Even though the title of this thread sounds controversial, it is anything but.
The word ‘heretic’ comes from the word heresy, which is etymologically rooted in the Greek (αἵρεσις ) ‘hairesis,’ meaning ‘choice,’ or ‘having the ability to choose.’ As choice is a fundamental criterion of freedom, the title of this thread literally translates; The World is in Desperate Need of Freedom Lovers!

The true meaning of the word was subverted by the early Christian Church father, Irenaeus (late 2nd Century), who changed its meaning and in the process gave birth to the praising of ignorance and consensus trance based belief structures. From Irenaeus’ famous tractate; Against Heresies, the word heresy became a negative accusation laid against anyone whose belief differed from the accusers’. This effectively neutralized the true meaning of the word and caused the kind of dichotomous thinking which has persisted to this day. The dichotomy between Orthodox, (true or right belief) Vs. Heretical/Heterodoxical, (wrong belief), even though rooted in the religious sphere has leaked into almost every aspect of modern thought. Science, Academia, Politics, Philosophy, even amongst the conspiracy movement itself!

The following is a little blurb I wrote on one of the world’s most renowned heretics. I hope you find inspiration in his heresy.

Giordano Bruno (1548-1600)

Giordano Bruno was a scientist, mathematician, philosopher, ex-Dominican Monk and an astronomer who, like Galileo, did his best to show that, the earth did in fact revolve around the sun and not vice versa, as the Church had erroneously taught its flocks for centuries. Unlike Galileo, he would not recant and was thus burnt at the stake by the Church in 1600.

Giordano Bruno is often considered to be the first martyr for science and free-thought.

No matter where he travelled, Bruno managed to offend the established authorities of his time. At Oxford University in England, he was expelled for challenging the philosophy of Aristotle, which at the time was deemed an offence mitigated only by the payment of a fine and an apology, both of which Bruno refused. Later, he was chased out of Helmstedt, Germany by the Lutherans for committing various heresies against their Protestant doctrines of faith. Although there were many other instances where Bruno came into disfavor with the authorities of his time, it was the Catholic Church who would eventually prove to be his inescapable accuser.

Both Bruno’s open-minded approach to the mysteries of life and his integrity caused him to be executed by the very church which he had dedicated much of his early life to.

Gaspar Schopp, a recently converted Catholic was present at Bruno’s trial and reported the list of charges laid against him as follows:

(1) Bruno's early doubts concerning and ultimate denial of the Transubstantiation, and of the virgin conception;

(2) The publication in London of the Bestia Trionfanti (‘The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast’), which was held to mean the Pope;

(3) The " horrible absurdities" taught in his Latin writings, such as;


• The infinite number of worlds,
• The transmigration of souls,
• The lawfulness and utility of magic,
• The Holy Spirit described as merely the soul of the world,
• the eternity of the world,
• Moses spoken of as an Egyptian working his miracles by magic in which he excelled other Egyptians and as having invented the Decalogue(Ten Commandments),
• The Holy Scriptures a fable,
• The salvation of the devil,
• The Hebrews alone descended from Adam and Eve, other peoples from the men created the previous day;
• Christ not God, but an illustrious magician, who deceived men, and on That account was properly hanged (impiccato} and not crucified;
• The prophets and apostles corrupt men, magicians, who were for the most part hanged.

Further, Schopp gave an account of Bruno’s death saying:

“At the stake he turned his eyes angrily away from the crucifix held before him. And so, adds Schopp, "he was burned and perished miserably, and is gone to tell, I suppose, in those other worlds of his fancy, how the blasphemous and impious are dealt with by the Romans.”


Most people look back at such instances of brutality, as being merely the result of an ignorant and superstitious age. But have we really changed all that much? The charge of heresy still persists in our modern and “more enlightened age”. Modern heretics may no longer be burnt at the stake, but they are still hunted down and destroyed, by one means or another.

The world is in desperate need of more truth seekers.... All depends on your definition of truth.

Nihilism--the belief that there is no Absolute Truth, that all truth is relative--
Or maybe it's four stages?
1) Liberalism - The Liberal does not believe in truth, higher truth, absolute truth, or Christian truth. Yet he retains “the name of truth, and the names of those truths men once regarded as absolute.”
2) Realism - The Realist aggressively denies all higher truth, he says that only the material, the physical, the lower, the purely deterministic, is true.
3) Vitalism - The Vitalist in turn reacts against the unbearably sterile world that has been created by the Liberal and the Realist. He seeks a revived meaning and vitality in life, but without challenging the Liberal’s and Realist’s assumptions about truth or seeking a restoration of the truths they have destroyed.
4) Destructionism - “a rage against creation and against civilization that will not be appeased until it has reduced them to absolute nothingness.”

