Chapter excerpts

In Search of a Perfect World excerpts:

INTRODUCTION (Published in 2005)
"Huge industries, financial institutions, governments and purveyors of materialistic philosophies such as capitalism/consumerism have been teetering. Massive employment layoffs, scandals, corruption and a general feeling of insecurity mark this age, despite the self-serving boosterism of Wall Street." (Here we are, 4 years later. It was all smoke and mirrors)

CHAPTER 3
"Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah and did not predict the end of the world.
"... Christian doctrine and scriptures during the ensuing centuries would be developed along the parameters established by Constantine the Great."
"The (Crusades) degenerated into chaotic orgies of looting and murder that did little to advance the cause of Christianity and Western civilization in the Holy Land."
"... Pope Alexander III, in 1179, identified another threat to the power of the Church -- the Cathars. The pope declared a crusade against these enemies. During the subsequent 30 years, an estimated 1 million people died in Southern France -- all of them devout followers of the teachings of Jesus."

CHAPTER 8
"The history of millennialism ... demonstrates the resiliency of the notion that humanity requires a savior to escape from the bondage of this sinful world."

CHAPTER 9
"Sai Baba has declared that humanity is witnessing the end of Kali Yuga and will be making the transition to another Golden Age by the year 2012."
"The Mayan calendar ends in the year 2012."
"In Islam, the Imam Mahdi is expected to usher in the ideal state."

CHAPTER 10
"According to the Vedantic view, the recorded history of the world has been the history of Kali Yuga."
"Militant Islamists clearly said they were attempting to bring about their own idea of a utopian world."
"...if the Age of Materialism is ending, what follows? Call it the Age of Realization."
"If one accepts any form of end-times doctrine, what does one do? Let go of it."
"The search for a perfect world and hopes for salvation on Earth represents ... humanity's search for understanding the great mystery of life, for overcoming feelings of abandonment and alienation and as a recognition of the shallowness of material values."