The Underground Men

To deal, or not to deal: that is the question. How strong is our will to remain free? Why must deals be made in every political situation? When will leaders understand that the "let's make a deal" philosophy does not work, especially with dictators? Does God make deals with the devil? Does He work in darkness with him? Absolutely not! One cannot make a pact with the devil without taking a part of the devil with him. Such is the case with today's politicians and all workers of terror who consider themselves to be not just "above God" and His commandments but also evil as well - as if the stroking of Medusa's hair would produce no bite! Seeking the applause of the world, these parrot-men of today only call out the non-controversial while remaining silent in the presence of overwhelming evil. That is like crying over spilled milk while the whole house is on fire. Today, we find ourselves dealing with manic compromisers rather than statesman who ascribe to their weaker wills instead of their first principles. For example, Congressman Boehner chose to play golf with the President as a means to talk about the current debt ceiling fiasco, or more likely, be swooned into a deal. What!? Such lighted settings among the political elite are specifically designed to heighten the suggestibility of weaker wills instead of an awareness of deception and trickery. To compromise in this way begins the slippery descent down the pyramid of choice, where at the bottom the now servile fool is farther away from his highest beliefs. So subtly are the moral strings of corruptible men plucked, pulled, and loosened until finally the once principled tune of freedom and virtue becomes nothing more than an unwanted sound. Unmelodiously, Congressman Boehner allowed himself to be played. 

"We do not compromise principle. We do not surrender our standards regardless of current trends or pressures. As a church [people], our allegiance to truth is unwavering. Speaking out against immoral or unjust actions has been the burden of prophets and disciples of God from time immemorial. It was for this very reason that many of them were persecuted. Nevertheless, it was their God-given task, as watchmen on the tower, to warn the people. We live in an age of appeasement - the sacrificing of principle. Appeasement is not the answer. It is never the right answer." -Ezra Taft Benson, God-Family-Country

Secretary (President) Benson continues with the words of John A. Widtsoe:

"A milk-and-water allegiance kills; while a passionate devotion gives life and soul to any cause and its adherents. The troubles of the world may largely be laid at the doors of those who are neither hot nor cold; who always follow the line of least resistance; whose timid hearts flutter at taking sides for truth. As in the great Council in the heavens, so in the Church of Christ on earth, there can be no neutrality. We are, or we are not, on the side of the Lord. An unrelenting faith, contemptuous of all compromise, will lead the Church and every member of it, to triumph and the achievement of our high destiny. The final conquerors of the world will be the men and women, few or many matters not, who fearlessly and unflinchingly cling to truth, and who are able to say no, as well as yes, on whose lofty banner is inscribed. No compromise with error.... Tolerance is not conformity to the world's view and practices. We must not surrender our beliefs to get along with people, however beloved or influential they may be. Too high a price may be paid for social standing or even for harmony.... The Gospel rests upon eternal truth; and truth can never be deserted safely."

We must also not forget that virtue lives on after death, and, so do all the unforsaken vices. It is unbecoming of righteous men to lay their first principles before the golden calfs of worldly desire and for the senseless fame of equal flesh. As Gary North described in his book, Conspiracy: A Biblical View, "God does not lodge absolute sovereignty in any human institution. Men are sinners, and no single institution [or thing] can safely be entrusted with absolute sovereignty. Absolute power would corrupt sinful men if it were available, but it isn't. Nevertheless, some men seek it, and this search is a sign of their own corruption and a means of corrupting them further."

