Gratitude

Others,

Please celebrate those who defended our nation and her allies.

Memorial Day

Rejoice in LEADERSHIP, you righteous;
it is good to sing praises for the just.

Help us to love our enemies.
Lead them and us from prejudice to truth;
let truth be for liberty with justice and providence;
deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, violence and revenge;
and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you
for each other.

We the people declare our unity to form a more perfect union.
Our union will establish justice, protect security, contract alliances,
establish commerce, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare and secure the blessings
of liberty for posterity.

We ordain the Constitution for the United States of America
with the bill of rights for liberty with justice and providence.
Our union calls for firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence.
This protection will provide for our respective rights and liberties.
We pledge our lives, prosperity and honor to each other.

Our beautiful heroes proved in liberating strife,
they loved their country with mercy more than life!
America has tried us that we may be refined.
Our success will be nobleness.
Our every gain divine!

Our beautiful patriotic dream sees beyond the years.
Our alabaster cities gleam washed with human tears.
America shed your grace on each.
Crown our good with neighborhood
to each within your reach!

=====================

Celebrate the defense of freedom. Stand opposed to torture, excessive force and wars of aggression.

Sarah McLachlan  – In the Arms of an Angel (American Tribute)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yklp5Ua_xj4&feature=related

May you find comfort in gratitude with reserve.

Steve K.

Happiness

Others,

Jesus represented responsible leadership. Christ requires progress in representation for the people. Jesus stated that those who would lead need to be ready to serve. The statement is not egalitarian. There is a hierarchy. There is the value of seniority.  There is a role for giftedness.

There is also the implication that reason and revelation are part of the loosing and binding used in judgment about fairness. When a leader defaults to the reason, "’Cuz I said so" it is an appeal to personal authority. When personal authority is institutionalized as the social norm, it is dictatorship.

Is the appeal to personal authority good? Is it right according to reason? Is it in accord with God's revelation through the observance of the commandment to love? There are times when charisma is warranted, but it is a coping device. Nevertheless, there are leaders' who rely on the personal declaration of authority with institutionalized justification. Said leaders are not serving. They are making their followers serve them. They are making others into slaves to their capital.

When those with more are given more, those with less end up working harder for less. This results in an unfair advantage. The unfair advantage is not good for the rich or anyone else. It makes providence too easy for the wealthiest and too hard for others. It creates disparity in the economy. It increases the prevalence for addiction and discrimination. The needs for the rich are replaced by wants. The needs for the poor are not met with adequate provision.

This is how democracy with the bill of rights gets subordinated to the profit motive for industrialization. The capitalist pays for an unfair advantage in accumulating capital which is then used to maintain or increase the advantage. Prior progress suffers from regression.

The people in the democracy need to group together in order to rise above the adversity of economic slavery. Vote for liberty. Vote against slavery. Watch the news for developments.

The effort to make re-districting fair in Florida has been derailed for now (along with the plans for the high speed railway).
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/us-justice-department-approves-redrawn-florida-redistricting-maps/1227732

This decision provides more evidence that the Republican party does not support a democratic republic. They just want to establish a dictatorship with term limits.

The last re-districting plan that was approved by the Republicans in FL resulted in ten years of a two to one majority. They used the majority to pass spending cuts...for ten years.

The economy has suffered. The cost of living has gone up. The public sector is faced with another ten years of cuts. The economy can only handle so much. What is going to happen when the bubble bursts? The bubble will burst if this continues. If we stop spending cuts and increase revenues for the public sector, we won’t have to find out.

The economy had been re-structured for industry profit. The money only went up. There was no taxation to re-circulate it. It just stayed up there for "winning" elections and "making" spending cuts with lobbying efforts. They expected trust, but they already established that enslavement to capital will not provide compensation for its abuse.

The US justice department decision needs to be appealed. The Republicans do not deserve more dictatorship for industry profit. Vote for Democrats. Support a democratic republic. Even if you are registered as a Republican, the democracy of the republic depends upon your cross-over vote and your opposition to tyranny.

Happiness
Jhn 15 Rmns 8 Ps 104

When the Spirit comes
you will be guided into truth
for liberty with justice.
Truth will declare
the things that are to come.
Christ will be glorified.

All creation has been groaning
in labor until now.
We ourselves have
suffered for
the fruits of the Spirit.
We were saved in hope.

Slavery had been the rule
for order.
Cruelty had been used
to destroy the accused
with punishment.
Providence had been
trickled down to us
by the control of capital.

Now we celebrate your abundance
in provision.
Your works are manifold.
You have made them in wisdom.
The earth is filled with wonders
for your creation.

