Days of Awe
Faith is an extremely personal thing. Thus, it has not been my custom to discuss matters of faith here on Sweet Freedom’s Song. I feel impelled to do so now. Times change. Perspectives change.
According to the Jewish calendar, the day before yesterday (sunset Wednesday to sunset yesterday) was Rosh Hashanah (or Yom Teru’ah). I realize I’m rather late to be sending “Shanah Tovah” greetings to my Jewish friends, but I’ve just been so immersed in prayer, introspection, and scripture reading (and trips to Shoresh David Messianic Synagogue for Erev Rosh Hashanah last night and Rosh Hashanah today) that this is the first significant opportunity I’ve had in days to get online.
Rosh Hashanah is also the first day of Yamim Nora’im (“Days of Awe”, or the High Holy Days). The “Days of Awe” last for ten days, with Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) being the tenth and last day; this is the time of year around which the entire Jewish spiritual year revolves.
The eight days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are also significant. For most Jews, this is a time to reflect upon one’s conduct over the past year and atone for any sins that have been committed. For those of us in the Messianic community, the Messiah is our atonement, but we still dedicate these “Days of Awe” to humbling ourselves before God Almighty, diligently searching our hearts for sin (pride, envy, avarice, etc.) and praying earnestly to be made new creatures through the Holy Spirit so that we may be ever more faithful and obedient to Him.
Personally, I am taking all of this with the utmost seriousness. God has been so good to me over my whole life and I am now beginning to get a fuller grasp of how meaningful that is. The gratitude I feel for my salvation is overwhelming and if that was the only thing God ever did for me I would be in utter awe of the fullness of His perfect Love and Grace. But God has done so much more for me. Anyone who knows my story knows already the circuitous path that God has led me to bring me back into fellowship with His people. That, alone, ought to be miraculous enough to satisfy anyone’s circumspection. But even now, God is actively molding and shaping me; guiding me, correcting me, and instructing me in His ways. Praise His Holy Name!
And so, I just want to take a moment and ask those of you who are in submission to God: do you feel your submission every day? Do you go to your knees every day, humbling yourself before Him, seeking Him? Do you read scripture every day? Do you have a driving passion within your heart to know Him better today than you knew Him yesterday? Do you yearn to know His will so that you can hasten to obey Him? Does your daily life revolve around Him?
This isn’t a test. I’m not looking for responses. Your relationship with God is your own. But it seems to me that, if there are literally many, many millions of people around the world that believe in God, the overwhelming majority of those many, many millions don’t seem to have much more than an obligatory or dutiful relationship with Him.
So, I’m going to give some tough love here. If you are one of those many, many millions who do believe in God and your worship consists of a weekly appointment where you sing some songs, pray along with your priest, rabbi, elder, pastor, or what-have-you, get a bit of doctrinal instruction, socialize a little, then can’t wait to get back home so you can “watch the game”, “get started on laundry”, or whatever else you do when you get back home and that’s your ‘duty done’, then shame on you. Seriously! Shame on you! What are you doing? More importantly, who are you serving?
Now, I’m no rabbi. I’m not a priest or a pastor, either. And certainly I’m the last one to have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to talking about taking one’s spiritual life with far too large a grain of salt. But I think that’s why this is so much on my heart, because I’ve walked this path and I know where it leads.
Are these the End Times? I don’t know. None of us knows.
Are these difficult times? There’s no question about it – yes.
Regardless, these times require that people of faith be strong, steady, and reliable; faithful and obedient to God – and in this world that’s REALLY HARD. Are you feeling tested? Good! That means that God has plans for you! He needs the particular individual skills and talents that He placed within you when He created you. But He needs you humble. He needs you willing. He needs you ready and able. That is why God provides us with adversity, to help us grow. If we’re not spending every single day in prayer, reading scripture, meditating on Him, seeking Him, then we’re putting ourselves on the sidelines and in effect telling God that we don’t care what He wants for us. I’m begging you, PLEASE don’t do that!
