Zeitgeist Deception - Producer no longer feels 9/11 was an inside job

[Dig]

All Utopias fail.

Don't drink the Kool-aid!

[Or inject it into your veins for that matter]

or get shot while running away in the forest surrounding the MK Ultra training facility.

[zeke105]

All Utopias fail.

Don't drink the Kool-aid!

[Or inject it into your veins for that matter]

Yeah, when the state always runs them, they will fail. Even the founding fathers "best plan yet" failed pretty horribly after only 200 years. Some say it failed around the civil war.

We really need to think of a better way of living and the Venus project is not it.

[37]

Yeah, when the state always runs them, they will fail. Even the founding fathers "best plan yet" failed pretty horribly after only 200 years.

The people failed to protect their system and it was purposely corrupted.  Corrupted systems always fail.

If we still followed the Constitution we wouldn't be in the mess we are in now. 

[White Rose Sophie]

The people failed to protect their system and it was purposely corrupted.  Corrupted systems always fail.

+100

And corrupt people always perish.

[White Rose Sophie]

Lets not eh’
Although those you mentioned above all probably realise that the pyramid is actually upside down! As AJ has often suggested the true power lay with the masses and always has.
The masses are waking up to the idea that perhaps science should take hold of the ‘bridle’ now, because although we needed religion to get us this far in our evolution we need it no more.
That’s what really gets up so many peoples noses!
Your fear of loss just perpetuates the ‘crazy horse’ were all riding on!

Hey Novus, you have a lot in common with some famous NWO folks - did you know that?   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Economist Stuart Chase (consultant to the New Settlement Administration 1935, Unesco 1949) publishes his book "A New Deal:

"I am not seriously alarmed by the sufferings of the creditor class, the troubles which the church is bound to encounter, the restrictions on certain kinds of freedom which must result, or even by the bloodshed of the transition period. A better economic order is worth a little bloodshed.....Revolution can give what no other road promises to give so directly and forcibly - a new religion. IT will be materialistic....we need a new religion."

(Sounds like they got one in mind, eh?)

Toward Soviet America by William Z Forster (head of American Communist party) is published (1932) in which he says:

"Among the elementary measures the American Soviet government will adopt to further the cultural revolution are the following:  the schools, colleges and universities will be coordinated and grouped under the National Department of Education and its state and local branches. The students will be revolutionized, being  cleansed of religious, patriotic and other bourgeoisie ideology.  The students will be taught on the basis of Marxian diacletic materialism, internationalism, and the general ethics of the new socialst society.  The churches will remain free to continue their services but their special tax and other priviledges will be liquidated.  Freedom will be established for anti-religious propaganda...science will become materialistic...GOD will be banished from the laboratories as well as the schools."

Bertrand Russell in "The Impact of Science on Society is published in 1953:

"I think the subject which will be of most importance politically is mass psychology...Various results will soon be arrived at: that the influence of the home is obstructive (it takes a village to raise a child?)
Although this science will be diligently studied, it will be rigidly confined to the governing class.  The populace will not be allowed to know how its convictions were generated.  When the technique has been perfected, every government that has been in charge of education for a generation will be able to control its subjects securely without the need of armies or policemen.  There are however, two powerful forces opposed to such a policy: one is religion, the other is nationalism."

In April 1956, The Congressional Record prints a speech by U.S. Representative Carroll Reece delivered on April 6 to the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons in which he referred to the London School of Economics as the "fountainhead of Fabian Socialism", and further he states:

We approach closer and closer to socialism......the road to socialism is the road to collectivist dictatorship.  As the National Education Association has so often told our teachers and students, nationalism is an obstacle in the way of achievement of a one-world state.  The foundation-financed cartel promotes the idea of government by an elite....In 'Molders of the American Mind' Professor Norman Woelfel admonished: "The younger generation is on its own, and the last thing that would interest modern youth is the salvaging of the Christian tradition.  The environmental controls in which technologists have achieved and the operations by means of which workers earn their livelihood need no aid or sanction from GOD nor any blessing from the church."

"Mental Robots" is published in 1957 by former California Medical Association president Dr Lewis A Alesen in which he writes:

"Americans today are being deluged...with propaganda...under the innocent title of "The Mental Health Program".  It's (robotry) objectives ...the ultimate destruction of the human individual as a person; the eradication of all the traditions, ideals, and moral concepts which he has learned from home, church, and school...and taught to deny and reject responsibility for himself and to transfer that responsibility to the group'.


Why the pronounced attack on religions?  One reason  - 'religion' or more accurately 'faith' teaches PERSONAL responsibility for one's actions.  And that man is held accountable PERSONALLY to the deity that he believes in.

 Christianity does not believe (contrary to Catholic, Mormon, Jehovah's Witness doctrine, etc) that salvation or redemption is a COLLECTIVE process....but an INDIVIDUAL one.  Between each individual human being and GOD. I believe that Islam teaches the same thing, as does the Torah. (NOT the Talmud)

Therefore the "Venus Project" is yet another fancy name for collectivism (ie, slavery and the death of individual thought, value, responsibility).  The 'evolution' of man....helped along the 'natural' path by technology.

.....Renew........Renew.........Renew!!!!

[cold fusion]

The people failed to protect their system and it was purposely corrupted.  Corrupted systems always fail.

If we still followed the Constitution we wouldn't be in the mess we are in now. 

