Opus 2015-404: Diverse American Directions

Americans are incredibly creative and inventive.  People who want to get ahead in life and be successful can be very original in finding ways to get around the roadblocks that government puts in the way to prevent their progress.  That is the good news.  It is called the free market and sometimes confused with capitalism

The bad news is that there are other Americans, just as clever, who are working for the government trying to come up with regulations to expand their personal power and limit the chances of success of the first group.  This is called Communism and is sometimes watered down as socialism.

Which will prove more powerful, the greed for creating wealth or the greed for power and control?  The government has the coercive power of the state.  They have the ability to pass laws and if they can’t get the laws passed they do what President Obama is doing so well.  They issue edicts and regulations with the force of law.  If you violate them you are harassed, fined and/or imprisoned.  It is up to you to hire a lawyer to prove them wrong.  And when you win they ignore the judgement or tweak the ruling and keep oppressing.

There is always the chance that they will overstep their power and cause an uprising of the masses.  If we are blessed with an able leader then liberty can get some breathing room.  If another egocentric despot takes charge we can have bloody insurrection and whatever comes out will be a just a different form of tyranny.

The worst case scenario is what we see unfolding with the two groups working together and forming a fascist state where crony capitalism colludes to keep everything in its control.  Mark Levin in his book Plunder and Deceit seems to think we can wake up the younger generation and see a change.  I work with them on a daily basis.  Don’t count on it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-403: Salt or Tofu

It sounds like the same title but it isn’t. 

Let me say that I think all Americans are going to need to make a choice soon.  We are going to be forced to pick Jesus or jihad.  There will be no middle ground.

You see it happening in Europe now.  Years ago Europe in its so called Enlightenment citadel looked down its nose at the teaching of Christianity.  They figured that the thinking of the humanist philosophers had moved beyond superstition and ignorance and they were now the cherry on the top of the pie.  How is that working for them now?

Blase Pascal in Pensee said when talking about this kind of thing,

“But these are all inadequate, because the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself.” Kindle location Highlight Loc. 2150-51, from Project Gutenberg text.

People are going to try to fill that “abyss” with something.  That is part of the reason why otherwise rational people saturate themselves with video games, drugs, alcohol and perversions.  They are looking for something that will take away their awareness of being empty inside. 

That is the part of jihad and suicide bombers that the secular world will never understand.  They want to think that these people are aberrations so they come up with terms like “fanatical” and  “extremist” to describe what is simply genuine application of Islam as taught in the Koran.  That book endorses deceit, rape, pillage and murder against people who are not “true” believers.  I urge you to read the book.  Don’t take selected passages as proving anything.

The emptiness of European hearts will not stand against the fire of Islam.  The question I am asking is “Will American hearts stand against Islam if they are also empty?”  The answer is “No.”  We still have a fair number of Americans who have the void filled by the living God.  That God teaches the opposite of deceit, rape, pillage and murder.  It is all in the book.  I urge you to read it.

And make a decision because I assure you, you will have to live with it.  Or die with it.  That is not a threat from me, a Christian, but a promise from them.  Take a side.  It is Jesus or Jihad.  It is us or ISIS.  It is turning the other cheek, loving your neighbor as yourself and feeding your enemies or it is locking prisoners of war in cages and setting them on fire.

There really only two doors and no consolation prizes.  Choose wisely.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-402: Google Leadership

I wrote this before Boehner announced his resignation.

I was trying to make sure of my spelling of Mitch McConnell and John Boehner so I Googled “leaders in congress” and got an interesting response.  First of all, Google took me literally and emphasized the members of the House of Representatives.  Okay, Google can’t read my mind.  As the kids and a lot of immature adults say, “My bad.”  What was more startling was that as I looked down the list of short digests I only saw Democrat names.  I did not see one Republican.  I am sure that when I open them up and scroll down I will find something.

Or will I?  Do any Republicans deserve to be listed in a search for “leaders in congress”?

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-401: Salt, Not Tofu

It is time for the church to be salt again.  At times it feels like it is already too late.

Have you ever felt that way?  Society is falling apart.  Morals have been ignored and bypassed.  Ethics is a word for debate instead of a standard of behavior.  I feel that way on a regular basis.  I am currently reading Mark Levin’s Plunder and Deceit and his endless examples of government and elitist malfeasance is genuinely depressing.  I feel abandoned and helpess.

Good.  That is the way I am supposed to feel.  It may take a few more pillars of the community being arrested for doing and thinking like America used to do and think before we all wake up.  I am praying for a growing alarm.

