Unsolved Mystery.- “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” — Leo Tolstoy
“The ego has learned to be very clever in order to survive. It is capable of resorting to any lengths or ruse of self-deception and camouflage. The world we witness is merely the drama of collective egos acting out on the perceptual stage of form and time. The satisfactions of the ego are more pleasurable and addictive than the preservation of human life, much less dignity.” — David R. Hawkins
Our modern world is reflection of our collective “Ego” (our false, illusionary self/identity) and this reflection is frightening. What we are doing to each other and to our children is the reality hard to believe and to accept.
Although no person wants to suffer, people continually gravitate to the things that cause suffering because of their ignorance. The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof.
War and violence are fueled by human greed and envy rooted in deep ignorance. Genocide has never resolved any problems – in fact it made problems and conflicts much worse.
Why alcohol, drugs, prostitution, and pornography (including child pornography) exist in our modern world?
Because there are many people who crave for it and buy it. Without demand there would be no supply…
We humans are capable of immense love and sensitivity but we have also been capable of greed, hatred, brutality, rape, murder and war. This duality of what has historically been referred to as ‘good’ and ‘evil’ has troubled the human mind since we first became fully conscious, thinking beings: are humans essentially ‘good’ and, if so, what is the cause of our ‘evil’, destructive, insensitive and cruel side? Are we evil by design or corruption?
Why these things are still happening today?
If we were observing beings on another planet behaving like our own species, we would very likely call them monsters. Yet we appear to be blind and numb when it comes to crimes we inflict onto our own species (driven by ignorant Ego and false beliefs).
By now, with the aid of modern science and technology, we could have easily started not only exploration colonies on the Moon and Mars, but also have eliminated hunger, disease, and poverty on our entire planet. Instead, we spend majority of our wealth and scientific knowledge starting senseless wars which kill millions of defenseless people.
Are wars and violence reflection of evilness of a small minority who control and manipulate the rest of the population or are these reflection of thinking and attitudes of an average human being (viewed as a holographic reflection of our collective consciousness)? What makes it possible for genocides of millions to be initiated by just one person (e.g. Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot)? Out of fear our “Ego”, in its blind desire to dominate and survive at any cost, will justify commitment of most horrific acts.
Genocides
‘Genocide is the deliberate extermination of a racial, religious or ethnic group’ (Chambers Dictionary). Genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law. Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethical, racial or religious group as such:
- killing members of the group,
- causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group,
- deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,
- imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group,
- forcible transferring children of the group to another group.
The following acts shall be punishable:
- genocide,
- conspiracy to commit genocide,
- direct and public incitement to genocide,
- attempt to commit genocide,
- complicity in genocide.
From the United Nations Convention on Genocide, 1948
With macabre bureaucratic precision the Kmer Rouge photographed their victims before torturing and killing them. This picture is all that remains of a mother and child murdered in Tuol Sleng Prison sometime between 1975 and 1979.
Many countries signed the Convention, some of whom have since been party to genocide. Only a few people have been charged with genocide or complicity in it.
The word ‘genocide’ was coined in 1944 to name a particularly shocking and horrific crime of violence which it was then believed could never happen again. That it has been put into practice so many times in one century is even more shocking.
The human race is the only species that can and does think itself into anger and violence. (‘The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.‘) We ought to be able to think our way out of it too. (‘Later I realised that violence didn’t achieve anything.’) One much-practised way of thinking one’s way to violence is developing beliefs to back it up; some of them may head towards the absurd:
- ‘Violence is the only way to get respect.’
- ‘Violence is the only language they understand.’
- I’m good, you’re evil,’
- ‘We’re peaceful, they’re brutal.’
- ‘I wasn’t going to let them beat me.’
- ‘They’re ALL cheats/liars/scroungers/dirty.’
- ‘If I took it lying down, I couldn’t hold my head up again.’ And so on…
There may have been a time in the early history of the human race (a time when the natural world was the chief threat to survival) when this kind of primitive thinking served a purpose. But it’s nothing but a handicap now.
