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_f66950fa-b047-11e7-8d84-67c8f28d299b.html)
A civic culture works hard to protect children waiting to be
born from neglectful and abusive parenting. A free and responsible press is
able to write about it.
Please Google “child incentives brief” and choose the URL that starts “cibpr”
to read a proposal for the immediate future.
Today’s thought,
G.E. Dean (Psalms 11:4 CJB)
“ADONAI is in his holy temple. ADONAI, his throne is in
heaven. His eyes see and test humankind. ADONAI tests the righteous; but
he hates the wicked and the lover of violence. He will rain hot coals down
on the wicked, fire, sulfur and scorching wind will be what they get to drink.”
Dean says “God is still on the throne. He is in charge and
he is holy.”
David and Dean may promote a God
who hates people, but I do not support hate from any source: constraint, punishment,
and self-defense, Yes. But hate, No.
Appreciation (Hennessy) (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_55684c38-b29a-11e7-9a0d-7774c1bd1495.html)
People who
behave so as to warrant appreciation earn respect. Demanding unearned respect
begs rejection.
In the USA,
there is freedom of expression. Wrongful expression begs misery and loss.
Congress on opioids (Davis) (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_451bb33a-b44b-11e7-ae0a-0330655acda9.html)
I thought the 60 Mintues show was
about Congress defanging DEA on opioids. cbsnews.com/news/opioid-crisis-dea-responds-60-minutes-report/
Columns. (The
fiction/non-fiction comments gallery for readers)
The Trump-Pence Ticket (Cal Thomas) (calthomas.com/columns/pences-calm-influence)
Thank you, Cal Thomas, for reminding me that those two
times I voted, which I have written about often, I was also voting for Donald
Trump’s choice for running mate, Mike Pence.
Freedom of expression (James Gill) (theadvocate.com/new_orleans/opinion/james_gill/article_87c091a6-b351-11e7-9364-631ede9b18fb.html)
Well done. So Huck
Finn rips the letter and says, “I’ll just go to ****.”
TOPS to help good students who are
poor. (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/education/article_63c8ae2a-b412-11e7-a66c-87dd076af82c.html)
TOPS was
intended to help good students who are poor. For F. King Alexander to pit LSU
funding against helping good students who are poor is immoral to a civic
culture.
I am writing to
my state representatives to resist Alexander’s pleas.
Also, I want
more money spent on coaching all K-12 students to 1) use personal autonomy to
take charge of his or her acquisition of knowledge, 2) develop responsible
collaboration with peers as well as the rest of the people, and 3) accomplish
the transition from uninformed child to young adult with the comprehension,
understanding, and intent to live a complete life of service to fellow-citizens
and maturing self-discovery.
If any state funding
competes with TOPS, I want it to be K-12 coaching (to be). To learn more,
Google “child incentives brief” and choose the URL that starts “cibpr.”
To JT McQuitty: A good point, and one that recalls my opposition to
philanthropic influence on public policy. But first: you did good to point out
that the legislature takes advantage of good intentions . . . and I add,
sometimes for selfish use.
A couple days ago, the WSJ expanded a report on George
Soros retiring from his philanthropic empire, and it gave a great overview of
his decades of good intentions in many people's eyes. Yet I think he is a
harmful influence in the global, erroneous effort to replace American
republicanism with liberal democracy.
Neither
Europeans, nor Africans, nor any other socio-political group understands the
American genes and memes that ineluctably demand the freedom from oppression
that empowers the liberty to pursue personal preferences rather than someone
else’s plans for your life.
After five
decades of bemusement by Alinsky-Marxist organization (AMO), Americans may be
at a nadir of dissidence to the-rule-of-law and at the ascent of collaboration
based on the-objective-truth rather than dominant opinion. (Preaching for the
preamble again.)
There’s a good
essay on this topic, affirming the origins after 1965, in a recent “National
Affairs” (No. 32): Peter C. Myers, “Hearing Black Lives Matter.” His last word
is “nihilists,” which is akin to agents for chaos.
An errant governor (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_bfd393f6-b421-11e7-b0ea-af3105928aa5.html)
By word
choices, The Advocate defends an errant, perhaps rogue governor: “[Civic citizens criticized] keeping people
behind bars for [elected official’s personal] labor [as a form of slavery].” Governor
Edwards defended the practice by stonewalling the issue---a form of mendacity.
Errant procreation (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/business/article_aa192438-b447-11e7-8535-5b51b07a4b09.html)
The neglect and
abuse of children in this country is barbaric. It originates with fascination
with adult satisfaction at the expense of children.
I suggest
procreation licensing and listed qualifications criteria. For example, minimum
age 25 (male) or 23 (female), based on the awareness that the human body has
not completed construction of the wisdom-building parts of the brain until a
quarter century has passed. Given some years to actually build wisdom,
parenting should not begin until early thirties.
Such
legislation cannot come overnight, if at all. In the meantime, a civic people
can do more for the children. Please read my ideas: Google “child incentives
brief” and choose the URL that starts “cibpr.”
Other forums
libertylawsite.org/2017/10/11/dethroning-false-europe/#comment-1598387
[“Your comment is awaiting moderation.” I had not seen that
message in months.]
I would err to dismiss myself from claims from gabe’s honest keyboard—in other words, practice the mendacity of stonewalling. Honesty is insufficient in a forum that needs integrity, and integrity is beyond any contributor’s purview: I express earned, grounded opinion, because I do not know the-objective-truth.
