The Sections of the YCLA Constitution which can be completed are past the first draft stage. For the governance/direction part, however, we are going to need to do a little more thinking and praying. We also will of course have to consult with Moses.
I think we should have an Organizing Meeting this week sometime. Maybe we could have it if our families pick blueberries on Wednesday.
Here is my current version of the Purpose and Goals:
"Section 1. Purpose
The Young Christian Leaders' Alliance - hereinafter "the YCLA" - shall exist to energize, mobilize, and equip the members and other pro-freedom groups and causes, for the proclamation of the Biblicist worldview and the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Section 2. Goals
The goals of the YCLA shall be as follows:
1. To organize frequent meetings, projects, and creative events for the members, providing accountability and momentum.
2. To exhibit leadership and a Christ-like attitude and character, advancing morale and courage among our families and other spheres of influence.
3. To produce and distribute materials relevant to the principles of the YCLA, for the information and activation of young people outside our group.
4. To be guided as individuals by the direction of God, through prayer, fasting, and reading of His Word.
5. To ultimately create a nerve-center or base to bring together pro-freedom organizations under the common banner of Liberty In Law and the Biblicist worldview."
Thanks!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
Monday, July 16, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Codex-Killing
We went to a meeting in Asheville on the Codex Alimentarius Commission yesterday. This commission, an arm of the World "Health" Organization and FAO (which both are UN bodies), is in a position to make all alternative medicine illegal by the beginning of 2010. This category includes all foods eaten for health purposes. For more information, visit HealthFreedomUSA.com. Or, you may view a brief commentary written by my sister at Wilderness-Scout.blogspot.com.
We video-taped the event, and Lord-willing will be working with the sponsors (Dr. Rima Laibow and her husband) to create a DVD on this subject. From Josiah
We video-taped the event, and Lord-willing will be working with the sponsors (Dr. Rima Laibow and her husband) to create a DVD on this subject. From Josiah
RTR Forum update
The number of replies to my "Evolution and relativism" thread at http://restoretherepublic.com/forum/index.php?topic=412.0 has grown to 34, putting it in second place in the topic. In fact it is usually the one at the very top of the list, due to the frequency of posting! However, it is still in fourth place for the number of views, with 253 so far.
Lofton and Ham
John Lofton, editor of Mike Peroutka's site GodFamilyRepublic.com (aka The AmericanView.com) wrote a good article for WorldNetDaily about Ken Ham and the Creation Museum. It regarded green eggs and Ham. Incidently, Ken Ham saw it and posted a link to the article on his blog. Just interesting.
Here's the web address for the Lofton article (the link system hasn't been working here lately): http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56615
Ken Ham's blog is found at http://blogs.answersingenesis.org/aroundtheworld/.
Thanks! From Josiah
Here's the web address for the Lofton article (the link system hasn't been working here lately): http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56615
Ken Ham's blog is found at http://blogs.answersingenesis.org/aroundtheworld/.
Thanks! From Josiah
Friday, July 13, 2007
In touch with Answers In Genesis
I was on Ken Ham's blog (http://blogs.answersingenesis.org/aroundtheworld/) the other day and realized I should ask him before I posted any more of his articles here. So John Pence, the AiG legal counsel, e-mailed me back and said they wanted a link to check out what this place was! I had included one in my comment online, but now I will be sending it to a real person at AiG. (I wonder if they'll know who I am... Hmm)
More wonderful Providence. :-)
Thanks! From Jos
More wonderful Providence. :-)
Thanks! From Jos
Psalm 37:1-19
Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous. The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous. The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
LibertyInLaw site works now!
Last night my family was at the Hacketts' house and I used their computer. With a much better Internet connection, I was able to get a general feel for what the problem was with LibertyInLaw.com. After much work this morning, I discovered just now that the problem is solved! If you type "LibertyInLaw.com" in your browser, you will no longer be met with a page saying "This website is coming soon." You will instead be re-directed to what is now going to be the site for the YCLA - the true, real LibertyInLaw website!
The ubiquitous (sp?) link problems are hopefully done with once and for all. Praise God! The final thing to deal with is this Blogger program which decided the other day not to let me change my settings. Duh... :-)
Thanks! From Josiah
The ubiquitous (sp?) link problems are hopefully done with once and for all. Praise God! The final thing to deal with is this Blogger program which decided the other day not to let me change my settings. Duh... :-)
Thanks! From Josiah
From Ron Paul
"A local TV station just called, wanting to follow up on the Sunday ABC interview. Their stated reason: "Your campaign is really picking up steam!"
Quite right, thanks to you and so many others. Of course, some in the media want to see this campaign lose steam. But they’re not going to get their way.
I know that every day: for example, whenever I attend one of our big, enthusiastic meetup groups.
As I look around, I always think: how lucky I am to be part of such a movement. And how many young people care deeply about our ideas.
A friend of mine used to wonder what would become of our movement when all the older members of it passed on. Now, he says, there is no doubt that we are sowing the seeds of an even more vibrant and principled freedom movement. The future can be bright indeed.
At a rally in Nevada the other day, I asked a husband and wife how they had gotten interested in this campaign. "Though our 13-year-old son," they told me.
Remember the complaints that kids were addicted to TV and video games, and ignored the world around them? There are plenty who don't fit that bill. And the tool in their hands and ours is the internet. With it, we can circumvent the biased media.
Later this week I go to Google—perhaps the nerve center of the internet—at the company's invitation, to talk to all their employees. Brilliant young techies are part of our constituency, and I am looking forward to that visit. There are two rallies too.
Won't you help keep our internet campaign going and growing? Please aid me in traveling to our rallies, and in getting the word out in every way possible. Make your most generous donation https://www.ronpaul2008.com/donate/.
This campaign is picking up steam. But the engine needs fuel. Please join me https://www.ronpaul2008.com/join/ in this great endeavor for America's future.
Sincerely,
Ron"
Quite right, thanks to you and so many others. Of course, some in the media want to see this campaign lose steam. But they’re not going to get their way.
I know that every day: for example, whenever I attend one of our big, enthusiastic meetup groups.
As I look around, I always think: how lucky I am to be part of such a movement. And how many young people care deeply about our ideas.
A friend of mine used to wonder what would become of our movement when all the older members of it passed on. Now, he says, there is no doubt that we are sowing the seeds of an even more vibrant and principled freedom movement. The future can be bright indeed.
At a rally in Nevada the other day, I asked a husband and wife how they had gotten interested in this campaign. "Though our 13-year-old son," they told me.
Remember the complaints that kids were addicted to TV and video games, and ignored the world around them? There are plenty who don't fit that bill. And the tool in their hands and ours is the internet. With it, we can circumvent the biased media.
Later this week I go to Google—perhaps the nerve center of the internet—at the company's invitation, to talk to all their employees. Brilliant young techies are part of our constituency, and I am looking forward to that visit. There are two rallies too.
Won't you help keep our internet campaign going and growing? Please aid me in traveling to our rallies, and in getting the word out in every way possible. Make your most generous donation https://www.ronpaul2008.com/donate/.
This campaign is picking up steam. But the engine needs fuel. Please join me https://www.ronpaul2008.com/join/ in this great endeavor for America's future.
Sincerely,
Ron"
LIL/Young Leaders Update
At the park today David Aguilar and I discussed the new YCLA, what its goals should be, and how it should be run. Some of his ideas were identical to mine on the concept of a Liberty In Law Coalition!
What is yet to be resolved is what to do once the original members of the YCLA get older. David believes the YCLA would over time become a LIL Coalition in and of itself, while I had thought of it more as a catalyst for such, which would continue on and be self-perpetuating. One way, the group morphs from an organism of young people to an alliance of organizations; the other, we the founders fade from the picture once we become adults. Hmmm...
In any case, I have been working on several logo drafts today. The Blogger program hasn't been working quite right the last few days so I can't show you them, but I will describe them generally.
The most popular one so far is a blue 3-D oval with the initials in yellow on it. "Young Christian" in a sky blue is above on the oval, and "Leaders' Alliance" is in the same below. Behind the letters, and slightly faded against the oval, is an American flag (black-and-white). The staff of the flag extends downwards where the motto "Liberty In Law" is visible under the blue oval, in black.
The first logo I made consists of a rectangular background of stone with the YCLA intials in black. On the "L" there is a little stylized flag. Above and to the left of the initials is the motto (could be either LIL, "In God We Trust" or something else). Below the "YCLA" is a narrow red bar, and below that is the words "Young Christian Leaders' Alliance."
The final design is the most dramatic, with sun-rays or light-beams exploding from a central red rectangle with the intials in yellow. The background is a deep blue. "Young Christian" is at the top in white, and "Leaders' Alliance" is at the bottom in the same color. The sun-rays in this logo also appropriately resemble the points of a compass.
Since we are going blueberry-picking with the Hacketts and Aguilars tomorrow, we will Lord-willing be able to finalize our ideas and pick out one of these logos.
Which also means I must be getting to bed... :-)
Thanks!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
What is yet to be resolved is what to do once the original members of the YCLA get older. David believes the YCLA would over time become a LIL Coalition in and of itself, while I had thought of it more as a catalyst for such, which would continue on and be self-perpetuating. One way, the group morphs from an organism of young people to an alliance of organizations; the other, we the founders fade from the picture once we become adults. Hmmm...
In any case, I have been working on several logo drafts today. The Blogger program hasn't been working quite right the last few days so I can't show you them, but I will describe them generally.
The most popular one so far is a blue 3-D oval with the initials in yellow on it. "Young Christian" in a sky blue is above on the oval, and "Leaders' Alliance" is in the same below. Behind the letters, and slightly faded against the oval, is an American flag (black-and-white). The staff of the flag extends downwards where the motto "Liberty In Law" is visible under the blue oval, in black.
The first logo I made consists of a rectangular background of stone with the YCLA intials in black. On the "L" there is a little stylized flag. Above and to the left of the initials is the motto (could be either LIL, "In God We Trust" or something else). Below the "YCLA" is a narrow red bar, and below that is the words "Young Christian Leaders' Alliance."
The final design is the most dramatic, with sun-rays or light-beams exploding from a central red rectangle with the intials in yellow. The background is a deep blue. "Young Christian" is at the top in white, and "Leaders' Alliance" is at the bottom in the same color. The sun-rays in this logo also appropriately resemble the points of a compass.
Since we are going blueberry-picking with the Hacketts and Aguilars tomorrow, we will Lord-willing be able to finalize our ideas and pick out one of these logos.
Which also means I must be getting to bed... :-)
Thanks!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
Saturday, July 07, 2007
YCLA begins now!
Having received no reply from Cory on the matter of the South Carolina Liberty Alliance, it is my understanding that we should concentrate for now on something else.
It is thus a great pleasure to announce the formation of the Young Christian Leaders' Alliance, or YCLA. This group will "seek to provide enthusiasm and courage to the effort of worldviews revolution! We further wish to encourage organizations to support one another and cooperate under the common banner of Liberty In Law."
But really, the sky's the limit when it comes to something like this. Life is about teamwork, and leadership, (and a bunch of other related things,) and if we are going to do anything there must be a network of leaders who trust God in everything. Most of all, the YCLA will provide morale, energy, and accountability for all involved.
If you have questions or comments on possible rules, goals, or membership opportunities, please e-mail me at rjmpilgrim@aol.com or type it below.
Thanks! Praise God! Etc! ;)
-R. Josiah Magnuson
It is thus a great pleasure to announce the formation of the Young Christian Leaders' Alliance, or YCLA. This group will "seek to provide enthusiasm and courage to the effort of worldviews revolution! We further wish to encourage organizations to support one another and cooperate under the common banner of Liberty In Law."
But really, the sky's the limit when it comes to something like this. Life is about teamwork, and leadership, (and a bunch of other related things,) and if we are going to do anything there must be a network of leaders who trust God in everything. Most of all, the YCLA will provide morale, energy, and accountability for all involved.
If you have questions or comments on possible rules, goals, or membership opportunities, please e-mail me at rjmpilgrim@aol.com or type it below.
Thanks! Praise God! Etc! ;)
-R. Josiah Magnuson
Friday, July 06, 2007
More discussion at RTR forum
For a while no one posted replies to my "Evolution and relativism" thread on the Restore the Republic Forum, but now it looks like the traffic there is coming back.
