Opus 2026-401: Cultural Dementia

25 years ago the phrase we kept hearing was, “Never forget”.  It seems that most of us have done so.  There are acts of violence that stand out in history.  Some of them were just cultural norms.  If you look at the battles going back-and-forth between the Muslims and the Christians during the Crusade era, you see what look like atrocities to us but to the people of that day it was just business as usual.  Some are just the conflict of war and its results.

25 years ago was a whole different genre of atrocity.  When a carefully planed attack my Muslims destroyed the lives of thousands of Americans and billions of dollars worth of property with no warning and no real cause, you better remember if this is a part of the culture you’re going up against.

The events of October 7 would be in the same category.  Of course, the ones who did the attacking out of nowhere would claim that they had justified cause.  That’s part of what we need to remember.  There are people in the world who confuse their own personal opinion with absolute truth.  They are all around us, and for the most part, we managed to squeeze by them or avoid them.  September 11 and October 7 should remind us that there are people who are better at dodgeball than we are.

Are there other events that we need to remember for our own survival sake?  I would suggest the Jewish holocaust as one and following close behind it would be the Armenian holocaust. And listening to us and historian recently, it would seem that there are many other similar holocaust that went on in the world of Islam.  I would venture a guess we could find them in other parts of the world too.  The killing in the Communist world should be engraved on our eyelids from starving the Ukranian peasants to Cambodia come to mind. 

We need to remember that we were attacked but even more we need to remember that there are evil people in the world who would love to attack us again and that we need to be on our guard.

Avoid cultural dementia, never forget.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-361: The Eternal Millennial

In reading John Adams diary, I came across an interesting spectacle.  He related the same experience two days in a row.

“I spent one evening this week at Billy Belcher’s.  I sat, book in hand, on one side of the fire, while Dr. Wendell, Billy Belcher, and Steven Cleverly, and another young gentleman, sat in silence around the card table all the evening.  Two evenings I spent at Samuel Quincy’s in the same manner.  Doctor Gardiner, Henry Quincy, Ned Quincy and Samuel Quincy, all playing cards the whole evening.  This is the wise and salutary amusement that young gentleman take every evening in this town.  Playing cards, drinking punch and wine, smoking tobacco and swearing, etc., etc., while a hundred of the best books lie on the shelves, desks, and chairs in the same room.  This is not misspense of time; this is a wise and profitable improvement of time – cards and backgammon are fashionable diversions.  I know not how any young fellow can study in this town.  What pleasure can a young gentleman who is capable of thinking, take in playing cards?” p. 62

While they were doing this, at least it seems that the narrative is, Adams was in a corner reading.  I’m not sure if he was reading because they didn’t invite him to play, he didn’t know how to play, they were playing a game involving gambling and money and he had none, or if he was just there because it was the only corner in town that had a good lamp.

Anyway you want to look at it, his comment about his contemporaries was not complementary. When you get down to it, there’s not that much difference between the younger generation of the 18th century and the millennials of the 21st-century.  There is very little about how these young men are earning a living.  Adams himself is always relating how he has dinner with this person, tea with another, and spent an evening in conversation at someone else’s house.  There is never any account of how he himself is generating income to pay for things like this at this point in his life.

That is the depressing news.  The good news is that he went on to become happily married, a pillar of society, a successful lawyer, Founding Father, and the second president of the United States.

May your time wasters be as valuable as his.

Adams, John.  The Works of John Adams, Volume 1.  Norwalk, Connecticut: The Easton Press, 1992.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-355: Read with Discernment

I’m almost finished with a book that was given to me.  The title is Horse Soldiers.  It deals with the early involvement of the United States in Afghanistan in trying to drive the Taliban out.  It’s a good story, told by a good writer.  I’m just not sure how accurate it is on all of its details.

It was written, I believe in 2009 so that was 15 years ago before the disaster of abandoning all that military equipment to the Taliban by the Biden administration.  I’m now to the epilogue and one gets the feeling in reading this that all of the sacrifice and suffering that went on was worth it because we had won the war against the Taliban.

I wish.

There was always a certain sense the author projected writing of nobility and a sense of calling.  I accept that with no difficulty, but there was also this sense that we actually could win this thing and that the people of Afghanistan were actually on our side.

