Tomb of Jesus - Shrine of Venus - Jerusalem

Stealing the Goddess – Temple of Venus Jerusalem

Discounting all the retro fitted stories of Saint Helena in her eighties digging up the true cross, intact, with accessories, nails, unrusted, three hundred years after Jesus supposedly used them, what you have left is an architectural monstrosity, exterior at least, of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. 

This church covers the area both not only of the most sacred site in Christendom, the empty tomb of Jesus, but also the site of the crucifixion, and throw in a real tourist bonus, the actual tomb of Adam, the first man. 

There have been spotty repairs over the centuries after the earthquakes, fires, crusaders, etc. 

But the truth of the matter is that this holy place/tourist trap is so busy 24/7, nobody wants to close it down for even a day for a good washing let alone some serious repairs and restoration.

It is shared on the clock with three Christian sects, the Latin, the Orthodox and the Armenian Churches.  Fist fights break out regularly if the collection boxes are not turned over in time on a daily basis to the next time share owner.  Sweet Jesus Marie.

Can’t shut the cash cow down long enough to keep it from falling down on tourists one day when the centuries of spotty repairs will finally give way in some future earthquake. 

The story is that Helena, sparing no expense, tore down Hadrian’s temple of Venus to build a new shrine to her newly discovered Christian relics and burial spot on the very site of this former temple of Venus.  

And why is that? Because Hadrian, the god of gods of the Roman Empire was so jealous of the strength of the new Jewish Jesus god, he buried the site of his crucifixion and resurrection under dirt and built his temple of Venus over it to hide the Christian truth.  Yeah right. 

Truth be told, Helena's son Constantine was broke or close to it.  Spending his money on arms and being in constant warfare to keep his throne, what you have really IMHO is a recycled Temple of Venus, the round part of it at least, and with and by coincidence the tomb of Jesus in the exact center of Venus’s old ongoing never torn down temple.

And of course, Hadrian's Temple of Venus in Jerusalem was no doubt round, exotic and beautiful like Hadrian’s Pantheon in Rome and Hadrian’s, slightly smaller, Temple of Venus in Baalbek Lebanon. Hadrian it would seem liked to build, copy, rebuild and improve on designs he admired most in his personal obsession, megalomania, concerned with places of worship.

The rest of the present church is more or less a lean to hodge podge of styles hanging onto the old Temple of Venus, with a slapped together handyman process by crusaders and others, pasting back the pieces of the place after the latest earthquake or burned down by the local Muslim in charge to rid himself of an annoying tourist trap, eyesore, in the middle of his tranquil domain.  (Daily fist fitting among the monks over the collection boxes etc. –  Muslim tolerance can only go so far.)

There is an incident recorded in the early nineteenth century of four hundred pilgrims getting killing in one of these daily monk fests for Christ in Jerusalem.

Going back to budgets.  There is all this crap about digging out what Hadrian supposedly had hidden and replacing it with the basic part of the present structure.  But as I said earlier, I do not think that the money was there.  I also do not think that the creative spark and energy of the Roman Empire of two hundred years previously, under Hadrian, was still there.

(above) So called original plans of Saint Helena’s church or merely modified plans, add ons – basilica, courtyard - right, for a recycled Temple of Venus – left?

History, propaganda, has Constantine as some great force in the West.  I can see where his splitting his empire in two in terms of administration might have made sense.  But he was totally writing the west off. 

Only brute force, such as his army, was the only glue keeping the old empire together.  That and his, designer, centralized, under the command of the army, new religion. 

His building a new capital city in the east was merely building a lifeboat for those who could afford a first class ticket on the Titanic. 

Anyway, getting back to the surviving to this day, but occupied by a zombie worship cult, Temple of Venus in Jerusalem.

The present so called Sepulchre of Jesus, covered by a falling down garage like looking structure (can't shut the tourist cash cow down long enough to repair it), is probably, merely, the carved out stone pedestal of the old, long gone statue of the goddess Venus that once stood where Jesus never lay. 

