We are headed into the abyss as a nation and unless we get our culture back we will lose our nation and, ultimately, ourselves. Let's define culture before we move on. According to Google, culture is defined as being the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. This would include: literature, religion, social tradition, language, values, etc. Each of these would have different subcategories that branch from them.
When reading the definition of culture and when applying it to, not just the United States, but to all of Western Civilization the cultural decay we are facing becomes palpable. We have abandoned our Christian roots, which was the foundation of our society. Subsequently, we now challenge traditional marriage, our language, our borders, our biological gender, our arts, and even our lives. I want to touch briefly on each of these.
Before we get to the root cause of the problem, I want to discuss the symptoms of our societal rot. Traditional marriage has been destroyed in the West in recent years and definitely needs discussed when analyzing our hastening decline. Now, this may be the most serious of the symptoms (recent developments in our country have challenged my opinion concerning this and that will also be discussed.) I say that it might be one of the most serious because it's not just some concept cooked up by the Christian West in the last millennium, but it's a universally accepted norm. Societies past and present, East and West have always operated on this concept. It is this reproductive friendly unit that keeps our economies running.
It is the means for providing protection for our children. It's the best method for teaching our children how to grow up to be functioning adults. Men and women together are two pieces to the same puzzle. We complement and complete each other. One brimming with testosterone and the other with estrogen. One is more logical and the other is more compassionate. One seeks to protect while the other watches out for danger. One seeks to support the family while the other seeks to govern the household. One leads the family while the other supports.
This is more than some subjective social/religious construct. This is biology. We are created in a way that renders us dependent upon each other. It is with regrettable foolishness we have abandoned this truism. Without a respect for the institution of marriage between a man and a woman we have lost the support beams of our society. It will eventually collapse. And it will collapse necessarily. Without the complementary parts working together our future generations will degrade into chaos. We are starting to see this in our current young generation. Unless this trend is reversed it will only worsen.
We need to teach our children that they matter, but they aren't the only individuals that matter. Our boys need to learn to be men and our girls need to learn to be women. They need to be taught by the people who love them and, hopefully, have a vested interest in their upbringing. This is the job of the mother and father. To gently, but firmly, guide and provide them with the discipline to be well balanced members of society.
Another function served by the traditional family structure is reproduction. If this wasn't made obvious with the preceding paragraphs, then it is made so now. Along with the wanton desertion of family we have witnessed over 50,000,000 infant deaths at the alter of self. Men and women sacrificing the offspring they are meant to protect and provide for, so that they can remain free to do as they will. It is only logical that we have lost our respect for life as a result or, perhaps, it is that we treat life so haphazardly because we lost respect for life. The second option is more likely. In our abandonment of God we lost the foundation for any objective value for life, but that discussion is being saved for the end to this mini-series.
A people that can so callously destroy that amount of life has lost its conscience. It is this kind of culture that gives rise to a moral nihilism witnessed here.
The children that weren't selfishly snuffed out has had to be raised in a world where parental roles are fluid and, therefore, meaningless. Through our example they have been taught to believe that life has no purpose. A generation literally screaming in the streets seeking to establishment its own significance is what we are left with. They lack the ability to tolerate any offense and would destroy our freedom of speech to legitimize their own opinions because society has lost its moral compass. Here is an example of what I am talking about.
No one bothered to teach them the importance of liberty. They were never given an opportunity to build the confidence that children raised by a mother and father are filled with. Instead they are taught that their biological impulse is a false construct forced upon them by an oppressive ideology. These children are then exposed to a society that embraces abortion as a means of ridding itself of inconvenience.
No wonder we see them rioting and protesting at the drop of a hat. They want to have their lives to have more meaning than just the subjective junk they are filled with from birth. They're angry, confused, lost, and depressed.
We have also started to embrace the idea of euthanasia. Old? Sick? Disabled? Depressed? Disappointed with life? Or are you just plain bored? Well, society has provided the means to kill yourself. This goes well beyond condoning suicide. This is encouraging suicide with enthusiasm.
A culture that abandons it's basic support unit and denies the value of its own life has zero chance of survival. It's primed to even be apathetic towards its demise. In fact, in a desperate search for meaning it might even hasten to its inevitable end. Next time we will see how we are committing cultural suicide by inviting our invaders in.
A real quick post script. I want to acknowledge that parental and spousal abuse does occur and I am not oblivious to that. I just don't consider that to be in any way traditional. I refer to where I specifically stated, "gently, but firmly, guide and provide them with the discipline to be well balanced". Cruelty and other forms of abuse are not gentle. They are also not solely found in the traditional family.
I also want to direct you here for more on this topic. This article goes into what I plan on talking about later, along with discussing what I just wrote about.
Friday, August 19, 2016
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Facebook Sociopaths
Facebook has created a new generation of sociopaths. It has created a forum for people to "feel" emotion by the click of a button. Who needs actual interaction when you can just hit "like"? As if the total lack of meaningful empathy wasn't enough, people have been given a place to vent all their pent up rage and bitterness they're unable to showcase in their everyday lives. Comment wars, marital infidelity spurred on by the ease of reconnecting to old flames and finding new flames to connect with. All of this and more in the social media era. It's really unfair to single out Facebook in this mess.
When families aren't being destroyed by some argument on Facebook, people are having their lives destroyed by jealousy, feelings of inadequacy, and subsequent depression. That's right. Your time on Facebook has been shown to be a contributing factor to your depression. Skim over the article I linked to above.
