A Tree, An Apple, A Wineskin...

Just what exactly did our Forerunners think they were doin'?
The story we heard growing up about our progenitors, Adam and Eve, is quite hackneyed, so here is a fresh take on an old rabbi's wive's tale.

In the Biblical account Eve 'tempted' Adam with the 'forbidden fruit', one 'bad apple', and got us all deftly kicked out of Eden--thanks to her sweet tooth!

The Quran does not lay the blame squarely on Eve's shoulders since both Adam and Eve are equally accountable for not having heeded God's warning to stay away from just that one 'tree'.

7 Al-A'raf (The Heights, The Unique Celestial Event A'raf, Aaraaf)

وَيَا آدَمُ اسْكُنْ أَنتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ فَكُلاَ مِنْ حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلاَ تَقْرَبَا هَـذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ 7:19

7:19 And, O Adam! (First Human Being), you and your wife (are to) dwell in this garden; so eat (partake of it), both of you, whatever you may wish (desire); but do not approach (come near) this one tree, lest you become (of those who are) oppressors (unjust; inflict strife)!"

The Garden mentioned is the first one, Paradise or Eden, and it conveys many good things. First, that it is protected; the word ‘garden’ derives from Old English meaning ‘enclosure’ and in a similar manner both the Iranian and Greek sources mean ‘to make or form a wall around’. By extension, the Hebrew word for the Garden was ‘Eden,’ meaning ‘pleasure, delight’, and the Ugaritic sense for ‘dn, an added etymology, means ‘a well-watered place.’ Among the many other good things about this Garden was that it had ‘trees.’

In earlier posts trees were discussed as metaphors pertaining to chemistry. But trees can denote a host of other things to convey other meaningful ideas. The primary definition for tree is that of a woody perennial having a main stem and subsidiary branches and in this form it provides many direct uses such as fruits for food, flowers, lumber for shelter, and plays a central role in the O2/CO2 cycle. But 'tree' can also mean something that shows hierarchy; a supporting structure; a fixed source; as a transitive verb, it can mean to put someone in a difficult position; in material science, it refers to crystalline growth (especially in metals); and in computer applications, it refers to a data structure wherein every element has only 1 single predecessor except for the first element, which has none, and is called the 'root'.

Important to the message in Sign 7:19 is not only to avoid one said 'tree' but the reason for such avoidance is that it would cause our happy couple to become oppressors, unjust, and inflict strife; in other words, they would no longer be 'content' (Lat., contentus –contained, satisfied) to stay within the Garden.

Language is an integral part of the human experience, by articulating something--be it verbally, visually, or musically, etc.--we reinforce our perception of what we believe is our Reality. So, the saying 'root of all evil' is an interesting Jungian reference to the Genesis story about ‘gardens’ and 'trees', ‘apples’ and 'temptation', 'evil' and the loss of the Edenic (perfected) original state of being 'content'. Basically, this one phrase sums up the whole ball of wax about human experience; by alluding to a once perfect human state blissfully content to remain in the protected enclosure of the Garden and ascribing a basis for its loss consequent to one fateful act to partake of the one thing that ought to have been avoided. Amazing what four little words can do.

As mentioned in an earlier post, 'World War What?,' the Latin words for 'apples' and 'evils' are homophones--'mala,' and it is worthwhile to mention that, once upon a time, evil did not conjure up all sorts of demons but used to mean 'ills', 'badly', 'wrong'; expressing a not-so-perfect state--a state of 'malcontent'; or a deterioration from a wholesome/healthy state to a lower/diseased condition—a malady. The ‘fruit’ that brought about this evil did not of necessity have to be an apple, either, just the ‘product, sweet, result, or end’ of what that one ‘tree’ produced.

By the same token, Satan, who instigated the problem of malcontent, has its root found in s t n to mean someone who opposes, obstructs or acts the part of the adversary; not some creepy-crawly that possesses malnourished maidens; those later constructs probably due to the human propensity toward creativity. But Satan is credited as the leading cause to bring about the disease/malady/malcontent that cost our Garden denizens their Birthplace Address.

And Satan is a character that contends with God when it comes to having to serve or be subservient to humans. Central to Satan’s argument is that God created Satan of better stuff than the mere ‘sounding clay’ that constituted Adam, and his pride about his finer mettle sets him up to be the human adversary when he is commanded to ‘bow’ down to Adam and he refuses to lower himself. Not doing as God commanded Satan is immediately lowered from his existing finer state and he sets out to prove his point that Adam (Humanity) is truly not worthy of his adoration. Satan is not an Angel, but is considered Jinn, another form of creation that preceded Human creation, but came some time after God had already created Angels. Angels are comprised of ‘Light’, Jinn of a ‘Smokeless Fire’, and Humans of ‘Sounding Clay’ or of ‘That Which Clings (Embryos).’

And then there is that naughty 'tree' (Lat., arbor) that produced the forbidden 'fruit' ('sweet', 'result', 'final product,' 'end'); a 'bad apple', or some say pomegranate; which became the 'root' (Lat., radic-) of all the 'evil' that ensued.

The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Paradise is an allegory, or similitude, that attempts to explain or account for why our human state is not perfect since we expect a Perfect God to make a Perfect Creation. Some of the confusion revolves around our not having a very good handle as to the true nature of our own Creation.


Surah 56 Al-Waqi'a (The Final Outcome)
إِذَا وَقَعَتِ الْوَاقِعَةُ 56:1
لَيْسَ لِوَقْعَتِهَا كَاذِبَةٌ 56:2
خَافِضَةٌ رَّافِعَةٌ 56:3
إِذَا رُجَّتِ الْأَرْضُ رَجًّا 56:4
وَبُسَّتِ الْجِبَالُ بَسًّا 56:5
فَكَانَتْ هَبَاء مُّنبَثًّا 56:6
وَكُنتُمْ أَزْوَاجًا ثَلَاثَةً 56:7

56:1 WHEN the (Expected) Event (Outcome) Comes to Pass (Happens)
56:2 There will not be any to deny (lie) it Happened
56:3 Abasing, Exalting (Lowering, Raising)
56:4 When the Earth is Jolted with a Jolt
56:5 And the Mountains Are Pounded to Powder,
56:6 To Become (as) Scattered Dust
56:7 And you were 3 Pairs (Triad?)

Understanding Sign 56:7 provides pivotal insight into some of the mystery surrounding the Human Creation; one might say it is the Crux of the ‘matter’. There is no doubt that the 'you' mentioned is each and every one of us. That we are created in pairs, or have matching companions or dual nature is mentioned throughout the Quran; but in this one instance, that I could find, it is very clear that each one of us is part of 3 pairs or 3 duals; it is only a guess on my part that it could also mean a complementary triad, but that is only a guess.



{To gain some insight as to how this might work, consider the lithograph 'Relativity' by M.C. Escher, wherein there are 3 perpendicular earth-planes intersecting; the inhabitants have common use of the stairs, yet it is not possible for them to live on the same floors since they each have different perspectives of horizontal and vertical surfaces.}

Classically, 56:7 is interpreted to mean being divided into 3 groups, but the language is very specific in its use of the word for couples/pairs/dual complements (أَزْوَاجًا). If 56:7 is to be taken literally, the nature of our human form is such that we are each a single element comprising a set of 3 couples. What is of further interest is the form of the verb 'to be' is past tense; that we each 'were' a part of this sextet while the Event alluded to is happening. In addition, while the Event appears to be cataclysmic on some level, Ayeh 56:3 foreshadows a type of segregation or sorting out that occurs as a result of it (lowering and raising; kind of like what happens when you distill something).