Sandwiched in were insights into the culture of Afghanistan.  When the battle waged you would find the different tribes working together to defeat the Taliban.  Somehow in the pauses that occurred now and then that unity disappeared, and they started shooting at each other, killing each other and so forth just as they have done for centuries.  Victory was always one opportunity away from defeat.  At key moments, various warlords and leaders would switch sides because they felt like it was temporarily to their advantage.  You could never trust anybody beyond the last bullet.

We tend to forget that about many cultures in the world.  It goes double for the cultures of Islam and double that for the cultures of Afghanistan.  Your first loyalty was to your family and as long as there was nothing serious in the way, your next loyalty would be your tribe.  Loyalty to the nation was simply a matter of pragmatics.  What was good for you today might not be good for you tomorrow.

While the author often brought this out in relating what was going on he failed to connect the dots.  We as Americans have no understanding of tribalism.  The Marxist, who are trying to destroy the country are working hard to bring back a sense of tribalism to Americans, which was abandoned when we left Europe.  They are making progress.

We need to be always discerning of the motives of people and try to keep our heads above water and move towards being one nation under God and out of many, one.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-268: Reparations across the Board

I don’t understand the reasoning behind reparations.  How someone who never owned slaves could owe something to someone who was never a slave is a mystery to me.  But for today let’s go with that.  We have a principle that no matter how far back you go in history and whether you have ancestors involved or not, you have the right to pay people back or demand payment from them.

So let’s look back in history.  I just finished reading about how the Muslim victors would set terms for surrender, guarantee safe passage and as soon as the gates were open begin to slaughter everyone and steal everything.  They loved to ride their horses over infants and slice open pregnant women.  If we are going to accept the logic of reparations then we have the right to take a tank and a few 50 caliber machine guns into any Muslim neighborhood and start shooting.  It is only fair because centuries ago Muslims did it to Christians.  Point out the fallacy in my logic.

Perhaps we could look back to the Mongols sweeping over Eastern Europe, the Middle East, northern India and any other place in reach.  The Mongels at one time made up the ruling dynasty of China so it would only be fair if all the armies of the world would start rolling across the Gobi and not stop until they arrived at the Formosa Straight.  It is only reparations at work.

Maybe we should insist on the help of the US Army to support the Cherokee to reclaim their ancestral grounds.  I don’t mean in Georgia.  Before that.  Back when they were located up in New York and Pennsylvania.  Let’s kill everyone in those states or if we are really serious about reparations locate the descendants of the Indian tribes that drove them out and give them what they deserve.

I am sure we could find other examples.  If you go back in history you could come up with a reason to kill just about anyone and take their worldly goods.  What a world that would be.

Ultimately this just goes back to the Conan principle.  Conan the Barbarian was able to do anything he wanted to do if his muscles were bigger and his sword sharper.  In other contexts it is called the law of the jungle and if you are weak, you are dinner.

So sure.  Reparations sounds like a good idea if you have all the guns and no moral scruples.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-266: Political Precedence

The recent visit by President Trump brought up the danger of Mainland Communist China invading Taiwan.  The carefully worded language is offensive and dangerous.  The Communists insist that Taiwan is still apart of their empire.  They think that because it was once so it is always so.  If we accept that logic then we will need to face the consequences.

Think about Mexico once controlling our Southwest.  La Raza advocates Mexico taking back the land it surrendered in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.  For some reason they think their claim is more genuine than Spain or the Apaches.  Like so many political positions it is illogical and self-serving.  It still exits.  If Taiwan belongs to China then Santa Barbara Mission belongs to Mexico.

This is also the attitude that the Muslims have.  They take it a step farther.  They seem to feel that any area they have ever controlled is still theirs.  They conquered the Eastern Mediterranean by destroying the Christian armies and later the Christians themselves.  The fact that Egypt used to be one of the centers of Christian culture is immaterial.  It is now, and forever will be, Muslim by their way of thinking.

Think about historical precedent for us.  The United States was once a part of Great Britain.  American residents considered themselves British citizens.  If we accept the thinking of China then Great Britain has the right to invade Washington again.