Feel free to go there and post GOOD comments - there are a surprising (or not so suprising) number of Libertarian atheists posting.
http://restoretherepublic.com/forum/index.php?topic=412.0
Thanks! From Josiah
Feel free to go there and post GOOD comments - there are a surprising (or not so suprising) number of Libertarian atheists posting.
http://restoretherepublic.com/forum/index.php?topic=412.0
Thanks! From Josiah
Ron Paul tops McCain in cash!
From ABC News (http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/07/ron-paul-tops-m.html)
"July 06, 2007 1:14 PM
ABC News' George Stephanopoulos Reports: Though often regarded as a
longshot candidate for president, Republican Ron Paul tells ABC News
that he has an impressive $2.4 million in cash on hand after raising an
equal amount during the second quarter, putting him ahead of one-time
Republican frontrunner John McCain, who reported this week he has only
$2 million in the bank.
In an exclusive interview taped Friday and airing Sunday on "This Week,"
Paul said his campaign is on a better trajectory than McCain's.
"I think some of the candidates are on the down-slope, and we're on the
up-slope," said Paul.
Paul's cash on hand puts him in third place in the Republican field in
that important metric, although he is well behind leader Rudy Giuliani,
who has $18 million in the bank, and Mitt Romney, with $12 million.
Paul, who polls show with support in the low single digits, said his
surprisingly strong fundraising is the best measure of his support.
"I think people have underestimated the number of people in this country
who are interested in a freedom message," says the Republican
congressman from Texas, who has strong libertarian leanings.
To watch Paul's full interview, tune in to "This Week" on Sunday (check
local listings)."
:-) From Josiah
"July 06, 2007 1:14 PM
ABC News' George Stephanopoulos Reports: Though often regarded as a
longshot candidate for president, Republican Ron Paul tells ABC News
that he has an impressive $2.4 million in cash on hand after raising an
equal amount during the second quarter, putting him ahead of one-time
Republican frontrunner John McCain, who reported this week he has only
$2 million in the bank.
In an exclusive interview taped Friday and airing Sunday on "This Week,"
Paul said his campaign is on a better trajectory than McCain's.
"I think some of the candidates are on the down-slope, and we're on the
up-slope," said Paul.
Paul's cash on hand puts him in third place in the Republican field in
that important metric, although he is well behind leader Rudy Giuliani,
who has $18 million in the bank, and Mitt Romney, with $12 million.
Paul, who polls show with support in the low single digits, said his
surprisingly strong fundraising is the best measure of his support.
"I think people have underestimated the number of people in this country
who are interested in a freedom message," says the Republican
congressman from Texas, who has strong libertarian leanings.
To watch Paul's full interview, tune in to "This Week" on Sunday (check
local listings)."
:-) From Josiah
Thursday, July 05, 2007
A Change of Direction?
An e-mail to Cory Burnell
"Hi Cory! Thanks for your leadership and energy for the worldviews revolution effort.
I was wondering what is going on lately with Christian Exodus and the South Carolina Liberty Alliance - maybe you could subscribe me to some kind of e-mail list or newsletter on this subject.
My address is *************************
Most of the reaction so far to the idea of an SCLA or Liberty In Law Coalition has been positive, but with an atmosphere of "ah yes that again." So to me it seems that it is not so much an organization which is lacking as it is an idea - the idea that liberty is created by God's Law - which I attempted to review in my last e-mail to you (http://worldviewsrevolution.blogspot.com/2007/04/lil-correspondence-with-cory-burnell.html).
If you don't mind, I will be working more on a different direction, including an alliance of young people for constitutional leadership. My SC Liberty Alliance website will thus be transferred to a website for this new concept.
Please inform me of your thoughts...
Thanks!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
www.WorldviewsRevolution.blogspot.com"
"Hi Cory! Thanks for your leadership and energy for the worldviews revolution effort.
I was wondering what is going on lately with Christian Exodus and the South Carolina Liberty Alliance - maybe you could subscribe me to some kind of e-mail list or newsletter on this subject.
My address is *************************
Most of the reaction so far to the idea of an SCLA or Liberty In Law Coalition has been positive, but with an atmosphere of "ah yes that again." So to me it seems that it is not so much an organization which is lacking as it is an idea - the idea that liberty is created by God's Law - which I attempted to review in my last e-mail to you (http://worldviewsrevolution.blogspot.com/2007/04/lil-correspondence-with-cory-burnell.html).
If you don't mind, I will be working more on a different direction, including an alliance of young people for constitutional leadership. My SC Liberty Alliance website will thus be transferred to a website for this new concept.
Please inform me of your thoughts...
Thanks!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
www.WorldviewsRevolution.blogspot.com"
Visit the Creation Museum
(From Ken Ham's blog)
If you haven’t been to the Creation Museum, then read this email and see if it encourages you to do so soon:
“… our family went to the Creation Museum … The area has much to see … There’s more than enough at the Creation Museum to keep your family busy and interested for at least a day, more likely 2 days. The Cincinnati Zoo is nearby and is rated in the top 5 zoos in the country …. [The museum] far exceeded our expectations. It is equal in quality to the world class museums we have visited - British Museum in London, Smithsonian in Washington, etc. - but unlike those government funded museums, this museum’s purpose is to glorify God and show that the physical world we can observe today is explained better by God’s account in Genesis than by an evolutionary paradigm.
“I thought the quality was better as well. Like the governmentmuseums, it had first class displays, fossils, etc. However, it also had over 60 videos running in loops to help explain what was presented as well as animatronics. These videos are state of the art productions and convey much more information than you typically get at a standard museum. Videos and animatronics really grab the kids as well (we had a 5 year old who really loved all the moving dinosaurs and people).
“The next room is the Wonders Room that presents the case for Intelligent Design, followed by a room designed to show the decay of our contemporary culture (and church) that has abandoned Christ and embraced secular humanism.
“The rest of the walk presents history from the Bible’s account. We particularly liked the Ark section — a very large room where a very small part of the Ark is shown being worked on. Information about how the physical evidence we can observe today fits better with the Bible’s account than evolutionary science’s account, is mixed in as you go.
“The Planetarium is fantastic also…the Creation Museum’s planetarium is state of the art digital. The latest photos from NASA can be mapped onto the planets as they become available and compared to the older projectors that come with a fixed number of stars, the Creation Museum’s projector is — astronomical in possibilities And the PhD astrophysicist they have on staff, Dr. Jason Lyles [sic], puts it through it’s paces — to the glory of God … This museum (and AiG) will be a great tool if you use it.”
Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying.
Ken
If you haven’t been to the Creation Museum, then read this email and see if it encourages you to do so soon:
“… our family went to the Creation Museum … The area has much to see … There’s more than enough at the Creation Museum to keep your family busy and interested for at least a day, more likely 2 days. The Cincinnati Zoo is nearby and is rated in the top 5 zoos in the country …. [The museum] far exceeded our expectations. It is equal in quality to the world class museums we have visited - British Museum in London, Smithsonian in Washington, etc. - but unlike those government funded museums, this museum’s purpose is to glorify God and show that the physical world we can observe today is explained better by God’s account in Genesis than by an evolutionary paradigm.
“I thought the quality was better as well. Like the governmentmuseums, it had first class displays, fossils, etc. However, it also had over 60 videos running in loops to help explain what was presented as well as animatronics. These videos are state of the art productions and convey much more information than you typically get at a standard museum. Videos and animatronics really grab the kids as well (we had a 5 year old who really loved all the moving dinosaurs and people).
“The next room is the Wonders Room that presents the case for Intelligent Design, followed by a room designed to show the decay of our contemporary culture (and church) that has abandoned Christ and embraced secular humanism.
“The rest of the walk presents history from the Bible’s account. We particularly liked the Ark section — a very large room where a very small part of the Ark is shown being worked on. Information about how the physical evidence we can observe today fits better with the Bible’s account than evolutionary science’s account, is mixed in as you go.
“The Planetarium is fantastic also…the Creation Museum’s planetarium is state of the art digital. The latest photos from NASA can be mapped onto the planets as they become available and compared to the older projectors that come with a fixed number of stars, the Creation Museum’s projector is — astronomical in possibilities And the PhD astrophysicist they have on staff, Dr. Jason Lyles [sic], puts it through it’s paces — to the glory of God … This museum (and AiG) will be a great tool if you use it.”
Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying.
Ken
Romans 8:18-29
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
From Ron Paul
Note his reference to Liberty In Law in the 5th paragraph!
After an airport rally in Arizona recently, a tall black man in an Obama shirt came up to shake my hand. He said he had stopped to listen, stayed to learn, and now wanted a Ron Paul shirt. And sure enough, when I saw him again, he was wearing one.
Diversity is much talked about these days, for purposes of government enhancement, but its reality is rare. However, I've seen it—everyday, in our campaign.
Young people, middle-aged people, seniors, whites, blacks, Hispanics, new citizens, old-line families, Republicans in suits and ties, hippies, home-schoolers, high-schoolers, homemakers, small business people, workers and capitalists, all united in their love for country and Constitution.
As my great mentor Ludwig von Mises showed, government meddling in the economy creates conflict, as special-interest groups seek to rip us off through big government. The voluntarism of the free market, on the other hand, brings social cooperation and peace. That's why this campaign is a showcase for the real unity-in-diversity that is freedom.
Of course, the number of young people continues to thrill me. When I ask them how they got interested, they usually mention the Constitution. Old-style permissive parenting held that kids should do as they wanted, but kids want and need rules, and they know that government needs them too. Thus our Constitution—the few, good rules for a society of liberty, and for the social and international peace that we all want.
Two other notes: conservative talkshow host Michael Smerconish told me he has changed his mind on the war, and now agrees with us. And a Republican county chairman in South Carolina said I am unwelcome in his county because of my position on the war. He will help all other candidates, but not me.
But just as the Iowa exclusion didn't work—we had more people, and far more enthusiastic people, than the official event--so this man will not be successful.
You can help make sure of that, with your generous donation (https://www.ronpaul2008.com/donate/) to this campaign. We run on a comparative shoestring, and that has its advantages against the lumbering dinosaur operations of our opponents. We can be nimble and quick. But not without your help. I'd be so grateful for your contribution.
Warmest regards,
Ron Paul
After an airport rally in Arizona recently, a tall black man in an Obama shirt came up to shake my hand. He said he had stopped to listen, stayed to learn, and now wanted a Ron Paul shirt. And sure enough, when I saw him again, he was wearing one.
Diversity is much talked about these days, for purposes of government enhancement, but its reality is rare. However, I've seen it—everyday, in our campaign.
Young people, middle-aged people, seniors, whites, blacks, Hispanics, new citizens, old-line families, Republicans in suits and ties, hippies, home-schoolers, high-schoolers, homemakers, small business people, workers and capitalists, all united in their love for country and Constitution.
As my great mentor Ludwig von Mises showed, government meddling in the economy creates conflict, as special-interest groups seek to rip us off through big government. The voluntarism of the free market, on the other hand, brings social cooperation and peace. That's why this campaign is a showcase for the real unity-in-diversity that is freedom.
Of course, the number of young people continues to thrill me. When I ask them how they got interested, they usually mention the Constitution. Old-style permissive parenting held that kids should do as they wanted, but kids want and need rules, and they know that government needs them too. Thus our Constitution—the few, good rules for a society of liberty, and for the social and international peace that we all want.
Two other notes: conservative talkshow host Michael Smerconish told me he has changed his mind on the war, and now agrees with us. And a Republican county chairman in South Carolina said I am unwelcome in his county because of my position on the war. He will help all other candidates, but not me.
But just as the Iowa exclusion didn't work—we had more people, and far more enthusiastic people, than the official event--so this man will not be successful.
You can help make sure of that, with your generous donation (https://www.ronpaul2008.com/donate/) to this campaign. We run on a comparative shoestring, and that has its advantages against the lumbering dinosaur operations of our opponents. We can be nimble and quick. But not without your help. I'd be so grateful for your contribution.
Warmest regards,
Ron Paul
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Distribution
I and my family went to an event at Faith Baptist Church today where I thought I passed out seven or eight cards... but subtracting the 8 cards I have left from the 20 I made gives a difference of 12!
Wow From Josiah
Wow From Josiah
Happy Independence Day
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men..." -Decl. of Ind.
"This day should be remembered with solemn acts of devotion..." -John Adams
Hurrah for the Declaration! Hurrah for our Creator!
From Josiah
"This day should be remembered with solemn acts of devotion..." -John Adams
Hurrah for the Declaration! Hurrah for our Creator!
From Josiah
Washington and Moore...
What a great time! What shall I do to put our trip and the conference in words for you?
