Heaven: Fool's Paradise

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven


Heaven

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Heaven, the heavens or seven heavens, is a common religious, cosmological, or transcendent place where beings such as gods, angels, jinn, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or to live. According to the beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to earth or incarnate, and earthly beings can ascend to Heaven in the afterlife, or in exceptional cases enter Heaven alive.

Heaven is often described as a "higher place", the holiest place, a Paradise, in contrast to Hell or the Underworld or the "low places", and universally or conditionally accessible by earthly beings according to various standards of divinity, goodness, piety, faith, or other virtues or right beliefs or simply the will of God. Some believe in the possibility of a Heaven on Earth in a World to Come.

Another belief is in an axis mundi or world tree which connects the heavens, the terrestrial world, and the underworld. In Indian religions, Heaven is considered as Svarga loka, and the soul is again subjected to rebirth in different living forms according to its karma. This cycle can be broken after a soul achieves Moksha or Nirvana. Any place of existence, either of humans, souls or deities, outside the tangible world (Heaven, Hell, or other) is referred to as otherworld.


Criticism of the belief in heaven

The anarchist Emma Goldman expressed this view when she wrote, "Consciously or unconsciously, most theists see in gods and devils, heaven and hell; reward and punishment, a whip to lash the people into obedience, meekness and contentment."

Many people consider George Orwell's use of Sugarcandy Mountain in his novel Animal Farm to be a literary expression of this view. In the book, the animals were told that after their miserable lives were over they would go to a place in which "it was Sunday seven days a week, clover was in season all the year round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges".

Some have argued that a belief in a reward after death is poor motivation for moral behavior while alive. Sam Harris wrote, "It is rather more noble to help people purely out of concern for their suffering than it is to help them because you think the Creator of the Universe wants you to do it, or will reward you for doing it, or will punish you for not doing it. The problem with this linkage between religion and morality is that it gives people bad reasons to help other human beings when good reasons are available."










http://www.dictionary.com/browse/slacker

Dictionary.con


slacker

malingerer, dodger, laggard.










http://www.e-reading-lib.com/bookreader.php/71310/Orwell_-_Animal_Farm__A_Fairy_Story.html


Animal Farm

George Orwell


VIII

A few days later, when the terror caused by the executions had died down, some of the animals remembered – or thought they remembered – that the Sixth Commandment decreed: ‘No animal shall kill any other animal.’ And though no one cared to mention it in the hearing of the pigs or the dogs, it was felt that the killings which had taken place did not square with this. Clover asked Benjamin to read her the Sixth Commandment, and when Benjamin, as usual, said that he refused to meddle in such matters, she fetched Muriel. Muriel read the Commandment for her. It ran: ‘No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.’ Somehow or other the last two words had slipped out of the animals’ memory. But they saw now that the Commandment had not been violated; for clearly there was good reason for killing the traitors who had leagued themselves with Snowball.

Throughout that year the animals worked even harder than they had worked in the previous year. To rebuild the windmill, with walls twice as thick as before, and to finish it by the appointed date, together with the regular work of the farm, was a tremendous labour. There were times when it seemed to the animals that they worked longer hours and fed no better than they had done in Jones's day. On Sunday mornings Squealer, holding down a long strip of paper with his trotter, would read out to them lists of figures proving that the production of every class of foodstuff had increased by two hundred per cent, three hundred per cent, or five hundred per cent, as the case might be. The animals saw no reason to disbelieve him, especially as they could no longer remember very clearly what conditions had been like before the Rebellion. All the same, there were days when they felt that they would sooner have had less figures and more food.

All orders were now issued through Squealer or one of the other pigs. Napoleon himself was not seen in public as often as once in a fortnight. When he did appear he was attended not only by his retinue of dogs but by a black cockerel who marched in front of him and acted as a kind of trumpeter, letting out a loud ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’ before Napoleon spoke. Even in the farmhouse, it was said, Napoleon inhabited separate apartments from the others. He took his meals alone, with two dogs to wait upon him, and always ate from the Crown Derby dinner service which had been in the glass cupboard in the drawing-room. It was also announced that the gun would be fired every year on Napoleon's birthday, as well as on the other two anniversaries.

