Muslims during the Hajj. At no time did the Christ say that ritual was lifted. If I have to do it "at least once in my lifetime," then ALL Abrahamic religion believers must do it. 
Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "All Christ taught was LOVE."
No one warned of the punishment of hellfire more often than the Christ Jesus. He taught everything that the other prophet-messengers were required to teach. 'Love' was but one component.
Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "Love is perfect and covers a multitude of sins. Nothing needs to die in order for it to manifest."
Then why does the One God still require it of us and Jesus never told us to stop doing it?
Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "Thus, it is the living sacrifice."
Living sacrifices are certainly still required.
Corey DeSh Brown - David said, "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings."- Psalms 51:16
Isaiah prophesied, “The multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me?” says the Lord.  “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?
13Stop bringing meaningless offerings!  Your incense is detestable to me.  New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being.  They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
15When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening.  Your hands are full of blood!
16Wash and make yourselves clean.  Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.
17Learn to do right; seek justice.  Defend the oppressed.a Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
- Isaiah 1:11-17
For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices- Jeremiah 7:22
Til this very day, there are still people sacrificing animals and humans in some strange belief that this act of evil will blot out their sins... that somehow God had approved of this. So... I decided to share some scripture on the matter.
Muhammad Rasheed - The scripture you posted represents God wanting the intention of your heart to be for obedience, and the ritual to be the symbol of that obedience from a sincere place. He isn't interested in the empty ritual devoid of sincerity of your belief in Him. First, TRULY believe in Him and THEN will He accept the sacrifice. 
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
~Psalms 51:17-19
Muhammad Rasheed - There's a lot of folk who like to share scripture but are empty of insight into what they call themselves sharing. Try not to be like that. Work harder and dig deeper for proper context. It'll be better for you.
Corey DeSh Brown - So... you really think burning animals turns away wrath? If so, #Salute and I shall be on my way. Be easy, bro.
Muhammad Rasheed - Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "So... you really think burning animals turns away wrath?"
Obeying your Lord with sincerity turns away His wrath. The rituals are symbolic of that obedience. He's not interested in empty ritual without the sincere effort behind it.
Muhammad Rasheed - Peace, Corey. Be good.
Corey DeSh Brown - Aye... I'm back.I was working and skimmed through. Now, before I cut the grass, Lol...
"This is why Abraham took his son to sacrifice him."
I typed that based on the meaning of the name, which was around during the Brahms (good religious people who became corrupt).... thus, A-BRAHM (Abram or Abraham).
You said, "At no time did God actually require human sacrifices from His servants."
I never implied that. Again... I was illustrating the evolution of mankind.... and the Jews did burn the animals. 
It's not clear at all that God required the sacrifice of beasts.... This is a point I am not willing to drive home with you, just yet. A foundation must be laid, first. In your response to the scripture from Psalms, that was David speaking... and trying to find a way for God to delight in his burnt offerings... it was a start...
You said, "There's a lot of folk who like to share scripture but are empty of insight into what they call themselves sharing. Try not to be like that. Work harder and dig deeper for proper context. It'll be better for you."
You have good intent, but you have no idea. I post with purpose, to lead the reader where I want him to go. Nothing is by ignorance or chance. As time goes by, things will unfold.
I will leave you with this.... Man and God are ONE. I turn away the wrath of God by how I treat mankind.... Nothing more.
Muhammad Rasheed - Corey DeSh Brown wrote:"It's not clear at all that God required the sacrifice of beasts..."
Did he the prophets not have the Levites sacrifices hundreds and hundreds of animals? Then God absolutely required it. 
Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "In your response to the scripture from Psalms, that was David speaking... and trying to find a way for God to delight in his burnt offerings..."
That was David, in sincere and grieving repentance for some wrong, explaining under what conditions God would be pleased with the sacrifice ritual from him.
Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "I post with purpose..."
You should try harder.
Corey DeSh Brown wrote: "Man and God are ONE."
Remember the part where you said that nothing is by ignorance? That would be one. God is ONE... separate from His creation. Man is dual. 
I turn away the wrath of God with my submission to Him, and obedience to His commands. How I treat mankind is only a side effect of that.

Corey DeSh Brown - You're wrong about that... but I'm not here to argue. Peace

Muhammad Rasheed - It doesn't have to be an "argument" in that sense of the term, but you should at least attempt to provide a logical composition to support your pet concept.