TRUE.  Here's a slightly different spin on the same theme:
The people failed to be faithful to their God, and so God withdrew His protection, allowed them to be oppressed by evil leaders, and allowed their Constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms to be eroded away. As one of the founding fathers said, "Our Constitution and laws are inadequate for the governing of any but a moral and religious people."

If we as one nation under God still followed Him, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now. We have been taken captive, like wild pigs.


Catching Wild Pigs

A chemistry professor in a large college had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the Professor noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back, and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new communist government.

In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, "Do you know how to catch wild pigs?"

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke. 'You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come every day to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat. You slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.

Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America . The government keeps pushing us toward socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc.. While we continually lose our freedoms -- just a little at a time.

One should always remember: There is no such thing as a free lunch! Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.

Also, if you see that all of this wonderful government 'help' is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America , you might want to send this on to your friends. If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life then you will probably delete this email, but God help you when the gate slams shut!

Keep your eyes on the newly elected politicians who are about to slam the gate on America.

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have."

Thomas Jefferson

[MR2]

Two hours into Z-Day, the educational forum associated with the online movie “Zeitgeist,” Peter Joseph, the film’s director and the evening’s M.C., stepped out from behind his lectern and walked forward earnestly on the stage.

In his goatee and mustache and tieless in a brown suit, Mr. Joseph had been lecturing for nearly 90 minutes on the unsustainable nature of the money-based economy — on cyclical consumption, planned obsolescence, corporate malfeasance and piles of poisonous waste. “It’s time that we wake up,” he intoned, speaking solemnly through a wireless clip-on mike. “The doomsday scenario, the big contraction, might be happening right now. The system of monetary exchange is — in the face of advancing technology — completely obsolete.”

This drew wild applause from the sold-out crowd, a patchwork of perhaps 900 people who paid $10 a head on Sunday night to sit in a packed auditorium at the Borough of Manhattan Community College on Chambers Street near the West Side Highway. Z-Day events were taking place from New England to New Zealand, but this was the big one: the marquee happening with the marquee names.

There, in the crowd, was Jacque Fresco, an industrial designer and the engineering guru of what people unironically called “the movement.” Mr. Fresco, an elfin 93-year-old, sat beside his partner, Roxanne Meadows, smiling self-effacingly.

Mr. Joseph, back on stage, waited patiently as some of the crowd, still cheering, refused to leave their feet.

If the election of Barack Obama was supposed to denote the gradual demise of churlish, corporate governance and usher in a new, sustainable era of visionary change, there was little sign of it at the second annual meeting of the Worldwide Zeitgeist Movement, which, its organizers said, held 450 sister events in 70 countries around the globe.

“The mission of the movement is the application of the scientific method for social change,” Mr. Joseph announced by way of introduction. The evening, which began at 7 with a two-hour critique of monetary economics, became by midnight a utopian presentation of a money-free and computer-driven vision of the future, a wholesale reimagination of civilization, as if Karl Marx and Carl Sagan had hired John Lennon from his “Imagine” days to do no less than redesign the underlying structures of planetary life.

In other words, a not entirely inappropriate response to the zeitgeist itself, which one young man, a philosophy student in a roomy purple blazer, described before the show began as “the world as we know it coming to an end.” As the evening labored on with a Power Point presentation, a panel talk with Mr. Fresco and a spirited question and answer session, some basic themes emerged: modern economics is a fraud; global debt will crush the planet; society itself is dying from the profit motive; and people ought to wise up to the fact that more than legislation — or presidential administrations — needs to change.

Though they were never actually shown — as most in attendance had seen them several times — Mr. Joseph’s two films, “Zeitgeist, the Movie” (released in 2007) and “Zeitgeist: Addendum” (released last fall), were the subtext of the evening: online documentaries that have been watched, he says, by 50 million people around the world.

The former may be most famous for alleging that the attacks of Sept. 11 were an “inside job” perpetrated by a power-hungry government on its witless population, a point of view that Mr. Joseph said he has recently “moved away from.” Indeed, the second film, the focus of the event, was all but empty of such conspiratorial notions, directing its rhetoric and high production values toward posing a replacement for the evils of the banking system and a perilous economy of scarcity and debt.

That’s where Mr. Fresco came in, an author, lecturer and former aircraft engineer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio who has spent the last six decades working on the Venus Project, a futuristic society where (adjust your seatbelts, now) machines would control government and industry and safeguard the planet’s fragile resources by means of an artificially intelligent “earthwide autonomic sensor system” — a super-brain of sorts connected to, yes, all human knowledge.

If this sounds vaguely like a disaster scenario out of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” Mr. Fresco did not seem worried in the least. Machines are unemotional and unaggressive, unlike human beings, he told the crowd during the question-and-answer phase. “If you took your laptop and smashed it in front of 50 other laptops, trust me, none of them would care.”

The audience — white, black, young, old, baseball caps and business suits alike — received such words like a tonic, and the questions kept coming: What would family life be like in the future? What would happen if the automated system decided that a person had to die? Mr. Fresco and Ms. Meadows are planning the production of a major feature film to bring the Venus Project to a wider, global audience. Before the night began, Mr. Fresco, a small man with a V-neck sweater and a hearing aid, sat signing books and answering questions from a dozen or so college students gathered like acolytes at his feet.

As the evening came to a close, someone finally asked: So what would it take to actually put such a program into action? A grassroots movement, Mr. Joseph said.