First, we stopped in DC. We walked all the way from our parking spot behind the Lincoln Memorial to the Library of Congress and back - more than four miles! In between, we saw the Korean War memorial, the World War II memorial, the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian, the National Mall, the Capitol, and so on. We even got a tour of the early history of flight at the National Aeronautics and Space Museum!
Of course, the best part of the trip was hearing people like David Whitney and Roy Moore and Mike Peroutka talk about (and discuss personally with them!) God and government, and the need for acknowleging God.
The worldview of liberty, as these men wonderfully proclaimed, is one of trust in the Creator. As Fredrick Bastiat wrote, "Liberty is the acknowledgement of faith in God and His works."
Although we were not allowed to videotape the conference at the church, we were able to capture the events at the park in a great way.
My favorite part was seeing so many young people... and playing volleyball, and giving them my card with this web address! :-) So if you are Nathan or Curtis or Daniel or Beth, (or if you were there but I didn't learn your name...) you are given a special welcome here. Please e-mail me at rjmpilgrim@aol.com if you would like to help with the Young Leaders' concept discussed in the below post.
A bunch of the speakers also received cards.
IOTC was already in our LibertyInLaw list, but now I am more excited than ever about it.
Praise God!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
First, we stopped in DC. We walked all the way from our parking spot behind the Lincoln Memorial to the Library of Congress and back - more than four miles! In between, we saw the Korean War memorial, the World War II memorial, the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian, the National Mall, the Capitol, and so on. We even got a tour of the early history of flight at the National Aeronautics and Space Museum!
Of course, the best part of the trip was hearing people like David Whitney and Roy Moore and Mike Peroutka talk about (and discuss personally with them!) God and government, and the need for acknowleging God.
The worldview of liberty, as these men wonderfully proclaimed, is one of trust in the Creator. As Fredrick Bastiat wrote, "Liberty is the acknowledgement of faith in God and His works."
Although we were not allowed to videotape the conference at the church, we were able to capture the events at the park in a great way.
My favorite part was seeing so many young people... and playing volleyball, and giving them my card with this web address! :-) So if you are Nathan or Curtis or Daniel or Beth, (or if you were there but I didn't learn your name...) you are given a special welcome here. Please e-mail me at rjmpilgrim@aol.com if you would like to help with the Young Leaders' concept discussed in the below post.
A bunch of the speakers also received cards.
IOTC was already in our LibertyInLaw list, but now I am more excited than ever about it.
Praise God!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
Sunday, July 01, 2007
An Idea
Since the Butch Taylor campaign (and really since I don't know when) I have been thinking about how to get more young people involved in the movement for Worldviews Revolution. As AiG loves to remind people, nearly 80% of Christian kids are non-believers by the time they leave high school. Those who survive usually do so by being taught to compartmentalize; "secular" are these things, those things are "religious."
And so it is a super-small minority who actually exhibit energy regarding Constitutional or scientific or historical issues.
Wouldn't it be great if we could create an organism of young leaders who could actually educate themselves on such things, and then work together in battles of significance? I believe that that is where the real Liberty In Law Coalition must be, rather than with groups of adults who already have their minds made up on solutions and strategies. Indeed, when there are young people involved, it actually mobilizes the others!
The Butch Taylor campaign is a case in point (which is why I seriously started thinking about this because of it). There were only four of us really involved - myself, Stephanie, Rahab, and Moses - but we seemed to generate enormous momentum.
Likewise for the REAL-ID battle. It's not every day that "teenagers" show up at the State House!
I remembered about this concept the other night after talking to David Aguilar about Ron Paul. Lord-willing he and Moses Hackett and I will organize a plan for this thing at the Fourth of July picnic...
Thanks!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
And so it is a super-small minority who actually exhibit energy regarding Constitutional or scientific or historical issues.
Wouldn't it be great if we could create an organism of young leaders who could actually educate themselves on such things, and then work together in battles of significance? I believe that that is where the real Liberty In Law Coalition must be, rather than with groups of adults who already have their minds made up on solutions and strategies. Indeed, when there are young people involved, it actually mobilizes the others!
The Butch Taylor campaign is a case in point (which is why I seriously started thinking about this because of it). There were only four of us really involved - myself, Stephanie, Rahab, and Moses - but we seemed to generate enormous momentum.
Likewise for the REAL-ID battle. It's not every day that "teenagers" show up at the State House!
I remembered about this concept the other night after talking to David Aguilar about Ron Paul. Lord-willing he and Moses Hackett and I will organize a plan for this thing at the Fourth of July picnic...
Thanks!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
Paper on REAL-ID
Today I am writing a short paper on the REAL-ID effort to go with our DVDs. Hopefully we can distribute some more of these at the IOTC conference in Maryland. From Josiah
Ron Paul on the immigration victory
Here is an excerpt from Congressman Paul's blog - actually posted last week. (Shucks, I should have seen it sooner....) Anyway, the address for it is www.RonPaul2008.typepad.com.
Note: the rally he speaks of at the end was huge! Ron Paul got several hundred more at his event than the other six Presidential candidates combined!
Today, we had good news from the US Senate—not exactly a normal occurrence—when the president’s immigration bill went down in flames.
Here we had a vastly expensive piece of legislation that would have made the immigration problem worse, and put more controls on the economy. So naturally, the entire establishment was behind it. It was a slam-dunk, or so they thought. Then the American people got riled up, and despite all the special interests, the pressure, the media, and the money, scared the politicians enough to vote the right way.
If our campaign succeeds, this will happen on a whole range of issues. The politicians will hear from the people on foreign wars, high taxes, Fed inflation, and all the other plagues visited on us by DC. And listen they will.
And speaking of our campaign, I am very excited by the Iowa rally this Saturday (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=16OCg4C1fq5W47gNJo_2bDHw_3d_3d). This is an historic moment. Of course, the Iowa Christian Alliance and Iowans for Tax Relief had the right to exclude the most pro-life, anti-tax candidate in the race. But when they did so, people rose up. So we are holding a rally that will reverberate around this country. Our campaign goes from strength to strength, but I am convinced that this Saturday will be very important in the fight for a free, peaceful, and prosperous America.
Maybe you can come to the rally. In any event, I know you’ll be there in spirit, and I’ll write you all about it afterwards. Your support in this race means everything to my family and me.
Warmest regards,
Ron
PS: Because of people like you, I don’t need the $100 million the establishment candidates will have. But I do need your help. $25, $50, $100, or even more--whatever you can send would do so much good, and be so much help. Thank you!
Donate Here https://www.ronpaul2008.com/donate/
Note: the rally he speaks of at the end was huge! Ron Paul got several hundred more at his event than the other six Presidential candidates combined!
Today, we had good news from the US Senate—not exactly a normal occurrence—when the president’s immigration bill went down in flames.
Here we had a vastly expensive piece of legislation that would have made the immigration problem worse, and put more controls on the economy. So naturally, the entire establishment was behind it. It was a slam-dunk, or so they thought. Then the American people got riled up, and despite all the special interests, the pressure, the media, and the money, scared the politicians enough to vote the right way.
If our campaign succeeds, this will happen on a whole range of issues. The politicians will hear from the people on foreign wars, high taxes, Fed inflation, and all the other plagues visited on us by DC. And listen they will.
And speaking of our campaign, I am very excited by the Iowa rally this Saturday (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=16OCg4C1fq5W47gNJo_2bDHw_3d_3d). This is an historic moment. Of course, the Iowa Christian Alliance and Iowans for Tax Relief had the right to exclude the most pro-life, anti-tax candidate in the race. But when they did so, people rose up. So we are holding a rally that will reverberate around this country. Our campaign goes from strength to strength, but I am convinced that this Saturday will be very important in the fight for a free, peaceful, and prosperous America.
Maybe you can come to the rally. In any event, I know you’ll be there in spirit, and I’ll write you all about it afterwards. Your support in this race means everything to my family and me.
Warmest regards,
Ron
PS: Because of people like you, I don’t need the $100 million the establishment candidates will have. But I do need your help. $25, $50, $100, or even more--whatever you can send would do so much good, and be so much help. Thank you!
Donate Here https://www.ronpaul2008.com/donate/
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Hurrah: The Amnesty Dies
It looks like we again won the battle against amnesty for illegals! The cloture vote was defeated for the second time out of three tries. Not sure why they needed three cloture votes... :-)
There is very little time left before the legislative year's end, and hopefully the Senate Grahamnesties and (Mc)Cains will be forced to work on the budget from now on.
Keep tuned to updates on this fight at Tom Tancredo's blog.
Thanks! From Josiah
There is very little time left before the legislative year's end, and hopefully the Senate Grahamnesties and (Mc)Cains will be forced to work on the budget from now on.
Keep tuned to updates on this fight at Tom Tancredo's blog.
Thanks! From Josiah
Business Cards
My family is having a yard sale this week, and I have been able to give out a whole bunch of cards with this website on one side and Ron Paul for President on the other.
There is a great demand for Ron Paul literature in our area. Maybe we should be selling this stuff instead of giving it! :-) If we make DVDs we will indeed be selling them.
Here are pictures of the cards:
There is a great demand for Ron Paul literature in our area. Maybe we should be selling this stuff instead of giving it! :-) If we make DVDs we will indeed be selling them.
Here are pictures of the cards:
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Freedom Documents
From Chuck Baldwin
A few years ago, I sadly discovered that it was next to impossible to find our nation's great historic documents together in one volume, so we decided to fix that problem. It took us a full year to research and compile over 50 of our country's greatest historical documents, but we did it!
Read more here.
A few years ago, I sadly discovered that it was next to impossible to find our nation's great historic documents together in one volume, so we decided to fix that problem. It took us a full year to research and compile over 50 of our country's greatest historical documents, but we did it!
Read more here.
Great finds from outer space
Here is a link for a site with a whole bunch of pics from outer space; I used some of them, along with some from the NASA.gov site and a couple other places to make a (test-type) slideshow of Psalm 19. Thanks! From Josiah
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/wallpaper/
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/wallpaper/
Romans 8:1-19
I will Lord-willing be posting Bible passages here every week or so. I had wanted to do so for a long time, but always forgot... :-)
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. (Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.) And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. (Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.) And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Dragons: Myth?
(From the Answers In Genesis Weekly E-News)
Q: Were dragons just mythical creatures?
A: We’ve all heard of dragon legends—they’ve been collected for generations from different cultures all around the world. Many have thought these are just mythical stories, but the evidence suggests that dragons were real creatures.
Think about this: why do we find Flood legends from cultures around the world? The secular world claims it’s because people down through the ages have seen floods. But many of these flood legends have several elements similar to the account of Noah’s Flood in the Bible. The flood legends are really changed accounts of the original—the one recorded in the Bible—handed down through the ages.
In a similar way, dragon legends are based on encounters with real animals—most likely dinosaurs (a word that had not been coined yet). The legends have likely been somewhat embellished over generations, but they probably refer to real animals that today we call “dinosaurs.” And according to the Bible, dinosaurs once lived in the Garden of Eden—alongside Adam and Eve.
For more information, see Dinosaurs and dragons: stamping on the legends.
(I will Lord-willing be featuring these articles again here if I can remember :-). -Josiah)
Q: Were dragons just mythical creatures?
A: We’ve all heard of dragon legends—they’ve been collected for generations from different cultures all around the world. Many have thought these are just mythical stories, but the evidence suggests that dragons were real creatures.
Think about this: why do we find Flood legends from cultures around the world? The secular world claims it’s because people down through the ages have seen floods. But many of these flood legends have several elements similar to the account of Noah’s Flood in the Bible. The flood legends are really changed accounts of the original—the one recorded in the Bible—handed down through the ages.
In a similar way, dragon legends are based on encounters with real animals—most likely dinosaurs (a word that had not been coined yet). The legends have likely been somewhat embellished over generations, but they probably refer to real animals that today we call “dinosaurs.” And according to the Bible, dinosaurs once lived in the Garden of Eden—alongside Adam and Eve.
For more information, see Dinosaurs and dragons: stamping on the legends.
(I will Lord-willing be featuring these articles again here if I can remember :-). -Josiah)
Favorite speakers
My favorite speaker from the conference would have to be Roan Garcia-Quintata.
His big line the first night was that God was not his "Co-pilot" but his Pilot. I clapped three or four times before anyone joined me... Whatever.
My second favorite was Dr. Paul Dean who spoke on Evolution. ~wink~
His big line the first night was that God was not his "Co-pilot" but his Pilot. I clapped three or four times before anyone joined me... Whatever.