If you aren't trying to persuade people that what you claim is the truth, then why ARE you here, Corey?

Muhammad Rasheed - argument - a discussion in which reasons are put forward in support of and against a proposition, proposal, or case; debate

Argument, controversy, dispute imply the expression of opinions for and against some idea. An argument usually arises from a disagreement between two persons, each of whom advances facts supporting his or her own point of view.

Purposely Planting the Seeds of War

Gerald Welch - ‘Snap Out of It’: CNN Host Likens Drawing the Prophet Muhammad to Saying the N-Word
Basically, CNN is saying that rape is bad, but why do woman have to dress provocatively.Idiots.
Muhammad Rasheed - “The N-word gets treated the same way that depictions of Muhammad does,” Cuomo said. “We don’t say it because it’s offensive, not because legally I can’t.”
This is 100% correct.
Muhammad Rasheed - “You’re saying no cartoons — that to me is so much more destructive to a free society than alcohol,” she said.
He's not saying "no cartoons;" he's saying what's the point of making these cartoons if all they do is antagonize and offend people? What's the point of a movement designed solely to offend people? You HAVE the right to free speech. But what's the point using it in THIS way? 
Why not use it for something constructive, that will actually help improve the nation or something?
Bar Barian - She has the right to be a braying jackass, you have the right to call her on it.
Gerald Welch - But no one has the right to attack her, much less try to kill her.
Muhammad Rasheed - You're right. No one has the right to murder you for deliberately antagonizing them to a murderous fury. That's exactly right. You 100% have the right to stomp all over someone's sacred belief system, and patriotic symbols like flag burning, etc. The authorities have even determined you are allowed to strut around with loaded assault rifles into other peoples' neighborhoods. You can do it all you want to.
But why would you choose to? What's the point? So you have an excuse to go to war when they get fed up with the over-the-top levels of disrespect?
Gerald Welch - There is that argument again. The woman was raped, it was wrong, but WHY WAS SHE DRESSED SO PROVOCATIVELY?
Sorry, but there is no excuse for attempted murder no matter how you dress it up.
I thought you weren't following any non-Legacy Book Series posts?
Muhammad Rasheed - Gerald Welch wrote: "There is that argument again. The woman was raped, it was wrong, but WHY WAS SHE DRESSED SO PROVOCATIVELY?"
That's not the argument. I'm actually probing into why you want to antagonize people. You're not answering. If you know drawing this image offends people, why make a big publicized political show of doing it? And why do you sign off on it? Why DON'T you use the 'n-word?'
Gerald Welch wrote: "Sorry, but there is no excuse for attempted murder no matter how you dress it up."
I didn't dress up anything. I 100% agree that no one has the right to murder you just because you deliberately and willfully disrespected them. Nobody does.
Gerald Welch wrote: "I thought you weren't following any non-Legacy Book Series posts?"
???
Based on what?
Gerald Welch - Based on you telling me that you got too upset last time and therefore would only be reading my posts if they were related to Legacy.
Your question is flawed. If you believe that people have to figure out if anyone can possibly be offended before you say or, gasp...DRAW something (partial nudity in comics, for instance) then you're missing the point of freedom of speech.
I have a question for you; it's not only Mohammed that isn't supposed to be depicted, it's any prophet, right? So why isn't Islam upset about statues and paintings of Jesus?
Bar Barian - I would also have no issue with a group of muslims or atheists getting together to rag on the xtian extremists and feature a showing of the Piss Christ, although I wouldn't go to it, I find it offensive. I'm not even a xtian. Part of the price of living in America is tolerating views you find offensive, even hateful and in poor taste. It's not for everyone, some people cannot live in that kind of society and should not venture here.
Muhammad Rasheed - Gerald Welch wrote: "Based on you telling me that you got too upset last time and therefore would only be reading my posts if they were related to Legacy."
I don't remember saying that. Was that an inference?
Gerald Welch wrote: "Your question is flawed. If you believe that people have to figure out if anyone can possibly be offended..."
This is intellectually dishonest. What rational American adult isn't aware that nonbelievers drawing filthy cartoons of the Islamic founder prophet are offensive to Muslims? 
Gerald Welch wrote: "...before you say or, gasp...DRAW something (partial nudity in comics, for instance) then you're missing the point of freedom of speech."
If I draw or say something that I didn't know/intend to be offensive, I will apologize and stop it unless I'm deliberately trying to antagonize the person for inherently hostile reasons. 
Gerald Welch wrote: "I have a question for you; it's not only Mohammed that isn't supposed to be depicted, it's any prophet, right? So why isn't Islam upset about statues and paintings of Jesus?"
Because those are the sacred relics of your own belief systems. When you draw Muhammad, are you creating a religious relic as part of your religion? No. You're literally attacking me. You obviously didn't think that question through.
Muhammad Rasheed - Bar Barian wrote: "Part of the price of living in America is tolerating views you find offensive..."
This is a logical and common sense viewpoint. It SHOULD go without saying that the kind of person who will get upset enough to actually try to kill you for drawing a cartoon isn't logical nor operating out of common sense.
Muhammad Rasheed - How do you feel when I get so upset over those white cop killings that I treat all of you like you will lynch-me-by-cop at any moment? It's not fair, right? "Not All White People," right? 
I'm a Muslim. Even though I absolutely get offended at those cartoons, I would never try to kill you over it. That's psychotic. And I'm not 'different' or a special Muslim of some kind either. Stop listening to Glenn Beck and them.