“We already have a quarter-million members,” he insisted from the stage. “At the rate things are going, this will be at Madison Square Garden next year.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/nyregion/17zeitgeist.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

==============================================================================================

I don't think we need much more evidence to prove the fact that these boys are trying to co-opt the truth movement and bring people further and further into this scientific utopian world ideology.

Interesting.

[chrisfromchi]

I don't think we need much more evidence to prove the fact that these boys are trying to co-opt the truth movement and bring people further and further into this scientific utopian world ideology.

Interesting.

So essentially they are the real white alqueda...

Tar + feather = Fixed in my opinion lets bring it back for them...and steal their spaceship for ourselves...

[Dok]

The former may be most famous for alleging that the attacks of Sept. 11 were an “inside job” perpetrated by a power-hungry government on its witless population, a point of view that Mr. Joseph said he has recently “moved away from.” Indeed, the second film, the focus of the event, was all but empty of such conspiratorial notions, directing its rhetoric and high production values toward posing a replacement for the evils of the banking system and a perilous economy of scarcity and debt.

Yes we lure you in with a little truth and a lot of lies, then once we have your mind wobbly we start to introduce our solution to the problem, and toos in some of our own religion. With the third your mind should be just ripe, just clear enough for us to lay it all out and take you for everything your worth. Follow our religion and our way which is Theosophy. Just join us at our Luminopolis shops popping up everywhere. Keep the Zeitgeist going. http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=62764.msg543814#msg543814

That’s where Mr. Fresco came in, an author, lecturer and former aircraft engineer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio who has spent the last six decades working on the Venus Project, a futuristic society where (adjust your seatbelts, now) machines would control government and industry and safeguard the planet’s fragile resources by means of an artificially intelligent “earthwide autonomic sensor system” — a super-brain of sorts connected to, yes, all human knowledge.

A super brain of sorts?? Must be why hes scamming everyone with his Venus project. For sale ya know.  http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=62764.msg545322#msg545322
Yes continue to buy into the scam...

[2Revolutions]

The former may be most famous for alleging that the attacks of Sept. 11 were an “inside job” perpetrated by a power-hungry government on its witless population, a point of view that Mr. Joseph said he has recently “moved away from.”

A bump to doktorschnabelvonrom  who covered this already.

machines would control government and industry and safeguard the planet’s fragile resources by means of an artificially intelligent “earthwide autonomic sensor system” — a super-brain of sorts connected to, yes, all human knowledge. 

I immediately thougt of the Matrix when Morpheus was explaining to Neo what the Matrix and what happened to the human race.  How human was turned into batteries (resources) to be harvested by the machines. 

“We already have a quarter-million members,” he insisted from the stage. “At the rate things are going, this will be at Madison Square Garden next year.”

Isn't it bad enough we have to deal with the coming reality of Obama's civilian force. 

[Mr.C]

sounds like another form of scientology

[squarepusher]

Be sure to listen to Alan Watt's take on the Z-Day.


http://cuttingthroughthematrix.net/CTTM2009/Alan_Watt_CTTM_LIVEonRBN_279_CFR_Claims_Money_is_So_Uncool_Mar182009.mp3

I think he is absolutely right, like he says: 'If it talks like a duck and quacks like  a duck, it is a duck". I don't care how Peter Joseph dresses it all up - by using terms like 'sustainable development' and 'carrying capacity of the Earth', Peter Joseph exposes himself as a United Nations/Agenda 21/Earth Charter propagandist.

Reality check: how many times did Alex Jones' films or his rallies get a glowing reception from the New York Times? Who's willing to bet there's some significant foundation backing behind Peter Joseph and his enterprise?

[squarepusher]

The former may be most famous for alleging that the attacks of Sept. 11 were an “inside job” perpetrated by a power-hungry government on its witless population, a point of view that Mr. Joseph said he has recently “moved away from.”

That was the 'hook' to draw us in - this is how 'counter-opposition' works.

First pretend to be on their side, then when you present the REAL ULTERIOR MOTIVE of the project (the 'Logan's Run'/'Brave New World'-style world), pretend you never believed in the theories you used to draw your audience in.

This guy is probably funded by a Non-Governmental Organization with close ties to the United Nations - the constant repetition of slogans such as 'sustainable development', 'carrying capacity of the Earth', 'predisposition' all seem to reaffirm my belief that he has drunk the Earth Charter kool-aid.

This guy is BAD, BAD NEWS. And the Zeitgeist supporters should REALLY WAKE UP.

[37]

I think every institution has been corrupted...religion included.

[TheHouseMan]

We all know that money is defined by resources, not paper money. So if he's saying that the people of this world would have no money, he is saying we will have no resources. And that is the direction of the New World Order: controlling all the resources -- water, food, gold, oil, drugs, you name it.

This is a shame, because Zeitgeist was the movie that woke me up -- and this guy is really exposing himself as a shill.

And by the way, a technologically-ruled world that he advocates -- that world would require ID cards and tracking of movements..

This whole agenda is about taking real wealth and power out of our hands, and having it be totally controlled by a small elite. We would then live our lives, but with no monetary influence or power.

