VOLUME
10 # 2 Feb. 2004
The Inseparable Nature
of Church and State
There is nothing new under the sun, or so
it is said in Ecclesiastes1:9.
Sometimes I feel like there is nothing new worth writing; that it has
all been written; but I also feel a lack inside me. There is a lack of God’s kingdom here on earth; a kingdom that I
feel responsible for. I say responsible
for because it is through us that God will establish and build up His kingdom
that He will rule over in peace and righteousness; that Zion that is to
come. I am not alone, and it is like we
are all out there selling our wares, our brand of the kingdom, for indeed we
are. Salvation is being sold in many
packages of diverse sizes, colors, patterns, etc., but at this point I think
the one that, in a way, comes closest to the truth, is the counterfeit. I say that because I see how thoroughly it
is touching, affecting, and altering the lives of nearly everyone on planet
earth. I am talking about the
counterfeit government of these United States of America, and the gospel of
Secular Humanism upon which it stands.
Our forefathers either failed to have the foresight to see that the 1st Amendment could be used to facilitate actions of the darkest dye, or they had a firm assurance that the Gospel of Jesus Christ would be the benchmark by which religious tolerance would be measured. The 1st Amendment states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;…” Pornography as an expression of a free press is an example of where we are heading with freedom of religion. If human sacrifice, temple prostitutes i.e. priestesses, as well as a host of other fixtures and practices existed in the past in various religions rites and organizations then why should they not exist now? If Congress has no benchmark by which to make judgment calls about such things, as these, then all religious beliefs should be accepted with their accompanying actions i.e. policies or politics, and it is easy to see that anarchy is to be the order of the day.
If everything is to be allowed (anarchy) then it will simply come down to those having the greatest power, by whatever means, who will have the real control; and our Constitution in reality will have no meaning, excepting that of words, the words of a noble document that men will draw near to with their lips, though their hearts be far from it. But not everything is to be allowed as there is a state religion imposing its will upon all others. Not completely, not totally, but, “line upon line and precept upon precept” it is making headway. It believes in no God and does not define itself as a religion. Although religion is held responsible for more wars, and the destruction of more people; this can only be true if atheism is accepted as a religion. The atheistic regimes of Russia, China, along with others have slaughtered so many millions that shocks and boggles the imagination. It is a religion that has become most clearly definable in what we call political correctness. With thought one can see that irregardless of the religion beliefs of a people it comes out as political correctness, it cannot do other, unless it is simply the words that rest upon the lips of the people with no true meaning in their hearts of minds. It is here where the battles begin and it is here where they will ultimately end. So while the battles against pornography, abortion, etc. continue others have simply been lost. The Children of Israel before entering into the promised land were told not to intermarry with the Canaanite’s. This was a recurring scriptural issue that can be found with Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Ezra (9:1&2), and in Zechariah chapter 14, where he prophecies of the Lord’s future millennial reign, “…in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.” Baptist, Mormons, and other religious denominations, I’m sure, were coerced into altering their doctrines to conform with the religion of the State. Inter-marriage with the Negro race is now such an acceptable practice, via political correctness, as to make one afraid to speak against it. Although earlier it was not defined as political correctness it was just as unacceptable via the laws of the land, and public opinion. In fact, in both cases, the acceptance or rejection of inter-marriage with the Negro, each in their time, will, or would, bring one into conflict with the “religious police” [political correctness] of the day. All of this exists, and yet people seem unable to comprehend that politics and religion are inseparably connected. You cannot have policy without a belief behind it; you cannot have a belief that does not affect policy, i.e. politics. What will always exist will be that of religion reflected in government policies, and government promoting “correct” thinking, or political correctness. This is what God’s government will do when it is established in power. We have a government that utilizes the media, schools, etc. in its campaign to inform, to convince, and to convert. I would expect God’s government to do the same. So what is the difference? Cicero said that true law was right reason. The difference is in the freedom to think and to reason. In the fields, both of science and of religion, (good as they both are) there exist biases. People simply have things they believe and they use the tools before them (their scriptures or their scientific data) to prove their beliefs. I find myself unable to be in sync with either community, although I hold many aspects of both in high regard. The