I bought some books today.. But now I'm scared

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We hit the flea market today as we are oft want to do.. ;)

I got stuck the whole time we were there in one booth full of books on sale at 50% off..

I bought..

Prophecy - What lies ahead? Oswald J. Smith first edition 1943

The meaning and message of the book of Revelation Edward A. McDowell Copyright 1951

The revelation of Jesus Christ John F. Walvoord Copyright 1966

Islam Edited by John Alden Williams Copyright 1961

They were (religious books) all priced at $4.00 each and the 50% off dropped that to TWO bucks apiece.. Which I like..

Now those sort of books are extremely interesting to me due to all the historical fact buried within them as well as their romantic mystery on matters of long ago..

I can't get enough of that crap myself LMAO

However a "hobby" is a hobby right? If I happen to enjoy religious history it shouldn't be a problem I wouldn't think. Would you?

But then weird shiite began seeping into my brain..

I thought good Lord, what if, somehow, someone happened to think it was a suspicious selection of reading material / activity and make a phone call to the FBI or DHS?

Remember???

If you see something, say something

Factors such as race, ethnicity, national origin, or religious affiliation alone are not suspicious. For that reason, the public should report only suspicious behavior and situations (e.g., an unattended backpack in a public place or someone trying to break into a restricted area) rather than beliefs, thoughts, ideas, expressions, associations, or speech unrelated to terrorism or other criminal activity. Only reports that document behavior reasonably indicative of criminal activity related to terrorism will be shared with federal partners.

That doesn't sound "too bad" I guess.. Maybe someone can find a "touch of liberty" in it..

I wonder what the FBI defines as "suspicious behavior"?

For one I found this on my first look and I'm going to allow it to suffice as I don't want this post to be ridiculously long..

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Christian domestic terrorists: In 1999-OCT, the FBI announced the completion of the Megiddo Project - an intensive study of the potential for domestic terrorism in the new Millennium. A portion of the report's introduction deals with religiously motivated terrorists: 3 It is quoted below:
Interpretations of the Bible:
"Religiously based domestic terrorists use the New Testament�s Book of Revelation -- the prophecy of the endtime -- for the foundation of their belief in the Apocalypse. Religious extremists interpret the symbolism portrayed in the Book of Revelation and mold it to predict that the endtime is now and that the Apocalypse is near. To understand many religious extremists, it is crucial to know the origin of the Book of Revelation and the meanings of its words, numbers and characters."

The Book of Revelation was written by a man named "John" who was exiled by the Roman government to a penal colony - the island of Patmos - because of his beliefs in Christ. 4 While on the island, he experienced a series of visions, described in the Book of Revelation. The writing in the Book of Revelation is addressed to churches who were at the time experiencing or were threatened by persecution from Rome because they were not following the government. For this reason, some believe the Book of Revelation was written in code language, much of which was taken from other parts of the Bible.

"One interpretation describing the essence of the message contained in Revelation is that God will overcome Christianity's enemies (Roman Government/Satan) and that the persecuted communities should persevere. 5 For right-wing groups who believe they are being persecuted by the satanic government of the United States, the Book of Revelation's message fits perfectly into their world view. This world view, in combination with a literal interpretation of the Book of Revelation, is reflected in extremist ideology, violent acts, and literature. For this reason, it is imperative to know the meaning of some of the 'code words' frequently used:
Four (4) signifies the world.
Six (6) signifies imperfection.
Seven (7) is the totality of perfection or fullness and completeness.
Twelve (12) represents the twelve tribes of Israel or the 12 apostles.
One-thousand (1000) signifies immensity.
The color white symbolizes power and can also represent victory, joy and resurrection.
The color red symbolizes a bloody war.
The color black symbolizes famine.
A rider on a pale green horse is a symbol of Death itself.
'Babylon' is the satanic Roman Government, now used to describe the U.S. government." 6
"Black Hebrew Israelites, a black supremacist group, typify the use of numerology from the Book of Revelation. They believe group members will comprise the 144,000 people who are saved by God in the second coming that is outlined in Revelation (7:1-17). In the Book of Revelation, John is shown a vision of 144,000 martyrs who have survived and did not submit to Satan. This number is derived from the assertion that the twelve tribes of Israel consisted of 12,000 people each."

