Saturday, March 19, 2011

Freedom and the Crucifixion of Jesus

Have a look at one of the typical representations of Freedom within this world: 
 
A human being standing on a ledge with his/her arms spread horizontally to the side – generally with wind blowing through his/her hair for extra drama. A typical example is the scene in the Titanic where Jack and Rose both stand in this position at the front end of the boat.
 
When I was on a trip with my parents, I saw a kid climbing on a pile of rocks, spreading his arms side-ways and squeezing his eyes closed – taking on a pose so that his dad could take a picture. As I saw this boy take on this pose, I spontaneously laughed out loud, because he looked like Jesus on the cross – and I thought that it was his intention to portray this, because in the way he squeezed his eyes, it looked like he was in pain. However, when the boy heard me laugh, he turned red and looked embarrassed. Then I realized that he didn't mean to portray Jesus on the cross in pain, but a 'free man' squeezing his eyes because of the apparent intensity of the experience of freedom. 
 
In that moment it struck me: Why is one of the most prominent symbols of freedom the same pose as Jesus dying on the cross for the sins of man?
 
Isn't this odd? Why would freedom and crucifixion be related? How is it related?
 
To answer these questions, we can investigate the crucifixion of Jesus in the bible:
 
What was the point of Jesus dying on the cross? He died for the sins of man – meaning: he paid off their 'debt'. What does this mean in the Mind of Man? It is interpreted as such that because Jesus has already died for my sins and he has already 'paid off my debt' – I get to do anything I want – without consequences! And this – in the Mind of Man – means Freedom. 
 
So from this perspective – Freedom and Crucifixion are equal and one – the symbol is the same because they form two parts of the same polarity equation.

 
Let's investigate further and have a look at how this polarity equation plays-out in our world today.
 
How is freedom in this world experienced? Through being able to 'make my own choice'. But when it comes to being able to choose in this world – you need/require money. Only when you have money are you really able to make a choice. Because, if you don't have money you don't have many options: you do what you have to do to survive and help your family survive – so really, what choice do you have?
 
The amount of money that exists is limited. It is also distributed unequally: some have more money than others – some have a whole fuck load more than others. So – what kind of world do we live in? We live in a world where some have a whole fuck load of money – and thus a whole fuck load of options and thus the experience of being able to 'make my own choice' – where others have a lot of money with a lot of options and a certain experience of being able to 'make my own choice' – where a whole lot of people have little money with little options and a very limited experience of being able to 'make my own choice' – and a whole fuck load of people have no money, no options and no experience of choice in any way whatsoever.
 
Obviously – since money is limited – if someone has more money than they would have if all money was distributed equally – they have this money because they 'took' from someone who has less money than he/she would have if all money were distributed equally. So – within accepting and allowing and defending one's Freedom, one's Free Will, one's Free Choice – what are you, by implication, accepting and allowing? You are accepting and allowing the crucifixion of those who now – because you have 'more' – have 'less'. You are taking away their Freedom, their Free Will, their Choice. Because, as we said – in having more money – they have less money. With less money, one has less options and thus less (or no) choice.
 
Thus – common sense: within this world the majority of people's freedom is sacrificed for the minority's freedom. Every single day, we crucify those whose options we take to be able to experience 'Freedom', 'Free Will' and 'Choice'. 
 
We focus so extensively on this one event in the past of one Man apparently dying for the sins of Man – that we don't see how this is happening daily, continuously, endlessly. The Crucifixion of Jesus is not a one-time event – it is the essence of the nature of existence, permeating through our reality as we all participate within the current Money System. Jesus' crucifixion is happening right now, at this very moment. 
 
How many more must be crucified, how many more must die, how many more must suffer – before we realise: it doesn't have to be this way. 
 
This crucifixion must end, it cannot be justified, because – none of us on the 'positive polarity', who have sufficient money and are able to 'make our own choices', would be willing to be sacrificed, would be willing to be crucified. We are no Jesus – we are merely sinners.
 