Man, His Mind, & The Universe

Reg Clinton Brown - New Scientific Study Confirms Universe Is A Hologram

I DISAGREE...

But in my opinion, our perspective compared to the massive nature of the Universe and multiple dimensions in space and limited linear time then yes that "hologram" would be our "insect perspective" compared to the true huge reality of the Universe and what's in it instead of what we just see in front of us with our basic senses.
Only the Spirit (energy) being freed from its Vessel (body) can possibly see beyond the 3 dimensional reality (hologram).

Loukas Papas - These losers are so full of SSHhhhhhhhhh I can't wait til a meteor lands on their 3 d @$e$

Reg Clinton Brown - I didn't even read the article just the headline and I'm tired of people using the word "hologram" or "matrix" because we are NOT plugged in into a machine to dream our reality.

But I'd rather say that our interaction with the 3 dimensional world is just a "smaller perspective" to the bigger picture.

DK Knighton - Please let me know when they find this universal Hologram projector.
Because until they do it seems these guys are smoking some strong stuff.

Muhammad Rasheed - Reg Clinton Brown wrote: "...because we are NOT plugged in into a machine to dream our reality."

It's a machine made out of bio-tech tissue, not metallic machinery like in the movies. The spirit is the real world, while this terrestrial realm is only a finite machine programmed to test the sentient beings of the universe.

Reg Clinton Brown - LOL @ DK Knighton exactly... I hate when people wanna talk about something deep and just throw around inappropriate words like "hologram" or "matrix" cuz they popped too many "RED PILLS" Bye Morpheus   :)

Reg Clinton Brown - Yes, Muhammad I know we are "Bio-Mechanical" organisms that contain a "Life Force/ Soul" that is presently experiencing their 3 dimensional reality within a multidimensional existence.... still not a "hologram" lol

Muhammad Rasheed - You're letting the semantic choices get you into a tizzy and letting it distract you from the significance of the correlations. It's fascinating to me, but philosophical stuff isn't for everyone. If you allow the package to prevent you from enjoying the food within it, that's something you just missed out on and for the next person to pick up.

Reg Clinton Brown - Ok, do I need an interpreter to break down your comment Muhammad?

The word "hologram" means "to project light and it's colors into an image giving the illusion of a 3 dimensional object(s) or person(s)." ...etc

We are not plugged into a "machine" but rather our Souls are energies that are interconnected to all the energies in the Universe. When the body dies, the soul moves on elsewhere since matter changes form but never destroyed whereas energies are kinetic and travels extremely fast. So our current lifetime "experience" may be a "projection of the 3 dimensional experience into our brains that interprets that outside stimuli within our inner soul." and if energies are as old if not older than the Universe itself then that means our Souls are OLDER than our actual body age. Interpret that in any form you wish.

