Pacific garbage patch and religious fanaticism

I've posted a new Examiner article exploring the connection between environmental degradation and religious fanaticism.

Pacific garbage patch and religious fanaticism

"By now, many may be wondering if I will be tracing every human ill to religious fanaticism, mania, pathology and psychosis. On a global scale, there is much to be said for the notion that religious delusion has created a tremendous amount of suffering, including and significantly as concerns environmental degradation...."

Please read, comment there and pass it around!

Is atheism the answer? Part 2

For your edification, I have posted Part 2 of my Examiner series, "Is atheism the answer?"

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-17009-Freethought-Examiner~y2009m8d24-Is-atheism-the-answer-Part-2

"Last week in the first part of this series, I made the case for atheistic thinking as a natural part of the healthy human mind. I did not, however, draw any firm conclusions as to whether or not atheism as a worldview is a solution to many of society's ills, including and especially religious fanaticism. Indeed, the question remains, is atheism even a worldview?...

"I have sifted through some 200-300 comments on my article both here and elsewhere, remarks running the gamut from glorious to grotesque, encouraging to insulting. Mostly, however, these comments have been thoughtful, rational and profound...."

For the full discussion of this debate, be sure to go to my article:

Is atheism the answer? Part 2

Please read, comment there and pass it around! Your support is very important in getting the word out. Thank you, and enjoy!Acharya S/D.M. Murdock

"The Gospel According to Acharya S" Reviews!

I wanted to let you know about the great things people are saying about my new book The Gospel According to Acharya S. First of all, just so you know, this book is not about "the" gospel, i.e., the New Testament story of Jesus Christ. It's about MY "good news," which is one meaning of the word "gospel."

In The Gospel, I discuss many of the major religious and spiritual issues that humankind encounters, from a freethinker perspective. That means I don't either mindlessly believe or simply dismiss these concepts. Rather, I explore them and attempt to reconcile them with reality. To read about The Gospel, go here:

http://StellarHousePublishing.com/gospel.html

Following are some of the great reviews The Gospel has been getting:

"I received your book yesterday, and fell asleep in it last night...in a good way 'cause I couldn't put it down! Devoured most of it!

"THE MOST liberating book I've read...ever! My eyes are open wide now!

"Thank You for your Gospel, aka: GOOD NEWS, no...GREAT NEWS!

"You are very intelligent, bold yet subtle, and I love your sense of humor!

"Also, it's obvious—your love for true humanity, and passion, and truth, and well, pretty much all things that pertain to taking one's mind permanently out of the box that we ourselves, with society's help, have huddled in and under for far too long!

"Ok...back to gobble up the rest! :) good day to you."

Joni, United Kingdom

------------------

5.0 out of 5 stars
By Wayne Mayfield (Chicago)

"Having read two of her other works, Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of the Christ, and The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold, I expected another scholarly in depth book. Turns out it is exactly that, but with a bit of a new twist.

"Acharya takes off the gloves in this book.... In the aforementioned books her approach is a bit more clinical, relying on facts and extremely well done research. She surely hasn't abandoned that set of skills in this book.

"However, I think she is a bit more casual in her writing.... She also offers her view on life and living, hence the title the Gospel According to Acharya S.

"Overall, I'd say this book is going to be a best seller for her. It's loaded with pictures, (perhaps to keep the attention of the less intelligent among us) and loaded with a lot of the relatively obscure words related to the subject matter. Notwithstanding the verbage, this book is an easy read and a real hard hitting, take no prisoners approach to exposing religion for what it truly is. Bravo. 5 Stars."

---------------------

These are just a couple of the reviews The Gospel has received. If you would like to know more, please go here:

http://StellarHousePublishing.com/gospel.html

Don't forget that "The Gospel" is now available globally through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, both of which are linked at my page.

Enjoy!

Acharya S/D.M. Murdock

P.S. For those who already own a copy of The Gospel, please see this "Notice of Errata":

http://stellarhousepublishing.com/gospelerrata.html

Is atheism the answer?

I have posted another Examiner article, this time exploring the issue of whether or not atheism is the solution to the world's psychological and spiritual ills.

There has been a great deal of debate in the media lately concerning the "New Atheism" as led by "atheist gods" such as Richard Dawkins, P.Z. Myers, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. This notoriety has been enhanced by Dawkins & Co.'s infamous "bus ads," as well as the "Imagine No Religion" billboards by the Freedom from Religion Foundation headed by Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. Then there is the little chat between famous atheists Bill Maher and Brad Pitt that is kicking up controversy, along with a number of other "stars" expressing their unbelief. We also read reports that atheism is on the rise in the United States, reaching percentages never recorded before. Truly, atheism is out of the closet.

For the rest, please go to:

Is atheism the answer?

Please read the article, comment there and pass it around! Digging, Facebooking, Twittering all helps to spread the word.