The problem is that while everyone is looking at everyone else's life they are either consciously or subconsciously comparing lives. The depression sets in when they see friends and family posting pictures and updates of the positive moments. It creates the impression that everyone is having a great time while you're the only person who has struggles. It can also trigger feelings of jealousy or inadequacy when people are posting pictures of a new car, an awesome vacation, dinner at a fancy restaurant, and anything else most people can't afford without accruing an egregious amount of debt.
After all, most people aren't taking pictures of themselves sitting around stressed out about bills, stressing out while opening their bills, sitting at a mechanic's garage wondering what's going to go wrong next, or the year's worth of nonsense they put up with at work to pay for that awesome car, vacation, dinner, and good time.
The truth is that we all have low points. We just don't broadcast these moments in our lives for everyone to see. Look at your own profile and chances are your profile shows pictures of the good things in your life. Unless, of course, you're a sharer. Your profile may be a bit of a downer, but that's not bad. Most people don't share unless they can brag. Don't think you're the only one that has times of struggle. You're not, I promise.
In the opening I mentioned infidelity. I wasn't just filling space. A link to Facebook and adultery has been observed. In the link provided it mentions a study about the connection. It also gives an example of how it happens. It talks about a couple that was nearly torn apart from the husband adding an ex and communicating back and forth with her.
This happens, as mentioned in the story above, when people reconnect with former significant others. It seemingly happens to couples whose marriages haven't matured, but that's not the point and it also doesn't mean that couples who've been together for awhile is immune to this. The point is that it is giving spouses a way to go behind the other's back to potentially reignite a past relationship. The fact that Facebook time results in less relationship time only aggravates the problem. Arguably the most damming aspect is that spousal neglect of each other allows them to feel justified in acting unfaithfully in their relationships. You can imagine the person thinking, "But, this person pays attention to me!"
As for the title of this article, a callousness is taking over people. Emotions are watered down to a mere click of a button; you are cheating yourself of genuine emotion. Confrontations are increased because of the lack of accountability of a legitimate face to face encounter. Insult people to their face and you risk a broken jaw.
The result is that we have cold detachment with only a reflection of real empathy. This starts out as faux bravery and turns into a way of life. As your Internet dependence grows you are increasingly isolated. This isolation when coupled with your online sociopathic tendencies starts to bleed through to your interactions outside of the Internet. We've started to see it in the increase of social unrest. This isn't just among the younger generation. You've seen some of the offensive and violent actions of the elder generations at Trump rallies. The younger generation is more prevalent in this loss of civility and this is because of a warped upbringing that was Internet centric. The older generations had some manners beat into them through years of forced interactions with other humans, so they are more resistant to the seductive forces of the Internet.
This resistance is breaking down. We need to get a hold of ourselves. Self discipline and genuine empathy is needed. We must remember that we are actually conversing with human beings. Whether they deserve it or not you need to be respectful. We are bearing the fruits of losing this respect. We live in a society that screeches incessantly about tolerance, acceptance, and love. Yet, we see a hate filled social anarchy taking shape in our midst. Everyone is offended and ready to verbally assault you because you have the audacity to disagree with them.
I would add a link to some supporting evidence of my point here, but do I have to? Just watch the news. Consciously observe your daily encounters. By that I mean have your normal back and forth, but just be conscious what is being said and how it's being said. Is there tension? Anger? Sarcasm? Do you or does the other person seem offended or do either of seem to acting unnecessarily confrontational? Something is broken and if we don't learn to control ourselves it will only get worse as these broken individuals raise children. The next generation stands absolutely no chance of normality.
I will cut off here. I want to discuss the decline of our culture next and this is starting to intersect more than I had originally planned. I don't want to repeat myself more than necessary. So, remember to respect others, get more face time with those you love, stop taking yourselves so seriously, and learn to feel again. I'll try to take my own advice.
When families aren't being destroyed by some argument on Facebook, people are having their lives destroyed by jealousy, feelings of inadequacy, and subsequent depression. That's right. Your time on Facebook has been shown to be a contributing factor to your depression. Skim over the article I linked to above.
The problem is that while everyone is looking at everyone else's life they are either consciously or subconsciously comparing lives. The depression sets in when they see friends and family posting pictures and updates of the positive moments. It creates the impression that everyone is having a great time while you're the only person who has struggles. It can also trigger feelings of jealousy or inadequacy when people are posting pictures of a new car, an awesome vacation, dinner at a fancy restaurant, and anything else most people can't afford without accruing an egregious amount of debt.
After all, most people aren't taking pictures of themselves sitting around stressed out about bills, stressing out while opening their bills, sitting at a mechanic's garage wondering what's going to go wrong next, or the year's worth of nonsense they put up with at work to pay for that awesome car, vacation, dinner, and good time.
The truth is that we all have low points. We just don't broadcast these moments in our lives for everyone to see. Look at your own profile and chances are your profile shows pictures of the good things in your life. Unless, of course, you're a sharer. Your profile may be a bit of a downer, but that's not bad. Most people don't share unless they can brag. Don't think you're the only one that has times of struggle. You're not, I promise.
In the opening I mentioned infidelity. I wasn't just filling space. A link to Facebook and adultery has been observed. In the link provided it mentions a study about the connection. It also gives an example of how it happens. It talks about a couple that was nearly torn apart from the husband adding an ex and communicating back and forth with her.