"Groups not only use the Bible to interpret the endtimes, but use it to justify their ideology. Phineas Priests, an amorphous group of Christian Identity adherents, base their entire ideology on Chapter 25 of the Book of Numbers. The passage depicts a scene where Phineas kills an Israelite who was having relations with a Midianite woman and God then granted Phineas and all of his descendants a pledge of everlasting priesthood. Modern day followers of the Phineas Priest ideology believe themselves to be the linear descendants of Phineas and this passage gives them biblical justification to punish those who transgress God's laws. Therefore, the group is ardently opposed to race mixing and strongly believes in racial separation. The number 25 is often used as a symbol of the group."


Apocalyptic Religious Beliefs:
"To understand the mind set of why religious extremists would actively seek to engage in violent confrontations with law enforcement, the most common extremist ideologies must be understood. Under these ideologies, many extremists view themselves as religious martyrs who have a duty to initiate or take part in the coming battles against Satan. Domestic terrorist groups who place religious significance on the millennium believe the federal government will act as an arm of Satan in the final battle. By extension, the FBI is viewed as acting on Satan's behalf."
"The philosophy behind targeting the federal government or entities perceived to be associated with it is succinctly described by Kerry Noble, a former right-wing extremist. He says the right-wing "envision[s] a dark and gloomy endtime scenario, where some Antichrist makes war against Christians." 7 The House of Yahweh, a Texas based religious group whose leaders are former members of the tax protesting Posse Comitatus, is typical: [Yisrayl] Hawkins (the leader) has interpreted biblical scripture that the Israeli Peace Accord signed on October 13, 1993, has started a 7-year period of tribulation which will end on October 14, 2000, with the return of the Yeshua (the Messiah). 8 He also has interpreted that the FBI will be the downfall of the House of Yahweh and that the Waco Branch Davidian raids in 1993 were a warning to The House of Yahweh from the federal government, which he terms 'the beast.' 9 Similarly, Richard Butler, leader of the white supremacist group Aryan Nations, said the following when asked what might have motivated the day care shooting by Buford O. Furrow, Jr., one of his group's followers: "There's a war against the white race. There's a war of extermination against the white male." 10



Conclusions:

The Book of Revelation appears to be ambiguous, and open to many interpretations. This severely weakens the concept of biblical inerrancy and the belief that God inspired the authors of the Bible to write books free of error and ambiguity.

Unfortunately, as in so many other important Christian beliefs there is no way to harmonize the diversity of Christian belief. Even within the evangelical wing of Christianity there are many conflicting opinions about fundamental beliefs. Some suggest that believers can pray to God to seek the correct interpretation from among the beliefs that have been suggested. Unfortunately, a pilot study that we performed appears to show that a person cannot assess the will of God through prayer.

Some interpretations of Revelation have led writers to prophesy catastrophic events in their own future. Fortunately none of their predictions have ever come true. We will have to wait to see in the prophecies about our future will materialize -- particularly those involving the winter solstice in 2012. But with a 100% failure rate to date, it is difficult to place much confidence about prophecies of events in our future.

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That covers three of the books I bought right there.. Two are specifically about the book of Revelation and the other on biblical prophecy in a more general sense..

I'm not even going to bother googling Islam and terrorism! LMAO

Hell what if someone simply reading this post considers my personal preference in reading material somewhat "suspicious"?

You know.. I'm 55 years old and I know for a fact that at one time in this country we at least had some semblance of freedom and liberty..

Jesus help us all, meaning humanity..

Every day now I become more and more convinced that we are quickly devolving into a police state..

Greg