I was just thinking the other day. We live in a democracy (though more a democratic republic) where we elect people by popular vote. But this system breeds those who will say what is popular in order to be elected. To me they are politicians not leaders. And what we really need are leaders - men and women who will carry out their work based upon moral truth and scientific facts, and not popular opinion or theories. The opinions of the people of this nation are swayed by a number of things. 1st being the media. People decide about the state of our nation by what they watch on the news every evening. So what the media decides is newsworthy is what people are watching. And what the media decides is news worthy is either supportive of their own political agenda, or whatever they think will gain the points in popularity which will determine how much they get for air time.
I think popular opinion is also swayed by talk show hosts and variety shows like Oprah, Woopie and Ellen on the liberal side, and on the right wing people like Rush.
We need leaders who will stand aloof from such base influence. Yet the very political machine this nation now has creates those and encourages those who both seek and support popular opinion.
So the paradox is this - we elect people by popular vote, but we need people who are not controlled or highly influenced by popular opinion. We need those who by strength of character and convictions create a new national opinion that is based on absolute moral truth and scientific fact.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Friday, December 21, 2012
The link below brings out an apparent paradox or contradiction as seen by the Tea Party
On one side this image makes you go "Hmmm, what is going on here." How can those who demand protection or whose protection seems paramount forbid the rest of us from defending ourselves by banning guns. This is actually part of a problem I have discussed in another post on Facebook. We tend to think of some people being more "valuable" than others.
The Constitution of the United States of America is intended to make all people equal in the eyes of the law. But as people gain notoriety, wealth or fame, they are perceived as being some how more important than other people. Some people think they are due more because they are perceived this way. It causes some to think that the law doesn't apply to them. They think they should get special privileges because of their position, their wealth or their power.
This is human nature and I don't think any of us, in and of ourselves, can change that. Communism tried and failed. Democracy in this republic is failing to do this. There is a growing rich and privileged class growing in America. They seem to think that the rest of the country is here to serve them and ensure their comfort.
This is evident in how our government dispenses the national budget, funded by our taxes. Again and Again we see congress increasing their pay and their privileges, so that they can retire in comfort, while those who have served in the military (especially those who are the ones dodging bullets and booby-traps) are marginally cared for, to the point the now there are private concerns having to work to help the veterans where the VA fails to, but I digress.
This mentality makes us/them think that some people are more deserving than others. This privileged mentality leads to all of us thinking that someone else is less deserving of something than we are. Rare is the person that truly thinks all people are worthy of respect and honor.
People set them above others for all kinds of reasons: Race, religion, social status, political affiliation, which side of the track they are from, and the list goes on and on. When we think like this we are led into believing we are more deserving of one thing or another than those other people. We end up having a sense of entitlement (a topic for a future post).
Now where I am going with this is that we are all valuable in God's sight the we are all valuable because each and everyone of us, from the President to the junkie laying in the street, are made in the image of God.
Because I view all people this way I am personally unwilling to take up a gun to defend myself or my property; I cannot say with any certainty how I would have reacted had I been in that school in Connecticut and had access to a gun when that young man came into the school.
Nothing I own is worth me taking a human life. My wife feels the same way and wouldn't even want to be take someone else's life to save hers. I don't own a gun, but I am not opposed to people owning them. I served 22 years in the Navy to support and defend the Constitution of the United states.
From a Biblical position, the Word seems to swing both ways. In the OT, the penalty for any person or beast taking a human life was death. But then King David commits two sins that are required by The Law to be repaid with a death sentence, yet God allows him to remain king of Israel and allows the son born of the woman he committed adulatory with an for whom he had Uriah murdered to become the next king. In the NT we see Jesus forgiving those who both killed him and mocked Him, yet as He departs his disciples in the Gospel account of Luke, tells them to make sure they have a sword. When his disciples tell him that they have just 2 swords among the remaining 11 disciples, He says that's enough.
