Security

                                                                  Helen Thomas
                              http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/helen-thomas

"I don't think a tough question is disrespectful. I say. ´Mr. President...´ I say, ´Thank you.´ What else do you want? The presidential news conference is the only forum in our society where a president can be questioned. If he's not questioned, he can rule by edict; by government order... He can be a dictator, and who is to find out? No. He should be questioned and he should always be able to willingly reply and answer to all questions because these aren't our questions. They're the people's questions."

Face the Faces for the New Eve

Others,

Faith has maintained a role in political action. The quest for truth leads to belief in something better than that which was established by elitist society. Freedom of religion does not promote the establishment of a state religion by defending the right to free exercise.

Faith is an open door to improvement for the democratic republic. If slavery had not been abolished; if voting rights had not been extended to white women and people of color; if due process of law had not been instituted as a correction for the abuse of majority rule; the republic would not have made any progress in regards to representation for the rights of people by government.

Our progress towards representative government is being pushed into regression by the aggression of the elitist economy. Our rights are being reduced to the right to pay for national security. Social security is being pilfered as part of the process. The elitists have elevated their rights to the right to take money from the presumption of service to the nation by their accumulation of wealth.

We need to get back on road to freedom. The remembrance of those who made progress in the struggle helps build the faith that we can make a change. We can move towards that representation in which we can believe.

Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
Ain't she something good!
http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-events/civil-rights-movement4.htm
"According to Alabama law during the '50s, blacks and whites couldn't occupy the same row. When told by the bus driver to give up the row to the white man, three of the blacks left for the back of the bus, but Mrs. Parks simply refused. She was quickly arrested and sent to jail."

Five More Faces
http://www.missionstclare.com/english/people/jul20.html
Sojourner Truth (1798-1883)
Ain't she a woman!
"When she was travelling, and someone asked her name, she said "Sojourner," meaning that she was a citizen of heaven, and a wanderer on earth. She then gave her surname as "Truth," on the grounds that God was her Father, and His name was Truth."

Harriet Ross Tubman (1820-1913)
Ain't she for freedom!
"In 1844, she escaped to Canada, but returned to help others escape. Working with other Abolitionists, chiefly white Quakers, she made at least nineteen excursions into Maryland in the 1850's, leading more than 300 slaves to freedom. "

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)
Ain't she an advocate!
"Mrs. Stanton was born in 1815 and reared in the Presbyterian Church. She found the Calvinist doctrine of predestination dismaying, and rebelled against it. She denounced the clergy of her day for not upholding women's rights, but as she travelled giving speeches on the subject, she found no lack of pulpits available to her."

Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818-1894)
Ain't she the maker of bloomers!
"Mrs. Bloomer and her husband eventually settled in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where she worked to promote churches, schools, libraries, and progressive and reform movements."

Helen Thomas (1920-2013)
Ain’t she the pistol!

Helen Thomas died at 92 years of age on Saturday, July 20, 2013. She was a barrier busting White House correspondent.

Helen Thomas Died
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/business/media/helen-thomas-who-broke-down-barriers-as-white-house-reporter-is-dead-at-92.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0  

"Ms. Thomas bitterly opposed the war in Iraq…” She made no effort to appear neutral at White House news conferences, where some of her questions were prosecutorial.  She wrote that most White House and Pentagon reporters had been too willing to accept the Bush administration’s rationale for going to war in her last book."

------------------------------------- 

National and social security are posited as the major concerns for government. Those who reject social security to favor sales to the weapons and high tech industries are distorting proportion in representation.  Defense is important. Provision for basic needs is as well. Both are essential to survival.

These concerns need to be balanced in terms of thought, emotion and the budget.  Exclusive investment in national security profits those that promote the industry for war. This is not representation for the people. It is an elitist agenda that needs to be corrected.

The following piece celebrates natural proportion in finding security in relation to the disproportions faced by perspective:

The eagle slides along the drifting cloud,
seeking movement on the still land.
Catch the swirling wind, sailor.
See the rim of cloud as sand.
Dancing wings create weather;
spins out of hand.

Security
Fm Ps 15

Who will live in safety?
Who will live with the vantage
of advantage?

Whoever lives a good life;
does what is right;
who speaks truth
with the strength of heart.

There is no guile of tongue;
no deception of friends;
no contempt for neighbors.

Wickedness has been rejected.
Those who respect others
are honored.

A wrong does not last long.
Promise is constant by design.

Interest is shared fairly.
Bribes are not entertained.

Corruption is corrected.
Reparations prepare the way
for redemption.

Whoever respects rights
will live past loss of life.

