Posted by Cam W. on February 8, 2002, at 11:51:01
In reply to Re: The Road to the Crown ofLife » Ritch, posted by lou pilder on February 8, 2002, at 8:08:44
Lou - Hmmm .... Evasion and secrecy is not the road to the Crown of Life. The Crown of Life is found in the bible (James 12:1 - Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him).
Many Lutheran (ie. Christian) churches are called "The Crown of Life". Sorry, but I do not follow, nor believe in fairy tales, nor do I endorse mind control. (As a caveat, the preceding are only principles that I believe, and I do not wish to impose my beliefs on others.) For sermons on the "Crown of Life", see:
http://users.aber.ac.uk/emk/ap/sermons/james5.htm
and
http://www.abideinchrist.com/messages/jas1v1-4.html
(At this site you can get a free gift!)and
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/crown.htm
This concept comes too close to the promise of "72 virgins for eternity; guaranteed eager and exclusive" (which in itself is a mis-reading of the Qur'an and, needless to say, degradating to women) given to certain Islamic fundamentalist pilots. Evangelism scares me; as does any fundamentalist religious doctrine.
Sorry, I'd rather live this life as if it were my only one; that way I can enjoy this life to the best of my ability. One can try reading and understanding Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" for the reason for living in this world. A Cole's Notes sort of synopsis (translated from Camus) can be seen here:
http://stripe.colorado.edu/~morristo/sisyphus.html
As for the "7 Gates", it would seem that is a variation of the Wiccan religious doctrine. Those 7 gates being, "The Gate of Creation and Dreams", "The Gate of Knowledge", "The Gate of Memories", "The Gate of History", "The Gate of Purpose", "The Gate of Unity", and "The Gate of Divinity". See:
http://www.expage.com/page/martinatellsabout7gates
These can be (sort of) related to Maslow' "Hierarchy of Needs", or Krishna's "Nirvana" where each successive step ideally brings one closer to self-actualization and/or enlightenment.
Mind you, the "7 Gates of Hell" are another mythological concept; as well as being a heavy metal band (oooh, they're so scary) and a male chastity device (don't ask).
- Cam (who couldn't keep quiet on this topic forever)
poster:Cam W.
thread:17906
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020202/msgs/17939.html