[xTruthSeekerx]

the beasts possible new religion of the world Oo

[squarepusher]

There are a lot of poor Zeitgeist followers out there that really need to be alerted to Peter Joseph's open betrayal of the truth and liberty movement. This guy has major foundation backing behind him - else this article wouldn't appear in the New York Times coinciding with a CFR report which MIRRORS the Venus Project in all but name.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/nyregion/17zeitgeist.html

The former may be most famous for alleging that the attacks of Sept. 11 were an “inside job†perpetrated by a power-hungry government on its witless population, a point of view that Mr. Joseph said he has recently “moved away from.†Indeed, the second film, the focus of the event, was all but empty of such conspiratorial notions, directing its rhetoric and high production values toward posing a replacement for the evils of the banking system and a perilous economy of scarcity and debt.

This coincides with a report by the CFR which basically outlines the exact same 'scientific dictatorship' the Venus Project seems to be aiming for:

http://www.cfr.org/publication/18248/

Indeed, some of Peter Joseph's choice of words: "sustainable development", "carrying capacity of the Earth" - it almost sounds like a rant from James Lovelock or an Agenda 21-pusher.

Be sure to check out Alan Watt's take on Peter Joseph's latest New York Times article:

http://cuttingthroughthematrix.net/radio/Alan_Watt_CTTM_Live_on_RBN.html

[White Rose Sophie]

There are a lot of poor Zeitgeist followers out there that really need to be alerted to Peter Joseph's open betrayal of the truth and liberty movement. This guy has major foundation backing behind him - else this article wouldn't appear in the New York Times coinciding with a CFR report which MIRRORS the Venus Project in all but name.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/nyregion/17zeitgeist.html

This coincides with a report by the CFR which basically outlines the exact same 'scientific dictatorship' the Venus Project seems to be aiming for:

http://www.cfr.org/publication/18248/

Indeed, some of Peter Joseph's choice of words: "sustainable development", "carrying capacity of the Earth" - it almost sounds like a rant from James Lovelock or an Agenda 21-pusher.

Be sure to check out Alan Watt's take on Peter Joseph's latest New York Times article:

http://cuttingthroughthematrix.net/radio/Alan_Watt_CTTM_Live_on_RBN.html

Yes, very telling that he gets an article in the New York Times.....but poor Ron Paul Campaign for Liberty gets relegated to places like the New Tuscaheggey Times or whatever.  His own LOCAL paper didn't even cover him.

What does that tell you?  The whole Zeitgeist agenda has been NWO to the core, from the beginning. The problem is - now those that were putting all their eggs in the Z basket will feel betrayed and may not know WHO to believe now.

 

[Sasha]

indicative indeed.

[zeke105]

I think every institution has been corrupted...religion included.

This is my point above. All government institutions will become corrupt. That is what history has proven without exception. All government is the problem, we need a new solution--not a new world order, not a venus world order, but something new that doesn't necessitate being a slave to some organization.

[Dig]

This is my point above. All government institutions will become corrupt. That is what history has proven without exception. All government is the problem, we need a new solution--not a new world order, not a venus world order, but something new that doesn't necessitate being a slave to some organization.

yeah, that sounds awesome!

Maybe something like this?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Preamble

We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish the Constitution of the United States of America.
Index for the U.S. Constitution and its Amendments

Article I
Sect. 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

Sect. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states, and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature.

No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen.

Representative and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years in such manner as they shall be law direct. The number of representative shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the state of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New-Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North-Carolina five, South-Carolina five, and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall choose the Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

Sect. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years and each senator shall have one vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they hall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise during the recess of the legislature of any state, the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.

No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.

Judgement in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.

Sect. 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof: but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall be law appoint a different day.

Sect. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each house may provide.

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and with the concurrence of two- thirds, expel a member.

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members either house on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present be entered on the journal.

Neither house, during the session of Congress shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.

Sect. 6. The senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his continuance in office.


Sect. 7. All bill for raising revenue shall originate in the house of representatives; but the senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.
Every bill which shall have passed the house of representatives and the senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the president of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which is shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representative may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

Sect. 8. The Congress shall have power
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;
To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;
To establish post offices and post roads;
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations;
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
To provide and maintain a navy;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the states in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;
-And
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

Sect. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States:--And no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.

Sect. 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.

No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States; all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.

Article II
Sect. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the vice-president, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows.

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress: but no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.

The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the president of the senate. The president of the senate shall, in the presence of the senate and house of representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the president, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have am equal number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the house of representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for president; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said house shall in like manner choose the president. But in choosing the president, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the president, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the vice- president. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the senate shall choose from them by ballot the vice-president.

The Congress may determine the time of the choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall be eligible to the office of president; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.

In case of the removal of the president from office, or his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the vice-president, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the president and vice-president, declaring what officer shall then act as president, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a president be elected.

The president shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States."

Sect. 2. The president shall be commander in chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law. But the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the president alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The president shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their session.

Sect. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.

Sect. 4. The president, vice-president and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Article III
Sect. 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated time, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

Sect. 2.
1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States, between a State and citizens of another State, between citizens of different States, between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects.

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.

Sect. 3.
1. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attained.

Article IV
Sect. 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public act, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.


Sect. 2.
1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.

3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.


Sect. 3.
1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Sect. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence.

Article V
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both House shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided [that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first Article;] and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

Article VI
Sect. 1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

Sect. 2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

Sect. 3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound, by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

Article VII
The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same.

Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the States present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In Witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.


AMENDMENTS

The first ten amendments are commonly called the Bill of Rights

1st Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

2nd Amendment

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

3rd Amendment

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quarters in any house, without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

4th Amendment

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

5th Amendment

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous, crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war, or public danger; nor shall any person be subject, for the same offence, to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

6th Amendment

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law; and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

7th Amendment

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no fact, tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States than according to the rules of the common law.