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

Why do people get frustrated with democratic procedures? There is a problem with definition. Some define democracy as majority rule. The expectation is that “the people” get what they want based on membership in the largest social group.

Those of European descent that hold this expectation think that the people of the democracy are white. White people get what white people want. Others simply have to take less of a trickle in “trickle down” economics. This view only reinforces the elitist mechanism of oppression.

Some define democracy as the abuse of majority rule. The experience of struggling to find provision for taking care of basic needs in relation to “less trickle” induces contempt for this form of government.

How is a majority rule government supposed to represent all the people in the nation? All the people are the greatest majority. Still, minorities have to have distinct protections.

Freedom of religion; speech; and media expression are protections. The right to vote is a protection. The right to self-defense is a protection.  Due process of law is a protection.  These protections are aimed at maintaining respect for the representation of all the people in government; minorities included.

How did a government that had been working towards a balanced budget, find itself with a deficit of over a trillion dollars? The dramatic change was caused by a major tragedy that was used to shock most of the nation into a state of fear so sectarian prejudice against Islam could be exploited to justify two invasion level events.

It was war that turned balance into a massive deficit. It was the industry for war that used a false flag event to subordinate progress in democracy to submission to elitist tyranny. It was the elitists that organized representation for the industry of war that accomplished something that no reasonable person would have wished on their worst enemy.

Recently, the nation achieved its lowest deficit in five years.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/11/us-budget-surplus_n_3581160.htm
“The federal government on Thursday (7/11/13) reported a rare surplus of $116.5 billion in June, the largest for a single month in five years. The gain kept the nation on track for its lowest annual deficit in five years.”

The reduction was achieved at a price however. The cost was the stimulus package that catered to the private sector, primarily industry.  John Kenneth Galbraith’s theory of countervailing power was not employed. Keynesian economics was discarded to favor a stimulation package that pushed bull politics for bull economics and a bull market in a situation that had favored bear policies in the past.

There is something to be said for building up industries for human service to countervail against the industry for war, but the greatest problem with the economy, the excessive accumulation of capital by the wealthiest sector of society, was not corrected.

The Bush era level of tax shelter for rich people was allowed to expire, but the representation of the public with public sector employment has been restricted to national security. This means that people who had been working to manage provision for the basic needs of the poor and disabled are now expected to take up weapons to point at those who are suffering from lack of provision.

Deficit reduction in this case is not economic progress. It is simply making the nation wait until representation for elitism is shifted from those who support the industry of war to those who are for human service. While the strategy may result in a return to democracy with respect for rights, it is another example of how war has been used to arrest and reverse progression in the representation of rights.

We are once again, our own greatest enemy when we accept these concessions to wars for aggression as necessary for progression.

Evarose – We Can Pretend Anyway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jmrql4PHJk
http://evaroseband.tumblr.com/post/1203829258/we-can-pretend-anyway-lyrics

“Knowing that the best is behind you
I was disappointed to find out the hard way

“We have met the enemy
And we know he is us”

Those who are responsible for organizing the lobby for invasion level events need to be prosecuted for high crime by the DOJ.  Oppose war. Support the poor. Take back our rights!  

Steve K.

Representation

Others,

Cruelty without courage is not heroic. It does not provide the basis for civilization. It is the use of brute force to impose domination as “natural selection.”

Alfege was a christian in England when establishment was regarded as a norm. People were expected to worship God in the same religion as the king or suffer injustice as a consequence. Church temples were built with taxes. Priests and monks were supported by the resources that remained after taxation. Asceticism was left as a norm for priests and monks that wished to serve people. Those who believed in domination saw people as slaves and servants for their leadership.

Alfege as an anchorite. He did not have an income outside of his religious service. He resided in a small cell; was dedicated to living only in accord with the most austere of basic needs; and orchestrated his life in relation to prayer and worship.  

Eventually, he was consecrated as a bishop. He was instrumental in negotiating a settlement with invaders.

He was elevated to the archbishop of Canterbury when the Church of England was still part of the Roman Church. He was taken hostage during another attempted negotiation with hostiles from a neighboring kingdom.

Alfege
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86lfheah_of_Canterbury#Death"Ælfheah refused to allow a ransom to be paid for his freedom, and as a result was killed on 19 April 1012 at Greenwich[21] (then in Kent, now part of London), reputedly on the site of St Alfege's Church."
http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/140.html
"When the Dane Cnut (Canute) became King of England in 1016, he adopted a policy of conciliation, and in 1023 he brought the body of Alphege from London to Canterbury, where he was long remembered as a martyr, one who died, not precisely for professing the Christian faith, but for exercising the Christian virtue of justice."

