I Don’t Believe Nothing

On By Citizen TomIn Uncategorized4 Comments

Fall has just begun. This morning I opened the window and the cool, fresh air rushed in. That was still refreshing, but as time passes and the winter chill arrives that window will stay closed, waiting for the warmth of Spring.

Tomorrow evening we will have the first presidential debate between the Democratic Party’s and the Republican Party’s nominees. Various campaigns for the presidency began in earnest in the Spring. In the heat of summer most died, but a few of the campaigns took root and matured. We will harvest one winner in Fall. In the dead of Winter, our new president will assume the mantle of power. In Winter? Why Winter? Is it then we consider our harvest of joys and regrets? Is it then we get ready for Spring?

Spring is when life begins. It is the beginning that thrills us. All is new! There is only a baby. Who knows how that baby will grow? We can only do our best to nurture our child, and yet there is a contrary view. There is the Atheist who says the baby is already perfected. Nurturing that babe will just ruin a perfect void.

Does not Summer follow Spring? If we have not grown in the Summer, if we have not tried our self in the Fall, where is the harvest that will get us through the Winter? Why would our Lord give a slothful soul the strength to prepare for Spring in eternity?

The Comedy Sojourn

tabula

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.” (John 6:44)

There it is, boys and girls.

You hear God’s voice, you’ll come to Jesus.

You don’t hear God’s voice, you’ll post memes like this:

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This is pre-school biblical scholarship.

Which isn’t surprising when atheists proudly post stuff like this:

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I’m not kidding.

That was posted by an atheist.

…the Supreme Council of atheists aren’t potty trained.

He was making the point that atheism is simply a lack of belief in God.

He WASN’T saying atheism is the belief that there is no God.

Atheism is NOT the belief that there is no God.

Atheism is a lack…

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Third Wave Feminism and the “Archaic” Notion of Biology

On By Citizen TomIn Uncategorized10 Comments

Here is an interesting post from what appears to be a new blog.

I liked this line.

If gender and biology have no present correspondence with one another, then the heavily politicized transgender destroys itself.

We all respect logical arguments, but we all detest having them used against us. Perhaps that is why Conservatives sometimes irk people. Don’t we all get something from our government that our government has no business giving us?

Half of our population is female, and women quite naturally want to be protected. So our leaders cater to this instinct by offering women the security of big government. Yet pride often drives women to imitate men and the male’s pride in self-sufficiency. So the same women who want the protection of big government vehemently deny that politicians abuse their instincts. They even go so far as to deny the differences between women and men.

Of course, the differences between men and women are real. When we pretend they don’t exist, instead helping us to complement each other, those differences divide us. Consider this irony. Most men admire a woman who is unashamed to be womanly, and most women desire a man who is manly.

Does being womanly mean that a woman cannot be strong? No. In fact, in some respects women tend to be stronger than men. Character matters most of all. When times are hard, a man will lean on the strength of character in his woman just as much a woman will lean on the strength of character in her man. It is because of our differences we can complement and need to support each other.

The Conservative Diaries

In a few of my college classes, which were typically dominated by female students and taught by women, we were encouraged to discuss the injustices that females are continuously being served by society. I’d often point out that if women were truly oppressed, then why are there more women in this college classroom working towards an upper level education? My professor, and the majority of my classmates, would provide various responses. One of them being, “The reason there are more women than men in this room is because of the field in which we are studying. More women tend to pursue careers in ‘helping’ professions.” I’d respond with, “Is this because women are wired differently than men? More specifically, they must have a biological predisposition to care for and nurture, ultimately being the causation of particular fields of study and career choices.” It wouldn’t be long until hands shot up accusing…

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

On By Citizen TomIn 2016 Election, Philosophy, unraveling3 Comments

school.pngSometimes the good guys win.

Here is another email from the Chairman of the PWC Republican Committee. It is a thank you note.