Take it from me, a man who has probably discovered more ways than you can imagine to waste one’s life. Stop. Take a moment and assess the things that constitute your daily life. The things you do every day, that’s what you are. You give time to the things that are most important to you. Please learn from my mistakes. Make God the most important thing in your life. Today and every single day. Change your life. Starting right now. It is not too late. Even if you have to tear your whole life apart, tear it down and rebuild it putting God in the center. Pray throughout the day. Immerse yourself in scripture. Humble yourself before God. Show Him your faithfulness; give Him your trust. He will reward you more than you can imagine. But don’t do it for rewards the world will recognize. Do it because deep down you really do love Him and you want Him to be more present in your life. I promise – it won’t be easy, but you won’t be sorry.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3:6
Like a good neighbor…
State and local politics are REALLY important, folks. I know I’m probably preaching to the converted here, but the most important thing we can do to preserve individual rights in this country is to get out of the house and meet our neighbors; not as advocates for our cherished causes, but as REAL neighbors.
Go and meet Tim and Fran down the street, the couple with the cheesy wagon wheels in their front yard. They could be far more interesting than you imagine. Spend a couple of minutes with the college roommates in the apartment above you. They might surprise you with insights you never considered before – or maybe you’ll surprise them with your understanding of history. Introduce yourself to your backyard neighbor with the crumbling back porch. Maybe he’s not lazy. Maybe he’s ill and struggling to manage the responsibilities of home ownership.
So go on tour. Take a batch of cookies or whatever. Wear a smile. Engage in small talk. Find out about their life’s concerns and talk a little bit about your own. Just share. If they have a problem they’re willing to share with you, see if you know someone (or know someone who knows someone) who can help. We’re all mostly members of patriot groups of one flavor or another, so network. Leverage your skills, your knowledge, your resources and be a force for goodwill in your neighborhood.
This is what we need to remember as small-government advocates: that as we demand a government that does less for our neighbors, that means it is incumbent upon us to do MORE for our neighbors.
Do that, and guess who these people are going to turn to (or at least give a good listen to) every two years at election time? That’s right. YOU. NOW your voice will be heard and do some good. THAT is how we can affect change, by being there for our neighbors – for their sake, for our sake, and for the sakes of our state and our country. If you believe it, then live it. THIS is how we will change this country.
Why I am a proud Liberal
I am a liberal and I am proud to call myself one. No, I did not fall and hit my head, I’m being quite serious. Let me explain with a little bit of history.
How it all started
The Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s brought such rapid change to the world (and America particularly) that many questions arose regarding the spheres of economics, politics, and culture, and whether they were adequate to meet the needs of the Industrial Age. Many leading intellectuals of the day came to believe that there was a need to reform all three of these spheres of life; and further, most academics agreed with the assumption that government ought to be involved at the forefront of these efforts to reform American economics, culture, and politics to meet the needs of an industrialized world.
In Europe, such strains of thought had already resulted in new ideas regarding economic models and new political structures to support them. Out of this, the economic theory of communism evolved, with the political structure of socialism to support it; expressed most comprehensively by Karl Marx in The Communist Manifesto. Politically and economically, most nations in continental Europe were in disarray and people were suffering. Marx believed that people would rise up against their governments, demand socialism, and pursue the communist dream; and moreover, he believed that they should. Here in America, leading intellectuals were sympathetic to Marx, by and large. Socialism was a new political model and its accompanying economic model of communism promised a utopian world where all the ills of society: poverty, hunger, and want, would be relegated to a dysfunctional past. Thus, many American academics viewed communism and socialism as a significant improvement over traditional American self-reliance. Some even saw communism and socialism as being as big a leap forward in the evolution of society as the founding of America had been, so why should America not lead the world from the bright success of American liberty into an even brighter communist/socialist future?
