Lions are the top cats of Africa!

1. Lions are the only social cats, living in groups called prides.

2. Male lions are the only cats with manes – a trait of which the origin and purpose has divided scientists

3. Living in prides helps lions survive in difficult times, proving particularly beneficial for the vulnerable young cubs that need protection.

4. Lion cubs have spots at birth that disappear with age.

5. In the pride, lionesses specialize in hunting whereas the big males’ function is to provide protection from outsiders.

6. Lions take down a variety of prey animals including gazelles, wildebeest, buffaloes and even elephants in certain parts of Africa (e.g. Botswana).

7. Lions do not like competition and frequently attack and kill fellow predators like leopards, hyenas and cheetahs.

8. Contrary to popular belief, recent research indicates male lions take part in 50-60% of hunts – particularly when it’s required to bring down larger prey.

9. Also there is increasing evidence that lions do scavenge and frequently attack hyenas to steal their kills.

10. Though not as notorious as tigers for man-eating, lions do at times resort to attacking people – displaying great cunning and bravery ~ as seen in the case of Tsavo man-eaters nearly a century ago.

11. A pride comprises of interrelated females and one to four adult males ~ young male lions are kicked out of the pride when they show signs of maturity.

12. These young males, known as nomads, then wander around, forming coalitions and surviving on their own until they reach enough strength and maturity to take over a pride of their own.

13. Lion is known as the king of beasts for his bravery and fighting skills!

Penang, a small yet beautiful state in Malaysia, situated on the northwest of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. Penang’s strategic location amidst Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia make it a famous tourism belt for South East Asia. This article is about tips where to stay, what to do, what to eat, what kids won’t forget and what parents won’t forget in Penang.

Where To Stay

Bayan Lepas has become an uprising leisure and tourism precinct in Penang. With development of infrastructure and expressway (Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu expressway) connected to key destinations within Penang, hotels and homestays service in this area have received an increasing demand. Bayan Lepas resides in the eastern coast of Penang island offers a number of leisure spots along the coastline to catch the panorama sea view of Bayan Lepas. There is also a special dedicated cycling lane along the coastline starts from Queensbay roundabout to George Town where cyclist can enjoy a breezy ride while appreciating the stunning evening skyline.

What To Do

Kek Lok Si Temple is one of the largest Buddhist temples in South-East Asia. It is also known as the Temple of Ten Thousand Buddha’s. The 7-tier Pagoda of 10,000 Buddha which dominates the temple is influenced by the architecture styles of the Thais, Burmese and Chinese. A beautiful Bronze Statue of the Goddess of Mercy overlooks the temple.

Next, you can take a tour to Penang Hill which is 833m above sea level and comprises several hills including Western Hill, Tiger Hill, Government Hill, Flagstaff Hill, Haliburton’s Hill and Strawberry Hill. Penang Hill is a fantastic landscape that offers beautiful panorama, unique plants, greenish nature and historical heritage. You can reach Penang Hill by taking the funicular train which operates daily from 6:30am to 10:00pm.

What To Eat

Penang Street Food is one of the major attractions to tourists coming to Malaysia. Being picked by World renowned travel guide publisher Lonely Planet as the top culinary spot for 2014, Penang Street Food has never disappointed the foodies. You have 100 fresh and must try food in Penang, including Char Koey Teow, Chee Cheong Fun, Nasi Kandar, Hokkien Mee, Penang Laksa, Mee Goreng, Cendol, Fried Oyster, Seafood, Wan Tan Mee, Ice Kacang, Roti Canai and many more.

What Kid’s Won’t Forget

The Escape is a new theme park in Penang and opened to public in 2012. The Escape re-introduces outdoor play of a childhood past in a contemporary setting through thought provoking activities and theme. Fun activities of this fun destination includes Atan’s Leap, gecko climbing tower, foxy burrow, zoom bug, Tarzan’s rope, coco climb, monkey business, tubby racer, Tot’s trail, discovery dig, dunk tank, serambi, flying lemur, jungle swinger and a lot more. This theme park is suitable for kids even below 4 and adults, senior citizen. So, it is a great place for family fun and outing. The opening times are Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00am to 6:00pm.

