Jewish date: 8 Nisan 5770 (Parashath Ṣaw).
Today’s holiday: Feast of Turibius de Mogrovejo (Roman Catholicism).
Worthy cause of the day: “Protect the Flat-tailed Horned Lizard - The Petition Site”, “Health Insurance Reform: Finish the Job | Senator Harry Reid, Nevada - HarryReid.com”, and “Urge Congress to Increase Funding for Emergency Food Assistance - The Petition Site”.
Topic 1: “I'm not the messiah, says food activist – but his many worshippers do not believe him”. I do not know what to do with this article. Apparently Share International, an offshoot of the occult religion Theosophy, has decided that author and environmental activist Raj Patel is Maitreya (the group’s equivalent of the Mashiaḥ/Messiah). Mr. Patel has been identified as Maitreya on the basis of him fitting multiple items of what Maitreya is supposed to be like. One question to be considered is whether there are criteria for Maitreya which Patel does not fit; Patel himself claims that his politics are the opposite of what they should be for Matreiya. It would be nice to know whether there are “misses” which are not not covered in this article. Also, there is the question about how many of the “hits” are by chance alone. The chances that one single human will fit an arbitrary list of criteria are often small, but with over 6,000,000,000 humans on the planet, the chances that someone will fit the same list is usually higher.
Also: Patel has a sense of humor about his Maitreyahood. See “Stephen and me” and “Call Me Brian”.
Also note: If anyone of you, like me, is awaiting Mashiaḥ or any similar special figure, the statistics works in your favor. The more humans there are, the more likely there is someone who fits the bill.
Topic 2: The Dry Bones cartoon “Occupied Territories (1977 2009)”. This cartoon puts Israel’s situation in perspective.
Topic 4: For today’s religious humor, for which I blame Alan: “Best pesach photo I could find”. If anyone needs me to explain how crazy people get cleaning for Pesaḥ (Passover), please let me know.
Peace.
Aaron
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Share International does not believe that Raj Patel is Maitreya (you can search its website to verify) and neither do any of its knowledgeable followers. The rumor about Raj Patel was started by some Christian fundamentalists who were anxious to identify Maitreya and denounce him as a fake Messiah (some followers may have been caught up in this).
ReplyDeleteIn any case, the real Maitreya will become well known to people soon enough. In case you are interested, Maitreya, Moshiach, the Imam Mahdi are all the same person
On second consideration, you may well be right. I just checked and indeed Share International has nothing to say on Patel. I have submitted feedback asking for confirmation. Thanks.
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