Signs 56:4-56:6 may be referring to **earthquakes**, but there is human activity associated with this type of phenomenon as well--that is mining, particularly as in mountain top removal for coal mining; there would be a jolt, the mountain would turn to powder and then the dust would be scattered. This is on topic since coal is made of carbon, and there is a reference to the number 6 in that we each comprise a sextet, and it just so happens that the Atomic Number for Carbon is 6 ; and carbon forms the basis of all organic life forms found on Earth. Still not convinced there is a God? All this embedded info in the Quran just happened by accident? (**Insights pertaining to earthquakes in a later post in order not to digress too far from the main topic here**).

As an aside, for those of us having difficulty getting our heads around our
comprising a set of 6, this explanation pertaining to perception might help
explain it: “If you draw a picture of (a playground) scene and try to make
it look realistic, you will make some of your people appear substantially
smaller than others. That is, you deliberately
distort in order that the picture will look ‘right’.-- from
'The Golden Mean' by Charles F. Linn

So, our nature might be such that being a part of a sextet would allow for this type of distortion from the perspective of an Outside Observer (hmmm, wonder Who that could be?)

Later, in Chapter 56, it goes into some detail to explain the result of this separation; and each group of 'Companions' is referred to specifically with respect to their physical location-- which on a secondary level may coincide with their disposition (or character): (I hope you all like flying and sailing, or, as pertaining to my case, auto-marin-airing)...
فَأَصْحَابُ الْمَيْمَنَةِ مَا أَصْحَابُ الْمَيْمَنَةِ 56:8

وَأَصْحَابُ الْمَشْأَمَةِ مَا أَصْحَابُ الْمَشْأَمَةِ 56:9

وَالسَّابِقُونَ السَّابِقُونَ 56:10

56:8 The Starboard Companions, what of the Starboard Companions?
56:9 The Larboard Companions, what of the Larboard Companions?
56:10 And The Foremost Forerunners? (The Leading Precedents, The Harbingers Closest to the Front, The Leading Precursors, i.e., 'The Apparent Leads', 'Those Foreshadowing the Things To Come'; ‘Ancients’...)

You and your 'companion', whether you have met or not, occupy these positions, whether you are aware of them or not. According to Signs 56:8-56:10 you have 3 levels of existence, not only in the Space-Time continuum, but in condition as well, those being: the Good (On the Right), the Bad (On the Left), and the Exemplary (At The ‘Bow’, Closest to the Front).
I don't recall that the exact idenity of the forbidden fruit is actually ever revealed to be an apple. The only moniker it is ever given is that of it being called 'zaquum', which is not any fruit we have come to identify as yet. Perhaps because the word 'zaquum' is the adjective form or can serve as the plural form of the known word for wineskin, 'zaq'. This tree is linked to something having to do with wineskins. A process that usually involves drying, waterproofing or sealing, and then tanning animal hides.

لَآكِلُونَ مِن شَجَرٍ مِّن زَقُّومٍ 56:52

56:52 They (Larboard side companions) shall taste (eat/partake of) the Tree of Zaquum

Traditionally, wineskins were made from goat skin that was dried then coated with pitch to make it impermeable or waterproof. Pitch refers to any of a number of viscous, solid resins extracted mainly from pine and juniper trees . While nowadays pitch can be made from petroleum products, traditionally it had been derived from trees. Petroleum-derived pitch is called bitumen and pitch produced from plants is known as resin. Purified at very high temperatures, it was used for waterproofing for the inside of tanned skins used as wineskins.
Incidentally, pitch and bitumen have associations with the state we call 'Hell.'

The tanning process derives from the use of tannins, usually extracted from tree bark such as pine, Holm oak, ink plants or, most commonly nowadays, mimosa. The main purpose of tanning is to convert the skin into an inorganic product so that it does not rot. Tanning also lends body to the skin, while leaving the pores soft.

Tannins precipitate proteins and chelate metal ions. Pomegranates have a wide variety of tannins, nutritionally making them a good source of antioxidants, but overconsumption may lead to anemia in sensitive individuals due to tannins effectively leaching iron ions from hemoglobin.

Maybe that's what happened to Eve; she developed a taste for such a fruit and succumbed to its ill/evil health effects. At which point, she would not have had to tempt Adam to eat it; her describing a new found novel condition to him may have led Adam to see for himself what she was on about. I can't think of anything worse than a long protracted illness to make someone any more malcontent. At which point, they didn't need God to send them any lower, they sank themselves. But the effect was probably not just physical but mental/psychological since it altered their perception/innocence.

I like to think it was inadvertent. Eve may have simply been unaware of her repeated contact/proximity to the tree that may have exuded something of its complex tannins, terpenes, what have you; and unwittingly suffered some negative effect as a result leading Adam to investigate and suffer the same outcome.

That the exposure or partaking was involuntary is alluded to here:

7:27 يَا بَنِي آدَمَ لاَ يَفْتِنَنَّكُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ كَمَا أَخْرَجَ أَبَوَيْكُم مِّنَ الْجَنَّةِ يَنزِعُ عَنْهُمَا لِبَاسَهُمَا لِيُرِيَهُمَا سَوْءَاتِهِمَا إِنَّهُ يَرَاكُمْ هُوَ وَقَبِيلُهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لاَ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا الشَّيَاطِينَ أَوْلِيَاء لِلَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ (7:27)يَا بَنِي آدَمَ لاَ يَفْتِنَنَّكُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ كَمَا أَخْرَجَ أَبَوَيْكُم مِّنَ الْجَنَّةِ يَنزِعُ عَنْهُمَا لِبَاسَهُمَا لِيُرِيَهُمَا سَوْءَاتِهِمَا إِنَّهُ يَرَاكُمْ هُوَ وَقَبِيلُهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لاَ تَرَوْنَهُمْ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا الشَّيَاطِينَ أَوْلِيَاء لِلَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ

7:27 O Children of Adam! Do not allow Satan to seduce you as he caused your Forerunners (Parents) to be exiled from the Garden and tore off from them their rainment (mantle of innocence) that he might manifest their shame to them. Verily, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you cannot see him. Truly, We have made the devils forerunner (parents) of those who do not believe.

Let's see what else Quran has to say about this troublesome tree:

37 As-Saffat (The Array/Matrix, Those Arranged In Rank)
أَذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ نُّزُلًا أَمْ شَجَرَةُ الزَّقُّومِ 37:62

37:62 Is that good 'boarding' (being greeted with Peace!) or the tree of al-zak-um (wineskins)

إِنَّا جَعَلْنَاهَا فِتْنَةً لِّلظَّالِمِينَ 37:63

37:63 Truly, We created it (the Tree of Zakuum, as a) Sedition/Spellbinding/Mezmerising/Rabble-Rousing (thing) for the wrongdoers (oppressors/malcontents)

طَلْعُهَا كَأَنَّهُ رُؤُوسُ الشَّيَاطِينِ 37:65

37:65 Its fruits are like heads of devils

Anyone know of any 2-horned fruit? I can think of something that may be derived from a tree that has a molecular structure that looks like the devil's head, but no fruit comes to mind. Here's one possible suggestion (a benzene ring with 2 Radicals--get it 2 'roots of all evil' which can probably make you very sick; not recommended for consumption--this being simply a mental excercise for me to keep my mind off headaches and nausea and their b$%#s$%#;):












Pthalic Acid can look like a devil's head, too:





Since the heads are plural, quite possibly the material under discussion may be a multiple chain of these types of molecules. Some people take issue with the following Sign:

4 Nisa (Women)
4:79 مَّا أَصَابَكَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍ فَمِنَ اللّهِ

وَمَا أَصَابَكَ مِن سَيِّئَةٍ فَمِن نَّفْسِك

وَأَرْسَلْنَاكَ لِلنَّاسِ رَسُولاً وَكَفَى بِاللّهِ شَهِيدًا

4:79 What ever good touches you comes from God, and whatever bad touches you comes from yourself; and we sent you to humanity as a Messenger and God suffices as your Witness.