Beating up Women for Allah

A New York Time op-ed piece by Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahaway demonstrates just how great Islam is for women. Pointing out that 164 women in Muslim countries were sentenced in the past month to the cruel punishment of flogging, for the most inane and unfair "offenses," Eltahaway sensibly asks, where is the outrage?

The fact is that Islam gets a pass because it is a "religion," it has so many adherents, and its "radicals" and "extremists" (i.e., devout Muslims) have been blowing up, beheading, slaughtering and terrorizing much of the world. People are frankly terrified to speak out against this atrocity because the "religion of peace" has never been anything of the kind. As Eltahaway says concerning the women of Sudan, for example:

They have served as the whipping girls for the Sudanese regime’s cheap game of flogging women to show off its “Islamic principles.”

The International Criminal Court has indicted President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. His janjaweed allies in Darfur have been accused of rape. Trousers are “indecent” but rape is just another reminder of how useful women’s bodies are in conveying the message.

There it is in a nutshell: Brutal and vicious rape, beheading, stoning, acid attacks, "honor killings" - none of these horrors and indecencies sully the name of Islam, but a woman wearing trousers does.

Abusing Women and Islam
Women's Rights in Islam

Yale Cowtows to Islamic Terrorism

Yale University has decided that the "religion of peace" is too violent for it to publish the actual images in its new book about the Danish Muslim cartoon fracas that gripped the world on two different occasions. Bowing to experts on Islamic terrorism, Yale has asserted that to publish the cartoons would "incite violence," showing just how rational and reasonable is the Muslim world in the end.

As is obvious from all the appeasing, terrorism pays off. If you blow up a bunch of things, slaughtering tons of people, and there's enough of you, you will get your way. Violence pays, if the horde is big enough. Now, rather than fighting back by sensibly pointing out how barbaric and savage is this "sensibility" being coddled, entire nations are falling to their knees in capitulation, which is exactly the point of terrorism.

Like so many others, including almost entire European governments, Yale's actions have proved once again that the "religion of peace" is no such thing and that terrorism pays.

Publisher bans images of Muhammad in new book

Yale University Press has decided against reprinting the Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in a book examining the controversy, after being advised by Islam and counterterrorism experts that doing so could incite violence.

As well as leaving out the 12 cartoons which provoked riots across the Islamic world in 2006, Yale also bowed to recommendations not to include any other illustrations of Muhammad, including a 19th century sketch by Gustave Doré of Muhammad in Hell from Dante's Inferno, in the book, The Cartoons That Shook the World.

Author Jytte Klausen said the book had been ready to go to print when the illustrations were pulled, after Yale received some "quite alarmist" statements from experts to whom it had sent the title. A professor of politics at a Massachusetts university, Klausen argued for inclusion of the cartoons in the book, which is due out in November in the US and January in the UK. "People think they know the cartoons and actually, by printing the cartoons, I'm arguing that some of them are Islamophobic, and in the tradition of anti-Semitism. If we can't look at them, how can we discuss this?" she said today.

Danish Cartoon Archive
The Prophet of Doom

Iranian women imprisoned for converting to Christianity

Another new Examiner article -

Iranian women imprisoned for converting to Christianity

As usual, please read, comment there and pass around!

Social bookmarking like Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Facebook and so on is a great idea as well.

Thanks. :)

Ohio teen: 'My Muslim father wants to kill me!'

Two new posts at Examiner.com -

West's conflict with Islam coming to a head?

Recent incidents in France, Germany, the U.S. and Great Britain serve to highlight an ongoing problem with the rampantly open-ended immigration of the...

Runaway Ohio teen: 'My Muslim father wants to kill me!'

The clash between cultures is becoming ever more obvious in headlines in the U.S. and other Western countries, such as this one about a young girl...

Please read, comment there and pass around!

'My mother is a religious fanatic - what can I do?' Part 2

I have posted the conclusion to my Examiner article:

"My mother is a religious fanatic - what can I do?" Part 2

I have included suggestions I've encountered a number of times over the years during which so many people have asked me the same or similar question. I have also provided approaches I have used in other arenas, such as "going native."

Please go read my article and pass it around to anyone you feel would benefit! Also, be sure to comment - it's easy to comment there, no account needed.

Enjoy!

What is a mythicist?

I have created two new articles:

What is a Mythicist?

The History of Mythicism

These articles deal with the third option in the believing versus non-believing debate as concerns various religious traditions, specifically Christianity and bibliolatry in this case.

'My mother is a religious fanatic - what can I do?'

I have just posted a new article at Examiner.com - please read and comment!

'My mother is a religious fanatic - what can I do?'

Over the nearly 15 years I've been online, I've received many emails asking me for advice as concerns religious fanaticism by family members and friends that is detrimental to healthy relationships. As this fanaticism often produces hurtful and disheartening exchanges, these inquirers have asked how they could get their friends and family members either to let go of it or to stop proselytizing and pushing it on others....

Madonna as Religious Guru?

I've posted a new Examiner article about "Madonna as Religious Guru?" I think it's important that she use her considerable clout for purposes of enlightening, rather than coddling! Please go read and comment!

