One of the most important freedoms in our democratic republic is
freedom of speech. All tyrannies restrict it. The use of laws,
violence or disruption to block or suppress the free expression of
opinion is fascist methodology. Freedom of speech is founded upon a
trust that, in a free environment, truth rises to the top like cream.
As one pundit recently said, “You say your idiotic thing and I say
my idiotic thing. I believe in the public’s ability to sort it
out.” This casts a wary light on laws restricting “hate speech”.
Who determines what constitutes “hate speech”? Some opinions
may be labeled “hateful”. But opinions are just opinions. In a
free society they can be expressed. Many opinions are offensive to
certain people who don’t hold those opinions. In a free society, we
do not have the freedom to not be offended. And we do not have the
freedom to force--using laws, violence or disruption--our opinions
upon others—just to freely speak them in the open market of public
opinion. It is a form of arrogance that asserts “you do not have
the right to express your opinion” or “you must adhere to my
beliefs” or “you do not have a right to express an opinion that
is offensive to me or that is, in my opinion, blatantly wrong.”
Currently, some long-held and deeply embedded religious beliefs are
offensive to some people. [Perhaps it has always been so.] And so
now, thrown into this mix, is a threat to freedom of religion also:
the freedom to express and live according to those beliefs because of
laws passed to insure the rights of others who are offended by those
beliefs. Interestingly, most of this conflict is along the lines of
sexuality [how it can be lived out] and gender [also associated with
sexuality]. So it seems that sexual and gender freedoms [not
explicitly granted in the Constitution] are militating against
freedom of speech and religion [explicitly granted in the
Constitution]. We must, in my opinion, process through these
conflicts without resorting to fascist methodologies. We must remain
civil and tolerant, not easily offended, non-reactive and
non-defensive. We must not let hatred, fear or arrogance rule the
day. Within the just and limited laws based upon our Constitution, we
must allow people to speak their truth, and to be sexual and
religious and gendered as they choose. But we must not force others to
adhere to our ways of being. We cannot force others to believe what
they do not believe, or to act in ways [outside the just and limited
laws of state] contrary to their beliefs. And we must remember that
our Founders recognized religion and morality as necessary pillars of
our democracy, without which democracy would not survive. If we use
the freedoms of democracy to destroy its pillars, we will destroy the
political system that has granted us those freedoms. And tyranny is
always lurking in the shadows.
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
The Pendulum of History
The pendulum of time and history and balance swings to and fro,
fueled by human greed, need, suffering, ideals and sometimes love.
Extravagant empires fall, replaced by committees with high ideals.
Demagogues rise and fall. Noble causes, initially bringing good
results deteriorate and must be ousted or overpowered. Branches
sprout from the tree of life, flourish, bear fruit, then die and rot
and fall, while new branches, more suited to the time or responsive
to the discontents of human hearts take their place. Evil and good,
like intertwining vines, bearing good and poisonous fruit, compete
for the sunlight of a place in human experience. The pendulum swings
too far in the direction of imperialism, and communism pulls it back.
Communism pulls the pendulum too far, distorted by the darkness in
human hearts [the force that always pulls the pendulum too far,
reacting against the darkness that had pulled the pendulum too far in
the other direction] and it too becomes a dead branch, falling to rot
in the soil, leaving, perhaps, some seeds or nourishment useful for
future growth—the ongoing evolution of human experience.
Industry brings new
products and work opportunities, but greed and unbridled power abuse
the laborer with long hours, unsafe working conditions, poor wages.
The pendulum swings back in the power of unions, empowering workers
to gain a fairer wage and decent working conditions. The unions then
become corrupt. Entitled workers, indignant toward the white collars,
demand conditions that make production unprofitable. Union bosses get
fat. Worker strikes and walkouts neglect the common good. Garbage
piles up on the street. Some good has come, but the pendulum swings
too far.
Women are neglected
and suppressed. They vie for attention and their rightful place. The
pendulum swings and they can vote, earn money, choose to give birth
or not, run companies and governments. But the momentum continues and
career is esteemed above motherhood, women begin to look and act more
like men, “patriarchy” becomes the invisible enemy, the “glass
ceiling”. “Femi-nazism” emerges. Manhood itself is denigrated.
Some good has come but the pendulum swings too far.
The Civil Rights
movement was a pull against the pendulum swung in the direction of
racism. Fueled by the power of truth and justice, it succeeded.
Reactionary indignation against white supremacy along with the
addictive grasp of power, however, breeds entitlements and
reactionary discrimination against the invisible [perhaps now
imaginary] enemy of “white privilege”. Social programs that are
prejudiced toward blacks geared to re-balance the societal injuries
of racial suppression take on a life of their own and push beyond the
limits of their need. Good has come, but the pendulum swings too far.
Advocates of any
worthy cause are by nature pulling against some other societal force
deemed by those advocates as pathological. There seems to be a
tendency in this struggle to become blind to the actual or potential
pathology inherent in that for which one is advocating, and a
concurrent blindness to any good that might exist in that which is
advocated against. If we could recognize this tendency, it would
certainly advance civility and diminish pathological polarities.
A guiding principle
to aid this more enlightened exercise of power is to remain mindful
that the line that separates good from evil goes through the heart of
every human, and therefore every nation, party or people group. In
almost every ideological struggle, there is truth and error on both
sides. In our struggle for our ideological preference/s, we must not
lose sight of the over-arching pursuit of ultimate Truth, which by
definition is good for the whole of humankind. If we do lose sight of
it, we will neglect to acknowledge the dark side of our own ideology,
and we will exaggerate the dark side of our adversaries.