Genocide is not a wild beast or a natural disaster. It is mass murder deliberately planned and carried out by individuals, all of whom are responsible whether they made the plan, gave the order or carried out the killings. Whatever its scale, genocide is made up of individual acts, and individual choices to perform them. So human individuals need to make the commitment, as early in life as possible, that they will have no truck with it. To do that, the way genocide becomes possible has to be understood.
There follow outline histories of eight 20th century genocides. You may want to research some of them further. There are also pointers towards some of the issues they raise, particularly in respect of their causes. Prejudice, racism, grievance, intolerance, aggression, injustice, oppression – they all start small, and we need to spot and stop them in our own local orbits before they grow and get out of control. This means looking at the often long prehistory of genocide, as well as its symptoms in the present. Understanding these will help to avert future horrors.
8 GENOCIDES of the 20th Century:
- 1904 NAMIBIA
- 1915 ARMENIA
- 1932 UKRAINE
- the HOLOCAUST
- 1975 CAMBODIA
- 1982 GUATEMALA
- 1994 RWANDA
- 1995 BOSNIA
Child Abuse
No violence against children is justifiable; all violence against children is preventable. There should be no more excuses.
Child abuse is a problem no one really talks about. Abuse and neglect is the number 1 cause of injury to children in the country. More children die of abuse or neglect than of natural causes.
–Donna Miller
Children can be abused in several different ways. Abuse may be physical, mentally, verbally or sexually. Some are physically abused to the point of death.
Some Worldwide Child Abuse Statistics
- Worldwide, approximately 40 million children are subjected to child abuse each year (WHO, 2001)
- Suicide is the third leading cause of death in adolescents around the world (WHO, 2002)
- One study revealed that about 30% of all severely disabled children relegated to special homes in the Ukraine died before they reached 18 years of age (Human Rights Watch, 2001)
- UNICEF estimates that two million children died as a result of armed conflict during a recent 10-year period, and that another six million were injured or disabled (Human Right Watch, 2001)
- In Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, over 6.5 million children annually are exposed to unwanted sexual materials over the Internet; over 1.7 million of these report distress over exposure to these materials (Estes & Weiner, 2001)
- Each year, approximately one million more children around the world are introduced into commercial sexual exploitation (Casa Alianza, 2001)
- Sexual abuse statistics vary between countries and reports, but are consistently alarming: One country’s research indicates that up to 36% of girls and 29% of boys have suffered child sexual abuse; another study reveals up to 46% of girls and 20% of boys have experienced sexual coercion (The 57th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights)
On October 11, 2006 the United Nations (UN) released the first UN Secretary-General’s Study on Violence Against Children, which addresses violence against children within the family, schools, alternative care institutions and detention facilities, places where children work, and communities. The study took years to complete, and was supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR).
The report includes the following overview statistics (section II. B., pp. 9-10, with references to specific studies provided for each):
- Almost 53,000 children died worldwide in 2002 as a result of homicide.
- Up to 80 to 98% of children suffer physical punishment in their homes, with a third or more experiencing severe physical punishment resulting from the use of implements.
- 150 million girls and 73 million boys under 18 experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence during 2002.
- Between 100 and 140 million girls and women in the world have undergone some form of female genital mutilation/cutting. In sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt and the Sudan, 3 million girls and women are subjected to genital mutilation/cutting every year.
- In 2004, 218 million children were involved in child labour, of whom 126 million were in hazardous work.
- Estimates from 2000 suggest that 1.8 million children were forced into prostitution and pornography, and 1.2 million were victims of trafficking.
Our Right to be Protected from Violence: Activities for Learning and Taking Action for Children and Young People, is an educational booklet for children and young people over the age of 12, which provides information about violence and ideas for actions they can take to prevent violence and respond to it.
Here are links to the web sites devoted to the study:
- The United Nations Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children – Official site, comprehensive, including many technical resources and background information
- Violence Against Children: United Nations Secretary General’s Study – More user-friendly site, especially for kids, also available in Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese, Farsi, and Arabic
Also see the World Health Organization’s 2002 study, World Report on Violence and Health. The entire report, a 372-page and 2.4-megabyte PDF, is available in English, French, Russion or Spanish. A 54-page (600 KB) summary is available in Arabic, English, French, German, and Spanish. Chapter 3, Child Abuse and Neglect by Parents and Other Caregivers, is 30 pages (177 KB) and can be dowloaded in English, French, or Russian. Chapter 3 reviews and provides references for many academic studies on rates of abuse in a variety of countries (though it is not comprehensive).