------------------------------

Emma, the wife of Cnut, acted as an advocate in promoting repairs for the damage in relations with the cruelty towards Alfege. He is remembered for his dedication to justice, but she was the advocate that had his remains returned to England and offered gifts to affect reparations. This was an important event that built respect for making a provision against cruelty as an important legal constitution for the state.

The English bill of rights documented the provision in 1689. The English bill was a movement to establish civility for citizens as the purpose for government. The US bill of rights added freedom of religion as an important provision to prevent punishment for those who do not share the same religion as the head of state.

Recent years have seen a movement from extremists to re-establish cruelty as the means to establish domination over people by aggression with torture as well as high crimes like wars of aggression and genocide.

An investigation has found that an American president ordered torture.  

Bush Ordered Torture
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/16/nonpartisan-review-concludes-bush-knowingly-ordered-torture/
“After conducting our own two-year investigation, weighing the credibility of all sources and studying the current public record, we have come to the regrettable, but unavoidable, conclusion that the United States did indeed engage in conduct that is clearly torture,” former Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), who served as undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security during the Bush administration, said in an advisory."

Courage with compassion provides a remedy for cruelty without courage.

Courage
fm 1John3, John10, Ps23

Beloved family, we are destined to lead
by faith with truth for justice with liberty.
Let us love in truth with speech in action.
Action from truth with justice provides
reassurance to memory.

We have testimony from the past
when our heart would condemn us.
We have boldness before God
who is greater than our heart.

Salvation is our good shepherd.
Life has been laid down
when the world would accept
nothing but sacrifice.

The stone that had been rejected by the builders
has become our cornerstone.

God is the LORD.
The LORD is my shepherd.
I will gladly accept prosperity
for posterity from providence.

You guide me to green pastures.
You lead me beside clear water.

You revive my soul.
You lead me along
the right path
for your Name’s sake.

I will not fear evil
even when I walk
on a path with
the threat of death.
You are with me.
Your strength
and leadership
comfort me.

You spread a table before me
in the presence of those
who trouble me.
You have anointed me with oil.
My cup runs over.

Surely, goodness
and mercy will follow me
for the rest of my life.
I will dwell in my house
with faith in the LORD.

Our house has been dedicated
to the rule of law for civil and human rights.
When civility eclipses humanity,
injustice is established.
When humanity denies civility
disrespect prevents progress
in civility.

National and social security
have to be balanced in relation to the world
as well as the budget. Social security
cannot be trivialized by terror.
National security cannot be eliminated
by the denial of crime or violent aggression.

The rule of law has been constituted
as a guide to justice. The bill of rights
provides a template for representation
in domestic and international relations.
Errors in engagement are amplified
by the excess and deficiency of aggression.

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

The US and China have been engaged in a super-power competition since the end of World War II. China has adopted a communist economy that promotes government control of industry.

The US had a constitutional government with a capitalist economy. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. expanded representation for American society beyond European citizens by claiming civil rights as the basis for respect for black people also. President Lyndon Johnson used the assassinations of Dr. King and John F Kennedy to accomplish the greatest advances in civil rights in American history. The Great Society redefined the definition of what it was to be American.

There have been however movements to negate the progression. The tax advantage for the wealthiest people in particular has been used to eliminate power for the people. It has been increased to the extent that the wealthiest have power over people. The “elite” pay for lobbies for corruptions in legislation and budget manipulation.

They pay for vote manipulation with media ownership, political control of vote counting, voting machine control and gerrymandering. They pay for campaigns that support their tax advantage. They pay for punishment for opposition. Simply put, industry has come to control the government in the USA; the industry for war in particular.

 The provision against cruelty, one of the greatest advances in political leadership, was used as a justification for destabilizing the Middle East with wars for aggression.

It has been observed that the destruction of the World Trade Center towers was accomplished by explosives. Scientific experiment established that thermite, a by product of explosive material, was in the rubble for the towers. The suspension of the FBI investigation of suspected terrorist events was used to shift the investigation of the assumed terrorist activity to a branch in the US Department of Commerce. The Congressional investigation only established that the official story line for the event was determinative for the people.

The NDAA was designed as “bi-partisan” to divert attention away from the errors perpetuated by the war of terror, but it authorizes indefinite detention, targeted killing and propaganda, components for a policy of genocide. The UN and affiliated human rights organizations however have not accused the western coalition of wars of aggression and genocide. There have been no reports of human rights violations by the coalition.

