Category: Myth

The Government's Secret Weapon

10/20/2013

When truth does not come from authority, we must seek authority from truth.

We may not completely understand what our government does or why they do it at all times, but we should know one truth about it. A government fears only the revolution.

This fact should not surprise anyone.  Those who run the government and those who benefit from it would lose everything they have staked in it.  These are the same people empowered to put down a revolution.

Two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire feared a revolt from the Jews who believed the empire had taken over land that belonged to them and forced them to pay tribute to the Caesar. The Jews did revolt on several occasions and though the Romans put each of them down, the costs of human lives and resources
mounted.

So what did the Romans do?

According to Joseph Atwill, author of Caesar’s Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus, they set aside the use of force and used a different tactic to solve this problem.  Specifically, they invented a brand-new religion that convinced Jews to adopt a pacifistic attitude towards the Roman authority.  Instead of promoting war and dissent, the new religion told its adherents to “turn the other cheek.” and
to “render unto Caesar what is his.”

The new religion became the official religion of the Roman Empire and spread throughout the world. Billions of people practice it now. Of course, this religion is
Christianity.

Followers believe the New Testament’s account of a man who claims to be a deity and who proves this claim by first dying of a crucifixion and then coming back to life.  Atwill points out that all evidence of this story comes from a single source, Josephus, who wrote forty years after the events described allegedly took place.

The point of the fiction is its message of peace and uncritical acceptance of authority.  It still works today in the United States.

Republicans and Democrats for the most part respect authority even when the other party holds it. Fringe groups like the Tea Party only encourage respect for authority which agrees to Tea Party principles. All of these political groups are prepared to ignore the truth about authority (i.e. the legitimacy of a government) because they are too concerned about being obedient.

When the public hears names like “Lee Harvey Oswald” or “Bin Laden” broadcast (by an obedient media) as criminals, most obey the order to believe what they hear. This docility works to help our government promote official stories which are used as justification to start wars in our name.

These lies should not cause us to become pacifists. These lies should cause us to look for truth from different sources than government or religious sources.  Are you willing to take that leap of logic?

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What I Said Last Night at Glendale Central Library

4/17/2013

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I am an avid sports fan and wrote the book A Fan’s Folklore: Six Seasons of Triumph,
Tragedy and Tough Luck to revive baseball and football in the 1970s. By writing about the athletes, coaches and games, I learned some things about myself.

I remember Lyman Bostock, an outfielder who signed a large contract with the
California in early 1978.Though he was an exceptional (.300) hitter, he batted a dismal .147 in April 1978.

He went to the owner of the Angels, Gene Autry (the singing cowboy) and
told Autry that he was giving his money back because HE HAD NOT EARNED
IT.

Bostock’s integrity was exceptional. His shocking murder a few months later was tragic.They simply don’t make athletes like him anymore.

Writing books allows me to reach people I would not otherwise reach. My writing about the “Immaculate Reception” is a case in point. On this controversial football play, it is a mystery who actually touched the ball, a question the referees had to guess in order to rule on the ending of a playoff game.

Using social media, I got the attention of one of the players involved in the play,
John “Frenchy”Fuqua. He emailed me back and told me he was going to show people like me that the play, which benefit his team the Pittsburgh Steelers, was “miraculous.”

A Fan’s Folklore informs the reader as to some of the most remarkable players and games in baseball and football history.It asks the reader to place themselves in the position of those who played the game and ask what they might have done.

Consider the so-called “Holy Roller” in which Oakland Raider quarterback Ken Stabler was about to be tackled by an opposing player as time ran out on the game.As the other player was about to grab his throwing arm and toss him to the ground, he had a split-second to decide whether to “cheat” by rolling the ball forward in the hopes a teammate could make a play or to quit by falling on the ball.

How does that sound – Be a cheater or be a quitter?

From this context, the players teach us about ethics in a way that nothing else
could. So grab this book and learn a little about yourself!
---
Book available here

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Fools and Children Speak the Truth

3/29/2013

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A French proverb tells us that only fools and children speak the truth.

Many children grow up believing in the tooth fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. It obviously isn’t because they researched the issue on what happens to their teeth after they put them under their pillows or how a sleigh run by reindeers can fly all over the world in one night.

Someone told them to believe it.

I believed in these things as a kid because it felt good. I liked to believe that someone was thinking about me and giving me rewards.

It was all plausible to me because I did not give the details of any of these myths much of a thought.

For most of us where I grew up, these were among the first things that someone (i.e. adults) told us to believe. The beliefs of the tooth fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny were our first official theories.

We laughed off any suggestion that they were not real. After all, everyone we knew believed in them, so we did, too. Anyone who said anything to the contrary was not with us. They were just foolish.

The best theory in alternative to the official one was, of course, the theory that adults were lying to us about where the money we would find underneath our pillows or gifts under the Christmas tree would come from. Our parents – lie to us?

