The Arpege Factor

Isaiah can set you free if you compare his Book with its omissions of what the New Testament Gospels, etc., has so grandly embellished. Then make up your mind.

(PASO ROBLES, Calif.) - You know, “promise them anything, but give them Arpege.” We are not talking perfume here, but political rhetoric; and TV Commercials fall into a similar category. In these and other instances the rule ought to be, Viewers/Buyers Beware.

The Democratic Party is less a factor than is the Republican Party, simply because Barack Obama is seeking a second term without competition while the Republicans have candidates coming out their ears, most of whom, if not all, embrace Christianity with vigor, if not with appropriate consideration.

The Party is led by an Evangelical elite which will be the deciding factor when it comes to crowning its Nominee for the Presidency. Many are pastors of mega-churches that emerged from a Puritan seed of persons dedicated to Christianity and Jesus absolutely, but whose sermons often stretch the truth in favor of showmanship and personal preferences that has caused some to overreach the bounds of honesty and propriety, forcing them to resign, if not be sent to prison. Yet, their Congregations forgive them in the belief Christianity and Jesus, and the Word is supreme.

Obviously, these disciples are unaware of the history of the Religions of the Book; the Torah of Judaism being the first, upon which The New Testament and the Gospels are based, followed by Islam’s Koran in the 7th Century with the emergence of Muhammad as God’s last prophet. Christians initially were a cult of Jews whose plan was to replace Judaism - The One God of the Jewish Nation - with a God of All Nations, the one above whom there could be no other. Until, that is, Islam became the third Book of the Religion.

They all worship the same invisible God, but Christians used Jesus as the symbol for its version, and Islam made Muhammad the symbol of its creation. The cult of Christians was remarkable in what it planned to do and actually achieved, the Catholic [Universal] Church; but it was not until 314 A.D. when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the Religion of Empire that it became the power it later did. Christians referred to Jesus as the Son of God [Jehovah], a god which the Trinity of Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost defined as One God, which Christians embraced as the One God of all the People. The Holy Ghost consists of members of the Church which Catholicism controls by use of the Eucharist, to tie them to the Son, Jesus.

Rome was the seat of Christendom till it was invaded by Germanic tribes in the 4th Century. Constantine retreated before them by moving his Court to Istanbul which was renamed Constantinople in his honor. The Eastern Church is as Christian as is Rome, but with ceremonies that differ from those of Rome, and which the Emperor approved; he died in Constantinople which, because of his leadership, became the Second Rome, and a bone of contention when the First Rome was unable to convince the Eastern wing to conform to its religious practices and will. In the 11th Century the schism between west and east was finalized when the Eastern wing had enough of Rome’s tactics.

The rise of Muhammad in the 7th Century attracted Arab nations to which virtually all have declared their fealty to the Koran, the last of the Three Books of the original One God, but with exceptions. Jesus is not considered God, but a prophet of lesser account than is Muhammad, the last of God’s prophets and therefore the most reliable fountain of God’s will. Islam was an audacious leap of faith that effectively trumped Christianity’s One God for all Nations, above which there can be no other. It has been a serious dilemma for Christianity ever since, but not the only one.

Beginning in the 16th Century the power of the Church and its Inquisitions that led many dissidents to be burned at the stake or otherwise gravely humiliated, gave strength to Protestant Movements that in the 18th century gained their release from Rome. The Pilgrims were dissidents who sought escape from English oppression by moving to Rotterdam where thy lived twelve years as exiles before sailing the Mayflower to the New World. They landed near Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts in1621 bringing with them religious practices still in vogue in Europe. They were a tight-knit group who agreed to help one another succeed in their new habitation, and did, with the help of friendly Indians. The pilgrims also were the seed of the Congregational church in America.

Between the 16th and 18th centuries emigrants added significantly to the census of villages and towns contributing their own European manners and skills for the benefit of the colonies. And although many were devout Christians, there were among them also, free thinkers of educated minds and others who could make themselves at home most anywhere.

Pilgrims were of the Puritan sect who believed in strict religious discipline and called for the simplification of acts of worship. They differed from Pilgrims in that they were more open to politics. Many Puritans joined the Pilgrims in the New World where they added the force of their will which may have caused the killing of the last witch in America - in the same century as Colonial Independence was declared from England, and the Constitution was written and approved by all Colonies. Can we doubt the Fathers knew what they were doing when they allowed for separation of Church from State?

Puritans are Evangelicals of mega churches, and of the Republican Party’s Holy See. They are stubborn and persistent in defending their point of view even when there is credible evidence that it is wrong.

The Book of Isaiah precedes the New Testament and the Gospels by as much as one hundred years. It is the Pattern used by the authors of the Gospels to create a false impression of Truth. But they and the rest of the New Testament, any where it is written; is wrong when inferring “Jesus Said,” for according to Isaiah Jesus said very little even to Pilate who, finding no fault with him, turned Jesus over to the Jews who crucified him along with two thieves. Isaiah describes the scene precisely long before the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament embellished his remarks with considerable imagination.

Perhaps the most telling clue to the falsehood of the New Testament is the fact that Isaiah says nothing of Jesus as a babe lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes; or of the three wise men, etc.. If what is written in the Gospels, is not in Isaiah, it is make believe or fantasy. But this is what the Evangelicals insist we must believe, because they are too proud to admit their own beliefs are wrong. Instead, they keep trying to prove the rest of us wrong by pushing their faith on us any way they can.

The most recent attempt is to make In God We Trust the official motto of the United States. It is a simple gimmick to confuse our thinking.

Persistent behavior patterns and habitual thinking are the result of ingrained tendencies that make people reluctant to change their minds, especially those who are accustomed to accepting what is “given” them to believe in silence and without question; Isaiah: 30; 15 says, “in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Today’s Evangelists have laid claim to that concept, and insist that those who abide by their preachments are the “true Christians;” Intellectuals or skeptics who doubt or question before committing to a faith are instruments of the Devil in their opinion.

Isaiah can set you free if you compare his Book with its omissions of what the New Testament Gospels, etc., has so grandly embellished. Then make up your mind.

Ken was born in Minnesota but was raised in California since 1932. He is the youngest of four boys raised by his mother alone during the dark years of the Great Depression. He Graduated from SFSU in the 1970s when in his mid-forties, majoring in Spanish North American History, and added three years of post-graduate study, much of it in Philosophy and Religion. We live at a critical time in history and believe Ken's views represent the view of many who are tired of the commercialism and false interpretations about religion today. Watch for Ken's articles on religion, philosophy, politics and history. View articles written by Kenneth G. Ramey You can email Ken at: darken1@sbcglobal.net