Madonna as Religious Guru?

"The Gospel According to Acharya S" Available Internationally!

My new book The Gospel According to Acharya S is now available internationally through Amazon! Go to my page here, and you will see the Amazon links under "Canadian and International Orders":

http://stellarhousepublishing.com/gospel.html

I've also added some more excerpts, such as the following from the "Prologue":

If you are atheistically prone and do not enjoy discussions or definitions of God or spirituality, you may still wish to read my colorful essays and rants--consider them not as doctrine but as "mystical poetry" addressing some of the most important and profound concepts to face humanity. It is my experience that most people enjoy these mystical or spiritual subjects and that the notion of God will not disappear from the human psyche, so let us at least drag it out of the Stone Age and redefine it.

I should add that there is also much fascinating factual material as I present in my other books but which is unique to "The Gospel," including a short but succinct discussion of the founders of Communism and Nazism, and their relationship to religion. Fully cited from respectable sources, of course! In fact, for a book of this size, the bibliography is significant, with over 160 sources.

The Gospel also has over 130 inline illustrations, which means they are right next to the relevant text.

Don't forget -

This "Purple Bible" is the antidote to the world's insanity-producing "holy scriptures!"

Enjoy!

Hinduism in America on the rise

Please see my latest Examiner article -

Hinduism in America on the rise

Festivities in a new temple dedicated to the Indian monkey god Hanuman in Frisco, Texas, earlier this month remind us that a minority of religions exists within the shores of the United States that is relatively silent. The faith that is the subject here, of course, is Hinduism, which in that North Texas town, at least, is enjoying an "expanding population," according to the Dallas Morning News. Despite the fact that Indians have been quietly enriching the American melting pot for decades to centuries, few non-Indians know much about the colorful religion of Hinduism....

Monotheism in America will simply need to become accustomed to the fact that this country is inhabited by polytheists such as the Hindus as well as atheists, humanists and secularists, and to stop being so aggressive and insistent upon its own way. That's America under the U.S. Constitution, a fact that freedom lovers everywhere will appreciate.

Does the Old Testament foster corruption?

I have posted two new articles on Examiner.com -

Jimmy Carter: 'Stop abusing women in the name of God'

and

Does the Old Testament foster corruption?

Please go read my articles, subscribe, favorite, share and social bookmark, using Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon and so on!

Islamist Assault on the U.S. Constitution

I have posted a new article as Freethought Examiner -

Islamist Assault on the U.S. Constitution

Makes the blood boil. Of course, these knuckledraggers believe that the First Amendment protects their rights to call for treason against the U.S. Constitution.

Why in the 21st century of the common era are we having to do battle with people over the right to exist without being enslaved by demented religious dogma?

Please go to my article, comment, subscribe, favorite, send to your friends and social bookmark it!!!

"The Gospel According to Acharya S" is Here!

I'm delighted to announce that my new, "revolutionary" book The Gospel According to Acharya S is now available!

You can get your copy right now by going here -

http://stellarhousepublishing.com/gospel.html

The Gospel tackles some of the most interesting and important aspects of human consciousness, such as:

What is God? Is belief in God righteous? Should we praise God? Who speaks for God? Is the Bible "God's Word?" Does prayer work? Are we born in sin? What is the original of good and evil? Who is the Devil? Is the Bible prophetic? Do we have free will? What is the purpose in life?

Some kind words about The Gospel:

"I just read your essay titled, 'What is God?' and I'd like to tell you that I found it the most truthful piece of spiritual writing I have ever read. So concise, a real stimulation unhindered by myth, parable and occult symbolism."

Steve R., Australia

This "Purple Bible" is the antidote to the world's insanity-producing "holy scriptures!"

If you obtain your copy of The Gospel through my website, I will throw in a free bonus -

Acharya's Religion 101 for Seekers, a 20-page ebook made up of some of my spiciest writings!

The Gospel According to Acharya S

Grab your copy of the "Purple Bible" today!

Enjoy!

Acharya S: Freethought Examiner

I just got an important new gig at Examiner.com, and I've got a new article published there:

Science versus religion: the debate comes to the NIH

My work will now reach a new audience. PLEASE read my article and comment on it! And share it with all your friends. :)

Be sure to subscribe to my page and add me as a "Favorite Examiner!" A strong show of support will send a great message to Examiner.com that the Freethought perspective is very popular and that they made the right decision in welcoming me as the Freethought Examiner.

Also, if you would like to apply as a writer to Examiner.com, please include my name and ID code in your application in the Referral Details, where it asks "How did you hear about becoming an Examiner?"

D.M. Murdock
17009

Thanks!

The Chronicles of Acharya S

I wanted to make sure everyone knew about my various radio shows with my friend Miguel/Abraxas, who does a first-class job interviewing interesting and unique minds on the subject of religion.