What Parents Won’t Forget

George Town, the capital city of Penang was named after King George III of England, is an interesting blend of the old and new. It is worth to note that Penang has one of the largest Colonial Buildings in South East Asia. The city explorer in George Town normally covers the Fort Cornwallis, built in 1808 which marks the spot where Sir Francis Light first landed on this island, Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower built in 1897 to commemorate Queen’s Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, State Assembly buildings, Cathedral of the Assumption, Goodness of Mercy Temple, Mahamariamman Temple and many more.

Happy Homestay Malaysia is an Owner-direct vacation rental website featuring homestay accommodation in Penang and instantly bookable by secure PayPal payment. Visit Happy Homestay Malaysia to experience the cultural heritage, natural beauty and delicious food in Penang.

The fox in “The Little Prince” said “Words are a source of misunderstanding.” Who invented words? Would we all be better off if words had never been invented? Surely without words there would be no Holy Bibles commanding the group members to kill all non group members for eternal paradise, no cars, no nuclear weapons and no credit default swaps. When was the last time you saw our ancestors the apes going hungry because of derivatives?

Many English words have numerous meanings. The question arises, when someone took a word that meant one thing and gave it a new meaning, why didn’t someone say, “You can’t give it that meaning because it already means…” The word “peace” has several meanings, not including the meanings of the word “piece”. The word “peace” spawned several new words like “pious” and “peyes”.

“Peace” means freedom from war or a stopping of war, a treaty or agreement to end war or the threat of war, freedom from public disturbance or disorder, public security, law and order, freedom from disagreement or quarrels, harmony, concord, an undisturbed state of mind, absence of mental conflict, serenity, calm, quiet and tranquility. Have you ever listened to your own mind’s thoughts? If a war is going on inside of each of our own heads then how can we ever come to a state of agreement between two people, or large groups of people?

This week a riot broke out at the Shawarma King Jewish Kosher Restaurant in Brooklyn when a Rabbi noticed a non kosher hot dog on the grill. It was like when the chocolate bar aka doody got tossed into the pool at the Bushwood Country Club during caddy swim in “Caddyshack.” A hundred peyes wearing men went nuts, and the owner of the restaurant fought back with an electric knife. Like Bill Murray in Caddyshack cleaning the pool in his haz mat outfit, the Shawarma King Restaurant threw out the equipment that came in contact with the non kosher hot dog.

The Old Testament, the Holy Scripture of Judaism, Christianity and Islam is filled with commandments to eat only Kosher food. Jesus Christ, the Jewish born Rabbi and Messiah of Christianity and Islam said, “It is not what goes into a person’s mouth that makes them unclean, but what comes out of the person’s mouth.” With all due respect to the creator of the universe, today Dr. Rashmi Sinha and his fellow researchers at the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Md., discovered that eating red meat significantly increased the chances of heart disease, cancer and a short lifespan.

In response to the findings, the Jewish commissioner of Major League Baseball Allan Huber “Bud” Selig announced that henceforth baseball was banning hot dogs from all major league parks and switching to veggie dogs. The Fed was close to follow suit. Right hander Curt Schilling said, “I can deal with shoulder surgery and bleeding through my socks, but this is ridiculous; I’m outta here.”

The 2010 soccer aka football World Cup is scheduled to be played in South Africa. This Friday marked the opening of a peace conference in Johannesburg. All of the still living Nobel Peace Prize winners were invited to attend the meeting to discuss how soccer can fight racism and xenophobia. Xenophobia is fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything foreign or strange, like payot.

Unfortunately the soccer peace conference has now been cancelled because South Africa refused to issue a visa card to the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize Winner the Dali Lama. The conference was being hosted by Nobel Peace Prize Winners Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and FW de Klerk. The Nobel Laureates couldn’t even agree to meet. They have painted the head of the loving and peaceful religion of Buddhism as a part of the axis of evil.