This happens, as mentioned in the story above, when people reconnect with former significant others. It seemingly happens to couples whose marriages haven't matured, but that's not the point and it also doesn't mean that couples who've been together for awhile is immune to this. The point is that it is giving spouses a way to go behind the other's back to potentially reignite a past relationship. The fact that Facebook time results in less relationship time only aggravates the problem. Arguably the most damming aspect is that spousal neglect of each other allows them to feel justified in acting unfaithfully in their relationships. You can imagine the person thinking, "But, this person pays attention to me!"
As for the title of this article, a callousness is taking over people. Emotions are watered down to a mere click of a button; you are cheating yourself of genuine emotion. Confrontations are increased because of the lack of accountability of a legitimate face to face encounter. Insult people to their face and you risk a broken jaw.
The result is that we have cold detachment with only a reflection of real empathy. This starts out as faux bravery and turns into a way of life. As your Internet dependence grows you are increasingly isolated. This isolation when coupled with your online sociopathic tendencies starts to bleed through to your interactions outside of the Internet. We've started to see it in the increase of social unrest. This isn't just among the younger generation. You've seen some of the offensive and violent actions of the elder generations at Trump rallies. The younger generation is more prevalent in this loss of civility and this is because of a warped upbringing that was Internet centric. The older generations had some manners beat into them through years of forced interactions with other humans, so they are more resistant to the seductive forces of the Internet.
This resistance is breaking down. We need to get a hold of ourselves. Self discipline and genuine empathy is needed. We must remember that we are actually conversing with human beings. Whether they deserve it or not you need to be respectful. We are bearing the fruits of losing this respect. We live in a society that screeches incessantly about tolerance, acceptance, and love. Yet, we see a hate filled social anarchy taking shape in our midst. Everyone is offended and ready to verbally assault you because you have the audacity to disagree with them.
I would add a link to some supporting evidence of my point here, but do I have to? Just watch the news. Consciously observe your daily encounters. By that I mean have your normal back and forth, but just be conscious what is being said and how it's being said. Is there tension? Anger? Sarcasm? Do you or does the other person seem offended or do either of seem to acting unnecessarily confrontational? Something is broken and if we don't learn to control ourselves it will only get worse as these broken individuals raise children. The next generation stands absolutely no chance of normality.
I will cut off here. I want to discuss the decline of our culture next and this is starting to intersect more than I had originally planned. I don't want to repeat myself more than necessary. So, remember to respect others, get more face time with those you love, stop taking yourselves so seriously, and learn to feel again. I'll try to take my own advice.
Monday, August 15, 2016
What I Learned from the Internet.
For those of you who have just stepped into the 21st century after arriving via a time machine there are some things you need to know about the Internet. Below you can find a few of the things experience has taught me about the most important invention since oxygen. If you are from a time before knowledge of oxygen then I apologize for your ignorance. You should probably start with Kindergarten and work your way up. So, here are some of the things you need to know about the World Wide Web. Enjoy.
The first thing to know is that facts do not matter. This is a fact of the Internet. This fact doesn't matter. Everything you know or think you know is automatically wrong on the Internet. Do you have statistics, figures, charts, and graphs backing up your position? Is your position common sense and the only logical choice? Too bad. Facts are all fake on the Internet. Prepare for constant intellectual outrage and absolutely zero intelligence while navigating the murky swamp of social media and comment sections.
The next thing you need to know is that everyone on the Internet is way important. They all have very prestigious and mysterious careers and positions that put them in the know. Don't question them because they know things you're not allowed to know. Pay no attention that they are spilling this secret knowledge that they shouldn't be telling you. They may also know various people with various diseases. They themselves may be a human petri dish full of disease. This inoculates them to any logical argument. Unfortunately, it doesn't inoculate them against their many diseases.
Keep in mind, though, that you are not important. You are, regardless of reality, a parents' basement dwelling pedophile. You have no education and no job. You're probably fat too. Being fat on the Internet automatically invalidates any informed argument you may have. Don't be surprised to learn you're a homosexual either. Take your gay, overweight self back to your mom's basement and don't question the doctor-scientist spy with AIDS cancer.
Another surprising encounter you may have is that any logical argument can be boiled down to 140 characters or less. No matter how complicated or nuanced the subject. Any good argument is directly related to if you can tweet it. Leftists and atheists will provide you with all the Twitter wisdom you can handle. If you think you can provide them with a thoughtful answer in response; don't. If you write it out in its entirety, they will inform you that it's too long. If you tweet it, they will let you know that such matters can't be discussed in any meaningful way over Twitter. They're all super awesome philosophy astronauts and best friends with Richard Dawkins, so they can use Twitter to mock their interiors. You can't because? That's right, you're a fat, gay, basement dweller.
Fought a civil war to end slavery, brought equality to everyone, accepts the world's unwanted masses, protects personal liberty of all kinds, major technological advances, unprecedented reduction in poverty rates, and an amazing quality of life are all things that Western Civilization has been used to bring into the world. It doesn't matter. Western Civilization is the greatest evil perpetrated against the world since time began. Did you know they used to commit some of the sins that the rest of the world still commits? Nevermind that slavery is still a thing in the Eastern world. The West used to own slaves! I can't do this segment of the post. The arguments that the West is evil because of their past, in light of the fact that many nations still carry out such atrocities, is so ridiculous it doesn't deserve repeating.