Jesus addressed this
issue succinctly: “Why is it so easy for you to see the speck in
your brother’s eye, and so difficult for you to see the beam in
your own eye. Don’t be a hypocrite! Get the beam out of your own
eye first; then you can see more clearly how to help your brother
[opponent/adversary] get the speck out of theirs.” Pathological
polarization is manifested when adversaries focus exclusively on the
specks and overlook the beams.
An interesting
phenomena currently evident in America is the tendency to morbidly
over-emphasize the “beam”, that is, the problems and failures of
our nation; and to see America, in an exaggerated way, as a
perpetrator of evil in the world. This takes healthy introspection to
a pathological level and erodes the healthy sense of nationalism.
There is much about America that we should be thankful for and
healthily proud of; while we continue to acknowledge and overcome our
dark side, which always exists in every nation and individual. We
should neither exaggerate nor minimize our own or others’ faults or
virtues.
Friday, June 7, 2019
Christianity and Freedom
The nations of the world are divided generally along two
orientations: 1. The trust and love of freedom for individuals
and, 2. The fear, distrust and even hatred of freedom for
individuals. The first
orientation [let’s call it
the Freedom Orientation or FO] attempts
to restrain the accumulation of power in any sector, government,
group, etc. other than the individual. The
purpose of government in this orientation is to use its “power”
to provide services to free and unified individuals that are best
done collectively and are not productively done in the larger private
or religious sectors. Government serves under the ultimate authority
of the people. It requires, in
the general populace, a level
of psycho-spiritual maturity that can overcome the
lust for power and selfish endeavors, maintaining a sincere
dedication to the common good and policing and supporting the
government that is its servant. The
maintenance of this level of psycho-spiritual maturity
is why the originators of the American Constitution recognized the
importance of “religion and morality” as a necessary
pillar of democracy [See
George Washington’s Farewell Address (a
must read for any educated human being),
quoted and linked
below (1.)]
The
second orientation [let’s call it the Power Orientation or PO]
attempts to accumulate and maintain power within a certain person or
group of people who then dictate, with supposed beneficence and
wisdom, how the society will operate. This usually involves a firm
and powerful boundary between the authoritarian power group and the
common citizens who are generally afraid to speak in any way contrary
to ruling authority. This is true because it takes
fear-mongering to maintain
power over any people group. Power is maintained by fear. Freedom is
fueled by love. The Bible says that “perfect love drives out fear”
[1John 4:18]. Tyranny,
however, clothes itself in
power and instills fear.
The
PO is currently manifesting in three ideologies: 1. Theocracy, which
purports that everyone must submit to the authority of the only true
god who demands submission, alienation, persecution or death. {Saudi
Arabia and most
Islam-dominated nations} This
is a particularly heinous form of PO because it is infused with the
power of religion which calls for self-sacrifice and the promise of
an afterlife. 2. Communism, which maintains power
in a party and keeps bids for individual freedom suppressed. {No.
Korea, China, Russia}.
And 3. Political corruption
fueled specifically by greed and the ability to continue in illegal,
lucrative pursuits, using power to hold at bay any intrusions against
those pursuits. The nations
of So. America run by drug lords who buy or intimidate political and
police authority are examples of this form of PO.
It’s
noteworthy that the Bible and the Christian faith are excluded or
suppressed in the PO nations. Below are two links: one to
freedomhouse.org with a world map denoting nations where freedom
flourishes, and a second one to a world map denoting nations where
Christianity flourishes. If
you compare them you will see a remarkable overlap between freedom
and Christianity. Tyrants fear and hate the Bible because it
ultimately sets people free and encourages them to expose and
confront forms of evil that
enslave people. God sent ten plagues against Pharaoh saying “set my
people free.” [Exodus]. Jesus said He came to “set at liberty
those who are oppressed” fulfilling Isaiah’s messianic prophesy
[Luke 4:18]. An escaped No. Korean border guard said that in No.
Korea, harboring a Bible or allowing one into the nation carries a
more severe punishment than killing someone [from
Voice of the Martyrs, an organization worthy of our support]. This
is a stark commentary on the liberating power of the Bible and the
Spirit that it conveys into the human heart. For this reason it would
be wise [in fact it may be necessary, in order to preserve freedom]
for all freedom loving people [whether they believe the Bible or
not!] to support the evangelistic efforts of those who go to great
lengths to get it into the hands, and hopefully hearts, of all the
peoples of the earth. Tyrants and tyrannical systems recognize that
the Truth of the Bible erodes the
PO; and they do all they can
to exclude it from their realms of power or
twist it into something that bolsters their power.
Secularists have no need to fear a theocracy born out of the Bible
because it reveals that God has ordained freedom of human will---even
the freedom to violate His
eternal principles of Love and Truth and Faith [though
we see clearly that there are natural disastrous consequences in
doing so]. Christian theocracies of the past were and will continue
to be eroded and destroyed by the very Truth of the Bible
that was twisted into those
theocracies. God did not initially want His people to have an earthly
king [human
authority], but rather that all would look to Him--His Spirit of Love
in individuals would
be the ruling authority [1Samuel
8]. Christ, Who said, “I am in you….” is the fulfillment of
this Reality [John 14:20. Perhaps the most profound theological
statement in all religious scripture].
The great freedom that sincere followers of Christ experience is worthy of the world's attention. Devotion to Christ leads to freedom from fear: the fear of death and the distractions of materialistic enslavement, as Jesus describes. [Luke 8:14]. Christ brings our lives into a focus of peaceful love for all within our sphere of influence. This is a freedom that no political system can provide or prevent because it exists at the level of the soul---not accessible to the systems of man.
Of
all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity,
religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that
man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert
these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the
duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the
pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not
trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it
simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation,
for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which
are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let
us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be
maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the
influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason
and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can
prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
George Washington, Farewell Address.
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