Surely, there can be no excuse for sin just as there can be no happiness found in doing iniquity. Any fool who subscribes to the opposite is unfit for the Kingdom and a traitor not only to himself, but also to his country and to God. The righteous contrarian does not apologize for his beliefs. He embraces them. They are one with him - woven tightly through every fiber of his being to be undone only by sin's entering in. And while many people seem to surrender their rights and freedoms at every whim and occasion, the more justified approach expressed by the dedicated citizen ought to be the same as what King Leonidas of Sparta said before the Persian Army when asked to surrender his weapons: "Molon lave," meaning, "Come and get them." To be sure, "an indignation against evil is an element in all truly noble character. A complacency towards sin, with a constant apology for it, or palliation of it, or excusing it, is a weakness, or rather it is an iniquity, and may make us partakers of the offense." - James McCosh

In 1949, Dwight Eisenhower made this searing statement about freedom and American honor:

"If all that Americans want is security, they can go to prison. They'll have enough to eat, have a bed and a roof over their heads. But if an American wants to preserve his dignity and his equality as a human being, he must not bow his neck to any dictatorial government."

And so he bowed.

Our own President and Commander in Chief practically fell to his face in reverent awe before the Saudi Arabian king, King Abdullah bin Abdul Azziz, as if he really were a king. Surely Balaam's ass showed greater wisdom and regard in its saving response to Balaam than Obama did to our own national sovereignty with his undignified ankle grab. Still, our nation is about to take a serious and unsalutary course toward immense suffering - all at the cost of our freedoms, and all because our chosen leaders have chosen to bow rather than stand. How does this happen? Why do our eyes close to such unworthy and foolish behavior? Perhaps, in many ways, it is because we are the children of disobedience ourselves. Why else could we have elected a far left radical as President of the "free world?" History has taught that the tyrant always wants to shine alone in his glory - as if the sun could only light a single blade of grass from the rest of the world. In front of such egos, we must not lower our convictions but instead raise them high as a hammer about to fall upon the anvil of arrogance and self-aggrandizement. And since Obama's open march into office, all those who have raised their voices against him and the establishment are laughed at, defamed, ridiculed, and mocked, ofttimes exchanging their hammer for a feather. "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" (Galatians 4:16)

One of my favorite books is the journal of Frederich Percyval Reck-Malleczewen, a German citizen who witnessed firsthand the moral decline of his people under the rule of Adolf Hitler. Later denounced for rivaling "German purity," he was sent to the Dachau concentration camp and shot in the back of the neck in 1945. His entries were later compiled and given the appropriate title of Diary of a Man in Despair. This steadfast contrarian to the Nazi establishment made the following statements about evil and the pull of his people toward the nature of the beast, even hell itself:

"My life in this pit will soon enter its fifth year. For more than forty-two months, I have thought hate, have lain down with hate in my heart, have dreamt hate and awakened with hate. I suffocate in the knowledge that I am the prisoner of a horde of vicious apes, and I rack my brains over the perpetual riddle of how this same people which so jealously watched over its rights a few years ago can have sunk into this stupor, in which it not only allows itself to be dominated by the street-corner idlers of yesterday, but actually, height of shame, is incapable any longer of perceiving shame for the shame that it is.
Yet when I voice a long-held theory of mine, that behind all this horror and this unprecedented denial by a basically well-meaning people of all decency - that behind it, there lies concealed a cosmic process, a gigantic psychosis and the unleashing of a horde of demons, I am laughed at. I am called a fabricator of nightmares, and am told that a certain amount of physiological coarsening is always observable in people during wartime [moral crisis]. I have witnessed the festivities. I heard the clamor, saw the enraptured faces of the women, saw, also, the object of this rapture. There was no light in it, none of the shimmer and shining of a man sent by God. And through it all this bovine and finally moronic roar of "Heil!"... hysterical females, adolescents in a trance, an entire people in the spiritual state of howling dervishes. These people are insane. In their immense vanity, Satan's own have overreached themselves, and now they are in the net, and they will never free themselves again. That is the fact, and this it is that rejoices in my heart. I hate you. I hate you waking and sleeping. I hate you for undoing men's souls, and for spoiling their lives; I hate you as the sworn enemy of the laughter of men.... Oh, it is God's deadly enemy which I see, and hate, in you. In every one of your speeches you make a mockery of the Spirit, which you have silenced, and you forget that the private thought, the thought born in sorrow and loneliness, can be more deadly than all your implements of torture. You threaten all who oppose you with death, but you forget: our hatred is a deadly poison. It will creep into your blood, and we will die shouting with joy when our hate pulls you down with us into the depths."

