Alien-elites, domestic& foreign, want U.S. civic-citizens to stonewall each other

 Phil Beaver seeks to collaborate on the-objective-truth, which can only be discovered. The comment box below invites readers to write.

"Civic" refers to citizens who collaborate for individual happiness with civic integrity more than for the city, state, nation, or society.

Consider writing a personal paraphrase of the preamble, which offers fellow citizens mutual appreciation:  For discussion, I convert the preamble’s predicate phrases to nouns and paraphrase it for my interpretation of its proposal as follows We the People of the United States proffer & practice 5 public disciplines —- integrity, justice, safety, strength, and prosperity, “in order to” encourage & facilitate responsible-human-independence “to ourselves and our Posterity”. I want to improve my interpretation by listening to other citizens and their interpretations yet would preserve the original, 1787, text, unless it is amended by the people.

It seems the Supreme Court occasionally refers to it, and no one has challenged whether or not the preamble is a legal statement. The fact that it changed this independent country from a confederation of states to a union of states deliberately managed by disciplined fellow citizens convinces me the preamble is legal. Equity in opportunity and outcome is shared by the people who collaborate for human justice.

Every citizen has equal opportunity to either trust-in and collaborate-on the goals stated in the preamble or be dissident to the agreement. I think 2/3 of citizens try somewhat to use the preamble but many do not articulate commitment to the goals. However, it seems less than 2/3 understand that “posterity” implies grandchildren. “Freedom of religion,” which fellow citizens have no means to discipline, oppresses freedom to develop integrity.

Selected theme from this week

Alien-elites, domestic& foreign, want U.S. civic-citizens to stonewall each other

My 80^th year is underway, and it seems plain to me that the adage, don’t talk religion or politics, is anathema to happiness. Religion prevents personal safety and politics picks people’s pockets.

Elites who are alien to comprehensive-safety& security do all they can to keep civic-citizens from collaborating to practice, facilitate, and encourage responsible-human-independence (RHI) “to ourselves and our Posterity”, quoting the preamble to the U.S. Constitution.

My late-life discovery is made possible by 5 weekly discussions with different groups. We break the conversation rules and attract bystanders who overhear the goodwill and RHI.

I do not intend to accommodate clergy and politicians who want civic-citizens to censor each other from two vital topics: religion and politics. I hope many people like this message.

The first action we can& must take is to amend the First Amendment to:  “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or [promoting] the free exercise thereof”. Until this is done, divergent-chaos will march on.

Quora

Facebook

facebook.com/melanieyanyan.zamora/posts/837710550528924?

We live in the best of times.

I share my research& thoughts because parents are needed to provide for wondrous children. Children are born to manage a time we cannot imagine. That is the story in every generation.

The Internet helps me research the reality of the past. For example, I just downloaded a book from Mencius, died 289 BC. I read about him in The Epoch Times, a weakly newspaper.

Mencius rather than John Locke, died 1704, is the first political philosopher who suggested responsible-human-independence (RHI). Anglo-American scholars bemuse, me with "classical liberalism". Also, Locke-scholars conflate fiscal conservatism with Christian tradition: God's rights rather than human responsibilities.

Genesis 1:28, Sumerian political philosophy, reported by Hebrew scholars, suggests that humankind is solely responsible for comprehensive-safety& security on earth.

We are living the transition from dependency-on-what-we-are-told to appreciation of political-awareness: awareness to develop comprehensive-safety& security to people in the U.S. if not on earth.

In other words, it is good to talk about politics and religion rather than stonewall loved ones and neighbors. The 1787 U.S. Constitution hinges on an informed public.

The elites -- the alien citizens with political power -- want civic-citizens, We the People of the United States, to stonewall each other. They'll pick our pockets as we wait an eternity for "my-God, a powerful God" to save us. My God -- Phil Beaver's God -- gives me comfort but cannot contradict the Genesis 1:28 responsibility He assigned me. For all I know, my God is the metaphysical Jesus. And maybe it's the laws of physics. And maybe it's God. I don't know.

Thank you, Melanie, for touching my heart as well as my mind.

 

facebook.com/phil.beaver.52/ August 14, 2022

Believers can& may accept, rather than doubt, 3 mysteries: God’s love, Jesus’ peace, and soul salvation, in order to free their person to practice, facilitate, and encourage responsible-human-independence (RHI). Jesus’ metaphysical claim, “before Abraham was born I am”, advocates Genesis 1:28’s abstract message: no entity can or will usurp humankind’s opportunity to pursue comprehensive safety& security on earth. Citizens who want RHI may constrain fellow-citizens who prefer dependency.

This is to expand the underlying story to my August 12, abstract post. Below, I share ties from my family& friends to the Genesis 1:28, RHI message and to my claim that it is essential for fellow-citizens to transparently, happily discuss religion and politics. For the detailed point I felt asked to share, skip 4 sections and go to the last 4 paragraphs.

First, for decades, I have known that I am one of the most serious religious students in these parts. In 1994, I officially resigned from the Baptist brotherhood (you tell me how that’s done) over being accused of heresy by at least 3 amateur human-beings.