Dear Faithful Republicans,

I want to thank each and every one of you for your overwhelming support sending emails and for showing up to the PWC School Board Meetings. It truly made a difference! It was particularly encouraging to see the unity that came out of this very divisive issue. While the fight is not over, we can keep this momentum going by continuing to show up and let our voices be heard. Thank you again!

“Yes” for Brentsville and Gil Trenum; “Wait” on Trans Gender – An Update from the PWC School Board Meeting on September 21st.

Nearly 500 people showed up last night while the board took citizen comments from 7:00pm to 1:00am on policy 060, the policy change to add sexual preference and gender identity to the lists of protected classes.  The entire Kelly Leadership Center school board complex was full, to include an over flow room and the atrium.

Approximately 150 people spoke.  Speakers came from all backgrounds: Hispanic, African American, Muslim, Christian, parents and kids.  Some of the more moving arguments came from young ladies who simply pleaded, “Please protect my privacy and dignity.”  Several African American speakers said “this was not the civil rights issue of the 21st century.”

More than 90% of speakers were against changing policy 060.  Their arguments were: legal “wait for the Virginia Supreme Court to Rule”; transparency “why are you making this decision so hastily without soliciting staff or public input”; and safety “please don’t force a child to undress in front of another student of the opposite biological sex.”

Proponents of policy 060 talked about bullying, hatred and discrimination.  But there was no hatred or discrimination on our side last night. In fact our speakers talked about loving and protecting all children. Sadly, gay and transgender kids are the subject of bullying.  But as a Muslim parent of kids who have been bullied for their faith noted, this policy doesn’t stop bullying. He said we cannot equate bathroom preference with bullying.

Speakers asked the board to focus on meaningful bullying prevention, SOL scores, crowding, in short, real education policy.

In the end, Chairman Sawyers pushed his policy proposal ahead, as originally written.  Loree Williams (Woodbridge) seconded his motion.  Diane Raulston (Neabsco) offered a competing motion to stay the vote until the second SB meeting in June 2017 (presumably after the courts have issued their ruling).

After some deliberation the vote to delay was 5 aye, one nay (Sawyers) and one abstain (Williams).  The Brentsville seat was empty during this vote.

Bottom Line: we showed up, stuck to our message and won the night.  But we need to stay engaged.  This issue isn’t going away.

At around 2:00am, the board voted unanimously to appoint Shawn Brann to fill Gil Trenum’s seat until Gil returns for the 2017-2018 school year.  Shawn was one of Gil’s recommended replacements and is well qualified to serve on the School Board!

Warm Regards,
Dottie Miller
Chairman PWC Republican Committee

It is an old expression, but it applies. We are at a crossroads. What Dottie Miller describes sounds like a great victory. It could be, but so long as we keep electing big government busybodies, such people will push increasingly crazy agendas. Eventually, they will have us at each others throats, more concerned about demanding our “rights” from each other than we are about protecting each others God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Whatever it takes, we must remember the people who vote for expanding the power of government, and we must vote for someone else. Whatever it takes, even if it seems to go against our best interests in the short term, we must vote only for the government we deem absolutely necessary. Otherwise, the busybodies will wear us down with nitnoid nonsense.

In a country where government runs everything, gender confusion will be the least of our concerns. Here is why. When we pass from this life, we will be rightfully ashamed. We will have left our children entirely confused and in the power of leaders who do not even care about the difference between what is right and what is wrong.

FREDERIC BASTIAT ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GOOD AND A BAD ECONOMIST

On By Citizen TomIn Culture War, history, Philosophy, religion, schools9 Comments
Mankind's Eternal Dilemma: The Choice Between Virtue and Vice by Frans Francken the Younger depicts three choices: heaven, earth, and hell (from here)
Mankind’s Eternal Dilemma: The Choice Between Virtue and Vice by Frans Francken the Younger depicts three choices: heaven, earth, and hell (from here)

The American news media has a good business model. Suffering, sex, violence, and so forth attracts viewers, but is the news media’s business model good for us? When they show us suffering, what is the first thought of the news media and its too often mindless admirers? It is a crisis! The government has to do something!