It doesn't have to be this way. An Equal Money System would provide equal money, options, freedom and choices. No-one has to be crucified, no-one has to be sacrificed. We can end this cycle. 
 
www.equalmoney.org

5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. "How is freedom in this world experienced? Through being able to 'make my own choice'. But when it comes to being able to choose in this world – you need/require money. Only when you have money are you really able to make a choice. Because, if you don't have money you don't have many options: you do what you have to do to survive and help your family survive – so really, what choice do you have?"

    Exactly!
    Time to change: http://equalmoney.org/

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  3. The parallel between Jesus on the cross and someone spreading their arms in the wind may be cutting corners just a little bit.

    Long before we learned some tales about a carpenter, man had already another dream, namely to fly like a bird, to let him glide on wings through te sky (e.g. Icarus in Greek Mythology).

    To pose with your arms spread and hair in the wind is more likely to be in resemblance of a bird flying carelessly through the sky rather than a far fetched comparison to a dying Jesus who supposedly died for our sins.

    Fact that before (christian) religion people kind of had a religion based on the forces of nature could support this alternative explanation. In every 'religion' prior to the five big religions we nowadays know, some god or the other is portrayed as a bird.

    But all religion aside. A bird in the sky looks free, without sorrows or cares. If I were to look for something far fetched, I could even see the USA national symbol (bald eagle) as a symbol of freedom. That is what their national anthem is saying no (land of the free and home of the brave?). Fortunately I personally think that would be one bridge to far, but hey, feel free to believe.

    Therefore I would like to end this command by pointing out that anything you can accomplish with your own skills and reason, you should try to reach to fully develop as a person.

    I hope on this site is room for a sceptical opinion as well. Fighting for a more equal world is a noble goal. But trying to accomplish it while censoring others opinion is a lot less noble. There are more roads to a goals than the one each of us is walking personally. Letting someone else share his or her point of view might widen our own scope. Which would ultimately lead to people understanding each other better than before.

    And remeber: No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings - William Blake (English poet)

    Pere Yé (Aquaperonnes CM)

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  4. Hi Bart,

    When it comes to symbolism, on a subconscious/unconscious level the mind does not distinguish between that which is/seems more 'historically correct' or 'more logical'. When seeing a certain symbol, the mind will see all possible 'meanings' related to this symbol, all at once. So - in the example of the symbol of a person standing with their arms spread horizontally while standing on a ledge - the mind will relate birds, flying, freedom, ... to it, as well as cross, jesus on the cross, crucifixion, sacrifice,...

    Definitely - we have defined the word 'freedom' within flying and birds. That doesn't prevent the mind, however, from seeing both 'Freedom' and 'Sacrifice/Crucifixion' when presented with the symbol we're discussing here.

    So, I'm not saying that Jesus dying on the cross is THE explanation as to why a person standing on a ledge with horizontally spread arms means 'freedom'. I'm saying that it is Absolutely Fascinating that both Freedom and Sacrifice are related to the same symbol, and therefore investigating whether this connection also exists/is manifested within how we behave, within how the world is set-up, etc. - and i have found that it is.

    In terms of 'censuring opinions':

    The nature of 'having my own opinion' is really just an ego-mindfuck. When someone values their own opinion, it's usually more about the fact that 'I have an opinion', rather than what the opinion actually is. Also - opinions is used to defend something of yourself that you don't want challenged because you are afraid of changing or losing it.

    So - no, I don't give a crap about opinions - they are not actually productive because their startingpoint lies within deception.

    I will, however, listen to different perspectives or considerations to a point. Because - within sharing your perspective or considerations, you're not doing it from the starting point of defending something you're afraid to lose, nor from the starting point of being seen as 'oh so intelligent', or 'oh so right', or 'oh so original', or 'oh so individual'. You're sharing because you actually care about that which is being discussed, not because of entlightened self-interest.

    Cheers.

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