There is also a 1994 paper by sociologist David Finkelhor, an internationally recognized expert on research on the incidence and prevalence of child sexual abuse, and Director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center. The countries covered in the paper: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Great Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. Please note: Because this is a 1994 publication, and this is a growing field of research, additional studies for some of these countries and other countries have been published by now. Here’s the citation and abstract:
Finkelhor, D. (1994). The international epidemiology of child sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 18,409-417.
Abstract: “Surveys of child sexual abuse in large nonclinical populations of adults have been conducted in at least 19 countries in addition to the United States and Canada, including 10 national probability samples. All studies have found rates in line with comparable North American research, ranging from 7% to 36% for women and 3% to 29% for men. Most studies found females to be abused at 1.5 to 3 times the rate for males. Few comparisons among countries are possible because of methodological and definitional differences. However, they clearly confirm sexual abuse to be an international problem.”
UN report uncovers global child abuse
By David Usborne in New York, Oct 12, 2006
A shocking picture of physical abuse and mistreatment of children in countries in every corner of the world, ranging from corporal punishment in schools to forced prostitution, rape and mutilation, was revealed in a survey by the United Nations last night. The report, requested by secretary general Kofi Annan four years ago, says international conventions on human rights for children have flatly failed to guarantee protections for the most vulnerable members of society. While abuse may be at its worst in the developing world, no country is guiltless, it says.
Violence can be perpetrated by governments, by criminals but also by the family, the report notes. It recalls the words of a girl interviewed in an unnamed east Asian country. “With these two hands my mother holds me, cares for me, this I love… With these two hands, my mother hits me, this I hate.”
“The core message,” concludes Paolo Sergio Pinheiro, the study’s author, “is that no violence against children is justifiable; all violence against children is preventable. There should be no more excuses”. He recommends urgent action to hold governments accountable for ensuring children are treated as “full citizens, not as mini-human beings or property of their families”.
While Mr Pinheiro was helped by many international organizations as well as by testimony from children in several countries, he says many of the offenses are hidden in the shadows.
He nonetheless offers a range of grim statistics, including a finding that 53,000 children were victims of murder in 2002. His report stops short of naming countries with the worst records on protecting children’s rights.
Louise Arbour, the UN’s High Commissioner on Human Rights, said the survey takes the lid off a global scandal. “A veil of silence covers violence against children, yet abuses are so pervasive that no country can ignore them, and no society can claim to be immune from them,” she said.
The British-based charity Save the Children, which, with its chapters worldwide, collaborated closely with the compiling of the report, also noted yesterday that more than one million children are imprisoned worldwide, of which 90 per cent were found guilty of only minor offenses.
Violence in prisons and other, often state-run, institutions, including hospitals and orphanages, many holding children in squalid conditions, is highlighted in the survey. As one child, who had suffered imprisonment, told researchers: “Sometimes one day in prison felt like a year. But after 10 days you get used to it and you don’t cry as much.”
Some of the violence is perpetrated in the guise of medical treatment, the report says, noting that “in some cases children as young as nine are subjected to electro-convulsive treatment” without any anaesthesia or relaxants”.
Also explored is violence, sometimes sexual, within families and at schools as well as the plight of children caught in trafficking, bonded labour and the child-sex industry. Every year sees another million children driven into the pornography and prostitution industries, the report says, adding, “many are coerced, kidnapped, sold and deceived into these activities, or are victims of trafficking”.
Citing figures from the World Health Organisation, it asserts that 150 million girls and 73 million boys under 18, “experienced forced sexual intercourse and other forms of sexual violence involving physical contact”, in 2002.