Muhammad Rasheed - It doesn't have to be a technically accurate hologram, as it was used as an analogy. Again you are getting upset over the semantics and side-stepping the real point, even if the direction of the article's author is off skew. The analogy still points to the ancients being right about this world being the illusion and the spirit is real. That's clearly the important part. Whether they worded it in modern sci-fi type talk is the point at all, and to harp on that only serves as a distraction. To me.

Reg Clinton Brown - It's not a distraction, people need to learn with specifics and not getting confused with science fiction (the Matrix films, for example) that were inspired by real life ancient knowledge, mysticism and spiritualism that was here at our disposal since the beginning of time.

Even though movies and television programs do subconsciously attempt to "enlighten" to masses of this knowledge in the form of creative fiction it also causes "confusion" of people not knowing if that knowledge was imaginary or real since in the beginning of creation.

People sometimes don't see that religion and science actually compliment each other.

Muhammad Rasheed - If the analogy helps people get interested in learning about it, drawing them in to the subject, then there is no harm. How many people enter fields of endeavor because they were inspired by a technically inaccurate film, like King kong or something? I think your stance is too strict.

Reg Clinton Brown - And science fiction can help the masses in thinking "outside of the box" beforehand so when that fiction is proven possible or true in the real world then it won't be too much of a shock to the blindfold being removed. That blindfold causes limited thinking and that's the true "hologram".

Muhammad Rasheed - If I don't know anything about the subject, and out the gate you want to bombard me with technical jargon and high-level concepts, it will function as inaccessible, and turn people away. The pop cultural references function as icing to lure 'em in. People often have life-long loves for science because they found some silly novel or show that they loved as a child to inspire.

Reg Clinton Brown - Muhammad, I'll be real with you... I have experienced Lucid Dreams and sometimes keep a log of it written. It seems that once I realize that I'm dreaming within the dream I can do ANYTHING I want, including jumping off tall buildings or cliffs and landing softly on my feet... fighting off an entire army of demons by myself holding a tree stick that turned into a Bo Staff...flying... and even punching and breaking bricks in a wall one by one with my bare hands. I was in control. Now that in itself was incredible but I can't figure out if that dream was just my subconscious imagination at work or was my soul at a different place while my body was asleep. So yeah, maybe I am being too "strict" with the analogy.

DK Knighton - Reg bottom line is, like so many of us we are tired of so called scientis trying explain what they'er unable to explain.

I mean it's OK for scientis to just say "Hey, we just don't know".
Scientis can't accept that there is a Most High and that he has revealed some of what he did and hid a lot of what he did.

Reg Clinton Brown - I agree for the most part, some things scientists are on point with it when it's applied and proven BUT when it comes to things like the "Big Bang" theory or things dealing with types of energies involved with the consciousness of the Soul and Spirituality or the Origin Of Creation in a scientist's viewpoint is ALL THEORETICAL and I give those theories some consideration while giving the "side eye".

Walt Huffman - Read The "Galactic Milieu Trilogy" and its prequels. Then read The philosophy of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Reg Clinton Brown. I believe it will inspire you.

Reg Clinton Brown - Thanks Walt, I'll look those up. I was wondering when you'd jump into this type of conversation. Does those books (both fiction and philosophical) deal directly with aspects of Life Forces and/ or Lucid Dreams vs Reality?

Muhammad Rasheed - Reg Clinton Brown wrote: "...BUT when it comes to things like the 'Big Bang' theory..."

Big Bang theory absolutely supports the biblical origin of the universe. That's why when the 20th century scientists "just went with it" they made great strides in physics. By contrast the modern scientists, who hate Big Bang's implications and waste all of their time trying to disprove it, are stagnant.

Walt Huffman - They deal with the fact that mind direcly influences matter and how every object in the universe, wether considered sentient or not has an amount of energy with which the mind may interact. The key concept is de Chardin's idea that all mind and every object in the universe contributes to the univesal "noosphere" or the field of vital energy that gives rise to ever more complex intellect. Chardin believes that everthing has some measure of life force and lucid dreaming is just another aspect of consciouness and is not mutually exclusive with life force but the same "kettle of fish".

Reg Clinton Brown - Well yes Muhammad, the "Big Bang" theory is an example of how science and religion does compliment each other but only if you read the Bible and most Holy Books in a "contextual" mindset instead of "literal".