I particularly enjoy appearing on Miguel's program and have done so several times now. The shows are listed here -

http://www.thegodabovegod.com/shop/index.php?cat=5

Like me, Miguel works very hard on a shoestring budget to bring everybody the best material he can find. If you are looking for something interesting to do, and you enjoy my work, please go to Miguel's site and listen to our programs together. I'm certain that Miguel will be very grateful for your attention and patronage.

It's because of the support and appreciation of all the great folks that we can continue to bring to light this fascinating information, so thank you!

Enjoy - and check out the rest of Miguel's massive audio library as well.

"Your book 'Who Was Jesus?' is phenomenal!"

I wanted to pass along the following really great blurb from a reader of my book Who was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ:

From: Sandy Felton
Subject: Your book "Who Was Jesus" is phenomenal!
To: Acharya S
Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Hi Acharya or Ms. Murdock:

I got the book "Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ" from the library, and I wanted to start underlining very quickly into it, so I bought it.

Fantastic book, what a research job!

The last chapter, where you try to decipher the politics of why such and such passage is in which gospel was amazingly insightful.

It is so great to have a scholar of this area who isn't so biased in favor of the "accuracy" of these documents.

Thank you so much.

Mr. Sandy Felton

Iam now making a special offer to anyone who gets a copy of my book Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ through my website. If you obtain the book directly from me, I will throw in three ebooks for free, including:

The Acharya Articles Collection
The Companion Guide to ZEITGEIST, Part 1
Jesus as the Sun throughout History

Here's the URL for the book, with the special offer:

http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/whowasjesus1.html

Here's what others are saying about WWJ:

"Who Was Jesus? is a fine work, characterized by your unique ability to spot neglected implications and aspects of debates..."

Robert M. Price, PhD

"I've known people with triple Ph.D's who haven't come close to the scholarship here."

Pastor David Bruce, M.Div

"D.M. Murdock, aka 'Acharya S,' has written a really fine introduction to the problem of the Historical Jesus."

Robert H. Eisenman, PhD

"D.M. Murdock's Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ is unquestionably one of the finest and most enjoyable books I've ever read."

David Mills

"Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of the Christ just might be the best short introduction to Biblical scholarship yet."

David Bergland

"Probably the best of this genre..."

Ex-Priest Bob Semes

"I wish every member of every Christian congregation could be made to read it through, slowly and carefully."

Barbara Walker

See what the buzz is all about - go to my website to read much more about Who Was Jesus? Watch the great video about it there as well!

http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/whowasjesus1.html

And be sure to get your copy with the special offer of three free ebooks.

Enjoy!

Muslim Women, Vitamin D and Osteomalacia

In the global debate regarding the dress codes for Muslim women, one important factor is often overlooked: The fact that depriving a human being from live-giving sunlight and air represents physical torture. Indeed, this form of torture has been used for centuries in prisons.

It has long been known that the average human being requires a certain amount of sunshine on a daily basis in order to be healthy. Under the right circumstances sunlight creates vitamin D in the oils on the skin, which is then absorbed into the bloodstream and helps generate health throughout the entire body, largely serving to assist calcium in bone formation.

It has also been understood for many years that purdah--the custom of sequestering women from men, forcing them to remain indoors and to cover up the bulk of their skin--creates a serious disease called osteomalacia or "bad bones." Writing decades ago, famed nutritionist Adele Davis stated:

"Osteomalacia. This disease--its name literally means bad bones--results primarily from a severe vitamin-D deficiency. Arabian and Indian women who keep themselves heavily veiled frequently develop such painful backs that they can scarcely rise; and they suffer multiple spontaneous fractures and have extremely rarefied bones, all of which clears up dramatically when vitamin D is given them." (Davis, Let's Get Well, p. 256.)

In her classic work Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit (140), Davis also states:

"Sir Robert McCarrison, the great English physician, wrote of osteomalacia in India among the Mohammedan women observing the custom of purdah. These women veil their faces at adolescence and rarely go outside their homes."

In this same regard, in Deficient Sunlight in the Aetiology of Osteomalacia in Muslim Women, Dr. OP Kapoor states:

"...in most of the Sunni Muslim women (who form majority of the Muslims), in spite of high intake of calcium, osteomalacia is often seen. There are two reasons for this:

"1. Use of burkha which prevents sunlight reaching the skin.

"2. Living indoors - most of the Muslim women specially those staying in the Muslim localities, do not move out of the house and thus are not exposed to the sun and often develop osteomalacia."

As we now know, vitamin D is necessary for a variety of other metabolic processes in a healthy individual. Moreover, sunlight has other positive effects besides vitamin-D production. For one, it is necessary for the production of the hormone melatonin through the eyes. Thus, Muslim women who wear the full burkha* are deprived of this health-bestowing chemical as well, which is necessary for proper sleep and, consequently, mental health. Also, merely taking vitamin D or melatonin supplements would not make up for other potential health benefits associated with adequate exposure to sunlight, and supplements are not the best choice for optimal health in any event.