The reason that the Dalai Lama and his Buddhist disciple Tiger Woods have been banned from South Africa is because China, which holds the mortgage on the United States of America told South Africa that if they allowed the Dalai Lama into the country, they would ban all sales of won ton soup to the African nation. Wonton are dumplings filled with pork. Commissioner Selig also banned the sale of wonton in all major league parks for fears of igniting riots in the stands.

Earlier this year the Dali Lama said that China had turned Tibet into a “Hell on Earth.” Human beings display an astonishing lack of foresight. Our advent into space has just begun and already we have so polluted outer space that millions of garbage projectiles are now orbiting the earth and it is too risky to shoot space shuttles into space without getting knocked out by our own garbage. Two space walking astronauts had to go outside this week to repair the damage to the Endeavor caused by a plastic wrapper from Chicago Style Hot Dogs. Watch Gretchen Wilson dressed as a hot dog catcher singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” before China forecloses on us, shuts down baseball and bans the Dali Lama from entering our country:

I flew back to New York from Atlanta a few weeks ago and picked up ‘Business 2.0’ magazine for the flight.

It was an excellent issue, but something so grabbed my attention that I ripped out the page because I wanted to share it with you.

As many of you know, I used to be the ‘King of Procrastination and being scattered’. That was me for about 7-8 years.

Those were tough times.

You see, because of those years where I was ‘all over the place’, I’m so committed right now to being focused and helping others become more focused.

To me, ‘Whoever has the strongest focus wins.’

Focus is everything.

So, I’m reading the magazine and there’s an interview with Meg Whitman, the CEO of EBay, about growing a business.

Because I admire successful businesses and people, I digged in and started to read.

Here’s what really caught my attention and I wanted you to read this also:

Question to Meg Whitman:

“eBay is an amazing growth machine. What were the key decisions you made that set up the company for this kind of hyperthyroidism?”

CEO of eBay, Meg Whitman:

“The key decisions can all be characterized by focus, focus, focus. Back in March 1998, we were faced with a decision on what categories we wanted to focus on.

We decided to really be a collectibles company The heaviest users were collectors, the heaviest sellers were collectors. It was a very explicit strategic decision, because part of the group wanted to go into consumer electronics and all of these categories we are in today.”

And we answered, “We have only a limited number of resources. What is the best focus that we can have?”

End.

Wow.

Focus, focus, focus.

My whole financial life changed when I started to FOCUS.

Read the last sentence that Meg Whitman said above.

Ask yourself it this way:

“I only have a limited number of resources. What is the best focus I can have?”

Meg Whitman is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. What do Meg, Tiger, Oprah, and Stephen Spielberg all know?

You need to FIND YOUR FOCUS and TAKE ACTION.

eBay’s now one of the most successful companies in the world.

Let’s ignite your success today.

You in?

Talk to you soon.

Mike Litman

www.mikelitman.com

www.greatnessheldhostage.com

As India is blessed with a vast variety of wildlife, the authorities have made a number of wildlife sanctuaries in India, spread all over the country. One of the most well-known of all these is Sunderbans National Park in West Bengal, home to most ferocious big cats. Enthusiasts interested in knowing about these mammals, opt for India wildlife tours. This forest stretches itself in West Bengal, India and Bangladesh, rich in agriculture but out of human’s reach. Due to climatic challenges, the tigers here are known to be man-eaters.

There is a legend behind this mighty forest, called the Bon Bibi (the lady of the forest) legend. This story becomes the connection between human beings and nature, which also tells, how important it is to control greediness. Not known outside the Sundarbans but the local theatre companies (Jatra-dol’-s in Bengali) move from village to village enacting it, during the worshiping days of Bon Bibi.

It is true that the manner in which the goddess is worshiped is Hindu but the ritual starts by saying, Bismillah, a Muslim word. According to the legend, Bon Bibi and her brother Shah Jongoli are not from Bengal or from Hindu mythology. They had taken birth to Sufi fakir Ibrahim who lived in Medina, which is the holiest city in Islam. They were set on a godly mission by the Archangel Gabriel so that they can make the land, earlier full of tides, fit for human living. They say, Bon Bibi always dressed like a rural Bengal housewife. Irrespective of religious differences in her origin and dressing, she is worshipped in all sects.

