Interesting Post. I saw several things I can comment upon.
First you say
On the other hand, morality I was suggesting should be objective. We discussed how it is difficult to define morality (whereas laws are pretty easily defined, just continually changing and can vary greatly in one place compared to another). But I was thinking that morality - this is the basics of right and wrong - would ideally be set with a collection of universal truths. This means that what we know as right and wrong could be accepted by all.
Have you been to University yet? If Confucius could not figure out a Way to Objectify Morality to some set of Basic Statements, and if Zarathustra could not figure out a Way to Objectify Morality to some set of Basic Statements, and if Every Philosopher since Pythagoras could not figure out a Way to Objectify Morality to some set of Basic Statements, then how could you possibly think that some Modern Committee could Whip It Out and say That Wasn’t So Hard? As Confucius had said, against the Legalism which you are Advocating all while you are pretending you are For Morality, that any Limited Finite Formula for Righteousness is not Large Enough to Contain Its Reality. Please, stop and think about these Distinctions that you should already be aware of. By now you should no longer be confusing Legalism with Morality. You may insist upon Legalism, and that is fine, but, if so, then lets close that subject. Oh, and the Black Flag Terrorists ALSO believe in Legalism. They Think THEY have found that Formula you are seeking. And how would YOU Enforce YOUR Moral Code? Laws Rest upon Officially Sanctioned Violence and Duress. Not All Legalists are as Bad as the Black Flaggers, but they are all on the Same Continuum.
Next
That is where we once again go back to God, because He is the only constant that we know - everything else has an appointed time.
Einstein once held a Confab with all his Buddy Physicists and Scientists and told them they should stop antagonizing Religious People by claiming there is no God. Just talk of God in Terms of being the Greatest and Highest Power, the Entity that Sustains the Universe, blah, blah, blah. And Einstein was wise in his advice, a His Formula appeased nearly everybody. You can still find people out there quoting Einstein about how much he believes in God. But I forget who it was who noticed an important omission – that of Providentiality – that God actively Cares for the World and Cares for the People in it. His observation was that “A God who is not Providential is just as good as No God At All”. What Einstein and his Fellows were describing was just the Ongoing Collection of Mechanical Laws which govern form and motion. It is the God of your Little Atoms and Big Galaxies. We can object to This View, but it is actually quite Correct. You see, the Latest and Best Definitions of God Make Him, or rather IT, Transcendental. God is Pure Unconditioned Love, Light, Bliss and is above being affected by Anything Below. When a Mystic claims to have had the Experience of God, THAT is what he is speaking about. The Experience is Ineffable. If somebody says they Experienced God and says that God Said This or That, you can dismiss it out of hand, assuming that God is Not That Low a Being.
The Ancients Knew all of this and so they made it clear that Any Spiritual Entity that was either Providential or Demonic was clearly Under the Level of God. They spoke of Angels or Demons, or Demigods. The Greeks spoke of their “Gods”, but their “Gods” were what the more Sophisticated Religions would have identified as Angels or Demons or Demigods.
What some of the Less Developed and Unsophisticated Religions believe is that God is probably either a Very Highly Placed Angel, such as Michael (the Zoroastrians called Him Mithra) or Lucifer or Satan who is poses as ‘God’ but on the Evil Side, and, yes, some people CANNOT tell the difference. For instance, the “God” of Amoral Election or Karmic Privilege or the Notion that If Anything Exists then it Exists because God has Willed it So whether or not it seems Good or Bad, well, that “God” is Satan, and he probably has more Followers than Michael (Mithra) who has a stricter sense of Morality.
And here you must realize that the Definition of God as An All Powerful Creator of Everything is inherently Evil. Once you have God being the Creator of Evil, and turn him into the Ultimate Support of Evil (if God is All Powerful He could end Evil with a Snap of his Fingers, couldn’t he, and so He is Evil, or a Partner in Evil for NOT shutting down what is In His Power to stop). The Zoroastrians insisted upon this Caution against an Allmighty God with both the Greeks and the Semites but both Groups were heavily Invested in the Notion that UNDER SOME CIRCUMSTANCES God would smile on Evil just as long as Evil was useful to some Favoured Person or Nation, particularly Themselves. We can see this as the Semites and the Greeks being Seduced by the Wiles of Evil. Some People resist Temptation, and other don’t. They make the Temptation their Preferred Religion.