I soon realized I had resigned from Christianity. I had resigned to study with my Catholic-family-aid and discover Phil Beaver. Also, my articulations appealed to both reliable Cleve Wright (younger, Christian, new friend) and war-veteran Hugh Finklea (a decade older than me, avowed atheist, and long-time friend). When I arrived at a hotel with reservations made by Cleve, the hotel valet said, “Welcome, Rev-Dr. Beaver.” Hugh, is a wordsmith and dapper dresser. He knows atheism is a leap of faith I cannot take.

Second, last October 17 -- 2021, I had been writing about the-ineluctable-truth for a couple years. “Ineluctable” means “not to be avoided, changed, or resisted”. It modifies “truth” to precision, accuracy, and depth: clergypersons, politicians, judges, media-writers, and some journalists fear “ineluctable”. Academicians hid it since 1550 and used it for “the ineluctable truth” since 1906. Pride in “truth” deludes writers to escape the-ineluctable-truth.

Also, I had discovered my interpretation of Genesis 1:28: female& male human-being is solely responsible for comprehensive-safety& security on earth. The Sumerians who practiced the political philosophy expressed in Genesis 1:28 suggest to me responsible-human-independence (RHI). The 1787 U.S. Constitution proffers an improvement, in that its code of law does not incapacitate offenders in “eye for eye” legislation.

Concerned about current, wide-spread public resistance to Christianity, I returned to UBC to share with friends my message, “There’s more to gain from Jesus’ metaphysical civic-integrity than from his body& blood.” The senior pastor sent me to a Sunday school class, and 6 months later, I remain their vagabond, in order to attend another class. I am learning rapidly from the 2 classes, the sermons, and friendships as well as from family& friends.

People who care, know that I am neither Baptist nor Christian and am an advocate for the practical Jesus, metaphysical as that may be. I can demonstrate that Bible-common-sense suggests (cannot prove) Jesus is the author of Genesis 1:28. That might suggest that Jesus is the-High-God. I prefer to-speculate that the-laws-of-physics constrains the consequence of each human choice& action and to-think that the-High-God requires Phil Beaver to express himself. Since I don’t know the-ineluctable-truth, people expressing their opinion grants my chance to learn.

Third, “Person” from my August 12 post, convinced me that church need not cause me angst: I can enjoy what I like and happily accommodate what I dislike unless appreciative-caution is necessary. Person treats our conversation the same way. For example, he happily perceives that “the-High-God” keeps debaters from hubris about their personal or doctrinal-God: it’s use reserves hopefully-sufficient humility. Perceiving does not imply believing. Friendship is what’s important.

Fourth, unidentified participants in the August 12 discussion are separately established friends who also mutually enjoy dialogue with Person; that is, they perceive that August 12th dialogue addresses their contemporary concerns& pursuits. None of the group claims higher opinion. Each is, therefore, able to discuss the facts, unknown as actual-reality may be. Each politics and religion is pervasive in their lives: therefore, they relish the topics. (Consequently, a few people at nearby tables listen and want to get involved. None has joined, so far, beyond anecdotal participation.)

Fifth, the August 12 meeting started at 9:30 AM and when Person departed at 12:45 PM, the discussion moved to lunch. After some other precious conversation, the lunch dialogue returned to the earlier discussion and ended with the RHI conclusion. One party asked me to write up a summary for FB publication. I wrote from my notes taken with Person, which excluded the lunch discussion. So, below is what I think I should write to share the August 12 message.

Preface: the practical Jesus has metaphysically appealed to me all my life. But I have erroneously tried to constrain Jesus with Bible-interpretation-correctness instead of Person-like-common-sense. Person does not constrain my common sense, rather encourages me to self-reliance in civic-integrity. But there may be tension, when Person seems a believer in all he has gleaned from the Bible-common-sense. Before lunch, we prepared to relieve that tension. I expressed my comfort with mystery, and felt I had affirmation from Person before he departed. Only later did I close the discussion, the closure, comprehensive-safety& security and the role of open discussion including politics and religion, is the point of the story. So here it is, complete.

Detailed message: Judeo-Christianity redirects Sumerian political philosophy -- from polytheism with human-being solely responsible for comprehensive-safety& security on earth or RHI to theism, wherein the-High-God controls everything. However, tribes prefer to develop their-God. Some 5,000 years’ history since Sumer suggests that theism generates chaos, dividing humankind, separating theists, developing sects, and isolating believers with their personal-interpretations of doctrinal beliefs. Believers in Abrahamic theisms account for a conflicted 55% of the worlds’ inhabitants.

The typical female& male family wants& needs comprehensive-safety& security so that they can& may reliably pursue the happiness the family perceives rather than submit to someone else’s vision to their family. Religious believers are not excluded from the necessity& justice to safety. With 55% of inhabitants (Abrahamic believers) involved, it can be done. How can believers accomplish it? They can promote Jesus’ civic advice; for example, his response to the proposition for a man to divorce his wife is, “a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh”. Christian-believers can& may accept (never doubt) each, God’s love, Jesus’ peace, and their soul’s salvations, in order to free their person to practice, facilitate, and encourage RHI. Atheists who delude themselves that minority status excludes duty to comprehensive-safety& security may realize that Genesis 1:28s RHI was expressed before Abraham was born, and thus before Israel and certainly before Christianity. To entreat Jesus to usurp humankind’s responsibility seems arrogant.