There lies the great sea
teaming with life too great to number;
creatures both small and large.

There move the ships.
There is the mighty whale
which you made
just for the tale of it.

All of them look to you
for food in due season.

You give to them. They gather.
You open your hand. They are filled
with good things.

You hide your face. They are terrified.
You take away their breath.
They die. They decompose.

You send forth your Spirit. They are created!
You renew the face of the earth!

We rejoice in all your works!
You look at the earth. It trembles.
You touch the mountains. They smoke.
When our works are destroyed, we help
each other to re-build them.

May the glory of Christ endure!
I will sing to the LORD of progress.
I will praise my God while I have being.

May these words be pleasing to you:
I will rejoice in providence with truth.
I will celebrate liberty with justice for all.
I will respect the rights of others as
an expression of faith in my own.
I will rejoice in Christ, my redeemer.

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

==========================

There is a push to discredit education in this country. They call it education reform.

Romney on Education Reform
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG_AGweIqiM&feature=share

When standardized tests are used to improve education, education is improved. When high stakes tests are used, spending is cut. Schools are closed to increase industry profit.

The “reformists” won’t admit that schools "fail" because they don't have grade level text books. Their backers want to cut spending. Charter schools will cost them less, but the parents of students more. The parents are already poor. Where is the reform in that? It is economic slavery!

They want public education to look bad, so they can liberate the money for industry profit. Add a story of an inappropriate administrative act to reports of schools that are failing and it creates a bad image for education in “public” perception.

Student Sent Home for Inappropriate Attire
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sparker/daughter-inappropriate-outfit-school_b_1539939.htmlthat are failing the high stakes testing and it creates a bad image.

The principal that called the parent into school needs to be reported to the school board. The student’s attire was appropriate. The parent and student were being tested by another zero tolerance interpretation of the dress code.

People need to stand opposed to the push to discredit education. Standardized tests can be used to improve education by removing the high stakes aspect. Schools are doing poorly due to a lack of resources. They can’t afford qualified teachers or grade level texts. They need the teachers and the texts.

Parents of the students who went to the schools that failed can establish a charter school, but they will have to meet standards with even less funding.  The “education reform” imposes elitism as a societal norm. It is another manifestation of economic dictatorship.

This opposition can’t just be mental. It requires “no” power! Take your “no” to the streets. Put it into your speech. Speak out against education reform. Write against it. Vote against it. Vote against dictatorship. Vote for a democratic republic!

Girls Aloud – Revolution in the Head
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzBFRcuqJsE&feature=related

Girls Aloud sings,
“Revolution in the head don’t count for nothing.
You gotta move that ass!
Revolution in the head don’t count for nothing.
You gotta beat the past!”

Move your ass to beat the past! Stop the unfair advantage! Reform taxes, not education.

Steve K.

Correction

Others,

There isn’t a problem with the reference to “the Fall” in the bible as a myth, when it is used as a symbolic expression for truth with respect for faith. Profound truth is expressed by the myth. The truth refers to aspects of historical reality, but it is not a literal expression of history.

Biblical criticism has "unearthed" many historical frames of reference for the story of the Fall. It was written during the exile. It was written to contrast the creation account in the "Enuma Elish." It was written as an expression of Judaic monotheism. The promise for eternal life in the fruit of immortality was an allusion to the covenant as an expression of faith that God rules and slavery is not acceptable to the Torah.

The Serpent was Marduk, the Mesopotamian deity of fertility. The Gates of Ishtar show him as a serpent with legs.

The story about the Fall itself was a way of grappling with the loss of the kingdom of Judah and protesting the injustice inherent to the code of Hammurabi.

Monogamy is seen as an economic correlate with monotheism. The couple is responsible for the offspring that is produced by sexual reproduction.

The life of Judah as an independent kingdom was given up as a lost cause. This story was about accepting long term relations as a province of empire. Some compromises were made that took centuries to correct. The provision for democratic government and against cruel punishment in the English Bill of Rights (1689) was instrumental in making justice corrective, not destructive.

Slavery, torture and genocide would later come to be outlawed. When we read the bible, it has to be understood in terms of the progress that has taken place since it was recorded. Thus, the teleology of evolution corrects errant biblical as well as non-biblical metaphysics in relation to justice and government. The metaphysics of truth for liberty, justice and providence rule out obsession with aggression, destruction and death.

Correct the Concession

Ps 1 1Jhn5 Jhn 17

Those who have not advanced
the destructiveness of genocide;
nor the stagnation of slavery;
nor the destruction of the accused;
nor the torments of torture;
nor the amplification of aggression;
nor the dissent of depression
are happy.

