Opus 2020-271: Whither Privilege?, part 4 of 6

Monotheism was a big step forward for civilization.  Instead of everything being caused by a disgruntled gremlin or a sexually frustrated Zeus you could count on the consistent behavior of the wind and waves.  There was room for miracles and God moving outside the rules but you could count on water always running down hill and the pot getting hot when put on the fire.  Superstition became something to mock instead of the guiding force of life.  You might still knock on wood or not step on a crack but you knew it was childish.

This intellectual wealth matured under the spread of books and the thinking that went along with it.  The first book printed with movable type was the Bible.  Now people could read it and make up their own mind.  This led to the multiple denominations of the Protestant Reformation and even forced the Catholic church to rethink a lot of policies.  If you examine a few dividing lines you see that the prosperity on one side is much higher than the other.  Draw a line between Christian Europe and the rest of the world and you see the difference.  Draw a line between the Protestant areas of Europe and the Catholic realms and you see the same difference.  

This is the religious aspect of privilege.  What you think and what you believe makes a difference.  

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-270: Whither Privilege, Interlude

This morning I had a brief time span of Grandparent Privilege.  My granddaughter was asleep.  My daughter was trying to get a shower.  My wife was asleep.  I had the boy.  My grandson is about nine months old and quite mobile.  I was able to watch and interact with him without interruptions.  It was a glorious time.

My first response was thanksgiving.   I know it is a month early but I have so much to be thankful for that I start the day after the feast.  When the world goes shopping, I start thanking.

Then I got to thinking about what a blessing the boy had by having me as a grandfather.  I guess I would include the rest of the family because I am not the one who bought all the toys on the floor or arranged the room and I certainly did not carry him in my womb for nine months.  But I watched him on the floor soaking up the privilege, totally unaware of all that went into giving him a head start in life.  

It is not a matter of race.  Any child can reap the benefit of investment by parents and grandparents.  The blessing, i.e. privilege, comes from having such people in your life.  If I found myself on my I-Pad or reading a book while he roamed the room, they would be put aside when he turned his attention toward me.  The electronics get put on boring print mode when the young ones come over.  No cartoons or graphics, just articles getting them used to the idea of reading.  That is an important privilege.

I looked at all the toys in the room and realized it isn’t a matter of money.  I saw nothing that was bought for full price by us.  Yard sales, thrift stores, close out racks and hand me downs are the source of everything not received as a gift.  I can’t let me wife go out unsupervised because when she does she brings back boxes of child friendly materials.  Actually it doesn’t do any good to supervise because she just uses me to haul it all to the car.  Fiscal responsibility is an other privilege available to all.  

Children are meant to be a blessing.

(Psa 127:3-5 KJV) Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Of course an important way to make them a blessing is to be a blessing to them.  Pass on the privilege.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-269: Whither Privilege?, part 3 of 6

White privilege is an idea that might sound like it had traction if you were looking for excuses.  The privilege we had was something other than the color of our skin.  All of the advantages that are associated with white privilege are now freely available to anyone who is willing to work for them.  There are a lot of factors that go into the recipe for privilege but they are the kind of forces that are freely available.

It can’t be whiteness because that is not true historically.  At different times in history you have had people of different ethnic types as being advanced and dominant.  Look at what were called the Cradles of Civilization.  None of them would be classified as white today.  At one point China was the most advanced and powerful nation of the world.  At a later date the Muslim empires dominated the known world.  What we are looking at today is a historical trend that probably began around 1492.  That was the date the Moors were expelled from Spain and Columbus opened up the world to exploration.  Europe has not looked back.

European privilege became a real force.  Modern inventions such as movable type spread the intellectual wealth.  This intellectual wealth was rooted in the past.  The heritage that Christianity had in Judaism had the paradox of an almighty sovereign God which was shared with Islam and the ability to argue with God and the encouragement to think that was not.  There is a lot of false advertising about the intellectual growth of Europe.  The lie is that it was resisted by the Christian faith.  In reality,

“The cosmological pioneers of the scientific revolution (Copernicus, Galileo, Tycho, Kepler, Newton, and others) were all devout men.” Ross, p. 22

And if you heard that the sailors with Columbus were worried about falling off the edge of the world then you need to find a new source of information.  People knew the world was round.  They even had a good idea how big it was.  What the sailors were worried about was running out of water and getting home again when they did not know the ocean currents or wind patterns.