It was a lie to help us enjoy our childhood, long before we became adults ourselves and faced big responsibilities. The lie made us feel safe. Never mind it was barely plausible.

But the white lies didn’t stop there. And it wasn’t just being lied to, either.

We learned to lie and accept lies out of comfort. I could not stand eating certain vegetables as a child. I also learned my mom feared looking old. So, at around the age of eight, I lied to my mom by telling her she looked 30 (she was 31 when I was born) to get her approval to skip the vegetables.

In high school, I had a date with a girl who offered no opinions, thoughts or ideas on anything during our dinner. I should have told her that I did not want to see her again. Instead, to avoid the discomfort of dirty looks from her friends who were in my classes, I waited for her to tell me that I was not a high priority.

I don’t know who told the lie that I just needed to get a bachelor’s degree to get a good job. But I felt conditioned to believe it. Then I discovered the cold truth when I took a job shortly after college graduation that did not even pay minimum wage and for which I slaved to try to please a boss who could not be pleased.

We are simply conditioned to avoid truths that would wake us from our slumber of comfort. We are conditioned to respond negatively to unpleasant truths.

I had trouble believing any of my English ancestors held slaves. My family wouldn’t do that! But I couldn’t help but notice a black man named Edgerton Hartwell while watching National Football League games. There were so few blacks in England during the time my ancestors were there, the proof that people I am related to owned slaves stares back at me.

The issue here is not really the truth. It is comfort. Few will risk stepping out of their comfort to speak up for the truth. It is so much easier to stay asleep and tell ourselves that at least we aren’t foolish.

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New Book by Dean T. Hartwell Released!

9/28/2012

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What Is the Real Story about Jesus?

12/11/2011

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The story of Jesus has been one of the most frequently told in world history. But I am a little confused. Did he really say he was going to return? Here are a series of questions I have about this subject:

When Was Jesus Born?

No one has been able to ascertain exactly when Jesus was born. Scholars typically place the year of his birth at around 4 BC (Before Christ) or BCE (Before Common Era).

Was Jesus born before he was born?

When did Jesus die?

As with his birth, there is no certain year for his death. Scholars put his death at around 30 CE (Common Era).

Why wasn’t the year of his death noted anywhere if it was that important?

What did Jesus tell people about the coming Kingdom of God?

He told them that it would take place during their lifetimes. (Matthew 24:34)

Why don’t Christians acknowledge that this prediction was wrong?

When did the Apostle Paul, one of the earliest Christian writers, begin to preach?

Paul makes no mention in his letters of the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in 70 CE. It is reasonable to assume he must have written them before that point in time. Paul was an early persecutor of Christians and subsequently had his “conversion” to Christianity some time later. So, it is widely thought that he wrote his letters somewhere around 50-60 CE.

What is significant about Paul’s letters?

Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:6 that there were 500 witnesses to the risen Jesus but gives no names even though he says they are still around.

Why didn’t he produce these witnesses instead of giving what sounds like hearsay?

When were the Gospels put into writing?

Paul never says anything about what we now call the Gospels (of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), so his preaching must have taken place before they were put into writing. Scholar consensus has the Gospels starting around 70 CE with Mark, Matthew and Luke and ending with John in about 90 CE.

What is significant about the last Gospel, that of John?

John is the only Gospel to refer to Jesus as God. (Source: Ehrman, Bart D.: Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. HarperCollins, 2005.)

Why don’t the other Gospels say anything about this key tenet of the Christian faith?

There is no discussion in the Gospel of John of an upcoming “Kingdom of God.” (Source: "Biblical Literature." Encyclopedia Britannica Online).

Why did the Gospels stop mentioning the upcoming Kingdom?

Did the early Christians change the message when it suited their interests in attracting converts and establishing their religion?

Christians, help me out here!

READ MY NEW BOOK ON THIS TOPIC!

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Myths Make the United States Worth Lying For

1/28/2011

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History is nothing more than competition between stories, one of which eventually wins out after the first-hand witnesses are gone. The winning story is not necessarily the truth, but the story that addresses the inadequacies that its people face.

Myths become a part of history. One of the longest-running myths is that Paul Revere rode a horse all night to warn the colonialists that the British were coming. This legend merged with history after Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem called the “Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.”

But Longfellow wrote the poem almost one century after the alleged fact. The real story was that Revere was captured early in the night and detained by the British. So history gave us a hero, a face to put with our revolt.

Even worse was the myth of Nathan Hale. The real Hale served as a spy for George Washington’s army and was captured by the British. He was hanged in the presence of British loyalists.

The myth, perpetuated in grade school readers for years, has Hale asking the loyalists for a Bible the night before his execution. They deny it and they also deny him a chaplain. And right before he goes to the gallows, Hale is quoted as saying, “I only regret that I have but one life to live for my country.”

