The Illuminatrium

WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT THESE NEW CHANGES
 I am sympathetic to productive change in America in many areas that Conservatives desire First, I must say the things I am for -- and yet -- I am not - all one way -  or - all the other.  I am for reason and for practicality, and, because I practice a historical form of the Christian Faith, I see the world through a particular lens. Call it a bias, I don't mind, but it is (I do believe) a compassionate one, and we must remember there is no such thing as an unbiased viewer. You, dear reader, are also biased. Let’s establish that first.   Every human view about life is biased, yet not all biases are incompatible with reason and grace. It is possible for people with differently biased views to work and thrive together. This, as I understand, is one of the geniuses of our American Experiment. This notion is at the philosophical core of our Constitution. So - here is what I have always maintained about the following topics, and still d...

 A BEAUTIFUL SORROW - February 2025  A friend sent this meme to me to share his thoughts about his grief over the loss of a beloved-one, and it evoked the following pros from me. I hope you will not be afraid to share your own grief with others, and engage our ages-old compulsion to try to express this "Beautiful Sorrow" with all who understand it's pain and our need to express that pain by aesthetic means . . . through our hearts.   You have described well how grief feels to “me” as well.  And, in my case, I keep showing love in tangible ways -- though my loved ones have gone ahead.   My gifts, I imagine, will resound in the world — like thunder rolling out across the country side after a lightning strike, or like rivulets flowing into a stream. All who hear its sound and feel its vibrations, all who see the waters rise, will know that some great event has occurred, and all will become aware of “someone” they may never have known existed—but do now. And this, i...

  THE WORDS OF JESUS FOR YOU TODAY He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit,      for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn,      for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek,      for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,      for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful,      for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart,      for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers,      for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,      for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they p...

CHRISTIANITY AFTER TRUMP Welcome to the "MAGA-JESUS!" ---- See my disclaimer at the bottom of the page ---- Churches in America are being radicalized on both ends of the political spectrum . Christianity itself is in the cross-hairs . . . Christians are damned if they do and damned if they don't . . . a great separation is coming Not just in America, but all over the world, Christianity is going through dynamic changes. In the United States,  as a result of Religious-Trump-Republicans, many kinds of "faith-expressions" will witness a restructuring --both in theological content and in praxis.  Traditional Christian views and values will be spoken against . . . seen as too "woke," and as enemies of the policies of the US government. They will be proclaimed as "anti-American," and influenced by Communism. Historic Christian orthodoxy will shrink. Time-proven Christian orthopraxy will become distorted and bizarre, faddish and experimental. I a...

10 THINGS THE CHURCH I GREW UP IN TAUGHT THAT I NEVER BELIEVED  10. People who smoke cigarettes and use tobacco products are going to hell 9. The Bible forbids the use of alcohol for personal enjoyment  8. People who commit suicide or die drunk automatically go to hell  7. Christians should uphold / promote capital punishment  6. Manifest Destiny, the Republican party is the Christian party,  and if a soldier dies for America in war, they automatically go to heaven. Pacifists are heretics and not Christians at all. Democrats are not Christians and no true Christian would be a Democrat 5. Women are to be subordinate to ALL men - not just their husbands - because they are incapable of higher thinking, are physically weaker, have smaller brains, and they were deceived in the garden of Eden--ate of the forbidden fruit first, caused Adam to sin--thus they are the cause of the fall of the human race into sin and must be suppressed 4. The Brown races are inferior - alt...

DRESS REHEARSAL for the Anti-Christ  Donald Trump is not the anti-Christ, nor is he Hitler, nor is he the devil, but he is probably a shadow of all those things -- what he IS is his own unique kind of trouble.  He reminds me of the horrific paintings by two painters, Fransisco Goya and Peter Paul Reuben of "Saturn devouring his son."    * These are depictions of the "Greek myth of the Titan Cronus, whom the Romans called Saturn, eating one of his children out of fear of a prophecy by Gaea that one of his children would overthrow him." Wikipedia What disturbs me most is that it was so called "good people," "church-goers," "moral citizens," "those outraged" by the sins of America, that have put Trump into power.  He promised them that he would go after " their enemies." What they didn't figure on is that he would go after HIS enemies.  I do not believe he cares one bit about "THEIR" enemies, but he doe...