Napoleon was now never spoken of simply as ‘Napoleon’. He was always referred to in formal style as ‘our Leader, Comrade Napoleon’, and the pigs liked to invent for him such titles as Father of All Animals, Terror of Mankind, Protector of the Sheepfold, Ducklings’ Friend, and the like. In his speeches Squealer would talk with the tears rolling down his cheeks of Napoleon's wisdom, the goodness of his heart, and the deep love he bore to all animals everywhere, even and especially the unhappy animals who still lived in ignorance and slavery on other farms. It had become usual to give Napoleon the credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune. You would often hear one hen remark to another, ‘Under the guidance of our Leader, Comrade Napoleon, I have laid five eggs in six days’; or two cows, enjoying a drink at the pool, would exclaim, ‘Thanks to the leadership of Comrade Napoleon, how excellent this water tastes!’ The general feeling on the farm was expressed in a poem entitled ‘Comrade Napoleon’, which was composed by Minimus and which ran as follows:

Friend of the fatherless!

Fountain of happiness!

Lord of the swill-bucket! Oh, how my soul is on

Fire when I gaze at thy

Calm and commanding eye,

Like the sun in the sky,

Comrade Napoleon!

Thou art the giver of

All that thy creatures love,

Full belly twice a day, clean straw to roll upon;

Every beast great or small

Sleeps at peace in his stall,

Thou watchest over all,

Comrade Napoleon!










JOURNAL ARCHIVE: - posted by H.V.O.M - Kerry Wayne Burgess 11:45 AM Pacific Time Spokane Valley Washington USA Monday 11 April 2016 - http://hvom.blogspot.com/2016/04/spokane_11.html


From 12/29/1954 ( premiere US film "Animal Farm" ) To 10/28/1994 ( premiere US film "Stargate" ) is 14548 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 9/1/2005 is 14548 days


[JOURNAL ARCHIVE 11 April 2016 excerpt ends]





JOURNAL ARCHIVE: - posted by H.V.O.M - Kerry Wayne Burgess 11:45 AM Pacific Time Spokane Valley Washington USA Monday 11 April 2016 - http://hvom.blogspot.com/2016/04/spokane_11.html


https://my.spokanecity.org/riverfrontpark/highlights/rotary-fountain/

spokanecity


Riverfront Park

Riverfront Rotary Fountain

The Riverfront Park Rotary Fountain is located on Howard Street at the South entrance to Riverfront Park. It is a popular attraction for beating the Summer heat. Kids love it!

Dedicated on September 1, 2005 to “the people of Spokane” and under the care of the Spokane Parks Department, the fountain is destined to be a popular attraction for many years to come. The Downtown Spokane Rotary Club 21 and the Spokane Parks Department worked together to make the fountain a reality. Financial support was also provided by numerous donors whose names appear around the fountain. Harold Balazs is the artist.

The fountain has five stainless steel columns that are 24 feet tall. These support a 30 foot diameter ring containing 40 overhead jets. The jets spray towards the middle of the fountain producing a dome of water and a waterfall in the fountain's center. Eight geysers shoot water upwards. The fountain also has dozens of mist jets, and the five boulders have jets that spray sideways. To conserve water, the fountain water is filtered and recirculated.

You can catch the fountain in action from Spring to Fall, 6 a.m. to midnight.



https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-27400121.html

HighBeam RESEARCH


PARK GETS ART WITH A SPLASH; Artist Harold Balazs used rapids as; inspiration for Riverfront Park fountain;

The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)

September 2, 2005 Christopher Rodkey Staff writer

Without a shred of patience, children who had been corralled for 30 minutes of speeches were set free Thursday in the gushing waters of Rotary Riverfront Fountain, squealing and shrieking as jets sprayed them from all directions.

"It's awesome!" said Logan Sandstrom, 8, shivering while his friends danced in the water. "I ran through and got pretty much cold."

