Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Liberty!

Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?
Thomas Jefferson
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A friend sent me an e-copy of one issue of David Jeremiah's "Turning Point" (Nov 10, 11, 2007), in which he acknowledges the signing of the Mayflower Compact, the first time in recorded history that "a group of people freely of their own volition established a covenant to create a new civil government of their own". The start of true democracy, a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people" (as Lincoln would later put it).

But as Dr. Jeremiah notes, that Covenant was very explicit about God being the only true foundation of that democracy. This is extraordinarily important for us to notice today because God has been shoved to the side in our society, if we are to believe the media.

Do we need God? Hollywood, the mainstream news media, and many of our political leaders say emphatically no. Well, let's look at the facts:

Now that we have largely freed ourselves from the primitive superstitious beliefs about there being a God, crime and violence are up, big business is out of control and robbing us, industry is all but gone in our country (nearly everything we buy is made in China except cars, and we're not buying Detroit's cars) as we've become a "service economy" (but try and get decent service anywhere!), as people are having "more and enjoying it less". Addiction is up, drug use is epidemic (even Hollywood stars who are rabid anti-smoking do drugs), personal relationships are less satisfying and shorter-lasting. Personal property ownership is up, but never satisfying; even maxing out one's debt can't buy enough "toys" to make one happy.

The fact is that we need God. We can't have a democracy that continues to work unless we live a life of belief in God.

Democracy means what? The people are self-governing. But many of us today are not governed; our whole way of functioning is controlled by "Me First". Many people disregard laws and regulations, governed only by "Me First".

If you don't believe me, you haven't been in traffic lately, or you weren't looking. Did we need red light cameras back when we were primitive and superstitious? Were our roads filled with unlicensed, uninsured drivers then? Was driving 60 mph through a school zone epidemic then?

Back before we evolved towards not needing a God-myth, were our jails filled? (For that matter, were our jails places where criminals were treated like heros?) Back then, did gangs completely rule over whole areas of our cities. Back then, were people afraid to walk outside? Back then, did innocent people live behind bars, barricaded against crime?

While we were unevolved and ignorant, were our streets loaded with homeless people? Were our freeway off-ramps occupied by panhandlers?

Before we were wise enough to remove the 10 Commandments from our schools, did students massacre their fellows? Was teen drug abuse and suicide (there's only a slight difference between the two) epidemic? Were eating disorders common? (The argument you'll hear on that is that the problem was covered up back then, but then the propaganda of today is that things were always as they are now, just undercover.)

So apparently, we haven't evolved enough. Or maybe we've gone backwards. I assert that our democracy is doomed, that democracy can't function unless the people govern themselves, and that we're failing to do that, and that thus, we are headed to a "police state" as the only way to keep some sort of order.

Have a happy day!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You talk as if it is something that happened in the last 20 years or so; you got blinders on. And if you think there is a quick and simple solution then you are way out of the loop. Praying won't hurt. But waiting for a miracle is ridiculous. I believe in miracles, but it would be folly to count on them. What you need to do is pick up your hammer, nails, cement and start building firm foundations. Steer clear of the termites you meet along the way. Get off your pulpit, drop the naivety and do something.

Perhaps you should look deeper and broader to get a real sense for what is happening. For starters, find out what you can about Naomi Klien -- you might learn something, http://www.naomiklein.org/main. You might also check out the history of the 18th and 19th centuries, the "wild" west and the roaring 20s to list a few.

The Dooz said...

Anon, it would be cool if:

1. You'd take credit for your comments.

2. You'd read correctly before commenting. I don't know where you got 20 years from, nor "praying" vs. "building firm foundations".

3. You'd argue the points instead of attacking me personally.

On second thought, I can see why you didn't sign your name. I could have, and maybe should have, blocked this post; this is not the kind of tone I want my blog to have.

Jim Lakely said...

Dooz,

I said I'd return the favor of a visit. Here it is (and don't be a stranger to Infinite Monkeys).

Love this post. Well done. And maybe you shouldn't be so hard on Anon. I think his/her heart is in the right place.

We definitely need God. But I'm not sure what buying stuff from China and big business "robbing us" has to do with anything. I quite like the low prices that big business presents to me at Target and McDonald's.

The Dooz said...

I'm not sure what buying stuff from China and big business "robbing us" has to do with anything. I quite like the low prices that big business presents to me at Target and McDonald's.

The connection I see is the greed which I see as a driving force in individuals and groups when they lack higher motives (such as a belief in a created order and a creator). Business becomes Big Business, and seeks to grow bigger over the backs of labor and the consumer. Labor seeks to grow bigger/fatter by demanding more for less. The consumer seeks "bargains", no matter how much they cost.

What I see today in much business is a very short-sighted focus on profits now and on keeping the stock prices up. Saving a fraction of a percent in costs and/or raising profits by a tiny bit is worth whatever long-term damage, because it's "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die". Tomorrow doesn't count. So what if our children's toys are tainted with lead, so long as they sell for less and cost even less to make? So what if our military can't get hats except from Chinese makers?

Yeah, I like getting "bargains", too. But long-term, what's it going to cost me personally and our nation as a whole?

Say what you will about the European nations and their legacy to us; I'll tell you this much that's plain: England and Holland built colonies; Spain searched for gold. England and Holland saw the value of industry and of long-term gain; Spain saw "winning the lottery", getting rich quick, and never got rich and certainly is not rich now.

So we're buying cheaper-made stuff, but we're paying less, right? Maybe, until we have to replace stuff far more often, until we can't get product support. Is it worth the frustration? Is it worth the threat to our national security?

Does that make sense now?

BTW, I see a real difference between Target-cheap and McDonald's-cheap: Target does cheap by buying cheap stuff and selling for low prices. True, some of their price advantage is from volume-buying and big-box selling, but most is from cheap product.

McD's, by contrast, started with and has existed and grown into a worldwide phenomenon by volume and efficiency. Each McDonald's store has their sales graphed and they know how much they'll sell of what during any given time of day or week, and that's what they'll have ready--no waste. Each employee knows how much "special sauce" to put on the "2 all-beef patties" of the Big Mac--no waste. McD's has taken a lot of flack over the years, but their food is not low quality in terms of ingredients or preparation. (In terms of nutrition, hey, it's burgers.)

[I own no stock in either company--although I wish I'd bought either when they started!]

Also, what I'm saying about Big Business and greed has a lot less to do with Target or McDonald's than with the oil companies (did you realize that the merger of Mobil and Exxon was the final step in reassembling Rockefeller's Standard Oil?), Enron, etc.