Where does this thinking stop?  One line that needs to be set in concrete instead of drawn in the sand at low tide on a windy day is the use of force.  Even that is slippery.  Does Texas have the right to declare itself an independent country?  Can New York declare that it is a city state on the ancient Greek model?

Unfortunately the principle of the sword will never go away.  Human nature being what it is armed force will always have the final word.  Some people might bring up Ghandi and India using nonviolent resistance.  If he had tried that with the country under the control of Pol Pot or Mao the world would have never heard of him.  We as a free people will always need to keep our swords sharp and do everything we can to dull the blades of our adversaries.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-261: The 613 Fantasy

If you have ever spent any time considering the Law of Moses and the Apostle Paul you have probably come across reference to the 613 commandments and how it is impossible to keep them.  In my opinion that is just a smoke screen.  I have looked at the 613 and when you eliminate the duplication and the laws that only apply to a small part of the population at a specific time in history, you come up with a much smaller number.

I am of the opinion that the Law of Moses was not a spiritual standard but a basic book in civics and civilization that was delivered to a bunch of ex-slaves who had no idea how to have a responsible society.  That is my opinion and I am sticking to it.

I did come across something that I think reinforces that.  I have been reading a book on the Crusades by Raymond Ibriam.  One of the constant events when the Muslim armies took over a town was the focus on rape and brutality.  In a very real sense that was a mark of the times.  Pagan warriors looked at it as their right when they finally broke through the walls.

An example of that from ancient times comes from Plutarch’s Lives in the chapter about Lucullus.

“That day he tarried there, but on the next, and those that followed, he traveled through Sophene, using no manner of violence to the people who came to him and willingly received his army.  And when the soldiers were desirous to plunder a castle that seemed to be well stored within, ‘This the the castle,’ said he, ‘that we must storm,’ showing them Taurus at a distance; ‘the rest is reserved for those who conquer there.’”, p. 610

This is a recurring theme as the general tried to keep his soldiers in check and on task.  They wanted to pillage, rape and kill.  He wanted to win a war.

This also emphasizes the difference between Islam and Christianity. When you read the Koran and Hadith you see a pattern of sexual expression that is denied in the Bible. This came to mind as I was thinking about a section of the 613 dealing with sexual contact.  It is titled “Laws of Forbidden Relations”.  Here they are as the printout appears.

139     Not to have relations with your mother     Lev. 18:7
140     Not to have relations with your father's wife     Lev. 18:8
141     Not to have relations with your sister     Lev. 18:9
142     Not to have relations with your father's wife's daughter     Lev. 18:11
143     Not to have relations with your son's daughter     Lev. 18:10
144     Not to have relations with your daughter     Lev. 18:10
145     Not to have relations with your daughter's daughter     Lev. 18:10
146     Not to have relations with a woman and her daughter     Lev. 18:17
147     Not to have relations with a woman and her son's daughter     Lev. 18:17
148     Not to have relations with a woman and her daughter's daughter     Lev. 18:17
149     Not to have relations with your father's sister     Lev. 18:12
150     Not to have relations with your mother's sister     Lev. 18:13
151     Not to have relations with your father's brother's wife     Lev. 18:14
152     Not to have relations with your son's wife     Lev. 18:15
153     Not to have relations with your brother's wife     Lev. 18:16
154     Not to have relations with your wife's sister     Lev. 18:18
155     A man must not have relations with a beast     Lev. 18:23
156     A woman must not have relations with a beast     Lev. 18:23
157     Not to have homosexual relations     Lev. 18:22
158     Not to have homosexual relations with your father     Lev. 18:7
159     Not to have homosexual relations with your father's brother     Lev. 18:14
160     Not to have relations with a married woman     Lev. 18:20
161     Not to have relations with a menstrually impure woman     Lev. 18:19

Notice there are over twenty commandments here but they could all be condensed to just a few thoughts.  And all of them would be covered by the second greatest commandment that Jesus mentioned in loving your neighbor as yourself.

So don’t get to hot and bothered at the mention of the law unless you are determined to have homosexual relations with your father (number 158).

