A Nation Divided … Part 2

Tags

amorality, chaos, compromise, constitution, courage, freedom, generosity, greed, honor, Intergity, kindness, lawlessness, moral compromise, moral gulf, rebellion, selfishness

A Nation divided against itself cannot stand …

Integrity. I hear a lot of banter around the political candidates concerning integrity. Who has it? Who fakes it? Why is integrity important?

Americans are angry and dissatisfied with the way business is done these days in Washington DC, and rightly so. We’ve been lied to and in many cases, deliberately misled. We are pandered to and patronized and treated like ignorant children by those high and mighty supposed “public servants.” But… what do we really want?

Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

Uh oh! I see the problem. Do you?

A Nation divided against itself cannot stand …

We say we want integrity, but how can we have integrity without moral principles? If morality is subjective, how can integrity exist?

I don’t want to be subject to your morality, and you don’t want to be measured by my morality. We are at an impasse.

Divisions have always existed in civilizations. Rich/poor, tall/short, young/old, etc. and divisions are not necessarily a bad thing. But the division (singular) we are witnessing in America (and elsewhere,) goes much deeper.

Our Founders referred to “unalienable rights endowed by our Creator,” but it is not politically correct to “force” someone’s ambiguous concept of deity on a society. What Creator? God? Which god? So again, we are at an impasse. If we deny that our rights are endowed by our Creator, where did they come from?

There has been a deliberate hammering over the last few decades, yes decades, maybe longer, the driving of a wedge between people, between ideologies. It is not between rich and poor. It is not between Democrats and Republicans. It is not between races. It is not between the various religions. It is much simpler, much deeper, and much more sobering. It has been happening slowly throughout my lifetime. Look around at how values have changed. Americans once sought virtue, moral strength, character. Now, we seek comfort, leisure, and material gain.

When asked whether the “state of moral values in the country as a whole is getting better or worse,” 72 percent said that they believe that the paradigm is worsening, while, in contrast, just 22 percent said that it is improving. More HERE!

On one side of this moral gulf is chaos, greed, selfishness, lawlessness, rebellion. On the other is structure, kindness, generosity, courage, honor, lawfulness, and … Integrity.

Do you remember when then President Bill Clinton was caught with his pants down? America collectively gasped. “How dare he … in the White House, too!” Noise was made about his indecency, but with the help of our all-but-state-run-press, we came to accept it and moved on. Just one example of our moral compromise.

“What we are seeing in our politics is the predictable result of what occurs when institutions, philosophies and faiths that once united us have either died or have been so co-opted by other considerations that when they’re most needed they lack the power to come to our rescue.” More HERE!

A house divided … moral compromise

Will we watch America crumble because of our selfishness?

The media has its “champions,” the Democrat party backs Hillary, but who does the Republican party back? Logically, it should back the leader, but if that is repugnant to them, they ought to back #2. Why don’t they? Could it be because the party doesn’t like Cruz’s conservative values, and they don’t believe Trump is a conservative at all.

I suggest this indecision is authored and fed by the media pushing THEIR choices on us. People, we are in deep doo doo, and sinking fast into the pools of our our ignorance and willful blindness. Our leaders are simply a reflection of our own indecision. We cannot have both freedom and amorality. We must choose or Hillary will win … and may God help us!

A Nation divided against itself cannot stand …

Is This the END?

Tags

attitudes, behaviors, END TIMES, Go ... Give ... LOVE, LAST DAYS, lawlessness

Is this the END so many of us have heard about, the Last Days, the End of the World? Maybe … maybe not. No one knows. NO ONE! Since the beginning of time, with each generation there have been those who believed the End was nigh, and we’re still here. The End will come one day, for sure, but is it now? Are the “signs” pointing toward the “Great Tribulation?” Again, there are those among us that believe that is so, and I know no differently, but for one seemingly insignificant thing. The Church.

Suppose, just for a minute, the End is near. If our illustrious media (cough, cough) began to query, hypothesize and investigate the various “signs of the times” as they appear to line up today, how would it affect you? Would your behavior change? Would your relationships change? Would your daily routine change?

