Karen told me she read "The Foot Book" to Hannah months ago. As result, Hannah, who is almost three, can now tell the difference between her left foot and her right foot.
Tonight, Hannah asked me to read this book to her for the first time. I am astounded to see how silly this book is. How she picked up such a useful piece of information is completely beyond my ability to reason! Here's a video of me reading the book with comments about left feet and right feet at the end:
I then cryptically reference Jonah Chapter 4 at the very end of the video. To me, this information take together is an indictment to Christians. Children most certainly do qualify as worthy to receive the Gospel. But they are largely ignored. Usually, Christians claim children are "under the age of accountability" but if God was so willing to destroy Nineveh though it contained those who could not tell their left from their right, what does that say about children who can? Maybe I'm taking things too literally.
Fact is, I am a Christian. I largely do not believe in this "under the age of accountability" stuff. If we are to "become as a little child" then I would like to become as Hannah and love Christ. Then be judged rightly.
Thus, it seems like any age of accountability is perhaps two and under. Which means we have been mislead by most pastors in the church. What else are they wrong about?
All rights derive from property. In other words, I receive my rights through the ownership of property. One must own property in order to have rights. This is true with life, liberty, and private property.
Now understand, as a believer in God, I believe God is the originator of all rights. But I just said property is how rights are made manifest. Is that a contradiction? We'll get into that.
The Father does not manifest as a physical entity, meaning God the Father is not a man with a body and physical form. God is spirit and as such, cannot interact with sinful man.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Also understand, I believe Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. Unlike the Father, the Son does have physical attributes. That may seem like a contradiction if you don't understand the Trinity. But even the most well studied Christians have trouble understanding the Trinity. I'll get into that in another article.
I believe God transmits our individual rights through ownership of individual property. God originates rights and makes them physically manifest through property.
That means we have a right to life because we own our own life. The physical evidence of our right to life is that our heart is beating. That's pretty much all it takes to make this claim.
Here's the shocking part. One need not believe in God to believe all rights derive from property. I believe Christians, Atheists, New Age Believers, etc. can stipulate that all rights derive from property without having to stipulate to the nature of God.
There are those who regard God as an analogy like "Mother Nature." If someone believes God is an analogy, does that mean they believe their rights are also an analogy? If rights derive from property and property is real, rights are real. Someone who believes God is an analogy may have trouble convincing themselves that there is an originator of rights, but we can at least all agree the rights exist because we can all see the property.
So there's no excuse to deprive someone of their life, liberty, and private property if we all stipulate that rights derive from property. Christians have no right to treat an Atheist poorly just because the Atheist lacks certain beliefs. The Atheist has a right to life regardless of their belief in God because they have a beating heart.
It just so happens that the Christian belief can explain the origination of rights from God through property. I believe the Atheist has a philosophical liability to account for. But I don't think laws need to account for this philosophical liability. And the New Age Believer thinks he/she is God and his/her property is God, but it doesn't impact the actual existence of rights.
So if believers and non-believers can agree to stipulate to property rights, both should be satisfied with the laws and governance upon them. If we agree that it's against the law to beat people up and steal their stuff because it violates property rights, we are able to agree to a civil society.
Atheists don't forfeit their rights just because they can't explain the ontological origin of their rights. There are many things that people take as given that they can't readily explain.
On the other hand, one might say that Christians forfeit their own right to life by becoming a follower of Jesus.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
The arrangement defined in I Corinthians 6:19-20 does not extend to anyone else. It is only between the believer and God. It is true that many believers hold to this, but it does not mean the believers are owned in joint with one another. It reflects the realization that the individual believer comes from God and belongs to God. One cannot aggress against person merely because either or both parties voluntarily submit to God.
In that regard, it is a personal journey. Personal journeys appeal to individualism. But individualism can lead to the "Lone Ranger" effect which is a common result of Christianity in America. Real spiritual growth happens in the called out assembly, where believers interact with other believers.
Believers can impress their understanding of scripture on one another. But one believer cannot forcefully impress a particular view on another believer's heart. And since believers cannot, they have no standing with non-believers either.
It doesn't mean that the understanding of scripture is subjective. It just means one person's belief cannot be inferred upon others by force. It is this use of force that contributes to the totalitarian society, even when they're based on Christian values.
