December 28, 2016

Our Views: Progress on obesity front. Only a couple days after I beg The Advocate to “make 2017 the year The Advocate promotes We the [Civic] People of the United States,” editors coincidentally promote “not just a personal goal, but a civic cause,” perhaps starting a dream come true. A route to public-integrity may be found by focusing on the-indisputable-facts-of-reality, such as, obesity is a civic issue.

On climate change. Good idea. I’d like to see an emphasis on viable human reaction to both the indisputable facts and best models of what is happening. For example, in flood areas, build houses only at elevations above expected future flooding using most economical means.

On Rheta Grimsley Johnson. The Advocate allows writers space to vent frustrations, often exposing personal weaknesses readers may observe. I think columnists should be allowed the same privilege.

Gender bias. The possibility for nepotism is of civic interest and knows no gender.

Cal Thomas. Beware the hidden agenda respecting non-civic schools. Most of them are faith-based enterprises, hence Thomas’s interest and that of other advocates. The beneficiaries are the enterprises that create the schools, not the children. The problem is the same with public schools: beneficiaries of most of the huge expense is adults---administrators and teachers---rather than children.

Cal Thomas. “Politicians promote faith in themselves.” The 1787 signers of the draft constitution for the USA created a civic system that would disengage from the religion-government-partnership that England established with the Magna Carta 800 years ago. However, the first Congress, accustomed to the English way of regarding lords Lords, re-established divinity for legislators and other officials who wanted lordship. In Chapter XI of The Prince, Machiavelli decried the religion-government-partnership. But elected officials still get away with it because the people remain apathetic to their misery and losses, while the religion-government-partnership picks their pockets. The perhaps 2/3 civic people are closeted ---separated---by their personal religions. Perhaps there can emerge from this dysfunction the public-integrity to establish Security at last.

Cal Thomas. It seems Barack Obama has been working to fulfill “’Black Power’: Statement by National Committee of Negro Churchmen,” New York Times, July 31, 1966, signed by 51 ministers, online at episcopalarchives.org/Afro-Anglican_history/exhibit/pdf/blackpowerstatement.pdf. He has had the Alinsky-Marxist organizing (AMO) skills that became available during the ensuing five years. AMO has operated now for five decades.

Katheryn Jean Lopez. It must be a psychological burden to express Bible interpretation that circles back to your own divinity, as Bazi seems to do. Conscientious student Ralph Waldo Emerson, age 29, resigned his pulpit in 1832, then in 1838 spoke at Harvard, emersoncentral.com/divaddr.htm . Therein, Emerson asserts that each human has the psychological power to perfect his or her person and delight may begin with that personal realization. After a couple decades re-reading, I got Emerson’s message and have been trying to behave perfectly ever since, low as I may be (quoting Emerson). The essay may be deemed American underground literature on par with or exceeding Machiavelli’s heresies.

December 27, 2016

Frustrated with The Advocate (understandably) not posting Our Views online during these holidays, I want to bloviate here my reaction to a day’s opinions and news. I’ll start with December 27, 2016. Comments on my comments are welcomed.

Our Views: Grace after the flood. Three human needs respecting close quarters: etiquette, privacy, and appreciation. Humans require individual-independence and mutually appreciate the privacy needed to pursue real-no-harm personal interests.

Clemons on Electoral College. Omitted from the metaphor: The reprobates got only 0.11 vote/person whereas the others had 0.5 votes/person. In real life, for a vote with more weight, move to Wyoming. See thegreenpapers.com/Census10/HouseAndElectors.phtml, and calculate Electors/person for each California and Wyoming. IMO, thank goodness California does not rule the USA!

Doyle on parallels. Perhaps these are the times when the right person for president is the one who responds spontaneously to apparent mendacity, relying on humility rather than perfection. In other words, takes the lumps when in error. I perceived Trump as humbly proficient and serene in this speech the day after the final debate:  youtube.com/watch?v=b9n7g8rTiaY .

Dana Millbank. Perhaps it’s time to get a clue: Trump does not give clues.

Thomas Sowell. A liberal-sociologist can decide to prove that concealed-carry is responsible for crime in the USA and design questions and choose respondents to prove the point. However, the statistics the intent-sociologist produces will be void of common sense, and certainly not worth the expense, except to be used to influence believers. Sociology is practically a religion promoted by social democrats. A more proper label for the practice might be: sociology is social statistics. But a people need civic morality (common sense) rather than social morality (conformity to a regime or system).

A 2017 The Advocate opportunity

Note: this is a revision of my online comments regarding The Advocate’s “Our Views: Christmas hope never dies,” December 25, 2016.