My second favorite was Dr. Paul Dean who spoke on Evolution. ~wink~
My contact info
For those of you who are visiting this site in reciept of a business card from me at the conference this past week, you may wish to write my e-mail and/or phone number on the back of the card. (I am still working on a final design for the card and the one I gave out did not have that information.)
E-mail: Rjmpilgrim@aol.com
Phone #: 420-7933
Thanks! From Jos
E-mail: Rjmpilgrim@aol.com
Phone #: 420-7933
Thanks! From Jos
Forum archiving for future days
Liberty In Law
Evolution and relativism
« on: June 12, 2007, 04:58:39 pm »
A fundamental error in society is the unfounded belief in Evolution. This belief underlies many of the attacks on our freedoms, because it denies the existence of a Creator to which an individual is responsible. There can be no future state of rewards and punishments if Evolution is correct; nor can there be any absolute or certain standard of Law or rights. The highest good becomes winning the universal contest for supremacy.
It should not be surprising that some of the greatest tyrannies in history were formed under this logic. Adolf Hitler was an Evolutionist; and so were Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussollini, and Mao Tse-Tung.
With the introduction of the teaching of Evolution as fact in schools (which it certainly is not; see for instance http://www.answersingenesis.org) our culture and government began to plummet as well.For more info, please visit my website, http://worldviewsrevolution.blogspot.com
Thanks! -R. Josiah Magnuson
_________________________________________________________________
Curmudgeon
Re: Evolution and relativism
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2007, 09:26:24 pm »
Quote
Quote from: Liberty In Law on June 12, 2007, 04:58:39 pm
There can be no future state of rewards and punishments if Evolution is correct; nor can there be any absolute or certain standard of Law or rights. The highest good becomes winning the universal contest for supremacy.
While I don't disagree, one could argue that the many faces of religion, each defending their own ideals of Creator, don't lend themselves too well to absolute or certain standard of Law or rights any more than evolution.
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for is faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties." Thomas Jefferson
Perhaps the argument isn't so much about evolution being taught in schools as it is about the institution of public school.
___________________________________________________________________
Conte
Re: Evolution and relativism
« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2007, 10:06:35 pm »
Quote
Although I find the Evolution v. Creation debate somewhat of a mute point, and not the most pressing issue when it comes to restoring our republic, it is rather fascinating. I believe in God, and that there is strong evidence for intelligent design of our world and universe.
Still, I also believe in evolution and the evolutionary process (yet with intelligence behind it). Really, evolution is a theory, that has not been completely proven, and creation is a faith based theory, that doesn't necessarily or typically have a scientific foundation. Yet, many Christians, or faiths, say that since all truth is God's truth, and scientific truth is in that realm, then faith and science should not be in conflict, but rather agreement.
There are creation approaches that I cannot agree with (like the literal seven 24hr day idea - and that the Earth is at best only 7,000 years old). That is why I could hold a stance that evolution could very well be the correct scientific theory for how our universe and earth were formed, but that it was directed with intelligent design.
Still, that is not the real debate here. The debate is that neither theory or approach gives any moral backing for social conduct in the world we find ourselves in. This could be a long debate.
Still, I find that there is significant difference on the significance of social moral conduct. Believing that everything just happened by chance and without intelligent design leaves a moral void which then relies on man's individual creation of a moral code, which seems to become rather relative. Yet, if we believe that there is intelligent design that created (through evolution) where and who we are, ingrained with a social moral code (that seems to have been greatly perverted and made relative by man), then there is a basis that does not change, that is not relative, and that gives a foundation for humanity and how we should treat one another and our world.
I see it as not just affecting a need for a relationship with the creator, but also our relationship with each other and places a sense of accountability, calling, and responsibility. If what is happening to our country and the world, with the NWO, the powerful taking control of the "weak", etc., then why fight it? Maybe it's just a part of the evolutionary process, etc.
Do you get my point? Anyway, I'm sure I could say a lot more, but I think I've said plenty, and again, it's not really an essential issue for fighting evil, bringing justice, and restoring our republic. What do you think?
__________________________________________________________________
Curmudgeon
Re: Evolution and relativism
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2007, 01:01:01 am »
Quote
Quote from: Conte on June 12, 2007, 10:06:35 pm
If what is happening to our country and the world, with the NWO, the powerful taking control of the "weak", etc., then why fight it? Maybe it's just a part of the evolutionary process, etc.
Part of an evolutionary process? Probably. But a NWO? led by who? Quis custodiate ipsos custodus?
I'll accept a one world government ...... as long as it's not run by humans.
___________________________________________________________________
Liberty In Law
Re: Evolution and relativism
« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2007, 08:42:13 am »
Quote Modify Remove
If what is happening to our country and the world, with the NWO, the powerful taking control of the "weak", etc., then why fight it? Maybe it's just a part of the evolutionary process, etc.
Thanks, Conte. You just wrapped up my whole comment!
However, you still say that Evolution vs. Creation is a mute point. This I don't understand. You are taking two positions at once.
One either believes in God, His Words, and His moral standard, or one does not. There is no middle ground, since what is at stake is the existence of absolutes. One cannot believe absolutes are both important and unimportant, correct? And so if absolutes in fact exist and there is a true right and wrong, those who attempt to discredit those absolutes are committing a serious offense indeed. It is my opinion that the struggle against Evolution (and every other system which teaches naturalism and relativism) is the most important of them all; for without a Creator we have no rights and no moral cause for liberty.
Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? -Thomas Jefferson
Thanks! From R. Josiah Magnuson
www.WorldviewsRevolution.blogspot.com
__________________________________________________________________
Conte
Re: Evolution and relativism
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2007, 09:37:48 pm »
Quote
Point taken, Liberty In Law. I agree with you, but at this juncture in the most pressing issues for even beginning to defeat the NWO, the Evolution / Creation debate is not going to go far for a while. There has to be a major shift in thinking that is not going to happen overnight (not that anything happens overnight anyway).
With the growing number of people who do not believe in God, or have no understanding of how the Creation / Evolution debate affects everything else (because it really is an issue of Theism vs. Atheism), then I feel the best we can do right now, with things so dire and happening so fast, is to try to plead to peoples' sense of goodness, rights, freedom, etc. We can't necessarily expect everyone to connect those things as being grounded in the existence of God.
Our culture and society is jsut so screwed up, and it takes baby steps. I do not mean to say that this issue is not important or essential, but I don't think that arguing this issue is going to get us very far right now. Hope you understand what I'm trying to say...
__________________________________________________________________
Liberty In Law
Re: Evolution and relativism
« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2007, 10:29:29 pm »
Yes, Comte, I understand your position. I agree that there are still many people in our nation who believe in God, and thus we should work with what we've got, and so forth. However, the deal is that many of these people have been lulled into a subdued existence where nothing matters anyway, due to the Evolutionary relativism which is constantly in the back of their minds. If we could show them that Evolution is actually wrong and they and their friends do actually have absolute rights to fight for, we would be getting much further along in our fight for freedom.
Evolution not only takes away the moral standard, it takes away the people's desire to work for this ("non-existent") standard.
We do not only need justice, we need courage. We do not only need freedom, we need awakening from apathy. For these, we need a renewed trust in our Creator; and we need to remember our heritage and grand Providential beginnings. As our U.S. Congress declared fifty years ago, the real identity of America may be summed up in four simple words:
IN GOD WE TRUST.
-R. Josiah Magnuson
www.WorldviewsRevolution.blogspot.com
Evolution and relativism
« on: June 12, 2007, 04:58:39 pm »
A fundamental error in society is the unfounded belief in Evolution. This belief underlies many of the attacks on our freedoms, because it denies the existence of a Creator to which an individual is responsible. There can be no future state of rewards and punishments if Evolution is correct; nor can there be any absolute or certain standard of Law or rights. The highest good becomes winning the universal contest for supremacy.
It should not be surprising that some of the greatest tyrannies in history were formed under this logic. Adolf Hitler was an Evolutionist; and so were Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussollini, and Mao Tse-Tung.
With the introduction of the teaching of Evolution as fact in schools (which it certainly is not; see for instance http://www.answersingenesis.org) our culture and government began to plummet as well.For more info, please visit my website, http://worldviewsrevolution.blogspot.com
Thanks! -R. Josiah Magnuson
_________________________________________________________________
Curmudgeon
Re: Evolution and relativism
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2007, 09:26:24 pm »
Quote
Quote from: Liberty In Law on June 12, 2007, 04:58:39 pm
There can be no future state of rewards and punishments if Evolution is correct; nor can there be any absolute or certain standard of Law or rights. The highest good becomes winning the universal contest for supremacy.
While I don't disagree, one could argue that the many faces of religion, each defending their own ideals of Creator, don't lend themselves too well to absolute or certain standard of Law or rights any more than evolution.
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for is faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties." Thomas Jefferson
Perhaps the argument isn't so much about evolution being taught in schools as it is about the institution of public school.
___________________________________________________________________
Conte
Re: Evolution and relativism
« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2007, 10:06:35 pm »
Quote
Although I find the Evolution v. Creation debate somewhat of a mute point, and not the most pressing issue when it comes to restoring our republic, it is rather fascinating. I believe in God, and that there is strong evidence for intelligent design of our world and universe.
Still, I also believe in evolution and the evolutionary process (yet with intelligence behind it). Really, evolution is a theory, that has not been completely proven, and creation is a faith based theory, that doesn't necessarily or typically have a scientific foundation. Yet, many Christians, or faiths, say that since all truth is God's truth, and scientific truth is in that realm, then faith and science should not be in conflict, but rather agreement.
There are creation approaches that I cannot agree with (like the literal seven 24hr day idea - and that the Earth is at best only 7,000 years old). That is why I could hold a stance that evolution could very well be the correct scientific theory for how our universe and earth were formed, but that it was directed with intelligent design.
Still, that is not the real debate here. The debate is that neither theory or approach gives any moral backing for social conduct in the world we find ourselves in. This could be a long debate.
Still, I find that there is significant difference on the significance of social moral conduct. Believing that everything just happened by chance and without intelligent design leaves a moral void which then relies on man's individual creation of a moral code, which seems to become rather relative. Yet, if we believe that there is intelligent design that created (through evolution) where and who we are, ingrained with a social moral code (that seems to have been greatly perverted and made relative by man), then there is a basis that does not change, that is not relative, and that gives a foundation for humanity and how we should treat one another and our world.
I see it as not just affecting a need for a relationship with the creator, but also our relationship with each other and places a sense of accountability, calling, and responsibility. If what is happening to our country and the world, with the NWO, the powerful taking control of the "weak", etc., then why fight it? Maybe it's just a part of the evolutionary process, etc.
Do you get my point? Anyway, I'm sure I could say a lot more, but I think I've said plenty, and again, it's not really an essential issue for fighting evil, bringing justice, and restoring our republic. What do you think?
__________________________________________________________________
Curmudgeon
Re: Evolution and relativism
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2007, 01:01:01 am »
Quote
Quote from: Conte on June 12, 2007, 10:06:35 pm
If what is happening to our country and the world, with the NWO, the powerful taking control of the "weak", etc., then why fight it? Maybe it's just a part of the evolutionary process, etc.
Part of an evolutionary process? Probably. But a NWO? led by who? Quis custodiate ipsos custodus?
I'll accept a one world government ...... as long as it's not run by humans.
___________________________________________________________________
Liberty In Law
Re: Evolution and relativism
« Reply #4 on: June 13, 2007, 08:42:13 am »
Quote Modify Remove
If what is happening to our country and the world, with the NWO, the powerful taking control of the "weak", etc., then why fight it? Maybe it's just a part of the evolutionary process, etc.
Thanks, Conte. You just wrapped up my whole comment!
However, you still say that Evolution vs. Creation is a mute point. This I don't understand. You are taking two positions at once.
One either believes in God, His Words, and His moral standard, or one does not. There is no middle ground, since what is at stake is the existence of absolutes. One cannot believe absolutes are both important and unimportant, correct? And so if absolutes in fact exist and there is a true right and wrong, those who attempt to discredit those absolutes are committing a serious offense indeed. It is my opinion that the struggle against Evolution (and every other system which teaches naturalism and relativism) is the most important of them all; for without a Creator we have no rights and no moral cause for liberty.
Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? -Thomas Jefferson
Thanks! From R. Josiah Magnuson
www.WorldviewsRevolution.blogspot.com
__________________________________________________________________
Conte
Re: Evolution and relativism
« Reply #5 on: June 13, 2007, 09:37:48 pm »
Quote
Point taken, Liberty In Law. I agree with you, but at this juncture in the most pressing issues for even beginning to defeat the NWO, the Evolution / Creation debate is not going to go far for a while. There has to be a major shift in thinking that is not going to happen overnight (not that anything happens overnight anyway).
With the growing number of people who do not believe in God, or have no understanding of how the Creation / Evolution debate affects everything else (because it really is an issue of Theism vs. Atheism), then I feel the best we can do right now, with things so dire and happening so fast, is to try to plead to peoples' sense of goodness, rights, freedom, etc. We can't necessarily expect everyone to connect those things as being grounded in the existence of God.
Our culture and society is jsut so screwed up, and it takes baby steps. I do not mean to say that this issue is not important or essential, but I don't think that arguing this issue is going to get us very far right now. Hope you understand what I'm trying to say...
__________________________________________________________________
Liberty In Law
Re: Evolution and relativism
« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2007, 10:29:29 pm »
Yes, Comte, I understand your position. I agree that there are still many people in our nation who believe in God, and thus we should work with what we've got, and so forth. However, the deal is that many of these people have been lulled into a subdued existence where nothing matters anyway, due to the Evolutionary relativism which is constantly in the back of their minds. If we could show them that Evolution is actually wrong and they and their friends do actually have absolute rights to fight for, we would be getting much further along in our fight for freedom.
Evolution not only takes away the moral standard, it takes away the people's desire to work for this ("non-existent") standard.
We do not only need justice, we need courage. We do not only need freedom, we need awakening from apathy. For these, we need a renewed trust in our Creator; and we need to remember our heritage and grand Providential beginnings. As our U.S. Congress declared fifty years ago, the real identity of America may be summed up in four simple words:
IN GOD WE TRUST.
-R. Josiah Magnuson
www.WorldviewsRevolution.blogspot.com
Friday, June 22, 2007
More Chuck Baldwin comments
Chuck Baldwin has a number of wonderful ideas. Tonight he seemed to be more like his old self of anti-sin and pro-righteousness. That is good.
However, at the root of my still-intact discomfort with him may essentially be traced to his belief that we have a Biblical mandate to "preserve" the culture as "salt." We almost certainly do not have a Biblical mandate to preserve the culture and so on. We have a mandate to "season" and "enlighten" the culture. This is because cultures are naturally corrupt. Why would God tell us to preserve something that was already rotted?
No, salt is used in the context of flavoring or spicing, and in the context of light as enlightening. The saltifying and enlightening clearly refer to the same thing.
Discussing this idea with someone last night, it was asked me if I had given up hope.
Of course I could not give up hope; rather, my fleeting vision in the American Empire (not real hope anyway) becomes a complete trust and firm reliance on God. Does anyone realize the promise of God in Proverbs 3?
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.
Is there anyone who really thinks that God will not do what is best for us?
All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
We may as well do what God says. We may as well work with renewed courage to enlighten and spice the culture, rather than fight a losing battle to preserve and hold down the culture!
In any event, I am glad that Chuck Baldwin did not refer to the battle of America vs. Globalism as fundamental again tonight.
-R. Josiah Magnuson
However, at the root of my still-intact discomfort with him may essentially be traced to his belief that we have a Biblical mandate to "preserve" the culture as "salt." We almost certainly do not have a Biblical mandate to preserve the culture and so on. We have a mandate to "season" and "enlighten" the culture. This is because cultures are naturally corrupt. Why would God tell us to preserve something that was already rotted?
No, salt is used in the context of flavoring or spicing, and in the context of light as enlightening. The saltifying and enlightening clearly refer to the same thing.
Discussing this idea with someone last night, it was asked me if I had given up hope.
Of course I could not give up hope; rather, my fleeting vision in the American Empire (not real hope anyway) becomes a complete trust and firm reliance on God. Does anyone realize the promise of God in Proverbs 3?
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.
Is there anyone who really thinks that God will not do what is best for us?
All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
We may as well do what God says. We may as well work with renewed courage to enlighten and spice the culture, rather than fight a losing battle to preserve and hold down the culture!
In any event, I am glad that Chuck Baldwin did not refer to the battle of America vs. Globalism as fundamental again tonight.
-R. Josiah Magnuson
REAL-ID DVDs
We just got out a whole bunch (15 actually) of DVDs regarding the recent REAL-ID battle! We were given donations for nine of them, and six we gave away free to key speakers and activists (at the Chuck Baldwin conference.) Thanks a lot to Pastor Romo for announcing the DVDs. :-)
There will certainly be more of these to come in the next week, hopefully an even better (and more professional-looking) edition.
It may be that a guy from the AFTF network, Sam Ettaro, will be able to do a full feature-film style video for us and them. We would have to work out the details of that though.
There will certainly be more of these to come in the next week, hopefully an even better (and more professional-looking) edition.
It may be that a guy from the AFTF network, Sam Ettaro, will be able to do a full feature-film style video for us and them. We would have to work out the details of that though.
IOTC conference with Roy Moore, etc.
Here is an article on a conference to be held by the IOTC.
Dear Friends of the Constitutional Republic:
Just a short note, please, to remind you that it's less than two weeks until our early July conference featuring Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore from whom (and other excellent speakers) you will learn the correct meaning of the phrase "Separation of Church and State" and the proper, historic role of the clergy in the formation/preservation of the American Constitutional Republic.
Here at "The American View" and "Institution On The Constitution," we have gone to great lengths to set this table for you. Please accept our invitation to come and feast on this gathering of great witnesses for God in our time.
Come and meet men like Chief Justice Moore who, by God's grace, defied a federal court order that violated God's law and the U.S. and Alabama Constitutions.
Come and meet the Chaplain who dared to pray in the name of Jesus despite an illegal instruction that he could not do so.
Come and meet Dr. Herb Titus who defended Michael New; the soldier who said he would not obey the unconstitutional order to wear a United Nations uniform.
Come and learn how to articulate the true, proper meaning of "Separation of Church and State".
Come and see (and hear) a former Presidential candidate who, if elected, would have prosecuted abortionists, closed the Department of Education, and abolished the IRS (just for starters).
Come and meet a current justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama.
Come on! Space is limited! You need to be here and you know it! We've used donations to make it as inexpensive as we can. But you know it's priceless!
If you think you have a legitimate excuse for NOT being here, you need to call me and get a waiver.
Click here, please, for details on our conference.
For God, Family and the Republic,
Michael A. Peroutka
Publisher, TheAmericanView.com
Dear Friends of the Constitutional Republic:
Just a short note, please, to remind you that it's less than two weeks until our early July conference featuring Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore from whom (and other excellent speakers) you will learn the correct meaning of the phrase "Separation of Church and State" and the proper, historic role of the clergy in the formation/preservation of the American Constitutional Republic.
Here at "The American View" and "Institution On The Constitution," we have gone to great lengths to set this table for you. Please accept our invitation to come and feast on this gathering of great witnesses for God in our time.
Come and meet men like Chief Justice Moore who, by God's grace, defied a federal court order that violated God's law and the U.S. and Alabama Constitutions.
Come and meet the Chaplain who dared to pray in the name of Jesus despite an illegal instruction that he could not do so.
Come and meet Dr. Herb Titus who defended Michael New; the soldier who said he would not obey the unconstitutional order to wear a United Nations uniform.
Come and learn how to articulate the true, proper meaning of "Separation of Church and State".
Come and see (and hear) a former Presidential candidate who, if elected, would have prosecuted abortionists, closed the Department of Education, and abolished the IRS (just for starters).
Come and meet a current justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama.
Come on! Space is limited! You need to be here and you know it! We've used donations to make it as inexpensive as we can. But you know it's priceless!
If you think you have a legitimate excuse for NOT being here, you need to call me and get a waiver.
Click here, please, for details on our conference.
For God, Family and the Republic,
Michael A. Peroutka
Publisher, TheAmericanView.com
The RTR Forum
Here is a good link to a good forum for issues of liberty:
http://restoretherepublic.com/forum/index.php
I have been having a great debate there on Evolution and relativism. Here is the link directly to my topic (Index>What's your beef?>Evolution and relativism) once you register.
Thanks! -Jos
http://restoretherepublic.com/forum/index.php
I have been having a great debate there on Evolution and relativism. Here is the link directly to my topic (Index>What's your beef?>Evolution and relativism) once you register.
Thanks! -Jos
C.S. Lewis on Purpose
On the note of the post below:
Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth "thrown in;" aim at Earth and you will get neither. It seems a strange rule, but something like it can be seen at work in other places. Health is a great blessing, but the moment you make health one of your main, direct objects, you start becoming a crank and imagining there is something wrong with you. You are only likely to get health provided you want other things more - food, games, work, fun, open air. In the same way, we shall never save civilization as long as civilization is our main object. We must learn to want something else even more.
-C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Chapter 10), 1952
Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth "thrown in;" aim at Earth and you will get neither. It seems a strange rule, but something like it can be seen at work in other places. Health is a great blessing, but the moment you make health one of your main, direct objects, you start becoming a crank and imagining there is something wrong with you. You are only likely to get health provided you want other things more - food, games, work, fun, open air. In the same way, we shall never save civilization as long as civilization is our main object. We must learn to want something else even more.
-C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Chapter 10), 1952
Chuck Baldwin conference review
Chuck Baldwin, a Pensacola-area pastor and radio talk-show host, and 2004 Constitution Party candidate for Vice-President, is speaking at the Greenville Hilton this week, from Wednesday to today.
Baldwin did OK the first night, but last night his speech was sadly similar to the general "Patriot" lines: "The fight is between America and globalism," "Guns are for protection against the government," "The American experiment must be sustained at all costs," and so on.
Baldwin we thought had traditionally been the one to say the opposite: "Fighting for America will do nothing," "The problem is in the pulpits," etc. So is he flip-flopping now? I don't know.
The battle for us as Biblicists is doubtless not for "America." It is for God and His Words. Everything else which we may fight for is only a by-product of this battle.
It is one thing to participate as a Christian in the fields of government or science or education. It is quite another to make any field your supreme Hope.
The real battle is something we often term here "The Worldview Wars." On one side is the worldview of trust in one's self and one's own ideas, and on the other is the worldview of trust in God alone. It is the difference between Creation and Evolution, between republics and democracies, and between Christianity and every other religion.
It is also the difference between freedom and tyranny.
It is thus my opinion that the only thing which will save America is to quit fighting for America, and start fighting for the God of America. What is the difference? The difference is "IN GOD WE TRUST" versus "Heil Hitler." That is the difference.
-R. Josiah Magnuson
Baldwin did OK the first night, but last night his speech was sadly similar to the general "Patriot" lines: "The fight is between America and globalism," "Guns are for protection against the government," "The American experiment must be sustained at all costs," and so on.
Baldwin we thought had traditionally been the one to say the opposite: "Fighting for America will do nothing," "The problem is in the pulpits," etc. So is he flip-flopping now? I don't know.
The battle for us as Biblicists is doubtless not for "America." It is for God and His Words. Everything else which we may fight for is only a by-product of this battle.
It is one thing to participate as a Christian in the fields of government or science or education. It is quite another to make any field your supreme Hope.
The real battle is something we often term here "The Worldview Wars." On one side is the worldview of trust in one's self and one's own ideas, and on the other is the worldview of trust in God alone. It is the difference between Creation and Evolution, between republics and democracies, and between Christianity and every other religion.
It is also the difference between freedom and tyranny.
It is thus my opinion that the only thing which will save America is to quit fighting for America, and start fighting for the God of America. What is the difference? The difference is "IN GOD WE TRUST" versus "Heil Hitler." That is the difference.
-R. Josiah Magnuson
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Is Creationism Un-Scientific?
Here is a link for a great article on the nature of science from Answers magazine - to which magazine you should be subscribed if you aren't yet. ~wink~ A sample of the article:
Ever heard one of these claims? Perhaps you’ve even said one yourself. Over the years, we’ve heard them all—but they’re all false, or at least they imply a falsehood.
Common claims by non-Christians:
“Science proves the Bible is wrong.”
“Evolution is science, but the Bible is religion.”
“Evolutionists believe in science, but creationists reject science.”
Common claims by Christians:
“I believe the Bible over science.”
“Creation is religion, but evolution is religion, too.”
“Creationists believe in the Bible and reject science.”