problem I have with both is in the issue we call authority. When authority is used as a means to curtail or stop thinking then I am against it. I would like to think of myself aligned with Thomas Jefferson who said he had sworn eternal hostility towards tyranny over the minds of men. I find much of religion to be that to which I wish to be eternally hostile towards. In the name of God men coerce their fellow beings into submission and servitude. Science is no different. Indeed Secular Humanism is a belief in science i.e. the religion of science. Whether I am being told I owe God one tenth of all I make (income rather than increase), or that evolution is a scientific fact, and as such I am related to apes, or other species, I take offense to. Anyone can pay a tithing on their increase, because that is what is left over after all their legitimate needs have been met, but I want no part of a God who takes the food out of children’s mouths; because that is what paying a tenth of one’s income can do to poor people, especially in third world countries. And, although I believe in the principle of evolution, my concept in no way affects my belief that I am a child of God. If pastors didn’t want the money for themselves would they be so adamant about people owing “God” money? If certain “scientific” people accepted the “theory” of evolution as that, a “theory,” would they have the need to subject others to their belief with the absolutely religious fervor that they have? What I am saying is that whether it is for some material consideration, or only to bolster someone else’s ideas, thoughts, beliefs, ego, etc., those who hold positions of authority, real of supposed, do not want others to think, because it just might put them out of a job, or prove them wrong. We have laws, but upon what reasons are they based? For what reason is it imperative that our children be sent to government training camps, … ooops …, I means schools? Why do the majority of our movies portray illicit sex and violence when by scientific means it can be shown these things are harmful to society, and religion agrees with science? Why are we deliberately lied to by politicians and the media? It is all about mind control, manipulating public opinion, creating an obedient population. True law, as Cicero defined it, comes only with right reason. Perhaps it would be better said that righteous laws come from righteous reasoning, but the key element that our government wants to keep out of the equation is reasoning. Schools have been set in place, not to teach children how to think, but to teach them to obey. God wants us to obey Him; well apparently someone else wants to be our God, our governor, our government. The truth or rightness of any government and its laws can only be ascertained by right reason. Take a native raised in the South Sea Islands during the time when sexual promiscuity was a part of every day life; he would not have the same “right reason” as someone raised in England during the Victorian Era. I wouldn’t want to be governed by either person, why, because we all are filled with false and foolish notions about what “right” is; and these false and foolish notions come to us from both our religious and scientific communities. They both teach great truths as well as great falsehoods, yet both are needed to help us in our quest to find the true God (government), and its laws In order to have the capacity to see the results of any law that might be passed one must have a deep understanding of history, human nature; to be in touch with a power greater than himself to confirm, enlighten, and establish those truths. It is the fruits that we must look for. In planting a garden an understanding of what you are planting is essential. Not only do you need to know that what you are planting will bear fruit that is desirable you must know how much light, water, fertilizer, etc. it needs in order to produce the fruit you are hoping to harvest. An experienced gardener has no problem with such things. That experience we are lacking. That experience only God has. God will not infringe on our free agency. Thus it is up to us, as well as God, to bring His kingdom into being. Anyone who has the desire has the right to go about building up God’s kingdom. For those who believe they must wait for or on some authority, look at the government established by our forefathers. For those who have received, or been called to, the priesthood, it is a duty. Ephraim’s forum is a call to that priesthood, and to those who desire the Zion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to come together, with all our learning and understanding for God to use us, in establishing a new order of things that will bless all mankind. It is in this that I will find meaning in my life. Surely life is more than what we eat and drink, or even do. Life is that which dwells within us, that which motivates us to be more than we are. I believe that only the kingdom can give us this. Without it we dwell in the agony of nothingness while we know there is something, somewhere. I belong to a priesthood that is scattered and lost, and I cannot find peace in being bound by the religious and other communities that take me nowhere. I wish to be a part of those referred to in D&C 113:7&8 that I might subjugate myself to God through a righteous priesthood body, and in so doing by used by God to bless all mankind. If there is truly nothing new under the sun then my hearts desire is not new, nor am I alone in my heart and my desires.