Like many of you, I grew up in a family that frequently attended a local church. The message from the pulpit changed depending on the one speaking. There was the pious deep voice of academic theology resonating through the crystal chandeliers about this and that; the young, passionate, if whiny voice of social consciousness; and the dispassionate, weary voice of the occasional missionary reporting in and seeking more funds. Honestly, it was nothing to inspire Godly pursuit. Still God spoke to me (and you?) in the quiet of my childhood wanderings, not in words as you and I know them, but in quiet assurances.

Now that I’m a grown up, it is sometimes hard to “hear” those quiet assurances amidst the daily banter of work, family, and survival. Yet God speaks always, if we dare to listen, and His “word” is always “Go … Give … LOVE!” I did not learn this, I’m sad to say, where we went to worship. I learned it from a man who ran a sport camp. I don’t think he ever actually spoke the words either, he simply lived them.

There’s no point in a fear-driven life. If we are in the Last Days, there is nothing we can do about it, right? Neither is there much point in struggling to determine if we are in the “Last Days.” That struggle will only distract us from our purpose. We cannot change time. We cannot change people. We are who and what we are. Ah, but we CAN change our own attitudes and behaviors.

We probably agree that the world, the USA, our states and communities have become more violent, more hateful, and even more … despondent over the last few decades. We can theorize and brainstorm till the cows come home and still be uncertain about WHY, still pointless drive-by shootings, gang violence, senseless bigotry increase in number and intensity.

Lawlessness, like a swelling ocean, threatens to engulf us. Silently, liberties and choices are being replaced with mandates and “security measures.” It may or may not mean the END, but the question is: What can I do about it? Can I make a positive difference? Do I WANT to make a positive difference?

• Do I fall on my knees and pray and wait?
• Do I lock myself behind closed doors and hide?
• Do I procure a weapon of some sort?
• Do I become a political activist and work to revive Biblical morality?
• Do I put the responsibility on the government to take care of the problem(s)?
• Do I point fingers at my neighbors and recount their offenses?
• Do I make an extra casserole and share it with my neighbor?
• Do I walk across the street and talk to my neighbor for the first time in 5 years?
• Do I take self-defense classes and learn how to protect myself?
• Do I … “Go … Give … LOVE?”

Each of us, I believe, is on this earth with a purpose born(e) within. Our mission, should we accept it, is to uncover that purpose and pursue it. It is a life-long pursuit! If we can do this, it honestly will not matter whether we are approaching the END or not. We will be satisfied in the pursuit of our purpose. It is the “higher call” that will draw us, use our talents and abilities, and reward us with an abundance of memories and love. “Go … Give … LOVE!”

So You Want to be … FREE?

Tags

anarchy, boundaries, chaos, LAW, lawlessness

What Does FREEDOM Feel Like?

It’s the nature of FREEDOM, a natural yearning born into the soul of Mankind, a yearning to live free, to do as one wishes, to tend ones own land, crops, home and flourish in self-reliance. Humans are created to overcome catastrophes, challenges, and tribulations. It’s in our DNA! We are resourceful, imaginative, and clever. That’s the UP side of human nature. That’s at least part of the reason we crave FREEDOM.

Choices define our Freedom

Freedom … ah, just the sound of the word is like a spring breeze. But freedom only stretches so far. At some point, your freedom will bump into mine simply because we are all wonderfully unique. At the “bumping point,” it is imperative that something, a system of LAWS, rules or morés be established to define the boundaries. Otherwise we have precisely what exists now at the various “Occupy” locations i.e anarchy. Anarchy is simply might makes right. If I’m strong enough to “keep” it, it’s mine; if not, it belong to whoever takes it from me. Most civilized people realize this behavior results in chaos. To maintain and establish order, something has to define lawlessness.

We have surveyors to define our property boundaries. Laws define our behavioral boundaries. It is beneficial to the population if these LAWS are known and understood, posted for all to see so that conflicts may be both easily resolved and even avoided altogether. The US Constitution is our LAW – or it’s supposed to be. (but that’s for another day)

What I want to discuss here is what freedom means. Is it defined by freedom of speech or freedom of expression? Is it no rules?

What does FREEDOM mean to you???

ADDITIONAL READING:

The Way of Freedom: At Risk in America

Freedom Means

Coming Soon…..Net Neutrality, Martial Law and The New World Order

President Kill-Joy – Tea Party Nation

Sustainability and Freedom

MODERN CIVIL WAR AMERICAN STYLE

On Freedom