Their delight is the law of the LORD.
They meditate on benefits for morality day and night.
They are like trees planted by a stream;
bearing fruit in season. Their leaves don’t wither.
They prosper in everything that they do.

It is not so with extremists.
They are like chaff blown by the wind.

Those dedicated to dictatorship
will be convicted when judgment comes;
Tyranny will not be allowed into the council of congress.

While human testimony can be
corroborated with physical evidence,
the testimony of God is greater.
The Father has testified for his Son.
Jesus is the Son.
Those who believe in Christ
have the evidence written in their hearts.
This is the word of truth for justice:
God gave us life
with the resurrection.

Jesus prayed, “The words that you gave to me,
I have passed to those whom you anointed.
All mine are yours.
Yours are mine.
I have been glorified in them.
Sanctify them in truth
with liberty, justice
and providence.
Your word is true.
As you sent me into the world,
I have sent them.
Let them prosper
with your sanctification.

===================

The US Sees Hopeful Signs in Talks with Iran
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/19/world/middleeast/officials-see-promising-signs-for-iran-nuclear-talks.html

The talks with Iran show progress with peril. The negotiations finally admit to hope for progress. There is a measurable substance (weapons grade uranium) that is being addressed, but the threat of military force is being used to oppress Iran.

The Iranian bill of rights is the main point of contention. There isn’t one. They need one. The west needs to insist on a bill of rights for Iran, Israel and every other nation that doesn’t have one.

The bill of rights needs to express respect for liberty, dedication to the correction of crime, acknowledgement of the need for providence and opposition to cruel and unusual punishment.

When we represent rights for people, international relations are improved. It is a one for all and all for one effort.

HS Musical2: All for One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axv3bGOawx0

All for one! The heat of summer has begun!

Everybody! “One for all” and “all for one”!

Steve K.

Ascension

Ascension

Others,

These are key selections from the reading for the celebration of the Ascension.

Ps  47:5

God has gone up with a shout;
the LORD with the sound of the horn!

Ps 93:1a

The LORD is King;
he has put on splendid apparel.

Ephesians 1:18-21

You may know… the immeasurable greatness of the power for us who believe…God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places; far above all rule, authority, power and dominion.

Luke 24:51-53

While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. They were continually in the temple blessing God.

==========================

The celebration of the Ascension is not about detachment from regard for human rights.

Enthusiasm for prejudice is a prelude to discrimination. It is presented as perspective on perception. Odd opinions run the discriminatory into extravagant actions. The experience of consequence should be enough to stop further action based on the wrong. The love of uniqueness in being extraordinarily odd however overruns natural caution.

The ease associated with the look of inspiration; the defiance of conventions based on reason and revelation; the strength of celebrating the rights of the individual over the liberty of others; of immediate reference to traditional revelation; of illumination without search; of certainty without examination or proof; of dependency upon cruelty and destruction, so flatters ignorance, laziness and vanity that is difficult to get them out of it.

John Locke wrote: “Reason is lost upon them, they are above it: they see the light infused into their [own] understandings…” (“Concerning Human Understanding,” John Locke, 1690, Ch.XIX, ‘Enthusiasm,’ section 8)

Republicans have rejected reason in order to deify industry profit.

The proposal that the Republican party supports education was disinformation. Their party needs to be reformed. The state affected by Republican policies needs to be reformed. The damage that the Party has caused has to be repaired. The high stakes aspect of standardized testing needs to be removed. Education needs more support.

The economy needs revenue for the public sector in order to recover. While the elitist extremism of the Republicans holds the responsibility in terms of inflicting hardship upon the economy, in fairness, there are ultra-liberals who share the blame.

Extremists place themselves outside democracy in order to control it. Consequently, they don’t play by the rules of the constitution with the bill of rights. They simply seek to control society by giving themselves an even larger advantage. The infamous CEO mentality leads the way towards the Republican convention.

Romney tags Obama from Iowa
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iC1SqddqJuKDwoUb5mnZ8DIJEsog?docId=2196da41c8d84560b2853a9d938c8d26

Romney wants to maintain the unfair advantage.

Jim Morrison sings about the neo-cons and ultra-glibs as the “strangers” to the democratic movement during the counter-culture.

The Doors – People Are Strange
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRAr354usf8&feature=related

Neo-cons are strangers in suits. Ultra-glibs are just strange.