Ross, Hugh.  The Fingerprint of God.  Orange, CA:  Promises Publishing Company, 1989.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-268: Whither Privilege?, part 2 of 6

I have not lived a privileged life.  I don’t know how you define privilege but in my book it has a financial peg.  You are not considered privileged in any meaningful way if you are not wealthy.  I remember vividly the Christmas my brother and I got one toy to share between us.  You would also need to be related to people of influence.  Having an aunt that died an alcoholic does not count.  It might mean being tall, good looking and athletic.  While I am often accused of being tall I keep asking people, “What about good looking?”  They just smile and look away.  In sports I was always the last one to get picked.  

I have, however, lived a blessed life.  As a child we never had health insurance.  On the occasions that we had issues that could not be dealt with by sleep and aspirin we ended up on the county.  I didn’t know it at the time, but looking back that is what I see.  We were privileged to live in a country that had a very real safety net and medical professionals who gave of themselves.  We never had much money but we had library cards.  Of course that only worked because we had been blessed with parents that taught us we had to return the books on time.  We always had plenty to eat even if it meant bread and gravy as a second course.  I loved bread and gravy.  I would stack it up, bread, gravy, bread, gravy, bread....  You get the idea.  I didn’t know it was unprivileged food.

In spite of that I have been blessed.  It wasn’t because I was white.  

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-267: Whither Privilege?, part 1 of 6

When I see the term “white privilege” I don’t know whether to cry or laugh.  It is the kind of a concept that could only be brought up by professional manipulators who know they are dealing with ignorant masses.  It is an obvious attempt to destroy the culture of the West which has produced the greatest amount of freedom from political tyrants in history.  It is a way of thinking that is totally immersed in the evil type of racism that these Progressives* keep accusing whites of radiating.  As most of the declarations from these Marxist elites, it does not stand up to any test involving real facts and the ability to think.  Maybe that is why so many suck it up and spew it out.

White privilege is a fantasy dreamed up by people looking for someone to blame for their failures and shortcomings.  It is a philosophy that was offered as satire in Lake Wobegon Days.  You remember how all the children were above average.  It should not take you long to realize such a thing is impossible.  In case you need a clue let me point out that average means half will be above and half will be below.  It is the philosophy of Karl Marx.  I have heard it translated, “From each according to his ability and to each according to his need.”  Notice there is nothing in that about working harder or delaying your gratification.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-266: Election 2020: The Big Lies

I missed the first 20 minutes of the debate because they changed the starting time.  Two things stood out to me:  Biden’s lies and the moderator’s attempts to support Biden.  

Biden told so many lies and distorted so many facts that it is hard to pick one out.  Most of them have been emphasized in what I have read but one seems to have been overlooked.  It had to do with the question on minimum wage.  I believe Trump pointed out that when the minimum wage is raised employers lay off workers.  I believe this is well documented as well as common sense.  Biden said it was false.  No one has called him on it and they should.  

The second big lie came from President Trump.  It slipped by, I almost missed it.  In the midst of the kibitzing Trump told the moderator something to the effect of, “You are doing a good job.”  I almost gagged at that.  Maybe compared to the previous moderators, but the pattern was still there.  I noticed that when Trump would fire back at Biden she would always ask the VP if he had a response even when she was pretending they were running out of time.  I don’t remember her ever doing that to Trump.  He was forced to demand to be heard.

Both men should be ashamed of themselves.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-265: There’s the Problem

I was on a Zoom meeting with a bunch of old guys.  One of the questions we were throwing around was how people could do the things they do.  Look at the media types that blatantly lie about everything and still go home and sleep at night.  Watch Nancy, Chuck and Adam set out to manipulate the political process and they still get reelected.  No one seems to have an understanding of why.

It is simple:  Evil.

We as Americans have lived in a sheltered world.  The warlords of history have walked softly around us because our robust republic was anchored in Biblical values.  Even people who did not believe in the God of the Bible were willing to stick in the ballpark with the values it taught.  That has been withering for years and we are seeing that we are returning to the days of early Israel:

(Jdg 17:6 KJV) In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

People today all want to do their own thing.  Church attenders reject the parts of the teaching that limits their self gratification.  People have turned away from God.  The book of Proverbs tells us what is motivating them.

(Pro 4:16-17 KJV) For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.  For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

When you watch the talking heads on TV and listen to them on the radio remember that they are only going to be happy when they drag you down.  This is what goes on in the riots we see being portrayed as peaceful protests.  They steal what they can carry and destroy what they can’t.  The object is to ruin everyone else and then go back to their lair and party.  Tomorrow there will be new victims.

They thrive on it.  It is called evil and it is rampant in our society.  The question is are there enough good people left to sway things right.

Let’s hope so.

homo unius libri