The story says, the demon king, Dokhin Rai always hungry for human flesh, ruled the jungle, and appeared like a tiger himself. After coming to the jungle, Bon Bibi defeats him, finally boundaries got made within within the jungle for human settlement, known as the territory of Bon Bibi and the territory of Dokhin Rai, ruling the wilderness. This treaty gets disrupted when Dhona, a greedy fleet owner enters Rai’s territory to look for treasure in the forest. The demon catches the troop but to get released, Dhona asks to deliver him a boy, named Dukhey, the last one to join him as ransom.

Dhona frees his fleet, giving away Dukhey to be eaten up by Dokhin Rai. As the demon, in the form of a tiger gets ready to pounce on him, Dukhey remembers the advice of his mother which was about calling Bon Bibi and asking her to save him from any kind of a difficulty. He calls the goddess, who arrives within a second, teaching the demon a lesson and throwing him away into his territory. She then takes care of the health of the boy and sends him back to his mother.

If you want to get a feel of the same legend then you must visit Sunderban National Park. As per the legend, it is important that a proper order should be maintained between the nature and humanity so that things take place normally along with restoring faith. Till today, no native enters into the jungle without asking Bon Bibi for her blessing. They still believe that Dokhin Rai in the form of a tiger lives there. The locals also believe that if a man gets killed by a tiger, it might have been his own fault as he might have acted greedily in any manner.

The new Chinese Year of the Pig starts 5th February 2019. Each animal in the Chinese zodiac is divided into elements with slightly different characteristics – this new yin year is an Earth Pig. A joyous year of energy and fortune, bringing stability, flexibility, modesty and intuition.

If you are a Pig

Traditionally, characteristics of the year mirror that of its zodiac animal. Pigs are curious, mischievous, tolerant, generous and clever. They also have patience and understanding. Pigs’ in their own year are usually unlucky, requiring hard work and discipline to avoid problems.

However, if you are a pig, stay calm, protect your wealth, and 2019 may be positive. Correct weaknesses and attract good luck by attending happy events. Likewise, avoid hospitals, graveyards, gluttony and loneliness.

Your perfect partner is a tiger, rabbit or goat – you are least harmonious with a pig, snake or monkey person. Best jobs are in charity, teaching, acting, health care or beauty.

Predictions for this Year of the Pig

The pig is the last animal in the 12-year Chinese zodiac, bringing festivity and time to reflex at the end of the cycle. This feeling of abundance and lightness generates positive energy, but also financial problems, so invest causally and keep all administration up to date.

Pig year’s usher in times of plenty – business in commerce and transport will thrive, as will intellectual trades. Everyone will be busier and more open-minded. International relationships, although delicate, will improve, especially in the Middle East. However, terrorism remains, and new political figures emerging bring rebellion.

There will be road, water and air accidents. Heavy rain could bring flooding, and mining disasters are common in pig years. Corruption and sexual scandal will increase, with more cunning crime, especially online.

Pig Years

If you were born during these dates, then you are a Pig: 16/02/23 to 04/02/24, 04/02/35 to 23/01/36, 22/01/47 to 09/02/36, 22/01/47 to 09/02/48, 08/02/59 to 27/01/60, 27/01/71 to 24/02/72, 13/02/83 to 01/02/84, 31/01/95 to 18/02/96, 18/02/07 to 06/02/08, 05/02/19 to 24/01/20, 23/01/32 to 10/02/32.

Famous Pig People

Alan Sugar, Alfred Hitchcock, Amy Winehouse, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carlos Santana, Chiang Kai-shek, Dudley Moore, Elton John, Ernest Hemingway, Henry Ford, Humphrey Bogart Jerry Lee Lewis, Julian Assange, King Henry VIII, Mick Fleetwood, Noel Coward, Ronald Reagan, Stephen King, Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen

Pig Likes

Colours: red, white, yellow, grey, brown. Birthstone: agate & ruby. Western zodiac equivalent: Scorpio. Lucky numbers: 2, 5 & 8.

