11 Realistic Looking Sculptures By Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck is an Australian born hyper-realist sculptor. He currently is based in the U.K, and has had successful exhibitions at places like the Royal Academy and the National Gallery in London. Below are 11 pieces of his that I decided to put together in this post. I think this is fine art at its finest. Please note that, no matter how realistic any of the pieces below look, they are sculptures...they are not real.

Jesus Was Not a Christian

Yea, it is a funny statement, but Jesus was not a Christian. A lot of people don't really understand the genesis of the religion called Christianity. Christians are meant to be followers of Christ, but how many of his ways do they follow? Today's Christianity is a mix of so many religions, and people choose what part of the Bible to follow. People should know that Jews orchestrated the death of Jesus of Nazareth because they believed he was blasphemous in claiming to be the son of God. After his death was when Christianity was birthed, as a small select of his followers started working in his ways, thus being called Christians.

It is also necessary to note that the Bible wasn't written till 400 years after the Death of Jesus Christ. 400 years. This means that none of the people that witnessed him while on Earth were around to help write the Bible. Think about that. And it is also funny that Jews still don't believe Jesus was the son of God, but they are believed to be God's chosen people. Till this day, Jews do not believe in Christ, and thus are not Christians, but there place is said to be reserved in heaven. A lot of people don't even know that the Torah (the Hebrew holy book) is part of the Old Testament. I don't think the Christian Bible should have the old Testament. The Bible should be just the new testament...If it is meant for Christians (Christ followers), it shouldn't have any part of the old testament. Maybe for reference purposes or further reading, but I feel the old and new testaments greatly contradict each other, and has caused a lot of confusion in the world today. Jesus was not even a Jew, he was a Judean.




Jesus was not a Christian in the way Christianity is currently portrayed. Jesus preached love...even for your enemy. Jesus never preached wishing death on your enemy. If Jesus had come in this time and age, he would still have been killed by over-religious people. Because Jesus was not religious in his time, he came to change everything...every law that the Jews were following at the time was questioned by Jesus. Jesus was not religious, he was spiritual; there is a big difference there. he taught people on mountains, at river banks, at market squares, rarely was he preaching to people via the system of the religion of the day. So much of the ways of Christianity currently in the world is far from being christ-like. Read this quote from Desmond Tutu.

"God is not Christian. We are supposed to proclaim the God of love, but we have been guilty as Christians of sowing hatred and suspicion: we commend the one whom we call the Prince of Peace, and yet as Christians we have fought more wars than we care to remember. We have claimed to be a fellowship of compassion and caring and sharing, but as Christians we often sanctify socio-political systems that belive this, where the rich grow ever richer and the poor grow ever poorer."

-Desmond Tutu

List of Top Earning Dead Celebrities

Yes, dead people still make money. In fact, some of them, like Tupac Shakur, made more money dead than when he was alive. There is something about being dead and your value rising that sometimes makes me contemplate perfectly orchestrating my own death. Maybe then the half a dozen books I have written will start selling, and help give my family and loved ones a great life. I'm just joking...I love life, and I wont give it up for anything right now.


It is surprising that Elvis Presley, who died in 1977 is still earning money in 2013. Check out the full list of the 12 top earning dead celebrities of 2013. The list is based on monies earned by their individual estates between October 2012, to October 2013.




12. Jennie Rivera- $7 million (She was an American- Mexican singer...who died in a plane crash last year December. Her earnings come from the 'I Love Jenni' Show, which an audience of 5.5 in its third and final season. Her albums have also sold over 880,000 copies since she passed.)


12. Bruce Lee- $7 million (Died July 20, 1973. Martial artist/Actor.)

10. Steve McQueen- $9 million (Died November 30, 1980. Actor.)

10. Theodor Geisel- $9 million (Author of the Dr. Suess's books. Also in his catalogue includes How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Cat in the Hat. Most of his books have been adapted into movies, and have grossed millions at the Box Office. He died September 21, 1991)

8.  Bettite Page- $10 million (Actress. Died december 11, 2008)

8.  Albert Einstein- $10 million (Scientist. Died April 18, 1955)

7.  Jonh Lennon- $12 million (Singer...member of legendary UK boy band, The Beatles. Died December 8, 1980)

6.  Marilyn Monroe- $15 million (Actress. Died August 5, 1962)


5.  Bob Marley- $18 million (Legendary Jamaican singer. Died May 11, 1981)

4.  Elizabeth Taylor- $25 million (Actress. Died March 23, 2011)

3.  Charles Schulz- $37 million (Cartoonist. Died February 12, 2000. Responsible for popular comic strips such as Peanuts, Charlie Brown

2.  Elvis Presley- $55 million (Singer/Actor. Died August 16, 1977)

1.  Michael Jackson- $160 million (Singer. Died June 25, 2009)

Honourable mention include Nigerian Afro-Beat singer, Fela Kuti, who earned $3 million. His earnings came from Felabration (a yearly, week long concert organized in his memory), royalties from his over 3 dozen albums which Universal Music controls, and  earnings from the Fela on Broadway show).