In addition to developing bone and other problems from a lack of vitamin D and melatonin, covered women are deprived of fresh air on their skin, which is the body's largest organ. Hence, the skin is not given the opportunity to breathe adequately. Furthermore, the color of choice in covering up women because of "religious" purposes is often black and sometimes blue, undoubtedly creating much sweltering and heat stroke in the very hot regions in which this clothing is traditionally worn.

While the emotional, mental and spiritual problems with forcing a woman to veil herself may be increasingly clear, the grossly under-explored factor in the burkha/niqab debate is the toll on women's physical health. The bottom line is that veiling women and depriving them of life-giving sunlight and air represents physical torture - especially in heat-absorbing dark colors - on a mass scale. How many women are suffering horrendous health problems, exacerbated by being forced to give birth repeatedly, because of this oppressive custom? In the veiling of women, then, we are looking at a serious and appalling health crisis affecting millions worldwide.

* There are many forms of oppressive dress for women within the Islamic world, compelling us to learn these terms:

burqa/burkha/burka
niqab
chador
sitar
hijab
abaya
jilbab

So obsessive is this women-oppression that there are reputedly over 100 terms for bagging females.

See also:

Women in hijabs 'need sunlight or risk illness'
Women's Rights in Islam

Acharya S on BlogTalk Radio, 6/22

Join me tonight, June 22nd, at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST, on the "Thunder" show on BlogTalkRadio.com. We will be discussing the summer solstice and "Horus crucified." I will also be answering a few questions about my work.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/7hunder/2009/06/23/TVP-RADIO

The chat room on BlogTalk Radio is very lively, so come on in.

Be sure to set a reminder on the BlogTalkRadio page so you don't miss it!

"Christ in Egypt" Bonus!

I thought everyone would like to know that I've just added TWO new gifts for everybody who gets my book "Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection" through my website!

http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/christinegypt.html

Now, when you order CIE directly through me, you will receive THREE ebooks f.ree:

"The Acharya Articles Collection"
"Who Was Jesus?"
"Jesus as the Sun throughout History"

Here's yet another great review of CIE by ex-missionary Brian Redmond:

5.0 out of 5 stars
Set My People Free, June 1, 2009
By Brian Redmond "truthseeker" (Japan)
(REAL NAME)

"The title of this work, 'Christ in Egypt,' will bring to mind the Biblical story of Christ's flight into Egypt as a baby; but, rather than the story of a mythical sojourn within Egypt, this is a factual account of the process by which the whole Christian story actually emerged from out of Egypt; and it will set people free.

"It will set people free from the burden of having to say they believe things which countermand their intelligence and the errors and inconsistencies found in the Gospels, which Ms. Murdock elucidated in her previous work 'Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of the Christ.' It will set people free to think for themselves as Acharya -- a teacher indeed -- shows us from impeccable sources what the people who lived in the Nile Delta 2,000 years and more ago: Egyptians, Jews and Greeks and others, thought and felt; and how their aspirations coalesced to give us the tales found in the four Gospels.

"It is a story of human striving to make sense of the world, and how our passion to do so can overrrule our integrity as we struggle for a foothold in a turbulent world. D.M. Murdock, in this tour de force, gives the people of this age a firm foothold upon which to base our own clear-eyed view of how we came to be what we are, and the inspiration to build upon this rock, not another church, but a community of individuals who base their opinions on evidence and engage in civilized discourse."

To get your copy of this blockbuster of a book - plus three f.ree ebooks! - go to:

http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/christinegypt.html

Enjoy!

Acharya S/D.M. Murdock

P.S. If you already have all these writings but would like to help out - I really need help right now, as I finish up my new book "The Gospel According to Acharya S" - please go to this page:

http://truthbeknown.com/help.htm

Thank you!

The Gospel According to Acharya S

I have just updated the page for my latest project, so take a look!

The Gospel According to Acharya S
http://stellarhousepublishing.com/gospel.html

I've included an extensive Table of Contents, highlighting the numerous subjects I am addressing in this new book. If you read the old Gospel online, note that this paperback edition one is expanded and updated. I've written a new essay, "Born in Sin?" and have included "A Truly Sacred Scripture" from my blog as well.

Here's a little taste from the Prologue:

When I first wrote these essays in the early 90s, those who read them thought they were revolutionary—and unpublishable. The publishing industry back then was such that if you did not have a publisher of significance—and there were relatively few—you could expect to sell a handful of copies and to remain obscure and unknown. Writers were at the mercy of overburdened editors and their massive slush piles. Once the internet became fairly popular, however, revolutionary writings such as these found a home, as did eventually also the world of small publishing using print-on-demand. The internet is the great equalizer, as self-published or small publisher books compete side by side with the big-name companies, and a controversial book like this one becomes a feasible project. What you are holding, therefore, is something that would have been difficult if not impossible to create and propagate just a couple of decades ago. In the future, with the push for censorship as concerns religious cults, such a book may again become nonviable, banned and burned. In this regard, read it while you can, before it is put on the Index of the next Inquisition!