Amravati is a well known tourist destination situated in the Indian State of Maharashtra. Both Hindu and Non-Hindu tourists flock to this place all through the year because the city houses some of the ancient temples, surrounded by beautiful lakes and forests.

Goddess Ambadevi is the most venerated deity in this city with the temple located in the heart of the city. You will be enriched with more facts about Amravati as you read on. The whole city has a kind of an old world charm to it. The city is famous for its temples, lakes, tiger reserves and a wildlife sanctuary.

The Ambadevi Temple is the main attraction of this town as it draws huge numbers of devotees visit the temple every day. Legend has it that the city got its name from Lord Indra, the king of Gods. There are various other activities that you can do in Amravati apart from visiting temples. You can go for boating and picnics at the Chhatri Talao, a lake on the outskirts of the city. Another interesting aspect about Amravati is its tiger reserves; one of the few in the country. The reserve houses quite a number of Royal Bengal Tigers.

Good transportation network exists from Amravati to the neighboring cities and districts. The nearest airport is in Nagpur and the railway station is located within the city. Buses ply to and from the city to the neighboring places. Another simmering fact about Amravati is its heat! The summers are too hot to venture out with hot winds blowing. So it’s advisable to visit this city in the winter months from October to March when the temperatures are a bit cooler. It is during these winter months that the city receives an influx of tourists, both from India and abroad.

With the cotton industry gaining rapid growth in this region, the economy is in a boom. Major revenue comes from the huge exports of cotton and some other commercial goods. Marathi, Hindi and English are the major languages spoken here though Marathi is more prominent.

Another interesting fact about Amravati is that the whole city is situated between two rivers; Purna River on the west and Wardha River on the east. At the outset, the whole city is quite picturesque with hilly surroundings. Staying in Nagpur which is quite close is the best option for tourists. It is truly an exhilarating experience to visit this place.

Because six new players were enshrined in Cooperstown over the weekend, many baseball broadcasts have included discussions about the current inductees as well as possible future inductees. During one particular game, an analyst praised the fact that two of the new Hall of Famers spent their entire careers with just one team.

He was referring of course to Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones and Detroit Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell. Jones received 410 of 422 votes during his first year of Hall eligibility, while Trammell was elected by the Veterans Committee.

The point was made that baseball fans may not for at least another decade see even a single one-year player reach Cooperstown, much less two of them. The announcer identified two certain future inductees, Albert Pujols and Adrian Beltre, who each have played for several different teams.

A cursory look at other stars nearing retirement, however, seems to indicate that we will indeed soon see another one-year player. Indeed, there could be two or more.

Here is a list of likely or highly possible one-team players who could be enshrined in Cooperstown after they leave the field.

Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals

This guy is a no-brainer for Hall of Fame induction in his first year of eligibility, no matter what his offensive statistics are. He has been the premier catcher for almost two decades, has led the Redbirds to multiple World Series appearances, been selected as a perennial All-Star,and remains one of the best clutch hitters in all of baseball.

Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners

Closing in on his fourteenth season King Felix is likely to amass two hundred wins by the time he hangs it up, which is far short of the coveted three hundred mark that guarantees enshrinement. His era, however, makes it nearly impossible to get more than fifteen victories per year, so that fact in addition to a Cy Young Award and six All-Star games might land him a plaque.

Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds

His lengthy contract almost ensures that the Canadian will finish his playing days at Great American Ball Park, and his numbers are approaching HOF statistics.

Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins

The native Minnesotan has declined since winning the Most Valuable Player Award as Twins catcher, which could hurt his chances to get into the Hall. Plus, because he is at the end of his current contract with his home town team, Mauer could be dismissed from this list if he signs elsewhere next year.

Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants

Ten years into his career the catcher is a six time All-Star with both a Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Award, but it might be his three World Series Championships that eventually get him to Cooperstown.

1. Lion Pride

Lions tend to be quite social. They live in family groups called prides. A pride contains between 10 and 15 lions, most of which are females and cubs. Male lions, on the other hand, make up just a fifth of a pride, on average.

2. Game of Thrones

A lion’s reign as a pride’s leader is short, lasting between two to four years. Only the strongest male lion can rule a pride, but that means that he needs to be on constant watch to defend his position.