But they had a problem. Anecdotal exceptions aside, people in America were not suffering. Unlike in Europe with its internecine and factional strife with its associated economic disasters, America was booming, rapidly becoming an economic giant. With liberty as their birthright, millionaires were being created every day in the Land of Opportunity. Even America’s poor were well on their way toward becoming the wealthiest poor in the world, and even poor people loved the liberty and freedoms they were blessed to have in America because it allowed them to dream and strive for all they could achieve. This gave them a sense of hope that no other place on earth could provide drawing immigrants from across the world to America’s shores where people could be optimistic even during times of struggle. In short, Marx’s revolutionary model could never work in America. If socialism and communism were to be achieved here, the academics reasoned, it would have to come some other way.
So, the intellectuals thought and thought, speculated and ruminated. Just how do you convince a society of mostly happy and optimistic people to abandon the source of their happiness and optimism for something that promises to be even better? The end result of all that thinking? The American Progressive Movement.
The link, then, between socialism and progressivism, is right there at the beginning. So, what exactly is progressivism?
The academics believed that they had conceived of a way to realize the grand promises of communism and socialism here in America. Contented Americans would never rise up and demand it, of course, nor would they vote for it. Unable to grasp socialism’s promise, the vast majority of America’s provincial and uninformed populace would have to be assimilated into it gradually. So the answer was to progress toward socialism incrementally. It would take time, certainly, and most of the early pioneers of the movement might have even guessed that they would not live to see it; but certainly they hoped that they would, and they believed it was the right course for America – the more modern, more enlightened path forward.
Sozialistische Arbeiterjugend
(Socialist Worker’s Party):
Forward in the struggle for Socialism!
As Progressivism grew in popularity among the academic elite it subsequently spread among politicians, quickly finding its share of adherents in both the Democrat and Republican parties. Theodore Roosevelt was an early champion of Progressivism in the Republican Party, while his successor in the White House, Woodrow Wilson, did the same in the Democratic Party. Progressive policies had their initial heyday in what is commonly called the Progressive Era running roughly from the late 1800s until the early 1920s when Progressives lost much their popular support when they finally succeeded in establishing Prohibition.
With the failure of Prohibition, Progressives suffered an incalculable blow to the reputation of their policies. The nation turned to Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, whose successive administrations were marked by a complete repudiation of Progressivism, dramatically shrinking the size and power of the federal government, cutting federal spending in half, reducing tax rates, and paying down the national debt. The economic result? The Roaring Twenties, a period of unprecedented innovation and widespread prosperity where the wealthy became wealthier, many in the middle classes became wealthy, and most people could afford to live well, further cementing popular opinion against progressivism. The American Progressive Movement now had a serious image problem on their hands, and if they failed to find a solution, their socialist dreams would be lost amid an American Renaissance of politics, economics, and culture.
The Origins of Liberalism
The word liberal is associated with the word freedom. It is derived from the Latin word liber, a word which means free. It is where we get the words liberty, libertine, and liberation. Politically, liberalism is a school of thought traceable back to Cicero and which winds its way forward in history to the English philosopher John Locke, the Scottish economist Adam Smith, the American writer Thomas Paine, and a young Boston lawyer named James Madison. In colonial America, these ideals inspired the struggle for independence and subsequently became codified in the United States’ Constitution.
American Liberalism, then, was the political ideology of government as “a necessary evil”, something to be kept as small as possible so as to ensure that it remains always under strict control and directly accountable to the people. American liberals promoted laissez-faire economics, citing Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” references to the natural market forces of capitalism and free enterprise. This idea of freedom from government control constituted a rejection of the aristocracy and the associated class barriers that still persisted in Europe and fostered a rugged spirit of self-reliance, a belief that the individual was supreme and earned success through merit alone (or failure due to the lack of it), and this led to people willing to risk a great deal for the potentially unlimited rewards, the underpinnings of what would come to be called American Exceptionalism.