Yes, we have instances of Artists and lower grade Theologians of Zoroastrianism giving their Transcendental God, Ahura Mazda (later modified to Ohrmaz, or something like that) almost physical attributes and put Him in connection with People, that is, making their God Providential and not Transcendental. But for the Most Part they Left Providentiality in the Hands of the Higher Angels, such as Mithra. Also, surprisingly, a Great Many Mid Level Angels – the Messengers and Protectors and the Guardian Angels and such of the Spiritual Realm appear to us as Female. So if you ever begin to have Spiritual Dreams, keep in mind that while there are Wise Old Men imparting Wisdom, for the Most Part the Angels showing you the Way Forward will be in the guise of Women – from Young Girls to Old Crones. When a Woman looks you in the eye in a dream and tells you something, or when a little girl takes you by the hand and pulls you along, or an Old Lady Points out into the Distance, then Realize that You are having a Big Dream, and so make your Choices carefully, but Certainly go along with what those Girls seem to trying to Tell you or Show you.
Next, about Fatima
Just seeing as we mentioned science, I hope you don't mind that I suggest a scientific explanation for this. Maybe it was a comet that was coming towards Earth but either shot around it or burned up in the atmosphere?
Now you need to go back and check out what People witnessed in the preceding months before the Big October. I thought you read about this? Approaching the Big October Event there were smaller crowds who gathered ( you see, the Children had indiscretely let out the Dates of the Planned Appearances) . Indeed the reason that Such a Large October crowd gathered was because of the Word of Mouth about the earlier occurrences. Now, the People could not hear what Our Lady was telling little Lucy, but they Could see a Shower of Mysterious White Flakes (if I remember exactly) descending from the Sky and falling about them. It’s been awhile since I read about it, BUT 75,000 People didn’t show up to wait all night in a Cold Driving Rain for nothing. There had Already Been Manifestations observable by people other than the Children. I suppose you won’t know many of the details unless you make it a point to study it longer than an hour or two.
Now this awkward idea
. But just as I said before, we aren't going to have any new messengers.
Several of the Major Religions have declared it their Doctrine that All Divine Revelation has come to an End. This makes it much easier to declare against anything New as necessarily Heretical, and so the Priests can Guard their Turf and their Privileges. But it Flies in the Face of Any Notion that Heaven is Providential. To say that there will be No New Messengers is to Say that Heaven has Abandoned us. What good is Religion if Heaven has turned its back on us. What is most strikingly surprising is that a seemingly nice and moral person like yourself would advocate such a notion. Yes, I did mention that some of the Religions hold that idea as Doctrine and One Religion Especially would come down Swift and Hard on any of its Members dissenting from that view, and this is why a Great many people of that Religion simply keep their mouths shut about it. No one gets in trouble for what they don’t say. But you speak of God being Effectively Dead as though it is a Wonderful Idea. But doesn’t it seem Unfair that Satan is still alive and well and the World is Pock Marked with his Messengers, to speak metaphorically, of course.
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And I certainly don't think there will be any normal people performing any miracles anytime soon.
Technically no Person performs Miracles. Angels, the Agency of Heaven, perform the Miracles, providing Inspiration and the Phenomena simultaneously – the Angel inspires the Man to say “Look at This” and then, Voila, the Miracle Happens . So it has always been “normal people” who have been seen and understood as performing Miracles. The most detailed Life of a Miracle Working Saint that I have read of was Saint Francis of Paola. He started out in Southern Italy, down near the Tip of the Boot. Later the Pope talked him into being an Envoy to the King of France. There are a great number of well documented stories. Now, yes, one can be sceptical of the Stories, BUT in just a few scan Years he had to build and extended his Franchise of Monasteries to contain crowds of New Applicants for his Brand New Order that was perhaps the most Stringent and Ascetic in all of Europe. These Acolytes were attracted by SOMETHING . I believe that book is still in print.
Well, that should be enough for now.