The moment Obama bowed before an unrighteous king was the moment the flaxen cord around our nation's neck became a chain. Indubitably, "the devil laugheth and his angels rejoice" at such careless submission. Appropriately, philosopher James McCosh stated, "It is said that in moving his finger a man starts a force which may take the round of the universe; it is certain that, in performing a particular act [bowing before dictators] or in uttering a word, good or bad, he may put in motion a moral potency which may reach over widely scattered nations, and go down through many generations."

So, where have all the good men gone? How can the works of darkness continue to exist in the light? Perhaps they are away from the corruptive influences of the world, living beneath the higher heads of power who refuse to bend low enough to hear the united voice of freedom and truth. Can you hear their songs of redeeming love about God and His Christ, the cry of patriots? Or, do you acknowledge the low, concerted droning of the bees?

"The grain has gone to seed,
Transformed are the nations,
Our lives are a degradation
While the bad boys laugh.
What has happened before
Has become true once more:
The good have disappeared,
The bad are everywhere.
Once this misery is
Broken as is ice,
People will speak of it
As of the Black Death.
Then the boys on the moor
Will make a figure of straw,
Will turn pain to delight,
And the old horror into light."
                             -Gottfried Keller

One of my favorite movie scenes is contained in the film, El Cid, which vividly portrays the historical account of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, a Spanish war hero and nobleman who stood in defiance to tyranny and the Muslim advance against Spain around the year 1094 A.D. In 1072, Sancho, the rightful successor to his father, King Ferdinand, was assassinated. It was deeply suspected that his brother, Alfonso, and sister, Urraca, had been involved in his murder. Though when all of Sancho's power ended up being passed to Alfonso himself, he demanded all of his subjects to kneel in fealty in a public display of allegiance to settle the matter of conspiracy and doubt against him. What ensues is one of the most poignant and moving scenes ever depicted in the history of film. While everyone falls prostrate before the king, Rodrigo does not. He remains standing - firm and absolute in his conviction of the truth and of Alfonso's hand in corruption. He could not kneel in good conscience before Alfonso unless he swore fealty himself to God before everyone present that he had nothing to do with the death of his brother, something he reluctantly does. In the end, Rodrigo fights for Alfonso and commands the armies of Spain in a dramatic defeat of the Moorish advance at Valencia. We would all do well to consider how the valiant actions of one man can alter the course of history and the heritage of his people beginning with our same refusal to bow before any earthly king and tyrant.

Similarly, in ancient Sparta, the Board of Ephors consisted of five Spartan citizens who represented a check and balance over the nation's dual kingship, casting the deciding voice whenever the kings disagreed on a particular matter. To do so effectively, every month these individuals would remind the kings of their moral responsibilities and limited power with the following phrase, "We who are as good as you, will continue to obey you only as long as you obey the law; if not, not." Or, in other words, "if you do not obey the law, then we will not obey you." In like manner, Robert E. Howard's Puritan hero, Solomon Kane, also reveals man's divinely appointed purpose, to vanquish evil at all costs by making low that which is falsely assumed to be high. Alma, the mighty prophet and missionary in the Book of Mormon described this mandate in plain detail:

"And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just - yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them - therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of the God." (Alma 31:5)

"And this he did that he himself might go forth among his people, or among the people of Nephi, that he might preach the word of God unto them, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them." (Alma 4:19)

And thus WE STAND in defiance to the evils of men until that great day when our Lord and Master, even Jesus Christ, descends from heaven, at which point every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is the Christ! Until that time, may our blades remain true and straight, fixed to the hands of the valiant and pointed in the direction of our enemies who cannot ever strike down the truth (or ourselves) while we stand united. Like the Greek General Xenophon declared, "I am sure that not numbers or strength bring victory in war; but whichever army goes into battle stronger in soul, their enemies generally cannot withstand them."