Enjoy! With any luck, the book will be finished and available within a month or so.

Was Horus Crucified?

Here's a sneak peak just for my blog subscribers of a new article hot off the presses. I created this illustrated article in order to clear up the widespread confusion regarding the claim that the Egyptian god Horus was "crucified."

As you can see from the article, there is much more to the story than what the average encyclopedia entry reveals. Indeed, there is much more to the world's religious and spiritual ideologies than meets the eye.

"There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Was Horus Crucified?

Enjoy!

"Who Was Jesus?" New Reviews!

I thought you might enjoy seeing a couple of new reviews of my book Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ at Amazon.

The first is from a gentleman who was a Franciscan missionary to Japan and who has an interesting perspective. You may recall his remarks on my earlier blog post - boy, did that kick up a storm! 120 comments!

5.0 out of 5 stars Fingerprints that Touched Me
May 26, 2009
By Brian Redmond "truthseeker" (Japan)

"Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of the Christ" has touched me greatly, and with a healing touch at that. I have spent a lifetime trapped within the inconsistencies of institutionalized Christianity, with the consequent frustrations and attempts to rationalize the irrational that such a position entails. D.M. Murdock has freed me with this book. Gently, but irrefutably logically, by quoting impeccable sources, she shows that the basis of Christianity, the Four Gospels, are not inerrant, and not even history. This enlightenment has lifted a huge burden from my shoulders, and far from destroying my belief in Christ or God has strengthened my belief in both. Now I see that God, our maker, has never and can never be described in words, and that Christ, our Saviour, will always have to be ourselves doing what God wants, that is being decent people, and thus we will be saved, by God and by ourselves being the Sons and Daughters of God.

Brian Redmond, real name

-------------------------

5.0 out of 5 stars The Case Against Christ
May 22, 2009
By A. Richins (Salem, OR United States)

Christian scholars have made careers being apologists for the Christian faith. This book reveals that they may in fact owe their readers an apology.

I think the title may mislead some. The book isn't about discovering who the real Jesus was, and it certainly has nothing to do with the Templar Knights or whether or not Jesus was married. It's a critical analysis of the gospels, and the dogmatic belief held by many Christians that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, which was written by eye witnesses.

The author, who is fluent in Ancient Greek herself, and an expert in ancient mythology, draws from the research of several biblical scholars, including Christian sources.

For being such a short, easy to read book, she does an incredible job and laying out both sides of the argument. I came away with a better understanding of exactly what source materials biblical scholars actually have to go on, and the methods by which they've approximated their dates.

No one will miss the point that Murdock doesn't believe the gospel accounts are history, but it's not presented in a rash or deliberately abrasive manner.

Though this book is a great resource for those who may choose to engage a fundamentalist Christian in a debate, I believe her target audience for this book was actually Christians. She avoids for example, attacking Christianity on the grounds that it proposes donkeys can talk, people can fly up into outer space, and that loving God will fry you for eternity for not believing he committed a human sacrifice to himself. But rather, she pose questions like, if zombies really rose from the dead and walked around town, why didn't anyone record it? If King Herod knew the precise location of the infant Jesus, why did he need to have every young male in Bethlehem killed? Why does Jesus suggest that men castrate themselves?

If you have a Christian friend of family member who tries to pressure you from time to time to convert to their faith, ask them to read this book in exchange for going to church with them a few times.

For more information, read my book Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ. If you haven't seen the great reviews by scholars and ministers there, do take a look!

Enjoy!

Is Jesus a Myth?

Although I deal with many subjects within the fascinating field of comparative religion and mythology, one of my major focuses is on the thesis that the biblical figure called "Jesus Christ" represents a mythological compilation of characters, including various Pagan gods and the awaited Jewish messiah(s). In my various writings, which include The Christ Conspiracy, Suns of God, Who Was Jesus?, Christ in Egypt and Jesus as the Sun, I bring together evidence that a multinational cabal largely composed of Jews, Samaritans, Greeks, Romans and Egyptians created first the Jesus character and then later Christian tradition, eventually in order to unify the Roman Empire under one state religion.

I demonstrate this thesis in a wide variety of ways, including dissecting the canonical gospels on their face, as I do in my book Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ. After this vast amount of evidence both ancient and modern, internal and external, is studied, it becomes obvious that once the mythological and messianic literary layers are peeled away, there remains no core to the onion.

Indeed, we are left with the conclusion that the mythical figure of "Jesus Christ" was largely contrived in order to raise the Jewish religion and scriptures to the forefront of religious ideologies, to fulfill the biblical "prophecy" that the Jews are the "chosen people," that their nation is the "Holy Land" and that their tribal writings represent "God's Word." As stated in the Old Testament:

"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth."

Deuteronomy 7:6

"When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. And if its answer to you is peace and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it; and when the LORD your God gives it into your hand you shall put all its males to the sword, but the women and the little ones, the cattle, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourselves; and you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you. Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save nothing that breathes ..."