The Freedom House is a right wing “NGO” / lobby in the US that has used money from elitists to accomplish the undermining of the constitutional democracy in the US.

Big Money Red Flag
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chechnya#Regional_government
"In 2009, the American organization Freedom House included Chechnya in the "Worst of the Worst" list of most repressive societies in the world, together with Burma, North Korea, China's Tibet and others."

Right Wing Much?
Freedom House
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_House#Organization
"The board is currently chaired by William H. Taft IV. Taft assumed chairmanship of the board in January 2009, succeeding Peter Ackerman. Other current board members include Kenneth Adelman, Farooq Kathwari, Azar Nafisi, Mark Palmer, P. J. O'Rourke, and Lawrence Lessig,[1] while past board-members have included Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Samuel Huntington, Mara Liasson, Otto Reich, Donald Rumsfeld, Whitney North Seymour, Paul Wolfowitz, Steve Forbes, and Bayard Rustin"

William H Taft IV
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_Taft_IV#Government_service_and_legal_career"From 1970 to 1973, he was the principal assistant to Caspar W. Weinberger, who was deputy director, then director, of the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President under President Richard Nixon"

The Boston Bombing was a planned event. It was planned for international impact. The planning exceeded the limited resources of the two suspects who had been named as the perpetrators of the bombing of the Boston marathon. Some major players have been investing in media expression and government action in an effort to make it look like smaller players had pulled off the bombing independently.

What made the person a suspect? The video showed the brothers walking on the sidewalk with black backpacks. It was reported that the younger brother was seen putting a backpack down where an explosion took place, but it wasn't shown on video.

Was there video footage that showed the brothers walking past the explosion sites without having removed the backpacks? Honestly, the video footage wasn't conclusive. It was good that information was requested, but the reportedly massive manhunt took place with federal troops taking over Boston.

The next thing the public knows is that the older brother was killed in a shoot out. The younger brother was found shot, hiding in a boat in someone's yard.

The story as a whole indicates that there is so much money invested in man hunting that there is an implied disposition to save court costs. The attitude reflects a cold callousness posturing behind the search for justice.

Right wing values have been institutionalized to push civil and human rights to the background. It has been announced that the living suspect will not be afforded Miranda rights. So, is he going to be tortured until he gives the confession that the (right wing) "public" wants to hear?
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/boston-bombing-suspect-posted-video-al-qaeda-prophecy-youtube
"This YouTube page also contains other indications of an interest in Islamic fundamentalism and jihadism. Its owner subscribed two months ago to a channel called "Allah is the One." In recent months, he liked a video described as a telephone conversation with a famous sheikh that covers "collaboration" with the Sufis of Chechnya. Five months ago, he added two videos to his playlist under the heading "Terrorists." But each video has been deleted "

The basic goal in making a suspect look like an independent operator is to implement draconian reforms in legislation that had been paid for with money for lobbies, the Freedom House being a major player. The suspension of rights for the accused is one of the “reforms.”

No Miranda Rights Reading; No Lawyer Present
Sen. Graham Invokes War as Justification
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/20/should-boston-bombing-suspect-get-a-miranda-warning-debate-follows-friday-capture/
"“This guy didn’t rob a liquor store. He wasn’t working for the Mafia,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said Saturday on Fox News. “My God, they were at war with us, we need to be at war within our values and within our laws.”"

People need to know what happened. If there is not a lawyer present when he is questioned, the investigation is subject to embellished interpretation for the implementation of "reforms."

The young man needs legal representation, so he doesn't feel like he has to give answers that will end the interrogation in a way that concedes to interrogator insistence. The human rights violations that found their way to legislation are not legal. They impede forensic investigation for due process of law.

Legal Representation for the Suspect
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/21/boston-marathon-bombings-fbi-tsarnaev
"The federal public defender's office in Massachusetts said it has agreed to represent Tsarnaev once he is charged. Miriam Conrad, public defender for Massachusetts, told the Associated Press that he should have a lawyer appointed as soon as possible because there are "serious issues regarding possible interrogation.""

Liberty in the law is the basis for justice. When it is subordinated to the rule of the elite, justice has ‘left the building’ for a “brown eyed man.”

Godsmack – Good Times, Bad Times
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pXxVm-hdEo
“She swore that she would be all mine and love me till the end,
But when I whispered in her ear, I lost another friend, oooh.”

.------------------------------

What was in that whisper? I don’t suppose it was that the piper will lead us to reason. It was more like, “I want to make you mine for all time.”

Steve K.

Opulent Civility

Others,

The use of language can be deceptively simple.