There is an excellent video about this subject. But it tends to offend Christians. It does this because it doesn't start with God. We should approach this video knowing that all truth is God's truth. This video happens to start with "property rights" even though the Christian philosophy starts at an earlier point. Don't let that distract you from the truth.
Frankly, I feel like a complete dope. Here's an e-mail I got from the guy behind the Liberty Dollar:
Dear Liberty Dollar Supporters:
I can't believe I am retired! It feels great!
I deeply appreciate your support for the Liberty Dollar and urge you to continue
supporting it - at this most critical time.
Please understand that this announcement is about my new project and in no
way does it reflect on the Liberty Dollar. I have turned over the reins of the
Liberty Dollar to a new team and I feel very confident about the longevity of
the ideals it represents.
Now that you have learned the truth about the fraudulent government money,
I invite you to learn the truth about religion and discover the God within your
own mind.
As a child I was very moralistic. Then I was deeply religious. Then deeply
deceived and openly suspicious of any God. Then I discovered an amazing new
God within my own mind. And now I have decided to take action on a matter that
I am very dedicated to.
So I invite you to click [REDACTED]
to read a brief Press Release and discover the God within your own mind.
Thanks again for all your support.
Bernard von NotHaus
PS: If you have an interest in this topic and want to spread the word, please
click on this link: [REDACTED].
Then click five media locations in your area (limit 5 at a time) and send the
Press Release to them. Thanks!
I redacted the links because I don't support his new project at all. But I wanted to admit to everyone I was a fan of his previous project since he's obviously a nut-job. Don't get me wrong, I still believe in sound money. It's just too bad the only one out there was developed by a complete wing-nut like Bernard von NotHaus. Oh well.
Hopefully the Liberty Dollar will now take off under the new guy, but it'll take a lot to win my trust again.
This is an extremely simple presentation I participated in for a college course. The goal was really just to develop the presentation and develop oratory technique. The content wasn't that important. I'm posting it today just to see how PowerPoint looks on Posterous.
Your problem is pride. This is true for the religious and non-religious alike. You won't get off your high horse and admit it, but it's still pride. People may have an alternate explanation, but it's still pride. Pride won't let you admit it. Pride won't let you see it. If you do see it, it's only because of a higher power. Pride is the sole reason for hopelessness. It's the beginning of sin, and the end of your life.
I direct this at myself. I'm just saying "you" to get your attention. This all applies to me as well.
Maybe you're not a Christian. Maybe you've noticed that a few Christians like to say that Christianity isn't a religion because it's a way of life. Those people are just trying to stand out as different, which is what the Bible says to do. They are correct, but it's a generic (where "generic" is a noun meaning a consumer product having no brand name or registered trademark).
Standing out seems to be the mantra of Christianity, lately even more so. Some artificial forms of standing out denies the power of God to really show what standing out means. It paints a picture that only the outrageous can reach people.
I think regular day-to-day life is much more compelling. The challenge is for Christians to have a normal life and be happy in it.
Regular lives can be a testament. Normal families can salt the earth. It's not necessary to stand out when standing out has lost it's meaning. It's enough to say that if you want to stand out, be heterosexual, get married, and have kids. Stay together. Die old and married. That would be downright bizarre!
This is a refreshing change, to be honest. Christians have a new clean sociological slate to work with these days. Just being happy and living day-to-day is enough to convince others that there's something to it. I mean actually happy. While all hell is literally breaking loose (and I know about hell breaking loose), we can keep our cool and still love one another. How can this be?
The real truth is, I don't know. Christ has the answer. Does this sound like a cliché? How many times have you heard that Christ has the answer to your problem? How can he have the answer to your problem?
The answer is simple. Your problem isn't all that new. You may think it's new, but someone has gone through it already. Your problem isn't unique.
The sad truth is, you are powerless to avoid pride. That's really the point of Christianity. Pride prevents you from understanding this. Pride will kill you.
Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though they join forces, none will go unpunished.
- Proverbs 16:5
So obviously we must purge ourselves of pride, right? No wait, pride will make you think you are strong enough to purge yourself of pride. So then what must I do, you say?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
- Acts 16:30-31
Don't focus on the house part. That's there for context. That's a whole different discussion. The point is that you must believe. So what is it to "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?" Another cliché, right? Belief can manifest in the following ways:
Loving God.
Loving your neighbor.
Spending time in His word.
Spending time in prayer.
Repeat until you die.
Each iteration will reveal your heart more and more. But notice, it never ends.
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