October 13, 2017

Phil Beaver works to establish opinion when the-objective-truth has not been discovered. He seeks to refine his opinion by listening when people share experiences and observations. The comment box below invites readers to write.

Note 1:  I often dash words in phrases in order to express and preserve an idea. For example, frank-objectivity represents the idea of candidly expressing the-objective-truth despite possible error. In other words, a person expresses his “belief,” knowing he or she could be in error. People may collaboratively approach the-objective-truth.
 Note 2: It is important to note "civic" refers to citizens who collaborate for the people more than for the city.

A personal paraphrase of the preamble by & for Phil Beaver:  We the willing people of nine of the thirteen United States commit to and trust in the purpose and goals stated herein --- integrity, justice, collaboration, defense, prosperity, liberty, and perpetuity --- and to cultivate limited services by the USA, beginning on June 21, 1788.

Composing their own paraphrase, citizens may consider the actual preamble and perceive whether they are willing or dissident toward its agreement.   

Our Views (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/our_views/article_136e3662-ae0d-11e7-924b-57429276856d.html)

How did “the bonds of community” permit “the terror of our times”? What does The Advocate propose we do? Why not even one suggestion as to how to proceed to a better future?

I assert that Christian-political regimes have, since April-May, 1789, bemused the people from trust in and commitment to the civic agreement that is stated in the preamble to the constitution for the USA, which was established on June 21, 1788.

The Christian right erroneously points to the Declaration of Independence, 1776, as the document that establishes the nation’s birthday. However, in 1776 the oppressed declared war against the oppressor. After the war, on the way to presidency over the Philadelphia convention that produced the preamble and the articles that follow it, General George Washington, on June 8, 1783, wrote as a sincere fellow citizen.

Washington asserted that four pillars are needed to form a nation that might survive. I paraphrase: one central head, justice, statutory law, and domestic goodwill. He said the basis is liberty. He continued the letter, with farewell to the Continental army, a plea to Congress to honor promises to the neglected soldiers, and, being a devout theist, concluded with prayer to his personal God.

Rather than accepting Washington’s leadership, both on June 8, 1783 and on September 17, 1787, Christian regimes have imposed American theism as a surrogate for what only willing people may supply: civic justice. Only willing people can keep religious morality private rather than try to impose religious concerns on peaceful non-believers.

As if my idea is not shocking, consider merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mysticism. “Definition of mysticism “2: the belief that direct knowledge of God, spiritual truth, or ultimate reality can be attained through subjective experience (such as intuition or insight).” I doubt anyone would collaborate to use mysticism for civic justice, yet that is what political regimes have imposed on the USA since 1789. Only a willing people may offer each other civic justice while allowing religious beliefs or none to flourish.

By collaborating for mutual, comprehensive safety and security, we can end the terror of our times.

Today’s thought, G.E. Dean (Matthew 7:21 CJB)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what my Father in heaven wants.”

Dean says “Knowing and saying is not enough. Faith in the Lord must be seen in action.”

Matthew and Dean are too mysterious for my benefit. I prefer to trust and commit to the-objective-truth.

  

Letters

Insufficiencies (Williams and Felber) (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_e0617124-aec2-11e7-9457-63c242a5aad7.html and theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_647ac9bc-aec1-11e7-b799-eb1f4d05bc53.html)

The truth is insufficient: only the-objective-truth requires human discovery and conformity.

Respect is insufficient: citizens may earn appreciation.

Only responsible expression warrants appreciation: erroneous expression begs woe. Kneeling is erroneous if not arrogant.

The issue is the people’s monopoly on law enforcement, and that is assigned to the police, neither vigilantes nor Alinsky-Marxist organized (AMO) protesters. See Mike Gecan, “Rules for the NFL’s Radicals,” WSJ, Oct 10, 2017, Page A19, “[NFL kneelers] are doing what Saul Alinsky . . . often advised.”

The American civic freedom to earn personal liberty is puzzling to most aliens and dissidents. President Trump is moreover a sovereign citizen with the right to express personal opinion.

   

Columns. (The fiction/non-fiction comments gallery for readers)

  

Win-win (Robert Samuelson) (washingtonpost.com/opinions/yes-build-the-wall/2017/10/11/743052be-ae9e-11e7-a908-a3470754bbb9_story.html?utm_term=.dc0ec348a15e)

Keep the kid, build the wall is an excellent political idea, not because the sides want their issues, but to help the American people.

Also, I would like to see moderates take over the two-party system and help the people move toward a super-majority who collaborate for mutual, comprehensive safety and security. I perceive President Trump effecting that reform, perhaps never benefiting from it while in office.