The Orthodox Church celebrates the Dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on September 26 (Gregorian), the same date as the ancient Roman festival of Venus.  Some coincidence.  Right?

http://thisculturalchristian.blogspot.com/2011/09/stealing-goddess-temple-of-venus.html

.

You Got It - Roy Orbison

.

Heinz 1910 - Chile Sauce - Tomato Relish

.

Philadelphia Parkway - Looking Northwest - Public Ledger 14 May 1919

Newly built and paved Parkway lined with reviewing stands for 28th Pennsylvania's Return from France Review/Parade/Triumph to be staged May 15, 1919.


.
.

Cadillac Advertisement - Public Ledger 3 Mar 1919

.

Rev. George Chalmers Richmond 1870-1938 -- Deposed Voice of Social Conscience at the end of the Gilded Age of Greed

 

 Public Ledger 8 June 1915

This discovery of a remarkable Christian preacher, an Episcopalian most of the time, came when I posted an image of poor children playing in a cleared away precious space of ancient gravestones in a churchyard in lower Kensington, home to the poor then, for use as a playground. 

The local newspaper and many local newspapers were out to shame the city in spending more in taxes on public space, and along with other social engineers who were pushing for decent playing spots for children outside of Dickensian school buildings designed without schoolyards and the need in general for neighborhoods to have more breathing room (clean air) to relieve the general squalor of their lives.  

There are pictures of the city putting playgrounds under railroad viaducts around this time among other places to illustrate the needs and lack of living space in the teeming slums of Philly at the beginning of the twentieth century. The long term solution, a temporary fix was to dig up the bones of many ancient county graveyards in the 1950s and 1960s for living space in the inner city for playgrounds, supermarkets and parking lots at Universities, Temple in particular.

Back on the topic of the image of children playing in an unidentified playground - I posted on a Philly history forum and a native to the area as a youth questioned its exact location, which took a little bit of discussion and research among some forum members to determine that the labeling of the address not totally accurate and that the actual space was behind the St. John’s P.E. Church of the Northern Liberties there. 

Northern Liberties is the old legal geographic title, like “Badlands” (no law or order) north of the official Philadelphia city limits within the then unincorporated in contrast to a present day united city of Philadelphia County. It was there that the famous Know Nothing riots and or anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant riots in the 1840s took place.

An aside on history, those riots took place because the various public entities north of the city had no police force. That the local county deputy of the Northern Liberties called on Philadelphia City to send in cops to help with the social unrest, but the Northern Liberties had not paid its bill from the City for the last round of police aid, the City refused without pay and go, and thus a famous page of American and Philadelphia history gets labeled as anti-Catholic because a few Catholic churches got burned down in the riots along with a lot of other secular domestic real estate etc.

Image of the graveyard below.

 Graveyard - 3rd and Brown - Public Ledger 2 June 1917

Well one of the posters ran into what at first looked like a crackpot eccentric rector of this era who on his diaspora away from so-called east coast civilization managed to stir up a hornets nest in Politics in Wyoming with his bizarre attitudes of social justice in the gospels attributed to the ancient preacher Jesus. And this forum member posted an article from the NYT archives. 

Apparently, Rev. Richmond had quite a following having once been posted as a cleric in NYC among other places in his long and varied career. He seemed to be one of those truth tellers or prophets that Christianity no longer has any need of in the present modern day Wharton Global Spreadsheet corporate set up of global religion for profit Inc.