Not all believers will trust God’s love, Jesus’ peace, and soul salvation. Some believers adopted judging themselves, or Holy Spirit, or Satan, and, consequently, try to satisfy mysteries. Even if communities stop inculcating mysteries, unknowns linger. Therefore, I seek to involve 2/3 of inhabitants to aid RHI. They’ll be enough to motivate the ¾ Congressional representative needed to amend the U.S. Constitution.

It is essential to amend the First Amendment’s Congressional-religion constraint from not “preventing” to not “promoting”. Widespread comprehension of Jesus’ civic lessons and extrapolation to modern issues can help establish RHI, at least in the USA. Beliefs in soul salvation need not be sacrificed.

 

Phil Beaver does not “know.” He trusts in and is committed to the-objective-truth which can only be discovered. Conventional wisdom has truth founded on reason, but it obviously does not work.

Phil is agent for A Civic People of the United States, a Louisiana, education non-profit corporation. See online at promotethepreamble.blogspot.com, and consider essays from the latest and going back as far as you like.

 

Independence rather than liberty

 Phil Beaver seeks to collaborate on the-objective-truth, which can only be discovered. The comment box below invites readers to write.

"Civic" refers to citizens who collaborate for individual happiness with civic integrity more than for the city, state, nation, or society.

Consider writing a personal paraphrase of the preamble, which offers fellow citizens mutual appreciation:  For discussion, I convert the preamble’s predicate phrases to nouns and paraphrase it for my interpretation of its proposal as follows We the People of the United States proffer & practice 5 public disciplines —- integrity, justice, safety, strength, and prosperity, “in order to” encourage & facilitate responsible-human-independence “to ourselves and our Posterity”. I want to improve my interpretation by listening to other citizens and their interpretations yet would preserve the original, 1787, text, unless it is amended by the people.

It seems the Supreme Court occasionally refers to it, and no one has challenged whether or not the preamble is a legal statement. The fact that it changed this independent country from a confederation of states to a union of states deliberately managed by disciplined fellow citizens convinces me the preamble is legal. Equity in opportunity and outcome is shared by the people who collaborate for human justice.

Every citizen has equal opportunity to either trust-in and collaborate-on the goals stated in the preamble or be dissident to the agreement. I think 2/3 of citizens try somewhat to use the preamble but many do not articulate commitment to the goals. However, it seems less than 2/3 understand that “posterity” implies grandchildren. “Freedom of religion,” which fellow citizens have no means to discipline, oppresses freedom to develop integrity.

Selected theme from this week

Independence rather than liberty

Lots of people are objecting to the Democrat Party taking away their liberties. Liberty is granted by the winner of war or the mob that municipalities use to repress civic citizens, flash-rob stores, and ransack police stations.

The 1787 U.S. Constitution proffers a culture of responsible-human-independence (RHI). The civic faction of We the People of the United States can& may reform to RHI instead of Congressional freedom of religion and Anglo-American tradition.

The first step is to revise the First Amendment’s religion clauses to “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or [promoting] the free exercise thereof.” “prevention”.

Quora

quora.com/Is-freedom-of-speech-more-accurately-described-as-allowed-and-not-allowed-communication? by Graham C Lindsay

I like “expression” from Article 1, Section 7, of my state’s constitution (Louisiana):

7. Freedom of Expression

Section 7. No law shall curtail or restrain the freedom of speech or of the press. Every person may speak, write, and publish his sentiments on any subject, but is responsible for abuse of that freedom.

The Louisiana constitutional debates are discussed at ebrary.net/114834/economics/freedom_intrusion.

When an expression causes harm, the law addresses the harm done, and the speaker may be indicted, tried, and convicted on statutory law rather than the expression. For example, if someone believes in poisonous snake handling and a child is orphaned as a consequence, non-snake handling grandparents might be favored in custody deliberations.

quora.com/In-your-own-words-how-can-a-person-refuse-responsibility-for-their-actions-or-decisions-and-justify-such-refusal? by quora

The demands on each person to develop their human being are made plain by their experiences& observations. Comprehensive safety& security to themselves is a transparent self-interest.

What’s required is the civic-integrity of responsible-human-independence (RHI). The-laws-of-physics-and-its-progeny (physics) impose on each person necessity& justice.

The human-being is self-reliant in assuring that they neither cause nor accommodate harm to-or-from another person or association. The infants who develop self-reliant RHI become civic-citizens, where “civic” expresses reliability in life’s connections and transitions more than conformity to civil rules.

It takes a quarter century for the typical infant to complete the wisdom-building parts of their brain. Atypically, some persons require assistance.

Adolescents accumulate choices that direct their adulthood unto either RHI, or reformable dependency, or irremediable wickedness. Common dependencies include religious-arrogance, indolence, crime, despotism, tyranny, and evil. Each person has a unique path to individual maturity and may or may not achieve their perfection.

