Opus 2023-199: The Power of Dreams

All these socialists who want central power and wisdom to direct every area of our lives see themselves sitting on the committees and behind the power desks.  They see themselves telling us we need to take the bus, ride bicycles and walk while they travel in chauffeured limousines and fly in private jets.  After all, they need to be sharp to make the right decisions and they do know what is best for us.

I am reminded of the countless junior high boys who felt they did not need an education because they were going to be the next Michael Jordan or Shak.  It didn’t do any good to point out the total number of professional basketball players was smaller than the number of future Jordan’s that dreamed just in our school district.  The modern socialists have as much chance of being behind that desk as the ignorant little boy who is too lazy to practice has of being in the NBA playoffs.

But they keep hoping.  That is why they continually say, “That wasn’t real socialism.”  What they mean is, “I was not in charge.”  When you are in charge of the police state then you are free to consider it a success.  Anyone who disagrees with you gets a ticket to the gulag or a chance to be a target at the CRT shooting gallery.  

It reminds me of my granddaughter when she gets in one of those moods.  They come more regularly as her vocabulary grows.  She sets out to tell the adults in the room just what should be done and how it is to be done.  It was kind of cute the first time but we recognized that it was an attitude that needed to be nipped in the bud or we would have an ex-Twitter employee on our hands one day.  That won’t work because we don’t have a basement for them to live in and I am not known for my compassion.

I think the best solution is that brilliant suggestion I have seen in memes.  Socialist dreamers should be given a one-way ticket to the socialist paradise of their choice.  Give them a few candy bars to tide them over but search carefully to make sure they don’t have one of your credit cards or any traveler’s checks hidden away.  They will be welcome back when they have saved up enough for the ticket, first and last month’s rent and food until their first pay check.

I would be glad to drive them to the airport.

homo unius libri

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-198: Stop Insulting the Pagans

I am constantly searching for words that project my disgust with the modern Proregressives*.  My red-neck, fundamentalist, born-again ethical standards don’t allow me to use many of the four letter expressions but they are getting so common they have lost their punch.  

I have called the current Proregressives pagan at times.  I might have said “barbarian”.  I don’t think I have used “heathen”.  Other times I might use anti-God which is probably the most accurate.

It may be time to apologize to the pagans for misusing their label.  It is not an insult to call someone a pagan.  It simply means someone who worships many gods.  The modern left certainly worships many gods but they mean themselves, not Zeus, Apollo and Pan.  Pagans would include people like Marcus Aurelius, Plato, Confucius and possibly Buddha.  It is an insult to include Sorros, AOC, Pelosi, Shift, Schumer and the rest of the gang in such company.

I have been searching for a better word than pagan.  Sewer brain seems too childish.  Froward paragons might be too highbrow.  Recently I suggested “Canaanites”.  Any suggestions?

*(Liberals, educators, the media, socialists, communists, crony capitalists, fascists (I repeat myself), elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, BLM, MSM, Deep State, etc.  Synonym for swamp dwellers)

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-197: Headlines: Splits Appearing in the Banana

Is America starting to stand up?  It is always a hope I have.  One bit of positive movement I heard about was the departure of 5,000 congregations from the United Methodist Church.  I saw it a few places and finally read it at Christian Post.

I has happened over the last two years.  Evidently more would leave but some of the conferences are playing hard ball and telling them they can’t take their property with them.  I don’t have much hope for denominations like the United Methodists but if the faithful in their midst will get moving they may have a chance to be part of the solution instead of supporting the problem.

A word on reporters and lack of reporting.  One of the questions that came up was the total number of congregations in the UMC.  The article did not say.  Was 5,000 a significant number or a drop in the bucket?  I did some searching and I think I came up with around 29,000 so the 5,000 that left was a large minority.

Good news.  Maybe John Wesley can stop spinning in his grave.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-196: New Terms: Canaanite

I watched part of a discussion between Eric Metaxas and Jordan Peterson.  They both love to talk but they also have a lot to say.  At one point Peterson got off on how the story of Cain and Abel had made a big impact on him.  

One of my mental searches involves what to call the people who seem to be taking over our world.  On any level you want to go they seem to be against the things of God.  They reject truth and in one form or another think they can become gods.  I have been searching for a name that fits.  There was a time when “liberal” worked but it has gone beyond that.  Many who would call themselves conservatives are in the mind set I am looking at.  I have been using my term “Proregressives” for awhile and will continue to use it.  