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia Bruno was convicted for "for his theological errors, among which were the following: that Christ was not God but merely an unusually skilful magician, that the Holy Ghost is the soul of the world, that the Devil will be saved, etc." Frankly, to believe that the Church Inquisitors found him guilty of believing the Earth revolved around the sun is ludicrous.

So which truth to believe? If you can understand how and why Communist propaganda has been ongoing in this country for five decades - to create a society without Biblical morals and without God - then perhaps you could realise that all of the above "isms", including Catholicism today, has been created to mold minds and thoughts to humanISM. A tool used to indoctrinate people to the self and all is supposed "glory".

Bruno wasn't some "martyr to free thought", he was slaughtered by hypocritical men intent on keeping their version of religion because of greed and lust for power.

God is Truth. Nobody else.

Originally posted by WhoKnows100
The world is in desperate need of more truth seekers.... All depends on your definition of truth.

Nihilism--the belief that there is no Absolute Truth, that all truth is relative--
Or maybe it's four stages?
1) Liberalism - The Liberal does not believe in truth, higher truth, absolute truth, or Christian truth. Yet he retains “the name of truth, and the names of those truths men once regarded as absolute.”
2) Realism - The Realist aggressively denies all higher truth, he says that only the material, the physical, the lower, the purely deterministic, is true.
3) Vitalism - The Vitalist in turn reacts against the unbearably sterile world that has been created by the Liberal and the Realist. He seeks a revived meaning and vitality in life, but without challenging the Liberal’s and Realist’s assumptions about truth or seeking a restoration of the truths they have destroyed.
4) Destructionism - “a rage against creation and against civilization that will not be appeased until it has reduced them to absolute nothingness.”

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia Bruno was convicted for "for his theological errors, among which were the following: that Christ was not God but merely an unusually skilful magician, that the Holy Ghost is the soul of the world, that the Devil will be saved, etc." Frankly, to believe that the Church Inquisitors found him guilty of believing the Earth revolved around the sun is ludicrous.

So which truth to believe? If you can understand how and why Communist propaganda has been ongoing in this country for five decades - to create a society without Biblical morals and without God - then perhaps you could realise that all of the above "isms", including Catholicism today, has been created to mold minds and thoughts to humanISM. A tool used to indoctrinate people to the self and all is supposed "glory".

Bruno wasn't some "martyr to free thought", he was slaughtered by hypocritical men intent on keeping their version of religion because of greed and lust for power.

God is Truth. Nobody else.

Pretty sure I listed the charges against Bruno, one of which was promoting the Copernicum Solar System!

Thanks for introducing me to that dictionary. Here's a relevant entry:

faggot (1)
late 13c., "bundle of twigs bound up," from O.Fr. fagot "bundle of sticks" (13c.), of uncertain origin, probably from It. faggotto, dim. of V.L. *facus, from L. fascis "bundle of wood" (see fasces). Especially used for burning heretics (emblematic of this from 1550s), so that phrase fire and faggot was used to indicate "punishment of a heretic." Heretics who recanted were required to wear an embroidered figure of a faggot on their sleeve, as an emblem and reminder of what they deserved.

Originally posted by charles1952
Thanks for introducing me to that dictionary. Here's a relevant entry:

faggot (1)
late 13c., "bundle of twigs bound up," from O.Fr. fagot "bundle of sticks" (13c.), of uncertain origin, probably from It. faggotto, dim. of V.L. *facus, from L. fascis "bundle of wood" (see fasces). Especially used for burning heretics (emblematic of this from 1550s), so that phrase fire and faggot was used to indicate "punishment of a heretic." Heretics who recanted were required to wear an embroidered figure of a faggot on their sleeve, as an emblem and reminder of what they deserved.

Yeh! I recently learnt the origin of that F word some months back and it seems the fires are still ablaze, even in this more modern and "enlightened" age!

There are a lot of people who are discovering they've been driving their body with learners permits. What does this have to do with heretics? Once people start to see the reality they are in and start to open the mind to dissect everything they have been taught since birth, they will find the destruction of dogma.

Mythology has a place in humanity's archetypes. But much like slaves of old, most are slaves and they don't even know it. They have never been taught how the body programming really works. How everyone is made up of their beliefs. Beliefs can be input by others or discovered for the self. Either way the mind is programmed, feelings/senses are attached and action results. Through the programming of belief, actions result--maybe in a good christian (or other religion) life, maybe a life devoted to a cause, whatever. The point is we operate based on programs. Humans have been using a DOS like program in a Linux world as people are starting to discover things about how the body machine works. Unfortunately some christian brothers & sisters and anyone trapped in belief and dogma are the ones being left behind.

I am a proud heretic in the sense of having broken free from my own chains. There is no sin or salvation except by your own creation of it. Take ownership of your body-machine and get off the teet of religion. But only if you can! If you cannot operate through Christ's message of love and compassion and be able to harness ego, then by all means stay within the church's playpen.

