Trader Joe's and the blessings of Liberty

I was at the Grand Opening of the grocery store Trader Joes this morning. Initially, I was skeptical as we waited for the doors to open. I saw all these people so excited, whoopin' and hollerin', and I thought "ok, you people are stereotypical, shallow, consumers. This is just another grocery store". Well, these people had experienced Trader Joe's in California, Arizona, and all over, and they knew what I didn't. I needed only 5 minutes to see how wrong I was. This store was made for people like us who are transitioning to a more whole-food based, organic diet, and the prices are about 30% less than what we normally pay for similar items. This, of course, will not only have a positive ripple effect to our health, but our ability to use our money for other priorities. Economically, it will empower us and give us more choices.

As I shopped for ingredients for my famous fajitas, that I'll be making tonight for some friends, I began thinking about the Garden of Eden. God filled it with abundance, variety, pleasure, comfort, and most importantly..........choices. Almost everything in it was good, but there was one choice that God prohibited. Anytime you have liberty there will be abundance, blessings and choices. Some will lead to life, and others will lead to death. When God restores the world it will become more and more like the original Garden of Eden.

Now, I don't believe America is the Garden of Eden. But our government system values many things that God values. America has chosen freedom, and liberty, and to secure the blessings of liberty we've instituted a free-market, capitalistic economic system. The result is that Americans have more choice and opportunity than anywhere else in the world. Yes, there are dangers to choice. Just like the two trees in the garden, life and death are before us all the time. Do I use my money to buy food for my family, or waste it on lottery tickets? Do I give to charity or use it for mindless entertainment. Many times you can do both, and that's ok. But when you must choose, what do you choose?

The nature of poverty is lack, rationing, and very few choices, all of which are difficult. Do I choose food or medicine; electricity or paying the water bill? It's not good at all. In communist countries there isn't abundance in any form, except misery. People wait on line for hours for one kind of bread, and are rationed how much they can buy. This is not defeated by more rationing. I hear many people that want to fight poverty with poverty. They want to coercively take away resources through taxes, and redistribute it. Poverty is defeated by more freedom, empowerment, choices and opportunities. The greatest liberator for those stuck in poverty is education. The average person with a college education will make over a milliion dollars more, over their lifetime, than a high school graduate. Education empowers, and creates opportunities. It's the parable of the talents. It allows a person to use the giftings God gave them. Education invests in people. The return on investment is a society full of people empowered to create their own destinies. These are the blessings of liberty.

Nahoul the Jihadist Bumble Bee

What the world needs now is.................. How does that song go? Well, instead of love you've got a popular kids show led by an 11 year old and a Jihadist Bumble Bee. Great!!!!! Never mind the fact of the historical right of the Jews to inhabit Israel. Never mind the fact that there is no such thing as a "palestinian people". There never was an official Arab-run country called Palestine. Never Mind the fact that it was controlled by Britain before Israel came, not the Arabs. Never mind the fact that God gave it to the Jewish people. They suddenly maintain this lie that it's their land, and this kid wants the Jews out. Go to this link and see the article about this tool of evil propaganda. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293284,00.html

-Paul

The Iowa Straw Poll

So Romney won the straw poll yesterday. Does it mean anything? The last few Republicans that won the straw poll went on to win the nomination: Bush and Dole. My sense is that this election year is different though. There are some potentially major players that haven't officially entered the race yet: Fred Thompson, and Newt Gingrich. Not to mention that Guiliani, and McCain ignored it altogether. One thing that could be a significant indicator of things to come is Mike Huckabee's strong 2nd place finish. I see his stock rising, and rising. I think he could be a very strong Vice-presidential candidate for Thompson, Guilini or Romney. There is even a chance that he might pull even with the top 3 I mentioned and make it into a top four situation.

Another thing I've been thinking about is how the top Republican Candidates absolutely dwarf the top Democrat candidates in experience. Clinton, Obama, and Edwards are a bunch of 1 term senators. The Dems definitely have star-power with the attractiveness of their top 3, but that's all. It definitely should be interesting, though.

-Paul

Patriotism

I wanted to start a thread on Patriotism. Paul Pace has brought up that his allegiance is to God and not to America. I can agree with that in a worst-case scenario sort of way, but America's not there yet. That has caused me to think about why I love America. I suppose that there are some who are patriotic out of a reflexive form of nationalism. It's not easy these days to understand what makes America special amongst all the countries of the world. We are constantly bombarded by voices in the media and society that want to blame America for all the ills of the world. They say we are hated by the world, yet the world's citizens are beating, and swimming a path to our door so they can partake of the blessings of liberty.
Is America perfect? No. Are there excesses in American society? Definitely. Then why do I love America so much?

After much thought I realize that I love America, because it's ideals are consistent with God's character!!!!! When I pledge allegiance to the Flag, I pledge allegiance to the ideal of a nation being united under God, with liberty, and justice for all. These ideals make America special.