When the lion king gets older and weaker, younger lions challenge him for the position of pride leader. It’s not unusual if several lions (usually siblings) join forces to overthrow the leader of the pride. Once that happens, the new leader usually kills all of the cubs fathered by the former leader.

3. Gender Roles

Male lions may not seem like very good hunters, at first glance. In fact, they prefer to sleep, play, and groom instead of doing hard work. Female lions are the ones with the role of feeding the family. Compared to male lions, lionesses are more agile and a bit faster, making them more adept for hunting. They usually chase down prey of about 250 pounds, using intelligent hunting tactics.

Male lions, on the other hand, mostly hunt during the years when they are alone, searching for their own pride. They are incredibly powerful, and can often take down prey that otherwise requires 4 or 5 lionesses.

4. Lionesses

Lionesses work together when hunting in order to catch the best possible prey. Once they get it, they will often allow the pride’s leader to feast first. During the hunt, one lioness usually stays in the pride to take care of the cubs. Every lioness that’s lactating will allow any cub to nurse, regardless of who the mother is.

5. Lion’s Duties

Most of the day, the pride’s leader doesn’t do anything but sleep and eat. A male lion will spend between 16 and 20 hours a day sleeping. The rest he uses for guarding the territory, which is his main role. The leader lion will mark his territory by urinating, so other lions can sense his presence. In the case of an intruder, he will roar and try to chase them or fight, if the need arises.

6. Lunch

Lions eat twice a week on average, but those meals are huge. An average portion for male lions accounts for one-tenth of their weight, which is about 40 pounds. Such a large amount of food needs to be digested so right after lunch lions go to sleep, a rest that can last for over a day. Their favorite dishes include zebras and antelopes.

7. Mating

Lionesses often synchronize breeding, so they could take care of all their cubs at once. They can be in heat for about 4 or 5 days, during which period they mate with a lion between 2 and 4 times per hour. That means that the male will often copulate over 100 times each day.

8. Lion’s Roar

Lions roar as a way of communicating with each other, but the loudest roars are heard when they’re angry. An enraged lion protecting his territory can be heard roaring from a 5-mile distance.

9. Cubs

The average litter size is 3 to 4 lion cubs. Newborns are vulnerable to predators like hyenas and leopards, so at least one lioness is always with them. Cubs remain with their mothers until two and are taught hunting. When they are around 11 months old, lionesses will start bringing them live prey to help them practice hunting.

10. Hybrids

Lions can mate with other members of the Pantherinae subfamily and produce offspring. The hybrid cross between a lion and a tigress is liger, which is the biggest of all cats. Tigon is a cross between a lioness and a male tiger while the cross of a lioness and a male jaguar is called jag lion.

One of the many examples of bad behavior in Mistakes Were Made (but not by me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson is Oprah Winfrey’s public support of A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, which was a literary fraud. It was a mistake any talk show host could make, but Oprah tried to justify her mistake on the Larry King show and made a number of irrational statements, such as “truth isn’t important.” Tavris and Aronson say there is a “pyramid of choice” that King and Winfrey were on top of because they had similar moral values. After Winfrey made her mistake, however, she descended into a position of moral inferiority. Her subsequent public apology drew much praise because it is so unusual for people to admit they made a mistake.

The authors analyze this kind of behavior with the theory of cognitive dissonance, which has “inspired more than 3,000 experiments that, taken together, have transformed psychologists’ understanding of how the human mind works” (location 226). The theory is that Oprah suffered mentally and emotionally because her idea that the book was good was inconsistent with reality, and she diminished her suffering (at first) by making self-justifying statements. The following quote from a famous psychoanalyst shows that anxiety or stress can inhibit a person from thinking intelligently and rationally:

Let us consider for example, a person listening to a paper and having critical thoughts about it. A minor inhibition would consist in a timidity about expressing the criticism; a strong inhibition would prevent him from organizing his thoughts, with the result that they would occur to him only after the discussion was over, or the next morning. But the inhibition may go so far as not to permit the critical thoughts to come up at all, and in this case, assuming that he really feels critical, he will be inclined to accept blindly what has been said or even to admire it; and he will be quite unaware of having any inhibitions. In other words, if an inhibition goes so far as to check wished or impulses there can be no awareness of its existence. (The Neurotic Personality of Our Time, Karen Horney, M.D., New York: Norton, 1937, p. 55 )

In religion, there are three fundamental truths that cause anxiety or cognitive dissonance: 1) The existence of God. 2) The Resurrection of Jesus. 3) The non-authenticity of the Shroud of Turin.