The Bible’s account of beginnings cannot be tested in a laboratory, so secular scientists—and even some Christians—believe it is not science and must be classified as religion.
BUT - click on this link!
Ever heard one of these claims? Perhaps you’ve even said one yourself. Over the years, we’ve heard them all—but they’re all false, or at least they imply a falsehood.
Common claims by non-Christians:
“Science proves the Bible is wrong.”
“Evolution is science, but the Bible is religion.”
“Evolutionists believe in science, but creationists reject science.”
Common claims by Christians:
“I believe the Bible over science.”
“Creation is religion, but evolution is religion, too.”
“Creationists believe in the Bible and reject science.”
The Bible’s account of beginnings cannot be tested in a laboratory, so secular scientists—and even some Christians—believe it is not science and must be classified as religion.
BUT - click on this link!
Governor Sanford with No-REAL-ID crew
This is a picture taken by Teresa Warden, the Greenville, SC Ron Paul Coordinator. Mark Sanford is in the middle at the desk. To his left is Senator Larry Martin (the original introducer of S. 449), and Eric Bedingfield (our main champion in the House.) Rep. Gloria Haskins and Nelson Waller are hidden behind them.
To the Governor's right are Vicki Simons, Paul Blakely, his wife Ilona, myself, Dr. Steven Yates (who authored the House resolution 3989), and Aaron Bolinger (the main leader for the whole effort). The black guy and the guy directly behind Sanford I am not sure of their identity.
You may see Lois Hackett just barely to the very left of the picture, holding my videocamera. The tip of Rahab's skirt is also visible.
I am very privileged to have been part of this effort. I very much appreciate my Dad for enabling me to go to Columbia, have tapes, and so forth! I am also thankful to Aaron Bolinger and Ilona Blakely, and all the rest of the team, for providing incredible leadership, ideas and contributions in so many ways!
With God's help, we have finally won this victory. I am convinced that we will be winning many more in the months and years ahead here in South Carolina.
-R. Josiah Magnuson
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Evolution vs. Real Liberty
We as Americans today are in the midst of a worldviews war - a war between two philosophies of what the nature of life is and how things really work. One battle in this war is the struggle over how freedom can best be created and maintained.
The Declaration of Independence tells us, “All men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…. To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Karx Marx in contrast believed in Communism, which, he stated, "abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality."
Another way to express "unalienable rights" or "eternal truths" is absolutes. In the Christian worldview, these absolutes are exemplified in the Ten Commandments. For instance, “Thou shalt not kill” is the right to life, “Thou shalt not steal” is the right to property and “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” is the right to a fair trial. Everyone possesses these rights, and these rights are unalienable. They are the moral Law of God.
Societies based on the Christianity as the Bible directs - based on the Biblical absolutes and unalienable rights - have historically been free, republican organisms. This is because government under the Biblical model exists only to protect one from harm. Government is not inherently supreme over its citizens, as it must not overreach God's moral boundaries which apply to everyone.
Christ affirmed this idea when he declared, "Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.(Mark 12:17, etc.)" Under the Biblical model, there are some things which positively cannot belong to Caesar.
On the other hand, Evolution teaches that there are no absolutes. Instead, it declares the universe to be one of change and chance, continuously morphing all its inhabitants and their ideals to match the need of the “fittest” race to survive and dominate. Even the idea of fitness eventually becomes ethereal, for Evolution has no prior intention of what fitness should be. “Fitness” is whatever is convenient to the perceived master race.
No individual rights can exist under Evolution. The right to life is contradicted, because Evolution is "each creature for itself." Killing is actually encouraged, because one must destroy rivals if one is to survive. The right to liberty is contradicted, because if enslaving others gives one an Evolutionary advantage, what is to oppose it? The right to property is virtually contradicted, since stealing would arguably give one more resources and energy in the battle for livelihood. The right to a fair trial disappears, as there is no need for justice in a world which knows only randomness and whim.
In short, government as viewed from the Evolutionary perspective creates itself, makes its own rules, and can only exist to dominate. If the State sees fit to grant or loan limited liberty to its weak, scrawny, less-evolved subjects, it is only to make them fall at its feet in gratitude. The State thus empowers itself further. This almighty “fit” State exists not to protect, but to subdue.
The only freedom which the worldview of Evolution grants is a twisted, distorted freedom. It is a freedom for Stalin to drive a sledgehammer into Trotsky’s head. It is a freedom for Hitler to force millions into death camps. It is a freedom for Mao to torture and kill anyone who would even dare to have his hairdo.
Evolutionary naturalism and the relative morality it produces are nothing to be defended. Rather, they should be opposed by anyone appreciating the American heritage of liberty and lawful, composed government.
-R. Josiah Magnuson
Note: The above is a summarization of my research paper which won second runner-up in the 2006 Answers In Genesis "War of the Worldviews" contest. I am re-posting it from January.
The Declaration of Independence tells us, “All men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…. To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Karx Marx in contrast believed in Communism, which, he stated, "abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality."
Another way to express "unalienable rights" or "eternal truths" is absolutes. In the Christian worldview, these absolutes are exemplified in the Ten Commandments. For instance, “Thou shalt not kill” is the right to life, “Thou shalt not steal” is the right to property and “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” is the right to a fair trial. Everyone possesses these rights, and these rights are unalienable. They are the moral Law of God.
Societies based on the Christianity as the Bible directs - based on the Biblical absolutes and unalienable rights - have historically been free, republican organisms. This is because government under the Biblical model exists only to protect one from harm. Government is not inherently supreme over its citizens, as it must not overreach God's moral boundaries which apply to everyone.
Christ affirmed this idea when he declared, "Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.(Mark 12:17, etc.)" Under the Biblical model, there are some things which positively cannot belong to Caesar.
On the other hand, Evolution teaches that there are no absolutes. Instead, it declares the universe to be one of change and chance, continuously morphing all its inhabitants and their ideals to match the need of the “fittest” race to survive and dominate. Even the idea of fitness eventually becomes ethereal, for Evolution has no prior intention of what fitness should be. “Fitness” is whatever is convenient to the perceived master race.
No individual rights can exist under Evolution. The right to life is contradicted, because Evolution is "each creature for itself." Killing is actually encouraged, because one must destroy rivals if one is to survive. The right to liberty is contradicted, because if enslaving others gives one an Evolutionary advantage, what is to oppose it? The right to property is virtually contradicted, since stealing would arguably give one more resources and energy in the battle for livelihood. The right to a fair trial disappears, as there is no need for justice in a world which knows only randomness and whim.
In short, government as viewed from the Evolutionary perspective creates itself, makes its own rules, and can only exist to dominate. If the State sees fit to grant or loan limited liberty to its weak, scrawny, less-evolved subjects, it is only to make them fall at its feet in gratitude. The State thus empowers itself further. This almighty “fit” State exists not to protect, but to subdue.
The only freedom which the worldview of Evolution grants is a twisted, distorted freedom. It is a freedom for Stalin to drive a sledgehammer into Trotsky’s head. It is a freedom for Hitler to force millions into death camps. It is a freedom for Mao to torture and kill anyone who would even dare to have his hairdo.
Evolutionary naturalism and the relative morality it produces are nothing to be defended. Rather, they should be opposed by anyone appreciating the American heritage of liberty and lawful, composed government.
-R. Josiah Magnuson
Note: The above is a summarization of my research paper which won second runner-up in the 2006 Answers In Genesis "War of the Worldviews" contest. I am re-posting it from January.
Monday, June 11, 2007
LibertyInLaw site working again (almost)
We got the Blogger posting problems fixed for the account here (YES!) but now we need to get the name "libertyinlaw.com" pointing to the right place again. From Jos
YouTube links
Here are the videos of the Aeronautics amendment debate. They are split up since YouTube only lets one post ten-minute segments.
BobtailBob1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upn5R_-sl2s
BobtailBob2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RhibP_jVYE
BobtailBob3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xwQ0RjPxoo
BobtailBob4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jli7ycbZato
BobtailBob5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij_gAbaPab0
BobtailBob6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuVg3pMsPcA
Thanks! From Josiah
BobtailBob1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upn5R_-sl2s
BobtailBob2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RhibP_jVYE
BobtailBob3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xwQ0RjPxoo
BobtailBob4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jli7ycbZato
BobtailBob5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij_gAbaPab0
BobtailBob6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuVg3pMsPcA
Thanks! From Josiah
WE WIN on two issues!
First, the Anti-REAL-ID bill will be signed by our wonderful Governor Mark Sanford tommorrow at 2:30. South Carolina will become the second State in the Union to prohibit implementation of REAL-ID (following Montana)!
Second, the Senate amnesty bill was killed for now.
Praise God! Let's keep working.
From Josiah
Second, the Senate amnesty bill was killed for now.
Praise God! Let's keep working.
From Josiah
Monday, June 04, 2007
LIL Update
We are putting up a YouTube video today of the debate on the Aeronautics amendment to the REAL-ID bill (S. 449). When I get the address for it I will post it here.
We are trying to get the LibertyInLaw.com site back up so those who see the video may go there.
I also significantly re-designed the LibertyInLaw.com site; it looks really good now. However, for some reason the changes will not publish. Stay tuned! :-)
From Josiah
We are trying to get the LibertyInLaw.com site back up so those who see the video may go there.
I also significantly re-designed the LibertyInLaw.com site; it looks really good now. However, for some reason the changes will not publish. Stay tuned! :-)
From Josiah
Friday, June 01, 2007
Museum Success, Opposition
The Creation Museum experience was wonderful. Wow! My favorite exhibit was the "Last Adam Theater" - a presentation of the gospel message. I also really liked the big colorful "In the Beginning God" room right before the Creation Walk, and the Noah's Ark scenes, and the Design exhibits in the main hall. Of course, the planetarium and the exciting first-class Special Effects Theater were great too. Oh, and we can't forget the bookstore, cafe, or Palm Plaza snack shop!
The lines were long and thick... they went down and around the front lobby area, out the door, back to the other end of the building, up past the doors again and over into the museum entrance lane area. Turned out at the end of the day that more than four thousand people visited!
Nicely, my Dad had gotten a Charter Membership for me and thus we went to the Members' Express Lane. This lane was probably a twentieth the size of the other, but even so took more than half an hour.
The protest situation was interesting. The sheriff, for whatever reason, had apparently told AiG they would not be allowed to stage a counter-protest to the one the atheists were having ("Rally For Reason"). So the security people came by just as we were about to head out there with our Founding Fathers quotes signs and told us we would not be allowed to park on AiG property if we displayed those signs. The next available parking space we were told was "five miles away," and so we could do nothing. We had to stick the signs back in the car and head to the big Museum line instead.
In any case, I have got four free passes to the Creation Museum that one living around the Greenville, SC area may ask to use by e-mailing me at Rjmpilgrim@aol.com.
Thanks!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
The lines were long and thick... they went down and around the front lobby area, out the door, back to the other end of the building, up past the doors again and over into the museum entrance lane area. Turned out at the end of the day that more than four thousand people visited!
Nicely, my Dad had gotten a Charter Membership for me and thus we went to the Members' Express Lane. This lane was probably a twentieth the size of the other, but even so took more than half an hour.
The protest situation was interesting. The sheriff, for whatever reason, had apparently told AiG they would not be allowed to stage a counter-protest to the one the atheists were having ("Rally For Reason"). So the security people came by just as we were about to head out there with our Founding Fathers quotes signs and told us we would not be allowed to park on AiG property if we displayed those signs. The next available parking space we were told was "five miles away," and so we could do nothing. We had to stick the signs back in the car and head to the big Museum line instead.
In any case, I have got four free passes to the Creation Museum that one living around the Greenville, SC area may ask to use by e-mailing me at Rjmpilgrim@aol.com.
Thanks!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
C of CC
Anne Campbell, a Constitution Party person and president of the Americans for Constitutional Government, has brought to my attention an organization sharing our pro-freedom alliance vision: the Council of Conservative Citizens (www.CofCC.org). Please check them out and see what you think.
Abolish Gun Control
After the Virginia Tech shooting recently I thought about writing an article here about it, but I didn't feel like I could quite do it justice. Here is an article which does do it justice: http://www.thenewamerican.com/ and enter "Making Our Schools Safe" in the Search box.
Also, you may purchase the full back issue of The New American for even more, and better, writings on the issue of gun control.
Thanks! From Josiah
Also, you may purchase the full back issue of The New American for even more, and better, writings on the issue of gun control.
