Speak Now, Cause What Comes Next Isn’t Pretty

(Quick Thoughts)

In a 52-48 vote Amy Coney Barrett was elected as the next Supreme Court Justice replacing the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Yay! Okay, moving on. I wanted to speak on Ecclesiastes 3:7, “a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;.” Amy Coney Barrett represented real women of faith, motherhood, and leadership. Beyond all the madness a mom of seven children who successfully graduated from Notre Dame Law School, lawyer, judge, and now Supreme Court Justice is a testimony for the ages. Why? Because she actually cared about her family while working and upheld her faith despite it being a central point of anguish in the eyes of the radicalized left. ACB reminds us that you cannot offend anyone if you are already deemed offensive. Therefore, speak up or forever hold your peace.

This victory is bound to be short lived regardless of who wins the coming election. Radicals will continue to protest and burn; deride and maim all they deem offensive. Christians must prepare for the coming persecution. Even if Donald Trump wins, he is only one man. Our federal government has reached beyond its limits. Corporations and special interests parade the capital. Globalism is shifting power and authority into elites who go unaccountable. Time moves onward while D.C. is slowly eclipsed by a paradigm shift not yet complete.

[Y]ou cannot offend anyone if you are already deemed offensive.

Whatever was once “the way of life” now stands at the precipice of an elite who simply do not give a damn. Beyond politics is a world now facing environmental disaster. Climate change falls in line with the ravaging of resources, pollution of water sources, declining ecosystems, and animal/plant extinction. Mark my words, no one man nor nation can withstand the coming tide.

Humanity is incapable of seeing once faltered political eyes settle in. Plato, it is surmised, wrote the Seventh Letter (my favorite letter) where he is describing events in Sicily. He becomes distraught by the corruption writing:

When, therefore, I considered all this, and the type of men who were administering the affairs of State, with their laws too and their customs, the more I considered them and the more I advanced in years myself, the more difficult appeared to me the task of managing affairs of State rightly. For it was impossible to take action without friends and trusty companions; and these it was not easy to find ready to hand, since our State was no longer managed according to the principles and institutions of our forefathers; while to acquire other new friends with any facility was a thing impossible. Moreover, both the written laws and the customs were being corrupted, and that with surprising rapidity. Consequently, although at first I was filled with an ardent desire to engage in public affairs, when I considered all this and saw how things were shifting about anyhow in all directions, I finally became dizzy; and although I continued to consider by what means some betterment could be brought about not only in these matters but also in the government as a whole, [326a] yet as regards political action I kept constantly waiting for an opportune moment; until, finally, looking at all the States which now exist, I perceived that one and all they are badly governed; for the state of their laws is such as to be almost incurable without some marvelous overhauling and good-luck to boot. So in my praise of the right philosophy I was compelled to declare that by it one is enabled to discern all forms of justice both political and individual. Wherefore the classes of mankind (I said) will have no cessation from evils until either the class of those who are right and true philosophers attains political supremacy, or else the class of those who hold power in the States becomes, by some dispensation of Heaven, really philosophic.

Wherefore the classes of mankind (I said) will have no cessation from evils until either the class of those who are right and true philosophers attains political supremacy, or else the class of those who hold power in the States becomes, by some dispensation of Heaven, really philosophic.

A perfect description of the United States right about now. We need those philosophers or we too will face the similar fate, but this time it may be at a global cost.

Lord Hear Our Prayers.

Principles Over Politics: Industry

(Special Series)

(Part 2)

A rich old farmer, who felt that he had not many more days to live, called his sons to his bedside.

“My sons,” he said, “heed what I have to say to you. Do not on any account part with the estate that has belonged to our family for so many generations. Somewhere on it is hidden a rich treasure. I do not know the exact spot, but it is there, and you will surely find it. Spare no energy and leave no spot unturned in your search.”

The father died, and no sooner was he in his grave than the sons set to work digging with all their might, turning up every foot of ground with their spades, and going over the whole farm two or three times.

No hidden gold did they find; but at harvest time when they had settled their accounts and had pocketed a rich profit far greater than that of any of their neighbors, they understood that the treasure their father had told them about was the wealth of a bountiful crop, and that in their industry had they found the treasure.

Industry is itself a treasure.

The Farmer And His Sons, Aseop Fable

Industriousness isn’t merely hard-work, it is proactive and driven with a purpose beyond greed, lust, and revenge. True work leaves eternal value for friends, family, church, and the community at large. Ken Harrison, chairmen of Promise Keepers, tells us that real men see the needs and seek to accomplish them, “He doesn’t look around for someone else to accomplish the task. He doesn’t make excuses. He doesn’t complain, slander, or gossip. He chooses to make a difference where he is” (Harrison 2019, p. 116, Rise of the Servant Kings). Whether manhood or womanhood, single or a family, young or old we are called to be a people who work for the good, the true, and the beautiful. Enterprise, merit, honesty, and empathy are positive externalities from industry derived from a people whose actions carry forth goodness and faithfulness rooted in Jesus Christ and Scripture. True Conservatives accept that their stances may be refuted and even result in death, but set on being industriousness because of its lasting benefits.

After all the very highest and most fundamental work of good citizenship is to leave the next generation in right shape… – Theodore Roosevelt

Principles Over Politics: Virtuous Individualism

(Special Series)

(Part 1)

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10: 29-37).

Hyper-individuality has spread infectiously throughout the world producing a toxic malaise over the minds, hearts, and souls of mankind. In reaction to it a dangerous collective desire of Identity and Identity Politics now stands to shatter any real sense of the individual beyond the group.

The term hyper-individualism can be described as a state of an individual acting in such a way that completely disregards the community. An attitude that carries over into the belief that an individuals identity of race, gender, sex, or personal background is the end all, be all position. Nothing another person has to say or do matters beyond the self. This attitude follows into their daily actions as the individual can do no wrong, demand a life to be lived without any form of judgement, and expect little in consequences to their actions. Rising tensions within harmful political environments make respect for differences of opinion a place of distain, yes, but that is only one part of a larger problem. Rather increasing tensions cause differences of opinion to intensify to the point of extremes, blinding individuals from seeing the faults in one or more positions.

Neither the radical beliefs of neoliberal individualism i.e. hyper-individuality nor the radical movements of collective solidarity (e.g. Marxism or Fascism) can suffice without calamity. Truthfully no system is perfect nor ideal, however, at the heart of the Christian faith and a philosophy of Primitive Conservatism is the individual who demonstrates mercy; whose actions are sacrificial not for their own vain glories but with the sole purpose to do right and to help others in-spite of differences.

“Justice without mercy is cruelty. Mercy without justice is the mother of all dissolution.” — Thomas Aquinas