Existence of God

We know that God exists because of the arguments of Thomas Aquinas and Ètienne Gilson: Finite beings (humans) exist. Finite beings need a cause. Ergo, an infinite being (God) exists. You can see that this argument is actually a proof by considering the question of whether or not humans have free will.

Evidence for free will is that slavery is illegal, but it is not illegal to own animals and breed them for food. This might suggest that people who think humans do not have free will have bad judgment. However, there is no need to make a decision about this question. No one is arguing that slavery should be legalized because humans are no better than animals. It does not show poor judgment to speculate about whether or not humans have free will and to play the devil’s advocate by promoting the philosophy called positivism. However, concerning the question of God’s existence, there is a decision that has to be made: Is there life after death? Will we pay for our sins after we die? It is because of the need to make this decision that one’s statements and thoughts about God’s existence can reflect poorly on one’s character.

The following four statements are knowledgeable, intelligent, rational, and honest ways to justify deciding that life ends in the grave:

1) God has not given me the gift of faith. 2) The concept of God is contradictory. 3) If God cared about our welfare, He would not cause so much suffering. 4) The argument for God’s existence is not persuasive.

It is irrational to say, “I don’t believe in life after death, because God does not exist.” When a person says this they are going down the “pyramid of choice” for the sake of self-justification. The statement is absurd because it makes no sense to consider whether there is life after death if God does not exist and to consider whether or not God exists if you are not trying to decide if there is life after death.

Resurrection of Jesus

The Resurrection of Jesus is an historical event. The followers of Jesus dispersed in fear and disappointment after the crucifixion but renewed their fellowship within a few years and swore up and down that Jesus appeared to them after he died.

The faith of Christians is that Jesus is alive in a new life with God and if you follow Jesus the same good thing can happen to you. There is a gap between this belief and the historical event. This gap is widened because there are many presumably knowledgeable, intelligent, rational, and honest people who do not believe in life after death.

This does not cause me any stress because I understand that most non-believers are not knowledgeable because they don’t know the argument for God’s existence. They are not intelligent because they don’t understand why humans are embodied spirits. With the exception of Jean-Paul Sartre, who said “man is a useless passion,” they are not rational about the meaning of life. They are not honest because they use the spurious refutation: “Who made God?”

Many Christians alleviate the stress by asking what caused the Resurrection of Jesus. This question can’t be answered because the gospels were written many years after the Resurrection. But if you assume the question is a good one, it justifies inventing hypotheses to answer the question. The two most common hypotheses are: 1) The followers of Jesus were hallucinating. 2) There occurred a bodily coming-to-life of Jesus, that is, a video camera could have recorded the event. The next step is to assume a high probability for the resurrection theory and low probability for hallucination theory. These probability assumptions are accompanied with the explanation that those who don’t agree are materialists, agnostics, or atheists. This reasoning transforms faith in Jesus is into an historical event, albeit only a probable event. The gap between this highly probable event and faith is closed with the idea of a “leap of faith.” The net result, however, is self-justification and putting non-believers on a low level of the “pyramid of choice.”

The Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin contains a blood-stained image of the front of Jesus and the back of Jesus. It is clearly the work of craftsmen or artists who used a crucified victim or volunteer and methods that have been lost to history to tell the gospel stories about the crucifixion of Jesus. The evidence the Holy Shroud never touched Jesus is the unusual dimensions of the linen cloth, the non-speared blood stains, and the existence of a detailed image. The Holy Shroud is a sign or reason to believe in Jesus, but many Christians prefer to think it is evidence supporting the theory of the bodily Resurrection of Jesus.