Upon further research, a good man, a real man, a mensch in the pulpit was got rid of by Bishop Rhinelander of the Pennsylvania Diocese as payback by Richmond’s many local and national rich enemies in exchange for Rhinelander's recent crony appointment to that office. (Thirty silver dimes?)

https://www.amazon.it/Richmond-Ecclesiastical-Trial-Charge-Triers/dp/1154559017

“Rev. George Chalmers Richmond Had Been Rector of Old St. John's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, for six years, when in December, 1914, he was presented for trial ordered by Bishop Philip M. Rhinelander on fourteen charges .Ten of These related to matters connected with Mr. Richmond's conduct of the pastorate of St. John's, and four had to do with private and public criticism of Bishop Rhinelander in regard to His lack of interest in the Gospel Adapting to modern social and industrial problems .The great fact to be Noted is this, the man who originated the charges and engineered the presentment - Francis A. Lewis - was the Bishop's private counsel.Not a single member of Mr. Richmond's parish signed the presentment, and not a single member of any adjoining parish had anything to do with Bringing on the trial.In November, 1915, a verdict was rendered, the triers finding Mr. Richmond "guilty" on charges Those Relating to His criticism of the Bishop, but acquitting him on all the others.Also it might be Stated That the laymen who signed the presentment were personal friends of Francis A. Lewis, and testified on the stand That they signed at his request, without reading the original charges.Mr. Richmond was suspended from priestly functions for one year.Hardly had a verdict in the first trial Been given When Bishop Rhinelander (Francis A. Lewis being His private counsel) allowed Mr. Richmond to be presented for a second time trial on 140 charges, Which later were reduced to 126, Involving 46 issues of fact.Some of These charges were exceedingly foolish…”

Here some newspaper research etc. on this deposed cleric of Philly of ancient times at the tail end of the then age of greed in the fading before WWI, Gilded Age.

---

Rev. George Chalmers Richmond Attacks Mayor Reyburn - Syracuse NY Post Standard 14 March 1910

---

Rev. George Chalmers Richmond Attacks Decadence of Gould - Drexel Wedding NYC - Niagra Falls Gazette April 1910

Niagra Falls Gazette 25 April 1910

---

Famous Sayings - Rev. George Chalmers Richmond - Brooklyn Daily Eagle 12 Aug 1911

---

Rev. George Chalmers Richmond Attacks Racial Killing in Coatesville Pa. - Phila. Inquirer 21 August 1911

.

---

Rev. George Chalmers Richmond's View of Remarriage after Divorce - John Jacob Astor IV - Mechanicville NY Saturday Evening Mercury 16 Sept 1911

 

---

INQUIRER 15 JAN 1938

NEW YORK POST 15 JAN 1938

--- 

Rev. George Chalmers Richmond 1870 -1938 -- Yale Alumni Obituary Record 1937-1938

.

FDNY 343 TRIBUTE 911 WTC NYC

.

Child Labor 1900s USA – Photos of Lewis Wickes Hine 1874-1940

Wednesday May 28, 2014

Child Labor 1900s USA – Photos of Lewis Wickes Hine 1874-1940

"At the Maggioni Canning Company in Port Royal, South Carolina, children shucked oysters for 4 hours before a half day of school, returning for 3 more hours of work after school."

Photos: Lewis Wickes Hine 1874-1940 (Public Domain)

Source on Photos: http://bjws.blogspot.com/2012/09/women-children-working-in-early-20th.html

"January 1909. Tifton, Georgia. Workers in the Tifton Cotton Mills. All these children were working or helping, 125 in all."

"Force working in West Point Cotton Mills. West Point, Miss, May 1911"

"All these pick shrimp at the Peerless Oyster Co. I had to take photo while bosses were at dinner as they refused to permit the children to be in photos. Out of 60 workers, 15 were apparently under 12 years old. Bay St. Louis, Miss, March 1911"

"Eight year old Jennie Camillo lives in West Maniyunk, Pa. (near Philadelphia). For this summer she has picked cranberries. This summer she is at Theodore Budd's Bog at Turkeytown, N.J. This is the fourth week of school in Philadelphia and people will stay here two weeks more, September 1910"

.

http://thisculturalchristian.blogspot.com/2013/09/googles-generous-patriotic-fervor-on.html

Empires Crash and Burn After They Rise

A great deal of main stream history is about the rise of empires. Much about the fall of empires is usually related to the Roman Empire.  A little about the Persian Empire, the Mongolian empire is also out there on so called history cable channels.