The god I prayed to for forty years was destroyed in the process. My only prayer--wisdom, understanding and discernment. The message of Christ is to be Christ. And if you can't be Christ, then you are better off continuing to be dependent upon the church for your program as you obviously believe and accept the trap of sinful nature.

Operate your creation machine through the lens of love and compassion and understand the tremendous energy and potential that the body both transmits and transmutes and religion becomes a child's class.

So much good has come from the religious. And also a lot of bad. Hmmm--that pattern seems familiar and wow, it resembles a bell shaped curve--just like all of observable human phenomena. Society wants to silence and kill the outliers. It can't handle the mirrors of truth that life gives to those who look. There is one love. It is powerful and it can tune the body machine so your soul can sour in this existence.

Yeah, heretics are pretty cool. They cut through the bs and have empathy for the ones with the match trying to burn the witch. Ask yourself the impossible question: What is your own flat earth theory?

The answer can only be answered with an open mind and the willingness to explore the darkness and ego-pain of questioning beliefs and attachments.

There is evolution of consciousness and religion in its historical form is just one plateau. The blasphemy is that we are to become Christ. To operate the machine through love and compassion. Or not. Maybe your mission is to hole up somewhere and write or paint. Consciousness (soul/spirit/awareness) at some point must stop the insane thinking mind run amok. It re-assumes control and starts to throttle back the ego-driven mind. Over time and through self-awareness, using the world as a mirror, the attachments start to drop and awareness takes over bringing a true peace that surpasses all understanding.

Peace.

Merely might be the wrong word. I was a born again believer. I put my faith and life in god's hands. It's just that life experiences and observations started to contradict what the church taught. When god answers your prayer for wisdom, understanding and discernment by destroying himself--that's a tough spot to be in. Your entire belief system starts to crumble.

But it is the way it is supposed to be. At least for me. I could claim right now that I am Christ or a new Christ. Guess who would give me the most problems and maybe decide that a cross is best for me? Those trapped in dogma. The bible has a lot of insightful things to say about humanity and beliefs. It's unfortunate that it has become an oracle or I-Ching for believers to consult.

There is a time and place for religion for those who see its benefits. There is no doubt faith has kept people from destroying themselves and others. But it is much like when we keep knives from our kids. If one believes they are a sinner capable of any type of offense, their body machine accepts that instruction, and I am all for them staying within the safety and confines of the church or in a belief system that reigns in those impulses.

When people judge others, it is a reflection of what is going on inside. It is the ego defending belief. Emotions are attached so that when something arises that doesn't conform to the belief program, it results in feelings of irritation or anger or whatever.

If the crux of my post is that I am merely an unbeliever, then I have to accept the blinders of others and remember the words of Christ when he said, "They know not what they do."

The open mind holds no beliefs. It operates the body through awareness, wisdom and understanding. The ego is tamed and the mind quieted. Everything is a mirror. There is a peace that surpasses all understanding.

It was the Catholic churches teachings that were challenged by these heretics, who wanted to be and considered themselves Catholic. Lets not cloud the issue and imply these teachings cloud Christianity. They are just pagan teachings.
What I dont understand is why these so called learned, clever men wanted to be associated with the Catholic church in the first place.
The teachings were not in line with the bible, but many catholic teachings are not in line with the bible either. Your heretic conclusions are based on a Catholicism not Christianity.
If a Christian teaches outside of the bibles teachings its a heresy. If a pagan teaches paganism then its pagan teaching.
The bible teaches the world is spherical, Note, the Biblical Hebrew word for “circle” (חוג—chuwg) can also mean “round” or “sphere.”. Again your assumed Catholic teaching that the world is flat seems inaccurate. I find no solid evidence.

Simply put, if you deny Jesus you cant be a heretic
If you deny the virgin birth you cant be a Christian.

I'm not sure that anyone could really fathom or comply with the rules of the Current Paradigm completely. The idea seems to me to be the crushing of any other idea that comes to any sort of popularity that differs from the current structure. If someone becomes to prevalent and is therefore noticed by the authority, they will be destroyed by some mechanism that finds failing regardless of wether anyone understands or agrees with the rules or not.

For instance, currently Iran is being accused of "building a Bomb". It matters little that there is no hard evidence of this or that they may or may not be entitled to defending themselves or even if they have any sort of opinion about it. There is an agenda on the part of the antagonists that cries loudly that this is so and is then justification for radical action on their part. The absolute destruction follows in order to achieve the desired result, regardless of what anyone thinks or does about it.

Difference today is we do it rather with nations than with an individual.

It's been extremely popular to be heterodox, since at least the 1960s (or even since 1054 or 1517 or the two so-called Great Awakenings in the 1730s and 1800, or the Enlightenment of about 1751, or 1917- depending on which tack you take). In fact there are more proud so-called self-proclaimed heretics in this world than not these days. Those folks are already in the majority. So, if more are needed... Yeah, I'm failing to see the truth in your statement, OP.