Another great
monk was Chrysostrom. His mother asked
him to stay with her till she died.
When she died, he became a monk, but decided the life of a bishop was
the more heroic, helping people in the world just as they are. A more difficult task to instruct his flock,
to care for strangers, to look after the women, and settle quarrels of his
congregation, dispute with the Arians, and preach to people used to the
excitement of the racetrack. To give
communion to the worthy and refuse it to the unworthy and live with them
afterward. Chrysostrom chose the more
heroic life of a priest in Antioch. His
congregation had forgotten the generosity of the days of the Apostles. Chrysostrom sought to revive that
spirit. Chysostrom had some hard things
to say, but people let him say them because they knew him and loved him. His fame as a preacher went over all the
Empire. The name Chrysostrom means “the
golden-mouthed”. His real name was
John.
The
patriarch at Constantinople happened to become vacant. “Patriarch” ws the title that the bishops of
the more important cities came to hold.
Constantinople was the most important city after Rome. A patriarch was needed at
Constantinople. Chysostrom’s fame was
great. The emperor’s prime minister
wanted him for the post, but well knew that Chrysostrom loved Antioch and
Antioch loved him, and would never let him go.
Chrysostrom was kidnapped and carried to Constantinople and made
patriarch. That was a sorry day for
him. The people at Constantinople did
not know him, and when he preached there as he had done at Antioch against the
rich, they grew angry. When he
criticized fancy dresses, the women and the empress were enraged. And when Chrysostrom tried to make the
clergy as strict as himself, they were surly.
The patriarch in Alexandria in Egypt was cross because he had wanted the
place at Constantinople for himself.
All these people combined together to put Chrysostrom out. He was banished and died in exile. The Church in Constantinople always had a
hard time. The emperor was too near and
insisted on ruling the church. The pope
at Rome had an easier time because the emperor was farther away.
During
the days of Chrysostrom, Christmas was placed, as it is now, on December 25,
and he helped to make the change.
Before his time it had been on January 6. The reason for the change was that the pagans in the empire
observed on December 25, the birthday of the sun god Mithras, because on their
calendar the 25th (on ours it is the 21st) was the
shortest day of the year, when the sun started on his upward course again. On this day there was a big celebration, and
the Christians so enjoyed it that they would join their pagan friends and fall
away from the Church. For that reason
the bishops decided to have a Christian feast on the same day and moved
Christmas so that the birth of Christ would displace the birth of Mithras.
The
first picture of the baby Jesus in the manger comes from this time. In it the Wise Men appear twice; on the left
as they first spy the star and on the right as they bring their gifts. (All from, The Church of Our Fathers, the
Flight to the Desert)
Mark
Conspiracy Theory (cont.)
Once, as part of a group trying to work
out details for an economic system we ran into two barriers: #1 was credit, #2
was inflation and or fluctuation of prices.
Focusing in on #2 I found a book that listed prices of a few basic commodities in the thirties; I
compared those prices with the prices of the same commodities at the time,
which was the mid-90’s. I was
disappointed when I couldn’t see a pattern, but in discussions with others it
was brought out that with new technology some items might be much cheaper to
produce now than then. Another factor
was that some materials might be more expensive now than then.
I
then added the total of all the goods at the thirties prices and then at the current
prices and found something very interesting.
The inflation, or price increase, of the commodities overall was close
to the price difference of one single item, the postage stamp. Then it hit me; the government knows how
much paper money they, or the Fed, are putting into circulation. And the government knows how much to
increase its prices in order to keep up with its manufactured inflation. So the
problem of inflation became a relatively easy one to monitor simply by watching
that one small item.