If the evangelist Luke had been content to address a purely religious audience, he would have simply said, “The word of God came to John ,son of Zachariah, in the wilderness during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas.” (Luke 3:2)  The fact that he prefaced this statement with qualifications of who the main authorities for the time were shows that he was evangelizing. He was reaching out to the Gentiles; the group from which he had come; Greco-Roman society:

“It was the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea. Herod (Antipas) was tetrarch of Galilee. Philip, his brother, was tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis. Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene. The word of God came to John, son of Zecharias, in the Judean wilderness during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas.” (Luke 3:1-2)

The fifteenth year was significant because Tiberius had moved from Rome to Capri.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius#Tiberius_in_Capri.2C_with_Sejanus_in_Rome

Capri is located off the coast of Italy; closer to Naples than to Rome.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Capri_and_Ischia_map.png

Things were rumored to have happened. Historians recorded accusations of criminal acts.

Tiberius was accused of cruel homosexual perversion on the island.
http://www.bible-history.com/sketches/ancient/tiberius-caesar.html
Capri had "...the "Tiberius Leap" (Salto di Tiberio) which is a giant 1000 foot cliff [from which], according to the historians Suetonius and Tacitus, Tiberius hurled his discarded young sexual conquests and victims into the sea to their deaths for orgasmic pleasure."

It was believed that he suffered from mental illness.
http://www.formerthings.com/tiberius.htm
"After briefly mentioning some of the successes of Tiberius, Suetionus goes into depth regarding his madness. He would have sex with people of all ages and sexes. He was very cruel to his subjects. He would arbitrarily have people executed, for crimes as harmless as speaking ill of Augustus. Suetonius describes one example of Tiberius' madness where Tiberius would force a subject to drink large quantities of wine. He would then have their genitals tied so tightly that they could not urinate."

He was smothered with a pillow so Caligula, his successor and adopted grandson, could succeed him as emperor.
http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/tiberius.htm
"Tiberius died at Misenum on March 16 37 A.D. at age 79. Although suffering from a terminal illness, he apparently wasn't dying fast enough for his successor's liking - so they smothered him with a pillow."

If the accusations against the emperor were true, Tiberius was guilty of torture and multiple homicides. Caligula, his successor, was also accused of moral indecency as related to tyrannical leadership. Nero was reputed to have played his violin while Rome burned.

There is some consensus of agreement regarding the Roman republic. The republic started off as a representative body for the people, then when the king was proclaimed emperor, it degenerated into a dictatorship. There is however question regarding the content of the accusations. Were the accusations made as a statement for another imperial candidate; against the existing emperor; or against empire as a political entity in its own right?

Even in today’s society some hold that it is the size of the government that makes it good or evil. A smaller government, like a state or a kingdom, is possible to manage. A large government is incapable of management according to this view. It is inherently evil.

If all states were managed properly, the argument that smaller government is inherently better, would have substance. Judgment regarding goodness in states, kingdoms, large nations or empires however, is not based on the size of the political body, it is formed by fairness in representing the people.

It is also incorrect to argue that political leadership is always wrong whereas religious leadership never is.

Ambrose was bishop of Milan. He was not qualified by desire, training or experience to serve as a church leader.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/pastorsandpreachers/ambrose.html
“Ambrose really didn't want to be an ecclesiastical leader; he was doing quite well as a political one. And he hadn't even been baptized yet! But the people wrote to Emperor Valentian, asking for his seal on their verdict.”

If Ambrose was deceptive, he could have had a “guest registry” set out at a church gathering in Milan. The signatures could have been sent to the emperor with the claim that all had signed it to have him declared bishop. Church leadership was not even supposed to be determined by the emperor. This was after the conversion of Constantine. Things had changed but canon law did not cite the emperor as the power who determined the apostolic succession. A bishop was supposed to be ordained by incumbent bishops; not an “imperial” authority.

Ambrose displayed a sectarian agenda when he refused to recognize the rights of other religious groups. He refused to give communion to the emperor for having punished someone who had burned a Jewish synagogue.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/19014/Saint-Ambrose
“An imperial court frequently sat in Milan. In confrontations with this court, Ambrose showed a directness that combined the republican ideal of the prerogatives of a Roman senator with a sinister vein of demagoguery. In 384 he secured the rejection of an appeal for tolerance by pagan members of the Roman senate, whose spokesman, Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, was his relative (Letters 17, 18)…. In 388 he rebuked the emperor Theodosius for having punished a bishop who had burnt a Jewish synagogue.”