Plutarch.  The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, Translated by John Dryden.  New York:  The Modern Library, ND.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-247: Acre Again

One of the sub-genres of science fiction is alternate history.  There are stories that chart history in a world where the South won the Civil War.  I remember enjoying one that had the earth invaded by alien armies in the middle of World War II.  It can be very entertaining if well written.

Currently I am reading a history of the Military Orders of the Crusades, the Templars and Hospitalers.  I just got through the part where the last Christian citadel was smashed and the survivors fled.  It was gruesome.  Of course you need to understand that the standards of the day were totally different than today.  It was still gruesome.  Basically every Christian who was not able to get on a boat was doomed.  The first step was to rampage through the city looting, killing and raping.  Somehow there were people who survived and they faces a very certain future:  slavery.  That was it.  Most men were killed, women raped and sold, children sold.  It was a brutal time.

My thoughts turned to modern times.  What if you were writing a story in the future about the fall of the modern nation of Israel to the forces of Islam that surround it.  It would be a replay of the Middle Ages.  The events of Hamas attacking on October 7 would give you a preview.  There would be slaughter that made the Holocaust look like a playground.

And, if the media plays its assumed role, we would know nothing about it.  Just like they ignored the real conditions in the Soviet Union and acted like there were no concentration camps in Nazi Germany you would hear nothing about the millions of Jews executed.

And what about the aftermath.  Would there still be Christian tours of the Holy Land?  Would Americans still be getting baptized in the Jordan?  Probably.  The mass graves would not be labeled.  The fees would be much higher but the potential for making money off of suckers would be a strong attraction.  Of course there might be occasional hiccups as tour buses were bombed but that would be blamed on Zionist terrorists.

Let us hope that those stories are never real history.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-232: Franklin and Trump

One topic that comes up in Christian circles is the spiritual status of Donald Trump.  I don’t claim to have the final word on who is saved and who is damned, that goes without saying, and I don’t present it as a cop-out on taking a stand.  I have heard nothing credible that would make me think Trump has put his faith in Christ . One thing I have noticed though is that he is open in his comments.  He does not try to learn the jargon so he can pull the wool over our eyes. 

The first time I saw this was in his first campaign.  He was being interviewed on a Christian talk show and being asked some very direct questions.  He clearly did not understand the lingo but just as clearly he was trying to be honest.

I was glancing through a book on my shelf that I intend to get to some day.  It had one chapter on the spiritual stands of various Founders.  One that I looked at to determine if the book was reliable concerned Benjamin Franklin.  I did not read everything they had but what I did read was adequate to establish the author. The following quote is rather long but I think it is worth reading.

“You desire to know something of my religion.  Here is my creed.  I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe. That He governs it by his Providence.  That he ought to be worshiped.
That the most acceptable service we render him is in doing good to his other children.  That the soul of man is immortal, will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be fundamental points of all sound religion.  As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals, and his religion, as he left them to us, is the best the world they ever saw, or as likely to see.  I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes; and I have with most of the present dissenters in England, some doubt as to his divinity, though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I soon will have an opportunity to know the truth with less trouble.  I see no harm, however, in it being believed, if that belief has the good consequence, as probably it has, of making his doctrines more respected and observed, especially is it as I do not perceive that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the believers of his government of the world with any particular marks of his displeasure.”  Pages 157-8

What struck me was the similarity between Franklin and Trump. For all of their intelligence and exposure to Christians, neither one seemed to understand what the issues were.  Neither was hostile.  Neither tried to claim something they were not. 

I find that encouraging.  Years ago I read I read Franklin’s Autobiography.  I don’t remember any claims to faith in it.  At the same time God used him in the establishment of our country.  May He use Trump in the preserving it.

The attitude of Franklin was very similar to Trump

Morris, Benjamin F.  The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States.  Powder Springs, Georgia:  American Vision Press, 2007.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-218: Old Time Remedies

There are times when we look back to our childhood or read about bygone eras and we see things that people used to do differently. The difference was more than a lack of technology. It was often the hands-on power of craftsmanship.

I was recently reading something about cheese. The author was reflecting on the situation in England before one of the wars. He said that every neighborhood and sometimes every farm had a unique cheese that they made. The variety depended on many factors and may have even varied in different seasons. The point was that there was a lot more flavor and enjoyment when you compared it to our one-taste-fits-all cheeses of today.