This was the predominant political ideology in America, regardless of party. Whether Federalist or Democratic-Republican, Democrat or Whig, Republican or Democrat, the great debates that raged in the halls of Congress and legislatures throughout the country were debates over just how much liberalism was best, but there was hardly a dissenting voice arguing against liberalism itself. From the nation’s founding through the Civil War and on still through Reconstruction and the opening of The West, we were virtually without exception a nation of liberals, devoted to rugged individualism, personal liberty, and economic freedom. By the middle of the 19th century, we knew nothing else.
In fact, liberalism as a political ideal was so pervasive and had remained unchallenged for so long that there was little need to make reference to it as such. Consequently, the word fell out of common parlance and usage. The words freedom and liberty remained, but to speak of liberalism as a political school of thought was redundant. Eventually, only students of political history and political theory had any use for the word at all.
Putting it all together
So, what do you think the academics in the American Progressive Movement did when they found themselves roundly discredited and completely out of power and favor in the 1920s? Did they observe the beneficial effects of the ‘liberal’ policies of Harding and Coolidge and realize that socialism could never hope to provide such a degree of prosperity for so many? Well, no. More committed than ever to the conviction that socialism was far superior, they appropriated the word liberal from the likes of Harding and Coolidge (since no one was really using the word, anyway), and applied it to themselves. Since the word had also come to mean “to have something in abundance”, they were able to turn the word’s definition on its head. Now, instead of meaning “sufficient liberty to be free of government control”, now liberal means “sufficient government control to deprive liberty”. And now that those who cherish liberty were not the only political school of thought, they needed a name to distinguish themselves from those in the American Progressive Movement, now calling themselves liberals. So, to show their opposition to this new definition of liberalism they took the opposite word conservative. If the term was going to be used to describe how much government was desired, the word conservative seemed to fit the bill nicely.
Of course, the policies advocated by these people still don’t succeed, and this is no more apparent in contemporary history than now. Unfortunately, those who are still dedicated to the cause of liberty in America are having a bit of an identity crisis and the word conservative has been badly maligned and no longer seems to mean what it was supposed to mean. Conservatives seem to have grafted another definition of the word onto the political term and have concluded that to be politically conservative it follows that one must be a narrow thinker, rooted in the past, staid and predictable, even anachronistic. This word conservative, which we should never have had to use in the first place, has fractured us and led us into distractions and divergent factions when we should be able to unite in agreement on the thing that matters most: liberty.
So I say we take our word back. I am a liberal. I am a lover of liberty, individual freedom, and the politics of personal liberation. I want to invoke the spirit of Ronald Reagan, give John F. Kennedy a firm handshake, call up the ghost of Calvin Coolidge, and party with Davey Crockett. I want to argue with Jefferson, curse at Alexander Hamilton, and try to follow a conversation with James Madison. And yes, I would beg to polish the boots of George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. Great liberals, all.
What Kind of Patriot Are You?
“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”
“The American Crisis” by Thomas Paine
– December 23, 1776
So, what do we do now?
Well, I think we have to go back to the beginning. Start from scratch. We should go back and take in the sermons given during the first Great Awakening that led to the American Revolution. Re-read Thomas Paine. We are at the brink of a crisis in this country every bit as dire as the American revolutionary cause was in during that cold December of 1776 when the war effort was in shambles and the American people were filled with despair.
We need to stop. We need to recognize what happened. We need to understand what it means. And then we need to focus on how to learn from it and soldier on with stout hearts and lessons learned. We need to remember that no one who labors in God’s cause labors in vain. We need to address this turn of events with complete sobriety of thought, willing to look at ourselves critically, with a willingness to see this cause and our place in it differently.
But above all, we cannot abandon what is right. God raised up a righteous people in this land and when His righteous people followed His prompting and proclaimed liberty throughout this country He did not fail us. Through unimaginable trials and brutal hardships, He led our forefathers through to blissful freedom, a freedom that was all the more precious for the price paid to win it! Heaven DOES know how to fix a proper price upon its goods and the whole foundation of modern conservatism is that what we obtain too cheap we esteem too lightly. Is that not what we say is the core flaw in the welfare programs? It applies to us, as well!
