Hello Steve,  
  
SA> The image of the beast may not be autonomous, but to fulfil   
SA> its "job description" it must be (a) able to speak, and   
SA> (b) able to kill all those who refuse to worship it.   
  
I'm going to wing this one without taking a close look at the  
relevant passages.  My first inclination is to say that you've  
misinterpreted something.  Nebuchadnezzar made an image, a statue,  
or idol, and, if I understand it correctly, demanded people   
worship it, or they were to be put to death.  It wasn't the idol,  
that was doing the killing.  It was the king or his men.  So...  
I'm inclined to think that Nebuchadnezzar might be viewed as   
"King of Babylon" who creates the "image of the beast"
to which   
everyone must pay tribute.. or face death.    
  
Taking that into the modern day, it has NOTHING to do with Saddam   
Hussein.  NOTHING.  He can't force the world to pay tribute to   
any "image of the beast."    
  
SA> Since it is the second beast who gives life to the image of  
SA> the beast & empowers it to speak & to kill,   
  
I don't know what kind of parlor trick Nebuchadnezzar used to make  
his statue, his idol, talk, but I doubt it was anything as   
sophisticated as the animatronics at Disneyland.  Nor do I think   
it would be as convincing today, in an era when movies are made  
to appear as though they were filmed in a galaxy, far, far away.  
Nebuchadnezzar's idol probably wouldn't impress us as much as   
an R2D2.    
  
SA> it is reasonable to assume that the second beast gives directions   
SA> to the image as to what it is to speak & how it is to kill,   
  
More like put words in the mouth of the image!  That's what  
Nebuchadnezzar would have to have done.  He would have used some kind   
of contraption to make it appear as though the big idol was speaking.  
I read that this was done in other temples as well.  I think you've  
lost perspective on what these passages were describing.  Now, if you  
were to try to interpret them in terms of what is achievable today,  
I suppose you could create a killer robot and program it to speak,  
but you'd still be putting the words into its mouth.  It will remain  
that way until AI enables robots to do this without the aid of humans.  
BUT I don't see that as happening any time soon.  Further, I don't   
think that's what these passages in Revelation are describing.  I   
think they're talking about creating a god, fooling the world into   
believing that, and forcing people to worship or face death.  But   
not at the hands of some robot.  These passages sound more like the  
kind of force a Roman Empire might use to get everyone on the "same  
page."    
  
MT> And, if it need not be so, perhaps there's no need to look for a  
MT> golem brought about through some mystical means. Rather, we   
MT> might look to a kind of re-creation of the "The Almighty Oz" and  
MT> "that man behind the curtain." It is certainly conceivable and  
MT> achievable that a person or group, operating behind the scenes,  
MT> or screens, could gather enough information about your life and  
MT> use that information in an attempt to convince  you that you   
MT> were being visited by an angel, a supernatural being,  
MT> extra-terrestrials or God.  
  
SA> Both scenarios are possible, and it is only very recently that   
SA> I have really considered the golem brought about by mystical   
SA> means; it had seemed more likely, based on the limits of my   
SA> knowledge & understanding, that it would be technological,   
SA> such as ubiquitous web-casting & forced worship sessions in  
SA> front of monitors & cameras etc.  
  
I personally think the latter is more likely, rather than some   
"mystical" or "magical" means.  Further, I don't think
the technology  
need be that advanced in order to be quite effective on an  
individualized basis.  All that's necessary is to have a significant,  
substantial body of information about the person you're targeting,  
familiarity with the most intimate details of his or her life,  
and then it would involve a method of alluding to that knowledge in  
a way that would cause certain things to begin happening in that   
person's thought processes.  This is a kind of initiation.  And it  
can be performed by a group of people who have access to the databases  
and the ability to monitor your communications.  If they know who  
you call and who you talk to on the phone, who you exchange posts with  
online, what aliases you use, who sends you mail and where you went  
on Saturday at 3 p.m. and what you did when you got there and with whom,  
they can make you feel like you're dealing with GOD, ALMIGHTY!  All   
they have to do is stand behind the curtain and put words into the  
mouth of their neon god!  When you start looking at the databases of   
information that are being amassed about YOUR LIFE, and you wake up   
to the realization that someone else may actually know more about   
your habits than YOU do, it will certainly come as an eye-opening  
shock of a lifetime, especially if you're confronted by a person or    
group of such people attempting to manipulate you for whatever reason!  
  
And, again, I turn to the example of initiation.  To fully appreciate  
what I mean by that word, you might have to undergo one.  But, you  
can gain some valuable insight as to how initiations have been   
performed over the centuries and how they impact people, and why   
they're performed, by doing some research.  I recommend it, because  
I think what we're talking about here involves initiation.    
  
The act of initiation involves some goal or goals.  It might be   
performed with the intent of bringing about cerain desired changes  
in an individual or group.  To initiate is to start, to begin, and  
in one sense, you can see that this appearance of the "image of the  
beast" occurs around the time of the end of one millennium and  
the beginning of another.  You might link this initiation to the  
attempt to bring about a "new age."  In fact, as I type these words,   
I recall talk of a Luciferic initiation being linked to the   
"new age" movement.     
  
Now, Steve, the most convincing "god" is the one that's going to   
give you the feel that it's constantly watching over your shoulder,  
watching your every move, intimate with the decisions you make,   
and your reasoning.  It would know the details of your life,   
how you spend your time, your likes and dislikes, your friends,   
your favorite foods, how much you will spend on luxury items,  
where you go and with whom, etc. etc.  Technology is making this   
possible for an elite priesthood who are working behind the scenes,  
screens, curtain.  And they could create a pretty convincing   
"Almighty Oz."  I'm not sure Toto would be very effective in   
revealing the perpetrators of the ruse.  But, if you think about it,  
and do a little research... you may be able to figure it out on your  
own.  .........     
   
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