Church Members Mistreat Homeless Man in Church, Unaware It Is Their Pastor in Disguise.

I think some Christians compartmentalize their lives. They go to Church on Sunday and try to be as holy as they can be, but the 6 days left of the week, they are in their real element. I have just always believed that it matters more what is in your heart than what church you attend. The story below of a pastor dressing as a homeless man and being mistreated by his own congregation will give you an idea of what I am talking about.

Church Members Mistreat Homeless Man in Church, Unaware It Is Their Pastor in Disguise.

"Pastor Jeremiah Steepek transformed himself into a homeless person and went to the 10,000 member church that he was to be introduced as the head pastor at that morning.

He walked around his soon to be church for 30 minutes while it was filling with people for service, only 3 people out of the 7-10,000 people said hello to him.

He asked people for change to buy food – no one in the church gave him change.

He went into the sanctuary to sit down in the front of the church and was asked by the ushers if he would please sit in the back.

He greeted people to be greeted back with stares and dirty looks, with people looking down on him and judging him.

As he sat in the back of the church, he listened to the church announcements and such.

When all that was done, the elders went up and were excited to introduce the new pastor of the church to the congregation.

“We would like to introduce to you Pastor Jeremiah Steepek.” The congregation looked around clapping with joy and anticipation.

The homeless man sitting in the back stood up and started walking down the aisle. The clapping stopped with all eyes on him.

He walked up the altar and took the microphone from the elders (who were in on this) and paused for a moment then he recited,

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

‘The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

After he recited this, he looked towards the congregation and told them all what he had experienced that morning. Many began to cry and many heads were bowed in shame.

He then said, “Today I see a gathering of people, not a church of Jesus Christ. The world has enough people, but not enough disciples. When will YOU decide to become disciples?”

He then dismissed service until next week.

Following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ should be more than just talk. It ought to be a lifestyle that others around you can love about you and share in."

Be a Christian all you want, but at least follow the teachings of Christ if you're going to claim the title.

~ Tom Retterbush

9 Year Old Girl Dies From Complications Of Rape By 14 Year Old Boy

I always feel saddened any time I read stories like this. Cases like this is in the news a lot nowadays. And what gets on my nerves is that people keep blaming it on the devil. The devil has nothing to do with it. It is when people in Nigeria (and AFRICA) stop blaming the devil with every issue they don't understand, that is when we will start growing. It is sad that we give little consideration to the importance of sex education to the young teenagers and toddlers of this generation. It is very vital right now in the country.

Read the story below-

The police in Lagos State have commenced investigation into how a nine-year-old girl died, after sustaining injuries caused by alleged consistent rape. According to police authorities, the deceased was raped over five times, by a 14-year-old student, Onyi Adimabua, in the Ikorodu area of the state.

The father of the deceased, Simeon Jigo, told Punch Metro that Onyi is the son of the proprietor of the school his daughter attended. He said his daughter opened up about the rape when she started having medical problems. The 77-year-old man said his daughter died on October 3, 2013.

He said, “Up until my daughter’s death, she was a pupil of Fulfilled Greenland School, Ikorodu, and she was in primary three. One day, she came home and started complaining of pains around her vagina, stomach area. We rushed her to Ikorodu General Hospital.

“A doctor checked her and after conducting some tests on her, told us that my daughter had sustained medical complications due to forced sexual intercourse. I was alarmed by this; so, I had a private discussion with my daughter.

“She told me that it was her school proprietor’s son, Onyi, that had been raping her. The boy had threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone about it.”

The indigene of Ondo State told PUNCH Metro that after initial treatments, he took his daughter to Arogbo in Ondo State to be taken care of but her condition continued to deteriorate.

A few days after the troubled father travelled to Ondo State, Onyi, accompanied by his parents, also travelled to Ondo State, to apologise to Jigo’s family. The girl, however, was said to have died that very day.