There you have it! You now have a starter's manual for you to use while surfing the Internet. When you find yourself in the middle of a comments war because you had the audacity to agree you may find that this list is unfortunately true. What's that? Oh, yeah, I said agree on purpose. This is the Internet and you never know what will set someone off. You may even find yourself in an argument and then realize that they accidentally started an argument with you when they actually meant to argue with someone other than you. This will start another argument.
The advice you may find the most useful is: don't be sensitive and don't take it personally. Believe it or not there are some people out there that handle every time on the Internet like a teen boy handles his first beer. We also have people who handle it like every girl who ever takes a sip of alcohol. That's why we have so many naked selfies floating around in cyberspace. That's only a half joke.
Well, welcome to the 21st century, enjoy the hell your descendants have created, and don't be frightened by the 12 year old who claims to be a super awesome hacker who will find you and beat you up. That only happens rarely. They're most likely only going to SWAT you.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
A Reintroduction to Myself
I am back! After a long hiatus and some issues that are still persisting on being issues, I have decided to continue. A reintroduction is in order. The future of this blog 2ill be discussed as well. We will delve into that at the end of this entry.
I am Beau Albertine and I am a Christian Conservative American. It is in that order in which I identify. This needs to be elucidated upon because without knowing what it means then neither a reintroduction nor an introduction will be worth anything. Disclaimer: it is a sad state of affairs that makes it necessary that those terms need proper defining.
First and most importantly, I am a Christian. What does it mean to be a Christian? So many people claim that title and believe many different, sometimes contradictory, things.
In the most simplest of definitions Christianity can be summed up in John 14:6-7:
6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.7“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
This the belief that Christ is the only true way to know God and enter into Heaven. It is also the belief that Christ died and rose again so to free us from our sin; 1 Corinthians 15:13-14
13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
It is in these foundational tenets of our faith that we find our hope. We can be free from the sin that enslaves us to our selves. We are free from the sin that separates us from our Creator and Redeemer. The things that plague you, haunt you, inhibit you are defeated. They have no power over you when you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. For a little more on this I suggest you read posts I made before the reboot: here, here, and finally here. Also here. Don't forget this one! A future post on Christian particularism is planned
So, why is this first? It's because if Christianity is true then it is the most important fact in the history of the universe. God, eternity, and either the salvation or the continued servitude to your sins far outweighs the temporal connections you have to this life. The Judeo-Christian faith also contains a set of values that can be applied to not only your life, but to the entire world. These values, if applied truly, will create a world worth living in.
So, God first, but why Conservatism second? Conservatism is an application of those values mentioned in the previous paragraph. It's a system of principles that exalt personal responsibility, charity, freedom, honesty, love of family, love of your fellow man, equality of all under the law, and justice for all. The only value that would be found in Christianity that is not included in Conservatism is the commandment to love your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. This is because Conservatism is a secular application of the truths found in Judeo-Christianity. Conservatism believes in religious liberty and doesn't seek to force a conversion to any particular religion. In Christianity it wouldn't be a sincere conversion anyway.
This is what makes up modern Conservatism. It is very similar to Classic Liberalism. This is why you might hear conservatives be reluctant to call leftists: liberal. It should be pointed out that this is a very basic outline of our beliefs. Its main purpose is to fight for your freedom to make your own decisions because you are capable of making it without the government "helping". (There are some exceptions that are necessary. Disabled and elderly persons that don't come from families with the means of supporting them are some such exceptions.)
This comes second because it has to do with how a nation should be run. These principles outline rights and responsibilities of the citizenry. It necessarily limits what a government can do in order to protect the rights of the people. People have short lives and find it very difficult to think beyond their own lives, so find putting ideology before country to be difficult and offensive to do. We know countries have come and gone, but refuse to believe it can happen to us. It can and, if things keep going the way they are going, it will. This is why we must preserve our faith and ideology. These values will preserve our nation and if it should fall, they will rebuild our nation. It is good to be proud of one's nation unless that nation fell due to its own foolishness. This will be discussed more in depth in future articles.
Next up is American. I believe in the principles in which this country was founded. I am thankful that I was born in a nation whose Constitution wasn't a law for the citizens, but for the government. We are based on a document that is a list of shall nots aimed at the ruling authority!
The founding ideals paved the way for abolition of slavery, racial equality, women's suffrage, biological sex equality, religious liberty, open discussion of ideas and if we don't like something we can run for office or protest! In a time of empires, kings, conquerors, and the general population being subject to the whims of their so-called betters our Founding Fathers said, "Screw that." We were given an equality we take for granted now. I can think of no other nations, other than Israel, whose founding was so dedicated to the Rule of Law rather than the rule of man. (Israel's kings had to follow the Law given to Moses by God. These were the same Laws the people had to follow. Much like them we have fulfilled God's prophecy concerning human government. 1 Samuel 8:10-18.)
To truly appreciate the miracle that is the United States of America you must read the history of our founding. You have to read our founding documents. You have to read all that in the context of the rest of the world at that time. When you read about the American Revolution you have to keep in mind that the most powerful empire on the earth was defeated by underfunded, underfed, exhausted farmers. It was David vs. Goliath. Keep in mind that our Founding Fathers could have set up a monarchical government. They shunned nobility for themselves, so we could have true equality. Say what you will of their personal religious beliefs, but we live in a truly miraculous and blessed nation.