But experience tells us that in fact most of the evil or bad things that befall us are a consequence of our own actions; often for the simple reason that we fail to think far enough ahead. For example, the material under discussion here is readily found in nature and serves a specific purpose, it is only when people manipulate it without careful planning or for malicious intent that it can and sometimes does become harmful. Contextually, this would imply that whatever bad befalls us, may not be our own personal actions of doing or undoing but that of other human beings doing unwarranted things to us and each other--so that 'you' is reflective of Humanity's Action(s) rather than God doing the hurting.

Compare and contrast intentions for using such substances as the ones suggested here vs the mission of say the US Army Chemical Corp. This Corp had in the past sported a branch insignia that also resembled a devil's head. How do its current crest icons of the tree's and the dragon's significance compare in contrast to what trees mean here? {If you are really paying attention what can you say about the color scheme for these icons and that of the Maxie Time book cover; how does it compare to the colors on the Waxie sanitary supply trucks?}


The conclusion of this investigation being that this substance, or classs of substances, are or will be around in a prevalent manner that the unfortunate 'Larboard side' companions are made to imbibe enough of it to fill their bellies; it causes a boiling sensation, insatiable thirst, and other undesirable side effects. Yes, it sounds like punishment doled out, but where is everyone's sense of compassion? The Larboard side occupants are just another form of you! And if someone out there gets what this is all about, maybe this is their chance to do some Good.


31 Luqman (The Prophet Luqman)
يَا بُنَيَّ أَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ وَأْمُرْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَانْهَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَاصْبِرْ عَلَى مَا أَصَابَكَ إِنَّ ذَلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ 31:17


31:17 “(My dear) son! Establish (regular) prayer, and enjoin the doing of what is right (good) and forbid the doing of what is wrong, and patiently endure whatever may arise for you; of a certainty, these intentions matter (these are the best intentions)!”

7 Al-A'raf (Aaraaf)

7:188 ...وَلَوْ كُنتُ أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ لاَسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ وَمَا مَسَّنِيَ السُّوءُ … …

7:188 …had I known the Unseen I would have amassed goodness (done an abundance of good) and nothing bad would have touched me…

When You're Six Feet Under...

what's another foot?!

And only with this in mind can I even broach the topic of this post which happens to be all about S-E-X. I hope I don't get myself into a Lot of trouble.

Americans, and by this I mean, United States citizens, while considered quite a progressive lot when it comes to most things, tend to be down right Puritanical, even today, when it comes to sex. I mean, we even have issues about mothers nursing their babies in public; compare and contrast that to Europeans or South Americans displaying the same wares when merely going out for Sun worship! (As an aside, Americans are also not very accepting of anything that is considered 'different' either; this aversion to variance is more pronounced in the middle states than along the coasts.) And we mind each others' business way too much.

51 Zariyat (Those (Winds) That Scatter, Distribute, Disperse)

وَمِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقْنَا زَوْجَيْنِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ 51:49

51:49 And in everything We created pairs (complements/duals) so that you may reflect (keep it in mind, consider, think)

92 Al-Lail (The Night)

92:3 وَمَا خَلَقَ الذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنثَى

92:3 Consider Who created The Male and The Female

36 Ya-Siin ( يس )

36:36 سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْأَزْوَاجَ كُلَّهَا مِمَّا تُنبِتُ الْأَرْضُ وَمِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَمِمَّا لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

36:36 Glorify Him that Created pairs (mates/duality/opposites) in everything the Earth produces and from yourselves and from 'that which they know not (have no knowledge of (as yet))'

The reminder that everything is created in pairs or has a duality or a mate is not to say that there is only two genders, but rather to bring home the point that while everything you find on Earth has an opposite or a pair or a mate, God, by contrast, is unique in that God is a Singular, Sole Entity (without a match or comparison).

Heterosexuality is widely accepted as a 'norm' but what would you consider to be its complement or opposite?

Homosexuality is one possible answer if you simply consider the Latin prefixes hetero- and homo- as daulities/opposites/pairs; so it would not be so exciting to find that homosexuality is just as likely an outcome for something that the Earth produces as heterosexuality, and the wider swing to the hetero- position is due to the fact that all production would come to a complete stop on Earth if the balance swung the other way. We would, in other words, reach 'the end of the line' or 'cut off the road', to turn a phrase.

Much of the antagonistic non-acceptance of this fact about homosexuality is due in part to historical Biblical reference to Lot's community.

The story goes that Lot's people were destroyed because of their sexual proclivity; but it is jumping to conclusions to think that the abhorent behaviour that wiped them off the map was homosexuality per se. Lot's community was punished for excesses way beyond anything any other community on Earth at that time had participated in (there is a reference that no other community had 'beat them to it' whatever it is they were doing) and it would be wrong to think other communities did not have homosexuals; because as stated earlier, homosexuality is not expected to be punishable in and of itself since it had already been planned for and created as a duality to heterosexuality.

7 Al A'raf (A'raf, Aaraaf, The Heights)

7:80 وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُم بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِّنَ الْعَالَمِينَ

7:80 And Lot said to his People (Community), "You covet (to do) such abominations no other (community) in the Worlds preceded you in doing (ever)"

So, right here, we know that Lot's people did not corner the market in homosexuality because there were other communities in existence and homosexuality does arise naturally on Earth. Lot's people apparently were foremost in a host of other things he considered truly abominable.

Before digging my grave any deeper, it has been determined that gender identity is a function of: biology, environment, and assimilation. To keep it simple, in just discussing the male and the female there are apparent differences in their brains:

The verbal, sorting, detail-oriented side of the brain is the left, and the spatial intuitive nonverbal side is the right. She speaks on average twice as many words as he does and this is even the case before they reach age two. Boys and men tend to be more nonverbal than their sexual analogs (ie. girls and women), preferring physical spatial activities even when first starting to explore their world. So the evidence is clear that women use their left brains more, and men tend to use their right brains more (just like the opposites they are designed to be). Hence, Lot's question to his people:

11 Hud (The Prophet Hud)

11:78 وَجَاءهُ قَوْمُهُ يُهْرَعُونَ إِلَيْهِ وَمِن قَبْلُ كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ
السَّيِّئَاتِ قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ هَـؤُلاء بَنَاتِي هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ فَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ
وَلاَ تُخْزُونِ فِي ضَيْفِي أَلَيْسَ مِنكُمْ رَجُلٌ رَّشِيدٌ

11:78 And his people (Lot's community) came rushing toward him (running to him) and before they worked their evil (the evil they were going to do), he (Lot) said, 'O, my people! My daughters are purer for you should you (choose) to obey God, and do not humiliate me to my guests (Angelic Messengers). Is there not one man among you that is right minded (rational)?
Clearly, Lot's problem with his community is not that they had homosexuals among them, but rather that they were choosing to interpret their lusts in an 'unclean' manner by indoctrinating boys and men into their lustful pursuits whether they were homosexual or not. This is very clear in that Lot questions 'how can there not be even one right brained male' among them, because Lot understood this to fly in the face of what is a natural outcome of hetero- vs. homo- sexual orientation. In other words, Lot is asking, 'How is it possible that you can all be gay?' His problem was not with the homosexual condition, but with the sexual perversions of all of the men in the community.

