Monday, May 1, 2006

                                                      May Day

     Today, we see celebrations of how well the Communists have saved the world.  Marching in favor of their ancient gods of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, they would have us believe they've made the world a better place.

     On the first of May, men and missiles are paraded below reviewing stands.  Grey grimness reigns supreme.  Those on the reviewing stand are there because they've made others afraid of them.

     So much for liberty.

     Their neighbors are enslaved to pay for their desires. 

     So much for equality.

     Those below them are beaten, taxed, and tortured for even the appearance of disagreeing with them.

     So much for fraternity.

     Somewhere, the flowers are blooming.  Somewhere, there is laughter.  Those obsessed with liberty, equality, and fraternity want to know nothing of that.  They are too busy making a better world.

Friday, May 5, 2006

                                Interesting, and overlooked, choice of words.  

     In Christendom, the word "King" repeatedly occurs when referring to the Second Person of The Trinity:

          "The King of glory comes, the nation rejoices"

          "Jesus Christ, the Sovereign King"

          "Ruler of the Heavenly Kingdom"

          "King of Angels"

          "King of Kings"

     Rarely, if ever, is He referred to as "Emperor", though as King of Kings, that would be a logical step. Why?

     "Emperor" has a deluded quality of megalomania about it.  "Emperor" denotes vanity.  It indicates a mania to climb above any necessary degree of importance.  "Emperor" also signifies someone ruling a great assortment of peoples.

     "King" denotes a rightful ruler doing the job he was born to do for His people. "King" also denotes a kindly ruler, like King Arthur and the Good King Wenseslaus, rather than some Napoleonic nitwit driven to destroying himself and his nation.

     "King" also refers to a distinct people, as "King of England", "King of France", etc.  Those who worship Christ the King are a distinct people.  We choose to be His subjects because He has chosen us to serve Him. 

     "King" has a nice sound to it.  Catholic Fundamentalists think that maybe we should have one.

     Be better than what we've got, now.

Monday, May 8, 2006

                                       Kings are natural.  Emperors are not.  

    Kings serve their people, and are served by them.  Emperors have as many peoples as possible serving them.  In a not-uncommon progression, Rome went from kings to a pseudo-Republic to a single Emperor.       

     The Republic periods are actually oligarchies run by wealthy aristocrats.  As republics' growth slows, the rich grow so rich the rest have little or nothing.  Going to an emperor does not improve economic condition, but formalizes it.     

     The main difference between oligarchy and emperor is that an emperor allows favored groups of aristocrats to wipe out other groups of aristocrats. 

     Morally, emperors are no better than kings.  Rome's last king, Tarquin, was as much a womanizer as Caesar.  Both were removed from office by aristocrats whom they hadn't destroyed. 

     The Christians' King rules those who consider that which is beyond creation, the Creator, or in Catholic Fundamentalist terms, from things that are programmed to Programmer. 

     When on earth, our King was not diverted by material things.  Though His teachings seem absurd to the worldly, in whom else can His people believe?

Tuesday, May 9, 2006

                                                Walking on water.

     When the Christians' King walked on water, He set an example that Peter quickly followed.  As soon as Peter thought about what he was doing, he began to sink.

     The lesson is clear:  when faith is diluted with rational thought, it is lessened so much that it no longer bears us up.

     "Stepping out on faith" has long been a Protestant, Evangelical, born-again description of how to get ahead.  If we do not "step out on faith", we cannot get ahead.

     Faith in ourselves can move us forward in many ways.  Stepping out on our faith in God brings even greater rewards.

     We don't need to walk on actual water to step out on faith.  We just have to try something that is both new and good.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

                                         Moving from vanity to humility.

     Almost everything we say indicates whether we tend toward humility or vanity.  When we start to listen to our own conversations, we should look for "Then, I said. . .",  "Then, I did. . . .",  "I want/need. . .",  "I'm going to. . . .", "I'm buying a new/some new. . . .(s)"

     It's amazing how often such phrases occur in our conversations.  After we've started to notice them, we should try to eliminate them.

     Easier said than done.

Monday, May 15, 2006

                                        Persian Gold, not always bad.