Sadly, we have cast off the blessing and embraced the rule of men. Government has become bloated and corrupt. We have an elected aristocracy concerned with how they can aggregate authority to themselves. "How can we misappropriate power that rightfully belongs to the People," they ask themselves. To be more clear, we have went from a nation whose Founding Fathers considered themselves to be no better than "We the People" to a nation whose public servants fancy themselves to be the haut monde of American society.
For this reason I list American last. We are a nation in decline. It is at this junction one realizes it's neither the nation, land, borders, laws, leaders, nor form of government that made us wonderful. What made us great was our Judeo-Christian principles and the faithfulness to those principles. It is without a sound belief in God as a moral foundation that our nation, land, borders, laws, leaders, and form of government become meaningless.
That is what it has become; meaningless.
So, this is where we find ourselves. Part of my goal is to illuminate the way out of the moral decadence in which we find ourselves. Spoiler: it involves Jesus, This blog will be a bit of an analysis of how we found ourselves here. We will discuss just how decayed our culture is, the fruits of a dead culture, and so much more.
This will hopefully be regularly updated. A possible schedule is still being determined, but it will be, at the very least, weekly. Bi-weekly or even tri-weekly is what I would like it to be. The main goal is to spread the Word and to dispell the taboo around beliefs in God, tradition, and a true community. My dream is to get published and work my way into becoming an actual writer.
Come along with me for this ride into the unknown.
I am Beau Albertine and I am a Christian Conservative American. It is in that order in which I identify. This needs to be elucidated upon because without knowing what it means then neither a reintroduction nor an introduction will be worth anything. Disclaimer: it is a sad state of affairs that makes it necessary that those terms need proper defining.
First and most importantly, I am a Christian. What does it mean to be a Christian? So many people claim that title and believe many different, sometimes contradictory, things.
In the most simplest of definitions Christianity can be summed up in John 14:6-7:
6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.7“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
This the belief that Christ is the only true way to know God and enter into Heaven. It is also the belief that Christ died and rose again so to free us from our sin; 1 Corinthians 15:13-14
13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
It is in these foundational tenets of our faith that we find our hope. We can be free from the sin that enslaves us to our selves. We are free from the sin that separates us from our Creator and Redeemer. The things that plague you, haunt you, inhibit you are defeated. They have no power over you when you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. For a little more on this I suggest you read posts I made before the reboot: here, here, and finally here. Also here. Don't forget this one! A future post on Christian particularism is planned
So, why is this first? It's because if Christianity is true then it is the most important fact in the history of the universe. God, eternity, and either the salvation or the continued servitude to your sins far outweighs the temporal connections you have to this life. The Judeo-Christian faith also contains a set of values that can be applied to not only your life, but to the entire world. These values, if applied truly, will create a world worth living in.
So, God first, but why Conservatism second? Conservatism is an application of those values mentioned in the previous paragraph. It's a system of principles that exalt personal responsibility, charity, freedom, honesty, love of family, love of your fellow man, equality of all under the law, and justice for all. The only value that would be found in Christianity that is not included in Conservatism is the commandment to love your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. This is because Conservatism is a secular application of the truths found in Judeo-Christianity. Conservatism believes in religious liberty and doesn't seek to force a conversion to any particular religion. In Christianity it wouldn't be a sincere conversion anyway.
This is what makes up modern Conservatism. It is very similar to Classic Liberalism. This is why you might hear conservatives be reluctant to call leftists: liberal. It should be pointed out that this is a very basic outline of our beliefs. Its main purpose is to fight for your freedom to make your own decisions because you are capable of making it without the government "helping". (There are some exceptions that are necessary. Disabled and elderly persons that don't come from families with the means of supporting them are some such exceptions.)
This comes second because it has to do with how a nation should be run. These principles outline rights and responsibilities of the citizenry. It necessarily limits what a government can do in order to protect the rights of the people. People have short lives and find it very difficult to think beyond their own lives, so find putting ideology before country to be difficult and offensive to do. We know countries have come and gone, but refuse to believe it can happen to us. It can and, if things keep going the way they are going, it will. This is why we must preserve our faith and ideology. These values will preserve our nation and if it should fall, they will rebuild our nation. It is good to be proud of one's nation unless that nation fell due to its own foolishness. This will be discussed more in depth in future articles.
Next up is American. I believe in the principles in which this country was founded. I am thankful that I was born in a nation whose Constitution wasn't a law for the citizens, but for the government. We are based on a document that is a list of shall nots aimed at the ruling authority!
The founding ideals paved the way for abolition of slavery, racial equality, women's suffrage, biological sex equality, religious liberty, open discussion of ideas and if we don't like something we can run for office or protest! In a time of empires, kings, conquerors, and the general population being subject to the whims of their so-called betters our Founding Fathers said, "Screw that." We were given an equality we take for granted now. I can think of no other nations, other than Israel, whose founding was so dedicated to the Rule of Law rather than the rule of man. (Israel's kings had to follow the Law given to Moses by God. These were the same Laws the people had to follow. Much like them we have fulfilled God's prophecy concerning human government. 1 Samuel 8:10-18.)
