those celebrations had nothing to do with
the will of GOD (whomever you perceive god to be). Failure to
obey GOD’s original-order and way of living has created all this
chaotic system that we have today, all-over the world, which all
of us have been affected, whether we like it or not? Today we
have so many groups claiming to know all about the divine,
and it's even more confusing, for all are following the traditions
of these leaders from the past, which all comes from written
books with their own traditions and beliefs.
The bible is information about GOD, but religion made it, the
word of God, so they worship the book but not obey what it says.
They memorise verses like one plus one and that has become a
formality, Go to Church every Sunday, has become formality.
The word Sunday has nothing to do with God, also the bible says
that: “The letter kills but the spirit gives life." And that's exactly
what is happening. Too many 'verses knowing' but not spiritual
inner-experience, so its fruits are not there, or very little,
therefore just the letter kills, and there is no divine life.
That's the reason we have all these uncontrollable-problems
with political and all spiritual religious-leaders, and humanity
does not know the divine. But the God/Goddess that is love
unconditional is coming to us, day after day to awaken us and
listen so that we may escape the sufferings, that the corrupt
system through the traditions, has caused us to go astray from
the original divine-living. God's LOVE is returning, not because
we deserve it, but because God not, nor forever let these
sufferings continue, and for his name to be put so low by
humanity's disobedience to his will. Amazing! YES - BUT IT IS TRUE.
Con. Solopotias
…
t “human
programming”, to use his own words, would require fewer bytes than
a simple operating system for computers. But if people were only to
become the sum of their data - i.e. a collection of their biodata plus
information on all the places they’ve ever been, everything they’ve ever
read, heard or said - then we’d be able to save this information-person
in his entirety, as a file. According to this logic, our digital twin might
even attain immortality.
To quote Lanier: “But if you want to make the transition from the old
religion, where you hope God will give you an afterlife, to the new
religion, where you hope to become immortal by getting uploaded into
a computer, then you have to believe information is real and alive.”
He then concludes: “Man does not occupy a particularly special
position (within such a world.)” Many who adhere to this belief
ascribe to the global network a sort of higher consciousness - one that
is superior to the consciousness of man. They believe that the digital
consciousness is more reasonable than we are and knows much better
what’s good for us. On the most basic level this just means that word
processors—whether we want to or not—end up correcting our writing;
but soon, our fridges will fill up themselves or we will be sent goods
that we didn’t even know we wanted to buy. And not long after that,
some algorithm will determine that we need to pay higher health
insurance premiums or deserve to be cast out socially because we’ve
refused to have our bodies hooked up to cables, because we don’t
exercise daily and travel to the wrong countries on vacation.
According to this logic, it’s a good thing that the internet should take
so many decisions off our backs, since it looks out for us around the
clock, taking care even of our social relations.
The internet turns into a doting mother, an alert and strict father. Welcome to this brave new world.
Martin Schulz
…
ical dilemmas that demanded the authority of religious answers.
Sunni expansion and leadership
Sunni Islam responded with the emergence of four popular schools of thought on religious jurisprudence (fiqh). These were set down in the 7th and 8th centuries CE by the scholars of the Hanbali, Hanafi, Maliki and Shaafii schools. Their teachings were formulated to find Islamic solutions to all sorts of moral and religious questions in any society, regardless of time or place and are still used to this day.
The Ummayad dynasty was followed by the Abbasid dynasty (c. 758-1258 CE). In these times the Caliphs, in contrast to the first four, were temporal leaders only, deferring to religious scholars (or uleama) for religious issues.
Sunni Islam continued through the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties to the powerful Mughal and Ottoman empires of the 15th to 20th centuries. It spread east through central Asia and the Indian sub-continent as far as the Indonesian archipelago, and west towards Africa and the periphery of Europe. The Sunnis emerged as the most populous group and today they make up around 85% of the one billion Muslims worldwide.
Shi'a expansion and leadership
Meanwhile, the leadership of the Shi'a community continued with 'Imams' believed to be divinely appointed from the Prophet's Family. Unlike the Sunni Caliphs, the Shi'a Imams generally lived in the shadow of the state and were independent of it. The largest sect of Shi'a Islam is known as The Twelvers, because of their belief that twelve divinely appointed Imams descended from the Prophet in the line of Ali and Hussein, led the community until the 9th century CE.
Shi'a imams according to the Twelve are shown in blue
Muhammad al-Muntazar al-Mahdi was the Twelfth Imam. The Shi'a believe that as a young boy, he was hidden in a cave under his father's house in Samarra to avoid persecution. He disappeared from view, and according to Shi'a belief, has been hidden by God until he returns at the end of time. This is what Shi'as call the Major Occultation. The Shi'a believe this Twelfth Imam, or Mahdi or Messiah, is not dead and will return to revive the true message of Islam. His disappearance marked the end of the leadership of the direct descendants of the Prophet.
(Note: While the information provided is the position of the largest Shi'a subdivision, that of The Twelvers, other Shi'a groups, such as the Ismailis, hold differing views.)
In the absence of the Mahdi, the rightful successor to the Prophet, the Shi'a community was led, as it is today, by living scholars usually known by the honourable title Ayatollah, who act as the representatives of the Hidden Imam on earth. Shi'a Muslims have always maintained that the Prophet's family are the rightful leaders of the Islamic world.
There are significant differences between scholars of Shi'a Islam on the role and power of these representatives. A minority believe the role of the representative is absolute, generally known as Wilayat Faqih. The majority of Shi'a scholars, however, believe their power is relative and confined to religious and spiritual matters.
Although the Shi'a have never ruled the majority of Muslims, they have had their moments of glory. The 9th century Fatimid Ismaili dynasty in Egypt and North Africa, when Cairo's prestigious Al-Azhar University was founded and the 16th century CE Safavid Dynasty which engulfed the former Persian Empire and made Shi'a Islam the official religion.
Significant numbers of Shi'as are now found in many countries including Iraq, Pakistan, Albania and Yemen. They make up 90% of the population of Iran which is the political face of Shi'a Islam today.
…