27 Naml (The Naml/Ants)

أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِّن دُونِ النِّسَاء بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ تَجْهَلُونَ 27:55

27:55 (Lot says) Must you covet males in lieu of (preference to) females? Truly you are ignorant people (a childish community; he may be alluding to something developmental here تَجْهَلُونَ = becoming childish/retarded)

إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِّن دُونِ النِّسَاء بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ مُّسْرِفُونَ 7:81

7:81 (Lot says) You covet the males in preference to the females (this indicates that they are making a conscious choice). Truly, you are (a) wasted/wasteful community (lost people/given to excess).

26 Ash-Shu'ara (The Poets)

26:166 وَتَذَرُونَ مَا خَلَقَ لَكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ مِنْ أَزْوَاجِكُم بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ عَادُونَ

26:166 (Lot says) And you avoid what your God created for you as mates (spouses; what is of interest is not using the term 'wives')? Truly, you are hostile people (a rejected community)!

Furthermore, his castigation about cleanliness is not even so much against sodomy as it is against that the fact that they were rushing him in order to 'rape' his guests. The circumstanses must have been dire enough for Lot to offer up his own daughters to keep his people from getting their hands on his guests. Lot's community's response to his plea drives it home that this, in fact, is what was going on:

11 Hud (The Prophet Hud)

11:79 قَالُواْ لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا لَنَا فِي بَنَاتِكَ مِنْ حَقٍّ وَإِنَّكَ لَتَعْلَمُ مَا نُرِيدُ

11:79 They said, "You've always known we have no interest in your daughters (not only Lot's biological daughters but women in general), and truly you know what we want ('you've learned what we want,' ie., you know exactly what we want to do with your guests)!"

The community's response is not only menacing, but redolent of their arrogance. If one were to see what these types of Messengers look like that were sent to warn Lot of his community's imminent demise, and just how absolutely perfected their beauty is, you would appreciate that Lot's people wanting them is akin to a dung beetle larva coveting the worlds' top fashion model (and even then it doesn't give the full length of the spectrum as to how overreaching they were in their arrogance).

And in addition to Lot's community's arrogance, abysmal sense of hospitality, and total lack of care for the wayfarer, they fell short of the mark in many other ways; so, it would seem homosexuality within their community was really the least of their worries.

29 Ankabut (Spider)

29:29 أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ وَتَقْطَعُونَ السَّبِيلَ وَتَأْتُونَ فِي نَادِيكُمُ الْمُنكَرَ
فَمَا كَانَ جَوَابَ قَوْمِهِ إِلَّا أَن قَالُوا ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابِ اللَّهِ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ

29:29 (Lot said), "(Must you) Interpret your lusts toward males and cut off the road (way/highway/path) and commit the outlandish (bizzarre, corrupt, weird, etc.) in your assemblies?" And his community's answer was nothing except that they said, "Show (Give) us God's account (what God has promised) if you are of the Truthful!"
1'
That the community had fallen to excessive homoerotic pedophelia and raping travellers transiting their township in Bacchanalian-style gatherings is alluded to when they show up at Lot's door to molest his guests:

27 Naml (The Naml/Ants)

27:54 وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ وَأَنتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ

27:54 And Lot said to his people, "You want to do outrageous (this abomination) with your eyes open (while you are even sober)?"

The reason Lot was considered a good man, worthy of saving, turns out to be the fact that Lot offered a safe haven for wayfarers amidsts all of this degeneracy. His community had actually prohibitted him from offering up such safety to travellers (again, a secondary reference to cutting off the road or highway):

15 Al-Hijr (The Rocky Tract)

15:70 قَالُوا أَوَلَمْ نَنْهَكَ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَ

15:70 They (Lot's community) said, "Haven’t we forbidden you from (taking in/hosting) people (cut you off from the worlds/visitors)!"

I know this is not the version you hear in Sunday school, but is there any flaw to the logic in this telling? Would you expect God to be reasonable or unreasonable? Do you still believe God makes mistakes--or is it people's limited knowledge and self-interest that leads you to believe that somehow their shortcomings are God's own?

Homosexuality as it turns out has a function and a reason to exist. It is, in a manner of speaking, 'the end of the line' or the last biological generation of that entity. This is neither a good thing or a bad thing, just some other thing in a set of possible outcomes.

On a social level, homosexuality does have a place in society.


58 Mujjadilah (Pleading, Disputing, Strife)

58:11 يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا فِي الْمَجَالِسِ فَافْسَحُوا
يَفْسَحِ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَإِذَا قِيلَ انشُزُوا فَانشُزُوا يَرْفَعِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ
وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ

58:11 O, you who have attained to faith, if you are asked "Make room for each other in your councils (assemblies, collective)!", do make room (for each other); God will make room for you (provide you allowance, can be taken to mean an added measure of consideration, room to make an error), and when you are asked to "Rise Up (to do good)," then do rise up (to it); God will raise those who attain to good (faith) and those who have been entrusted with Knowledge by degrees, for God Knows (is Fully Aware) of All that you do.

People tend to want to nurture and be cared for, so it is a natural extension that homosexuals also have something to bring to the table when they want to nurture. They are the natural solution to the care and keeping of the world's 'unwanted' children, they function to adopt them. Homosexuality is not synonymous with pedophelia and there are examples in society today where a 'third sex' is engendered for the express purpose of caring for orphaned children.

Heterosexuals are more likely to have children since they often have that option and will usually only adopt as a last resort; but gay people also feel the need to nurture as well and if they want children, adoption is usually their first if not only option, and that is why they are here.

93 Ad-Duha (The Forenoon - After Sunrise)
أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَى 93:6

93:6 Did He not find you orphaned, and give you shelter?

فَأَمَّا الْيَتِيمَ فَلَا تَقْهَرْ 93:9

93:9 In turn, the orphan you shall never wrong…

And if they can't or prefer not to take care of a child, they will take care of your pet, or style your wardrobe, or decorate your home to show you they care about some things that you might not feel the need to care for, including being here to take care of each other. How it all turned into our government dictating who you bed down with at night is beyond me (as long as they are of legal age (ie., old enough to enter into a contract (yes, having sex is like making a contract)--and even then contract language can get tricky) and consenting (force is not an option, neither is coercion), who are we to dictate Love ? (Just no abominations, please!)

Notes: Other topics related to the story of Lot: childcare and welfare; responsibilities and hospitality to the wayfarers/travellers (aliens); assuring rights-of-passage; right-brain/left-brain differentiation (rational vs. intuitive); humility and arrogance; child brain development; can one thing have more than one pair or opposite?; and anything else you can bring to the table.

