Others,
Transfiguration
The story of the Exodus relates details that declare
opposition to slavery. Opposition to slavery is good when it is not limited to
the Liberator and confederates of the imperial alliance. Opposition to
polytheism was presented with the premise that the stories about the gods
endorsed immoral behavior. The counter-point to this argument is that faith in
God was used to endorse war, slavery and genocide; behavior that is considered
to be more immoral than sexual immorality.
John Locke was one of the greatest champions for civil
rights in history, yet there is a passage in his treatise “Concerning Civil
Government” that sanctions slavery as a valid expression of absolute
power. He got the ball rolling in the
right direction, so to speak, but the endorsement of slavery counters the
natural opposition to it.
Locke wrote “…there is another sort of servant, which by
peculiar name we call slave, who being captive taken in a just war, are by the
right of nature subjected to the absolute dominion and arbitrary power of their
masters. These men having, as I say, forfeited their lives, and with them their
liberties, and lost their estates—and being, in the state of slavery, not
capable of any property—cannot in that state be considered any part of civil
society, the chief end whereof is the preservation of property.” (Locke,
“Concerning Civil Government, 1689, Ch.VII, ‘Of Political or Civil Society,’
Para.85)
What tyrant could not claim that his war was just?
Slavery is an offense against human nature. Self-defense is regarded as a human
right. War fought to defend national independence may be regarded as just.
Nevertheless, the enslavement of the opposition is not justified. The so-called
spoil of war spoils credibility as a civil government.
He also wrote “…it is evident that absolute monarchy,
which by some men is counted the only government in the world, is indeed
inconsistent with civil society. It can be no form of civil government at all.”
(ibid. Para.90) This is not the end of his antinomy against the affirmation of
civility in absolute power.
He continues “…he that thinks that absolute power
purifies men’s blood, and corrects the baseness of human nature, need read but
the history of this or any other age, to be convinced of the contrary.” (Ibid. Para.92) It seems that Locke
was playing the devil’s advocate. He agreed with a prime proposition of
aggressive imperial expansion, only to oppose the agreement. The opposition to
a statement that he documented was something that he regarded as necessary for changing the history of his time.
History was changed. Freedom of Religion was added as a
civil right to the US Constitution by James Madison. Slavery came to be
outlawed. The right for women and men of color to vote was acknowledged.
Stipulations regarding due process in law were added as well. While slavery has
been outlawed, it has not been eliminated. Those who enslave people not in our
society are attempting to enslave us economically.
---------------------------------
Respect for religion is an expression of respect for cultural development. Freedom of religion is a political policy that shows respect for a diverse population of people.
Freedom of Religion in Japan
There was a time when freedom of religion was
not allowed. Catholic missionaries had established missions by the sixteenth
century but 6 friars and 20 Christians were martyred in Nagasaki in 1597.
http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/32.html
"The Christian faith was first introduced
into Japan in the sixteenth century by Jesuit and later by Franciscan
missionaries. By the end of that century, there were probably about 300,000
baptized believers in Japan."
Other persecutions followed.into the seventeenth
century. Western missionaries were not allowed to return until the nineteenth
century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Japan
"Persecution continued sporadically,
breaking out again in 1613 and 1630. On September 10, 1632, 55 Christians were
martyred in Nagasaki in what became known as the Great Genna Martyrdom. At this
time Roman Catholicism was officially outlawed. The Church remained without
clergy and theological teaching disintegrated until the arrival of Western
missionaries in the nineteenth century."
Article 20 of the Japanese Constitution declares
freedom of religion as political policy.
http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Japan/English/english-Constitution.html#CHAPTER_III
"Freedom of religion is guaranteed to all.
No religious organization shall receive any privileges from the State, nor
exercise any political authority. 2) No person shall be compelled to take part
in any religious acts, celebration, rite or practice. 3) The State and its
organs shall refrain from religious education or any other religious
activity."
--------------------------------
Torture is regarded as cruel and inhuman punishment.
Torture v. Targeted Killing
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/02/obama-released-torture-memos-why-not-targeted-killing-memos "The key difference between the
torture memos and the targeted-killing memos is that the torture memos were
written during the Bush administration, while the targeted-killing memos were
written during Obama's."
Torture is harmful, Targeted killing is lethal.
Why does the comparison of the two run the risk of lost perspective? Torture
was advocated by an administration that had directed two invasions against
independent nations. Afghanistan was invaded for "harboring
terrorists." (It is not a justification for invasion.) Iraq for suspected
WMD's. (Another invalid justification.)
Targeted killing is not an acceptable policy. It
needs to be rejected as cruel and inhuman. Brennan's nomination also needs to be rejected. This said, it
needs to be remembered that the torture memos took place during the "war
on terror." The war on terror was a larger scale of inhuman cruelty because it included invasion level events.
Lobbying influence and campaign contributions
bought the policy of drone warfare. It is a scaling back of the war on terror, but it is still unacceptable.