Deuteronomy 20:10-16

"Foreigners (Gentiles) shall rebuild your walls, and their kings shall minister to you ...Your gates shall be open continuously; day and night they shall not be shut; that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession. For the nation or kingdom that will not not serve you; shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste...."

Isaiah 60:10-12

"You shall suck the milk of nations, you shall suck the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

Isaiah 60:16

"And strangers [Gentiles] shall stand and feed your flocks, strangers shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; but you shall be called the priests of the LORD, men shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory."

Isaiah 61:5-6

The same sentiment and sense of triumph are reflected in "A Real Case Against the Jews" by Jewish writer Marcus Eli Ravage, published in The Century Magazine, v. 115, no. 3, The Century Co., NY, 1928, p. 346ff:

"Our tribal customs have become the core of your moral code. Our tribal laws have furnished the basic groundwork of all your august constitutions and legal systems. Our legends and our folk-tales are the sacred lore which you croon to your infants. Our poets have filled your hymnals and your prayer-books. Our national history has become an indispensable part of the learning of your pastors and priests and scholars. Our kings, our statesmen, our prophets, our warriors are your heroes. Our ancient little country is your Holy Land. Our national literature is your Holy Bible. What our people thought and taught has become inextricably woven into your very speech and tradition, until no one among you can be called educated who is not familiar with our racial heritage.

"Jewish artisans and Jewish fishermen are your teachers and your saints, with countless statues carved in their image and innumerable cathedrals raised to their memories. A Jewish maiden is your ideal of motherhood and womanhood. A Jewish rebel-prophet is the central figure in your religious worship. We have pulled down your idols, cast aside your racial inheritance, and substituted for them our God and our traditions. No conquest in history can even remotely compare with this clean sweep of our conquest over you."

When we realize that the ancient, pre-Christian world was filled with stories about superhuman gods, goddesses and heroes of all cultures whose purported lives on Earth were replete with miracles of all manner, we must recognize that it is only by extraordinary human perseverance that one particular set of fabulous tales from one particular culture has become accepted as "true," while all the rest are deemed "myths." In actuality, the acceptance as "history" of such patent fairytales as the son of God born of a virgin who miraculously heals the sick, raises the dead, walks on water, transfigures on a mount, resurrects from death and ascends into heaven ranks as cultural bias and extreme prejudice, not reality. It is high time that this fallacious development and lopsided injustice be exposed and the whole of the human cultural record be embraced.

The importance of knowing the history of religious ideology can be illustrated by the following email I recently received:

"Dear Ms. Murdock:

"I have just finished reading Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of the Christ and Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection, and I humbly fall at your feet in admiration. You, with your genius, perseverance and strength have freed me from a lifetime of being shackled by Catholicism. I am 70 years old, and I now I can live out the rest of my life in tranquility of mind and conscience, thanks to you.

"God Bless you, and thank you again."

Brian Redmond, Former Franciscan Missionary

It is imperative that the human family not believe blindly in religious ideologies and stories but study scientifically the foundation of those religions, eventually discovering that many of the most important religious and spiritual concepts date back to the hoary mists of time and possess very human origins. If we do not realize our common shared heritage, we will be facing an armageddon and apocalypse of our own making, as evidenced by the debacle concerning the use of biblical scriptures to incite soldiers in Iraq and the ongoing jihad in the opposite direction using koranic writings. These two factions essentially hold the world hostage and will be the demise of the entire human civilization, if humanity does not wake up and stop following these outdated and specious ideologies. We are one family, and we share a small sphere - let us unify as found in the best of futuristic scenarios, not destroy ourselves as in the worst.

For more information, read my book Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ, which was written with Christians in mind and represents a kind and gentle approach to the subject. Here's a testimonial:

I've known people with triple Ph.D's who haven't come close to the scholarship here.

I think I've read every popular alternative theory about Jesus that has come down the pike - with Who Was Jesus I was very impressed.

This book gives me pause for serious thought.

Pastor David Bruce, M.Div
North Park Seminary, Chicago

Do You Hate Yourself?

Do you hate yourself?

Harassing, slandering, libeling, stalking, abusing, killing or otherwise harming a human being or other living creature in the name of religion, God, Allah, Jesus, the Bible, the Koran or some other religious idea or artifact is evil, period. There simply is no excuse, no justification and no rationale that makes these abuses and transgressions righteous and moral. You are committing evil, and you will suffer for it at some point, by your own conscience at the very least.

You are also sullying and defaming whatever ideology you are defending by making it human-hating and life-destroying. Regardless of what you have been taught, your ideology is not more important than the human being you are debasing, denigrating and demeaning. No religion or ideology feels pain - not even a god feels pain - but human beings certainly do. You are causing pain to a living, breathing being over something that does not feel pain. Have you not heard, "As you sow, so shall you reap?"