It pains me to say this, but on the whole we have not done what is necessary to redeem this great nation to its former glory. And why? Because it’s hard? Because it takes time? Because it costs money? Is it that it requires too much dedication? Is it too uncomfortable to talk to friends and neighbors?
In my county alone there are about 1,750 members of about four tea party groups, maybe even more. And you want to know about how many show up? Maybe 60 on a good day. If it’s to work an event, then that falls to about 10, but oh, if there’s free food on offer, well then you can get close to 300! And THESE are the patriots? THESE are the people upon which the future of our republic rests? If this is so, we may as well give up now. I mean it. If this is the best we can manage, we’re done and the progressives have won.
So, in these next four years as conditions grow increasingly dark and we begin to really feel the pain of these progressive policies take as they hold and squeeze the lifeblood of liberty from our daily existence; when we have to work even harder and have less time available to us to do what needs doing and we wish we could turn back the clock to 2011 and 2012 and beg the Almighty for a chance to do it all again, begging that this time we’ll do what it takes to avoid the agony of tyranny as it holds us frozen in its icy grip, the task before us will be immense and the price we’ll have to pay will be painfully high.
But pay it we must, for there is no other course but servitude.
These ARE the times that try men’s souls. Liberty, again, is at a crossroads and it is for certain that we have esteemed it too lightly. We have been sunshine patriots, most of us. I know I could have done more. I’ve not given enough. I’ve not worked hard enough. I’ve not done everything I could do; and I know I am far from alone. So many of us could have done more and should have.
It’s time for us, the sunshine patriots, to wake up to the real cost of liberty. We must soberly accept that this will require sacrifice – hard, bitter sacrifice. By starting sooner we can make our burden a little lighter, but that is not the way of human nature. It is our nature, instead, to endure injuries to our freedom and liberty for as long as we can bear them, only giving it our all when the oppression in our lives can no longer be endured. But in the end we must struggle and work for this cause, rendering faithful service to God and to country, to toil in the righteous effort to preserve the sweet gift of liberty. It is either this or accept the chains of slavery.
After taking stock of myself I feel admonished that I did not do more and I have resolved to live or die as a free man. I will no longer allow myself to fall short of what I can do. If I have money, I will give it. Every moment of time I have, I will use it. I will do everything I am capable of doing, not just what’s convenient. Not just what’s comfortable. Not just doing what comes at an easy price. I will work hard, doing things I don’t like, sacrificing time I would rather spend in leisure. The burden that has fallen upon our generation is every bit as noble and as critical to our survival as a free people as the burden our grandparents had to bear during WWII and our forefathers had to bear during the American Revolution, and we simply can’t afford to just do a little or just what’s convenient; and I will not be a sunshine patriot anymore.
What about all of you? Where do you stand? What are you willing to do?
What kind of patriot are you?
Is it time for a new party?
Is it time for a new ‘conservative’ party?
Herman Cain recently said that he thinks so, and I find it hard to argue with him. Herman is right when he alleges that “neither party is going to fix the problems we face” and agreed with American Family Radio host Bryan Fischer that conservatives are growing tired of being ignored by Republican Party leadership and that many conservatives believe that the GOP no longer speaks for them. I’ve felt that way for a very long time and my conviction has only grown stronger over the past few years.
2012 Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain
The need for a third party isn’t based on the damage the progressives in government, the Democratic Party, and the media managed to do to the Republican ‘brand’, so to speak. The issue I have with the Republican Party, and have always had with the Republican Party, is that the leadership of the party is so ensconced within the ‘inside the beltway’ political culture that when it comes to leading and governing based upon ideology and principle they suddenly find themselves at odds with their own professional and financial interests and nothing ever changes.