 “On getting to the house where my daughter was, we discovered that she was dead. Onyi confessed that he had been raping my daughter prior to her death,’ Jigo said.

PUNCH Metro learnt that after the girl’s demise, irate youths in the area attempted to lynch the 14-year-old boy.

The bereaved father was said to have intervened and reported the matter to a nearby police station, where the teenager was held for safe keeping. The next morning, Onyi and his parents travelled back to Lagos.

The alleged rapist’s parents, in company with a chief in Ikorodu, reportedly visited Jigo when he returned to Lagos. The group were said to have pleaded that the bereaved father should not pursue the case but he refused.

Jigo said, “I went to the Ikorodu Police station to report the case but was surprised when the policemen on duty said I should not write any statement.  They only told me to write down my telephone number and said they would call me later.

“After waiting for many days without any call, I wrote a petition and the matter was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba.”

It was however learnt that Onyi had been taken to his father’s hometown in Delta State thereby stalling police investigation.

The teenager’s parents,  however described the incident as the handiwork of the devil.

The 14-year-old boy’s father, Andrew Adimabua, said, “I trained that boy in the way of the Lord and expected so much from him. He has confessed to the act; there is nothing to hide. He told me that he learnt about sex by watching blue (pornographic) films.

“We are not hiding him and we will cooperate with the police. On the day the little girl died, he was beaten up and made to stay in the rain for hours. As a result, he contracted pneumonia so we sent him home for treatment. When he recovers, he’ll be taken to the police for questioning.”

Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent on the telephone, expressed shock at the development.

Braide said Onyi would be re-arrested in the course of investigation.

“It is appalling that a teenager could indulge in such act. The matter is under investigation and the culprit will be re-arrested.” (Punch newspaper)

Some Weird Religions

 

I got this from listverse.com and I thought I should share. Some really weird religions of the world...really really weird.

10

Scientology

Scientology has featured on a previous list, but if I didn’t include it here the comments would be inundated with “where’s scientology?” questions. The Church of Scientology is a cult created by L Ron Hubbard (Elron) in 1952 as an outgrowth of his earlier self-help system called Dianetics. The Church of Scientology holds that at the higher levels of initiation (OT levels) mystical teachings are imparted that may be harmful to unprepared readers. These teachings are kept secret from members who have not reached these levels. In the OT levels, Hubbard explains how to reverse the effects of past-life trauma patterns that supposedly extend millions of years into the past. Among these advanced teachings is the story of Xenu (sometimes Xemu), introduced as an alien ruler of the “Galactic Confederacy.” According to this story, 75 million years ago Xenu brought billions of people to Earth in spacecraft resembling Douglas DC-8 airliners, stacked them around volcanoes and detonated hydrogen bombs in the volcanoes. The thetans then clustered together, stuck to the bodies of the living, and continue to do this today. Scientologists at advanced levels place considerable emphasis on isolating body thetans and neutralizing their ill effects.

9

Creativity Movement

The Creativity Movement (formerly known as World Church Of The Creator), is a white separatist organization that advocates the whites-only religion, Creativity. It was also a descriptive phrase used by Ben Klassen, that included all adherents of the religion. The use of the term creator does not refer to a deity, but rather to themselves (white people). Despite the former use of the word Church in its name, the movement is atheistic. Creativity is a White Separatist religion that was founded by Ben Klassen in early 1973 under the name Church of the Creator. After Klassen’s death in 1993, Creativity almost died out as a religion until the New Church of the Creator was established three years later by Matthew F. Hale as its Pontifex Maximus (high priest), until his incarceration in January 2003 for plotting with the movement’s head of security, Anthony Evola (an FBI informant), to murder a federal judge.

8

Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth

Obviously spelling is not a fundamental part of this religion! Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth (TOPY) was founded in 1981 by members of Psychic TV, Coil, Current 93, and a number of other individuals. The ever-evolving network is a loosely federated group of people operating as a unique blend of artistic collective, and practitioners of magic. TOPY is dedicated to the manifestation of magical concepts lacking mysticism or the worship of gods. The group focuses on the psychic and magical aspects of the human brain linked with “guiltless sexuality”. Throughout its existence, TOPY has been an influential group in the underground Chaos magic scene and in the wider western occult tradition. TOPY’s research has covered both Left-hand path and Right-hand path magick, various elements of psychology, art, music, and a variety of other media. Some of the influences on the network have been Aleister Crowley, Austin Osman Spare, and Brion Gysin.

