When nine of us prayed at Holden Beach, we thanked God, though we had been the victims of the Shepherding Religion. But Jesus's proactive trip into the Wilderness had confronted an estimated forty-two hundred religions, according to current estimates. Jesus's bedrock actions, combined with His confrontation of "Legion," spelled the doom for religion's strongholds. Post-Holden Beach, my wife's dream revealed that "T-Jacks" come to snap at the ankles of every irreligious person, who nevertheless has formulated their own religion. They, we, become ensnared in the sweaty religion of Myopic Me! Paul says that Myopic Me! perfectly describes the crooked generation's love of self and money, contemptuous of Law, acting with cruelty, disobedient to parents, boastful, and loving pleasure while scoffing at God. Paul tells us that religion comes to everyone who demotes Christ's finished work. Thus, my five books address these battlefields for the soul of man: Captured by the Faith-Time Continuum Jerusalem with Solomon & Einstein Made in the Bipolar Image of God Dividing Wall of Hostility Freedom from Religion

Religious freedom has achieved broad consensus as a condition for peace. Faced with reports of a rise in religious violence and a host of other social ills, public, and private actors have responded with laws and policies designed to promote freedom of religion. But what precisely is being promoted? What are the assumptions underlying this response? The contributions to this volume unsettle the assumption that religious freedom is a singular achievement and that the problem lies in its incomplete accomplishment. Delineating the different conceptions of religious freedom predominant in the world today, as well as their histories and political contexts, the contributions make clear that the reasons for violence and discrimination are more complex than is widely acknowledged. The promotion of a single legal and cultural tool meant to address conflict across a wide variety of cultures can have the perverse effect of exacerbating the problems that plague the communities often cited as falling short. -- from back cover.

Have you ever considered the fall of the American Empire? Neither did the Romans; but the Roman Empire collapsed mightily. The birth of the American Catholic Church separated from Rome? It will come. The unification of the American Catholic Church with the Progressive Christian Church—it's coming. The end of the designations Protestant and Catholic—it's time. The Reformation is over. Christians must unify and step up together to help save America before her infrastructure collapses. Norman Whitcomb is a layperson who wants to stir clergy, laypeople, and social activists alike to get both our country and church back on track. If economic imbalance gets much further out of kilter our economy will collapse. In Myopic Man, he takes the reader on his own spiritual journey and challenges others to do the same. He traces the evolution of both Hebrew and Christian religions and then to the dogma that was created that separates us. Norman believes that church dogma belongs only to the clergy that developed it, and that laypeople are much closer to agreement with the core elements of the Christian faith than clergy assume.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham reveals how the Founding Fathers viewed faith—and how they ultimately created a nation in which belief in God is a matter of choice. At a time when our country seems divided by extremism, American Gospel draws on the past to offer a new perspective. Meacham re-creates the fascinating history of a nation grappling with religion and politics–from John Winthrop’s “city on a hill” sermon to Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence; from the Revolution to the Civil War; from a proposed nineteenth-century Christian Amendment to the Constitution to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s call for civil rights; from George Washington to Ronald Reagan. Debates about religion and politics are often more divisive than illuminating. Secularists point to a “wall of separation between church and state,” while many conservatives act as though the Founding Fathers were apostles in knee britches. As Meacham shows in this brisk narrative, neither extreme has it right. At the heart of the American experiment lies the God of what Benjamin Franklin called “public religion,” a God who invests all human beings with inalienable rights while protecting private religion from government interference. It is a great American balancing act, and it has served us well. Meacham has written and spoken extensively about religion and politics, and he brings historical authority and a sense of hope to the issue. American Gospel makes it compellingly clear that the nation’s best chance of summoning what Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature” lies in recovering the spirit and sense of the Founding. In looking back, we may find the light to lead us forward. Praise for American Gospel “In his American Gospel, Jon Meacham provides a refreshingly clear, balanced, and wise historical portrait of religion and American politics at exactly the moment when such fairness and understanding are much needed. Anyone who doubts the relevance of history to our own time has only to read this exceptional book.”—David McCullough, author of 1776 “Jon Meacham has given us an insightful and eloquent account of the spiritual foundation of the early days of the American republic. It is especially instructive reading at a time when the nation is at once engaged in and deeply divided on the question of religion and its place in public life.”—Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation

"Our millennial children, as well as nonchurchgoing millennials, are both the church's greatest challenge and its most exciting new opportunity." —John Seel, PhD Warning: There is a fundamental frame of reference shift in American society happening right now among young adults. You may think of this group as millennials—those born between 1980 and 2000—but millennials resist this label for good reason: the national narrative on them is pejorative, patronizing, and just plain wrong. Here's what we do know: Of Americans with a church background, 76 percent are described as "religious nones" or unaffiliated—and it's the fastest growing segment of the population. Close to 40 percent of millennials fit this religious profile. Roughly 80 percent of teens in evangelical church high school youth groups will abandon their faith after two years in college. It's unlikely that the evangelical church can survive if it is uniformly rejected by millennials, and yet: Millennial pastors and youth ministers are disempowered; their perspective is often not taken seriously by senior church leadership. Most millennial research is framed in categories rejected by millennials; that is, left-brained, analytical communication is lost on right-brained, intuitive millennials. Evangelicals' bias toward rational left-brained thinking makes the church seem tone-deaf. What's next? Read on. John Seel suggests survival strategies—communication on-ramps for genuine human connection with the next generation. It can be done.

Have you ever understood Quantum Mechanics, and how the atom and the mind, intimately interacts? Psychoatomology is a hidden mystery that is only hinted at by Egyptologists. Explained in vivid detail, you'll never look at life in the same nonchalant manner ever again. As a result, you will understand your virtual connection with, and to All Things, both near and far. For in the actuality you are not yet acquainted with, you'll be able to comprehend that this life you call real, is simply a channel that you have chosen to tune in to. This knowledge is priceless for those who are ready to discover the reality of their practical eternal natures on this earth, in this lifetime. It will reveal the connection of the Pyramids in Egypt and the Holy Bible on a practical level. The real application of this practicality, however, will come primarily to those who have studied; sufficiently prepared themselves; and who have given the code or password recorded within. Upon receiving this code or password, a "set of dates" will be forwarded to you. This "set of dates" is the "psychoatomic" level of "psychoatomology". Its exclusion from this, "the first book" is due primarily to its confidential nature. (See Events for contact, and for pertinent additional info.) Matthew 7:7. This book is the result of nearly 40 years of research. Its value is worth much more than its price for those who are ready to get in touch with Spirit full-time; and who are ready to walk through the doorway into a "new universe". You are the only person that knows what heaven should truly be like for you. You are being asked now to create it on this earth, at this time, so that all may be blessed. Matthew 6:10.

"The Supreme Court's controversial decision in Oregon v. Smith sharply departed from previous expansive readings of the First Amendment's religious freedom clause and ignited a firestorm of protest from legal scholars, religious groups, legislators, and Native Americans. A major event in Native American history, the case attracted widespread support for the Indian cause from a diverse array of religious groups eager to protect their own religious freedom and led to an intense tug-of-war between the Court and Congress. Carolyn Long provides the first book-length analysis of Smith and shows shy it continues to resonate so deeply in the American psyche."--Back cover.