8th Amendment

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.

9th Amendment

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

10th Amendment

The powers not delegated to the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state.

[zeke105]

How does that solve the problem of the inevitable corruption of government?

[Dig]

How does that solve the problem of the inevitable corruption of government?

as just a "god damn piece of paper" it does not, but as an exposed, discussed, and enforced foundation of this country it is extremely powerful as it limits the power of government (the whole reason for it in the first place).

Hey, here is some more really cool writing:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

— That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to (REINSTATE THE PROPER) Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

— Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms:

Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.

A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren.

We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us.

We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here.

We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence.

They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.

— And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

[White Rose Sophie]

How does that solve the problem of the inevitable corruption of government?

It does not solve the problem of "MAN'S" corrupt nature, but it lays down the rules for society by a written 'law'.  So, the society is governed by the rule of "LAW" instead of the whims of their fellow men.

The problem is not the law, it's that we the people have allowed ourselves to be ruled over by those with no concern for the law of the land.

We have forgotten that the power lies with us, and not with 'them".

[37]

This is my point above. All government institutions will become corrupt. That is what history has proven without exception.

I disagree. 

Past failures do not constitute a rule. 

At one time, history had proven that men couldn't fly.

Then someone proved history wrong.

Do we need something new?

Yes...a new attitude toward our civic duty.

 

[Unintelligable Name]

[Dig]

was that a real ad for colt?

is so, is there any history on that campaign?

Anyway more on the wonderful theosophical society:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Theosophy
http://www.meta-religion.com/Esoterism/Theosophy/theosophy.htm

Theosophy is a System of philosophy and religious thought. Theosophy is based on claims of a mystic insight – that is insight into the nature of God and the laws of the Universe. The Theosophist believes that the truest knowledge comes not through reason or senses, but through a direct communication of the soul with the Divine Reality.

Madame Elena Petrona Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society in the United States in 1875. Hindu and Buddhist thoughts and doctrines have become prominent in Theosophy, with characteristic belief in reincarnation in accordance with the Hindu doctrine of Karma.

Annie Wood Besant (1847- 1933) was an English leader in the Theosophical Movement and a prominent political figure in India. Though she participated in political field her main contribution was with the Theosophical Society. Jiddu Krishnamurty, the great Theosophist was a great propounder of the Indian Theosophy and Annie Besant was drawn to his knowledge and it was believed that she adopted him. His speeches and literary works were well acclaimed. The Indian Theosophical society is a well-established organisation in Chennai.

Stress is laid on the service due from those left on the earth to those who had passed away. The Hindu religion has the Dharma called Shraddha, by which he helps his elders souls in the passage to the other world - quickening and smoothening the passage to the Heaven.
Description

The ideas of Theosophy can be traced back to ancient times, but the most widely known group, The Theosophical Society, was founded on November 17, 1875.

Theosophy is the study of the teachings of the Masters or Mahatmas. It is a method of studying the Ancient Wisdom, a way of pursuing the ultimate truth. The Mahatmas are members of a superhuman group, "The Great White Brotherhood." These adepts (Mahatmas) have obtained perfection, and committed their lives to showing us the way to perfection. Theosophy, as a subject of study, became an organized group in the late 19th century when the Theosophical Society was founded by Henry Olcott and H.P. Blavatsky. The Theosophical Society became a popular and powerful group throughout the world, especially in America and India. Most of the society's practices and beliefs were determined by Blavatsky and her writings. During her lifetime, she wrote numerous articles and letters, and she also authored the major works: Isis Unveiled, The Secret Doctrine and The Voice of the Silence. The Secret Doctrine became the major source of information to all those interested in Theosophy (Campbell,1980:31). Her writings combined many types of existing beliefs (both western and eastern) into a comprehensive and structured system of study. This is just a very brief summary of Theosophy. For more information on the history of Theosophy, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and other founders, try the following links which are direct expansions of this site:

History before Theosophical Society This link gives a summary of other Ancient Wisdom groups and explains how Theosophy, as a set of concepts, grew into a powerful and influential religion in America. HPB,Olcott and Important Dates This link summarizes Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's life and her connections to Olcott and the Theosophical Society. It also summarizes the important events and dates connected to Theosophy and the Theosophical Society.

Sacred or Revered Texts: The text most widely referred to by the Theosophical Society is Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine. However, this is not the only text. Members are encouraged to read and study the numerous books on theosophy, as well as to explore with science and philosophy.

Cult or Sect: Negative sentiments are typically implied when the concepts "cult" and "sect" are employed in popular discourse. Since the Religious Movements Homepage seeks to promote religious tolerance and appreciation of the positive benefits of pluralism and religious diversity in human cultures, we encourage the use of alternative concepts that do not carry implicit negative stereotypes. For a more detailed discussion of both scholarly and popular usage of the concepts "cult" and "sect," please visit our Conceptualizing "Cult" and "Sect" page, where you will find additional links to related issues.