7

Nation of Yahweh

The Nation of Yahweh is a predominantly African-American religious group that is the most controversial offshoot of the Black Hebrew Israelites line of thought. They were founded in 1979 in Miami by Hulon Mitchell, Jr., who went by the name Yahweh ben Yahweh. Their goal is to return African Americans, whom they see as the original Israelites, to Israel. The group departs from mainstream Christianity and Judaism by accepting Yahweh ben Yahweh as the Son of God. In this way, their beliefs are unique and distinct from that of other known Black Hebrew Israelite groups. The group has engendered controversy due to legal issues of its founder and has also faced accusations of being a black supremacist cult by the Southern Poverty Law Center and The Miami Herald. The SPLC has criticized the beliefs of the Nation of Yahweh as racist, stating that the group believed blacks are “the true Jews” and that whites were “white devils.” They also claim the group believed Yahweh ben Yahweh had a Messianic mission to vanquish whites and that they held views similar to the Christian Identity movement.

6

Church of All Worlds

The Church of All Worlds is a neo-pagan religion founded in 1962 by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and his wife Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart. The religion evolved from a group of friends and lovers who were in part inspired by a fictional religion of the same name in the science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein; the church’s mythology includes science fiction to this day. They recognize “Gaea,” the Earth Mother Goddess and the Father God, as well as the realm of Faeries and the deities of many other pantheons. Many of their ritual celebrations are centered on the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece. Following the tradition of using fiction as a basis for his ideas, Zell-Ravenheart recently founded The Grey School of Wizardry inspired in part by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the school in the Harry Potter novels.

5

Universe People

Universe people or Cosmic people of light powers (Czech: Vesmírní lidé sil sv?tla) is a Czech religious movement centered around Ivo A. Benda. Its belief system is based upon the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations communicating with Benda and other “contacters” since October 1997 telepathically and later even by direct personal contact. According to Benda those civilizations operate a fleet of spaceships, led by Ashtar Sheran, orbiting the Earth. They closely watch and help the good and are waiting to transport their followers into another dimension. The Universe People’s teachings incorporate various elements from ufology (some foreign “contacters” are credited, though often also renounced after a time as misguided or deceptive), Christianity (Jesus was a “fine-vibrations” being) and conspiracy theories (forces of evil are supposed to plan compulsory chipping of the population).

4

Church of the SubGenius

The Church of the SubGenius is a parody religion that promotes slack, while in a meta-commentarial way, satirizes religion, conspiracy theories, UFOs, and popular culture. The church claims to have been founded in the 1950s by the “world’s greatest salesman” J. R. “Bob” Dobbs. “Bob” Dobbs is depicted as a cartoon of a Ward Cleaver-like man smoking a pipe. The church really started with the publication of SubGenius Pamphlet #1 in 1979. It found acceptance in underground pop-culture circles and has been embraced on college campuses, in the underground music scene, and on the Internet. An important SubGenius event occurred on July 5, 1998: X-Day. The Church had been predicting that on this day the world would be destroyed by invading alien armies known as the X-ists (which is short for “Men from Planet X”). When the event didn’t come to pass, the church administrator who predicted it was tarred and feathered – but allowed to continue on as administrator. Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman) is a SubGenius minister. Patrick Volkerding, the founder and maintainer of Slackware Linux, is also a SubGenius affiliate, and he has confirmed the Church and “Bob” inspired the name for Slackware.

3

Prince Philip Movement

The Prince Philip Movement is a cargo cult of the Yaohnanen tribe on the southern island of Tanna in Vanuatu. The Yaohnanen believe that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort to Queen Elizabeth II, is a divine being, the pale-skinned son of a mountain spirit and brother of John Frum. According to ancient tales the son travelled over the seas to a distant land, married a powerful lady and would in time return. The villagers had observed the respect accorded to Queen Elizabeth II by colonial officials and came to the conclusion that her husband, Prince Philip, must be the son from their legends. When the cult formed is unclear, but it is likely that it was sometime in the 1950s or 1960s. Their beliefs were strengthened by the royal couple’s official visit to Vanuatu in 1974 when a few villagers had the opportunity to observe the prince from afar. Prince Philip was made aware of the religion and has exchanged gifts with its leaders and even visited them.

