LIL Correspondence with Cory Burnell

Hi Josiah,
I believe I meant to provide you with an article about our plans for the SCLA, but I failed to do so. Are you still interested in one?

I have a call scheduled for Monday with Chris Golden, a paleo-conservative in the Greenville GOP, to discuss the potential of bringing paleo-cons together in an alliance. I'll include that discussion as well as my findings from my recent two weeks in SC in the article.

Also, great to see all the activism you're doing for the Taylor campaign. I thank you very much!

Blessings,
Cory


Thanks a lot, Cory! Yes, I would very much like an article on the SCLA.

Nearly everyone I have talked to about the possibility of paleo-conservative co-operation and co-ordination has essentially said it can't be done; "we won't support you, but go ahead and try anyway" is the attitude. So finally you are someone with a like vision who appreciates the concept and can work to fulfill it. Praise God!

The major issue I have seen as critical to an ability to organize pro-freedom organizations into a winning team is giving them a common goal. We will only do that by re-directing their definition of freedom itself. Since you have touched on this subject before, you will understand this idea perfectly.

Many groups seem to view freedom as simply the ability to do anything one wishes as long as one does not harm this ability of others. I agree with this general definition. However, it is impossible to know just what freedom is if there is no common standard to judge it by.

How does one determine what is a violation of freedom? By justice. How does justice judge? By the law. What ultimately determines law? There must exist what our Founders termed "unalienable rights" endowed on us by a common Creator if there is to be any true kind of liberty.

By applying the Decalogue as these unalienable rights, "tyranny," "evil," and "unlawful" gain fully consistent definitions, as do "liberty" and "freedom." After all, the Decalogue was written to protect liberty. What could be termed its' "Enacting Clause" states: "I am the LORD your God which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;..." Examples of unalienable rights in the Decalogue include "Thou shalt not kill," Thou shalt not steal," and "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."

Government is not to enforce the Decalogue; however, it is to protect us and "secure our rights." Government should properly thus be enacting statutes to make certain that our rights are not violated, and our ability to keep God's law is not infringed.

The right to keep and honor God's law is in fact the greatest of all rights, and no one can rightfully force us to disobey it.

It is important to note that the phase "secure our rights" points again to the fact that the rights must be pre-existent. Rights are not created by majority vote or dictatorial whim. Here is where the line is drawn between Libertarians and paleo-conservatives; the Libertarian will not allow for an acknowledgement of any pre-existing Creator or universal Law. Their kind of liberty thus falls apart. It is not a consistent sort of liberty.

What I have come to see true liberty as is simply this: The absolute supremacy of the Laws of Nature and Nature's God.

So now I understand the famous songwriter:

America! America! God mend thine every flaw;
Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law!



Your friend,
R. Josiah Magnuson

P.S. If you want, you can view a whole list of quotes on this subject here. Thanks!

Jawbreaking Providence

My life right now is being worked out just like a wonderful game of "Jawbreaker." If you have ever played this popular little PDA/cellphone game, you will know what I mean.

In the game, a random set of various-colored balls appears on the screen. A set of two or more side-by-side like-colored balls is worth points relative to its amount. Clicking on a set once tells the prospective number of points, and clicking on it a second time deletes the set. The balls directly above the set then drop towards the lower part of the screen as far as they will go before contacting other balls. The aim of the game is to get as many points as possible by organizing the balls to obtain the highest amount of like-colored balls in one set, then the same for another set, etc.

So what is like "Jawbreaker" recently? Simply the general way things are going. It is so interesting watching God bring a contact here, an opportunity there, a new experience here and there. The amazing thing about it is that it all is working together.

The campaign against REAL-ID, the Butch for Council work, the writing of the (newly completed!) research paper for AiG, and the structuring of our new Scriptorium are only some examples of so-far marvelously successful opportunities to put the Liberty In Law idea into the forefront of the minds of patriotic Americans and Biblicist Christians in the SC Upstate.

What I appreciate the most is that I am NOT the one orchestrating this mega-Jawbreaker scenario. I would be completely at a loss for how to do it. And, even if I could, I would be quite stressed out and exhausted!