Basilica of Ambrose, Milan
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/renzodionigi/sets/72157614562355600/

 History has shown that it is not appropriate to condemn all government or all religion. Freedom of religion provides the line for interaction. The state is not to make laws that establish a religion as official or prevent the free exercise of faith. Religion is not to dictate policy to government.

If you are honest in your religion, then you recognize that government is “godly” when it represents fairness for the people. Religion has to satisfy the same condition, fairness in representation; it simply has different forms for assembly and expression. This said, ecclesiastical government needs to be conducted with democratic procedures.

A major factor in the determination of corrupt action is determined by the injunction against killing. Whether it is the commandment against killing in religion or the laws against terrorism, murder, genocide, wars of aggression or state sponsored terrorism in the civil government; killing is irreversible; killing as a means for attaining profit or power is outlawed. Slavery is outlawed as well.

The law is against murder and slavery. This prohibition implies support for civility. This means that God is for civility for those of us who believe that it is true. The following song celebrates opulent civility.  

Opulent Civility
Fm Baruch 5:1-9

Take off the attire of affliction, tired city.
Accept the heritage of radiant desire.
Put on the honor of honesty.
Don the diadem of the dawn.
Revel in effulgent glory
from the emerging euphoria
of the aurora.
The crown of our light will shine
for truth with justice and joy for you.

God will show you the splendor of existence.
Splendid opulence will glow
with the growth of love
in experience.
Your name will be,
 “Wonderful. Counselor.
Righteous City. Godly Peace.”

Arise, city of light! Attain the height of heaven.
Look upon your people. See your children
gathered from every direction;
listening to the word of God;
rejoicing with the remembrance
of what has been learned from history.

They had left on foot.
They had gone the way of prisoners.
They had been taken away as slaves.
They had been held captive by thieves.
They had tread the trodden trails of tyranny;
swept by the sway of cruelty and oppression.

We have returned to you, city of angels.
God has brought us back on wings of glory;
resplendent with honor to the royal home.

We will move forward.
Where no road had been,
a path will be made.
The obstacles of war, oppression, greed and cruelty
will be brought down.  Every mountain
made by tyranny will be laid low.
The valleys of economic depression
will be filled. We will have a level playing field.
The rules for competition will be observed with joy;
we will learn to win together.

Human being will walk safely in the light of revelation
acquired by investigation and reflection
with faith in the glory of God.
Any tree will give shade
from the heat of too much light.

We will be lead by life with joy
with mercy in morality
and correction from the judgments
of experience with education.

Shine! Shine! O, new Jerusalem!
The experience of your existence
will shine with opulent civility
for humanity!

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

Civility for those who believe in "winning" by aggression is often conditioned by aggression against those who are civil. The law often has to become a mechanism for the defense of those who are victimized by aggression.

Non-aggression is "darkness" for those who believe in aggression. It becomes light when civility is added to sight.

Natasha Bedingfield – Pocketful of Sunshine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gte3BoXKwP0

“There's a place that I go
That nobody knows
Where the rivers flow.
I call it home.
There's no more lies.
The darkness is light
And nobody cries
there's only butterflies”

Move forward.
Where no road had been,
a path will be made.

Shine! Shine! O, new Jerusalem!
The experience of your existence
will shine with opulent civility.

Steve K.

 

 

Enemies

Others,

The law says, “You will not kill.” If you kill despite the statement, “You will be punished.” Punishment for killing had been treated as a lesser offense than other crimes prior to the provision against cruel and unusual punishment. People were killed by the state for a list of lesser crimes based on accusations.  After the provision had been established, the standards for justice began to evolve. Eventually, murder came to be regarded as the offense that required capital punishment.

If the accuser belonged to a group favored by the elite, then others were punished for belonging to groups that were not “protected” by the elitist leadership. Those who were not protected were called “the barbarians;” “the outcasts;” “those people”; “one of them;” the others. More recently, they have come to be called “immigrants;” “aliens;” “terrorists;” and “militants.”  

There were “rules” for judgment that were invoked by those who cared about justice, but there are cases in today’s society where people are convicted on charges based on accusation (e.g. Sandusky was convicted without physical evidence).

Syria presents an unusual case in authoritarian regimes. The elite actually favor a minority group, the Alawites, as “protected.” The position is regarded as untenable even in the league of dictatorships.

Syrian Forces Fight Back
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=278343

Israel has become increasingly authoritarian. They have the more common “justification.” The elites there support the status quo. Five Israeli citizens were killed in Bulgaria. Netanyahu claims that he has “fully substantiated intelligence” that it was the Hezbollah. The Hezbollah are Shiites.  The Iranians and Syrians are with the Shiia. This is his fully substantiated intelligence.