The murder rate among minors was twice as high in low-income countries than in the developed world, the report found. But sexual abuse in the home is a blight shared by all nations. In 21 countries, most of them industrialized, as many as 36 per cent of women and 29 per cent of men said they had been the victims of sexual abuse during childhood. “Most of the abuse occurred within the family circle,” the report said.
As many as 77 countries sanction violent punishment of children found guilty of crimes great or small, ranging from execution to corporal retribution including caning, flogging, stoning or even, in some countries, amputation.
How children are exploited
“The core message,” concludes Paolo Sergio Pinheiro, the study’s author, “is that no violence against children is justifiable; all violence against children is preventable. There should be no more excuses”. He recommends urgent action to hold governments accountable for ensuring children are treated as “full citizens, not as mini-human beings or property of their families”.
While Mr Pinheiro was helped by many international organizations as well as by testimony from children in several countries, he says many of the offenses are hidden in the shadows.
He nonetheless offers a range of grim statistics, including a finding that 53,000 children were victims of murder in 2002. His report stops short of naming countries with the worst records on protecting children’s rights.
Louise Arbour, the UN’s High Commissioner on Human Rights, said the survey takes the lid off a global scandal. “A veil of silence covers violence against children, yet abuses are so pervasive that no country can ignore them, and no society can claim to be immune from them,” she said.
The British-based charity Save the Children, which, with its chapters worldwide, collaborated closely with the compiling of the report, also noted yesterday that more than one million children are imprisoned worldwide, of which 90 per cent were found guilty of only minor offenses.
Violence in prisons and other, often state-run, institutions, including hospitals and orphanages, many holding children in squalid conditions, is highlighted in the survey. As one child, who had suffered imprisonment, told researchers: “Sometimes one day in prison felt like a year. But after 10 days you get used to it and you don’t cry as much.”
Some of the violence is perpetrated in the guise of medical treatment, the report says, noting that “in some cases children as young as nine are subjected to electro-convulsive treatment” without any anaesthesia or relaxants”.
Also explored is violence, sometimes sexual, within families and at schools as well as the plight of children caught in trafficking, bonded labour and the child-sex industry. Every year sees another million children driven into the pornography and prostitution industries, the report says, adding, “many are coerced, kidnapped, sold and deceived into these activities, or are victims of trafficking”.
Citing figures from the World Health Organisation, it asserts that 150 million girls and 73 million boys under 18, “experienced forced sexual intercourse and other forms of sexual violence involving physical contact”, in 2002.
The murder rate among minors was twice as high in low-income countries than in the developed world, the report found. But sexual abuse in the home is a blight shared by all nations. In 21 countries, most of them industrialized, as many as 36 per cent of women and 29 per cent of men said they had been the victims of sexual abuse during childhood. “Most of the abuse occurred within the family circle,” the report said.
As many as 77 countries sanction violent punishment of children found guilty of crimes great or small, ranging from execution to corporal retribution including caning, flogging, stoning or even, in some countries, amputation.
How children are exploited
- According to the World Health Organisation, up to 53,000 children are murdered worldwide each year.
- Between 80 and 93 per cent of children suffer some form of physical punishment in their homes; a third are punished using implements.
- In 2002, the WHO estimated that 150 million girls and 73 million boys under 18 experienced some form of forced sexual intercourse or violence.
- 218 million children worldwide are labourers, 126 million of whom work in hazardous environments.
- 1.8 million are involved in prostitution or pornography and 1.2 million have been trafficked.
- Up to 275 million witness domestic abuse annually.
- Eight million worldwide are in residential care.
- There are 250,000 child soldiers in the world.
- According to Amnesty International, 40 per cent of soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are children. 11,000 have still yet to be disarmed.
- One billion children live in countries where it is legal to beat pupils.
- Save the Children says a million children worldwide have been imprisoned.
Message to those who harm children
And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
– Matthew 18 (1-10) King James Version (KJV)
——————————————————
Subject Related Resources and Links
- The Statistics of Child Abuse in the World Today
- Child Maltreatment 2010 (PDF)Download (PDF – 5,340KB)
- Child Maltreatment – Fact Sheet
- Child Abuse: Children are victims of adult’s vices
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
At least 130 million women in Africa have been circumcised, and two million more girls undergo the practice every year in 28 African countries, mostly in the continent’s north and central areas.