How do we know this is a myth? We know because it is highly unlikely that the British would let word out of such a heroic statement that would have bolstered the spirits of the colonialists, especially by identifying a colony as a “country.” And it is also unlikely that they would have given sympathizers access to Hale or the execution.

It isn’t too hard to see through these myths, so why do people believe them? It has to do with the land that we stand upon.

When confronted with truths about the Founders of our nation holding slaves or leaders of the United States mistreating Indians, some people respond by looking for justification for these actions. They look for the heroism and bravery they believe about Revere and Hale and conclude that we are “God’s chosen people.”

This brand of mythology continues to this day. They perpetuate policies that do not serve the same public that laps the lies up.

Most people believe the myth that Osama bin Laden planned and orchestrated the attacks of 9/11. Stating and re-stating this untruth has become a convenient way for our leaders to steer the public away from the real perpetrators of the crimes of that day and for continuing an unending battle called the “War on Terror.”

This myth is just as transparent as the ones about Revere and Hale. Bin Laden is not even on the FBI’s Most Wanted List for 9/11 and has never confessed to the crime. But blaming bin Laden shifts the blame to someone else and brands a whole group of people called “al Qaeda” as our targets.

It also adds to our own self-image as the “good guys” who have followed Destiny in conquering the “bad guys” (usually people of color) in getting the land we have and the right to use force whenever we want to. Anything can be justified.

Even the myth that God gave us the land we live and lie for.

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The 9/11 Official Theory Box

8/25/2010

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Like many children, I believed in Santa Claus. He came by my house, dropped through the chimney and left off presents for my brother and me every year. Until I figured out the reality of Santa, he was a necessary part of my understanding of Christmas.

I was in a box in which I so believed in Santa Claus that no one could convince me that the facts were really different. I only got out of that box when I realized that I had never taken another idea seriously.

When I mention my disbelief in the idea that Osama bin Laden planned and orchestrated the events of 9/11, I get a quizzical look from some people. They apparently cannot understand why I do not accept the official theory. I think that they are in a box much like I was as a child.

If one has conducted research and concludes that bin Laden and al-Qaeda committed the crimes of 9/11, I have no problem with that. Good research allows a person to seriously consider a number of possibilities before making a decision. Somewhere along the way they shed the box.

But I am convinced that a significant number of our population cannot hold a meaningful conversation about this topic because they never challenged their own conceptions. And until they do, they will not comprehend anything I say that goes beyond the walls of their box: the 19 suicide hijackers, the four planes, the phone calls from passengers, the courageous passengers who fought back and forced a crash landing of one of the planes in a field, etc.

This attitude fits in with an old beer commercial whose message was "It's it and that's that." It is the idea that we know what we need to know and that's all there is to it. It is too bad because new information cannot reach one whose mind is closed.

There is plenty of information for anyone interested in challenging the official line of 9/11 to consider. And when we consider new information, we throw away the box that traps us. Consider this:

The 19 suicide hijackers - who says there were any hijackers that day? The information about them came from the media, which supposedly heard from investigators who found documents about the 19 men in the trunk of a car or on the luggage carousel at Boston Logan airport, depending on which story you believe. Why would hijackers bring any information that identified them? Especially when seven of these names have been identified as names of people still alive! Throw off the box - the documents sound more like a plant to throw off investigators than what the official story tells us.

The four planes - who says that four planes were used to crash into buildings? Again the media told us the flight numbers and gave various lists of passengers for each. But no one has ever produced receipts for plane tickets, boarding pass stubs or videos of any of the passengers supposedly on the flights. Furthermore, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics records show that only two of the four alleged hijacker flights were scheduled to take off that day. With four crash sites, it should be obvious that other objects were used in at least some of the crashes that took place.

The phone calls from passengers - What calls? Research has proven that cell phones are ineffective, at best, at the altitude that the flights supposedly went to. The idea that over twenty calls went through, even if a few were reliable air phones, is preposterous. The box opens here if we are willing to acknowledge the possibility that calls were made from the ground, either through voice synthesizers or by people to their relatives. Why would people call relatives with information of impending doom if it were not true? Consider the fact that a hijack simulation took place that very day.

And that story about passengers on United 93 fighting back against the hijackers? Without hijackers, that would be impossible. Where did we get this information? We got it from the media who got it through a representative of Verizon phones, who said she did not tape record the conversation with one of the men supposedly involved in the fight against the hijackers because she was afraid she would disconnect the call. As if a person with nothing else to do but call would not simply call her again?

Most people, I am convinced, want the truth. But wanting it is not enough. It is necessary to go and seek it. Just get rid of that box over your head and see what you can find!

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The Government's Secret Weapon

What I Said Last Night at Glendale Central Library

Fools and Children Speak the Truth

New Book by Dean T. Hartwell Released!

What Is the Real Story about Jesus?

Myths Make the United States Worth Lying For

The 9/11 Official Theory Box

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