     Reading early historians like Plutarch and Herodotus shows an historical constant:  Persians would rather use gold than armies to undermine and/or overthrow foreign governments.

     Middle-eastern rulers have long known that bribes are cheaper than brigades.

     When Catholic Fundamentalists apply this historical constant to Christianity, we find a plausible reason for the visit and gifts of the Three Wise Men.

     It seems reasonable that Persian countries would do everything in their power to weaken Rome.  Roman armies, after all, had been laying waste to large parts of what is now Iran, Iraq, and Syria.

     When their theologians discovered, or had revealed to them, prophecies that told them when and where The Messiah was to be born , they naturally told their superiors.      

     One can easily imagine their king saying  "Aha!  We can help give the Jews a leader who will lead them to help us fight the Romans!  We must send his parents enough money to keep him safe and gain His favor.  Herod, or the Romans, will try to destroy him.  He and his family have to leave the country.  At the very least, his parents will have enough money to bribe border guards."

     It took another three or four centuries, but it was Persian gold that was an overlooked instrument in replacing the empire of the Romans with the Kingdom of God.

May 18, 2006

                                            Persian Gold, usually bad.

     The consistent thing about the middle east is tyranny.  Tyrants, with terrorism and confiscation, are able to amass vast wealth. 

     Tyrants are always surrounded by enemies.  They have found that bribing various groups in an enemy government can paralyze that government.  Bribing is elevated to an art form.

     Democracies are especially vulnerable to bribes because many within a democracy are bribable and fairly invisible. 

     We can assume that many criticisms of a democracy from within that democracy are caused by bribes.  Relatively harmless bribes (School superintendent to board member:  "If you vote to raise taxes, I will hire your relatives") are common.

     Such payoffs are nowhere nearly as damaging as bribes from outside.  (Shah/Emir/Prince to senator:  "If you will vote to stop your country from drilling for oil in its own territory, I will deposit one hundred pounds of gold in your Swiss lockbox.")

Friday, May 19, 2006

                             Monkey see, monkey do.  People see, people choose.

     Researchers have reported that some monkeys enjoy looking at photographs of other monkeys' private parts.  They also enjoy stealing food from each other.  Occasionally, monkeys have become addicted to cigarettes.

     We differ from the monkeys in that we can choose to avoid pornography, stealing, and smoking.   In avoiding sin, our soul forces our spirit away from specific locations in the brain where it can bathe in intoxicating chemicals.

     Monkeys will only avoid sin when distracted by another physical need.  We can avoid sin for the sake of pleasing or obeying God. 

     We should.

Thursday, May 24, 2006

Postings light this week. Have had to transcribe many, many Lie Committee meetings.  If you haven't had a chance to look at them, you'll find them enjoyable.  Don't forget to email a friend about this site. 

Friday, May 25, 2006

                                            Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

     If you've downloaded "New Road to Rome" in the "books" section of this site, and gone through the last half, you'll have seen that human history can be reduced to understanding the struggles between Noah's children.

     Today, the children of Japheth dominate China, and are focused on looting Ham's children in Africa and destroying Shem's children wherever they can.  The most highly organized Japhethites have taken Mongolia and Tibet from their cousins, and are driving the remaining Caucasoid sons of Shem out of the eastern stretches of Russia.  At the same time, they are destroying the West's manufacturing base and reducing the sons of Shem to industrial helplessness.

     Shemites, today, called Semites, as usual, are hopelessly divided.  Republicans battle Democrats, socialists battle conservatives, Christians battle unbelievers, all looking for a chance to make a few dollars or save a few souls. 

     The largest state of a people that thinks they are the same is always the most dangerous.  Germany used to be the most dangerous state.  Now, it is China.

     America's response to fighting China is determined by its falling birth rate.  If America, and its ideals of freedom, are to survive, it must grow.  Currently, it has thrown open its borders to immigrants.  At the same time, efforts are made to join Mexico, Canada, and the United States into a de facto nation.

     This would replace what were the solely Semite states of Canada and the U.S. with a Japhetic amalgam from Mexico and Central America.  The common denominator?  Christianity. 

     It may work.  Or, . . .