Was Jesus a Narcissist?

When I was a young boy, those trying to discredit Jesus would claim there was no proof that he even existed other than the Bible, and it was merely a collection of myths and fables. No Jesus, no miracles, no Son of God, no commandments. That argument bit the dust as more and more archeology and historical evidence substantiated that he was born, taught and died in Judea.

Then the Anti-Christs postulated that Jesus supported their particular life style because he never personally said, "Thou shalt not be gay." He also said to, "Love everyone," so he was inclusive of everyone and didn't condemn wickedness as present-day Christians love to do. Since Jesus loved everyone, he must have accepted their lifestyles and beliefs.That hasn't gone over too well as so many of those who preceded and followed him were insistent that while we must love everyone, certain standards of behavior were required for us to be happy.

Now, the current rage is to claim that Jesus was a Narcissist.

Sam Vaknin, an Israeli, writer has lead the way in trying to humanize Jesus as a simple narcissistic teacher who destroyed the lives of all those he touched. The humor in this is that Mr. Vaknin is a diagnosed and admitted narcissist. He claims to be an expert on the subject. I guess it takes one to know one?

Ironically, Mr. Vaknin's own written papers declare that narcissists are not real personalities but a false self, therefore "The False Self replaces the narcissist's True Self and is intended to shield him from hurt and narcissistic injury by self-imputing omnipotence ... The narcissist pretends that his False Self is real and demands that others affirm this confabulation," (Vaknin S., The Dual Role of the Narcissist's False Self). Since he also claims to be a genius with an IQ of 180, it looks like the diagnosis is correct.

Mr Vaknin is certain that this unfortunate situation of self-delusion creates a condition that can never be cured because narcissists are not real people but a deluded false self they have created.

To put this into everyday English, he says he is a broken personality with the need to force everyone to his way of thinking and unfortunately, he can never be fixed, never become normal and never be sane.

Back to his vilification of Jesus.

Claiming that Jesus is narcissist begins with one very large assumption, that Jesus was a mortal man and not the Son of God. If this is true, then his actions and teachings are certainly the product of a narcissist and the disruption to the lives of his followers is unforgivable.

The point the author missed was that while he is attributing all these negative narcissistic characteristics to Jesus, he concedes that Jesus actually did perform miraculous acts of service for the people of his day. This assumption is made because Mr. Vaknin never questions the actions of Jesus, (healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, even raising people from the dead,) only his motives. He even chides Jesus for threatening to withhold healing from those who did not adore and worship him, a narcissistic trait. He never claims Jesus was a charleton, fooling the people into believing they were healed.

Does that mean that Mr. Vaknin actually believes that Jesus healed the lame, gave sight to the blind and raised people from the dead?

Does that also mean that Jesus actually did rise from the dead and appeared to over 500 people in the 40 days after his death?

Does that mean that Jesus really lives today in a celestial world, so elevated from our own that we can scarce comprehend it and someday we can live there too?

If Jesus, who is all knowing, omnipresent, and omnipotent, claims to be all knowing, omnipresent, and omnipotent, is that narcissism or integrity?

Reminds me of a quote by my son, Jeremy: Arrogance is when you think you're right based on assumptions, confidence is when you know you're right based on evidence.

So, a narcissist is one who thinks they are right based on their assumptions, as defined by Mr. Vaknin. If Jesus really healed afflictions and raised the dead, including himself, then he spoke with confidence because his real self was the Son of God.

Jesus was not a narcissist, he was the Son of God.

Legality versus Truth

I have read scores of articles written by both proponents and opponents of the decision last week by the United States Supreme Court declaring that marriage between gay couples should be legal in all states. Vicious, apologetic, angry, compassionate; they spanned the gamut of all the emotions.

Personally, I agree with Justice Roberts that since God created and designed marriage, he is also the only one qualified to re-define it. A majority of judges, regardless of their elevated opinion of their social mores, is simply not qualified to do so. Of course those who do not think God exists, respectfully, at times, disagree with me. Regardless, that has always been the situation. Those who don't believe in absolute truth have always been at odds with those who do.

Historically, self-appointed despots and kings, generally aligned laws to coincide with their personal will. Imprisoning or killing opponents, taking productivity from the people to support the monarchy in the form of taxes, ravishing and plundering the enemy, or their own people, all of these actions were legal, but they were not right.