Sometimes the old ways had the better way. I don’t want to go back to hauling water from the well in a bucket or heating the house with the fireplace but I know that pork chops don’t taste as good as they did before they became the “other white meat.”

This came to mind because my son and I were discussing the call of Abraham in Genesis 12. It is amazing the study tools you can bring to a restaurant if you have a hot spot on your phone. We were focusing on the Hebrew words. They seemed to be translated the same, were pronounced the same but looked different in the Hebrew script. We didn’t have enough knowledge to make a judgment.

Today as I was looking over it again I noticed what we call “King James English.” There were a lot of yee’s and “eth” endings. I remember looking into this once and whatever source I was reading said that this was already archaic in the time of King James. The translators did it to get across the nuances of the Greek and Hebrew. In modern English we have the pronoun “you” and we can’t know if it is singular or plural. Not so in the KJV. Thee is singular and Ye is plural. That knowledge adds to our understanding of the Bible. It would be good if we brought it back because it would make things more clear. The same applies to the “eth” endings. I already wrote about the LSB using the Hebrew name of God, Yahweh. This would be like that.

So don’t throw away your KJV. I f you are serious about Bible study it can help you get to the bottom of some questions. I don’t care what the package says, “New and improved” often isn’t.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-210: No Justice in the World

All eyes are currently focused on Iran. The cry of “Death to Israel” is heard echoing from the Muslim world. I find this a bit ironic based on a recent Bible study.

We were in Jeremiah at one of the places where it talks about the return from captivity. I was looking to see who authorized their return and it came up as Cyrus.

Ezra 1:1-2 (KJV) 1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

If that isn’t clear enough for you

Daniel 6:28 (KJV) So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

If it were not so serious I would laugh at the attempts of Iran to destroy the Jews. Iran is Persia. They are the ones responsible for the survival of Israel. Now they want to destroy it. Of course you could follow the line of thought that it is Arabs in control of Persian Iran that are the problem.

Don’t mess with what God is trying to do.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-153: Headlines: Farewell to Jesse

I did not pay any attention to the funeral for Jesse Jackson.  From what click bait I could see it turned into the circus I would have expected.  Funerals are usually times of sugar coating and hyperbole anyway and when you have a poster child for the left it could only be worse.

I would like to point out the similarities that Jackson had with another historic figure, Benedict Arnold.  What they had in common was that early in their careers they started off very well.  Arnold was the key figure in the Battle of Saratoga which kept the American army alive early in the Revolution.  A political general stole all the credit and it started Arnold down the road to becoming a figure equal to Judas.  

Jackson, in a similar way, started out as a noble figure.  He was on the road to becoming a key to freeing American blacks from the plantation.  He had a lot of good ideas and was implementing them.  In one book I am reading, written about that time, Jackson was lumped with dynamic thinkers like Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams.  At the time it was deserved.  People forget that part of his life because he went so far south later.  I don’t know where he went wrong but I think he got a taste of power and money which had him make a deal with the devil.

I understand that there is a statute to Benedict Arnold but it only has a leg.  That is because he was shot in the leg at the Battle of Saratoga and Americans want to remember that part of his life.  I am not sure what kind of legacy we could post for Jackson.  I would suggest a rainbow because that was in the name of his early organization but the rainbow has been hijacked by other groups since.

I salute him for his early contributions and hold him up as an object lesson for corruption in his later life.  Let him be a warning.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-150: Temporary Necessity

A common claim of growing government control is that it is only temporary.  How many taxes have been pushed because there was a short term need?  Then they never go away.  The only government program that comes to mind that I feel has ceased is DOGE and it is the one I approved of.

This brings to mind Abraham Lincoln.  On some lists he appears as one of the great presidents.  On others he is the worst.  The reason for putting him last focuses on the exercise of presidential authority during the Civil War.  I am going to need to look it up but my memory tells me that the Constitution gives the president authority to suspend Habeas Corpus during time of war.  Done.  I was right:

Article 1, Section 9.  The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety require it. 