The discussion gave me an idea.  Cain as described by Jordan Peterson gives me a good name for the evil people in the world:  Canaanites.  The two words are different in Hebrew and only have the homonym quality in English.  At the same time there is a philosophical connection.  It is historically accurate and descriptive.  It would include Cain, Sodom, Moloch and such failed-in-the-ends as Solomon.  The Canaanites were an evil bunch.  Among other things they practiced was child sacrifice.  The concept is bad enough but they had a tradition of throwing their screaming children into a fiery furnace in the bowels of an idol to Moloch.  

Nasty.  Maybe it isn’t fair to drag them into this but they are a good match for the anti-God forces of today.  Their societies were as advanced as those around them.  They were not the odd balls in town but we know enough about them to know the evil nature of their culture.

So watch out for the modern day Canaanites.  They are everywhere and have plans for you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-195: A Nefarious Review

I don’t know if you have seen the movie “Nefarious”.  It was well done and stimulates the mental synapses.  Biblically and theologically it had a lot of rough edges and holes but it gives insight into what is happening in our country and what the two sides are like.

If I were a demon trying to bring down the United States I would stage a demon possession that would look just like what we have in president Biden:  An empty suit with a past that deserves possession, often himself but with key moments of announcements and signings where he is taken over to advance the agenda.  It would explain a man who can on occasion actually complete a sentence and other times just wanders around looking for Jill.

Reversed, it might be like the filling of the Spirit in the OT.  There you had the Spirit bestowed only on selected individuals and for a period of time.  Saul is a good example.  That changed at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit became available to all believers.

We are in a spiritual battle in this country and we are finding out what would happen if they had a war and nobody showed up.  The one side that came late has the whole field to themselves.

I am not worried about the type of encounter in Nefarious.  Why would the devil waste his time manipiulating people who are already doing his will?  Believers don’t need to worry about demon possession as much as the drunk coming toward us at night.  Remember,

(1Jn 4:4 KJV)  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-194: Weird Night

Like many nights there were an assortment of vaguely remembered dreams.  What was unusual was that two of them I remembered.

The first took place in a dimly lit restaurant overlooking a beach sunset.  I was seated at the bar.  I remember that Lee Marvin was the bartender.  I ordered diet Dr. Pepper and when it arrived I could have sworn I saw a tab of $3.50.  I gave him a $5 and said, “No change”.  He then handed me a bill for around $30.00.  For one soft drink!  I quietly paid up.

It left we with a feeling of hopelessness.  It wasn’t the price but that I paid it so meekly.

A second dream had me involved in some way with a column of desperate people.  Think Trail of Tears or Bataan Death March.  I felt responsible for them.  I had no resources.  I didn’t know where I was.  Suddenly strange things started happening that began to take care of the people.  Windows would open up and sandwiches would be handed out.  Someone showed up and asked if there were any farmers in the group and they went away to a vacant farm.  What was recurring was it seemed like every time I tried to take leadership a voice would say, “I got this.”  

It left me with a feeling of hope.  And the hope dissolved the frustration of the first dream.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-193: We Need More Rock Piles

The Bible endorses and commands the death penalty.  The places that it is commanded reflect the behaviors that are of greatest concern to God.  You might not agree with the death penalty at all or with the hierarchy of infractions that lead up to it, but no one is really asking you, or me.  It is simply what God declared.  

The most common form of that death penalty was stoning to death.

(Exo 19:13 KJV)  There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.

There are frequent statements that a person will be put to death but don’t designate the method.

It seems today like a cruel and unusual punishment but that is not the message of stoning.  The message is that it is an act of the community punishing the most heinous of crimes.  No one is proposing stoning for leaving your trash can out on the street too long after pickup.  It is for culture threatening actions.  The community is so outraged at the outrage that they come together to administer the cure.  It would be almost impossible for one person to stone a criminal without at least a lunch break.  

The recidivism rate is very low, just like other forms of capital punishment.  Occasionally there is a target that fools the stone throwers, the apostle Paul did it at least once, but it is fairly effective.

The citizens cannot pass on the duty to the state.  You have to be serious and take responsibility.  Most people would think twice about a verdict of guilty if they were required to throw the first stone.

The Bible is clear.  There are some things that are so evil you should die for them.  Got a problem with that?  Tell God about it.

homo unius libri