Congress buried mention of targeted killing and
indefinite detention in the National Defense Authorization Act (700+ pages). The US needs to adopt a policy of non-aggression or the elite who profit from war or genocide will drive us into economic ruin. They don't care about the state of the
economy as long as they have the green for the greed machinery.
Brennan Moves Back from
Opposition to Torture?
"On torture, Brennan acknowledged that he
was aware of the practice while he was a senior CIA executive in the ‘00s, and
that he left the agency believing it could yield useful information, although
he opposed it. Yesterday Brennan said he’s now unsure, after reading the
summary of a 6,000 page classified report recently produced by the Intelligence
Committee, whether torture produce information that saved lives or led to the
capture of Osama bin Laden. “At this point, Senator, I do not know what the
truth is,” Brennan said.
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/08/brennan-hearing-shows-a-restless-congress-on-drones-and-terrorism/#ixzz2KJKseQw8"
----------------------
It is an accident when torture produces reliable
information. Loyalty to state or religion, opposition to torture and physical
reactions to pain virtually guarantee that false information will be extracted.
The provision against cruel and unusual punishment outlaws torture even if it
produces important information from time to time. The argument that it saves
thousands of lives pales in comparison to the number of lives that were
sacrificed to the war on terror.
Property damage and wasteful
spending on war are also prohibitive in the consideration of using torture,
targeted killing or invasion level events. The regurgitation of war on terror
rhetoric is offensive to the US constitution and the people of the world.
Human rights are civil for
Americans.
Congress has placed itself and the country in an
untenable position. They legislated targeted killing and indefinite detention with the NDAA.
Now they will be determining whether or not the policy chief for drone warfare
(targeted killing) will become the director for the CIA. Many in Congress will dance around that which
they authorized legislatively.
They cannot afford to promote someone who has
actively promoted targeted killing to direct intelligence operations. While it
has not been asserted that Brennan directed or approved of torture, the
knowledge of it will need to be treated as quintessentially important. His
nomination has to be rejected in order for Congress to start self-correcting.
If they don't correct themselves, other branches
of government will have to do so. The unacceptable provisions of the NDAA are human rights violations. They cannot stand. The US
will lose credibility as a representative for human rights in the world. The
integrity of belief in civil rights will be damaged as well.
Neo-Cons Rise to Defend Drones
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/02/as-neocons-defend-obama-allies-doubt-him-on-drones-as-never-before/272947/
"Kill list overseer John Brennan starts
confirmation hearings today to determine whether he'll get to be the next CIA
director. Everyone is abuzz about a confidential memo that describes some of
the scenarios in which President Obama believes that his underlings are
empowered to extrajudicially kill Americans."
The use of drones to kill
militants as suspected terrorists is indefensible according to the rule of law.
Killing suspected terrorists without a trial is an extension of the
justification for torture. It presumes that killing some is justified in the
defense of many; just as the torture of an individual was presumed to be acceptable in defense of "thousands" of lives. The justification is false because the accusation of terrorism
has to be tried in a court of law in order to preserve judicial authority based
on evidentiary judgment.
If political leadership has
conceded to false justifications, it has been due to the claim to absolute
power by the industry for war with influence affected by lobbies, campaign
funds, speaking engagements and competition for the wealth to win political
contests for social influence. Decreasing tax breaks for the wealthiest is a
way to decrease the size of the problem.
The progression of concern
for civil rights has extended into the foreign policy of national government.
The following piece celebrates civility for human rights.
------------------------
Rights
(Japanese Constitution, the French Declaration of the Rights for Man,
English Bill of Rights, The UN Declaration of Human Rights Ps.71)
Human rights are civil for the people of the nation.
People renounce wars of aggression from the state as a
right for the nation. Force will not be used with belligerence to settle
international disputes. Defense is allowed for the protection of civility.
Alliance will be cultivated to include broader representation for humanity.It is essential to promote
the growth of friendly relations among the nations.
If we are to prevent freedom from falling to the last resort, the recourse of
rebellion against tyranny, oppression and the injustice of inequity, we must
set forth the human rights that are to be protected by the rule of law.
National assembly recognizes rights for citizens and
human being. These rights are declared in writing as the plan for government.
No law will be made that violates human rights. Law will be written to protect
people from harm due to violence or oppression.
People are born free and remain equal in rights. Social
distinctions regarding qualifications are founded upon goodness for the public.
The aim for political association is the preservation of
human rights. These rights are life, liberty, property, security, resistance to
oppression, education, employment, health care and religion.
The principle for independence resides in the nation as
an expression of natural law. Things co-exist. There is a community of relations in co-existence. The
perception of one thing can be referenced in relation to others. Comparison and
contrast define perspective in experience with reason. The bill of rights was
expressed to oppose the absolute power of monarchy. The separation of powers
was established to oppose absolute power in government. No individual or group may exercise authority
that does not proceed from the health and safety of the nation of people.