Physics’ variability demands that civic-citizens constrain dependent fellow-citizens, in order to facilitate opportunity to each person. Therefore, in addition to responsibly pursuing the happiness they prefer, they maintain safety& security to everyone:  They observe the rule of law and pay taxes for both enforcement and research toward statutory-justice.

A culture of RHI is proffered in the 1787 U.S. Constitution. It was repressed to Anglo-American tradition by the 1789 Congress. English tradition is codified in the 1791 Bill of Rights to mimic the 1689 English Bill of Rights. The civic-people of the U.S., We the People of the United States can& may reform Congress.

U.S. civic-citizens can restore U.S. RHI. The first needed action is to amend the First Amendment. I suggest: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or [promoting] the free exercise thereof”, or better. Second, every Education Department must be reformed to inculcate modern U.S. RHI to our youth and adults.

The 1787 U.S. RHI-culture is an improvement on the codes of law that were developed by the Sumerians between 10 thousand and 4 thousand years ago. Those codes took eye for eye, thereby making some reformable fellow-citizens permanently disabled.

Human-beings cannot deny self-interest to provide comprehensive safety& security in their ways of living.

quora.com/unanswered/What-is-the-relationship-between-culture-and-irony? by quora

Culture expresses everyday existence, usually local yet it can refer to humankind on earth. In this application, I think “irony” refers to loss& misery accommodated by the individuals who live the culture.

About 5,500 years ago, Sumerian kings successively improved law codes to accept that many fellow-citizens collaborate for safety& security on earth. The Gods took care of their realm but could not and therefore would not pursue order& prosperity to life on earth. The codes took care of people who need assistance, like widows and orphans. It severely punished dependents: slackers, criminals, despots, and such. Many people now recognize that dependents must be constrained for reform rather than severe punishment, yet some dependents will not reform.

Providing safety& security requires the work to enforce the law codes and to continually discover injustices and revise statutory justice. Therefore, a civic-citizen must earn the cost of their responsible pursuit of happiness as well as the taxes to pursue mutually comprehensive safety& security. The modern civic-citizen practices, facilitates& encourages responsible-human-independence (RHI).

Among the dependents are elite people who continually bemuse gullible people to think a higher power will usurp their individual responsibility for safety& security. An effective strategy is for elite politicians to partner with the clergy to divide the people over beliefs in personal-Gods. For example, people read the Bible, believing that if they master its interpretation they will enjoy the kingdom of their-God, neglecting sufficient humility toward the-High-God, whatever it is.

I think the-High-God is whatever constrains the consequences of human choices& actions. Experiences& observations since the Sumerians suggest that the-laws-of-physics empower humankind to pursue safety& security on earth.

The irony is that most people are waiting for their personal-God or their government to provide safety& security: to usurp their self-interest. By individually& collectively accepting RHI, we can begin to facilitate an achievable better future in the U.S. Ironically, such a culture is proffered by the repressed 1787 U.S. Constitution.

quora.com/Considering-the-sources-presented-what-is-the-best-way-to-establish-a-civic-nation-inclusion-rights-values-beliefs? by Maxime Sauvaget

I received the question: Is humanity a moral value?

Merriam-Webster online says the first “humanity” usage is: “compassionate, sympathetic, or generous behavior or disposition”, and the fourth is ” the totality of human beings”. Usage for “moral” is “of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior”.

According to Genesis 1:28, a Sumerian political philosophy, humankind is responsible for order& prosperity to life on earth. It calls for necessity& justice, more than compassion, sympathy, and generosity.

Some people hope for a utopia wherein people can be dependent and receive compassion, sympathy, and generosity. However, history proves that facilitating dependency enslaves the dependent. Enslavement is bad behavior.

It seems that humanity as a moral value requires dependency-constraint, in order to facilitate reform to the dependent. The disabled must be helped until they achieve their unique independence.

quora.com/unanswered/What-is-intellectual-liberation-How-do-you-get-there? by Saif H.

The tandem question is, “What is intellectual liberation? How do you get there?” I want to answer and add consideration of independence.

Merriam-Webster usage for “liberation” is “the act of liberating : the state of being liberated”. Adding the modifier “intellectual” lessens the impact of “liberation”, because free-thought can be ineffectual. There must be action.

To achieve intellectual liberation, one must study the topic enough to either earn an opinion about it or know the ineluctable evidence that resolves the issue. For example, people often remark about the sunrise, and some people note that it’s not a rising by the sun but an un-hiding by the earth’s rotation on its axis at 1,000 miles per hour. On the other hand, no one can resolve the mystery of soul.

In both of my illustrations, the intellectually free person understands my arguments and owns their response I would not refute.

A second consideration is psychological liberation. I seek improvements on my view of both sunrise and soul and listen to responses to consider them. In other words, I welcome comments from others. That’s because I am psychologically independent of other opinion and therefore hear the opinion hoping to learn from the other party.