Meaning, if you look at Chapter 1 Genesis, it states "literally" that "first there was darkness and then there was light and the light is good" OR "the Earth was created in 6 days"... in a "contextual" point of view a "Day" in God's perspective could be "6 Million Years" or "6 Billion Years" or "6 Trillion Years".

Also scientists also based the Big Bang theory from monitoring the positions of the galaxies from telescopes (Hubble) showing that the galaxies are spreading apart and then eventually gravity will pull all the galaxies together and implode into the "BIG CRUNCH" which would/ could restart another "Big Bang" in the super distant future. Pattern repeats...

Reg Clinton Brown - So Walt, pretty much that can imply that if we were able to open up our Chakras beyond the basic 3 Chakras most use to higher points of the Kundalini all the way up to the 7th level then we could open our "Third Eye" through spiritual awareness through prayer and meditation.

Kundalini

Sometimes it feels like my states of dreaming in my sleep acts like a form of mediation or prayer connecting your energy to the Universe outside of your body so in essence "closer to God" or the "God Energy" that connects everything in matter and consciousness.

Muhammad Rasheed - Reg Clinton Brown wrote: "Well yes Muhammad, the 'Big Bang' theory is an example of how science and religion does compliment each other but only if you read the Bible and most Holy Books in a "contextual" mindset instead of 'literal.'"

Sacred scripture is multi-layered, and designed to be understood on a basic surface level, and at higher levels of thought based on the individual reader's maturity. All texts is to be understood "in context."

Reg Clinton Brown wrote: "Meaning, if you look at Chapter 1 Genesis, it states 'literally' that 'first there was darkness and then there was light and the light is good'"

One would think that there would be a great deal of light emanating from a "big bang" after an impossible level of mysterious darkness.

Reg Clinton Brown wrote: "OR 'the Earth was created in 6 days'... in a 'contextual' point of view a 'Day' in God's perspective could be '6 Million Years' or '6 Billion Years' or '6 Trillion Years.'"

The original word in Hebrew -- the sister equivalent to the Arabic word used for the same concept in the Qur'an -- is "youm." This word is a term used for an indeterminate, but steady and regular, amount of time expressed in the abstract. When God originally told Moses He created the earth in six "youm," no one was under the delusion that He meant six twenty-four hour periods. It was only the English translators, who only THOUGHT they understood what the texts they were guarding meant, who were responsible for the flaw.

Walt Huffman - The concept of the "noosphere" makes such distinctions immaterial. Life forces and lucid dreams are all aspects of de Chardin's "noosphere". There is no vs. reality because they are all aspects of reality. Everything in the multiverse posseses some amount of life force wether sentient or not. The noosphere is the collective life force of everything in the universe. As our population becomes more extensive the noosphere becomes more complex. Our brains, our "souls" if you will become complex. We are electical creatures and the field of the noosphere becomes more sublimely intertwined and we evolve mentally and spiritually. Our brains and nerves are chemically and electrically active. Add enough electrical nodes and intelligence and spiritually manifest in greater and greater "Fields of Spatial Interaction". (Also the Maori believe "Dream Time" is more signifigant than "Real" time). Electrical and other esoteric energies are measurable and can affect the "Real" universe. And "Dreams" are definitely electrical energy. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin is definitely worth investigating.

Reg Clinton Brown - YES, exactly Muhammad so you OVERSTAND what I'm saying then! My Brotha!   :)

Reg Clinton Brown - Interesting.... Muhammad and Walt feel free to discuss more amongst yourselves. I'm going to log off for awhile and do some research.

I'll be back later. Thanks

Muhammad Rasheed - "The Galactic Milieu Series of science fiction novels by Julian May is the sequel (and prequel) to her Saga of Pliocene Exile. It comprises four novels: Intervention, Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask and Magnificat. The series involves several religious and philosophical themes, including references to the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin."

Muhammad Rasheed - "'God writes straight with crooked lines.' This proverb summarises the plot of the whole series, in which tragedies and disasters (particularly the Metapsychic Rebellion) result in ultimate good."

Muhammad Rasheed - "The series includes multiple references to the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, including the concepts of the Omega Point and the Noosphere, which are applied to May's description of galactic mental Unity. The series title echoes Teilhard's 1957 book Le Milieu Divin."