Intentionally, the path to Godhood is not made with the skulls of the wicked, but rather the blood, sweat, and tears of the Christian soldier. The pure in heart walk the path of justice, not vengeance, just as the 16th century artist Albrecht Durer so masterfully carved in his copper image of the "Knight, Death, and the Devil" (1513) wherein the Knight is embarked on a righteous mission, determined in his purpose and looking ahead, drawing on his faith to give him the moral courage to confront evil. In it he sits upright upon his horse, not hung carelessly forward before Death and the Devil himself in foolish fealty. He remains focused, armed, ready, willing.

                                                
However, the works of men are not always as pure. There is much evil in the world that seeks after our own destruction, both individually and as a nation. But the ungodly can never overcome us as long as we choose to stand and maintain the will to resist. The proper counter-measure is to learn the truth and resist evil no matter the odds and no matter the cost. If you prefer the more ignoble existence like that of a sheep, then you must understand the painful price you pay - submission, cowardice, shame. The time is soon at hand when evil men, even our own chief judges and leaders who sit in excess and pride, will be brought to awareness from their Borg-like alcoves by the sound of drums in their own yards. God will not allow evil to prosper while righteousness stirs. Wickedness never was happiness and a heaven hell cannot make. As the Great Shawnee Warrior and Statesman, Tecumseh, once said,

"Live right so when it comes your time to die,
you will not be like those whose hearts are filled with
the fear of death, who weep and pray for a little more
time to live their lives over again in a different way.
Sing your death song and die like a hero going home."

The war between good and evil is not made at a distance. It is at our very doors, before our very eyes. Therefore, to produce the greatest effect, both psychologically and emotionally, our manner of delivery must be made at short range, with bayonets fixed. Then, when the enemy is on the run, will we be able to answer the call of the ancient Psalm, "Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?" (Psalm 94:16) We are to stand, not bow. Rise, not fall. Fight, not withdraw. Then the wicked will one day be brought low as the dust from the weight of their own boastings and godless actions and great and terrible shall be their fall.

"And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands.
And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.
For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust." (Isaiah 25:11-12; 26:5)

Like the Areopagus in Athens during the apostle Paul's day, the same inscription, "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD," will be found among the rubble - a reminder of what happens when the Spirit of Liberty is put off and the Prince of Peace rejected. And when the cloud of smoke and dust clears and the howlings cease, there will come up the majestic sound of a marching host declaring Him, even Jesus Christ, as the only One to worship, to stand before that great gulf and with one voice shouting down the following words:

"If you banish God from the earth, we will meet Him under the earth. And then we, the underground men, will once again mount and sing a song to God, who is Joy...."

Long live the fighters

Vox Populi

I am absolutely appalled at the irresponsible actions of our "un"- President, Barack Hussein Obama, who saw fit to donate $100 billion to the United Nations (U.N.), a 38% increase over our prior distributions upon its corrupt and contaminated collection plate. This idiotic move on the part of our President is a smack in the face to the millions of Americans still out of work and on those still doing their best to make ends meet. And from where will this supposed surplus of funds come from that Obama has so slavishly offered to the den of thieves? The US taxpayer. But rest assured, China has graciously pulled from its continuously bulging pockets a whopping $14 million to the U.N. Unbelievable.

We are not a democracy or a dictatorship. We are a Republic wherein the power to make and/or change law is vested in the individual people. As Robert E. Hales stated in his revealing book, Secret Combinations Today,

"In a true republic, the voice of each man and woman is registered on an issue. In an expanded republic, [such as ours] an elected representative represents the position of those who elected him or her. Here, the actions of the elected representatives are determined by a Constitution." He then goes on to say, "Elected representatives must know that they must not listen to nor heed the voice of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Tri-Lateral Commission, the United Nations, the Federal Reserve Board, the International Monetary Fund, or other foreign or domestic parties and interests when those voices go contrary to the traditional American values and constitutional rights of the people. We, the people, are the ones they must represent and the voice they must follow."