Most likely, close to 80% of the rank-and-file of the Republican Party are ideological conservatives, but when the rank-and-file try to hold the leadership to account for leading and governing by that standard, we’re told that it’s just not possible to lead or govern that way, that in order to lead and govern compromises and sacrifices must be made, that accommodations and appeasement are the pragmatic and responsible way forward. Furthermore, we’re told that to insist upon conservative ideals in matters of legislation and policy is naïve and foolish; that government ‘just doesn’t work that way.’
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are perfect examples of this flawed thinking, but they hold the reins of power in the party very tightly and they have placed people in support roles who agree with them, creating an entrenched power base that refuses to budge or be swayed. As long as that remains the case, the Republican Party will continue to lose national races, and this GOP leadership has gone to great lengths to see to its perpetuation.
Tea party folks have been trying to make headway against this ever since we got involved with the party, but it just won’t crack. And while we have made significant strides in spreading the message that conservatism and returning to the constitutional limits placed upon the federal government are key principles in finding the best answers to our nation’s present problems, no amount of public opinion, popular support, or grassroots political action has done a thing to create the slightest dent in this cabal who are determined to go against the rank-and-file’s wishes and march the GOP off into the political wilderness.
The leadership of the party are even now trying to blame Mitt Romney’s loss on the tea party movement and using that as an excuse to discredit ideological conservatives and eliminate us as a threat to their precious political power. As a result, the GOP is now about to move even farther to the political left which will lead to their complete undoing.
I really don’t think the answer is to keep trying to bail out the rapidly sinking ship that the Republican Party has allowed itself to become. I agree with Herman Cain, and I started thinking along the lines of a third party from the time it became clear that the GOP leadership were doing their best to force their choice for the nomination upon the rest of the party. Now that we’ve all done our best with what we were handed by the Republican leadership to try to stop the progressive agenda I think it’s time to form a genuinely conservative political party; a party independent of that nest of politicos. A party that can verbally articulate conservative solutions comprised of people who know conservatism because they live and breathe conservatism every day of their lives rather than be misled again and again by GOP political hacks who’ve learned how and when to deliver focus group-tested conservative-sounding sound bites whenever election season rolls around.
In politics, ideology is everything – but timing is critical. The time may never be more ripe than now to mount a conservative challenge to the GOP. If all the genuine conservatives in the Republican Party were to leave the party for a better alternative, the GOP leadership would find itself in command of an empty, sinking boat. Let them own their message of accommodation and appeasement and all it has gotten them – and us. Conservatism deserves better spokesmen than a bunch of witless sycophants inside the Washington Beltway trying to speak conservatism as a second language. We need a party whose leadership won’t garble the message or drop the ball when principled push comes to ideological shove.
Conservatism needs a new home and America needs a conservative party that will speak with a genuine voice and act with conviction and determination, leading by principled example. I believe the time is now for those whose reverence is for Washington, Madison, and Jefferson; for Davy Crockett, Daniel Webster, and Abraham Lincoln; for Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Barry Goldwater, and Ronald Reagan, for those who have seen to the birth and perpetuation of liberty as mankind’s greatest gift and its ultimate material salvation, to form a party reflective of those ideals led by principled men and women who are ready to take up the torch and be an effective force in government. We need a new ‘conservative’ party.
Wikipedia, Communication, lorem ipsum, and the Political Spectrum
As some of you may know, in addition to my political commentary, I am also an aspiring novelist. The novel I’m currently working on requires a rather extensive working knowledge of people and events in history. I don’t need expert information, but rather a broad familiarization with each person or event that might impact my story. Wikipedia, while certainly inadequate for any task requiring serious academic research, fits my needs exactly.