To truly appreciate the miracle that is the United States of America you must read the history of our founding. You have to read our founding documents. You have to read all that in the context of the rest of the world at that time. When you read about the American Revolution you have to keep in mind that the most powerful empire on the earth was defeated by underfunded, underfed, exhausted farmers. It was David vs. Goliath. Keep in mind that our Founding Fathers could have set up a monarchical government. They shunned nobility for themselves, so we could have true equality. Say what you will of their personal religious beliefs, but we live in a truly miraculous and blessed nation.
Sadly, we have cast off the blessing and embraced the rule of men. Government has become bloated and corrupt. We have an elected aristocracy concerned with how they can aggregate authority to themselves. "How can we misappropriate power that rightfully belongs to the People," they ask themselves. To be more clear, we have went from a nation whose Founding Fathers considered themselves to be no better than "We the People" to a nation whose public servants fancy themselves to be the haut monde of American society.
For this reason I list American last. We are a nation in decline. It is at this junction one realizes it's neither the nation, land, borders, laws, leaders, nor form of government that made us wonderful. What made us great was our Judeo-Christian principles and the faithfulness to those principles. It is without a sound belief in God as a moral foundation that our nation, land, borders, laws, leaders, and form of government become meaningless.
That is what it has become; meaningless.
So, this is where we find ourselves. Part of my goal is to illuminate the way out of the moral decadence in which we find ourselves. Spoiler: it involves Jesus, This blog will be a bit of an analysis of how we found ourselves here. We will discuss just how decayed our culture is, the fruits of a dead culture, and so much more.
This will hopefully be regularly updated. A possible schedule is still being determined, but it will be, at the very least, weekly. Bi-weekly or even tri-weekly is what I would like it to be. The main goal is to spread the Word and to dispell the taboo around beliefs in God, tradition, and a true community. My dream is to get published and work my way into becoming an actual writer.
Come along with me for this ride into the unknown.
Monday, February 8, 2016
So much more to this life.
People in this world has become so obsessed with themselves they have forgotten how to ask what it's all for. What is the meaning of life? Are we doomed to the bleak and depressing pursuit of our own causes? People hear "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," and never wonder or search for the answer of what happiness is.
Is it any wonder the drug epidemic, suicide/euthanasia pandemic, the abortion humiliation is permeating our society in which the self is the center of our lives? People are looking for the answer to the question of their existence in themselves. That is ludicrous. That serves only to drive one further into their own depravity. They become a slave to their own wants and desires. Then mistake their chains for freedom.
Once fully immersed in their self, so fully enslaved to pursuing their hearts desire they wonder why they're so depressed and void of happiness. The answer to our existence is not our existence. We feel empty because we are incomplete. We can never fill that void by chasing the distractions within the void itself.
And since when is the human heart anything, but evil? We see a history of violence and debauchery and recoil at it, but when we reflect on our own we mistake it for something other than what we have seen before in others. It's not hypocrisy it's blindness.
So, to put it another way is that our life is not life, our liberty is slavery, and our pursuit of happiness is the void in which we lose our life and liberty. But I am not writing this to depress or convict you. I am writing this to tell you that there is more. We are the children of an all-loving, all-powerful, and all-just God. He is our Answer. He is the True Life, Liberty, and the End Goal in our pursuit of happiness. A jar of clay can not find purpose within itself, but only in the purpose it's creator made it for.
Don't confuse your own will with that which God created you for. Does the potter ask the clay what it wants to be? Or to put it in a more modern way, does a table make a good tv? We have a habit of telling God too many times that the evil in our hearts is what would make us happy. He gives us what we want then point the finger at Him in accusation when we are left empty still. How about we instead ask Him what our purpose is? What His will is for our lives?
Is it any wonder the drug epidemic, suicide/euthanasia pandemic, the abortion humiliation is permeating our society in which the self is the center of our lives? People are looking for the answer to the question of their existence in themselves. That is ludicrous. That serves only to drive one further into their own depravity. They become a slave to their own wants and desires. Then mistake their chains for freedom.
Once fully immersed in their self, so fully enslaved to pursuing their hearts desire they wonder why they're so depressed and void of happiness. The answer to our existence is not our existence. We feel empty because we are incomplete. We can never fill that void by chasing the distractions within the void itself.
And since when is the human heart anything, but evil? We see a history of violence and debauchery and recoil at it, but when we reflect on our own we mistake it for something other than what we have seen before in others. It's not hypocrisy it's blindness.
So, to put it another way is that our life is not life, our liberty is slavery, and our pursuit of happiness is the void in which we lose our life and liberty. But I am not writing this to depress or convict you. I am writing this to tell you that there is more. We are the children of an all-loving, all-powerful, and all-just God. He is our Answer. He is the True Life, Liberty, and the End Goal in our pursuit of happiness. A jar of clay can not find purpose within itself, but only in the purpose it's creator made it for.
Don't confuse your own will with that which God created you for. Does the potter ask the clay what it wants to be? Or to put it in a more modern way, does a table make a good tv? We have a habit of telling God too many times that the evil in our hearts is what would make us happy. He gives us what we want then point the finger at Him in accusation when we are left empty still. How about we instead ask Him what our purpose is? What His will is for our lives?
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
What makes Christianity stand out
Another case for Christianity or as Paul calls it, the Way, could be made in how it stands out. How does it stand out? In some very interesting ways. First we have a call to reason. Isaiah 1:18 says, "Come and let us reason together, says the LORD.". Not many religions call for reason, but for blind faith.