Netanyahu Promises to Punish Hezbollah
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/netanyahu-israel-will-do-whatever-is-necessary-to-protect-israelis-from-terrorist-attacks/2012/07/22/gJQAICU91W_story.html

The problem is that Israel will use US funded weaponry to attack and kill Palestinians who are Shiites. Surely, a Shiite neighborhood will be chosen for the bombing.  

Israeli intelligence has a list of “militants” who have been observed or have actually been recorded as making statements against Israel or allies. The procedure has not only been to “round up the usual suspects.”  The suspects were treated as terrorists i.e. they made angry statements against Israeli oppression, so they won’t admit that “Israel has a right to exist.”

They were killed at a ratio of ten to one. These suspects are now called militants because the US and the western coalition no longer support the “war on terror.” Who are militants? Those who are for a Palestinian state or at the very least, don’t approve of Israeli oppression, are militants.

The elites don’t want to recognize the existence of a Palestinian state, so they don’t admit to the existence of Palestinians as anything but terrorists (even if they are called militants now). When the US championed the “war on terror,” it was this policy of killing suspected terrorists as “terrorists” that was implemented. Calling them militants is not a big change. It is still a violation of the law against killing.

Netanyahu needs to be replaced by someone who does not support the killing of suspects. The US and Israel are guilty of supporting a policy that murders non-combatants as long as he remains in office. We cannot regard non-combatants that are killed as “collateral damage.” They were murdered because they were killed outside of the rules for engagement.

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

The suspect in custody for the Colorado shootings has a large amount of evidence against him. There are witnesses. There is ballistics testing. There is the documentation of the purchase of weapons and ammunition. There is not much question as to the guilt of the suspect. Still, he needs to be tried in a court of law. The testimony has to be corroborated by physical evidence.

If he is guilty, his defense can plead “not guilty due to reasons of insanity.” This is however a mass murder. Twelve people were reported killed. Eleven were seriously injured. About eighty were injured by the shooting spree. Insanity is a mitigating plea. Cases where four or more people are killed are regarded as mass murder. This should kick the mitigating plea out of the judgment.

Suspect in Custody after Colorado Theater Shootings.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/james-holmes-aurora-shooting-medical-student_n_1689794.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D182203

What does law about gun control have to do with mass murder? The debate at this point is between the position statements “Automatic weapons need to be outlawed again” and “Major purchases of weapons or ammunition need to be treated as probable cause for investigation.” The elitists will push for something else.

Nevertheless, If the murderer did not have ease of access to the automatic weaponry, he would not have been able to kill and injure all those people.

Gun Laws in Colorado
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78799.html

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

Who are our enemies? The elites would have us believe that our enemies are those who do not agree with their “law.” Their law can have people killed based on accusation. Their law does not observe due process. They are pushing to increase vigilante justice and cruelty in punishment by Joe Citizen with a gun, because they make money off the sale of weapons whereas corrections are paid for by taxes.

The law says “you will not kill.” Their law says, “You will only kill if you are in our favor.” They are the enemy people, yet the law also says, “Love your enemy.” We are called to love those who make the poor; who make outcasts; who make aliens hostile; who make strangers suspicious; who convict people on charges of crime based on the social status of the accuser. It is no easy task, but we can use faith to help us to achieve the conversion of our enemies to allies. The following re-write looks at the grass roots movement to believe in love.

Enemies Ps.89

The witnesses gathered around
the One who saves and told him
what they had taught.
He said to them,
“Come away and rest.”
So many were coming and going
that there was no time for reflection.

There had been a time
when people did not know Christ.
No one had been anointed
to lead people into understanding
with goodness and joy.

Christ is our peace.
Peace has broken down
the wall of hostility
that had divided us.

Former enemies
were called to
reconcile oppositions
to represent the people.

They climbed in the boat
crossed the circle sea
and landed in the garden
of riches. Once they
got out of the boat,
the Healer was recognized.

People brought the ill
to the marketplace
and begged to touch
the fringe of his clothes.
Those who touched him
were healed.

You are no longer strangers.
You are not aliens.
You are not outcasts.
You are not unwanted.
You are citizens of the light.
You sparkle like stars in the night.
God loves you as the children of creation.
You are now anointed as beloved.

My hand will lift you up.
My arm will join with yours.
No enemy will deceive you.
You will not be brought down.

Love your enemies.
They will become your allies.

Faith will be with you.
Hope will shine for you.
Love will lead you
on the way.

Happiness will grow.
You will win prosperity
with dedication.
The rule of law
will reign in our land
and guide us around the globe.
Our haters will be our motivators.