Size of Group: The Theosophical Society is Theosophy's most prominent group. Its size, as of 1995, was 30,000 members worldwide. The number of American members was 4,300, divided between 140 centers (or lodges). (Melton, 1996A:730)

Contemporary Issues/Controversies: Blavatsky's writings were extremely influential, but they were also very controversial. Her works are often referred to as fraudulent and plagiarized, and it has lead many people to question the authenticity of Blavatsky herself (Campbell, 1980:32). Regardless of the authenticity of her writings and practices, people believed in her, and followed her teachings. However, after the death of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky the Theosophical Society began to splinter and new schisms were formed. Many groups retained some version of the word "theosophy" in their titles, while others broke even further away from the teachings of Blavatsky. Today there are numerous groups around the world which had their origins within Theosophy. Some of these groups include the I AM groups, the Liberal Catholic Church and the Anthroposophical Society (Melton, 1996B:1306) The controversy surrounding Theosophy has played a large role in its history. For more information, visit the Controversy link, which is another direct expansion of this site. This link summarizes the controversy which surrounded Helena Petrovna Blavatsky for the last half of her life.
Beliefs

Theosophy is the study of Divine Wisdom. Through the study of Theosophy, one will begin to find the answers to life's deepest, most significant questions: What is the meaning of life and death, why is there evil, what is the point in suffering, is there a God, why are some people lucky and others unlucky? Theosophy provides pointers and insights which will allow one to answer those questions (and many, many more), and ultimately, see the truth (Ellwood,1994:26). The motto often used by theosophists is appropriately, "There is no religion higher than the truth" (Ellwood,1994:14). One must not take the teachings of Theosophy word for word, for it is a timeless religion, and the times have changed meanings of words. Rather, it must be taken as a set of beliefs which will point one in the right direction, and give instruction on finding the truth. One of Theosophy's greatest strengths is its adaptability. If one is serious about learning the truth, it is possible to fit the teachings of Theosophy into an existing lifestyle. In many cases, Theosophists are members of other churches. Theosophy is not meant to contradict existing religions. Rather, it is meant to shed light upon and make further sense out of areas that may not be that clear. It is not a new interpretation of an existing religion, nor is it a completely new idea. It is a thoughtful mixture of Eastern religion, Western religion, philosophy, science and other practical knowledge which seems to have escaped most current religions (Campbell, 1980:19).

According to Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine, there are three fundamental principles of Theosophy.

The first states that there is an omnipresent, omnipotent, infinite "power" which exists but cannot be described or understood by the limited human mind. To call it a being, a God, or even to try and give it a name is to do a great injustice. There is no word to describe it, but "power" will be used from now on. To know this "power" is to know the truth, and it is the truth that we seek. It is only through our many lives and stages of consciousness that we will begin to comprehend the "power."

The second principle deals with eternity and the infinity of the "power." It is boundless, and because we are part of it, we are also boundless. For now, it will suffice to say that man and all matter is immortal in the greater scheme of things.

The third principle deals with wholeness and completeness. EVERYTHING is part of a whole, which we can not fully comprehend, but we can be sure exists. All that we think, feel, and do is not only part of who we are, but part of the universe. Even the universe is part of something greater. It is limitless and infinite. All matter and spirit is a piece of the "power." Because we are all part of a whole, there is justice in everything that takes place, regardless of whether we understand the reasons or not. Justice is distributed by means of karma (Ellwood, 1994:20 and Leadbeater, 1903:16). Theosophy is complex, and not meant to be understood by reading about it in a few papers. To understand it as it is meant to be understood, it is necessary to "live Theosophy." Only through a lifetime of devotion and study can one fully appreciate the lessons taught and the insights shown through Theosophy (Leadbeater, 1903:). Thus, it is not possible to summarize a life time of study in a few paragraphs. But it is possible to summarize a few key concepts of Theosophy. To avoid confusion, it is important to keep Theosophy and the Theosophical Society separate. They are, of course, very similar, but the Theosophical Society has some objectives which apply only to itself, and not to all of Theosophy. Most of the books, WebPages and articles aimed at "novice Theosophists" are based on the ideals of the Theosophical Society. This is true mainly for two reasons: The Theosophical Society was institutionalized and it was the founding group. Because it is so closely related to the general ideals of Theosophy, it is important to mention the objectives of the society. The objectives are: (1) "To form a nucleus of the Universal brotherhood of humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or colour. (2) To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy, and science. (3) To investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man." (Edgar,1906:16)

I turn next to a more detailed examination of some key principles. The reader may choose to jump directly to specific concepts:

Unity of Matter and Spirit: One of the most important, yet most abstract, things to learn about Theosophy is the concept describing the unity of Matter and Spirit. Everything (humans, animals, flowers, planets and stars, etc.) is made not only of matter as the scientific world knows it, but also of spirit (Ellwood, 194:13). This is hard to prove because the whole idea behind spirit belongs with the irrational: it is just a feeling. When one takes time out to ponder difficult questions, it seems like there is something more to life than simple physical matter. It doesn't quite seem right to allow science explain everything that we know in this world: although we can't put our finger on it, we just feel like science misses something. But it is something intangible and mysterious. That missing "something" is spirit, or to use Blavatsky's word, consciousness. The idea behind the unity is backed up by simple observation. Everything that we know in this world exists as pairs: a thing and its opposite (hot and cold, finite and infinite, love and hate, ect.) All of our descriptions of objects can be explained with direct definitions, as well as by defining what the thing is not. Consciousness follows along this train of thought. Simply put, consciousness is what matter is not. The two exist in unity (usually in the form of tension) even though we may not realize it (Ellwood, 1994:23). As a society, we seem to have forgotten that there may be more to life than what is here on earth in the form of matter. In this materialistic age, consciousness (Consciousness, in this case, is not referring to a sense of morality, as it is commonly used.) seems to have been pushed aside. Theosophy tries to teach ways to become more involved with consciousness and put less value into material things. It stresses the triviality and uselessness of material things in terms of the overall picture (Ellwood, 1994:27).