And that’s how I came to find myself looking at Wikipedia’s page on Nazism. I had actually started from the Holy Roman Empire because part of that history intersects with the history I am writing about. But my attention-deficit disorder kicked in, and I just started clicking links. Has that ever happened to you? Well, it happened to me. So, at the bottom of the Wikipedia page for the Holy Roman Empire, I see: Holy Roman Empire (First Reich) German Empire (Second Reich) Nazi Germany (Third Reich) Hypothetical Fourth Reich.
Wait, WHAT? Hypothetical Fourth Reich?! What in the world is that? Obviously, the only way to find out is to click the link, so I click.
Turns out, it’s not as interesting as I thought. Just some raving neo-Nazi lorem ipsum about a hypothetical future where neo-Nazis rule a pan-Aryan Germany restored to its 1937 borders. Raving, indeed. But as I glanced through the short Wikipedia entry, my eye caught the term ‘far-right’, and I grimaced. Far right? Neo-nazism is just unbridled racism without any coherent political ideology attached to it at all. But Nazism, i.e. National Socialism, is a fully-fledged political ideology, albeit a repugnant one. So, I shrugged off the inconsistency and looked up the page on Nazism.
And there it was again. Nazism defined as a far-right political ideology. This made no sense to me. My political ideology is definitely way to the right of center. Nazism, though, couldn’t be more distanced from anything I believe. So how in the world, I thought to myself, did Nazism ever become associated with the political Right? Well, ‘far-right’ was linked to, so I clicked on it.
Here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia page on ‘far-right’ politics:
Far right politics involves support of strong or complete social hierarchy in society, and supports supremacy of certain individuals or groups deemed to be innately superior who are to be more valued than those deemed to be innately inferior.
It goes further:
Far right politics commonly includes authoritarianism, nativism and racialism. The far right claims that superior people should proportionally have greater rights than inferior people. The far right has historically favored an elitist society based on belief of the legitimacy of the rule of a supposed superior minority over the inferior masses.
My jaw hit the floor.
I sat in stunned silence as I grappled with the incompatible definitions. My understanding of the political spectrum, along with those of everyone else I associate with politically, is entirely different. I have no idea what political characteristic this political spectrum is supposed to be a graph of, but the political spectrum I’m familiar with is a graph of government control, with absolute control (Totalitarianism) on the Left and zero control (Anarchy) on the Right.
And then a light bulb went on over my head.
No wonder the Left misunderstands us when we say we are “right-of-center” or “right-wing”! They’re using an entirely different spectrum!
When those on the Left hear us on the Right say that as ‘center-right’ or ‘right-wing’ we favor limited government and individual liberty, they automatically substitute “authoritarian, racist, etc.” for anything associated with the political Right. They might as well hear: ‘As a racist authoritarian, I favor limited government and individual liberty’.
No wonder they think we’re crazy. Or just plain stupid.
It’s because we’re not dealing with the same definitions for the same words. As anyone who has taken even a high school-level course in Communications can tell you, you need three things for effective communication: a speaker, a listener, and a common language.
If people on the political Left and the political Right are going to have any meaningful dialogue (and boy do we need to), we need to agree at the outset on definitions. Then, once we’re all certain we’re dealing with a common glossary, we need to be able to articulate our own position to the other well-enough for them to be able to repeat it back to us in their own words to our satisfaction, and vice-versa. Only then, with common definitions and a mutual understanding of each other’s positions can we even begin to have meaningful dialogue.
I would bet money that once we do that, we’ll find that we aren’t so far apart after all.
A Republic, IF You Can Keep It!
I want to make a specific appeal to my compatriots in the vast movement to restore liberty in America. Whether you’re a tea party activist, a 9-12er, or a single-issue activist such as an Oathkeeper or an activist for religious liberty, for second-amendment preservation, or the restoration of the tenth amendment, I know that you’ve worked hard, some of you for many years, and I know that much has been asked of you; I know that you’ve answered the call time and again by attending meetings, making phone calls, walking precincts, distributing literature, and making contributions to the cause of liberty in countless other ways great and small. You’ve sacrificed time, money, sweat, tears; you’ve lost friends, maybe even family, as you’ve soldiered on for this noble cause.