Liberty consists in the freedom to do anything that
injures no one else. The exercise of the natural rights for each person is only
limited by the assurance of rights for the other members of society.
Everyone has the right to
life, liberty and security. No one will be held in slavery or servitude. Slavery
and the slave trade are prohibited. No one is to be tortured or subjected to
cruel and inhuman punishment.
Everyone has the right to a
nationality. Everyone has the right to participate in government governed by
elected officials. The will of the people is the authority for the state.
Legal adults have the right to marry and establish a household. Anyone has the
right to own property. Everyone has the right to work with proper pay for equal
work.
No one is compelled to belong to an organization. No one will be denied work
based on association with an organization that recognizes human rights.
Anyone has the right to
health care, education, social security and enough prosperity
to provide for basic needs. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure including
reasonable limits for working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Murder and multiple murders
are capital crimes for a citizen.
Genocide and wars of
aggression are capital crimes for political leadership.
No one is to be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. Everyone has the right to
due process of law. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience
and religion. No one is to be deprived of privacy or confidential communication
without probable cause regarding suspicion of criminal offense.
Everyone has the right to
self-defense. We were born free with dignity and equal rights.
We are endowed with reason. We are called to treat others with respect. No one
is to be discriminated against based on any distinction such as race, color,
religion, opinion, sex, language, party affiliation, national origin, social
status or group.
Everyone has the right to
freedom of assembly and association. The inherent dignity and
inalienable rights for all the members of the human family is the foundation for freedom, justice and peace in the world.
The industry for war has
become an international oligarchy that has usurped the claim to absolute power.
The oligarchy has been making policy for the government by paying for lobbies,
campaigns, vote manipulation and speaking engagements to “win” the competition
for elected office. Tax breaks for the wealthiest people in different nations have
to be reduced to correct the problem.
Claims to absolute power may not be used to override the
rule of law with a constitution and a bill of rights. Absolute power is defined
as use of war, genocide, targeted killing, murder, assassination, enslavement, torture,
indefinite detention, excessive bail, prosecution as persecution, conviction by
characteristics of birth or association with legal social groups, cruelty or
laxity in punishment, excessive force, predatory pricing, taxation without
representation or any act that oppresses people.
People have the right to petition the government; to vote
without manipulation; to participate in debate with freedom of speech; to
belong to a religion that is not promoting war as aggression, crime or establishment
over the state; to self-defense that allows for the ownership of weapons as
property; and due process in law that includes a trial before a jury of
non-discriminatory witnesses when accused of crime. Judgment will be made from
the body of evidence for public scrutiny with the scientific method.
I take refuge in the liberty of the law. LORD, let me
never be put to shame. Protect me from oppression. Set me free from
persecution. Save me from violence. Shelter me from war. Incline your judgment
to me for salvation.
Liberty
with happiness is my hope. God given rights have sustained my faith since
youth. The understanding of nature’s God has been the goal for my religion.
I have been sustained by the LORD with faith since before
I was conceived in the womb. Providence has given me strength. My praise is
directed to God and those who support human rights.
============================
Dreamliner Becomes Nightmare
for State Owned Business
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324906004578287963634247382.html
"No airline staked more on Boeing Co.'s BA
+1.49% new 787 Dreamliner than LOT Polish Airlines SA, a troubled state-owned
carrier that embraced the jet as means of gaining more lucrative, long-haul
travelers. Now, its hopes for the plane threaten to turn into a
nightmare."
---------------------------------
What's the con for neo-cons
in the UK? They want a spending cut that will impose austerity measures on
struggling European countries that won't sacrifice their fiscal advantage in
the EU budget. What's the best response? Cut the advantage to cut spending for
the EU.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/feb/08/david-cameron-eu-budget-gamble"Cameron had always aimed to secure a
real-terms freeze in the EU's near-€1tn budget. The latest proposals, presented
by the European council president, Herman Van Rompuy, in the early hours of
Friday, called for the EU's "payment ceiling" to be cut from €942.8bn
in 2007-13 to €908.4bn in 2014-2020.
"The prime minister hopes to be able to go
one step further and say that he has secured a cut in the budget, the first
time this has happened in the history of the EU."
----------------------------------------
The list of human rights for civil government may seem
large. The size may be daunting. People have the right to make a living. Most
people are delegated to the middle class or lower simply by virtue of the limitation
of resources.
The following music video pokes fun at the difficulty of
trying to make a living according to the norms of society. Try to sell
lemonade. You can’t give it away. Sell alcohol. The liberation from absolutes
based on norms associated with majority rule can feel intoxicating. There are
other ways to make a living, but a sense of humor is generally regarded as
required.
Democratic society is a mixed bag of tricks. Flexibility
in organization for providing a service facilitates adaptation to market variability
for the public.
Love others. Be true to yourself.
Steve K.
