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We have all made more assumptions in life than anyone likes to admit. We tend to assume that whatever is common is also probably true. We don't always take the time to verify the information we are bombarded with on a daily basis. We don't always concern ourselves with a second or third opinion. 

Much of what you will receive from us will challenge your assumed truth, we will be presenting the other side of the story that has been suppressed or ignored. Some things will be completely opposite to what you have been taught and what you thought was right. We do this because we love the truth and want to share it with you. If you believe the truth will set you free, then you owe it to yourself to consider testing your own inherited beliefs.

This article is designed to prepare your heart and mind without causing any offense to your personal spiritual beliefs. It will allow you to test us without taking any risks. The example we will start with here, will demonstrate how a well known and universally accepted truth is in reality, totally false.

It is a common custom to give a thumbs up sign when one approves of something good, and thumbs turned down when disapproving of something bad. This is reflected throughout western culture. Critics signify good movies with a thumbs up, and movies not worth watching with thumbs down. It can be, and is applied to almost any situation.

When asked, some people will recall that this custom originated with Caesar and the mob in the Roman arena where gladiators fought for entertainment 2000 years ago. They will explain that once one competitor had gained the advantage he awaited Caesar's sign to finish the other with a final blow, or to show him mercy and let him live. The sign to finish him being a thumbs down, and to show mercy a thumbs up. This tradition was reinforced in popular movies like Gladiator, but it is completely wrong.

Originally the signs were the other way around. Thumbs down signaled to the gladiator to put down his weapon and show mercy to the fallen competitor. Thumbs up toward the heart signaled to deliver the death blow because the spectators disapproved of the fallen gladiator's performance. Today we know how this custom came to be reversed.

State sanctioned gladiatorial fights came to an end in 399 c.e. and therefore the direct knowledge of this custom faded from memory. In 1847 French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme depicted a gladiatorial contest where the crowds gave the death sign with thumbs down. The painting is called Pollice Verso but the artist ignorantly interpreted the Latin for which direction the thumb was to be turned, and he guessed wrong. Verso means to turn upward and premere means to turn downward.

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." 

- Joseph Goebbels;  Nazi Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda

However this painting popularized the reversed custom and ever since it has been assumed that thumbs up was for favour. In fact, this painting served as the inspiration for the same depiction in the movie Gladiator.

Although the general public has failed to recall the custom accurately, scholars have known the truth of the matter. A first century eyewitness and source of these events provides us with an accurate myth busting report.

Sometimes all it takes is one unintentional or intentional error to set the whole world in the wrong direction. It may not matter that the truth was intact for many centuries. Although this custom is hardly of any importance, (unless you are a fallen gladiator it then becomes a matter of life and death,) the point is that the unknown truth is still the truth, and a well practiced fallacy is still a fallacy. Is it to your advantage to operate on the basis of misinformation or truth? In a world where the vast majority are functional liars, it may seem that exercising the truth makes one rather dysfunctional.

At this point take a few minutes to do your own research on this custom. Please do not just simply take our word for it. Do not accept it just because you enjoy controversy. Confirm it to be true or false because you love the truth which will empower you to overcome. Let the seed of truth take root.

Now that you have done that, you may have come to acknowledge the truth concerning this trivial matter. But here is where it gets interesting. What are you going to do with this new found truth? What you do with it will determine what kind of person you are and whether you have the capacity to walk according to the truth. Can and will you exercise your belief? Will you give the opposite sign and go against the grain of society's normal behaviour? Will you wield the truth with tact or recklessness? Will you reveal it to everyone without discretion, or to a select few who may appreciate it? Will you explain the truth of the matter, will people listen?

Certainly you will be misunderstood, and your sign misinterpreted. You will probably be mocked and hated because of your stand for the truth. You will have difficulty. You may also convert others along the way, and you will stand together. You will exchange a smile with your companions of truth when you give each other the thumbs down. You will share a satisfaction that the foolish will not. You will be peculiar people.

Now if this custom represented the sum of all the truth we Natzraya walk in, then you will have a pretty good idea of the challenges we face in our mission and everyday lives. We have chosen not to please men or the foolish and ignorant, but rather to please the Almighty. We are mocked, misunderstood, and persecuted for what we believe because it is the truth, and the truth reveals things many people do not want revealed.

In these times there is something growing called the truth movement. These are people from every walk of life who are disillusioned with deception that has permeated every part of our lives, politically, historically, scientifically, medically, spiritually, etc. They want the truth about everything. They love the truth at all costs and are willing to accept the truth no matter what it reveals or what direction it takes them in.  They know that unless they exercise and develop critical thinking skills that they will overcome the slavery, foolishness, and suffering that comes with lies and ignorance.

There is also another trend, and that is an anti-intellectual trend that shuns the pursuit of knowledge. Some believe it is desirable to be dumbed down and ignorant. They believe that ignorance is bliss or even cool. Some who read this article will soon forget what they have learned, or dismiss it out of hand.  They live in fear.

If you choose to run with the truth then may the Almighty reward your understanding and faith. If you choose to continue in your old way, then we leave you with these scriptures to ponder.

We, like gladiators, are in a contest for the truth. We do believe in a final judgment, and depending upon our performance, we await the thumbs up or thumbs down from the judge. Until then, we fight for the truth with all our spirit.