Karma: The karma associated with Theosophy is much the same as the karma of eastern religious traditions. Karma is the justice of the universe (Leadbeater,1903:84). It goes hand in hand with reincarnation. Described generally; with karma, you get what you deserve. During one's present life, one will experience either good or bad karma, depending on what "they" did in their past life ("they" refers to matter and consciousness [i.e. body and soul].) It is common to have both good and bad karma during the same life-time. Karma is not determinism, however it does not force an action, it simply forces a situation. It is still up to the individual to make the best of a situation. By doing the best one can in the current life, they will produce good karma for the next life (Ellwood, 1994:45-46).

Death and Reincarnation: One of the most significant aspects of Theosophy is the concept of death. Because death is not seen as an end point, it is not viewed in a negative light. Rather, death is seen as an initiation, or a right of passage. It is through dying that the spirit can evolve and make progress towards understanding the ultimate truth. By dying, the materialist world is left behind, and the true lessons are taught(Ellwood,1994:110-113). Theosophy teaches that everything will eventually evolve to know the truth (to become divine.) Each life moves the spirit in a direction either towards or away from the truth, and the spirit is reincarnated into another body to learn new lessons. It takes some people longer than others to evolve. Some people, who did not learn from the karma of the life recently past, will have to repeat some of the same lessons. Just like a child who does poorly in school may have to repeat a grade or two, a human spirit may have to repeat a life or two (Leadbeater,1903:53). But here is the key: a human life, when put in context of the complete evolution of the spirit, is nothing more than a blink of an eye. To find the truth takes an endless amount of time, yet it will be obtained. (This is where Theosophy gets confusing, because even time is treated as both matter and consciousness. Time is evolving as well as people.) Life (and death) is not thought of in a traditional sense by theosophists. Life exists on many different planes, in many different worlds. Human life, here on earth, is only a partial stage of one plane of evolution (Ellwood,1994:56).

Planes of Existence: Matter and spirit evolve through different planes and get closer and closer to the truth, or the Divine. Blavatsky names seven different planes of existences, and within each plane, one may have a different intensity, or be focused on one of three different aspects of existence. As with many other religions, the numbers three and seven appear throughout the literature and the teachings. The three aspects of life (the trinity) are Will, Wisdom and Activity. The seven planes of existence are Etheric (or physical), Astral (or feeling), Mental, Intuitive, Mind (activity and bliss) Consciousness (wisdom) and essence (being) (Ellwood, 1994:68).

As humans on earth, theosophy tries to teach us how to understand more than just etheric and astral means of existence. For many people, it is not too difficult to live partially inside the mental and intuitive plane. However, very few people can evolve completely past the first two planes, and give up feelings towards material things (Ellwood, 1994:68). The progression of the consciousness/matter unity through the levels of existence is very complicated. It is not like climbing a social ladder, in which one starts at the bottom, and over time, through hard work and dedication, makes his way to the top. Unfortunately, the upper level planes are just too far advanced to comprehend, and even if we could understand, the journey to such a level is not a straight forward climb (Ellwood,1994:71).

Pilgramage: Blavatsky often described the evolution of society as a pilgrimage -- we are the pilgrims continually searching and discovering. We are on a journey in search of the truth, and although we may not be aware of it, we are slowly advancing as a whole (Ellwood,1994:43). Society on earth is but a small part of a whole, and we do not know the grand scheme of things. However, we can trust that things are moving forward, and that justice is being served. This understanding helps to explain suffering and evil, because it shows us that we may not see or understand why things are happening, but we know that it is just (Ellwood, 1994: 152). The journey is not a constant and gradual climb. Rather, it is a rough roller-coaster ride, which goes up only over long periods of time (Ellwood, 1994:70). Because consciousness and matter are often in tension with each other, when one goes up, the other goes down. This creates the impression of instability and chaos. But it is only an illusion. Reality, as we understand it, is but an image created by ourselves for ourselves (Ellwood, 1994:26). We need not look hard at our world today to see that what we value the most is often not worth much at all. Only a very few people in the world today seem to know true peace: the peace that comes from wisdom and insights into the truth. These are the people that may become Masters (Campbell,1980:55).

The Masters: It is believed that there are those who possess full, or at least extraordinary, knowledge of the Divine Wisdom, and have devoted their existence to showing us the way to the truth. They are called by many names, most commonly the Masters, the Mahatmas or the Adepts (Campbell,1980:53-54). Blavatsky insisted that the Masters not only existed, but were also present here on Earth, and able to communicate with her in person. The Masters have evolved to the highest levels of existence. They have complete control over their lives. They are not controlled by karma, for they can surpass it. They can exist in spirit (consciousness) or in matter, or in a combination of the two. They are as close to the Divine as possible, and they know the truth.

The Masters are often described as belonging to an elitist group called the "Great White Brotherhood." (White refers to purity, not race) (Campbell,1980:54). The significance of their existence is that they provide examples and a sort of proof that Theosophy is real, and that there is a higher level in life than our present existence here on Earth. Masters often take on "students" who show promise of evolving quicker than the rest of society. These students must be pure, moral and compassionate; untainted by any negative thoughts or feelings (Campbell,1980:55). Blavatsky claimed to be a "student" of the Masters, and this was a subject of controversy.