Key facts
- Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or injure female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
- The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women.
- Procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later, potential childbirth complications and newborn deaths.
- An estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of FGM.
- It is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15 years.
- In Africa an estimated 92 million girls from 10 years of age and above have undergone FGM.
- FGM is internationally recognized as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The practice is mostly carried out by traditional circumcisers, who often play other central roles in communities, such as attending childbirths. Increasingly, however, FGM is being performed by health care providers.
FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a person’s rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death. Source >>
Pornography
Pornography is one of the most powerful drugs created by the human ego… Convinced we are separate from each other we are trying to feel less lonely be seeking companionship in distorted illusion of Love. Addiction to sex, just like drug addiction, is a bottomless cup… we can never fill it up… Our thirst for true Love can never be satisfied this way…
The statistics are truly staggering. It’s big business. The pornography industry has larger revenues than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple and Netflix combined. 2006 Worldwide Pornography Revenues ballooned to $97.06 billion.
According to compiled numbers from respected news and research organizations:
- Every second – $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography.
- Every second – 28,258 internet users are viewing pornography.
- Every second – 372 internet users are typing adult search terms into search engines.
- Every 39 minutes: a new pornographic video is being created in the United States.
Worldwide Pornography Revenues and 2005/2006 U.S. Pornography Revenue Stats
Pornography revenues are not necessarily ranked according to population. China topped the list in 2006 with more than $27 billion in pornography revenues. However, South Korea, only the 26th most populous nation on earth according to the U.S. Census Bureau, is next in line with more than $25 billion in pornography revenues.
The internet is not the most popular form of pornography in the United States. Video sales and rentals accounted for $3.62 billion in revenue in 2006 while internet pornography raked in $2.84 billion. Magazines were the least popular.
The Time of Transformation or Destruction?
The Timeline of Human History (with very few exceptions) shows continuous history of war, genocide, injustice, suffering and corruption.
It seems that human kind has not changed for better in thousands of years. Our modern technology reached fairly advanced stage, however our spiritual growth is still at the level of Sodom and Gomorrah.
It seems that human kind has not changed for better in thousands of years. Our modern technology reached fairly advanced stage, however our spiritual growth is still at the level of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Is there hope or the evil must be purged by some global catastrophe (as it happened in the biblical time of Abraham)?
Genesis 18-19, King James Version (KJV)
1And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
2And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
3And said, My LORD, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
4Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
5And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
6And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
7And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
8And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
[...]
16And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
17And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
18Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
20And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
22And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
25That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
26And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
[...]
32And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.
33And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
2And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
3And said, My LORD, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
4Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
5And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
6And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
7And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
8And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
[...]
16And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
17And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
18Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
20And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
22And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
25That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
26And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
[...]
32And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.
33And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
1And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
2And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
3And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
4But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
5And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
6And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
7And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
8Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
9And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
10But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
11And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
12And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
13For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
14And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
15And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
16And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
17And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
18And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my LORD:
19Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
20Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
21And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
22Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
23The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
24Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
25And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
26But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:
28And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
29And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
30And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.
2And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
3And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
4But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
5And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
6And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
7And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
8Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
9And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
10But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
11And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
12And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
13For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
14And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
15And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
16And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
17And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
18And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my LORD:
19Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
20Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
21And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
22Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
23The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
24Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
25And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
26But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:
28And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
29And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
30And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.
Related Posts
Buddha’s Solution
The Four Noble Truths
1. Life means suffering.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
1. Life means suffering.
To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursuit of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a “self” which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call “self” is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha. Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. The third noble truth expresses the idea that suffering can be ended by attaining dispassion. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of clinging and attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries, troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas. Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have not attained it.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
There is a path to the end of suffering – a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Eightfold Path. It is the middle way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter quality discerns it from other paths which are merely “wandering on the wheel of becoming”, because these do not have a final object. The path to the end of suffering can extend over many lifetimes, throughout which every individual rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning. Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects will disappear gradually, as progress is made on the path.