So what do we do with this? I think that each of us must decide for ourselves on our own. In Canada, hand guns are strictly controlled and the murder rate is much lower than in America. But America is not Canada and I am not sure how Americans as a whole would respond to a gun ban of any sort. My wife and I have made our decision, you can make yours.
But getting back to the picture at the beginning of this post. As, presented, doesn't it seem a bit like of a contradiction/paradox?
On one side this image makes you go "Hmmm, what is going on here." How can those who demand protection or whose protection seems paramount forbid the rest of us from defending ourselves by banning guns. This is actually part of a problem I have discussed in another post on Facebook. We tend to think of some people being more "valuable" than others.
The Constitution of the United States of America is intended to make all people equal in the eyes of the law. But as people gain notoriety, wealth or fame, they are perceived as being some how more important than other people. Some people think they are due more because they are perceived this way. It causes some to think that the law doesn't apply to them. They think they should get special privileges because of their position, their wealth or their power.
This is human nature and I don't think any of us, in and of ourselves, can change that. Communism tried and failed. Democracy in this republic is failing to do this. There is a growing rich and privileged class growing in America. They seem to think that the rest of the country is here to serve them and ensure their comfort.
This is evident in how our government dispenses the national budget, funded by our taxes. Again and Again we see congress increasing their pay and their privileges, so that they can retire in comfort, while those who have served in the military (especially those who are the ones dodging bullets and booby-traps) are marginally cared for, to the point the now there are private concerns having to work to help the veterans where the VA fails to, but I digress.
This mentality makes us/them think that some people are more deserving than others. This privileged mentality leads to all of us thinking that someone else is less deserving of something than we are. Rare is the person that truly thinks all people are worthy of respect and honor.
People set them above others for all kinds of reasons: Race, religion, social status, political affiliation, which side of the track they are from, and the list goes on and on. When we think like this we are led into believing we are more deserving of one thing or another than those other people. We end up having a sense of entitlement (a topic for a future post).
Now where I am going with this is that we are all valuable in God's sight the we are all valuable because each and everyone of us, from the President to the junkie laying in the street, are made in the image of God.
Because I view all people this way I am personally unwilling to take up a gun to defend myself or my property; I cannot say with any certainty how I would have reacted had I been in that school in Connecticut and had access to a gun when that young man came into the school.
Nothing I own is worth me taking a human life. My wife feels the same way and wouldn't even want to be take someone else's life to save hers. I don't own a gun, but I am not opposed to people owning them. I served 22 years in the Navy to support and defend the Constitution of the United states.
From a Biblical position, the Word seems to swing both ways. In the OT, the penalty for any person or beast taking a human life was death. But then King David commits two sins that are required by The Law to be repaid with a death sentence, yet God allows him to remain king of Israel and allows the son born of the woman he committed adulatory with an for whom he had Uriah murdered to become the next king. In the NT we see Jesus forgiving those who both killed him and mocked Him, yet as He departs his disciples in the Gospel account of Luke, tells them to make sure they have a sword. When his disciples tell him that they have just 2 swords among the remaining 11 disciples, He says that's enough.
So what do we do with this? I think that each of us must decide for ourselves on our own. In Canada, hand guns are strictly controlled and the murder rate is much lower than in America. But America is not Canada and I am not sure how Americans as a whole would respond to a gun ban of any sort. My wife and I have made our decision, you can make yours.
But getting back to the picture at the beginning of this post. As, presented, doesn't it seem a bit like of a contradiction/paradox?
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Sometimes I just have odd thoughts that make us think and go Hmmmm. So I created this little blog for those times that these things occur to me.
Yesterday while I was working in the backyard collecting the leaves, I was thinking about how the president of Portugal had said that they had helped addiction go down in their country by decriminalizing drug use and treating it as a health issue. I thought maybe this a good thing, but then I wondered what about the drug dealers. Do they still thrown them in jail. And it occurred to me that the reason we dislike drug dealers is because the profit on the pain and illness of others. But then I thought, "But don't doctors also profit on the pain and illness of others?" Think about it!
Preacher Al
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