Walt Huffman - Muhammad Rasheed I would like to discuss theses ideas further with you and Reg Clinton Brown. Intellects of any orientation are the meat and drink of my existence.

Muhammad Rasheed - "Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a French philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of Peking Man. He conceived the idea of the Omega Point (a maximum level of complexity and consciousness towards which he believed the universe was evolving) and developed Vladimir Vernadsky's concept of noosphere."

A European philosopher born in the late 1800s who believed the universe was evolving [becoming] in a linear fashion towards a greater, ultimate state, is my ideological enemy.

Muhammad Rasheed - That's the frame work skeleton of the pseudo-scientist racist view that humans evolved from primitive brown spiritual people UP to sophisticated white scientific people. I am not surprised to find others of that ilk fascinated and expanding upon the topic in their own works. I am distrustful of the concepts that even remotely sound like it.

Walt Huffman - Muhammad, why would he be your enemy? Perfection of consciousness and the Omega Point would be the ultimate achievenent.

Muhammad Rasheed - Paradise, granted by the One God who was pleased that you met the requirements for such, would be the ultimate achievement. A human civilization designed to optimally allow human to achieve that state, would rank second.

What de Chardin was dreaming about represented a white man's fantasy that makes me instinctually distrustful based on the normal route of intellectual thought in those old circles. That's why I recognize the flavor of that particular taint.

But I'm open to hearing a logical counter-argument as to why I shouldn't feel that way. Please provide it. Thus far I am impressed with your passion.

Walt Huffman - Muhammad you are distrustful of mental evolution? This has nothing to do with skin color. How about Malama Johnson in May's books.

Walt Huffman - Religion and science are not mutually exclusive. The Omega point is essentially oneness with the ultimate mind (God) of the universe.

Muhammad Rasheed - "Mental evolution" is an individual's walk, grounded in a deliberate, open and honest quest for an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual higher IQ. How does it function in the series? With standard telekinesis, telepathy, and clairvoyance?

Muhammad Rasheed - Walt Huffman wrote: "Religion and science are not mutually exclusive."

I never said they weren't. But de Chardin's concepts certainly aren't 'science.' They're a belief system built upon an arrogant, wishful thinking model of a newly growing racist view of world origin. If the white man represents the highest evolved human to date, then these kinds of concepts are the logical extension of that fully-fleshed out model.

Walt Huffman wrote: "The Omega point is essentially oneness with the ultimate mind (God) of the universe."

God is One, and truly unique by definition. How could such a thing as a joining with oneness possibly be? Tell me.

Muhammad Rasheed - (i recognize that i might be coming across as harsh in this discussion, Walt. please understand that it is only the 'sound' of my writing voice, and is not an attack against you. I'm just challenging it to test the strength of your argument. Peace)

Muhammad Rasheed - Reg Clinton Brown wrote: “Muhammad, I'll be real with you... I have experienced Lucid Dreams…It seems that once I realize that I'm dreaming within the dream I can do ANYTHING I want […] So yeah, maybe I am being too "strict" with the analogy.”

From the examples shown in the life of the biblical Joseph (may the peace of God be upon the prophet), I believe the human dream is more than just sleepy movie images. Dreams can tap into spirit. It is not insignificant that Joseph conspicuously didn’t go around interpreting any and everybody’s dreams, nor did everybody ask. Only certain people who had certain types of dreams. This is the clue for how they actually function. Most dreams ARE just sleepy movie images, but sometimes… for reasons known only to God… they tap into the Otherside to give us a message for something we need to prepare for in our lives (the dreams Joseph interpreted were always precognitive in nature).

Now is it possible that the people who have lucid dreams have actually experienced an altered state of consciousness, and are exploring another realm, the fabric of which being fascinatingly pliable to the explorer’s mind? Sure. 2% of the population actually does have the ability to have an altered state of consciousness without the aid of hallucinogens. It’s also possible that the people who have lucid dreams have only partially awakened, enabling them to perform mental tricks they wouldn’t if they were fully asleep.

But is there a way to tell either way? I don’t think so. Consequently, until our science/tech evolves to the point where we can test such things accurately and obtain definitive results, dreaming stories fail to move me outside of what the prophet was able to do with the permission of his Lord Most High.