Good, if we turn to the right solutions.  Historically that has been revolution and violence.  The result is almost always worse than the cause.  Look what Russia got when the Communists took over the revolution.  Look at France under the reign of terror.  America was one of the few exceptions.  We are now being dissolved as a free republic and transformed into an oligarchy. 

The only hope for this country is if the church goes back to being the church.  I have not finished Levin’s book yet.  I will.  I am in the last chapter and the big weakness I see is not his analysis of the problem but the solution he offers.  He is calling for the younger generation to wake up and get politically active.  That would be good, but if they don’t deal with the problem that caused it there will be no real change.  The problem is in the selfishness of the heart.  Levin refers to it in passing but whiffs his swing.

The church used to be prophetic.  It stood up in public and called down the demagogues of society whether they were political or religious.  They often went to jail or the stake for their impertinence but they spoke the words that moved society forward.  The church used to be salt, now it is just tofu.

Tofu takes on the flavor of the world around it.  Put it with fish and you have seafood.  Add chicken broth and you have something that tastes like frogs legs.  In reality it is neither fish nor fowl.  It is the chameleon of foods.  The church should be calling sin what it is and calling people to repentance.  Instead it is saying the Bible is wrong and society has a point and can’t we all just get along.  In fear of losing its place at the table and its tax exempt status the church is taking the lead in gutting the one defense we had against the wrath of God.

If you are one of those who are anti-Christian you need to do a little honest historical reading.  I don’t mean the distortions put together by modern liberals.  Ask yourself who was behind educating the masses?  Who started hospitals and orphanages?  Who lead the fight against slavery?  Who started things like the Boy Scouts? 

Give me salt.  Let the tyrants of the world keep their tofu.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-400: One of the Big Questions of Life

I am not going to take a poll but there is a question that has been bothering me since I was old enough to dress myself.  I was not aware of it, but the nagging question needed to be asked at least once a day.

Does it really matter if your underwear is inside-out?

Like I said, I am not going to take a poll.  For one thing, it has probably already been done.  For another I am not sure that the nation’s opinion is important to me.  I don’t want you to think I don’t care what you think.  I am sensitive to your feelings, but to be honest, I don’t care what you think, if you get my drift.

I have heard stories about mothers who were fixated on clean underwear.  You know the mantra about how embarrassed they would be if you had to go to the hospital and had on dirty underwear.  My mother never played that head trip.  Besides, she washed my underwear and so knew my patterns.  But she did not check to see if I put them on correctly and I don’t remember ever having a life lesson on this issue.  I guess some things are supposed to come naturally.

I am also not going to share with you how I have resolved this tension in my own life.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-399: Election 2016: News or Views?

I made a comment about the article in the NY Times about Walker’s withdrawal.  I also made a comment about the unreliable nature of the Times.  Let me give you an example of the distortion.

In the first paragraph the Times says Walker, “urged some of his 15 rivals to do the same so the party could unite against the leading candidate, Donald J. Trump.”

That was in the first paragraph.  Admit it.  Most of us don’t read beyond that.  We expect the basic to be there and time is limited.  That is very dangerous in a left wing source. 

If you keep reading you come across this,

“Without naming Mr. Trump, Mr. Walker issued a plea to fellow candidates to coalesce around a different Republican who could offer a more “optimistic” vision and guide the party to a victory next year that, he admitted with sadness in his voice, he could not achieve himself.”

So which is it.  Did he urge people to unite against Trump or was he simply calling on the conservatives to pull together?  Was it stated or implied?  Since the newspaper says later that he did not mention Trump, why would they assert at the beginning that he did?

Never believe the liberal media.  Like all elitists in the Nanny State, they want to keep you safe.  In this case it is safe from thinking for yourself and drawing your own conclusions.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-398: Election 2016: The Sifting Begins

Well, it has started. 

When Rick Perry dropped out of the race I was not too disappointed.  While I rated him higher than the establishment candidates, he was not my top choice. 

Now Scott Walker has announced he is out, according to the NY Times.  That hurts.  He would have been one of my top choices, if not the top.  I had hopes but the process has started.  I remember the last few elections as one by one the people that I had at the top of my list dropped out.  Then we were left with Bob Dole, we lost.  Then we were left with John McCain, we lost.  Then we were left with Mitt Romney, we lost. 

Who are we going to be left with this time?  There are still some good candidates.  Walker makes a good point when he urges us to unite behind one who can win.  History tells us that we cannot win with a moderate.

The thing that scares me in the ariticle was that it said Walker had the support of one half a percent of the primary voters.  I knew I was an oddball but didn’t think I was that odd.  No wonder I am always forced to settle for 10th best.

Since the article is in the New York Times you need to take every detail with a grain of salt.  I think we can accept that Walker has withdrawn.

homo unius libri