Choose To Remain A-Political, A Non Sequitur

But I have to say something about these abortion issue e-mos (emotional types beyond reason...who think its okay to kill a fully developed human being as some sort of recompense for someone else wanting to have an abortion...for any reason, if it ain't your womb it aint your business--football season has started, you'd think there are better things to go out for than killing a pro-choice activist--so much for freedom of speech!)

Ecclesiates 6.3-6.6

6: 3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man- 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

UFOs In The Sky? This Is Why.

What's All The HubBub—Bub?
It does not seem right that here we are in 2009 and the news still reads like that of our ancient ancestors’. It’s kind of like coming out of a coma in 2000 and hearing about 1930’s flappers on a daily basis without any mention that the Cold War had been over for decades or that the current hot button issue is Y2K.

Who's bad burrito dream are we having that Mexican gangsters raid our borders, and people still can say ‘Middle East Crisis’ or ‘Arab Israeli Conflict’ with a straight face? I mean reaalllly--do you mean to tell me that the USA had more secure borders by the end of the Spanish American War than we do with all the money and technology we have going on since then; and that reallly--- the Jews and the Arabs are not yet having each other’s children but enough time has gone by that Israelis and Palestinians are reincarnating as each other because that is the Universal knee-jerk response to such mule-headedness and rightly deserved Justice Served Cold? There are still Holocausts going on? And people starving? Fighting for oil? And pandemics like AIDS? And hoopla about a flu that kills less than 100 people globally because they don’t know not to raise a pig with a chicken? And elitists trying to dispossess have-nots? And even supremisist groups? And griping about who copulates with who-- or what--for all that it matters?

Clearly if these things are still going on they exist for no other reason than because the miscreants promulgating such behaviour think their own farts don’t stink. This post is a brief survey to explain just how this arrogance evolved and why it should have dissolved by now.

First, there is the inequity from a pervasive disrespect for women worldwide. The nasty latest bit of news being recent Saudi legislation using the Quran as reason to slap their women in the face for spending money. Clearly, these simians have no business interpreting the Law if they don't even bother to read it and familiarize themselves with its basic tenets.

If ever a woman deserved a beating it was Job's wife for no other reason than that Job swore to God he was going to strike her for being mean to him during his indisposal and this is about all God allowed him to strike her with to make good on his oath--a couple of blades of grass! And the implication here is that it is not supposed to hurt, and because it is a token gesture it was not to strike on the face or any other place that would be considered an affront! Ideally, this would lead to spanking her on the butt with some grass and that might lead to some great make-up sex.

(The Much Maligned) Holy Quran
Surah 38 SAAD ص

38:44 [And finally We told him (Job):] “Now take in thy hand a small bunch of grass, and strike therewith, and thou wilt not break thine oath!”

Again the emphasis here is that it is not okay to hit a woman, and that you must keep your sworn oath.

So, if Saudi women are seeing fit to go out and spend all the Knee-And-Earth-All's ill deserved gains (a well-deserved moniker for the Saudi men since the recent passage of this 'Slap-A-Saudi-Woman' gaff) by shopping, they are merely doing their part to redistribute power, because that is what spending money is--a transfer of power and under no circumstance should women be mistreated for doing their part to keep the economy moving--I mean what the sand-dune else do the Saudi men need to be spending their money on?

And regarding the blatant disregard for women's rights in the so-called Islamic countries--there is absolutely no call for such behaviour based on Islamic principles-- so STOP! Not just the behaviour, but stop saying you are Muslims and committing such heinous acts in the name of Islam. According to the Quran you have violated every one of its tenets and are not deserving of any association with it. (Note how carefully I tread and avoid passing judgment since all I am doing is drawing a conclusion based on facts--Judgment left up to You).

This is what the Quran has to say about women, men and their equality; and I am not making this stuff up since the text can be traced back over 1400 years word-for-word. There are clear injunctions as to the proper treatment of women (and wives) and the consideration they are due.

Surah 2
The Calf

2:187 (your wives) they are as a garment for you, and you are as a garment for them.
Surah 3
Al-'Imran (Jesus' Family)

3:195 And their Sustainer answers their prayer in this manner: "I shall not lose sight of the labour of any of you who labours [in My way], be it man or woman: each of you is an issue of the other."

So if men and women are each an issue of one from the other, this is not just equality-but parity! And if men and women are like each other's garments, you can tell me the rest.

And this problem is not isolated to that region of the world. Here in the US we have laws espousing women's rights and a fair outward show of equality but the situation on the ground is dire, made all the worse because of the mad pretense.

One woman recounted to me her personal experience with her boss recently. Several years ago he made her the object of his unwanted attentions and since she is a decent woman and knows how to behave she rejected his advances only to find the very next day he had written a very bad note about her in her personnel file which has prevented her from finding work elsewhere and getting out from under his icky sphere of influence. After nearly 5 years she finally succeeds in getting reassigned so that she is at least not working directly under him, only to have her current supervisor appeal to her to take on her past duties in addition to her current ones, promising this would entail a promotion for her.

She concedes to the request, since she is in fact long overdue for a promotion, and once she fulfills her part of the bargain, the promised promotion does not come through. She has to go and appeal to the icky boss since the additional duties are in his area and he was the one who promised the promotion would ensue, only to have him call her a 'nasty word' for bringing up the subject (of a raise).

Granted, there are supposed to be mechanisms in place for her recourse, but she is terrified that her life will become even more of a living hell if she engages the system, since this guy is not just her boss, but the head cheese and she knows no one dare so much as cast a chiding glance his way.

So which is better; a legal slap in the face, or to get surreptitiously screwed and harassed enjoying the right to protections against such behaviour under the Law?

If good people do not trust those in power to faithfully carry out the Law, then what are we if not a Nation of Laws?

When did the problem get so far out of hand? I don't know, but there is an interesting timeline proposed in the Maxie Time diary.

Now, for the make believe problem in the Middle East that's been dogging us for far too long and is historically the root of much undeserved elitist mentation.

The Covenant, Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac:

Abraham was father to both Ishmael and Isaac, and by all true, consistent accounts Ishmael was born first, then later Isaac. Jews say that they are God’s ’chosen people’ because they have been fed a lot of pap about how they are the only people that descended from Abraham since some rabbis played fast and loose with the original Scripture. And then thinking to make a stronger point of it, they say Ishmael doesn’t really count as Abraham’s son because he was born of a handmaid--like, since when does a women’s job determine the father’s paternity?

This type of ‘I am holier than thou by birthright smut’ has stoked a lot of needless suffering in the general human populace in the name of religion, because who wants to be second best?

The root of all this evil is in the Semitic hyperbole of the original verb ‘to pick’ which when applied properly is intended to mean having made a selection, not ‘the only selection.’ For example, someone has many fine cars in their garage and if it is sunny outside they would choose to drive their Porsche convertible and if they were going for a long trip they would opt for the Mercedes CL63 AMG. It’s also akin to a teacher choosing a student to clap her erasers or act as hall monitor for the day—does this simple selection make any one car or student better than the others or the quintessential best-and-only-highly chosen-holier-than-my-mother? No? I didn’t think so.

Yet, this is what drives the modern-day Zionist argument that being ‘God’s chosen people’ somehow should justify a mad land grab in Palestine, not only displacing the indigenous population but also dehumanizing them to such a point as to make the rest of the world think it is okay to exterminate them all because they are squatting on land that God brokered to ‘His chosen people’ and that somehow God signed off on this bad behavior when He made a covenant with Abraham.