But speaking mainly about History type channels that talk about the American Revolution and the Civil War and World Wars One and Two are all about how we won. It is so easy in retrospect and in the comfort of an armchair to plot the strategies of success in hindsight. 

Those strategies in many cases were trial and error and paid for in blood and suffering by those directly involved as in an army or a navy or collateral damage as in civilian casualties and death. 

It is funny how a military word like Collateral has worked its way into our lexicon in recent years, with our military involvement overseas in rotting sand piles parked over vast reservoirs of petroleum etc.

Some places like Syria for example has fallen apart because of its location next to falling apart government and geography in Iraq, Afghanistan etc. There is also the falling apart of places like the smaller countries on the rim of the Saudi Peninsula where religion mixed with politics is all there is or has ever been since the Prophet Mohammed found the glue to bring some of the warring parties and tribes together temporarily and centuries ago.  

Syria has no oil and many are saying that the population fell apart over hunger caused by the mythical Global Climate Change denied by the Right wing pols.

On a tangent, the Islamic world has different and or subtle-ly different ideas of the sacred and the profane. A mosque is a place of prayer and not a temple filled with relics and statues as in Christianity and Hinduism. The building is used as a public place when not in use for prayer.  This in not unlike the early use of Churches setting up in the corners of Roman basilicas which were originally covered markets to conduct commerce or court business out of the elements like rain or snow.

I saw in the news recently that the Saudi government in charge of Mecca was going to move the Tomb of the Prophet to accommodate a larger space for tourists to parade around the Kaaba. Nothing sacred in a tomb in the founder of a world religion?

Anyway, watching one of these pseudo history channels, they were throwing in a search for the real Mount Sinai trying to prove that the bible is correct in that there really was a Mt. Sinai etc. And then it hits me how the Christians have to agree with the Jews on their history in order to shore up Christian mythology. 

But the real crux of a religion history archeological type programming on a military history channel also goes to prove that Israel has the right to exist based on the man-made myths in the Hebrew – Greek Book aka the Bible.

When following Moses setting up his empire and taking the land away from the natives by force and blood it was because his desert god told him to do it. Whatever.

Nobody ever mentions that ancient Israel as a political entity crashed and burned and was a failed almost extinct religion by the time that the emperor god Constantine or one of his committees resurrected the party line of the old religion to prop up another new designer religion based on one of the later prophets called Jesus who may or may not have existed around the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E..

Same thing with the History Channel constantly churning out WWII footage about how great and smart and powerful we (USA) were in defeating the Axis Powers. The obsession though I think in all this WWII history stuff now that 95% WWII veterans are dead is to show how to start an empire like Hitler. How easy it is to lie and destroy and hurt and kill 50 million people who directly and immediately indirectly died making his egotistical idea and dream building a temporary political reality. He coulda been a contender – woulda, coulda, shoulda.

Now where did he go wrong is a very real theme of these shows shown on cable channels owned by strange dark right wing billionaires who want their own little strange dark empires which they are a building at the expense of the greater good of all the people in a democracy?

Just saying. That obsession with the building of empires does not prevent them from eventually falling slowly or crashing and burning in plain sight for all to see.  I prefer the crash and burn method of downward spiral for tin plated political and financial gods who have no life outside of their selfish dreams and obsession and mental disorders such as Narcissism etc.

.

Scene From Independence Square - 3 Feb 1916 - Public Ledger 4 Feb 1916

 .

Tomeaphilia - Worship of Big Books (Idols) and Not Necessarily Their Contents = By Fundamentalist Christian and Islamic Religionists

Tomeaphilia - tome-a-phil-i-a - noun

Worship of Big Books (idols) and Not Necessarily Their Contents = by Fundamentalist Christian and Islamic Religionists 

(inspired, with a small "i", by a tweet regarding evangelical trolls by media personality John Fugalsang.)


.


.