I know that you’re tired, exhausted even, and it may seem at times that despite the ground we gained in 2010 that we still have precious little to show for our efforts, and that can be disheartening. While we’ve watched both the Democratic and Republican parties splinter along ideological lines with socialists on the left, progressives in the middle (of both parties), and true conservatives on the right, the numbers of reliable conservatives in elected office still seem too few to truly matter. But the fact is that what we have done though small, is instrumental. We wedged a foot into the door. We loaded the cannons of liberty aboard the U.S.S. Constitution, sailed up to the wayward ship of state that our government has become and fired a shot across her bow to show that we mean business. We must not back down. This is a time where we cannot allow ourselves to be deterred! If you’ve been resting up from your extraordinary efforts in 2010 and allowed others to take the baton for a little while, that’s good! Thank God for you! But the time to re-engage is upon us.
As most of you know, restoring liberty in America requires defeating the socialists and their progressive allies. As you also know, progressivism has corrupted many in the Republican Party. Therefore, any serious attempt to steer the course of this country back toward its constitutional foundations must begin with restoring conservatism in the GOP by replacing progressives and moderates with genuine conservatives. This is a task that can only be done during the primaries when liberty-minded folks like us can challenge the ‘moderate’, complacent, compromising establishment figures in the party with candidates who understand what’s happening and what is at stake. Representatives like Col. West are crying out for reinforcements and it’s up to us to make sure he gets them! Just as General Washington begged the Continental Congress for the things he would need to win the Revolutionary War, good men and women that WE sent to Congress in 2010 are begging for our help and NOW is the time to send them that help!
Good patriots, the time has come to sacrifice our time and our sweat, and take to the streets once again. Not in Washington D.C., but here on our own streets where we can make such a difference in the complexion of our party from the U.S. Congress to the State House and Senate, all the way to our own County Commissions and School Boards – this is where our great republic shines and this is where she needs you! The opposition is reeling, as evidenced by the desperation in their panicked and angry voices, so now is not the time to let up! This is the time to pour it on and bury those voices of tyranny and oppression in a chorus of liberty that will be sung with our feet and marked with our sweat!
Take a look in your backyards, at all the candidates vying to become your local Congressional representatives, your State House representatives and State Senators, your County Commissioners, your local School Board members, and your City Commissioners. As informed patriots, you probably already know who they are and who you’re supporting. You’ve done your homework and you’re ready to cast your ballots, or perhaps have already done so. Congratulations. Pat yourselves on the back and feel good for having satisfied the minimal requirement for being a good citizen.
Now it’s time to finish the job of being a modern-day patriot. It’s up to you, the informed and engaged patriots, to carry forward the sacrifice of our forefathers who secured our liberty for us. Because of them, we don’t have to go to war and purchase our liberty with our blood. They did that for us and have bequeathed to us the liberty they fought and died for. We forget that at our peril. No generation that lost its liberty has ever lived to see it again; and liberty, once lost, can only be re-purchased with blood. None of us wants to see such a day, and such a day does not have to be.
We have a choice. We can preserve our liberty now with our sweat or we can leave it to our children to purchase with their blood. It really is that serious. Find your local liberty-minded candidates and volunteer. Do it now. Today. Sign up to walk precincts. Make phone calls. Stand at polling places on Election Day. Whatever your local candidates are doing, become involved. Work hard. Spend some sweat. Don’t leave a task undone. We all crave the restoration of our great nation. We hunger to see changes in our government at all levels. It starts with us, with every single one of you reading this. Get back out there, and BE the change you wish to see!
God bless you, and may God bless America!
Sweet Freedom's Song 
Ferguson: In Defense of Rioting @drudgereportapp
Nov 25
Posted by Tristan
Ferguson: In Defense of Rioting. http://tiny.iavian.net/3h9e
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