Reg Clinton Brown - *reads comments*

Interesting, while I was researching ya'll were providing material. Thanks

Good reading right here  :)

Reg Clinton Brown - Good breakdown on "Lucid Dreaming" Muhammad, I've heard this before. Over the years I've been connecting a few dots based on what I've experienced, to what was being taught, to my own private research over the years with various books. There were a few times that the dream felt like an "out of body experience" in real time... like my body was asleep but my spirit was elsewhere similar to the concept of "Remote Viewing" which I read up on a few years back when I was reading books of an ethereal nature. I use to say it's like my soul was attached to my body like a stretched out "astral umbilical cord" then later I read books that described it that way and was called "Astral Projection".

Some dreams are just simple dreams but what I just described didn't feel like that.

Reg Clinton Brown - ALSO, when I watched that movie Inception a few years back I said to myself did Nolan experience Lucid Dreams too?

Because even though I didn't care for the movie's convoluted story of dream layers upon layers, I understood what they were trying to put across.

Reg Clinton Brown - Muhammad, I should pick up the Bible and re-read the Book Of Joseph.



See Also:  Awakening the Atrophied Eye: A Personal Quest to Find the Followers of Second Sight

Harvey's Think Like a Man Book - Why All the Hate?

Muhammad Rasheed - I’m surprised to see the vitriol spewed against Steve Harvey’s book "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man." I don’t understand the point of the negativity since the book is just composed of a bunch of common sense items related to women on the dating scene based on how they come across to men in their dress, attitude, how soon and under what circumstances they allow him to be intimate with them, etc. It dismantles a lot of ole wives’ tales that women in general, and black women specifically, have been following traditionally when it comes to building a long-lasting relationship with men, from Steve Harvey’s personal experiences and insights.
Would there be individual experiences or opinions that don’t match Harvey’s insights? Sure. All self-help books are like that, being as they are observances from that individual author. Does that mean that they are all worthless? Of course not, and neither is Harvey’s book. A lot of people need to read the benefit of another’s insight on these matters because it’s not like you learn that stuff in school, or have the blessing of being taught those things by parents. Most people learn this stuff in the school of hard knocks, on the fly, and can use any little bit of insight so they lessen the chances of relationship failure. Badmouthing this book doesn’t make a lot of sense unless your goal is to reveal yourself to be a certain type of person... the one that she actually needs to look out for. If the guy is not a social predator, and is looking for a fulfilling and successful relationship with his girl, then he doesn't have any reason to bad mouth this book.

Psy Kyomynde Yobutishyne - Nah...what's ANNOYING is when women who obviously have yet to have an original thought attempt to categorize me based on this book written by a stand-up comedian as if it is THE defining text on male behavior. I mean, they effectively eliminate themselves as a potential mate by that very act. But, all the blahblah that follows as I depart is something I can do without.

Muhammad Rasheed - That's because, after having bumped their heads often against that relationship wall only to end up in yet another bad relationship, reading something like that that finally gives some kind of insight that will actually help in some way will make them feel the same sudden sense of empowerment that people feel when they convert to a new faith for the first time. You have to wait for that enthusiasm to level off. lol

Muhammad Rasheed - Harvey must be a very clever and concise writer.

Psy Kyomynde Yobutishyne - I'm willing to bet the book has the same fanbase as Real Scandal of Love & the Game.

Courtney Perry - Muhammad Rasheed you're so smart!

Jeremy Travis - The issue I've most heard women say about his book is that it advises that women give into the mannish behavior of men rather than men being less lootish. It seems that despite there being any good points in these books, they all seem to suggest how women should adapt men as opposed to men adapting to women, or the two finding a happy medium.

Also, Steve comes off as misogynistic at times.

Muhammad Rasheed - I can see that. He's a self-confessed Christian who takes a generally traditionalist POV on the issue, which also happens to line up in many areas to the instinctual way the two sexes respond to each other naturally. It wouldn't surprise me that the modern progressive that supports a moving away from those traditional roles, and even acknowledges the legitimacy of alternate genders, would have a problem with the book and would consider it a relic of old fashioned and primitive values we need to get away from.

