chapter 01

James isn’t the storyteller like Paul. He keeps things simple. More like a handbook on how to be. In case someone can’t figure it out on his or her own. And this is the basic problem the world faces. Almost no one can decide how to be. And this leaves us susceptible to being told how to be. And religion has been the driving force in manipulating minds for four or so thousand years.

vs. 3: for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure. EQ.

“Or, if you climb the stairs, you get to the next floor.”

“Or if you go down the street, you come to the store.”

vs. 6: Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown about by the wind. EQ.

This is true enough. Doubt is the devil that haunts us. Doubt is what holds us back from doing what we think we can do to contribute to our own lives and to the greater community. And as in now stands. Bash through the grand lies that are propagated through the media and religion. Doubt is what allows us to give up and let someone else tell us what to believe and how to be.

“You want to tell them it was an inside job.”

“America has been under siege from inside for a very long time.”

vs. 14: But a person is tempted when he is drawn away and trapped by his own evil desires. EQ.

Or better said, when a person accepts the desires sold to him or her. If a person was aware of his or her own desires, if a person followed his or her own dreams, we would beat the buggers of tyranny.

vs. 18: By his own will he brought us into being through the word of truth, so that we should have first place among all his creatures. EQ.

Let’s update this a little. ‘By his or her own will he or she will be freed from dependence on marketing forces of various nature.’ Truth, of course, is relative and can’t be nailed down. And first place among the creatures is new for us. Evolution and our will to survive have made us into a new creature. The beast angels. And is has given us a grand advantage. If we want to keep this advantage, we must take on the responsibility that comes with it. And we need to love it. And dance in it. Embrace our evolution given will and work it. Or play with it. Which is often the same if one knows one’s will and does what must be done to be doing what one wills.

“What responsibility.”

“Protect the planet from assholes with Gold Fever. And asteroids.”

Or go the way of the dinosaurs.


chapter 02

Vs. 1: My brothers, as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, you must never treat people in different ways according to their outward appearance. EQ.

Now never mind being a believer of anything. And this will be a good piece of advice.

vs. 6: ... Who are the ones who oppress you and drag you before the judges? The rich! EQ.

And they use the law to fuck with you. The assholes. They come with a piece of paper with stamps on it and promise the police with their guns come next to take you to jail. Should you not sell one of your children to pay the fine. This is one of the ways the rich make themselves richer. Not by giving a service but by making a plethora of laws so that there is always a way to steal money from the poor to make certain they stay in debt and crippled by it. The poor ask for very little in comparison.

“So what does one do when a lawyer comes with a piece of paper with a stamp on it demanding payment of a large sum based on random charges for his time to make that piece of paper.”

“Kill him and buried him 26 feet deep.”

“Why 26 feet deep.”

“Down deep, lawyers ain’t too bad.”

Just to be clear, we are not really condoning the killing of lawyers and priests.

“What about the overlords of the war and plunder machine.”

“Ask me later.”

vs. 16: What good is there in your saying to them, “God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!” - if you don’t give them the necessities of life? EQ.

And even better, assist them, the poor, in becoming self-sufficient. Simply throwing money at poor nations helps the poor very little for the money gets hung up in the political system. Almost all of it. So that it becomes the goal of someone in a poor nation to get involved in politics rather than actually do anything that might bring more than just the politicians out of poverty.

Vs. 21: How was our ancestor Abraham put right with God? It was through his actions, when he offered his son Isaac on the alter. EQ.

“Oh, James, let us stop this propagation of brutal lies.”

This ancestor worship nonsense must go. Abraham was not important. Not wise and not very nice. So let’s stop pretending it is God’s will to burn children.

It ain’t. Not your own and not those of your randomly chosen enemy.

Vs. 25: It was the same with the prostitute Rahab. She was put right with God through her actions, by welcoming the Israelite spies and helping them to escape by a different road. EQ.

James is trying to convince us that proclaiming one has faith is of little use, and we agree, in fact we would say no use, if not accompanied by action. Nothing against prostitutes, for we all are in some way prostitutes, and even if we weren’t, it is a business much older than religion and for many the only way to earn a little money. It is a simply supply and demand question.

“Or a big whack of money.”

Anyhow, the point is, the Israelites are far from holy. Holy terror is what they are. Not to point them out over other warring nations or wandering armies but Rahab did a service to the Israelite murder force. Not God. And like James tell us, we should no judge the poor because there don’t wear a gold Star of David. Israel needs to come to the table for peace talks, for fuck sake, after a few thousand years, and stop their terrorizing of their neighbors who have been imprisoned not so unlike the Amerindians. It is pointless to say one side is terrorist and the other not. War is a bloody mess and the poor don’t have the advantage of advanced weapons. Advanced weapons use is still terror.

“Why you always picking on the Jews.”

“Because they are the over dogs. And abuse their bullshit history to justify their vile deeds.”

“You won’t say they didn’t suffer in the second world war.”

“The common Jews certainly did. It is, however, no matter what fucking bullshit tradition they have written, not justification for eternal war. It is a smoke screen. And they did get a free pass to their promised by themselves land. Like little brats screaming for candy until Mommy finally gives in. So they came out looking not bad, although it can be argued if it has really help any but the military to invade Palestine. It might have been better for the Jewish people to go to anywhere else where they most likely would have been a lot more welcomed. Like a piece of land in Africa or America. Give them half of Utah or Bavaria. Or even better, just drop the bullshit story and be part of whatever land they are in like most Jews do. Promised land. Fucking hell. We got to get over our differences so that we learn to share the land that until we came along didn’t have imaginary boarders.”


chapter 03

Most raping of children happens in the home.

Vs. 1: My brothers, not many of you should become teachers. As you know, we teachers will be judge with greater strictness than others. EQ.

This is not good advice. We should all be students and teachers. Children even at an early age have things to teach anyone willing to pay attention. Learn and teach. There is a big difference between preaching and teaching. Teaching is the better way.

vs. 6: And the tongue is like a fire. EQ.

James would have us believe this is a bad thing but it is neither good nor bad. A fire in a stove heats the room and cooks our food.

vs. 8: But no one has ever been able to tame the tongue. It is evil and uncontrollable, full of deadly poison. EQ.

A tongue is a beautiful thing. Ask a sex organ. What James means is the words we chose to use. And it is true that there are times when some vile words come out of the mouth. It ain’t the tongue’s fault. Often it is frustration. Sometimes ignorance. It is also not a bad idea to know how to listen and be prepared to accept some words and reject others.

Vs. 12: A fig-tree, my brothers, cannot bear olives; a grapevine cannot bear figs, nor can a salty spring produce sweet water. EQ.

“And what does that tell us.”

“Nothing.”

vs. 16: Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is also disorder and every kind of evil. EQ.

This is pretty damn true. Especially of jealousy. True selfishness is not the same as being greedy. If one wants what is best for one’s self one will not put one’s self above those who share the here and now. For we are dependant on one another for our survival and pleasures in life. We are not spiders. We are a social creature.

“A spider cannot bear turnips.”

“A carrot cannot bear bears.”

“A Jew cannot bear Gentiles.”

“Ah, but she can. Jesus Christ was a Gentile.”

vs. 18: And goodness is the harvest that is produced from the seeds the peacemakers plant in peace. EQ.

And peace comes when the business of war is replaced but any other business.

“Any suggestions.”

“Space travel. Renewable energy. Research and development of sustainable systems free from dictatorship and centralized mega-concerns.”


james chapters 04 - 05