2

The Church of Euthanasia

The Church of Euthanasia (CoE), is a political organization started by the Reverend Chris Korda (pictured above) in the Boston, Massachusetts area of the United States. According to the church’s website, it is “a non-profit educational foundation devoted to restoring balance between Humans and the remaining species on Earth.” The CoE uses sermons, music, culture jamming, publicity stunts and direct action combined with an underlying sense of satire and black humor to highlight Earth’s unsustainable population. The CoE is notorious for its conflicts with Pro-life Christian activists. According to the church’s website, the one commandment is “Thou shalt not procreate”. The CoE further asserts four principal pillars: suicide, abortion, cannibalism (“strictly limited to consumption of the already dead”), and sodomy (“any sexual act not intended for procreation”). Slogans employed by the group include “Save the Planet, Kill Yourself”, “Six Billion Humans Can’t Be Wrong”, and “Eat a Queer Fetus for Jesus”, all of which are intended to mix inflammatory issues to unnerve those who oppose abortion and homosexuality.

1

Nuwaubianism

Nuwaubianism is an umbrella term used to refer to the doctrines and teachings of the followers of Dwight York. The Nuwaubians originated as a Black Muslim group in New York in the 1970s, and have gone through many changes since. Eventually, the group established a headquarters in Putnam County, Georgia in 1993, which they have since abandoned. York is now in prison after having been convicted on money laundering and child molestation charges, but Nuwaubianism endures. York developed Nuwaubianism by drawing on a wide range of sources which include Theosophy-derived New Age movements such as Astara as well as the Rosicrucians, Freemasonry, the Shriners, the Moorish Science Temple of America, the revisionist Christianity & Islam and the Qadiani cult of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the numerology of Rashad Khalifa, and the ancient astronaut theories of Zecharia Sitchin. White people are said in one Nuwaubian myth to have been originally created as a race of killers to serve blacks as a slave army, but this plan went awry. Here is a list of some of the more unusual Nuwaubian beliefs:

1. It is important to bury the afterbirth so that Satan does not use it to make a duplicate of the recently-born child
2. Furthermore, some aborted fetuses survive their abortion to live in the sewers, where they are being gathered and organized to take over the world
3. People were once perfectly symmetrical and ambidextrous, but then a meteorite struck Earth and tilted its axis causing handedness and shifting the heart off-center in the chest
4. Each of us has seven clones living in different parts of the world
5. Women existed for many generations before they invented men through genetic manipulation
6. Homo sapiens is the result of cloning experiments that were done on Mars using Homo erectus
7. Nikola Tesla came from the planet Venus
8. The Illuminati have nurtured a child, Satan’s son, who was born on 6 June 1966 at the Dakota House on 72nd Street in New York to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis of the Rothschild/Kennedy families. The Pope was present at the birth and performed necromantic ceremonies. The child was raised by former U.S. president Richard Nixon and now lives in Belgium, where it is hooked up bodily to a computer called “The Beast 3M” or “3666.”

The Nuwaubians built a city modelled on Ancient Egyptian buildings in Putnam County, Georgia (pictured above). It has now been demolished.

How Did Judas Iscariot Really Die?

As a teenager and through my early youth, I did very little Bible reading. Most of the information and stories I knew from the Bible were from church sermons, or from Christian movies. Then a couple of years ago, I decided to understand my religion a little more, and so I set a task to read the whole Bible. I was reading through the book of Acts when a verse made me pause. I re-read the verse a couple of times, and also the whole book of Acts, but it still left the longing question in my head. How did Judas Iscariot really die?




In case you don't know who Judas Iscariot is/was, he was one of the 12 disciples that followed Jesus around during his time of Evangelism on Earth. Everybody knows that Judas killed himself after he betrayed Jesus for 30 silver coins. He helped the Israelite soldiers identify and capture Jesus. He felt guilty afterwards and tried to return the money, but after he didn't succeed in redeeming his image in his eyes of the people, he ran off into the night, and hung himself.











But this is what can be found in  Acts 1:16-19-

 "Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17"For he was counted among us, and received his portion in this ministry." 18(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)"






This doesn't tally with what was written in the book of Mathew, which states that Judas hung himself. Let me put it up for you to examine.



(Matthew 27:3-8) - "Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4.saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." But they said, "What is that to us? See to that yourself!" 5.And he threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. 6.And the chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood." 7.And they counseled together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. 8.For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day."

These two greatly contradict themselves. In Acts, we are made to believe that he bought a field with the 30 pieces of silver he had received for betraying Jesus, and he lived there for a while, before he fell headlong one day, bursting in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. But I don't believe someone can just fall and burst open his insides. Could it be some people came to kill him in the night? This is a possibility, since he had betrayed the Messiah. What do you think?