One of the definitions of the word "constitution" means: the substance of which something is made. I love the substance from which America is made. Freedom of Religion. Freedom of Speech. Freedom of the Press. The Right to Bear Arms (a check and balance against tyrannical government). Equal rights and protection under the law regardless of race, class, gender etc.... These ideals make me proud to be an American because they are the application on earth of things that were born in the mind of God in Heaven.

The times that I feel frustrated as an American are always the times that we fail to live up to these ideals. They are the times that people try to railroad the process and impose different values on American society; truly "unconstitutional" agendas: oppressive taxes, equal outcome-based laws, thought-crime legislation, abortion, property and income redistribution-type policies. All of those things are unconstitutional and therefore inconsistent with my Christian Faith. Patriotism and Faith not only intersect in the founding principles of America, but my Faith demands that I support these ideals for they bring some of the culture of heaven to the earth.

Random Thought #2

I find it ironic that Barry Bonds broke the home run record in the city that is investigating him - Washington, D.C.

It is also lost that the ultimate non-team player did not acknowledge that his team lost in the midst of his personal milestone. Home Run records don't show up in the standings.

-Jeremy

Bang! Bang!

Good for you Paul, I have been wanting to do the same myself for a long time. This is why all Israelis are required to carry a gun when transporting children. I don't understand why you connote the violence is negative. It reminds me of the people that demonize guns but not the perpetrator of the crime. Violence is what saved us in World War II. The threat of violence won us the cold war. Violence in and of itself is not a bad thing. I hope you do get one someday and I hope the kids get a good understanding of the history of guns and why our rights to guns as citizens is so vital.

-Jeremy

shooting practice

Well Fellas,
I went shooting yesterday for the first time in my life. A friend of mine has some guns and we went to a target range. It's interesting how this is coinciding with our discussion on the Christian and violence. I am still on the fence regarding whether I want to be a gun owner or not. On the one hand, I experienced vividly the awesome power, and responsibility it is to wield a gun, and that is scary for a number of reasons. I have young kids, so their safety is paramount to me. Part of me sees the benefits to them growing up with a healthy view, and knowledge of firearms, but still part of me is scared. I would definitely get a safe for it, that only I would know the combination to. But sill it's both reassuring and unsettling at the same time.
I tore up the dude on the target paper pretty good. If I were to do that to an intruder/attacker would I be alright with that? Would my kids be alright with that? Do I have other self-defense tactics at my disposal so that a gun-based solution is the absolute last resort? I've been trying to reconcile all of these questions and more. I kind of want my own "rules of engagement" so to speak. I'll let you all know what the final decision is and I invite your input.
I think as a teacher, Virginia Tech was the turning point for me where I began seeing it almost as my civic duty to be armed. We had a lock down this year at school and I would want to be able to protect my students. The administration at Virginia Tech was so proud of the gun-free laws they instituted a few years ago. They said it would make students "feel safer"..........appearance over substance!!!!
I say all that to say this, I don't know practically for me how this will all shake down. To own or not to own, that is the question.

-Paul

Torture is the wrong understanding

Paul, to me this is definitely a gray area. I think there are degrees of torture. Abu Graib was not torture, it was humiliation. They had underwear on their heads but at least they kept their heads.

But to me, this is similar to animal testing. I don't want animals to suffer but you have to look at the greater good. Do you torture (in moderation) one terrorist so you can spare the torture of 100,000 who could suffer from a nuclear or biological weapon? And like an animal, do you make one suffer to spare 1,000,000 dying of AIDS in Africa or suffering with Cancer in America?

Like physics laws, and economic laws, every action has a reaction. It is far more important to me to avoid mass suffering by extracting information from terrorists. And in our action in Iraq, we are trying to spare the Iraqis long-term suffering by giving them long awaited Freedom and transforming the middle east into a free society from a despotic one, assuring our future US security. One of the things I appreciate about President Bush is that he is looking at the Big Picture. Like President Lincoln, he wasn't concerned with popularity, only with doing what is right for humanity. That is assuring Freedom or as President Kennedy put it, spreading Liberty. We can't do it everywhere unfortunately. In the end, I don't know if it will work or if Islamists will squelch it but it has to be done for the good of humanity. It comes with a cost and that cost might be a few torture cases. Now we take this in our minds as probably the "24" version of torture. But when you know information is available, you have to get it. Who knows how many will be spared torture as a result.