I think independence is an original human condition. The transition from infant to child and beyond involves declining dependency on care takers. Between adolescence and young adulthood, the person can& may acquire the comprehension& intention to live independently. Without practice, facilitation, and encouragement from caretakers, the person might not accept& develop independence. Fortunate is the person who achieves civic independence on their own. “Civic” refers to reliability in human connections. Both parties can be civic yet responsibly pursue their personal perception of happiness.

Unfortunately, no civilization inculcates the above principles in their youth or to their adults. Consequently, there’s widespread confusion& conflict over how to constrain dependent fellow-citizens such as despots. I write to urge Education Departments to promote childhood transition to the civic-integrity that is needed to practice, facilitate, and encourage responsible-human-independence (RHI).

RHI is acquired by the person who considers possibility for harm to or from any person (including self) if a planned action is taken. If harm is envisioned, the person does every responsible thing they can to prevent it. The first option is to take no action if there is no necessity. If justice demands action, take every precaution to prevent or lessen harm. In an emergency, apply the knowledge gained by habitual pursuit of safety& security on earth.

I discussed intellectual liberation then added RHI and suggested how to accomplish it. I hope the suggestions help.

quora.com/Is-nationalism-most-associated-with-the-ideals-of-a-limited-government? by Stef Lynn

Maybe so, depending on many word usages, beginning with “limited”.

Without your modification, “nationalism” does not seem positive. See for example, merriam-webster. com’s “loyalty and devotion to a nation” and “a nationalist movement or government”. Wikipedia’s article “Nationalism” addresses movement, and the first paragraph introduces many issues, which can be positively practiced.

Let me disconnect from these conventions and construct a positive view of “nationalism” as pursuit of civic-integrity rather than as loyalty or love-of a constrained people. This is the reason I view “limited” a critical condition for “Yes” to your question.

I think Genesis 1:28 expresses a six-thousand-year-old-Sumerian political philosophy we can improve: the Gods cannot and therefore will not provide safety& security on earth. Necessity& justice require humankind to pursue statutory justice. When a people perceive this way of living in self-interest, they are self-constrained in responsible pursuit of the happiness they perceive rather than subjugated to another’s vision for them.

This philosophy accepts that most human beings can& will choose civic-integrity and value safety& security enough to earn not only the life style that responsibly accommodates the happiness they want but to pay the taxes needed for infrastructure. Infrastructure includes maintaining a constitution, the rule of written law, and funding the research needed to continually improve statutory justice. The civic-citizen prepares to supply wanted goods and services, in order to fulfill their income needs.

Statutory justice is required. The human individual has the power to accommodate, even nourish, chaos in their way of living and thereby risk harm to fellow-citizens. Some choose dependency. Dependencies include exclusive religious beliefs, indolence, crime, tyranny, and evil. Civic-citizens can& may fund constraints that facilitate and encourage dependent fellow-citizens to reform. Sumerian legal codes called for “eye for eye”, which disabled the convicted citizen, lessening reform chances. We can do better.

I hope my considerations, so far, suggested that human-beings divide themselves according to the way of living they pursue: most tend toward civic-integrity and a few pursue a dependency. The proportion of civic-citizens is increased by a culture of civic-integrity. I call it responsible-human-independence (RHI).

Nations likewise divide themselves: some pursue safety& security to the living species and to the earth, as in Genesis 1:28. Others are warring nations, preferring aggression rather than equitable trade with other peoples. Aggressive nation-states are at war with their citizens.

Since the Sumerian civilization, many political philosophies have been invented, but none has pursued the improvements on Sumerian political philosophy described above. However, one nation proposed RHI: the 1787 USA.

The 1787 U.S. Constitution proposes a republic that deliberately pursues RHI rather than social democracy. As specified the civic-people pursue statutory justice by amending the Constitution. It prevents democracy through laws governing how offices in three branches of national government are filled and by reserving to the states powers the civic-people do not assign to the nation. The intentions to statutory justice are stated in the preamble: civic-citizens practice, facilitate, and encourage 5 public disciplines – integrity, justice, safety, strength, and prosperity, “in order to” pursue RHI “to ourselves and our Posterity”. There is neither religious discipline nor standards of achievement, leaving statutory justice perpetually attainable.

These intentions can& may be restored, starting with amendment of the First Amendment to, I suggest, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or [promoting] the free exercise thereof”. This change would clarify the Genesis 1:28 Sumerian claim: humankind is independently charged with safety& security to life on earth. It would clarify that We the People of the United States is not a totalitarian title. Only citizens who commit to comprehensive, mutual safety& security own that title.

The U.S., limited by the preamble’s stated intentions, would be worthy of loyalty by every citizen, both those who perform and those who may reform.

Facebook

facebook.com/phil.beaver.52/ August 12, 2022

At age 79, my life has been ruined for a long time. Yet I feel I am the luckiest man alive: I have never stopped trust-in and commitment-to lessons Jesus volunteered, mysterious as they may seem.

With my wonderful-for-me-wife almost paralyzed -- in “the late stages” of PSP, progressive supra-nuclear palsy, our daughters never seem-to face more-than-each-can-handle. I recognize& appreciate their persons& practices.