[Dig]

How does that solve the problem of the inevitable corruption of government?

I tell you one thing for dang sure.  Enforcing that document has more of a chance of solving problems than RENEW, RENEW, RENEW

[Unintelligable Name]

Campaign?

Yes it is a real ad -- and it's true. 

[zeke105]

I disagree. 

Past failures do not constitute a rule. 

At one time, history had proven that men couldn't fly.

Then someone proved history wrong.

Do we need something new?

Yes...a new attitude toward our civic duty.

 

How is that not --

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
    Albert Einstein

[37]

I'm sure Einstein wrote his theory of relativity and proved it on the first try. 

[Dig]

I'm sure Einstein wrote his theory of relativity and proved it on the first try. 

holy crap, I thought you were cornered on that one, and then he ducks, moves, and wham!

anyway einstein was a pedaphile thief who stole many patents and then contributed to the escalation of nuclear technology while saying that people who choose to defend their country should remove their brain from their spinal cord.  He is not the best reference for the advancement of individual liberty and freedom from oppression.

[White Rose Sophie]

holy crap, I thought you were cornered on that one, and then he ducks, moves, and wham!

anyway einstein was a pedaphile thief who stole many patents and then contributed to the escalation of nuclear technology while saying that people who choose to defend their country should remove their brain from their spinal cord.  He is not the best reference for the advancement of individual liberty and freedom from oppression.

I believe he was also a "Humanist of the Year" award winner.

[37]

What Einstein meant was doing the same thing over and over without changing it.  The American system was the first of it's kind.  Does it need a tweak...obviously.  But, it doesn't need scrapped.  The people getting involved and holding their government accountable may be the only thing we need to change.

Cornered?  Come on, Sane, you know me better than that.

[UK Lyn]

+1
What a fraud...

[zeke105]

Government rule or statism has changed to some degree in almost every situation, but it always ends with the same result.

If we were to return to the exact form of government our founders established, it will fail again. We would just be delaying the inevitable. The problem with our government system is that it relies on the people to restrain the government when necessary, but people have shown that they will not stand up to the government until you have completely destroyed the foundation of this great nation. Actually, that has already happened, and the people still have not risen up. How can we entrust the power to the people if the people will not stand up to their government. Most people are inherently pacifists and they just want to live their lives. We need a form of society that doesn't rely on the masses constantly fighting their government to maintain balance.

Don't get me wrong; the constitutional republic founded in America was the best form of society to date, but it did once again prove that a government eventually become corrupt and cannot be restrained by the people (usually due to apathy and complacency).

[Dig]

Government rule or statism has changed to some degree in almost every situation, but it always ends with the same result.

If we were to return to the exact form of government our founders established, it will fail again.

hey, let's try it and find out who is right.

I will bet you two hundred private federal reserve monopoly notes.

[Kylearan]

"Zeitgeist was created in the hope that it will inspire people to start looking at the world from a more critical perspective, and to relay the understanding that very often things are not what the population at large think they are. The true understanding of events, both historical and modern, are crucial to the development, awareness and spirituality of the human condition."
http://vidzking.com/Tags/Zeitgeist-Addendum-Came-out-today-Oct-3rd   

    I saw the movie Zeitgeist and while it was entertaining in the way they presented it, it had several things totally wrong and a lot of it was pure speculation. As I have studied the origins of the Christian faith and other religions, what Zeitgeist says about the ages and Jesus talking about the man carrying water was pure speculation. They claimed Jesus was actually supporting this age of (insert Zodiac sign here). That is just very very hard to prove yet it's presented as fact. Zeitgeist is just as much propaganda as what it goes against IMO.

Kylearan

[Dig]

    I saw the movie Zeitgeist and while it was entertaining in the way they presented it, it had several things totally wrong and a lot of it was pure speculation. As I have studied the origins of the Christian faith and other religions, what Zeitgeist says about the ages and Jesus talking about the man carrying water was pure speculation. They claimed Jesus was actually supporting this age of (insert Zodiac sign here). That is just very very hard to prove yet it's presented as fact. Zeitgeist is just as much propaganda as what it goes against IMO.

Kylearan

zeitgeist said that jesus, moses, and mohammed never even existed.  i found that a bit puzzling.

[White Rose Sophie]

zeitgeist said that jesus, moses, and mohammed never even existed.  i found that a bit puzzling.

Yes, if Jesus never existed, why did the Talmud speak so viciously of him?  And why did Cameron make the film about finding "Jesus's Tomb"?  And why has stuff like the "Da Vinci Code' etc been foisted upon the world?

It's a pincer attack.

You get the atheists and agnostics with Zeitgeist, you reel in the "Christians" with the "Jesus didn't die on the cross and went on to father children (Merovignian Holy Grail) theory.  That way, when the coming "World Leader' shows up - he will be accepted by Christian believers and non-Christian believers as well as orthodox Jews.  They have all their bases covered.  Christians (the deluded ones) will believe this is Jesus returning, non-christians will just be glad that a wise leader has shown up to stop all this war, financial destruction, etc, and orthodox Jews will rejoice because Meschiach (sp?) has finally arrived.

I think the New York Times article scooped Joseph's 9-11 bait and switch probably before they SHOULD have.  The "Movement" wasn't large enough yet.