-Jeremy

Torture, War, and Morality

Well, Jeremy this is a big one to tackle. Paul Pace brought up a number of interesting moral questions and scenarios in the last thread. They are so numerous and so important to discuss I thought we should dedicate some blog time to this thorny issue of torture, war, and morality. Wrapped up in this complex issue are two sub-issues that I want to focus on here: According to the Bible, what is an individual Christian's opinion to be about this? And according to the Bible, what does God want Government's role and opinion to be of this?
I feel that it's very important for these issues to be addressed Biblically, and not just anecdotally. In your friend's, friend's blog: thomerica.com/reformanda/2007/06/torture-eucharist.html he makes some biblical points but most of his points are political and are akin to the America hating, anti-capitalist rantings I would find on any liberal fringe website. Be careful about what you ingest. There are many things that claim to be morally-based, or Christian based, but really they are just more ideologies wrapped up in a guilt-laden, religious package. "There is no condemnation to those who are in Messiah".
For example, he is incredulous at the idea that there could be any kind of plurality of opinion among Christians on this very complicated issue. He asserts that any Christian who makes exceptions with certain circumstances of torture or war must be bigotted against "inferior ethnicities", blinded by the "pathology of imperialism", or simply "antichrist". These are all huge straw men that we must agree to denounce if we are going to have a thoughtful discussion. There may be some that arrive at a pro-war or pro-torture position because of those repugnant beliefs, but that's not me. So let's agree that we won't name-call here.
So, if I understand correctly, the central idea of Christian pacificism, (at all costs) is: since Christ suffered to redeem the world, so should we. I hope that's a correct assumption, because that's what I'm going to deal with here. My response to that is "yes" and "no". There is "denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus", but there is also the religious spirit that was at work in the pharisees. They extended the rules and regulations of the Torah denying themselves all sorts of conveniences, and God given pleasures out of a religious spirit. The Lord hated this tremendously. This pharisaical spirit is what made them mad when Jesus healed on the Sabbath. So what suffering, or burdens, do we take and what burdens do we not take? Only the ones the Lord gives us!!!!! We do not place these burdens upon anyone. We are not the Holy Spirit.
Let me deal for a moment on the economic dimension of this since it was connected to war in that blog. Your friend's, friend is playing upon good-hearted, peace-loving people with a message of guilt who's aim is to deconstruct America's military might, and economic might. These two American assets have been causes of the greatest spread of freedom in the history of the world. Within the last 75 years our military and economy have defeated some of the most oppressive regimes, many times without firing a single missile. Our free market trade policies have given countries we don't really agree much with, a reason not to attack us. Our military has intervened in genocidal tragedies to re-establish order. When we defeat a country militarily, we spend billions of our own dollars to rebuild that country. Then we hand it back over to their people so that they can determine their own destiny as a free nation. Never has a nation had so much might, and wielded it with such restraint as the United States. Please acknowledge the good that America has done.
Now, I certainly understand that a consumerist mentality can be used as a form of escape, and ultimately distract a person from what's really important. But, that doesn't mean that the entire capitalist system must be dismantled, and replaced with a socialist economic policies. Worse than rampant consumerism, is government tyrrany where they decide what I get to keep from my own labors.
Now, to the idea of extreme pacifism. Let's take it individually first and then governmentally. If someone is attacking an old lady, and you have the power to physically stop them and don't, I would see that as immoral. Maybe, you'd say Jesus would take the beating for her, so you'd offer the assailant that opportunity. The problem is that she didn't deserve the beating and neither did you. It's UNNECESSARY suffering!!!! What Jesus did for us was NECESSARY suffering because we all deserve the penalties of sin. I cannot solve poverty by renouncing my economic assets. I cannot solve hunger by never eating again. I cannot stop the violence of a terrorist by throwing down my arms. As a Jew, it is very clear to me that when my ancestors peacefully went to the concentration camps, and then the gas chambers it did not stop their awful fate. That brand of hatred is what is in the hearts of the radical Islamic terrorists. They kill anyone who will not cow to them; including targeting the mosques of their own people.
You probably disagree with much of what I've said, and I don't think I addressed everything that I said I would, but it's late. I hope that I've said enough so you see that it is possible for a Christian to truly believe that war is not always immoral and not always in conflict with the Christian Faith.

-Paul B.

Forest Gump and "The Religion of Peace"

That's a great blog, and very instructive for us today. There's also a little interesting part of that which happened before Jefferson took over. When the Barbary Pirates were doing their thing we didn't initially have a Naval Force to defend ourselves, and America was paying tribute to them so they wouldn't attack us. If I remember correctly, we were paying 20% of our GDP to these thugs. Along came James Madison and said, "We will pay millions for a Navy, but not a penny for tribute". That was the beginning of the U.S. Navy.
Like you said, the mindset of our enemy has not changed at all. There are of course peace-loving Arabs, in fact I believe the over-whelming majority would never consider participating in the heinous acts of terror that we see so much (although they are strangely silent when they should be vocally outraged with their own). Anyway, it's the small percentage, which in real numbers is millions, of the radicals Islamo-fascists that literally want to coercively take over the world. This strain of "The Religion of Peace" is extremely dangerous and can be stopped in only one way.......kill them. They cannot be reasoned with at all. They make false treaties to gain time to rebuild their troop's forces, they strap bombs onto women and children, they target innocent civilians. They are demonic, and evil to the core.........AND LET ME MAKE THIS ONE THING CLEAR..........THEY SERVE A DIFFERENT god THAN I DO. To paraphrase Forest Gump, "peaceful is as peaceful does".

-Paul B.