Stay with me.

I know a Southern Baptist and Christian, call him “Person”. Person affirms, in daily living but not articulation, the message I perceive in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Divinity School Address”, 1838. In my Emerson-expression, Jesus taught responsible-human-independence (RHI).

Person says Bible readers can& may apply common sense (Person’s phrase doesn’t suggest our friend Thomas Paine).

Yesterday, a discussion member mentioned Jesus was aggressive (e.g., turning tables over when vendors abused the temple). Person commented, “I prefer to turn the other cheek”, then reviewed Genesis 26’s Isaac, successively moving and digging water-wells neighboring tribes later claimed. After a fourth relocation, Isaac’s tribe found accepting neighbors. I think the point is, Person finds a peacemaker is always available.

Since Isaac’s is an Old Testament story, it is not definitively Jesus’ message. However, Jesus asserted the mystery, “Before Abraham was born, I am.” I speculate Jesus meant: The peace I advocate is available to patient people. Person attests to this principle, citing patience in hiring tree-service after strong winds.

Stay with our discussion group:

A member begged the question, “Was Jesus a Christian?” Person added, “Was the-High-God a Christian?”, then, “You can detect Christians by their-appreciative-living you may perceive.” That implies that Jesus was the-High-God, a term we mutual friends use to avoid pride-in personal-Gods.

I asked Person a compound question: “Do you, Person, accept three mysteries -- the-High-God’s love for you, Jesus’ peace to you, and salvation to your soul -- regardless of your actions?”

Person responded, “I need to think about it”, and paused. “I make-mistakes and sin. Therefore, I am reluctant to say.”

I responded, “I think you answered, ‘Yes’.”

Person responded, “I accept that you think so.”

I am glad I talk with mutual friends.

Here’s the evolutionary point:

The divisive adage, “Never talk religion and politics” is to be avoided like a pandemic. Friendship takes practice, facilitation, and courage. The rewards are profound.

 

Phil Beaver does not “know.” He trusts in and is committed to the-objective-truth which can only be discovered. Conventional wisdom has truth founded on reason, but it obviously does not work.

Phil is agent for A Civic People of the United States, a Louisiana, education non-profit corporation. See online at promotethepreamble.blogspot.com, and consider essays from the latest and going back as far as you like.

U.S. cultural dependency

 Phil Beaver seeks to collaborate on the-objective-truth, which can only be discovered. The comment box below invites readers to write.

"Civic" refers to citizens who collaborate for individual happiness with civic integrity more than for the city, state, nation, or society.

Consider writing a personal paraphrase of the preamble, which offers fellow citizens mutual appreciation:  For discussion, I convert the preamble’s predicate phrases to nouns and paraphrase it for my interpretation of its proposal as follows We the People of the United States proffer & practice 5 public disciplines —- integrity, justice, safety, strength, and prosperity, “in order to” encourage & facilitate responsible-human-independence “to ourselves and our Posterity”. I want to improve my interpretation by listening to other citizens and their interpretations yet would preserve the original, 1787, text, unless it is amended by the people.

It seems the Supreme Court occasionally refers to it, and no one has challenged whether or not the preamble is a legal statement. The fact that it changed this independent country from a confederation of states to a union of states deliberately managed by disciplined fellow citizens convinces me the preamble is legal. Equity in opportunity and outcome is shared by the people who collaborate for human justice.

Every citizen has equal opportunity to either trust-in and collaborate-on the goals stated in the preamble or be dissident to the agreement. I think 2/3 of citizens try somewhat to use the preamble but many do not articulate commitment to the goals. However, it seems less than 2/3 understand that “posterity” implies grandchildren. “Freedom of religion,” which fellow citizens have no means to discipline, oppresses freedom to develop integrity.

Selected theme from two weeks

Dependency

For the past 6,000 years, civilizations have inculcated in their youth pursuit of a higher power to assure safety& security to “ourselves and our Posterity”. Civil elites persuade civic-citizens to depend upon a higher power to provide personal safety& security. Dependencies include religious beliefs, indolence, crime, tyranny, and evil.

It takes a quarter century for an infant to transition to young adult in pursuit of the happiness they may or may not perceive. Existing Education Departments turn children with good intentions into fierce competitors and cheats. Typically, a person’s middle 2 quarter centuries are spent trying to gain advantage over fellow citizens. As a consequence, most civic-citizens struggle for survival while elites enjoy lifestyles on par with most Congresspersons and federal administrators.

The U.S. propaganda pattern was expressed in the 1960s in Bob Dylan’s song “With God on Our Side”. God will be on our side when we accept the suggestion in Genesis 1:28: humankind can& may independently pursue safety& security to life on earth. That humankind can fullfill Dylan's hope, "stop the next war".

The chaos the U.S. is experiencing under the Biden administration is offering “ourselves” a scarcely perceived, partisan well-being, by dooming “our Posterity”s future. We, the civic-citizens, that is We the People of the United States can stop the tyranny.

Quora

quora.com/What-societal-problem-would-you-like-to-solve? by Andres

I received the question: “If you could fix just one problem in society, what would it be?” I appreciate Andres’ creativity.