You strange alien types don’t put yourselves above it all by standing outside it. You put yourselves beneath the consequences for your advocacy of tyranny. This is a democracy. You have to play by the rules. The rules are subject to the rule of law in a democratic society with the constitution and the bill of rights.

Pay your freekin’ taxes like everybody else! Argh!

Steve K.

Design

Others,

Racism is a product of elitism.

Noam Chomsky - The US War on Latin America
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/266-32/11395-the-us-war-on-latin-america

Excerpt: “In the U.S., the primary victims [of the war on drugs] have been African-American males, increasingly also women and Hispanics – in short, those rendered superfluous by the economic changes instituted in the 1970s, shifting the economy toward financialization and offshoring of production.”

Downsizing, outsourcing and off-shoring have been taking place when tax breaks have been given as incentives for corporations and the wealthiest to invest in jobs for the US economy.

What are the wealthy industrialists doing with their incentive money? They have been plugging it into "spending cuts," "lobbying efforts," and "campaign funding" for neo-con candidates. The neo-cons are dedicated to the protection of the elitism that gives the unfair advantage to the wealthiest.

Tax reform is needed to reform our society.

Design
Jhn 15, 1Jhn5, Ps 98

Salvation says,
“Love one another
as I have loved you.”
Living for others
is the greatest love.
We are not slaves
to having power
over others.

We are not enslaved
to those who claim
to have power over us.
The slave doesn’t know the plan.
The plan has been revealed to us.
Love others according to nature’s design.
Everyone who believes
that Jesus is Christ
has been born of God.

This Christ shines for human rights.
This Christ corrects crime.
This Christ condemns torture,
genocide and wars of aggression.

This Christ is the rule of law
for the power of the people
with a bill of rights
that protects liberty.
This is the victory that wins the world:
our faith in goodness with equity.

Sing to the LORD:
the Christ for good;
the good for God;
the God of love;
love by design;
nature’s design;
now mine.

The LORD has made known
the victory: truth for justice with equity.
Shout with joy for Christ all you lands.
Lift up your voice. Rejoice and sing.

God remembers those who serve
goodness with faith and righteousness.
Sing with the voice of song
and the music of instruments.

Let creation rejoice.
Let the wind rush;
the sea crash;
the rivers rage;
the lightning boom;
the thunder rumble.
Rejoice in the symphony
that surrounds us.

Let the waters
reflect the light of design.
Jesus was born for love by water.
Christ was born against
cruel punishment by blood.
The Spirit baptizes believers
in the name of Jesus Christ.

The world will be judged
with righteousness.
Equity will provide
for basic needs.

=========================

Love by design is not a “drive by.”

Train – Drive By
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxqnFJ3lp5k&feature=musicchart

“Oh, I swear to you. I’ll be there for you…”

Love God by showing respect for others. It’ll make your mom happy.

Happy Mother’s day!

Steve K.

Love

Others,

The call to marriage is not absolute. There are provisions for celibacy. Celibacy is simply living life as an unmarried person. It is not a ban against marriage for all people.

A state does not have the right to outlaw domestic partnerships, civil unions or unmarried households. Neither does the church.

Pastor Tells Parents to Punch Children
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/north-carolina-pastor-sea_n_1468618.html

(The pastor deserves to be punched!)

The church has a responsibility to warn about the dangers of promiscuity. The state has a responsibility to warn against the dangers of unsafe sex. Neither however has the right to forbid unmarried households.

Love (fm 1Jhn 4; Jhn15; Ps22)

God abides in those who love.
Those who hate those
whom they have seen
cannot love God
whom they have not seen.
The commandment we have is this:
Show your devotion to God
by respecting others.

We are the true vine.
God is the vine-grower.
Each barren branch is removed.
Every branch that bears fruit is pruned
to make it produce more.

Our Vine-grower is glorified
when we grow fruit
with the commandment to love.
The poor will eat and be satisfied.

Those who seek the LORD
will sing with praise,
“May your goodness
live in us!”

The ends of the earth will remember.
The families of nations will show respect.
Leadership belongs to God;
The LORD shows goodness to nations.

Even those who sleep
in the earth
worship you.
All who go down
to the dust lay before you.

My soul will live for you;
My production will serve you;
The fruits of my labor will make
children for your family.

They will make known to people
yet to be born, your saving deeds.

=======================

There is a part of me that will not be broken, married or unmarried. This part is the heart of the song.

Katy Perry – Part of Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuwfgXD8qV8&feature=musicchart

“This is the part of me that you’re never gonna ever take away from me…You’re not gonna break my soul.”

Find yourself with your love for others. Don’t lose yourself to slavery. Support human rights.

Steve K.