It is no accident that we are placed in a world marked by birth and death. It is a school to face fears and know reason. Seeking is the cause that sets man to first see himself reflected in the mirror of his own making. He also sees himself in the face of the other and desire preoccupies him. Created as man and woman — mankind thus makes his own hell and sometimes seeks his own immortality in unrecognized sexuality. Man stumbles upon power that distracts him from the original cause. He finds violence, wealth, knowledge, beauty, and mistaken love as power vehicles to leverage physical events and people that become the illusions which he buys into. He becomes selfish and seeks via some power phase, to build frequency of gratification to tickle his ego or psyche. To these ends he becomes addicted to power and gratification thus allowing obsession to take over his life. Seeking the Otherworld slows or ends.
– Ron O. Cook, The Dawning of the Omega Age
Is 2012 the Year of Human Consciousness Transformation?
Many hope that we are in the midst of the Great Shift in Consciousness… a questioning of who you are and what life is about, and the inability to function in your old ways of living. Since 1987 and the Harmonic Convergence, great waves of divine energy ‘The Waves of Love’ have been transmitted to Earth preparing us for the Great Shift as we approach 2012.
The year 2012 marks the end of many great cycles of time in particular the end of the 26,000 year Cycle and the 225 million Galactic year Cycle. The Mayan, Incan, Aztec, Hopi & Vedic traditions all acknowledge that 2012 marks the end of major cycles, and the beginning of a major advance in consciousness. The ‘Great Shift’ is the term for our journey toward 2012, and our birth into an awakened state of consciousness.
By 2012 we have the potential to transcend our old ways of being and come to live together in joy, peace and harmony. This Great Shift in Consciousness is happening to each and everyone of us, to our planet Earth, our Galaxy and our entire Collective Consciousness.
- – -
When people get to know each other well, they penetrate into the depths where the real Self resides, and that is the part of the other person they respect and love.
Worth a Look
Saharsia by James DeMeo
Human Violence is Unnatural. Perpetual War is Not Inevitable.
The Human Species is By Nature Loving, Cooperative and Peaceful.
There is a Real Early Peaceful Period in the Archaeological Record.
The Concept of a “Naked Violent Ape” or “Violent Genes” is a Modern Fantasy-Falsehood.
Early Climate Change Towards Saharasian Deserts at c.4000 BCE led to the First Widespread Appearance of Violent Human Societies, who have Favorably Perpetuated Themselves over the Centuries by Conquest of more Peaceful Societies. Those are the findings from James DeMeo’s Saharasia!
The Human Species is By Nature Loving, Cooperative and Peaceful.
There is a Real Early Peaceful Period in the Archaeological Record.
The Concept of a “Naked Violent Ape” or “Violent Genes” is a Modern Fantasy-Falsehood.
Early Climate Change Towards Saharasian Deserts at c.4000 BCE led to the First Widespread Appearance of Violent Human Societies, who have Favorably Perpetuated Themselves over the Centuries by Conquest of more Peaceful Societies. Those are the findings from James DeMeo’s Saharasia!
James DeMeo’s Saharasia is the largest and most in-depth scholarly study on human behavior and social violence around the world which has ever been undertaken. The findings summarized in Prof. DeMeo’s book cover the entire globe, from early prehistory into modern times, integrating on world-maps a full sweep of standard research data from the fields of archaeology and history, plus an in-depth cross-cultural review and mapping of data from over 1000 distinctly different human societies, from standard anthropological data bases. It employed standard cross-cultural correlation tables on over 60 different variables, plus geographical mapping and quadruple blind research procedures to insure objectivity, and all the basic starting assumptions are clearly elucidated in advance. The work also incorporates his own personal field research in the deserts of the Middle East and Southwestern USA. No great knowledge of maths or scientific methods is required to follow the logic and research to their conclusions, though the book is clearly written for scholars. An early period of generally peaceful social conditions is documented in prehistory, but with a major shift towards patriarchal-authoritarian and decidedly violent social conditions across the Saharasian region after a major climate-shift from wet grassland-forest conditions towards harsh desert conditions at c.5000-4000 BC. Major epochs of cultural diffusion are also presented on maps, showing how violent patriarchal authoritarian, sex-repressive and child-abusive behaviors were carried outward from their Saharasian origins to nearly every corner of the globe. It presents previously-unknown geographical patterns in dozens of different human behaviors, beliefs and social institutions representative of human violence and warlike aggression, such as slavery, castes, genital mutilations and a low women’s status. The findings have been praised by many, published in scientific journals and magazines, cited repeatedly, but in largest measure have been willfully censored out of the discussion by most within the editorial power-circles of modern academics and mainstream journalism, which continues to embrace the flawed and disproven theories of “violent genes” or other “original sin” concepts. None of those theories, nor anything like them, can stand in the face of the new evidence presented in Prof. DeMeo’s Saharasia.