Well, let me tell you, mine may be the lone voice in the wilderness about this, but I know there is at least one Rabbi (I think he lives in Brooklyn) who agrees with me. The biggest joke is the inappropriate application of errant scripture that not only leads to thinking that Abraham had only given rise to a Jewish nation but that all the ‘begats’ in the Bible literally mean a direct line of descent (which is why staunch religious people think we’ve only been on Earth for a few thousand years).

In Genesis we get to know what exactly Abraham’s covenant with God is all about.

Genesis 17:10 This is my covenant with you (Abraham) and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. (Please note: Circumcision for males only because they have a penis (something cylindrical that has a circumference; what I'd like to know is which hairy monkey fell from a tree and started circumcising women?)

Abraham wasted no time in implementing this rule.

Genesis 17:23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. (Note: See, no Isaac yet, and Ishmael is Abraham’s first born son and only son at this time. Emphasis here not to set up who is better than who or what came first-- the chicken or the egg--but to establish that Ishmael is Abraham’s first born and entitled to all the rights of the first born, and there is no need for reiteration.)

Genesis 17:24Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised...17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day.

Isaac shows up later (4 Chapters in Genesis after Ishmael) and he is also part of the covenant.

Genesis 21:4When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him.

Now for the fireworks--some anonymous rabbi tries to pull a fast one and establish a prime piece of Mediterranean real estate for only one segment of the population while disenfranchising all others by making God into something that has the memory of a GNAT and a liar to boot.

Genesis 22:2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac (what happened to Ishmael?), whom you love (I wager that Abraham was a good man and loved both his good sons), and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him (if God is not a liar and Abraham was to sacrifice his only son, that would have been Ishmael, because he was an only son before Isaac made the scene) there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about (hmmm, 'I will tell you' later--this literary device is meant to be a cliff hanger?)."

Hebrews 11:17 By faith (not by Truth?) Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, (Restating a lie, does not make it true, just more obvious, see argument above).

Hebrews 11:17 By faith (again, we are to take it on faith because there is no truth to it) Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, (…no matter how often a lie is re-stated can it ever negate the truth?).



God had no reason to disregard or conveniently forget about Ishmael, in fact, He thought highly of him, had no reason to dispossess him of his rights as Abraham's first born son, and we know He had not killed him off before Isaac was born.Genesis 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation

Deuteronomy 6:10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, (this right here means that it is definitely not Palestine, because Palestine did not have large, flourishing cities that the descendants of Isaac and Jacob did not build, unless the already built-up Palestine is intended for other descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the conveniently forgotten first born Ishmael).

Where do I get the gumption to think that not all of Abraham’s offspring are entitled to this vacation spot and indeed it would include others from elsewhere?

There is evidence throughout the Bible, and Jesus was mistreated for his stand on it, but here it is from another source.

Quran Surah 2
The Calf

2:24 And when his Sustainer tried Abraham by [His] commandments and the latter fulfilled them, He said: "Behold, I shall make thee a leader of men. "Abraham asked: "And of my offspring as well? "[God] answered: "My covenant does not embrace the evildoers. (That’s where)"

2:135 AND THEY say, "Be Jews" - or, "Christians" - "and you shall be on the right path." Say: "No, but [ours is] the creed of Abraham, who turned away from all that is false, and was not of those who ascribe divinity to anything (that includes niggardly (not a racial slur, just another word for stingy beyond reason) clinging to a piece of land) beside God."

6:83 And this was Our case which We entrusted to Abraham against his people: [for] We do raise by degrees whom We will (Suddenly, the 'Chosen ones' aren’t so elite after all, because others can overtake them by merely being raised up a notch). Truly, your Sustainer is Wise, All-Knowing.

2:136 Say: "We believe in God, and in that which has been bestowed from on high upon us, and that which has been bestowed upon Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and ,their descendants, and that which has been vouchsafed to Moses and Jesus; and that which has been vouchsafed to all the [other] prophets by their Sustainer: we make no distinction between any of them (this means no so-called Muslim can deftly execute someone for professing another belief). And it is unto Him that we surrender ourselves."

Even current interpreters of the Quran mistake the clear language of the original text; fortunately, we still have the original text.

3:33 Behold, God raised Adam, and Noah, and the House of Abraham, and the House of `Imran above all mankind, (this makes it sound like some kind of favoritism, when in fact, they were meant to be followed as a good example; linguists can have a field day with this one).

3:65 O Followers of earlier revelation! Why do you argue about Abraham, seeing that the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until [long] after him? Will you not, then, use your reason?

3:67 Abraham was neither a "Jew" nor a "Christian", but was one who turned away from all that is false, having surrendered himself unto God; and he was not of those who ascribe divinity to anything/or anyone beside Him.

4:54 Do they, perhaps envy other people for what God has granted them out of His bounty? But then, We did grant revelation and wisdom unto the House of Abraham, and We did bestow on them a mighty dominion (not necessarily land, but authority; and it has been established that the House of Abraham is not only comprised of Jews):

2:140 "Do you claim that Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and their descendants were `Jews' or `Christians'?" Say: "Do you know more than God does? And who could be more wicked than he who suppresses a testimony given to him by God? Yet God is not unmindful of what you do.

37:100 [Abraham prayed]: “O my Sustainer! Bestow upon me the gift of [a son] one of the righteous!” 37:101 so We gave him the glad tiding of a boy-child gentle [like himself]?37:102 And [one day,] when [the child] had become old enough to share in his [father’s] endeavours, the latter said: “O my dear son! I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice thee: consider, then, what would be your view!” [Ishmael] answered: “O my father! Do as thou art bidden: you will find me, if God so wills, among those who are patient in adversity!” 37:103 But as soon as the two had surrendered themselves to [what they thought to be] the will of God, and [Abraham] had laid him down on his face...(the good news is he didn't do it)

7:112 And [in time] We gave him the glad tiding of Isaac, [who, too, would be] a prophet, one of the righteous;

37:113 and We blessed him (Ishmael) and Isaac but among the offspring of these two (clearly referring to both Abraham's sons) there were to be both doers of good and such as would glaringly sin against themselves

The ones glaringly sinning against themselves, no matter how great a stock they think they come from, STINK!(That's why the tall, thin, blonde alien came down smoking--just to cover up the stench) They have been fomenting turf wars, lopping off people's heads, mistreating women and children, torturing, murdering, and marauding, destroying indigenous populations and dispossesing them of their rights and property, misrepresenting Scripture and bending it to their own misguided ends, telling children they are destined for doom and damnation for holding divergent views---that's who they are and that's why the trouble started, and the reason this arcana should be put to rest, so I can finally get some sleep around here!

If you have made it this far in this posting you might be asking yourself--Then who, who is all the good stuff being developed for if not the Jews, the Christians, or the in-name-only-Muslims? The answer was also given to you ALL so many years ago, but your collective arrogance won't let you accept it:

Al-Isra (The Journey by Night)

وَقُلْنَا مِن بَعْدِهِ لِبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اسْكُنُواْ الأَرْضَ فَإِذَا جَاء وَعْدُ الآخِرَةِ جِئْنَا بِكُمْ لَفِيفً

17:104 And after that We said to the children of Israel: "Dwell now securely on earth - but when the promise of the Last Day comes to pass, We will bring you forth as a motley (varied, assorted, intermingled, dissimilar, mixed, contrasting, diverse) crowd!

