Received this morning and thought I would pass it on . . .
Wind out of my Sails
What pulls the wind out of your sails? For me, I just have to reflect on how good men do virtually nothing to stop evil and how for the most part they don’t recognize it even when it crosses their path. I am also disheartened when good men make form more important than substance.
Form over Substance
Making form more important than substance is evil as far as I am concerned. I see a world that has made “Form” senior to “Substance” This teaches us appearance is everything. It is no wonder we can’t recognize right from wrong. We have a Constitution now in form only.
Constitution in form only
It is not uncommon for people to invoke the Constitution making its form senior to it purpose or substance. Someone came into my office and told me how he came to acquire some copies of our Constitution from the local congressman’s office. I then inquired as to where in the Constitution the congressman was given authority to take the fruits of our labor to hand out Constitutions. By what right do they act?
Rights and Responsibilities
Even the atheists among us concede that we all are endowed with certain rights. listed a few of them in the Declaration of Independence. Does anyone actually think these rights come to us without having to be responsible for them? Rights without sovereignty over them are rights in form only.
Spheres of jurisdiction
Who is sovereign over what realm? Do we own ourselves? Who gave us that ownership? Can we be sovereign over ourselves yet subject to a higher authority who would in turn be the ultimate sovereign? Can we delegate to a state sovereignty over citizens disputes or conflicts? If we do that have lost sovereignty over ourselves? If the State takes control over our endowed rights who then is sovereign?
What is the Purpose of the State?
Was the state not created to secure our rights? When the state violates its designated jurisdiction has form not become superior to substance? If the state takes from you what is yours by endowment (sovereignty over self) what then is that?
What is theft?
Theft is simply taking that which is not yours to take. It can come in many forms. Paper currency printed out of thin air takes from all of us. Our right to be self determined in our actions short of harming others being infringed on by government is a form of theft. Taxation for redistribution is theft and refusing to submit to it might be extremism in defense of liberty.
What is the touchstone of ?
You decide without violating someone else’s unalienable rights.
Can you have liberty when self determinism is destroyed?
No!
Why did God give us pain?
Pain is for the purpose of teaching not to do something that harms the body, mind or soul.
What would happen if we never felt hunger?
We would perish!
What happens if Government feeds people so they don’t feel hunger?
They will not do what is necessary to survive as survival is provided at the expense of someone else. This will cause us to eventually perish.
‘If you give up liberty in the name of security you will end up with neither’
This is not just Benjamin Franklin talking, it is a law of nature. is a two sided coin with responsibility on the other side. Security is impossible without liberty. If you give up liberty, life diminishes in the process.
Why is it we trade our liberty constantly for security?
I say that it is because we are also flawed with a “something for nothing” desire. We think that we will get security by not being responsible for it. We see the loss of liberty as being nothing and security being something. Thus we satisfy the something for nothing desire.
‘All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.’
Yes evil triumphs because good men want something for nothing. They want evil to lose without battling it. Evil is winning the day and it is doing so for this reason for because we value form over substance. Working on substance requires so much more effort than supporting form.
If a few good men do something but most do nothing is that also the same result?
I think the results are the same as a few doing a lot does not hold the line against evil. I think many have to do something even a little something for good to triumph.
The totalitarian regimes of Hitler, Mao, Stalin, and Pol Pot were the fault of whom?
You got it. Good men!
Barry M. Goldwater said ''extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice'' and that ''moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.''
I would rather give up form than substance any day, and the substance of our system is now control and loss of freedom. The form looks good but the reality or substance doesn’t.
Is it extremism to refuse to take a license from the state to be a minister?
Is it extremism to refuse assent to confiscation of your labor?
Call me an extremist who does not conform to form. I wish you would judge only on substance and let form follow not lead.
What puts wind in my sails is for good men to recognize evil and to do something about it.