Thanks! From Josiah
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Hurrah for AiG donors and volunteers!
Answers in Genesis, a wonderful organization at the forefront of the Creation Science vs. Evolution debate, will be OPENING their new state-of-the-art CREATION MUSEUM on MONDAY!
My family hopes to be there for the big event. I expect there will be several thousand people there when Ken Ham cuts the ribbon.
Please visit the Creation Museum website for a virtual tour, information on the museum, or logistics for the Grand Opening. Thanks!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
My family hopes to be there for the big event. I expect there will be several thousand people there when Ken Ham cuts the ribbon.
Please visit the Creation Museum website for a virtual tour, information on the museum, or logistics for the Grand Opening. Thanks!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
Where is LIL?
We have been involved with so many other projects lately that the Liberty In Law stuff has not been progressing as fast as it should. However, it is not forgotten. We still by all means wish to mobilize the pro-freedom groups to support Law and God's Creatorship!
An interesting thing is that this mobilization is beginning to happen even without much concerted effort. Everyone knows that teamwork and coordination are key in battles such as we face. And when I merely mention the idea of Liberty In Law (or even sometimes just the phrase) a lightbulb seems to go on in people's heads. "Why yes... that's what we were fighting for all along!"
So LIL and Worldviews Revolution are not so much an organization as they are sound-bytes which allow everything to "click." It is working out grand. But what I describe is hardly the beginning! Just imagine what God will be doing with this stuff in a few years time!
Thank you Lord! From Josiah
P.S. Tonight I was working on the computer on an "icon" for Liberty In Law video work.
An interesting thing is that this mobilization is beginning to happen even without much concerted effort. Everyone knows that teamwork and coordination are key in battles such as we face. And when I merely mention the idea of Liberty In Law (or even sometimes just the phrase) a lightbulb seems to go on in people's heads. "Why yes... that's what we were fighting for all along!"
So LIL and Worldviews Revolution are not so much an organization as they are sound-bytes which allow everything to "click." It is working out grand. But what I describe is hardly the beginning! Just imagine what God will be doing with this stuff in a few years time!
Thank you Lord! From Josiah
P.S. Tonight I was working on the computer on an "icon" for Liberty In Law video work.
More REAL-ID and so forth
I spent most of the day sending out e-mails to SC legislators asking them to 1. help us detach the wierd Aeronautics bill from S. 449 and 2. support S. 449 when it comes up for a vote. The e-mails were written by my Dad, and read as follows:
Dear Honorable and Esteemed Mr. _______,
Thank you for all your work to make S.C. the best state in the union!
Please understand how unhappy we are that Bill 3155 is attached to the Senate Bill 449.
Please HELP detach the Aeronautics Bill #3155 from Senate Bill 449 (the NO Real ID).
We want a true hearing and vote on this vastly more important Bill regarding our freedoms, our states rights, our constitution, and of course our privacy.
This is also a religious issue for many of us. We do not believe we should be allowing the federal government to force you at the state level to give us a chip which has all of our information on it and can be read by a "common" reader, and that this should take the place of our great driving licenses!
This is a privacy issue.
This is a constitutional issue.
This is a states right issue.
This is a religious issue.
This is a freedom issue.
Please, please take WHATEVER steps necessary to detach 449 from encumbrances with other bills and give it a fair hearing and vote in the house.
The aeronautics Bill may be a fine bill, but it needs to go to the Senate on it's own merits.
Thank you so much for your time. Please in conclusion may I ask you, will you vote for the Senate Bill 449? We would greatly appreciate it! Please stand with us opposing unconstitutional power grabs like this one.
Your faithful fellow citizen,
Roy Magnuson
Dear Honorable and Esteemed Mr. _______,
Thank you for all your work to make S.C. the best state in the union!
Please understand how unhappy we are that Bill 3155 is attached to the Senate Bill 449.
Please HELP detach the Aeronautics Bill #3155 from Senate Bill 449 (the NO Real ID).
We want a true hearing and vote on this vastly more important Bill regarding our freedoms, our states rights, our constitution, and of course our privacy.
This is also a religious issue for many of us. We do not believe we should be allowing the federal government to force you at the state level to give us a chip which has all of our information on it and can be read by a "common" reader, and that this should take the place of our great driving licenses!
This is a privacy issue.
This is a constitutional issue.
This is a states right issue.
This is a religious issue.
This is a freedom issue.
Please, please take WHATEVER steps necessary to detach 449 from encumbrances with other bills and give it a fair hearing and vote in the house.
The aeronautics Bill may be a fine bill, but it needs to go to the Senate on it's own merits.
Thank you so much for your time. Please in conclusion may I ask you, will you vote for the Senate Bill 449? We would greatly appreciate it! Please stand with us opposing unconstitutional power grabs like this one.
Your faithful fellow citizen,
Roy Magnuson
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The Intrinsic Connection
There are some who believe that "religion" such as that discussed on this website has no place in a pro-freedom movement. However, a brief look at the political implications of Creation and Evolution reveals the impossibility of true freedom from a non-supernatural basis.
The Declaration of Independence states that everyone has unalienable rights given to them by the Creator, God, and that governments exist to protect these rights. Good government is thus only possible when the Creatorship of God is recognized and acknowledged.
Take, for instance, the demise of Athens, the French Revolution, or the dictatorships of Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, or Mao Tse-tung. Each came about when the Creatorship of a supernatural Supreme Being was rejected, and each was marked by chaos, tyranny, and in most cases, genocide.
The reason for this fact is that a free country is a country under absolutes. Absolutes are unchanging principles or Laws. They contain "unalienable rights" which can never be taken away.
There is only one source which could make absolutes and rights for all mankind. It is mankind's Creator. That is why free countries have always recognized the existence of God. On the other hand, if no absolutes exist, no limitations can be put on government. There could be no such thing as "bad" government, because there would be no right or wrong. Thus, countries which are not under God’s absolutes can never be free, but are governed arbitrarily and lawlessly. Relativism and naturalism can only produce despotism.
Even in America, proponents of Evolution are already teaching a new idea of a “living” Constitution which evolves with the people, and a new system of “rights” which can be created or destroyed at the whim of the State!
Thomas Jefferson once asked, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?” Truly, a dismissal of the supernatural can only be a dismissal of our republic in favor of a dictatorship, and thus, to oppose this danger is not only Christian, but American.
-R. Josiah Magnuson
(originally posted on the extinct AdvisorOnID website)
The Declaration of Independence states that everyone has unalienable rights given to them by the Creator, God, and that governments exist to protect these rights. Good government is thus only possible when the Creatorship of God is recognized and acknowledged.
Take, for instance, the demise of Athens, the French Revolution, or the dictatorships of Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, or Mao Tse-tung. Each came about when the Creatorship of a supernatural Supreme Being was rejected, and each was marked by chaos, tyranny, and in most cases, genocide.
The reason for this fact is that a free country is a country under absolutes. Absolutes are unchanging principles or Laws. They contain "unalienable rights" which can never be taken away.
There is only one source which could make absolutes and rights for all mankind. It is mankind's Creator. That is why free countries have always recognized the existence of God. On the other hand, if no absolutes exist, no limitations can be put on government. There could be no such thing as "bad" government, because there would be no right or wrong. Thus, countries which are not under God’s absolutes can never be free, but are governed arbitrarily and lawlessly. Relativism and naturalism can only produce despotism.
Even in America, proponents of Evolution are already teaching a new idea of a “living” Constitution which evolves with the people, and a new system of “rights” which can be created or destroyed at the whim of the State!
Thomas Jefferson once asked, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?” Truly, a dismissal of the supernatural can only be a dismissal of our republic in favor of a dictatorship, and thus, to oppose this danger is not only Christian, but American.
-R. Josiah Magnuson
(originally posted on the extinct AdvisorOnID website)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
REAL-ID info
Our heroic volunteers are probably coming out of the Education and Public Works Committee hearing in Columbia as I write this. Last week, we had a unanimous vote in the Motor Vehicles subcommittee to strike the "until" and conditions following it. The bill was thus changed from "South Carolina will not implement REAL-ID until..." to "South Carolina shall not implement REAL-ID." Previously the bill had said that SC would implement REAL-ID when the Feds provided the money and made sure of individual privacy and security.
Special thanks goes to legislators Eric Bedingfield, Mike Mulvaney, and Nathan Ballentine for all their help in getting this going. Of course, many others have been involved as well.
So far eleven states have enacted bills as we are attempting to, declining to implement REAL-ID. For a current list, please visit this website:
http://realnightmare.org/news/105/
Thanks! From Josiah
Special thanks goes to legislators Eric Bedingfield, Mike Mulvaney, and Nathan Ballentine for all their help in getting this going. Of course, many others have been involved as well.
So far eleven states have enacted bills as we are attempting to, declining to implement REAL-ID. For a current list, please visit this website:
http://realnightmare.org/news/105/
Thanks! From Josiah
By Any Other Name, Amnesty Still Stinks
By Chuck Baldwin
This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20070522.html
One of Shakespeare's most oft-quoted phrases comes from Romeo and Juliet, where Juliet asks Romeo: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Accordingly, President Bush and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can call their immigration bill by any name they want to, but it is still amnesty, and it still stinks!
Hopefully, readers are aware that the Bush/Kennedy amnesty bill is being debated in the U.S. Senate this week with both the White House and senate leaders hopeful of quick passage. If it passes, the proposed immigration bill would immediately give all 12-20 million illegal aliens already in the United States "probationary" citizenship. It would also put an estimated 60 million immigrants on the path to citizenship over the next 20 years. In exchange for granting U.S. citizenship to tens of millions of illegals, the bill promises to better protect America's borders.
However, what is abundantly clear is that the federal government's idea of border enforcement is totally without meaning or merit. Consider the fact that the United States already has copious laws against illegal immigration, including punishment for businesses that hire illegals. So, what good have these laws done? Very little.
No one with any sense of objective truth believes that the Bush administration is serious about border enforcement. No one. Therefore, how can anyone believe that more promises of border enforcement will accomplish any more than with existing laws? The plain truth is, President George W. Bush, Senators Ted Kennedy, John McCain, et al., are simply hell-bent to provide amnesty to tens of millions of illegal aliens, and this bill will give them the power to do it.
Do I need to convince readers that any kind of amnesty will put America on the fast track to ruin? The United States simply cannot absorb upwards of 60 million, mostly unskilled, non-English-speaking, migrants in the next few years. It just is not possible. Already, America is reaping the consequences of unbridled illegal immigration. Americans are being squeezed out of work by illegal immigrants who will work at significantly reduced wages. Of course our unemployment is low: Americans are working two or three jobs just to make ends meet.
Add to the strain of the loss of good paying jobs the strain of an ever-growing financial burden to taxpayers. For example, Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Rector recently released a new study entitled, "The Fiscal Cost of Low-Skill Households to the U.S. Taxpayer." In the report, Rector notes that two-thirds of the millions of illegal aliens in this country fall into the category of "low-skill" households. Contrast that with just 10% of native-born Americans falling into that category.
Writing for National Review Online, Byron York states, "Rector found that in 2004, the most recent year for which figures are available, low-skill households received an average of $32,138 per household--the great majority in the form of means-tested aid and direct benefits.... Against that, Rector found that low-skill households paid an average of $9,689 in taxes.... In the final calculation, he found, the average low-skill household received $22,449 more in benefits than it paid in taxes..."
According to World Net Daily, "If the lower figure of 12 million illegal aliens is used for estimation purposes, the [current] total tax burden translates to $2.2 trillion." It doesn't take a mathematical genius to calculate that with an added 60 million mostly unskilled immigrants moving into the country, the financial cost would be more than taxpayers could possibly pay for.
Consider also the toll upon America's safety and security. Already, law enforcement agencies are very much cognizant of a surge of Latin American "ultra-violent" gangs that have sprung up in more than 40 U.S. states. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), one gang called MS-13 has been identified in 42 states. Another group called the 18th Street Gang is in 37 states. According to FBI MS-13 National Gang Task Force director Brian Truchon, "When the gang migrates throughout the U.S., there is always a road back to L.A. From L.A., there is always a road back to Central America."Retired lawman Jim Kouri recently wrote, "According to Lt. Steve Rogers, a decorated cop and award-winning writer, there are tens of thousands of murderers, rapists, child predators, robbers and drug dealers who are illegally in the United States. One study shows over 200,000 criminal aliens are preying on U.S. citizens."