Reading the New Testament is like reading a giant philosophical argument. Leaving out the Gospels and Revelation of course. It is a collection of letters that settle doctrinal disputes and thus consequently a code of conduct. It also provides incite into arguments against the Faith and answers them. In Romans 9:19:
What is also different is that it invites us, indirectly, to test it's veracity. Most books with historical roots does this, but few are life transforming in its claims. The Bible is continuously verified by archeological discovery. Some of the sites I have linked to in a previous post does a great job in exploring those finds. Are all things verified? No, but none have contradicted the Bible or it's core message: an Almighty Transcendental Being sacrificing Himself out of an intense Love and attempt to grab our attention. The problems that do arise, creation account, the Deluge, Hebrew enslavement in Egypt, are hardly reason to believe that our Faith is in any way defeated. That's just poor logic. The objections are also disputable. Guided evolution (or another mechanism of Intelligent Design) could be argued as creationism, there may be evidence of a global or near global flood, and there is growing evidence of Hebrew enslavement in Eygpt. You are welcome to look up the arguments or evidence of each. Either way they are not even close to being core tenants of the Faith and the tenants that are deemed core have not been disproved or have been proved.
So, we have a monotheistic religion with rather fantastic claims, is part philosophical, part historical, part prophetic, and part radical. I will discuss the prophetic and radical claims in another post. But we have this Faith that stands up and shouts, "Test me! Argue with me! See that I am the True Way!", and I invite you to do so. I am always willing to discuss it. I can steer you in the right direction if I am unable to answer your questions. This is the most fulfilling decision you can make. I guarantee you that. Once you let go of self and embrace the Spirit the feeling is indescribable relief. I pray for you all.
Reading the New Testament is like reading a giant philosophical argument. Leaving out the Gospels and Revelation of course. It is a collection of letters that settle doctrinal disputes and thus consequently a code of conduct. It also provides incite into arguments against the Faith and answers them. In Romans 9:19:
You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?"This is referring to the objection that if God's Will is carried out by all things then how could condemn anyone if they are ultimately carrying out His Will. He answers this question in what first seems rather like blind faith in the next verse:
On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?This is not blind faith, but a succinct response to hubris. Too many arguments against God (I now speak of God generally. A Deity that is not specifically tied to Christianity seeing as how when atheists argue against God they are making a sweeping argument not just one against the Judeo-Christian God.) are based in ignorance and hubris such as: problem of evil, ontological arguments, unnecessary, etc. This answer in Romans is a clever disarming of those arguments.
What is also different is that it invites us, indirectly, to test it's veracity. Most books with historical roots does this, but few are life transforming in its claims. The Bible is continuously verified by archeological discovery. Some of the sites I have linked to in a previous post does a great job in exploring those finds. Are all things verified? No, but none have contradicted the Bible or it's core message: an Almighty Transcendental Being sacrificing Himself out of an intense Love and attempt to grab our attention. The problems that do arise, creation account, the Deluge, Hebrew enslavement in Egypt, are hardly reason to believe that our Faith is in any way defeated. That's just poor logic. The objections are also disputable. Guided evolution (or another mechanism of Intelligent Design) could be argued as creationism, there may be evidence of a global or near global flood, and there is growing evidence of Hebrew enslavement in Eygpt. You are welcome to look up the arguments or evidence of each. Either way they are not even close to being core tenants of the Faith and the tenants that are deemed core have not been disproved or have been proved.
So, we have a monotheistic religion with rather fantastic claims, is part philosophical, part historical, part prophetic, and part radical. I will discuss the prophetic and radical claims in another post. But we have this Faith that stands up and shouts, "Test me! Argue with me! See that I am the True Way!", and I invite you to do so. I am always willing to discuss it. I can steer you in the right direction if I am unable to answer your questions. This is the most fulfilling decision you can make. I guarantee you that. Once you let go of self and embrace the Spirit the feeling is indescribable relief. I pray for you all.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Political Rant
Why are there people who are 100% serious in their support for Trump. Not only does he continue to show his political illiteracy in a early 1900s snake oil salesman-esque pitch, but the man is an 80's movie villain. The rich, WASP, meathead bully wearing an ascot bragging about his daddy's accomplishments as his own.
Vera Coking from New Jersey can tell you all about it. He tried for over a decade to get her out of her house so that he could put in a limousine parking lot. Real man of the people. Or, we could look at the example he sets when he tried for over a decade to rid he prestigious Fifth Avenue in NYC of veteran run street vendors. More examples abound.
The cult of personality that surrounds this man who lacks a personality is astounding. We are talking about a man who boasts of not needing forgiveness from God. Apparently, Trump is the Second Coming of Christ. Christians who support him say we aren't electing a pastor, but a president. That magically excuses the man's history of fitting perfectly into the Bible's example of a violent and foolish man? He is a vacuous, self-worshipping man who only gleams his views based on polling. Once the election is over we will see the biggest political thug since Obama.