And because they didn't follow sound advice and thought there was some advantage to to somehow getting it all, what did it really get them? A host of inconvenient, usually terminal, genetic diseases found on this planet.

As a postscript I would like to thank the cast of characters who made this possible:
Thank You! God, for not stepping on me when you landed in my kitchen, and for Your Subtle, Eternal Mercy that they perceive East as always East.
Thank you Michael for being a gentleman and your kindness in sending word to me in the hospital--nothing like keeping it Real.
Thank you Raphael for consoling my friend in the park that day; I was merely thinking out loud and didn't think anyone actually heard me, let alone took action; and you can image how floored I was when my friend related his story the following week at work.
Thank you John for doing the best impersonation of my late father ever; nothing like a little levity!
Thank you Gabrielle, just because I know I am not this eloquent especially since I have lost most of my language skills, and anyone who talks to me can make the same evaluation.
Thank you Capt. Alan Bennett for your great directions when East is West; I am grateful for having made your acquaintance prior to you moving on.
Thank you to all my teachers, dedicated and underpaid; the truth is no one can ever pay you enough, but that doesn't mean they should not try.
Husband...You heard me. I can't bring myself to ask any one more thing of you, so I have posted a puzzle to commemorate our last visit.

Angels And Demons Or How To Resurrect the Gospel

Growing up in these United States I was always told there is a separation between Church and State, so it surprises me when public schools are teaching the Bible as Literature, even in a State as progressive as California.

Not that I am opposed to reading the Bible, since I approve of reading anything and everything, even the small print on canned goods in the supermarket. But to make the Bible available to such a large captive audience that has every right to feel justified in holding divergent views which are not necessarily reflected in what has been touted as the Gospel truth; the Bible can no longer escape careful vetting by prying eyes and inquiring minds.

I was recently reminded that I have put off this task long enough since the signs are everywhere that the Truth of The Primary Word has fallen to inequity, transgression, contradiction, and strife (this also applies to how the Torah and the Quran have been wielded of late—posting on that political hot button is forthcoming).

It is not of my own volition that I write, and if you need to know by what authority I can do so, just ask Michael. Who, by the way, I know reads this blog, and I sent word to you that I apologize for not believing you when you said 'something very bad' was going to happen; but please don’t fault me too much for not taking your warning at face value because what in fact did happen was way worse than you intimated. You must also know that it wasn't fair to me because whenever an Angel casually shows up to talk to a woman, that woman gets to have a baby, but in my case I get to have the mother of all headaches!

You gave me a 3 year heads up, but I could not understand why you were telling me—a woman, this; then when it came to pass, I understood that any reasonable man in my place would have not hesitated to shoot his brains out rather than to go through it and the only reason I did not was because I could not find the gun (there was also the consideration of who would clean up the mess); and I read recently that there is actually a shortage of ammunition in the US, which is why I am finally sitting down to write this despite my strongly held position that this really is not my station--but there is no escaping The signal coming through all channels including the evening news and, of all things, license plates. (And, by the way, thank you for your well wishes when I was ‘ill’).

Since Jesus preached the Gospel there have been several notable state-sponsored book burnings in which valuable information was lost; I suppose the one at the Nicene Convention set the stage for this type of behavior in dealing with difficult subjects not in vogue at the time or that may prove troublesome if power was actually democratized.

Lucky for us, while we cannot recreate every blessed word of his, we can at least lay down a blueprint as to the tone and nature of his language and his mission and leave it to the ‘men in frocks’ to go through their stores of ancient manuscript remnants to provide the rest, exercising the appropriate due diligence and reserve in editing.

All of the past editorializing is one issue I have with teaching the Bible as Literature, given that it is now more of an evolving compendium rather than an integrated text (like one would consider a story by Charles Dickens say). But if you are going to ascribe something to the nature of Jesus or put words in his mouth to be repeated all throughout the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District, let’s at least strive for consistency.

And everything that follows here is given with the caveat not to talk smack about his mother Mary, or any other woman in the Bible (now that budding young men and nubile young women have to parse it out); just because the world is in a state where they don’t honor the wombs that bore them does not give anyone the right to project their shortcomings on Mary.

I use the Quran for reference here to check the integrity of one document with another, simply because it is the one I am familiar with. Use whatever else you are comfortable with provided the document is an authentic original source with a known (historically recognized author) written within the first 600 or so years of Jesus’s mission and can stand up to scrutiny and can prove that Jesus said this or Jesus did that and God is such and such; or tell us for what reason we should take the word of an inspired earthling that conflicts with the Message and somehow deserves to trump what either God, Jesus, or any other Prophet had to say on a given subject up to that point:

Quran (interpretation by Asad, contemporizing by me)

Surah 3
The House of ‘Imran (Jesus’ Family)

(3: 47) …God Creates what He wills; He says for it to ‘Be’ and it is
(3:48) (the Angel said to Mary) And He will impart unto your son revelation, and wisdom, and the Torah, and the Gospel (3:49) and make him an apostle unto the children of Israel.
(And Jesus Said) “I have come to you with a message from your Sustainer. I shall create for you out of clay, a 'bird' (الطِّينِ lit. 'that which flies, or is airborne' pronounced 'al-tayer'; i.e. UFO) and then breathe into it, so that it might come to life by God’s leave; and I shall heal the blind and the leper, and bring the dead back to life by God’s leave; and I shall let you know what you may eat and what you should store up in your houses. In this there is indeed a message for you, if you are believers.”

(3:50) “And to confirm the truth of whatever remains of the Torah, and to make lawful to you some of the things that were forbidden to you. And I have come to you with a message from your Sustainer; remain conscious of God, and pay heed unto me. (3:51) Verily, God is my Sustainer and your Sustainer; so worship Him: this is the straight way”.

(3:52) And when Jesus became aware of their refusal to acknowledge the truth, he asked: “Who will be my helpers in God’s cause?” The white-garbed ones (probably Naphtali from the Galilee area) replied: “We shall be helpers in God’s cause. We believe in God; and bear witness that we have surrendered ourselves to Him.”

(3:55) God said: “Jesus, I shall cause you to die and raise (entrust) you to Me, and rid you of those bent on denying the truth: and I shall place those who follow you above those who are bent on denying the truth, until the Day of Resurrection. In the end, you must all return to Me, and I shall judge between you on that which you differed. “(3:56) “And as for those bent on denying the truth, I shall cause them to suffer severely in this world and in the life to come, and they shall have none to comfort them; (3:57) for those who attain to faith and do good works He will grant their reward in full; for God does not love evildoers.”

(3:59) Truly, in God’s sight, the nature of Jesus is as the nature of Adam, whom He created out of dust and then said to him, ‘Be’—and he is…

(3:78) And indeed there are some who distort the Bible with their tongues, so as to make you think (what they say) is from the Bible, the while it is not; and who say, “This is from God,” the while is it not from God: and in so doing they tell a lie about God, being well aware (that it is a lie). (3:79) It is not conceivable that a human being to whom God had granted revelation, and sound judgment, and prophethood, should then have said to people, ‘Worship me beside God’; but rather (he did exhort them) “Become men of God” by spreading the knowledge of the divine writ, and by your own deep understanding of it.(3:80) And neither did he bid you to take the angels and the prophets for your lords; would he bid you to deny the truth after having surrendered yourselves to God?

