One time I interviewed for a job in the computer operations department for
a small city in Northern California.
They asked me an interesting question, "If the power went out, and
you had emergency generators running for limited operations, and payroll was due to be
issued, would you process payroll for the day to day workers, the police, the fire
department or someone else?"
I laughed a little and retorted that this was like the trick question of
"If a mail truck, an ambulance, a police car and a fire truck all meet at a four way
stop intersection at exactly the same time, who would have the right of way?" Long
ago, the correct technical answer was the mail truck, being a federal vehicle and taking
precedence in the situation.
They didn't think my answer was humorous at all, and then asked "So
what's your answer?"
I said "I would actually do whatever your policies and procedures say
to do, but if I had to make the choice, I would pay the day to day workers first, because
the other employees are emergency response and public safety people, and should be
expected to work through a temporary problem like that in service to the public."
They didn't seem to like my answer, and I didn't get the job. I won't say
why I was glad.
We have basically the same situation going on, though, with governments
and religions.
We have legisators who speak of and pass laws that step over the line and
legislate morality.
They get us to ask them to.
You could say you understand why that would be, but do you understand why
it became that way in the first place?
And can you understand that the division between religions, Christian or
any other, have so any different sects that it requires a mediator, or one church would
find an economic or political means to dominate other churches out of existence. Suddenly,
Christianity would be just another form of politics, and a mandate of rule of law, if
allowed at all.
The Council on Foreign Relations and the United States Government prefers
that you become Buddhists so that it will remove the idea of the great "Master"
or "Messiah" who would undo/destroy the evil-doers. They, instead, would rather
have you believe that God, or the Source, was a passive outsider in your world. Media
depictions of religions and religious leaders is clearly biased to diminish their images
in your minds.
I don't have any complaints about Buddhism.
I do have a problem with these same people causing people to believe they
are having transcendental experiences and telepathic messages because of psychotronics
intended to deceive them.
James
Taylor - October Road - 03 - On The 4th Of July
Religious persecution, under the guise of religious freedom, a fraud
perpetrated against people of faith by governments and certain churches for ages, is a
true fraud.
Governments, and leaders, often pick a victim and an evil.. such as Jews
and Nazis... to rally people to extreme positions and set them up to be later diminsihed
and chastised for the very positions that put leaders and politicians in power. I really
want you to think about that. How many times have you seen that happen in the world? In
your office?
Politicians nearly always claim a moral or ethical religion, but their
legislative records prove otherwise. Is it on purpose, do they just go along, or are they
simply doing what Jeremiah Wright accused Barack Obama of doing "What politicians
have to do to get elected" while he criticized Christians for clinging to their
religion in hard times?
George W. Bush claimed to be a great, messianic Christian as well, as
false Christs do right before they break their promises of seeking peace and unity and
inciting violence and injustice. I can't wait to see what Jeb Bush would do, and he wants
to, and there are plenty of examples of his hypocrisy and anti-Christian ways in his
portfolio from Florida.
I find it interesting that evangelicals would look to the government to
pass legislation ensuring the sanctity or religious value of anything. The moment the
government does that, freedom of religion is gone.
The minute they rely on government to mandate morality, they give their
religion to the government for management.
Is marriage sacred?
It is to those who believe it is.
Now, is marriage of God, or of man?
My Bible says it's a matter of the Laws of God. If churches were
succeeding at their jobs, they would not require laws of the government, of man, to
enforce their religious beliefs.
Christians: which do you respect more at the intersection? The Laws of God
or the Laws of Man?
When you read the Bible regarding the law, is what you are reading
referring to the Laws of God or the Laws of Man?
The way to protect the sanctity of marriage is to cause concensus amongst
people regarding what it means.
To be honest, to me, anymore, marriage - the word - is just a word
describing something. You could say that's unGodly... but the fact is, in our society,
throughout the world, marriage has not been sacred for generations. The word has no sacred
meaning to most people unless they are active in churches or devout in their personal
discipline.