Jeremy Travis - Sure, there's that angle. But consider how rape has typically been handled. Usually a girl/woman is told how to avoid being raped, she's told to take self-defense classes or to carry pepper spray or a weapon or to not walk alone in dimly lit places or to put her keys between her knuckles, etc. That's been the standard practice for decades now. And it's not incorrect, those things can prevent women from being raped. But there has been little to no focus on teach boys/men to NOT RAPE. The same thing applies to Steve's advice, he's quick to tell women how to avoid the things men do or say just to have sex but I never hear him address men and say 'stop saying and doing things just to get a woman to have sex with you'. Why NOT teach from a perspective of 'Act Like a Man, Think Like (Feel?) a Lady'? THAT could solve a lot of problems as well.

Muhammad Rasheed - I wouldn't consider a critique that basically boils down to "Why did you write about this instead of writing about something else?" to be one that should be taken seriously. "This book addressed this XYZ that you chose, but I think it fails because you should've done research and written it about ABC instead."

That's coming across as nonsense to me. People write nonfiction based on their own insights and areas of expertise. Also the self-help market appeals to women more anyway. Would investing time into a book that scolds men for their dog behavior be a good business choice?

Jeremy Travis - It would if it's necessary. He CAN write about what he wants to write about, but if the problem is more about doggish men, and less about the women who fall for them, then maybe he should address doggish men. If not, then I don't think he is confronting the root of the problem.

Muhammad Rasheed - He's writing about his perception of the issue based on his own insights from personal experience. To ask him why isn't he seeing it from a different perspective, and writing it from someone else's insights instead, is still a nonsense critique. The complaint should be directed to a wider platform... by enough voices to let interested writers know that the effort maybe worthwhile... instead of complaining that a particular author didn't write something different from what he did write.

Jeremy Travis - I don't think that holds completely. While I do agree that any individual can write whatever, to always put the onus on women is still problematic. Sure, that's HIS perspective, but that doesn't mean that what he's saying will solve the problem. So it's not a matter of can he say it or not and moreso about whether what he's saying is as effective as he or his fans would like to believe. My personal opinion of him is that of a serial womanizer who MAY have learned from his mistakes, but I find his credibility lacking when he's on his third marriage, his previous marriages ended because of his infidelity, and he still seems to think that it is women who aren't doing what they need to do to to avoid men like him.

Muhammad Rasheed - Jeremy Travis wrote: “I don't think that holds completely. While I do agree that any individual can write whatever, to always put the onus on women is still problematic.”

The book is specifically talking to the woman. That’s the audience. “Want to do XYZ? HERE’S HOW!” That’s the format of the book. To suddenly veer off and talk to someone else mid-stride would be sloppy writing. That would be problematic.

Jeremy Travis wrote: “Sure, that's HIS perspective, but that doesn't mean that what he's saying will solve the problem.”

Strawman? Not all women like the book either. For those who share Harvey’s values and follow his advice, they very well may find the positive changes they were looking for. Are any other how-tos judged by whether they “solved the problem?” How is that a remotely serious/realistic critique towards a book? “Meh. It was okay. It didn’t implement World Peace though. Fail. Libertarianism is a failure too because no world leader has used its principles in their government.”

Jeremy Travis wrote: “So it's not a matter of can he say it or not and moreso about whether what he's saying is as effective as he or his fans would like to believe.”

All how-tos represent the advice of the author from specific techniques that work for them, or are from their own personal insights. Results may vary because each person is different. Who doesn’t know that? I like how all criticisms to successful black products ALWAYS operate from the “New Nigga Rule” theory. “Oh, we’ll invent a whole new rule to judge your uppity shit by, nigga!”

Jeremy Travis wrote: “My personal opinion of him is that of a serial womanizer who MAY have learned from his mistakes, but I find his credibility lacking when he's on his third marriage, his previous marriages ended because of his infidelity, and he still seems to think that it is women who aren't doing what they need to do to to avoid men like him.”

This is a genetic fallacy, bypassing his book’s actual content to attack him because of his past relationship choices. Interesting considering all of his insights come directly from his personal experiences.

Jeremy Travis - OK, in general, what would be good, valid reasons to be dismissive of someone's self-help books and the advice within them?

Muhammad Rasheed - A caucasian, virgin comic book fanboy from a small town in Alabama, who's never left his mom's basement, writes a how-to on how to be a ladies' man in the African-American Chicago club scene.

You may safely dismiss that one. Feel free to analyze it as to why.

Jeremy Travis - OK, I get your point.