The $1.4 million project, located next to the Looff Carousel and serving as an entrance to Riverfront Park, opened in a ceremony attended by city officials, business leaders and Rotary Club members.

"It's really a true testament to the spirit of this community and the spirit of Spokane," said Mayor Jim West.


[JOURNAL ARCHIVE 11 April 2016 excerpt ends]










http://www.stargate-sg1-solutions.com/wiki/Stargate:_The_Movie_Transcript

STARGATE WIKI


Stargate: The Movie (1994)


CATHERINE
Jackson, I'd like you to meet General West.

[West approaches and puts out his hand. Daniel shakes it.]

DANIEL
Oh, hello. Oh, right. General.

[West moves to his seat. Daniel tries to put down his things, nodding to another military man.]

DANIEL
Hello. Okay.

WEST
So, you think you've solved in fourteen days what they couldn't solve in two years?

DANIEL
(surprised)
Two years?

WEST
Any time.










http://www.e-reading-lib.com/bookreader.php/71310/Orwell_-_Animal_Farm__A_Fairy_Story.html


Animal Farm

George Orwell


II

Three nights later old Major died peacefully in his sleep. His body was buried at the foot of the orchard.

This was early in March. During the next three months there was much secret activity. Major’s speech had given to the more intelligent animals on the farm a completely new outlook on life. They did not know when the Rebellion predicted by Major would take place, they had no reason for thinking that it would be within their own lifetime, but they saw clearly that it was their duty to prepare for it. The work of teaching and organising the others fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally recognised as being the cleverest of the animals. Pre-eminent among the pigs were two young boars named Snowball and Napoleon, whom Mr. Jones was breeding up for sale. Napoleon was a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way. Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of character. All the other male pigs on the farm were porkers. The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer, with very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white.

These three had elaborated old Major’s teachings into a complete system of thought, to which they gave the name of Animalism. Several nights a week, after Mr. Jones was asleep, they held secret meetings in the barn and expounded the principles of Animalism to the others. At the beginning they met with much stupidity and apathy. Some of the animals talked of the duty of loyalty to Mr. Jones, whom they referred to as ‘Master,’ or made elementary remarks such as ‘Mr. Jones feeds us. If he were gone, we should starve to death.’ Others asked such questions as ‘Why should we care what happens after we are dead?’ or ‘If this Rebellion is to happen anyway, what difference does it make whether we work for it or not?’, and the pigs had great difficulty in making them see that this was contrary to the spirit of Animalism. The stupidest questions of all were asked by Mollie, the white mare. The very first question she asked Snowball was: ‘Will there still be sugar after the Rebellion? ’

‘No,’ said Snowball firmly. ‘We have no means of making sugar on this farm. Besides, you do not need sugar. You will have all the oats and hay you want.’

‘And shall I still be allowed to wear ribbons in my mane?’ asked Mollie.

‘Comrade,’ said Snowball, ‘those ribbons that you are so devoted to are the badge of slavery. Can you not understand that liberty is worth more than ribbons?’

Mollie agreed, but she did not sound very convinced.

The pigs had an even harder struggle to counteract the lies put about by Moses, the tame raven. Moses, who was Mr. Jones’s especial pet, was a spy and a tale-bearer, but he was also a clever talker. He claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain, to which all animals went when they died. It was situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds, Moses said. In Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, clover was in season all the year round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges. The animals hated Moses because he told tales and did no work, but some of them believed in Sugarcandy Mountain, and the pigs had to argue very hard to persuade them that there was no such place.

Their most faithful disciples were the two cart-horses, Boxer and Clover. These two had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves, but having once accepted the pigs as their teachers, they absorbed everything that they were told, and passed it on to the other animals by simple arguments. They were unfailing in their attendance at the secret meetings in the barn, and led the singing of 'Beasts of England', with which the meetings always ended.