That seems clear.  How did the list prsented by a “conservative” lawyer tell me he was wrong?  Possibly because it is under the legislature not the president.

Did he cancel them before he was killed.  Would he have cancelled them if he had lived?  Does it make any difference?

Under what circumstances is it moral to act immorally?  Sometimes it is an easy choice.  It is not easy to do the right thing but knowing the right thing is clear.  The classic example is Dutch citizens hiding Jews from the Nazis and lying about it.  The only person who has a problem with that is the SS.  When we get down to paying your taxes because you disagree with how the government will spend it, things get a little more questionable.

Life is not simple.  We are entering a time when that is a simple statement.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-099: Gaps in the Apostle’s Creed

Every Sunday morning, we recite together the apostles Creed.  The pastor points out that it’s the version we use.  The one thing I’ve seen that they leave out that I’ve always seen another creeds was the idea that Jesus descended into hell before He rose again.  He could not explain why it was removed.  I understand why they change Catholic to Universal church but not the other variations.  

I found myself looking at it and thinking about the theological concepts that are totally missing from the Creed.  Some are assumed, some are inferred, others I don’t know what happened to them.  I know that the apostles Creed is a much shorter than the Nicene Creed.

What is missing from the Creed?

There is no statement about the eternal existence to either God, the Father or Jesus the son. There is no clear statement about the divinity of Christ or the fact that he became fully man.

Grace

Faith

Atonement

I guess the basics of the faith are simpler than we expect.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-092: The Middle Ground

My thoughts were on being thankful for God’s beneficial providence.  I was marveling over how patient He is.  We hear a lot about God‘s wrath and forget that He would often withhold His correcting rod for hundreds of years before He would lower the boom.  He was definitely patient.

From there, my thoughts went to the antisemitism that we are hearing so much about.  I just finished reading a section in Durant’s “The Story of Civilization” in which he was dealing with the suffering that the Jews endured in medieval Europe.  It was widespread and brutal.  What impressed me, and honestly surprised me, was that the safest place to be a Jew was in the Papal Estates.  Were the Pope had the greatest authority the persecution was held at bay.  Throughout Europe, many church leaders did what they could to protect the Jews that were being harassed by Crusaders and others.

I fear that antisemitism is real and is on the rise.  By that I don’t mean all of the loud noise attacking certain talking heads.  I don’t listen to those people much anyway, but I’ve never heard them say anything I thought it was filled with hate.  Much of what we hear is just the left and the pseudo-right trying to defame them.  Hatred of Jews does not come from those who believe in the traditional America.  Historically it has come from the world of socialism and totalitarian governments.  Keep in mind that the communisst are also socialist and if you lump together the persecution between the communist and the national socialist, you have a perfectly brutal demonstration of what totalitarians have in store with the Jewish people.

What is ironic is that in our country the forces of socialism seem to be supported by the Jews themselves.  Is it a form of self hatred?  What kind of thinking has almost an entire ethnic group being supportive of the people who hate them the most?

We need to bend over backwards to make sure that we are not expressing hatred for Jews.  Whatever you’re feelings about the nation of Israel and the place of Israel in prophecy, Jews are created in the image of God, just like the rest of us.  They deserve the same courtesy and compassion that anyone else would deserve.  That middle ground is hard for people to walk.

Genuine Americans, and true Christians should be looking inward and preparing themselves in case we ever have the resurgence of the kind of things that happened in Nazi Germany.  What that means is that we will need to be ready to quietly and secretly practice resistance to the forces of tyranny.  That means sheltering the target of tyranny and risking ourselves in the cause of righteousness.  It means realizing that we may be that prey.

Pray and prepare.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-089: Scapegoat Phoenix

They’re at it again.  In this case “they” are the Jew haters who seem to always emerge from the rotten cellars whenever they’re running out of other conspiracy theories.  Right now I’m seeing it frequently in mentions of the Epstein files.  They’re dripping with nauseating accusations about the Jews.  True, they are quoting some things expressed in the emails but it’s just the old scapegoat emerging again.