We think The Advocate is timely to note that Jesus was “a poor Jewish child born into a world . . . that often [treats] life quite cheaply.” Unfortunately, the daily news informs us that we live among barbaric people. We neither expected nor wanted what-is: civic dysfunction.

For civic morality, it seems better to tell the whole story. It is neither a harsh story nor an affront to personal sensibilities on Christmas day: The-objective-truth offers the route to peace during our lifetimes in this place.

The Jews, especially starting four-thousand years ago in Abraham’s now Arab land, Ur, reasoned to benevolent-monotheism the world’s quandary about myths and gods. Benevolent-monotheism makes sense in the absence of the-objective-truth. (The-objective-truth about God exists in reality. But humankind has yet discover if an entity controls the unfolding of the universe.)

The benevolent-monotheism rationalization also produced a “chosen people idea” that made the Jews hated wherever they lived. The hatred is severe among many of Abraham’s progeny not from Sarah, now called Arabs, most of whom are Muslims. The Jews now struggle to establish a nation-state wherein they may survive a world of hatred. (And the USA just turned their back on them in a UN vote.)

Some priests, starting perhaps 1900 years ago, expanded Jewish scripture to construct the argument that Jesus is the Jews’ expected Messiah. During 200 to 300 years, Romans canonized a Christian Bible that asserts election by God. While Jesus was born over 2000 years ago, Roman Christianity was formalized perhaps 1700 years ago. The Church was opposed by Protestantism 500 years ago, but neither Christian faction admitted that the Bible’s affirmation of slavery was a grave error as viewed from the physics of slavery---whips and brutality.

While the Bible is tainted with “the original sin of slavery.” President Obama falsely condemns the USA, whose civic people inexorably march toward justice.

We doubt any importance of skin-color in identifying superiority. Some people think Jesus was black and poor and Jesus’ role is to save blacks from white superiority promoted in white church. God is black. The only way a white-skin can save his or her soul it to help black Americans, a faction of the black-skinned people, reign supreme.

This 4000 year old religious conflict, emerging with four factions, each fractionated---Jews, Muslims, white Christians, and black Christians---holds hostage the respective followers and the rest of the world. Until a civic people iteratively collaborate for Security, via public-integrity or better, the conflict will continue unto either Earth’s demise or humankind’s destruction: There will be no collaboration for peace without mutual appreciation among the civic persons.

Civic persons maintain their real-no-harm religious comforts against life’s uncertainties as well as hopes for the afterdeath they desire. Appreciative people may establish a culture of Security that empowers every real-no-harm society to flourish.

Over these four millennia, experiences and observations perhaps convinced the Jews that whatever may control reality, it is up to PEOPLE to assure Security. Therefore, in Israel, the Jews apply the noblest ideal I have ever contemplated (during my last two decades): Appreciative humans' greatest strength is that they neither impose nor tolerate force yet prepare for defense (tacit paraphrase of Agathon’s witness in Plato’s Symposium, about 2500 years ago).

We commend The Advocate to make 2017 the year The Advocate promotes We the [Civic] People of the United States, a concept derived from EBRP library meetings by a Louisiana non-profit, education corporation titled “A Civic People of the United States.” The long-term goal is the totality We the People of the United States, inspired by example rather than exhortation and hope.

Meetings began on June 21, 2014, a draft-constitution ratification anniversary. Thirty months ago, we proposed to use the civic preamble to the constitution for the USA to motivate Baton Rouge residents to solve the problems motivating St. George City. Later, we set September 17, 2017, national Constitution Day, as our goal for 2/3 of Baton Rougeans appreciating each other as iterative collaborators for civic morality or Security. Participation by over fifty people has brought our purpose to establishing public-integrity, a seemingly lofty goal. But all it takes is to awaken civic awareness and collaboration by the 2/3 who already work for civic justice but are divided by the past. In other words, we propose that The Advocate promote public-integrity, even though it is an idea originating in The Advocate’s home town.

People often remark that my writing makes no sense. My response is that people often express what they want to believe---humans are innately evil, we were born in sin, the elite must fear the masses, and other social conventions that are candidates for reform by civic morality. During the past 1700 years we’ve thought “merry Christmas” will provide peace someday: History informs precious doubt.

Our message is that mutual appreciation by a civic people can motivate peace during our lives in this place. Humankind’s tendency to be virtuous has never been demonstrated, but it may be, by coaching the children unto authentic young adulthood. Let’s use our opportunity to establish public-integrity in Baton Rouge. Let 2017 be the year peace rather than mere hope began in this place.