As I have previously noted in this column, illegal aliens already murder at least 12 Americans every day. Think of the potential violence that another 60 million aliens will bring. Not to mention the threat of potential terrorism.
America's law enforcement communities are keenly aware of the probability that international terrorists have already infiltrated the United States due to our lack of border control. For example, William Gheen, President of Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee (ALIPAC), recently said, "MS-13 and other illegal immigrant gangs are bringing in the illegals, drugs, heavy weapons, and possibly terrorists. The biggest threat from their members is contained in the multiple intelligence reports provided to Congress indicating that Al-Qaeda and MS-13 are now working together to smuggle terrorist operatives and materials into the U.S."
In light of all of the above, how in the world can President Bush and senate leaders proceed with plans to explode the growth of unskilled immigrants into the United States? Perhaps the answer lies within the details of the bill. According to World Net Daily, "The controversial 'Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007,' which would grant millions of illegal aliens the right to stay in the U.S. under certain conditions, contains provisions for the acceleration of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, a plan for North American economic and defense integration, WND has learned.
"The bill, as worked out by Senate and White House negotiators, cites the SPP agreement signed by President Bush and his counterparts in Mexico and Canada March 23, 2005--an agreement that has been criticized as a blueprint for building a European Union-style merger of the three countries of North America.
"'It is the sense of Congress that the United States and Mexico should accelerate the implementation of the Partnership for Prosperity to help generate economic growth and improve the standard of living in Mexico, which will lead to reduced migration,' the draft legislation states on page 211 on the version time-stamped May 18, 2007 11:58 p.m."
Aw! There is the underlying reason President Bush is willing to incur the wrath of his conservative constituents: he is determined to implement the SPP and pave the way for the emerging North American Union before he leaves office. The amnesty bill being pushed through the Senate this week is absolutely essential to this end.
As Juliet said, "What's in a name?" Bush, Kennedy, McCain and Company are playing word games with us. They know this is amnesty. You know this is amnesty. And millions of illegal aliens know this is amnesty. If it walks like amnesty, talks like amnesty, looks like amnesty, and smells like amnesty, it's amnesty! Now, the question is, Will the American people sit back and let it happen?
Dear Reader, this might be our last chance to stop the push for amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. If you have never voiced your protest to your civil leaders, I urge you to do so now! Here are two links for information on how you can make your voice heard in Washington, D.C. Don't delay! We must act TODAY!
Tell the Senate, No Amnesty for Illegals here:
http://www.grassfire.org/19042/offer.asp
Call the D.C. switchboard here:
http://www.eagleforum.org/alert/2007/05-18-07.html
This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20070522.html
One of Shakespeare's most oft-quoted phrases comes from Romeo and Juliet, where Juliet asks Romeo: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Accordingly, President Bush and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can call their immigration bill by any name they want to, but it is still amnesty, and it still stinks!
Hopefully, readers are aware that the Bush/Kennedy amnesty bill is being debated in the U.S. Senate this week with both the White House and senate leaders hopeful of quick passage. If it passes, the proposed immigration bill would immediately give all 12-20 million illegal aliens already in the United States "probationary" citizenship. It would also put an estimated 60 million immigrants on the path to citizenship over the next 20 years. In exchange for granting U.S. citizenship to tens of millions of illegals, the bill promises to better protect America's borders.
However, what is abundantly clear is that the federal government's idea of border enforcement is totally without meaning or merit. Consider the fact that the United States already has copious laws against illegal immigration, including punishment for businesses that hire illegals. So, what good have these laws done? Very little.
No one with any sense of objective truth believes that the Bush administration is serious about border enforcement. No one. Therefore, how can anyone believe that more promises of border enforcement will accomplish any more than with existing laws? The plain truth is, President George W. Bush, Senators Ted Kennedy, John McCain, et al., are simply hell-bent to provide amnesty to tens of millions of illegal aliens, and this bill will give them the power to do it.
Do I need to convince readers that any kind of amnesty will put America on the fast track to ruin? The United States simply cannot absorb upwards of 60 million, mostly unskilled, non-English-speaking, migrants in the next few years. It just is not possible. Already, America is reaping the consequences of unbridled illegal immigration. Americans are being squeezed out of work by illegal immigrants who will work at significantly reduced wages. Of course our unemployment is low: Americans are working two or three jobs just to make ends meet.
Add to the strain of the loss of good paying jobs the strain of an ever-growing financial burden to taxpayers. For example, Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Rector recently released a new study entitled, "The Fiscal Cost of Low-Skill Households to the U.S. Taxpayer." In the report, Rector notes that two-thirds of the millions of illegal aliens in this country fall into the category of "low-skill" households. Contrast that with just 10% of native-born Americans falling into that category.
Writing for National Review Online, Byron York states, "Rector found that in 2004, the most recent year for which figures are available, low-skill households received an average of $32,138 per household--the great majority in the form of means-tested aid and direct benefits.... Against that, Rector found that low-skill households paid an average of $9,689 in taxes.... In the final calculation, he found, the average low-skill household received $22,449 more in benefits than it paid in taxes..."
According to World Net Daily, "If the lower figure of 12 million illegal aliens is used for estimation purposes, the [current] total tax burden translates to $2.2 trillion." It doesn't take a mathematical genius to calculate that with an added 60 million mostly unskilled immigrants moving into the country, the financial cost would be more than taxpayers could possibly pay for.
Consider also the toll upon America's safety and security. Already, law enforcement agencies are very much cognizant of a surge of Latin American "ultra-violent" gangs that have sprung up in more than 40 U.S. states. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), one gang called MS-13 has been identified in 42 states. Another group called the 18th Street Gang is in 37 states. According to FBI MS-13 National Gang Task Force director Brian Truchon, "When the gang migrates throughout the U.S., there is always a road back to L.A. From L.A., there is always a road back to Central America."Retired lawman Jim Kouri recently wrote, "According to Lt. Steve Rogers, a decorated cop and award-winning writer, there are tens of thousands of murderers, rapists, child predators, robbers and drug dealers who are illegally in the United States. One study shows over 200,000 criminal aliens are preying on U.S. citizens."
As I have previously noted in this column, illegal aliens already murder at least 12 Americans every day. Think of the potential violence that another 60 million aliens will bring. Not to mention the threat of potential terrorism.
America's law enforcement communities are keenly aware of the probability that international terrorists have already infiltrated the United States due to our lack of border control. For example, William Gheen, President of Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee (ALIPAC), recently said, "MS-13 and other illegal immigrant gangs are bringing in the illegals, drugs, heavy weapons, and possibly terrorists. The biggest threat from their members is contained in the multiple intelligence reports provided to Congress indicating that Al-Qaeda and MS-13 are now working together to smuggle terrorist operatives and materials into the U.S."
In light of all of the above, how in the world can President Bush and senate leaders proceed with plans to explode the growth of unskilled immigrants into the United States? Perhaps the answer lies within the details of the bill. According to World Net Daily, "The controversial 'Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007,' which would grant millions of illegal aliens the right to stay in the U.S. under certain conditions, contains provisions for the acceleration of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, a plan for North American economic and defense integration, WND has learned.
"The bill, as worked out by Senate and White House negotiators, cites the SPP agreement signed by President Bush and his counterparts in Mexico and Canada March 23, 2005--an agreement that has been criticized as a blueprint for building a European Union-style merger of the three countries of North America.
"'It is the sense of Congress that the United States and Mexico should accelerate the implementation of the Partnership for Prosperity to help generate economic growth and improve the standard of living in Mexico, which will lead to reduced migration,' the draft legislation states on page 211 on the version time-stamped May 18, 2007 11:58 p.m."
Aw! There is the underlying reason President Bush is willing to incur the wrath of his conservative constituents: he is determined to implement the SPP and pave the way for the emerging North American Union before he leaves office. The amnesty bill being pushed through the Senate this week is absolutely essential to this end.
As Juliet said, "What's in a name?" Bush, Kennedy, McCain and Company are playing word games with us. They know this is amnesty. You know this is amnesty. And millions of illegal aliens know this is amnesty. If it walks like amnesty, talks like amnesty, looks like amnesty, and smells like amnesty, it's amnesty! Now, the question is, Will the American people sit back and let it happen?
Dear Reader, this might be our last chance to stop the push for amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. If you have never voiced your protest to your civil leaders, I urge you to do so now! Here are two links for information on how you can make your voice heard in Washington, D.C. Don't delay! We must act TODAY!
Tell the Senate, No Amnesty for Illegals here:
http://www.grassfire.org/19042/offer.asp
Call the D.C. switchboard here:
http://www.eagleforum.org/alert/2007/05-18-07.html
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Post-Election review
I had mentioned here generally the Butch Taylor campaign. But here is his main ideas:
1. Giving us a vote on all county tax and fee increases.
2. Enacting local dis-incentives for illegal immigration.
3. Bringing more controls on the School Board.
Of course, he supports American heritage, constitutional principles, traditional values, etc. However, his biggest claim to fame is the fact that he has attended over 275 County Council meetings - more than almost any of the Council members! He is also the current President of the Greenville County Taxpayers' Association.
Butch ended up receiving 39% of the vote, while his Bob Jones opponent, Sid Cates, received 61%. In actual numbers, Butch got 514 votes, while Sid got 826. This amount is not bad for a core group of less than 30 people! :-) It is in fact a high for percentage received by the SC Constitution Party in an election.
The place where Butch got the highest amount of votes - Northwood, with 79 votes or 57% - was the precinct my family was assigned, and which we worked tirelessly on for almost a month. The next highest in terms of numbers was Wade Hampton, which Jack Utz had. Butch received 52 votes in this precinct. Unfortunately, this turns out to be only 23%. Wade Hampton is a very high-momentum area, and also the residence of many Bob Jones people. The third highest was a precinct which no one went door-to-door in, but which Rahab Hackett spent a day calling by phone. It was Mountain Creek, with 47 votes. Congrats, Rahab!
The second highest precinct in percent was Brook Glenn, worked by the Adams, with 56% going to Butch Taylor. The third highest in percent was one of the Hacketts' assigned precincts - Altamont Forest - with 50%. One more vote and Butch would have carried it.
I appreciate my friend Moses Hackett for all the help with going door-to-door in Northwood. He came along probably four or five of the ten times we went. We also helped his family in their precincts twice.
I certainly learned a lot from this exciting venture, and I am glad to have been involved in this wonderful opportunity. Best of all, the Constitution Party has finally gained significant energy and charisma, and I look forward to even more - and winning - future impact!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
1. Giving us a vote on all county tax and fee increases.
2. Enacting local dis-incentives for illegal immigration.
3. Bringing more controls on the School Board.
Of course, he supports American heritage, constitutional principles, traditional values, etc. However, his biggest claim to fame is the fact that he has attended over 275 County Council meetings - more than almost any of the Council members! He is also the current President of the Greenville County Taxpayers' Association.
Butch ended up receiving 39% of the vote, while his Bob Jones opponent, Sid Cates, received 61%. In actual numbers, Butch got 514 votes, while Sid got 826. This amount is not bad for a core group of less than 30 people! :-) It is in fact a high for percentage received by the SC Constitution Party in an election.
The place where Butch got the highest amount of votes - Northwood, with 79 votes or 57% - was the precinct my family was assigned, and which we worked tirelessly on for almost a month. The next highest in terms of numbers was Wade Hampton, which Jack Utz had. Butch received 52 votes in this precinct. Unfortunately, this turns out to be only 23%. Wade Hampton is a very high-momentum area, and also the residence of many Bob Jones people. The third highest was a precinct which no one went door-to-door in, but which Rahab Hackett spent a day calling by phone. It was Mountain Creek, with 47 votes. Congrats, Rahab!
The second highest precinct in percent was Brook Glenn, worked by the Adams, with 56% going to Butch Taylor. The third highest in percent was one of the Hacketts' assigned precincts - Altamont Forest - with 50%. One more vote and Butch would have carried it.
I appreciate my friend Moses Hackett for all the help with going door-to-door in Northwood. He came along probably four or five of the ten times we went. We also helped his family in their precincts twice.
I certainly learned a lot from this exciting venture, and I am glad to have been involved in this wonderful opportunity. Best of all, the Constitution Party has finally gained significant energy and charisma, and I look forward to even more - and winning - future impact!
-R. Josiah Magnuson
Sunday, April 22, 2007
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!
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!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
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
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
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
Sunday, April 01, 2007
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
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."
I also created the other day an e-mail address for LibertyInLaw.com. It is "libertyinlaw@yahoo.com."
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