For those not aware, inflation is an
insidious evil that has been used by governments even in ancient times to steal
from the people. Whoever controls the
money, by that I mean the production of the same, has the power to control
people (another subject). Our
Constitution was written by men who were well aware of the dangers of fiat
money, i.e. money declared so by decree and not upon any intrinsic value in and
of itself. Our forefathers in the
Constitution established the pattern for a monetary system based on metal of
intrinsic value, i.e. gold and silver.
These are the only two mediums that are truly legal tender as defined by
our Constitution which every officer of the government swears with uplifted
hand to uphold.
Why then did Franklin D. Roosevelt eliminate
gold as legal tender, and why did Lynden B. Johnson remove the silver? Although all the reasons may never be known,
what is known is that these two men removed a Constitutional check against
government theft, or a government controlled theft. These two men, and I’m sure many more, betrayed their oath of
office and as traitors should have been put to death, the penalty that should
be paid by all such traitors.
If a government puts more gold and silver into circulation no one can be
hurt because the circulating medium has intrinsic value. When a government puts more paper money into
circulation it is a currency based on trust and nothing more. It is a trust that puts our government
squarely into the shoes of a con man who knows exactly what he is doing as he
takes from others on false pretences.
No matter how eager people are to give their money to a con man, it
still amounts to theft.
Let’s suppose we have an economy with a million dollars in currency
circulating. You have X amount of real
goods and properties doing a balancing act with that money. Making it simple, let’s say we have $100 in currency and 100 pounds of potatoes
representing all property large and small.
As such we would have the price of 1 pound of potatoes being equal to
$1.00. If the currency remains at $100,
but the production increases to where there are now 200 pounds of potatoes; the
potatoes now have a market value of $0.50.
Why? Because the principle of
supply and demand, or nature, says there are twice as many potatoes as there is
money therefore the money is worth twice as much as the potatoes. Make sense?
Now let’s go the opposite way.
The 100 pounds of potatoes stays the same, but the government puts
another $100 into the equation, making $200 in circulation. Now what has happened? The potatoes now cost $2.00 a pound, because
there’s twice as much money as there are potatoes. But something else has happened.
Whoever handed out the second $100 didn’t just give it away, they got
something for it, and although the math is more complicated, it is safe to say
they simply stole half the potatoes without having to do a thing other than get
gullible people to take their fiat money.
Looking again at the first case
scenario, people could purchase potatoes cheaper, i.e. live cheaper, work less,
or continue to work the same and produce more continuing to create a life of more
for less. The second case scenario creates
a much different picture. If people are
to continue with their same lifestyles they must now produce twice what they
were producing in order to do so.
Why? Because the government has
very subtly, without firing a shot, issuing a threat, or creating a tax, taken
half of what everyone owned. If someone
came into your home and took half of your belongings wouldn’t it take a lot of
hard work to replace those things that had been taken from you? Interestingly it is not the government who
is doing this day in and day out of our lives, it is the Fed. Those wishing to go to the government, who
is supposedly in control, to look into this murky area will find answers that
are not answers. You might as well look
into a Nancy Drew mystery or some other cloak and dagger type thriller, but
don’t expect to find an ending that tells you who did it. It all seems to point to a secret
combination, or conspiracy, of International Bankers, who, as far as this world
goes, might as well be Gods, who though unseen, control, as it were,
everything.
P.S. Government theft / inflation is not
something new, nor was it new at the time the Constitution was being written,
but it can be monitored via a small and insignificant postage stamp. Perhaps I am wrong, but I have a feeling
that, similarly, other societal problems can be recognized, and monitored, via
small and seemingly insignificant trends.
The morality of a nation is its greatest strength, and like its economy
it can be sapped of its strength and vigor little by little. Can we also look back on our national mores
to find things, small and insignificant, that lead us to where we can see
clearly what has been or is being done to us?
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Men Often go to Far
Men in wanting to care for and protect
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those mothers you see who are hanging onto their screaming, crying, offspring,
who are trying desperately to tear themselves away. Men, without understanding what they are doing, fail to appreciate
women and their abilities. It usually
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woman doesn’t know what is going on, she just knows she doesn’t feel right
about something.
Women should not be made to feel alone in
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want that.”
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