iBethel (Redding)
[Last save : 9/11/2011]
government...[but] upon the capacity of each and every one of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." James Madison |
Proclaim Liberty throughout all the
Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof
you-tube : Paul Robeson - Land Of My Fathers
abcdabcdabcdabcdabcdabcdabcdabcdabcdabcdabcdabcdabcda
the world abounds with laws
and teems with crimes.
Is our own government committing injustice in the name of protecting the citizens? Our ancestors battled the then world superpower in order to confront tyranny and uplift the lowly. The real Tea Party was about confronting the tyrants of Old England, not about strengthening the strong, and weakening the weak. In our time, instead of the ideals of Lincoln and the Roosevelts and Kennedy, we have leaders who cut taxes for the wealthy, till our debt soars and the economy plummets. And now they blame it on programs to keep seniors from slipping into poverty.
One articulate know-it-all (Glenn Beck) proves with detailed graphs and other evidence how two thirds of the federal deficit is due to senior citizens (who receive major entitlement spending like Social Security and the Medicare programs). Add to this the benefits doled out to VETERANS (which he claims are too lavish), and like Paul Ryan says, Republicans will slash all the free-loaders and parasites we cannot afford. Whatever happened to the old chivalry about strengthening the feeble knees, rescuing the perishing, and opening thy hand to the needy? Washington and the founders were considered radical because they trusted the common man. They were socialists in the sense of the massive land giveaway, the earliest implementation of near universal basic schooling (beginning in New England), and in the concept of practicable democracy in one house of the legislature. Old Europe was aghast at such proletarian radicalism. They predicted anarcy. They assailed the Americanist heresy, and decried these Yankees' "world turned upside down."
Are we supposed to meekly "turn the other cheek?" Gandhi and others have had praise for the patient, noble suffering of a poor but honest people. Gandhiji said we each must BE the change we wish to see in the world. But there is also a time to identify those who wrong us, to let our light shine, and, if need be, (as Malcolm X instructed) to resolutely petition for redress of grievances.
Bill Clinton deregulated, succumbing to the "logic" of Alan Greenspan. Then, George Bush won election, and his seasoned VP Cheney argued that (according to Friedman) it doesn't matter how big a deficit you run up, monetary controls are a magic wand, just manipulate the money supply and abbracadabra < -poof- > the deficit disappears, our the rich get even richer. And the public never even notices.
Our Founding Fathers would be ashamed of us. Hamilton argued that strength comes from the bearing of burdens. Don't ask for lighter burdens, ask for stronger shoulders to bear the burden. He taught the assumption and faithful discharge of public debt, not the crushing of the poor under the weight of the greedy.
America's historical sin
What we can learn from feudalism and the age of chivalry. Criticizing our medieval heritage is much in vogue these days. But can't we (more than anything) emulate some of the finest ideals of those "bygone" days of yore -- such as the duty of the strong to help the weak. There were (at times) noble gestures by barons with lordly estates to care for the poor, to nurture the weak, to provide hospice (and hospitality), to protect the defenseless. See Saint George (a knightly exemplar).
And we today in America. Some things are obvious. If laws are to apply, justice demands they certainly should apply equally. But at a time when we have millions of young men in prison, we repeatedly relax the rules for the powerful, and send them home (from their depradations) even richer. Both parties are guilty of this crime of deregulating the fat cats, taking off the books the rules which regulate greed and materialist acquisition, and then we reap the consequences (the melt-down of 2008, for examplle).
And how about the white man, and his clear obligation to the black man, now his equal. Doesn't our legacy from Christendom enjoin on us certain responsibilities? For ourselves and those who come after, we dare not fail. For us and for them, complacency is not an option. We owe a certain hospice and hospitality and magnanimity. In Italian, Egli deve crescere e io invece diminuire (Giovanni il Battista). The essence of chivalry is our duty to our fellow man. The very central quality of which is LOVE. It is a knightly obligation. illum oportet crescere me autem minui
Truly, isn't this the highest quest, the utmost and the best? Won't you enlist in the struggle for the ideals that forged the greatness of America?
Shame on Republicans like Bully Graham and the segregationists
Those who hate the liberalism of the Founders, "All men are created equal" --- they must open their hearts to God. Those who want to flush America down he toilet (Norquist) because it is not white enough, or male enough, SHAME ON YOU. I am telling you, with God's help we will yet have a nation "with liberty and justice for all." You who hate the biblical ideals on which Obama has staked his faith, you are wrong. America is giving this man a chance. If you secede, your bigotry may feel good to you, but you are breaking the law. You deserve to be arrested.
This page lists a handful of injustices right here in the USA (a few Canadian) in which by all apprearances, our own government has grossly overstepped its bounds. (Has it forgotten that it has bounds?)
You can Make a Difference
No man is an island, entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main. [John Donne]
All Gave Some - - - Some Gave All
and he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere. |
| The greatness of Napoleon, Caesar or Washington is only moonlight by the sun of Lincoln. His example is universal and will last thousands of years . . . . He is bigger than his country -- bigger than all the Presidents together . . . and as a great character he will live as long as the world lasts. [Leo Tolstoy] |
|
friend me (facebook)
no veteran left behind
The New Martyrs
|
When we're children, it's the parents who are the handy scapegoat. Humans seem to need some fixture for blame. As adults, "government" serves as the handy target. Except maybe in China, with its extreme ethic of personal responsibility. No blaming "Big Brother" allowed. Just salute and obey. No whining. No negative thinking or excuses. Just look within -- then 'git 'er done.' |
|
Isn't it interesting that standing out head and shoulders above the crowd, America's exceptional leaders appearing from time to time have almost without exception been men of vision and foresight, of idealism and great moral stature, truly 'liberals' (in the best sense of the word).
We think of Lincoln, but also Jefferson and Jackson, the two Roosevelts, et al. Arthur Schlesinger, Jr declared: "Every great crisis thus far in American history has produced a leader adequate to the occasion from the ranks of those who believe vigorously and seriously in liberty, democracy and the common man."
|