Hall
& Oates - Method Of Modern Love
Now, my own background might suggest to you that I think marriage is
unimportant. I can assure you that I am a big fan of marriage, and take it very, very
seriously. But, we live in a world so confused and divisive, that I even started to
believe that serial monogamy was the only realistic approach to modern relationships
despite the fact that I've also always believed God puts the perfect person in the world
for every person and their periods of life. And, that if our perfect partner dies or moves
on, God often provides another companion, because God wants us all to be content and
fulfilled, and a lifelong companion is very much a part of our nature, and God knows
things aren't quite the way He had in mind.
This particular chapter is not about the issue of marriage. It's about
warning Christians, in particular, to be suspicious of anyone who would turn the
holiness of religion an the Laws of God into the laws of man.
If man is so interested in promoting healthy marriages, then why do
governments often tax married people more taxes?
If marriage is so sanctified, why do we have get marriage licenses from
the government at all?
I'll say it again: the moment that people of churches, particularly
Christianity, relinquish their faith to governments and not to the laws and wisdom of God.
God promises justice and equality in His world. Governments, and
politicians, will generally tell you anything to get your money and votes.
That being the case, you may wonder, then why is the world the way it is?
Because citizens have been taught - have been influenced by - the leaders
they elect, which is by and large also true of ministers and church elders.
Now, the question becomes, which facet of your culture would you prefer to
have the freedom to discuss morality and ethics, government or God?
Then, if you say God, and say you've been a faithful Christian all these
years, what part of your life would you say promoted the sanctity of marriage? And do you
really want the government to tell you how to live your life, even if it means going
against the "Laws of God"?
Do you really believe Bill Clinton cared about the defense of marriage?
Or, did he want to hijack a religion? Your votes?
My final remark on this will seem critical, but it really isn't. I'm going
to say something that sounds like I"m assigning blame, but I'm not. I need you to
wake up to something. The way of the world, the way of God, they way of you....
God's plan was simple in regard to government. The idea was that
governments should administer the material and physical requirements of the services
citizens need to flourish, live freedom and not have to worry about issues of survival.
Churches were relied upon to instill moral and ethical values upon the
citizenry by influence, not force or threat of law, shunning or diminishing anyone,
believers or not. If the churches and faithful and did their jobs, people would realize
there is a better way to live, where the boundaries of life are not dictated by an austere
religious figure or authoritarian governance.
People, these days, look to an authoritarian government to crack down on
crime and things others think are wrong. What are you going to do when the government
cracks down on you because someone doesn't agree with your preferences, and you believe
you are doing good?
Or, people look to an authoritarian religious figure to come and beat up
the bad guys, or, tell us why we should go along with the evil of the government, and give
sanction to it.
Interesting isn't it: We look to the government for enforcement of moral
issues, and look to churches and God Himself for retribution and vengeance.
Am I the only one who sees how things are backwards in that equation?
We rely on a violent coercive government to legislate morality, all the
while they commit nearly every sin you can imagine in their personal lives and legislative
agendas, and rely on God, talking of peace and love and justice and moral integrity, to
kill off the bad guys.
As Jesus said, "I come speaking of peace, and for that, you speak of
war".
God doesn't want anyone to die, even those who oppose Him. Our government,
an empire, wants anyone who dares get in their way to die, even if the people getting in
their way is right.
On D-Day, June 6, 2009, Barack Obama said in his speech commemorating the
65th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, that "Nazi Ideology sought to humiliate
and exterminate".
The Uniteed States Governemnt has been doing that since the formation of
this union, and its's easy to prove, just as easy as it is for me to prove that not only
does Barack Obama know that the U.S. Government is doing in this country to its own
citizens, he's actually particpated in doing it to me. Otherwise, as witnesses will
corroborate, I wouldn't have 3 to 7 helicopters hovering above my house every night. Why
do you think I call this "The New Waco?"
Might makes right. Or, as Bill Clinton said in 2004, people will vote for
strong and wrong.
In time, you'll realize how the Obama Administration has adopted that
ethic and working principle. And they'll use the media to tell you everything the U.S.
Government does is the right thing. That's what Baghdad Bobs of the media do when they are
controlled by the corporations who control the government.
