Reading the comments in my posts, and those in other posts on this same subject, I see that people simply refuse to accept the truth of what a right is and is not. Instead, they cling to their claim that a right is whatever they want it to be without ever stopping to consider the ramifications of their claim – even for themselves. The truth is, if you have to force someone to do something, then whatever you claim as a right is not a right. I have already tried to explain this in my post, Rights Bubbles: the Origin of Universal Morality, but it would seem I need to try to make the point even more clear than I thought I had already made it. Continue reading More on ‘Rights’
Monthly Archives: August 2014
There is no ‘Right’ to Freedom FROM Religion
I do not understand the continuing war so-called Atheists are waging against people who believe in God. If you are an Atheist (which is impossible), then you should be as worried about people who believe God is real as you are over those who believe Pokémon are real. But aside from this intellectual dishonesty, there is no ‘right’ to freedom from religion. It is not in the Constitution, nor is it anywhere in our laws. However, there is a right to freedom of religion, and religion includes the right to practice our beliefs in our daily lives. So the true violation of ‘rights’ in these cases is on the part of the God haters. The true victims are those who believe in God who are then attacked by the God-haters. And the people who should start having to pay a price are the God-haters. Continue reading There is no ‘Right’ to Freedom FROM Religion
How do You regain lost Character — Especially if You never had any?
I am often accused of being arrogant. When I ask people why, they usually tell me it is because I think I know it all; I have an answer to everything. I wish I could make these people understand that I do not think I have an answer to everything. However, what I have are a set of well thought out principles and ideals. Anyone who has a well defined system of principles and ideals already knows how they must respond to many given situations. It is not a matter of trying to decide how you ‘feel’ about every given situation, but a matter of how you have chosen to respond to them beforehand. Sadly, I think this is one of the most important things the current generations have lost when compared to those of our recent past. The Greatest Generation had a very well defined system of principles and ideals, and that’s what carried them through the Depression, WW II and the Cold War. But today’s generations have rejected the very notion of principles and ideals, and the world is suffering for it. War.
Beck has recently started to try to explain this to his radio audience. I just don’t think he is doing as good a job at it as he usually does. Maybe it’s because he is still trying to work through it himself. After all, it is difficult to explain something to others if you do not fully understand it yourself. So — if I may be so presumptuous — perhaps I can give Mr. Beck a hand.
I am fond of saying that the Declaration of Independence is the soul of America. It is the what and the why of this nation. It is our moral compass. The Declaration defines who we are and what sort of people we want to be. The Constitution is just the how. All it does is tell us how we will try to achieve the goals set forth in the Declaration. So, if America forgets the Declaration — and it has — then the Constitution becomes meaningless. That’s because the principles and ideals which built this nation are all contained in the Declaration, not the Constitution.
So what are principles and ideals and why are they so important? Well, a principle is a fundamental law or assumption by which we govern our actions, and an ideal is a standard of perfection which we strive to achieve and by which we judge our choices and actions:
1a : a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption
c : the laws or facts of nature underlying the working of an artificial device
2: a primary source : origin
greed and curiosity>
1: a standard of perfection, beauty, or excellence
2: one regarded as exemplifying an ideal and often taken as a model for imitation
3: an ultimate object or aim of endeavor : goal
Now, it is possible for humans to know and understand a principle (such as all men are created with equal rights) and even to know and understand the ideal by which we measure that principle (such as equal justice by an equal application of the law) and still fall short of both. However, if society holds to those ideals and principles, such wrongs can and eventually are set right. The issue of slavery is a perfect example. Many of our founders opposed slavery, yet they were unable to end it at the time of our founding. However, believing in the ideals and principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence, our founders wrote the 3/5ths clause into the Constitution. Today, ignorant people and those who seek to make a living off of race-baiting claim this is proof that our founders thought a black man was only worth 35ths of a white man, but this is not the truth of this clause. The 3/5ths clause guaranteed that the South would eventually have to face the issue of slavery or — eventually — they would loose their voting power to the Northern, anti-slavery States. When he actually read the Constitution, Frederick Douglas — a black man who initially believed the lie about the 3/5ths clause — declared that it was the most anti-slavery document of which he was then aware. And it was largely because of this clause, driven by the guiding principles and ideals of this nation, that slavery was eventually abolished in this nation.
But then, the founders were bound by moral laws that the majority of modern Americans have rejected. They accepted the moral laws of the Bible, and they wrote them into the civil laws governing the nation and its several States — as the Bible commanded. Our founders were principled people and they received a profound benefit for being so. It is why this nation flourished and became so great so quickly. And now that we are no longer a nation of principled people, it is why we are failing just as quickly.
Now don’t get me wrong: men have always been corruptible, and our founders were no different. It’s just that — in their day — society still understood right from wrong and people held each other accountable for their actions. And because society held a common set of principles and ideals based on Biblical laws of morality, most people knew what right and wrong were. That way, when faced with a situation where a modern American might see all sorts of shades of gray, our founders saw black and white and knew what the right thing to do was without having to ask themselves how they ‘felt’ about the situation. And, if they chose to do the wrong thing anyway and got caught, the majority of people in our founders’ time accepted their guilt because they knew they had done wrong. Sadly, this is no longer the case. The majority of Americans not only cannot see right from wrong, when they are called to account for their actions, their first instinct is to blame anyone else but themselves.
Sadly, Thomas Paine was correct when he said:
“Character is much easier kept than recovered.”
Too many Americans have not only lost their character, they never really had any. So I’m not sure how to recover that which never was — especially when we live in a nation apparently hell-bent on destroying any sense of personal accountability at all…provided you belong to the proper political mindset, that is. If you happen to be politically incorrect, or worse, a Christian who actually believes and tries to live their faith, why, then you will be held accountable to an impossible standard. I just think it is ironic that this nation’s only real hope to correct its slide into the abyss is to recover our national character, yet this nation is becoming increasingly hostile to the source of that character — Jesus Christ! One cannot regain what they never had through their own effort. At least, I’ve never seen anyone manage to do it. But I have seen the power of Christ to radically transform the worse among us, both in my own life and the lives of others. That’s why I cannot understand how or why so many reject the solution to our personal and national problems when it is as easy as surrendering to our Savior and letting Him heal us. Then again, accepting Jesus means accepting His rules, and that seems to be too much for the majority of people to accept. After all, how can you love your neighbor and still blame them for your actions? Or allow them to go in need while you have more than you can use?