Surah 4
Women (Al Nisa)

(4:156) …(We punished them) for the awesome calumny which they utter against Mary (4:157 ) and their boast, “Behold we have slain the Christ Jesus, son of Mary, an apostle of God!” However, they did not slay him, and neither did they crucify him, but it only seemed so to them; and in truth, those who hold conflicting views about it are indeed confused, having no real knowledge in this regard, and following mere conjecture. For, of a certainty, they did not slay him: (4:158) God raised (entrusted) him unto Himself—and God is indeed Almighty, Wise (4:159) Yet there is not one of the followers of earlier revelation who does not, at the moment of his death, grasp the truth about Jesus; and on the Day of Resurrection he shall bear witness to the truth against them.

(4:171) Followers of the Gospel! Do not overstep the bounds in your religious beliefs, and do not say anything about God but the truth. The Christ Jesus, son of Mary, was but God’s Apostle—His promise conveyed to Mary—and a soul created by Him. Believe, in God and His apostles, and do not say ‘a trinity’. Desist (from this assertion) for your own benefit. God is but One God; utterly remote is He, in His glory, from having a son; to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and none is worthy of trust as God. (4:172) Never did the Christ feel too proud to be God’s servant, nor do the angels who are near to Him…

Surah 5
The Table (Al Ma-ida)

5:46 And We caused Jesus, the son of Mary, to follow in the footsteps of those (earlier prophets), confirming the truth of whatever still remained of the Torah; and We vouchsafed the Gospel to him, wherein there was guidance and light, confirming the truth of whatever there still remained of the Torah, and as a guidance and warning to the God-conscious (5:47 )Let the followers of the Gospel judge in accordance with what God has revealed therein: they who do not judge in the light of what God has bestowed from on high—it is they, they who are the iniquitous!

The following passage is provided as a talking point Regarding reasons for variance in faith and why you shouldn’t convert everybody to follow the Message from 'a single established location/situation' (i.e., always consider the source):

(5:48) …To every one of you We have appointed a (different) law and way of life. And if God had willed it so, He would have surely made you all one single community; but (your variance) is in order to test you by means of what He has entrusted you. Vie, then , with one another in doing good works! All of you will return to God: and then He will make you truly understand all that you differed in.

(5:72) …the Christ said, “O children of Israel! Worship God, who is your Sustainer and my Sustainer.” (5:73) ...they who deny the truth say, “God is the third of a trinity”—seeing that there is no deity whatever save the One God….(5:74) Will they not, then, turn towards God…for God is much forgiving, a dispenser of grace.” (5:75) The Christ, son of Mary, was but an apostle; all apostles had passed away before him; and his mother was one who never deviated from the truth: and they both ate food (like mortals). How clear We make our messages to them: and then how perverted are their minds!

(5:77) "Followers of the Gospel! Do not overstep your bounds in your religious beliefs; and do not follow the errant views of people who have gone astray, and are still straying from the right path."

(5:110) …God will say: ‘Jesus, son of Mary! Remember the blessings which I bestowed onto you and your mother—how I strengthened you with holy inspiration, so that you could speak to men from your cradle, and as a grown man: and how I imparted to you revelation and wisdom, including the Torah and the Gospel; and how by My leave you did create out of clay a 'bird' (الطِّينِ lit. 'that which flies, or is airborne' pronounced 'al-tayer'; i.e. UFO), and breathe into it, so that it came to life, by My leave; and how you did heal the blind and the leper by My leave, and how you did raise the dead by My leave; and how I prevented the children of Israel from harming you when you came to them with all evidence of the truth, and when those bent on denying the truth were saying, ‘This is clearly nothing but deception!’

(5:111) And when I inspired the white-garbed ones “Believe in Me and in My apostle!” They answered: ’We believe; and (You) bear witness that we have surrendered ourselves to You.’ (5:112) And the white-garbed ones said: 'Jesus, Son of Mary! Could your Sustainer send down to us a tables set from heaven?' (Jesus) answered; ‘Be conscious of God, if you are believers!’ (5:113) They said: ‘We desire to partake of it, so that our hearts might be set fully at rest, and that we might know that you have spoken the truth to us, and that we might be of those who bear witness to it!’

(5:114) Jesus, the son of Mary, said: ‘O God, our Sustainer! Send down to us a repast (table set) from heaven; it shall be an ever-recurring feast for us—for the first and the last of us – and a sign from You. And provide us our sustenance, for You are the best provider. (5:115) God answered: ‘Verily, I (always) do send it down to you: and so, if any of you should henceforth deny (this ) truth, on him will I inflict suffering the like of which I have never (yet) inflicted on anyone in the world!”

(5:116 ) And God said: ‘Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say to men, ‘Worship me and my mother as deities beside God’?” [Jesus] answered: “Limitless in Your Glory are You! It would not have been possible for me to say what I had no right to (say)! Had I said this, You would indeed have known it! You know all that is within me, whereas I know not what is in Your Self. Truly, it is You alone who fully knows all the things that are beyond the reach of a created being’s perception.

(5:117) Nothing did I tell them beyond what You did bid me: ‘Worship God, my Sustainer as well as your Sustainer.’ And I bore witness to what they did as long as I dwelt in their midst; but since You have caused me to die, You alone have been their keeper; for You are witness to everything. (5:118) If You cause them to suffer—in truth, they are Your servants; and if You forgive them—truly, You alone are Almighty, Wise!”

Surah 19 Maryam
K H Y 'Ayn Saad كهيعص
(19:30) [Jesus] he said: "Behold, I am a servant of God. He has vouchsafed unto me revelation and made me a prophet, (19:31) and made me blessed wherever I may be; and He has enjoined upon me prayer and charity as long as I live, (19:32) and [has endowed me with] piety towards my mother; and He has not made me haughty or bereft of grace.

(19:33) "Hence, peace was upon me on the day when I was born, and on the day of my death, and on the day when I shall be raised to life [again]!"

(19:34) such was, in the words of truth, Jesus the son of Mary, about whose nature they so deeply disagree. (19:35) It is not conceivable that God should have taken unto Himself a son: limitless is He in His glory! When He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it "Be" -and it is!

(19:36) And [Jesus said]: "Truly, God is my Sustainer as well as your Sustainer; so worship Him: this is the straight way."

(19:37) And yet, the sects are at variance among themselves [about the nature of Jesus] Woe, then, unto all who deny the truth when that awesome Day will appear!

Surah 43
Gold Ornaments (Zukhruf)

(43:59) [Jesus,] he was nothing but a servant whom We had graced, and whom We made an example for the children of Israel .

(43:60) And had We so willed, We could indeed have made you into angels succeeding one another on earth!

(43:61) and he is indeed a sign to know the Last Hour; so, have no doubt about it, but follow Me: this is the straight way.

Gematria and Muqati'at (Disconnected Letters in the Quran)

If you sort the Surahs with the Muqati'at in order of Ascending Gematria and make a scatter plot of the Order of Revelation vs Surah Numbers, a pattern resembling the Star of David
appears, and if the same data is used comparing the Surah No. vs % Ayat vs % Gematria and another scatter plot is made, a word resembling Allah in Arabic appears.

I think someone with a better understanding of the scripture can clean up the patterns on the scatter plots. I am certain everyone will say it is just random chance that such significant patterns appear, however, given how much the prophet Muhammed (PBUH) has been maligned in the West, I prefer to think he was A Computer Genius!

If you would like a copy of the data, just ask and I'll be happy to send it to you.