Click to order from Amazon.com.
You can also order this book from: http://www.saharasia.org/
You can also order this book from: http://www.saharasia.org/
Book Description from Amazon.com
Ancient humans were peaceful – modern violence is avoidable. That’s the basic message contained in “Saharasia”, a controversial “marriage of heresies” over 10 years in the making. It will change forever your way of looking at the world, your home culture, and current events. Saharasia constitutes a revolutionary new discovery on a geographic pattern to global human behavior as deeply embedded within the scientific literature of anthropology, history and archaeology. It covers issues and events which typically are ignored in the “politically correct” academic environment, even though it was produced within that same environment. Saharasia presents the first cross-cultural, anthropological, archaeological and historical survey of human family and social institutions, tracing human violence back in time to specific times and places of first-origin. Saharasia also presents an additional controversy, given the factual identity of the violence-prone Saharasian region to be the homeland of the Islamo-fascist terror brigades. Saharasia has at several times in human history been the region from which massive armies marched out to conquer those moister regions lying at its periphery: into Europe, China, India and sub-Saharan Africa. These would be the early Indo-Aryan, Kurgan and Battle-Axe warriors, the Scythians and Huns, the Mongols, Turks, and Arab-Muslims, all of whom formed gigantic empires encompassing desert Saharasia and parts of its moister borderlands. While the analysis contained in this book starts around 12,000 BC and ends at around 1900 AD, the suggestion is clear, that the modern problem of global terrorism also springs forth from basic Saharasian-warrior roots. If you really want to know why so much of the world is in such a miserable condition, and to fully understand the current “march to war” within Islamic nations, this book will provide answers.
One of the largest and most ambitious scientific and systematic, cross-cultural evaluations of human behavior ever undertaken. Originally a doctoral dissertation undertaken by the author at the University of Kansas, now supplemented with new chapters, and with hundreds of maps and illustrations. “Saharasia” is scarsely known to the wider public, given the controversial conclusions which precipitated from its development. But its findings, made as early as 1980, have been validated repeatedly by subsequent scientific discovery, and by world events. The new edition contains all-new Appendix documentation: “Update on Saharasia”reviewing archaeological evidence suggestive of an ancient period of generally peaceful human social conditions, world-wide.
You can also order this book from: http://www.saharasia.org/
- – -
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
In The Power of Now he shows readers how to recognize themselves as the creators of their own pain, and how to have a pain-free existence by living fully in the present. Accessing the deepest self, the true self, can be learned, he says, by freeing ourselves from the conflicting, unreasonable demands of the mind and living “present, fully and intensely, in the Now.”
A Reader’s Comment
After 12 years of searching, reading hundreds of books leading me down lots of dead ends, and living a life on an emotional roller coaster, finally I read something that really speaks to me. This is a fantastic book to begin your journey towards “completeness”. It has changed the way I think, like no other book.
After 12 years of searching, reading hundreds of books leading me down lots of dead ends, and living a life on an emotional roller coaster, finally I read something that really speaks to me. This is a fantastic book to begin your journey towards “completeness”. It has changed the way I think, like no other book.
- – -
More Links
- http://blog.world-mysteries.com/science/the-dawning-of-the-omega-age/
- http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/esp_2012_02.htm
- http://www.calleman.com/
Read More Other Unsolved Mysteries article!