Your ideology is only as worthy as it treats the individual human being. Nay, as it treats even animals. As Abraham Lincoln once said:

"I care not for a man's religion whose dog or cat are not the better for it."

In any event, if you find yourself merely tempted to abuse another human being or other living creature in the name of your religion, God, son of God and/or prophet, you have already stained and shamed your ideology by your thoughts of violence and hatred.

Think twice or however many times you need to remove these hateful and violent thoughts against your fellow human being. If your ideology teaches anger and hatred towards human beings, it is unworthy of following. You are full of self-hatred, as you hate your fellow human being, because you have been taught that human beings in general are "wretched sinners," and you are one of them. Your ideology is not godly or divine. It is ugly, vicious and evil. And it is making you all of those things. Throw it away as the garbage it has become. Join the human race and practice love, tolerance, patience and acceptance of your fellow human beings and other living creatures.

Jesus as the Sun throughout History

Surprise! Surprise!

I've just created a new 37-page ebook for your enjoyment that explores the history of Jesus Christ as the sun in art and literature. The ebook is linked here:

Jesus as the Sun throughout History ebook

I have also included a long excerpt from the ebook that you can read online here:

Jesus as the Sun throughout History excerpt

I hope people will enjoy both the ebook and excerpt for their own edification and for that of others around the net, where much disinfo abounds.

Note that the ebook will help me to create a planned paperback on the same subject, so if you can afford it, please donate to the cause by getting it! In these tough times, I need all the help I can get to keep my work going. If you feel there is value in my work, come help out! I greatly appreciate it, and you can be assured that your assistance will help me to continue providing quality material on subjects about which very few others are giving you the lowdown.

You just can't get this material in this concisely presented manner anywhere else, which is why I continue to work so hard to bring it to you!

Thank you for your ongoing support of my work!



Was Jesus the Sun God?

"Christ in Egypt" New Review!

Here's a great new review of my book Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection.

You can read more about CIE here - and watch the video!:

http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/christinegypt.html

Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection, by D.M. Murdock
Book Review by Joan d'Arc

The boat of Afu-Ra glides silently in the black eternal waters of the Amduat; in front the goddess Isis, her arms outstretched in cruciform, conducts her son, the Sun God Horus, with his 12 assistants (who are deceased)—the major stars of the night sky—to new life in the daily rebirth of the morning sun. This is the powerful imagery conjured by D.M. Murdock (aka Acharya S) in her new book, Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection.

Where does the sun go when it goes down under the world? The Egyptians had it all figured out in books like The Pyramid Texts and The Book of the Dead. The Book of Portals recounts the sun’s passage at night through the 12 gates, which are also the night hours. The Sun Boat of the Creator, the one who “crosses over” the heavens each day for 12 hours, also passes through the underworld each night for 12 hours, accompanied by his 12 assistants or helpers. According to Murdock, this is the derivation of the 12 disciples of the Christ mythos.

Murdock contends that the Gnostics of Alexandria, in fact, created the imagery of Jesus on the cross, derived from the Egyptian god Horus. The task of the Gnostic Horos was to separate the upper from the lower, the saved from the fallen, the light from the dark. This task was accomplished by the Sun God Horus and his 12 assistants, the Egyptian Ennead.

The 12 are sometimes companions of the Father, Osiris, and at other times Horus is one of the 12 in the presence of the Father. This is mindful of Jesus being God and not God, both the Sun and the Son (a quandary the nuns could never quite answer to my liking). The 12 assistants are simply the signs of the zodiac, which Murdock tells us were alive and well in Egypt, being derived from the symbols for the Egyptian months...

As Murdock explains, Christianity was created by Gnostics in Alexandria and then the Christians later came back and burned it all down, sacked the city, killed thousands of people, and covered up the tracks of its creation. The tale of Jesus and Satan is the same astrotheological epic drama told in Egypt. For instance, Set is the serpent, the "Prince of Darkness," and all things "Satan." Horus is the "Prince of Light," the KRST, or the Christ (meaning "anointed one").

Interestingly as well, we learn that the story of Lazarus in the Gospel of John was taken directly from sources like the Pyramid Texts and the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Horus was known as the anointed one, the "standing mummy" symbol of Egyptian hieroglyphs: the mummy come back to life. The Egyptian religion was all about being prepared for death and rebirth, as is the Christian religion today, only today prepping doesn't involve the oil and rags of mummification.

Murdock proves with historical sources that Jesus was not born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, but was born of the Virgin Isis in Egyptian mythology....

I have always been wowed by Ms. Murdock's work, but this time she has outdone herself and has created a 574-page masterpiece that I'm sure will become a classic in religious studies.... I would say she's the goddess of the godless. I'm ever thankful she's got my back.

http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/christinegypt.html

Enjoy!

Acharya S/D.M. Murdock
Author, The Christ Conspiracy, Suns of God, Who Was Jesus? and Christ in Egypt
http://StellarHousePublishing.com

P.S. If you support my work, please help out!
http://www.truthbeknown.com/help.htm