This Jawbreaking is called Providence. Our Creator and Redeemer is, thankfully, fully responsible for it. And yes, it may one day break our gasping, amazed jaws!


-R. Josiah Magnuson

REAL-ID violates our freedoms

This is a note I e-mailed to a legislator, Eric Bedingfield, who represents a district just south of ours, here in Greenville County. I may send a version of it to the rest of those on the Committee, and I will most certainly try to get some of those in Mr. Bedingfield's district writing and calling him on this issue.


Hello Mr. Bedingfield! My name is Josiah. I am a homeschooled Greenville County 15-year-old who appreciates your service to our area. Having understood that you are currently a member on on the Education and Public Works Committee about to review the proposed resolution (S. 449) against the REAL-ID Act, I wish to respectfully notify you regarding the position of many (including myself) towards this Federal measure.

The current language of the resolution is very weak, and fails to address the FREEDOM ISSUES surrounding implementing REAL-ID in South Carolina. Financial concerns are indeed appropriate. However, the bigger problem with REAL-ID is the fact that it will undermine personal liberty, security, and privacy.

An incredible spectrum of organizations, from the Southern Poverty Law Center to the League of the South, and from the ACLU to the Conservative Caucus, have expressed strong opposition to the REAL-ID's threatened encroachments of our freedom.

Please read the big yellow NVCCA booklet they gave you, and see whether you could support the proposed amendments to S. 449. The amendments would strengthen the resolution a good deal. Several states, including New Hampshire, Maine, Arizona, and Idaho, have already passed measures similar to those the NVCCA is working for.

I for one do not wish to live in a surveillance state when I grow up. I wish to have the same opportunities as America has traditionally and wonderfully stood for. I wish to live in a lawful, free nation which acknowledges our God-given, inalienable rights! So now it is my turn to take a stand.

Thank you very much for considering my opinion. Feel free to e-mail me at Rjmpilgrim@aol.com for more information, or you may also visit my blog at http://www.worldviewsrevolution.blogspot.com/.

I look forward to your support of the amendments opposing REAL-ID's infringement on American liberty.


Your friend,
R. Josiah Magnuson

Who Controls Your Mind?

The commemoration of April Fool's Day is often a very humorous, upbeat occasion. But it can teach us a much-needed lesson: things are not always what they seem, nor are we always in total control of our minds.

Let us pause for a moment to consider who or whaţ really determines our thoughts:

1. Freudian animal instincts?
Many today believe that all emotions and ideas stem ultimatly from "our" animal nature. Specifically, these people postulate that we as humans are controlled by mating and rivalry instinct. This view was first promoted in the modern world by Sigmund Freud in the early 20th century. He called this instinct "libido." His idea was based directly on Evolutionary theory, and has been cited as the cause of many social problems.

2. Nazi brainwashing?
Another belief which can be derived from Evolutionary philosophy is that which Adolf Hitler expressed in his book, Mein Kamph. Hitler believed that the proper control of the human mind was that of a public education system governed by the State which would indoctrinate children from their earliest years in the ways of society. This system is to be held responsible for the formidable "success" of the Hitler Youth and their unbending alliegence to the Third Reich during World War II.

3. Marxo~American political correctness?
A final mind~control system based on Evolutionary theory is that of Karl Marx's proletariat democracy, also known as Communism. In such a system, the society at large adopts particular ideas and customs which are then enforced by means of intimidation on the individual. The result of such a philosophy may be observed in the old Soviet Union, but also in such nations as Cuba, Venezula, the European Union, etc., and increasingly, the United States.

4. God?
If one's thoughts are not governed by a Supreme Being, the chances are he will be subdued by one of the other systems. As the Christian knows, the only way to feel true freedom of mind and conscience is through surrender to Christ. One will then have an infallible external reference point in the form of the Bible, and will be able to use correct axioms for logic and reason. Thoughts can thus be accurate and true.

The big question of life is, Who controls your mind?


~R. Josiah Magnuson

LIL Update

Hi! I'm writing right now on a PDA/cellphone from my Dad. :-) Thanks to him, we will have a wonderful new tool for our Biblicist vision. The number for the phone is 420-7933.

I also created the other day an e-mail address for LibertyInLaw.com. It is "libertyinlaw@yahoo.com."