Now, that said, can the government sanctify marriage? No. Only people can.
And any marriage that actually works is a good marriage. That's when eyou have to realize
what actually works.
I have no desire to live to see the day when I, a heterosexual mind you,
must have the permission of the government to marry, when it is none of their business.
It's between me and my lover and God.
But, strangely enough, the government does have the ability to deny me the
right to marry. Homosexuals too. Somehow, the government thinks it's their business to
also tell me whether or not I can divorce. And there are churches who would excommunicate
me or shun me for divorcing. God won't.
I'm not promoting divorce, I'm saying , since when did the government get
the right to legislate my relationship to God, and my beliefs and practices?
I don't think that was God's idea.
Finally, God understood and sent prophets to warn us that this state of
affairs could occur if we didn't heed the warnings, and we didn't heed the warnings, and
so, here we are. The answer to the situation is not, now, putting faith in the government
and politicians instead of God. But that's what some short-sighted Christians are doing.
Putting faith in God... we say His values are those from which we dervie
our own. Do our poltiicans and leaders display those kinds of values? Putting faith in God
would mean requiring leaders to reflect our values, not theirs. What God
"anointed" in the United States was that intent.
And it has nothing to do with legislating religion or morals, although I
do agree, and so does He, that there is a metric called "socially redeeeming
value" that must be respected. It IS the legal equivalent of a facet of the Golden
Rule.
Personally, I'd love to get married someday. But when I do, because of the
sanctity of marriage, I won't be legally married, but I will be married in the eyes of
God. Unless I feel like it. But why do you need to?
And if the government passes laws that deny me the same privileges as
"married people, sanctioned by the state", then that is simple injustice, and
legislating in ways that deny me the right to freedom of religion.
Always remember, the amount of religious freedom you have is demonstrated
by the amount of religious freedom that others who disagree with you have.
What if, amongst the religions, no one was wrong, and everyone was right
to one degree or another, but nobody had the definitive answer unto themselves?
The result would either be war or understanding.
It would either be chaos or normal.
It's either a sensationalized, politicized and propagadized threatening
conflict, or issues that need to go through discussions and processes to seek mutally
beneficial resolution with an honest broker.
Who would beneift by the antithetical attributes and equations those
present?
Think about that, think about history, think about politicians who claim
we are a nation of peace, all the while conducting foreign wars nearly since the day this
country was founded, never stopping, always making it sound honorable while children die
to give profits to corporations and financiers.
When you know the truth, that is the truth, and personally, I don't want
people like that telling me, or legislating upon me, their hypocritical version of the
difference between right and wrong. Nor would I trust a minister who would lead people to
have faith in politicians instead of being introspective about their failures in leading
followers of God and Christ by doing so.
Understand, God doesn't blame you, ministers, He understands the world.
But He relies on you to "hold the line". Don't give it to immoral people
who will only exascerbate your frustrations by appeasing you on one hand, and then
conducting anti-Christian policy while telling you they gave you a moral carrot and that
such a gesture should prove they are moral and worthy of trust. They aren't.
Religion and government are two totally separate things. At least they
used to be. Let's make them that way again. That doesn't mean people of faith should not
be involved in government. It means government should not be involved in religion.
And if you're a Christian or of some other moral discipline, and you
believe that infiltrating a government is the way to do God's work, then you need to know
you're wrong. If you do that, you do nothing more than adopt the ways of the anti-Christ.
If you think that your religion having more babies will eventually lead to your faith
winning the battle of the churches, understand, you are not doing God's work. There's only
one church that will win in the end, and that's God's church, the church of Christ, the
body of Christ, which includes all moral disciplines.
Seals
& Crofts - Diamond Girl - A02 - Ruby Jean & Billie Lee
It's not a perfect world right now, but if it was you'd know just how true
what I've said really is. Right now, though, my bet is the politicians have you living in
some sort of fear of something, because it forces you to have faith in government instead
of faith in God, and causes you to adopt the evil and violence that Jesus so clearly spoke
against.
God or government. Choose. And remember, theocracy as we currently define
it will not happen.
Don't let your religion become a wedge issue.