Now, as it turned out, the Rebellion was achieved much earlier and more easily than anyone had expected. In past years Mr. Jones, although a hard master, had been a capable farmer, but of late he had fallen on evil days. He had become much disheartened after losing money in a lawsuit, and had taken to drinking more than was good for him. For whole days at a time he would lounge in his Windsor chair in the kitchen, reading the newspapers, drinking, and occasionally feeding Moses on crusts of bread soaked in beer. His men were idle and dishonest, the fields were full of weeds, the buildings wanted roofing, the hedges were neglected, and the animals were underfed.

June came and the hay was almost ready for cutting. On Midsummer’s Eve, which was a Saturday, Mr. Jones went into Willingdon and got so drunk at the Red Lion that he did not come back till midday on Sunday. The men had milked the cows in the early morning and then had gone out rabbiting, without bothering to feed the animals. When Mr. Jones got back he immediately went to sleep on the drawing-room sofa with the 'News of the World' over his face, so that when evening came, the animals were still unfed. At last they could stand it no longer. One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn and all the animals began to help themselves from the bins. It was just then that Mr. Jones woke up. The next moment he and his four men were in the store-shed with whips in their hands, lashing out in all directions. This was more than the hungry animals could bear. With one accord, though nothing of the kind had been planned beforehand, they flung themselves upon their tormentors. Jones and his men suddenly found themselves being butted and kicked from all sides. The situation was quite out of their control. They had never seen animals behave like this before, and this sudden uprising of creatures whom they were used to thrashing and maltreating just as they chose, frightened them almost out of their wits. After only a moment or two they gave up trying to defend themselves and took to their heels. A minute later all five of them were in full flight down the cart-track that led to the main road, with the animals pursuing them in triumph.










http://www.stargate-sg1-solutions.com/wiki/Stargate:_The_Movie_Transcript

STARGATE WIKI


Stargate: The Movie (1994)


DANIEL
I was dead?

[Ra looks directly at him at this point.]

RA
That is why I chose your race...your bodies...so easy to repair. You have advanced much—harnessed the power of the atom.

[Daniel approaches, noticing the bomb and several of his books, opened and strewn about.]

DANIEL
What are you going to do?

RA
You should not have reopened the gate. Soon, I will send your weapon back to your world with a shipment of our mineral which will increase your weapon's destructive power a hundred fold.

[He stretches out his arms for the servants to adorn his arms and fingers with the jewelry.]

DANIEL
Why would you do that?

RA
I created your civilization. Now, I will destroy it.










https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven_in_Christianity


Heaven in Christianity

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Traditionally, Christianity has taught Heaven as the location of the throne of God as well as the holy angels, though this is in varying degrees considered metaphorical. In traditional Christianity, it is considered a state or condition of existence (rather than a particular place somewhere in the cosmos) of the supreme fulfillment of theosis in the beatific vision of the Godhead. In most forms of Christianity, heaven is also understood as the abode for the righteous dead in the afterlife, usually a temporary stage before the resurrection of the dead and the saints' return to the New Earth.

The resurrected Jesus is said to have ascended to heaven where he now sits at the Right Hand of God and will return to earth in the Second Coming. Various people have been said to have entered heaven while still alive, including Enoch, Elijah and Jesus himself, after his resurrection. According to Roman Catholic teaching, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is also said to have been assumed into heaven and is titled the Queen of Heaven.

In the Christian Bible, concepts about the future "Kingdom of Heaven" are professed in several scriptural prophecies of the new (or renewed) Earth said to follow the resurrection of the dead—particularly the books of Isaiah and Revelation and other sources of Christian eschatology.

Heaven is therefore spoken of in rather different senses: as another dimension, as the physical skies or upper cosmos, as the realm of divine perfection already in existence, or as the "coming world" at the return of Christ.










http://www.dictionary.com/browse/weakness

Dictionary.com


weakness

the state or quality of being weak; lack of strength, firmness, vigor, or the like; feebleness.

an inadequate or defective quality, as in a person's character



- posted by H.V.O.M - Kerry Wayne Burgess 12:11 AM Pacific Time Spokane Valley Washington USA Monday 18 July 2016