I would establish a culture that constrains dependency. I’d do it by reforming Education Departments to aid each child and adult to develop their unique human-being.

So far, humankind has evolved into accommodating elites who continually construct new ways to persuade most people to accept dependency instead of collaborating for responsible-human-independence (RHI). Diabolically, the elites keep moving the political philosophy so as to entrap most people. When 2/3 of inhabitants stop participating, an achievable better future will emerge.

RHI was suggested by the succession of Sumerian kings, elites who reigned in part of Mesopotamia about 5500 years ago. They thought their Gods ruled the unseen but not the earth, so the kings devised politics in order to manage collaborative slaves, workers, artisans, and administrators. The civic collaborators constrained the dependents, practicing the worlds’ first law codes. Dependencies included indolence, crime, and evil. The human duty was order and prosperity on earth.

Once monotheism dominated political philosophy, chaos ensued and became divergent. For example, today there are about 45,000 Christian sects.

Humankind has exponentially researched physics and its progeny such as biology and psychology, and in 2022, a person can be equipped with a technological arm they can operate with their mind, even when it is detached; thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/perth-kinross/1116107/feature-i-could-see-my-arm-detached-from-my-body-recalls-military-amputee-and-cateran-yomp-2020-ambassador-andy-garthwaite/.

Yet no elite has had the motivation to reform Education Departments in-order-to aid each person’s quarter-century transition from feral infant to young adult, with the comprehension and intention to live a complete human lifetime. By “complete” I mean not only reaching chronological maturity but attaining psychological maturity – independence from both internal and external constraints.

In a RHI culture, from age about 3-7, the individual behaves with civic-integrity yet responsibly pursues the happiness they perceive in every decade of their lives. Maturity is achieved when they never repeat an error, where error entails either cause or accommodation of harm to-or-from another individual.

Dependency occurs when the person lives in habitual error, never accepting the self-interest of the civic-integrity that is needed for RHI.

quora.com/Is-society-rejecting-postmodernism? by Nobody

“Postmodernism is a movement that focuses on the reality of the individual, denies statements that claim to be true for all people and is often expressed in a pared-down style in arts, literature and culture. An example of a thought of postmodernism is the idea that not all people would see stealing as negative.”

I think postmodernism is losing to civic-integrity. Totalitarianism and utopia are losing to appreciation of unique opportunity to develop a human-being: one’s person.

Most considerate people perceive that responsible-human-independence (RHI) is in their self-interest. And many are overcoming civil-fear, in order to transparently practice, facilitate, and encourage republicanism instead of democracy: the-rule-of-statutory-justice instead of social-chaos.

As soon as 2/3 of inhabitants are participating in a RHI-culture, an achievable better future can& may emerge.  

 quora.com/unanswered/What-is-the-history-of-the-idea-of-self-reliance? by anonymous

I don’t know.

It’s best to search with the hyphen: “self-reliance”. There are similar thoughts: self-assurance, self-knowledge, and self-respect, for examples.

Searching “self-reliance” at plato.stanford.edu yields 1673 documents. The 11^th one is the “Ralph Waldo Emerson” article, citing 1841 publication.

The Google ngram-viewer shows occasional usages in 1500 to 1800 with a “self-respect” spike in 1585. Both “self-respect” and “self-reliance” have similar usage from 1820 until now.

Adding “trust” and “faith” to the ngram drives both “self-reliance” and “self-respect” to zero relative frequency. “Faith” peaks in 1631, drops 10 fold by 1725 and competes with “trust” to about half the 1725-frequency today.

I read Emerson’s essay as a boy and it helped me ever since. Unfortunately my self-reliance was suppressed by fear derived from listening for approval from others. My life improved when I started listening to my wife yet maintaining personal self-reliance.

quora.com/Does-the-US-need-an-equal-rights-amendment/answer/Phil-Beaver-1? Reply to Eric

Consider the original compound sentence:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The grammar conveys subject, intention, action, and object. The citizens who agree to six intentions — form, establish, insure, provide-for, promote, and secure, “ordain and establish” the Constitution.

On acceptance/denial of both 1) the preamble’s 6 disciplines and 2) aiding the Constitution, inhabitants divide themselves. Civic-citizens maintain statutory justice and constrain dissidents.

Notice that the religion is excluded from the disciplines. That’s because to be civilly religious is a private rather than public choice. Legislation addresses the disciplines, leaving religious accommodation to the individual. That is, the individual cannot employ religion to avoid, change, or resist the law.

Note also, that there are no standards for the 6 disciplines. The current generation can& may amend the Constitution so as to develop statutory justice that might be constrained by legal tradition.

For example, the religion clauses in the First Amendment unconstitutionally grants Congress freedom of religion at the expense of civic-citizens. A 75% majority can& should amend the First Amendment to: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or [promoting] the free exercise thereof.

This would eliminate Congress’s freedom to impose, for example, Catholic doctrine on statutory justice. Congress itself can& may effect this reform. The impact on U.S. citizens would be far reaching. For example, fellow citizen and Justice Samuel Alito’s Roe v Wade victory for the Catholic Church could be reversed with alacrity.