Right now it seems to be coming from both sides of the aisle.  Historically it’s been around since almost the beginning of time.  I’ve been reading about medieval times and how the Jews struggled through those time and persecution was prevalent.  Some of the accusations that we’re hearing today are just repetitions of what they threw around 1,000 years ago.  They were accused of drinking babies blood.  They were accused of murdering Christians in their rituals.  They were accused of witchcraft and all sorts of nonsense.

Some things never change.  You may not like the Jews.  You may think Israel is an aberration.  You may think that Jewish bankers are at the center of all our economic problems.

As the medieval world would say, hold my beer.  These accusations are nothing new.  I would assume that being human beings the Jews have their share of nefarious individuals, but these accusations are nothing but liable and insults to our intelligence.

What does it say about our intelligence, let alone our moral fiber, that we believe them so readily.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-054: On the Other Hand…

How would the world be different if certain people had died sooner?

The first one that comes to my mind is George Washington.  During the French and Indian war when he was rescuing the remnants of Braddock’s army, what would  have happened if one of those many musket balls that went through his coat had been just a little bit different and had taken his life.  Would the American Revolution have started without Washington’s uniting presence?  I can guarantee you that we would have never won the war because he was the one who was totally indispensable.  He’s the one that held them together.  He’s the one that deserved their trust.  So definitely the world will be different today.

What if Hitler died earlier?  I think we can say that things would’ve definitely been different.  Millions of people would’ve lived that died.  Of course we don’t know what direction European politics would have taken.  There could’ve been many more wars.  In fact, if the history of Europe was anything to go by, there would have been more wars.  It’s very possible that the Soviet Union would have been able to continue to expand without anything to stop it.  Would that matter?   What if Stalin had died as a young man?  The Communist revolution would’ve still proceeded.  But what would’ve happened after that?  I don’t know what role he played but it’s possible that Trosky would not have been murdered.  It’s possible that Lenin would never have emerged as a leader.  They’re all kinds of possibilities.

How would the world be different if Napoleon had never lived?  Again we don’t know how the politics of Europe would’ve worked out, it could’ve been just as bloody only with different leaders.  The concept of a national army in total war would have not come so early.  The Napoleonic codes would never have been written.

What if Octavian, commonly also known as Caesar Augustus, had lost the wars against his rivals.  Would any of them have had the focus and the priorities to make Rome an empire that would endure?  If the Roman empire had fallen apart earlier, how would history be different?

If Mohammed had never lived, would someone else have been raised up to replace him?  Of course, if you were a devout Muslim, you would think, yes, Allah would have raised somebody else up.  If you are just about anyone else, you would think it would be almost impossible for anyone to be so delusional.  The development around the Mediterranean would have certainly changed as the different Christian groups would be in constant conflict, and the schisms within the church would become very pronounced.  Would Rome have dominated the way it did?

Speculate.  I am glad you are still with us to make a difference.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-053: Oh Well…

I was thinking about the death of Charlie Kirk.  He was a young man who was going to be a world changer, and in spite of his death, he may still be a world changer.  We have to wait and see.

I wonder how many other deaths I can think of where it changed the direction of the world.  I am sure others have addressed this.  There are probably books on it.  When I taught middle school and assigned term papers about famous people it was one of the questions I asked:  How would the world be different if the person had never lived?

One that comes to mind is Abraham Lincoln.  If Abraham Lincoln had lived, then the soft-sell of reconstruction would’ve been the game.  He wanted to bring the states back in with almost no penalties and no consequences for what they’ve done.  Johnson tried to implement the policies that Lincoln wanted to put into play.  He didn’t have enough political power.  The radical Republicans shot him down, tried to impeach him and generally made his life miserable.  If Lincoln had lived, things would’ve gone in a direction in a very different direction. I ’m not sure if it would’ve been good or bad, but it would’ve been different.

How would the world have been different if Julius Caesar had listened to the warnings?  It would have certainly made a difference in the direction of Rome.  Rome had a republic which was deteriorating.  Cesar had a lot of great ideas and had he managed to get them finalized Rome would have run much more smoothly and might have lasted even longer.  Of course it was from the point of view of a dictator or a monarch.

What about Joan of Arc?  She was betrayed by the people that she was helping.  If she had continued on, would she have ended up changing the whole direction of France?  She might have eventually become queen or some kind of dictator.  We might be speaking French today.