What about Bernie Sanders? I shouldn't even have to mention that complete jackass, but unfortunately the youth vote is dangerously uninformed enough to make his special brand of idiocy a legitimate platform in this race. Free everything! Except the rich pay for it. He pedals his cure for what ails you to the youth who think that the man is keeping them down. Who is the man? The rich. It seems these teens should be applauded for their vow of poverty! They fail to recognize that when they are out of college at that good paying job he promises will be there if they vote for him (that would be a miracle to behold! a high tax on the rich and the corporation they own producing anything other than an incentive to move their operations out of this country followed by mass layoffs in lieu of the automation that they would inevitably embrace while increasing the cost of goods to help offset the tax increase would be a miracle on the scale of Christ feeding the 5000) they will then see the taxes that they voted for. They will see their utter ignorance of how taxes work after they spend all that time in college and time in their jobs working for promotions and raises just to make the same as the person taking their order at Chipotle.
The poor supporting Sanders is only slightly less puzzling. You're not rich, so no one can be rich? That's just vindictive. Grow up. Where does that leave the world? It doesn't make you less miserable. It just makes more people miserable. What happens when the government runs out of people to taax? What happens when people no longer have any incentive to work or get ahead in their career? No one knows because that kind of economy always mysteriously collapses. Weird.
What's that? North Korea? Oh. Forgot about that sterling example of happiness and human rights. After the Korean War (I know, I know, it's technically not over) South Korea went the way of the free market and North Korea went the way of socialism. I wonder who has the better quality of life?
To be completely honest, no economic system is perfect, but free market and free enterprise is the best one there is. The worst criticisms of that economic model is actually against crony capitalism. They are not the same. What is truly ironic is that the whacko socialists that attacks and free market with charges of crony capitalism don't realize the very definition of a free market impossible for crony capitalism, but socialism is crony capitalism at it's finest.
The problem is obvious with this country. It lost it's God and in some doing has lost it's values. This amoral mindset has led to abandoning critical thinking in attempting not to offend anyone because being non-offensive is what replaced true values. The truth can be offensive. So what? That doesn't make it any less true. Hiding the truth or keeping people stupid enough not to look for the truth only hurts them even more. It leaves us with the message this world is in today.
Sickening. Trump. The left. Sanders. Clinton. You're all disgusting mental midgets destroying yourself in a vain attempt at destroying others. All to make yourself feel more important than what you really are. Turn back from your iniquity and look at the destruction you have wrought. Then tell me if any of it was worth it.
Vera Coking from New Jersey can tell you all about it. He tried for over a decade to get her out of her house so that he could put in a limousine parking lot. Real man of the people. Or, we could look at the example he sets when he tried for over a decade to rid he prestigious Fifth Avenue in NYC of veteran run street vendors. More examples abound.
The cult of personality that surrounds this man who lacks a personality is astounding. We are talking about a man who boasts of not needing forgiveness from God. Apparently, Trump is the Second Coming of Christ. Christians who support him say we aren't electing a pastor, but a president. That magically excuses the man's history of fitting perfectly into the Bible's example of a violent and foolish man? He is a vacuous, self-worshipping man who only gleams his views based on polling. Once the election is over we will see the biggest political thug since Obama.
What about Bernie Sanders? I shouldn't even have to mention that complete jackass, but unfortunately the youth vote is dangerously uninformed enough to make his special brand of idiocy a legitimate platform in this race. Free everything! Except the rich pay for it. He pedals his cure for what ails you to the youth who think that the man is keeping them down. Who is the man? The rich. It seems these teens should be applauded for their vow of poverty! They fail to recognize that when they are out of college at that good paying job he promises will be there if they vote for him (that would be a miracle to behold! a high tax on the rich and the corporation they own producing anything other than an incentive to move their operations out of this country followed by mass layoffs in lieu of the automation that they would inevitably embrace while increasing the cost of goods to help offset the tax increase would be a miracle on the scale of Christ feeding the 5000) they will then see the taxes that they voted for. They will see their utter ignorance of how taxes work after they spend all that time in college and time in their jobs working for promotions and raises just to make the same as the person taking their order at Chipotle.
The poor supporting Sanders is only slightly less puzzling. You're not rich, so no one can be rich? That's just vindictive. Grow up. Where does that leave the world? It doesn't make you less miserable. It just makes more people miserable. What happens when the government runs out of people to taax? What happens when people no longer have any incentive to work or get ahead in their career? No one knows because that kind of economy always mysteriously collapses. Weird.
What's that? North Korea? Oh. Forgot about that sterling example of happiness and human rights. After the Korean War (I know, I know, it's technically not over) South Korea went the way of the free market and North Korea went the way of socialism. I wonder who has the better quality of life?
To be completely honest, no economic system is perfect, but free market and free enterprise is the best one there is. The worst criticisms of that economic model is actually against crony capitalism. They are not the same. What is truly ironic is that the whacko socialists that attacks and free market with charges of crony capitalism don't realize the very definition of a free market impossible for crony capitalism, but socialism is crony capitalism at it's finest.
The problem is obvious with this country. It lost it's God and in some doing has lost it's values. This amoral mindset has led to abandoning critical thinking in attempting not to offend anyone because being non-offensive is what replaced true values. The truth can be offensive. So what? That doesn't make it any less true. Hiding the truth or keeping people stupid enough not to look for the truth only hurts them even more. It leaves us with the message this world is in today.
Sickening. Trump. The left. Sanders. Clinton. You're all disgusting mental midgets destroying yourself in a vain attempt at destroying others. All to make yourself feel more important than what you really are. Turn back from your iniquity and look at the destruction you have wrought. Then tell me if any of it was worth it.
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