 

quora.com/How-is-equal-opportunity-measured? by Samuel Waltner

The person who takes responsibility for their way of living claims the opportunity they are due. The laws of physics and its progeny as well as violence by a person or institution can deny success.

The viable ovum has shockingly low chance of encountering a virile spermatozoon.

The fertilized ovum has low chance of attachment to the womb. She/he is fortunate of their unique chromosome pairing promises viable development.

The delivered baby has its innate limitations and is further constrained by the distinct ignorance’s of her/his caretakers and community.

The child is constrained by the Education Departments that oversee the psychology they would impose on the child and by the happiness-images the media impose on the public.

The young adult is constrained by the jobs the global market and their nation choose to impose on the current workforce.

Rare is the person whose early experiences& observations instructed them that they live in a confused& conflicted world and that if they don’t take charge to responsibly develop their person’s self-interest, they will live and die an adolescent rather than achieve their person’s psychological maturity – independence from both internal and external constraints. I call this condition responsible-human-independence (RHI) with civic-integrity. That is, mutual RHI among civic-citizens.

Not every child will discover& accept RHI and develop civic-integrity. Some chose dependency, such as arrogant-religion, indolence, crime, tyranny, and evil. The civic-citizens can& may establish statutory-justice, in order to constrain dependent fellow-citizens.

This is not a new political philosophy. It is expressed abstractly in Genesis 1:26-28, wherein Hebrew scholars interpret the political philosophy suggested by the Sumerian civilization. Sumer developed between 10,000 years ago and 4,000 years ago. Their kingdoms were polytheistic and perceived that their Gods either couldn’t or wouldn’t provide order& prosperity on earth so Sumerians must.

Monotheism ushered in, and David imagined modifying the Genesis-RHI suggestion to Judah’s God in Psalm 8. The Christian churches canonized various Father, Son, and Holy Ghost mysteries in order to compete. They were so competitive they created opposing monotheisms.

These 2 thousand years later, experiencing divergent-chaos, civic-citizens can& may decide to accept the mysteries they are accustomed to or none. Those who believe in salvation of the soul can accept its mystery, in order to pursue safety& security on earth and into space. It seems ineluctably evident that neither God nor government can usurp the human responsibility for safety& security.

Each individual is alone, unless they perceive the self-interest of civic-integrity, in order to develop RHI. With civic-integrity, each unique person may responsibly develop the happiness they perceive rather than submit to the life others would impose on them.

quora.com/Do-you-exist-for-the-sake-of-society-or-does-society-exist-because-of-you? by Lawrence

The individual& society are mutually independent.

Individuals divide into groups based on either appreciation-to or arrogance toward civic-integrity. “Civic” refers to reliable human connections& transactions more than to civility or legality. Society has two major groups: civic-citizens and dependents.

Society survives, because most individuals responsibly pursue the happiness they want and aid each fellow-citizens’ opportunity to civically pursue their different perceptions.

However, some citizens, for reasons they may-or-may-not know, prefer dependency rather than civic-integrity. Dependencies include religious beliefs, indolence, crime, tyranny, and evil.

To constrain the divided society, civic-citizens earn not only to fund their lifestyle but to pay for infrastructure, including development& maintenance of statutory-justice, which requires law enforcement. The purpose of law enforcement is to notify dependent fellow-citizens, constrain the harm they cause, facilitate reform, and encourage success.

As long as most individuals are civic-citizens, most dependents will reform, and society will survive.

Society seems in divergent chaos. Too many people think they are too busy surviving to take time to hold government accountable to civic-integrity. Perceiving no rule of law, government has grown itself. I speculate that 2022 is a pivotal year, when most fellow citizens will take self-interest in voting for candidates who continuously demonstrate civic-integrity more than civil-power-grabbing.

Government develops itself independently. Citizens in unnecessary government jobs can& may perceive opportunity to change to a non-government career to assure opportunity to pursue the personal happiness they want rather than to support government largess. Entrepreneurs who count on government funding can& may transition to independence. Fellow citizens can& may vote corrupt politicians out of office.

Facebook

facebook.com/phil.beaver.52/ August 2, 2022

I think postmodernism is losing to civic-integrity. Totalitarianism and utopia are losing as individuals increasingly appreciate their unique opportunity to develop a human-being: one’s person. Humankind is the winner.

Most considerate people perceive that responsible-human-independence (RHI) is in their self-interest. And many are overcoming civil-fear, in order to transparently practice, facilitate, and encourage republicanism instead of democracy: the-rule-of-statutory-justice instead of social-chaos.

As soon as 2/3 of inhabitants are participating in a RHI-culture, an achievable better future can& may emerge.

Phil Beaver does not “know.” He trusts in and is committed to the-objective-truth which can only be discovered. Conventional wisdom has truth founded on reason, but it obviously does not work.

Phil is agent for A Civic People of the United States, a Louisiana, education non-profit corporation. See online at promotethepreamble.blogspot.com, and consider essays from the latest and going back as far as you like.