What if Santa Anna had not won the battle of the Alamo?  How would that have changed the direction of Texas and thus the United States if they had managed to stay alive?  Would I still be in California?  Would my grandmother have moved west?

Of course they’re the unknowns.  How many potential world changers have been destroyed by the forceps of the abortionist.  How many Beethoven’s, Einstein’s, Salk’s, Washington’s?  Make your own list.  Put your name on it.  It will give you something to think about on a cold night.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-013: Activate Star Wars Effects

I recently finished watching a movie that came up free on YouTube called Robin Hood the Prince of Thieves.  It was OK.  It was a happy, fun movie.  The problem I experienced is that the older I get the more I keep running into things that are anachronistic.  I know enough about the time period in which Robin Hood is set to have serious issues with some of the events that took place.  For instance, one of the main conflicts in Robin Hood was between the Norman French who had conquered the Saxon population.  Robin Hood was a Saxon.  Maid Marion was a Norman. There was a tension there that did not come out in the movie.  There were a lot of little things like that.

Then you have my problem with my knowledge of history and physics.  They have some convoluted way in which Robin brought a Muslim warrior home with him and he owed Robin his life and so he was submitting to Robin’s authority and following him.  OK, not very likely but OK.  Then they had a key point in the story where they’re getting desperate and the Muslim starts producing bombs.  Yes, bombs.  He makes black powder, put it in kegs with fuses around it and has it all ready to be set off by fire arrows later on in the story.  At the time of the Crusades, when Richard the Lion Hearted was involved, I really find it hard to believe that there was a Muslim warrior in Jerusalem who knew how to make black powder and construct bombs.  The Chinese, who first developed gunpowder, to our knowledge only used the gunpowder for fireworks at this point.  They were not developing bombs.

Anyhow, the story was fun and what it did is it forced me to call on what we call in my family the “Star Wars Effect”.  If you remember the original Star Wars stories with the X fighters traveling through space and doing barrel rolls in a vacuum, you might know what I’m talking about.  There is a certain suspension of belief that is necessary in much of modern movies and literature.  If the story is well written, if it’s fun, if you can identify with the characters, then it still works.  Most of the modern literature is so woke and so politically correct that it sacrifices character and plot and becomes totally unsatisfactory.  So, long live the Star Wars Effect.  I wait for my next movie that implements it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-593: Translators’ Views: Some Things Never Change

The intellectual sloth of our modern times often comes back to deprive us of the wisdom that went before us.  I have located on line the original statement by the translators of the King James Bible.  There was a time when it was included in every Bible sold but those days are long gone.  I had heard comments about it and wanted to find out for myself so I downloaded the original and a modern version.  Like the KJV, the original version is very hard to make sense of but I guess it would be possible.  Since I am part of the contemporary intellectual sloth I only spent time with the updated version.  I found a number of intersting statements.  I will look at a few and make some comments.

Today I am reflecting on the way in which the King James Only (KJO) crowd are so resistant to any kind of updating or revising of the 1769 version of the KJV.  I am assuming that most of these people have never bothered to read the words of the translators themselves,

“For, was there ever any thing projected, that savoured any way of newness or renewing, but the same endured many a storm of gainsaying, or opposition?”

I think this was a response to the public opposition to the KJV when it came out.  The general public did not feel the need for a new translation.  My understanding is that it took about 40 years before the KJV was accepted by the general public.

If you are a fan of a modern translation then know that the translators of 1611 would have your back if they were still with us today.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-548: Advent Calendar: Day 1, The Protoevangelium

The coming of the Messiah was not a last minute project.  In fact it begins right inside the garden of Eden as Adam and Eve are about to receive their eviction notice.  This verse has a fancy name which you saw in the title.  Break it down.  The proto is the first design as in prototype.  The second part is our word for evangelism which means “good news”.  This is a prophecy about the relationship between the serpent and the seed of Mary, Jesus.

(Gen 3:15 KJV)  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

God plans ahead.  If he were living in Texas today He would already have His shopping done.  The message was that Jesus was coming.  For us it is that He is already here.  Merry Christmas.

homo unius libri