First, the Jesuits. Throughout recorded history there were individuals and groups that asserted that slavery was wrong. Some, e.g., Frederick Douglass, cited personal liberty: none of us want to be a slave. I don’t know the particulars of the Spanish Jesuits. Perhaps gabe is not aware of the Jesuits of Georgetown University: georgetown.edu/news/the-jesuit-mission. Behold their guilt and contrition: georgetownvoice.com/2007/02/08/the-jesuits-slaves/. Have they repented?: americamagazine.org/content/all-things/georgetown-and-slavery-what-owed-today. Will they pay $1 billion to one group?: washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/09/08/descendants-of-slaves-sold-by-georgetown-call-for-a-1-billion-foundation-for-reconciliation/?utm_term=.d900d27a4a7a. I am more impressed with the Jesuit present than with particular arguments from the past, but would be happy to consider gabe’s Spanish point if he made one.
Second, the late 15th century. That’s when the Church issued papal bulls to, first Portugal, then Spain, “authorizing” both the doctrine of discovery for the Christian God and monopolies on African slave-trade to aid colonization. See Romanus Pontifex, 1455 and in 1493 both Eximiae devotionis and Inter caetera. The Church ignored all pleas for gabe’s “the end of this barbaric practice but also for more humane treatment of indigenous peoples.”
Third, a few Western pleas for abolition of slavery were expressed worldwide when this land was colonized. The 17th century American abolitionists were then European colonists, who struggled against oppression by the Church and their homeland governments. “Quaker colonists . . . first openly denounced slavery in 1688, when four German Quakers, including Francis Daniel Pastorius, issued a protest . . . in the newly founded American colony of Pennsylvania.” See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quakers_in_the_abolition_movement. There were Quakers in Georgia, so abolition was not restricted to gabe’s “Christian ministers in the North.”
The Christian advocacy for slavery begins with the religious term “sin,” which I reject from my writing, for the alternative (not synonymous) “error.” Here’s a BBC sentence: “For many of these early European explorers, the Bible was not only regarded as infallible, it was also their primary reference tool and those looking for answers to explain differences in ethnicity, culture, and slavery, found them in Genesis 9: 24-27, which appeared to suggest that it was all a result of ‘sin’.” See bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/slavery_1.shtml for shockingly plain, erroneous thinking in the New Testament.
Even BBC’s phrase “European explorers” is biased against the-objective-truth: European colonists were under the governance of colonizers. This is minor evidence that modern Europeans cannot imagine the-objective-truth of the American Revolution: It was the oppressed at war with the oppressor, and liberating the black slaves placed here by the colonizers was the intention of some European colonists. The 1720-1765 American literature is replete with the arguments, including that once liberated, the colonists must free the slaves. The 1787, draft constitution had wording that anticipated emancipation of the black slaves—is not a slavery document.
Ministers in the South honestly argued “the God of sin” view, and many believers were gullible to the ostensible God’s word. Together, we may weep over the misguided fervor against abolitionists expressed by Robert E. Lee in a letter to his wife. See the following:
“The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, socially & physically. The painful discipline they are undergoing, is necessary for their instruction as a race, & I hope will prepare & lead them to better things. How long their subjugation may be necessary is Known & ordered by a wise & merciful Providence. Their emancipation will sooner result from the mild & melting influence of Christianity, than the storms & tempests of fiery Controversy. This influence though slow is sure. The doctrines & miracles of our Saviour have required nearly two thousand years to Convert but a small part of the human race, & even Christian nations, what gross errors still exist!” See http://leefamilyarchive.org/9-family-papers/339-robert-e-lee-to-mary-anna-randolph-custis-lee-1856-december-27.
However, ministers, with utmost hubris, overlook the insufficiency of honesty. What church members need is integrity. Literature based on mysticism that is disproved by the-objective-truth has no integrity. People who attempt to apply such honesty in daily living lose in the encounter with the integrity of civic citizens, who regard theism or none as a private matter.
I have no idea if Lee was involved, but the declaration of secession listed complaints then concluded “Sectional interest and animosity will deepen the irritation, and all hope of remedy is rendered vain, by the fact that public opinion at the North has invested a great political error with the sanction of more erroneous religious belief.” See http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_scarsec.asp. The military facts as well as the evil of slavery suggest that both the CSA was erroneous and the Bible is erroneous. So, gabe’s erroneous claim was shared by the authors of the secession, yet that agreement may not represent the-objective-truth: Perhaps secessionists were victims of Constantine’s order for a Christian Bible.
Fourth, there’s the question of theism’s harm to America. Since 1790, American demographics have changed from 99% of free citizens as factional Protestants and only 5% of them able to vote to 2017, with nearly 25% non-theists, 20% Catholics; 100% of non-felons may vote. See pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/.
Racial theism remains a divisive force. Some blacks think the Bible teaches that the Word came from Africa; God is black (instead of the indigenous argument that God is red); and the only way non-blacks can save their souls is to help black Americans reign supreme. I view this thinking as error, not sin. But more importantly, I view the fact that when Constantine ordered the Church to canonize a Bible, the Church erred to include passages that condone slavery. See deism.com/bibleorigins.htm. Civic citizens of the USA may end the burden of theism by assigning it to its proper place: The privacy of each individual’s heart and mind and not a consideration in civic morality.
In summary, gabe, whether that be AI, a group, or a person, seems to be a slave to an honest yet erroneous keyboard. What this forum has the opportunity to seek is integrity in civic collaboration so as to understand the-objective-truth. Albert Einstein’s 1941 example is, in my paraphrase: civic citizens do not lie.
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.