I appreciate Samuelson’s column for his reasons.

  

Contempt? (Michael Gerson) post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2017/10/07/Michael-Gerson-The-GOP-desperately-needs-the-charisma-of-conviction/stories/201710070026

In human relations, President Donald Trump offers integrity---both understanding and wholeness. If the other party does not offer the same excellence, connections vary from imperfect to broken.

Ad hominem attack is a well-known fallacy. Anyone who stoops to fallacy toward Trump, especially ad hominem attack, suffers. It is good for the people when fallacy-promoters and liars suffer.

As for the real Donald Trump versus what I perceive . . . we’ll see.

I liked his announcement today about Iran.

 

Other forums 

libertylawsite.org/2017/10/11/dethroning-false-europe/#comment-1596228

To Morris: Perhaps the dictionary and Aristotle would help focus on words rather than ad hominem attack.

As I stated, my use of “civic” refers to persons more than municipality or government. See merriam-webster.com/dictionary/civic. “Definition of civic: of or relating to a citizen, a city, citizenship, or community affairs.” Civic citizens willingly observe mutual justice in the woods or out at sea. Thus, my phrase “civic morality” addresses first justice among people.

Interested persons may google “civic morality definition,” and find data. “Examines the definition of civic virtue as morality or a standard of righteous behavior in relationship to a citizen's involvement in society. ... An individual may exhibit civic virtue by voting, volunteering, organizing a book group, or attending a PTA meeting. The Greek word for virtue is arete, which means excellence.”

A person who becomes interested in trust in and commitment to the preamble rather than lamely claiming to be of “we, the people,” may eventually take interest and google, “Aristotle's definition of citizen.” We find, for example at sparknotes.com/philosophy/politics/section3.rhtml, “It is not enough to say a citizen is someone who lives in the city or has access to the courts of law, since these rights are open to resident aliens and even slaves. Rather, Aristotle suggests that a citizen is someone who shares in the administration of justice and the holding of public office. Aristotle then broadens this definition, which is limited to individuals in democracies, by stating that a citizen is anyone who is entitled to share in deliberative or judicial office.”

Since the USA was established on June 21, 1788, when only 5% of the 80% free citizens could vote, progress has brought the USA to complete suffrage: 100% of citizens may vote if they avoid felony conviction. Many if not most citizens are willing to vote for justice. But some are dissident. Some are criminal and risk civil law enforcement.

There remains the need to clarify the scope of civic justice. For insight, we can refer again to the dictionary, for example, merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mysticism. There, we find, “Definition of mysticism “2: the belief that direct knowledge of God, spiritual truth, or ultimate reality can be attained through subjective experience (such as intuition or insight).” I doubt anyone would collaborate for mysticism as the means of discovering civic justice, but most people are willing to collaborate to discover the-objective-truth. Yet political regimes commonly coerce or force the public to brook mysticism (see Chapter XI Machiavellianism).

I use two hyphens to suggest that omission of any of the three words in the-objective-truth redirects the reader to some form of subjectivity---a subjective truth. The-objective-truth exists and humankind does the noble work to discover and to understand how to benefit. For example, a civic person does not lie so that the people do not have to discover and perhaps to confront the lie (that example, BTW, comes from Albert Einstein, 1941).

I suggest that you and gabe have no justifiable alienation against Phil Beaver but desperately dissent against the-objective-truth. I work to relieve fear of the-objective-truth.

To Morris again: I do not know the-objective-truth and therefore can only express my opinion. It seems to me you retreated from the dictionary, not Phil Beaver.

I doubt gabe’s humor will stop: it’s hard to reform an habitual trick.

libertylawsite.org/2017/10/12/progressivism-and-the-preamble/#comment-1595926

In our work, we encourage willing citizens to consider the 1787 meaning of each word in the preamble, then paraphrase it according to evidences in appreciation of 1787.

Then, we encourage each person to write a statement he or she would like to propose for iterative, civic collaboration.

In my statement "unity" is revised to "integrity" with both meanings: comprehension and wholeness. In these four years of meetings at public libraries and other conversations, no one has objected to "integrity."

However, dissidence is expected. The preamble is a civic agreement that, in the USA, divides the willing from the dissidents.

  

Phil Beaver does not “know” the-indisputable-facts. He trusts and is committed to the-objective-truth of which most is undiscovered and some is understood. He is agent for A Civic People of the United States, a Louisiana, education non-profit corporation. See online at promotethepreamble.blogspot.com.