Why the government? Well, it makes for a good story. The reporters can point their cameras at somebody and tell us what he is doing or not doing.

Is our government always supposed to do something? Why? When there is a problem, how far ahead does the news media look? Doesn’t the news media always gravitate to the next crisis? Do they actually give much thought to anything?

Consider Frédéric Bastiat‘s observation on the importance of foresight.

In the department of economy, an act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect, but to a series of effects. Of these effects, the first only is immediate; it manifests itself simultaneously with its cause–it is seen. The others unfold in succession–they are not seen: it is well for us if they are foreseen. Between a good and a bad economist this constitutes the whole difference–the one takes account of the visible effect; the other takes account both of the effects which are seen and also of those which it is necessary to foresee. Now this difference is enormous, for it almost always happens that when the immediate consequence is favourable, the ultimate consequences are fatal, and the converse. Hence it follows that the bad economist pursues a small present good, which will be followed by a great evil to come, while the true economist pursues a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil.

In fact, it is the same in the science of health, arts, and in that of morals. If often happens, that the sweeter the first fruit of a habit is, the more bitter are the consequences. Take, for example, debauchery, idleness, prodigality. When, therefore, a man, absorbed in the effect which is seen, has not yet learned to discern those which are not seen, he gives way to fatal habits, not only by inclination, but by calculation.

This explains the fatally grievous condition of mankind. Ignorance surrounds its cradle: then its actions are determined by their first consequences, the only ones which, in its first stage, it can see. It is only in the long run that it learns to take account of the others. It has to learn this lesson from two very different masters–experience and foresight. Experience teaches effectually, but brutally. It makes us acquainted with all the effects of an action, by causing us to feel them; and we cannot fail to finish by knowing that fire burns, if we have burned ourselves. For this rough teacher, I should like, if possible, to substitute a more gentle one. I mean Foresight. (from here)

Over the last couple of centuries, our nation has accumulated many unjust laws. In each instance a large segment of the population conspired together to make “other people do the right thing”. In others words, some busybodies insisted upon making everyone else do things their way.

What has been the result? Here are some examples.

  • We have a public education system that worked at first. Then our leaders slowly stripped it of any religious content. Our knowledge of civics is also abysmal. Man on the street interviews have become a national joke.
  • Some time back too many of us started letting our leaders ignore the Constitution whenever we wanted what they promised. Now our president routinely issues executive orders everyone knows are unconstitutional.
  • We created the Fed to prevent bank runs. Now we have a fiat currency that steadily loses value, and our banking system gives everyone the shivers.
  • We passed the 16th Amendment to the Constitution. The income taxes that that amendment allowed were only supposed to affect the top one percent.
  • To allow the direct election of senators, we passed the 17th Amendment to the Constitution.  Now the Federal Government has more raw power than all the state governments combined. Perhaps a Convention of the States could change that. Perhaps.
  • Social Security once looked like a humane way to save the elderly from poverty. Now that costly system threatens to go bankrupt.
  • More and more our healthcare system, responsible for prolonging so many lives, is government-run. Such a system will almost certainly lead to rationing. Then we will die waiting in line to be treated.
  • We created a great safety-net to prevent the effects of poverty. Who anticipated those generous welfare programs would encourage greater social ills such as unwed motherhood?
  • In the name of civil rights, our great and glorious leaders decided to protect everyone’s “rights”. Now many think their “rights” are something “the man” owes them.

Earlier this year I wrote PART 4 FOR BOTH “HOW A POOR WIDOW ANSWERED HER CALLING” AND “GOVERNMENT-GIVEN RIGHTS VERSUS GOD-GIVEN RIGHTS”. That post included a section on The Seven Christian Virtues. That section describes how and why those who believe in government have worked to pervert the virtues of our people.

To have foresight is to be wise, and it is worth remembering that wisdom is something we each must learn. Our government cannot give us wisdom. It is also worth remembering that virtue is something we each must practice. Our government cannot be virtuous for us.