Devils Advocate:

After ranting against religion for years, this post draws on some of religion's common themes to explain personal observations. If I'd grown up in a different culture, I'd have a different set of themes.

In a previous post I described a friend getting magical information which he couldn't possibly have known. A piece of the story which I didn't tell was that when the impression hit him (that a non-discript paper bag on a distant curb contained some tools that he needed), it was in a verbal form; words. At the time he put it down to his internal dialog, even when the "voice" said "... and remember that I told you?" (Joe said "ok").

My current thinking is that animals including people have an inherent capacity to be part of a communal synthesis or archetype, Cosmic Consciousness. An easy example is when dogs know that a friend is about to arrive, or a pet travels to an unknown location to be with their "owner". Temple Grandin, an autistic woman w/ PHD in Animal Science in Ft Collins CO, believes animals and autistic humans share the same way of thinking

• When Joe was 3, he woke up from an afternoon nap and nobody was home, so he went out looking for his mom. He found her in the basement of a nearby school attending a PTA meeting. There was no map, he followed his heart.
  
• When Joe found the sack of tools, he was homeless.
  
• A sheepdog named Gigi belonging to a previous employer was 13 years old when she jumped out of his truck unnoticed on the Usall road, about 30 miles up the coast, & across 3 rivers wide enough to swim. 2 weeks later she showed up home looking sleek and fit.
  
• Steve Sinclair sold his property on Navarro Ridge, which included a barn w/ a barn cat named Pearl. Steve moved to Greenwood Ridge near Elk, about 15 miles away. 3 weeks later, Joe was standing with him in front of the Oasis Bar & Grill in Elk when Pearl walked out from under a parked car and jumped into his arms.

A quality that seems to be present in most of these is that the person or animal is moving, they're physically unrestrained, unattached, they're goal oriented & they feel free.

Fear, or belief in some kind of strategic repression (like from the cops or mean people), can destroy ones connection to the "cosmic archetype", the "father in heaven" if you will. The solution to fear is: 1) ignore it, become immortal (or act like it for as long as possible). 2) back off and say "ok, thy will be done, for thine is the kingdom, etc…" & kiss up to the oppressor (love your enemy).

When biblical prophets described god as being selfish and vengeful, they were describing themselves, or their most outstanding social fears. I think because the archetype is given the form of the biggest dealer.

The Bible, Koran, and Torah, all represent the same psychological construction and call it a God, but manipulate it into an organizational tool, with members and "non believers", so that there's an artificial distinction which is politically exploitable. That's wrong headed, selfish, and shameful, but historically typical of that god.

sorry, no links or pics.