In the United States, it was legal for centuries for some people to own other people as slaves or indentured servants. The owner was permitted to do virtually anything they wanted to these people. Beatings and murder were accepted as a right and a privilege. Even though it was legal, it wasn't right.

The consumption of alcohol and tobacco has been legal since the founding of the 13 Colonies. Alcohol was banned for a few years, but the underground abuse created more problems than before. As a result, accidental deaths, violence, unwanted pregnancies, and people rotting away from preventable cancers and other debilitating diseases plagues us even today. Even though their use is legal, it is not right.

Many large corporations, in league with municipalities, create complicated schemes to acquire property and resources from those least able to protect themselves ,allowing the corporations to become even more powerful and greedy. Even though it is legal, it is not right.

There are absolute truths regarding fidelity, chastity, promiscuity, and pro-creation. They fly in the face of our animalistic desires. They frustrate those who can't think of anything but the moment or themselves.

I would like to fly unassisted through the sky or swim down to the ocean's floor. Regardless of the sincerity or intensity of my desires, there are absolute truths that compel me to restrain myself. Gravity and oxygen are truths I can't ignore.

There are absolute truths that declare that violation of the laws of pro-creation, chastity and fidelity will bring negative consequences. We already have children of same sex couples lamenting the damage they had from not having a father and a mother in their lives. I just hope we don't have to make all the mistakes there are before we accept the truth.

I can not predict all the effects of the Court's rulings. There are those who are opposed to any contrary voices and would love to leverage this decision to the abolition of all opposition to their social agenda. It would not be the first time truth has been ruled illegal.

I take solace in the words of Gamaliel, speaking to the Sanhedrin as they were trying to convict the early Apostles, "Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it;"

Obama Taught in His Youth to Hate the United States

There sure is a lot of vitriol and hatred being thrown around in this article about Rudy Giuliani's comments. I have to say that regardless of the veracity of the messenger, the message seems to be true.

1. Obama was surrounded by socialists and communists while growing up; his father, step-father, his grandfather, Frank Marshall Davis, Saul Alinsky, etc.

2. Obama was raised the first 9 years of his life in a Muslim home in an Islamic country, Indonesia.

3. Obama was raised as a teen-ager in a white home, in a white neighborhood, not in the ghettos of Chicago.

4. His policies are socialistic in nature; government job creation, "you didn't build that", Obamacare, redistribution of wealth, etc. Programs to take money from someone who earned it and give it to someone who didn't.

5. Proud supporter of gun control. Every dictator, socialist, communist, or banana republic despot's first order of business is gun control

6. Detests saluting his own Presidential Marine Corps honor guard, even though they would lay down their lives, along with the Secret Service, if he was threatened while in their care.

7. To further his agenda, he has circumvented laws, created flimsy excuses, or ignores any criticism.

8. He has openly stated that if Congress will not implement his plans, he will go around them with Executive Orders and Departmental Decrees. If I remember correctly, King George of England, did the same thing back in the 1770's, disbanding the Colonial Assembly more than once when they challenged his policies.

9. He has expressed his continual shame for the United States, their policies, and accomplishments. Not only locally, but he has traveled the world expressing how bad the United States has been in the past.

10. He has been instrumental in trading a suspected traitor, (Bowe Bergdahl, who was charged with desertion) for the release of 5 known and avowed terrorists. Most of them are actively planning damage to this country again.

11. He, along with Hillary Clinton, allowed the Libyan Government to collapse and did nothing while 4 American Citizens died in Benghazi.

12. He is trying to negotiate and talk nice with organizations and mosques that have ties to, as well as members of, terrorists groups, by inviting them to the White House. These same groups insist that they will never capitulate to any demands other than the ones they have already stated publicly, namely; the destruction of the US and Western Europe, along with the implementation of Sharia Law worldwide.

13. His economic policies have destroyed thousands of private businesses in this country.

14. He is spinning the unemployment numbers to make him look good. He states that the rate is around 6%, but if you factor in all those who have simply stopped looking for work and are relying on government assistance, the real number is around 12%, the same as it was when he took office. All his programs have done is removed people from unemployment and moved them to welfare, food stamps, and permanent unemployment checks.

So, I am not sure that Obama really has the best interests of the United States of America at the forefront of all he does. His Hope and Change mantra appears to be changing the US from all that made us the leader in the world into another banana republic taking orders from terrorists and despotic rulers. I respect the Office, even if I detest the person who resides there presently.