Transgressions will be corrected
during confinement. Crime will
be judged by testimony
and physical evidence.
Murder will be punished
by what can be proved
in a court of law
with a jury of our peers.

Our beloved heritage will live
through time. Our love
will shine like the sun.
Creativity will
adapt to change
like the phases of the moon.

Leadership is our right.

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

Christians proclaim love for Jesus as the Christ, but Christ is non-sectarian. Christ represents the Creator who makes the sun shine and the rain fall on all. It is this all-loving Christ whom we are called to respect with love.

Josh Groban – You Raise Me Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=oni0tO_HN30&NR=1  

Public policy is not the sole province of Christians or any other religious sect. It is the province for the people of the world. Fairness in public policy is far too important to be regarded as impossible.  Freedom of religion is a provision that encourages people to work together irrespective of affiliation according to social group. When the law favors any religion, it is no longer blind to prejudicial favor. It is blind to justice.

You will not kill. Those who do will be punished by that which can be proved in a court of law.

Steve K.

The Red Door

Others,

There was a red door. It was the cry for war. War however, was just a distraction for genocide.

Genocide is not an acceptable tool for government. The western coalition needs to look for who will be recognized to replace Assad when his regime falls.

The Syrian National Congress represents the Sunni majority. They will have to negotiate representation for the minority Christians and Alawites. This is where freedom of religion plays a part. This is where the other freedoms and rights of the constitution factor into play. Representation has to include minorities without making a minority interest the rule of law.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-07-14/syria-massacre/56221332/1

The following re-write celebrates the movement away from destruction as the basis for leadership.

Destruction
Ps24 Ps85 2Sam6  Eph1 Amos7

Our beloved had gathered
all the chosen from the competition.
They set out from the station
with the leaders of praise
to bring up the ark of the promise
with the wings of passage to life.
The workers of the earth
brought it from the house
on the hill of nobility.

The earth is our foundation;
the world and all who dwell therein
belong to the love for creation.
We are the workers of the earth.

It is the CREATOR who raised the land above the seas
and made it firm between the currents of the deep.

Who can ascend the hill of nobility
and dance before the ark of promise?
Those who have not pledged themselves
to destruction nor devoted themselves
to falsehood may rejoice with love.

Our beloved brought out the ark
to the city of peace with rejoicing.
Christ danced before the fulfillment of the promise
and made contributions to celebrate community
with dancing and sounds of joy.

Lift up your heads, O people;
lift them high as though you were raising gates.
You are the doors; the passage for truth.
You will become part of the fulfillment.

There is a plumb line
for constructing competition;
the location for derision
will be left desolate;
the sanctuaries for contempt
will be brought down.

Condemnation
by accusation
will be stopped.
Justice will be achieved
by scientific investigation
with due process of law.
We will win liberty
by respecting
our rights together.

I will listen to what the LORD God is saying.
Words of peace are being spoken to the faithful;
to those who turn their hearts to faith.

Salvation is near those who fear
the deception of perception;
Mercy and truth have met.
Righteousness and peace have kissed.

Integrity will spring up from the earth;
Glory will shine down from heaven.

Free will was pre-destined from before the beginning.
We were designed for adoption as children of God.
When you heard the word of truth, the gospel of salvation,
you were marked by the zeal of the seal with promise
in the Holy Spirit. This is the pledge of our inheritance:
we are being redeemed from destruction as God’s own people
to the praise of the greater glory.

The LORD will grant prosperity.
Our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before us.
The uncreated light will be a pathway
for our feet.

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

The UN is managing intervention with fact finding missions in Syria.

The invasion of Afghanistan had circumvented the FBI investigation of suspected terrorist acts and UN investigation of claims regarding terrorist camps.

There was a red door. It was the cry for war. It was the claim that we were under attack by “terrorists” from training camps in Afghanistan. The claim was not investigated. The invasion was an act of aggession.

Like the destruction of the WTC towers, it was assumed that the officials who constructed the official story knew what had happened. The trouble is that they knew that they were moving the US around pre-cautions against military invasion. They knew that they had made the red door. They also knew that they were blaming it on “Arab terrorists” so they could force regime change in a neighbor to China and Iran.

The escalation of military action in Viet Nam had been justified by the claim that US vessels had been attacked. They failed to mention that the vessels were in North Vietnamese waters.

I see a red door.

Rolling Stones – Paint It Black
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InRDF_0lfHk&feature=related

I want to paint it black. I want to go back. The investigation into the destructive events in the US on 9/11/01 needs to be re-opened.

Steve K.