Obama did not seek our approval for such an act. He thought it would be in his own best interest to downgrade and submit our national sovereignty even further to a collection of governments which rule with police-state methods. He ought to be reminded of Congressman Crockett's teachable moment when a humble member of his constituency gently confronted his misunderstanding of the Constitution and the proper role of government. (See my earlier blogpost entitled, A Republic Gone Bad) I believe that to weaken and undermine the Constitution is the gravest mistake a President could make. Either our current President follows bad advice or a mistaken judgment of the facts, or he is a traitor himself. In truth, he has already proven himself to be a traitor to his own words with respect to the raising of the debt ceiling. Here are his words declared in March 2006 regarding the same matter:

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."

Yes! We do! Five trillion dollars later and Obama is still cloudy and confused about our nation's economic downturn and his personal role toward its sharp decline. It must be surmised then that our President is more of a puppet than a leader - a hollow figure through which the hand of corruption so suitably slides. Similarly, like wolves in sheep clothing, the tyrants of the world and corrupt politicians of the same ilk talk hope and change but act with hatred and utter contempt for the liberty and welfare of their countrymen. Their mission is to preserve power and control rather than peace and moral excellence. How then can any true freeman remain silent and refuse to take an active interest in such things amidst the decay of our nation's moral fabric? And whose corrupted hand surrounds and includes our President so fittingly? The appropriate answer is the United Nations. And where is the outcry? Why do so many people persist in celebrating the "good intentions" of Obama and the U.N. while the nation burns and decays from within? Such ignoramuses are as dangerous as they are insane.

"Where's the manly spirit
Of the true-hearted and unshackled gone?
Sons of old freemen, do we but inherit their names alone?
Is the old Pilgrim spirit quench'd within us?
Stoops the proud manhood of our souls so low,
That Mammon's lure or Party's wile can win us to silence new?
Now, when our land to ruin's brink is verging,
In God's name let us speak while there is time;
Now, when the padlocks for our lips is forging,
Silence is a Crime."
                    -John Greenleaf Whittier

The time has come for our world to shake - to reel to and fro like a scroll, ridding itself of evil and corruption once and for all. Like panning for gold in a river, the earth needs to sift herself, separating the lighter sand masses of corrupt and unprincipled minds from the golden nuggets of virtue, the waste from the resource, the weak from the strong. Our free market system does not exist to fund despots, human rights violators, and tyrants, though such governments are exactly the kind of organizations our subordinate leaders see fit to support. Our continued support of an anti-American, anti-freedom organization like the United Nations ought to end. It must end. The world has grown dark and only America and Israel stand as the last remaining outposts for freedom, a shining city on a hill calling out to the peoples of the world to come together in peace beneath the banner of liberty and the warm, unending light of divine providence and protection. As the ancient apostle declared:

"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." (Romans 13:12)

The longer we forget God and trust in our own hands rather than His, the more His wrath is kindled. Are we sagging in our convictions and parroting the cry to 'stand by the President' and the U.N. in all things as if he [they] could do no wrong? Can we not feel our nation's descent toward totalitarian rule? If we do not stand up for truth while error is constantly being preached around us then we ought to "crouch down" as Samuel Adams once forcefully declared, and "lick the hands which feed" us while the chains set lightly upon our shoulders, blotting out our names from the annals of history as honorable and freemen of America. I recently lamented over the fact that during the week of July 4th there were a number of flag burnings and acts of vandalism by numerous residents of communities throughout the country. This is unbecoming of a free society and shameful. Such individuals should not be afforded any constitutional rights for a defense when their offensive actions in effect burned and tattered the Constitution itself. Such persons ought to be tried, convicted, and deported with extreme haste. Their cries and pleas for mercy would not be long kept once they see what the world is really like outside freedom's borders. Then we will see a flag soaked in tears rather than gasoline as Eldridge Cleaver, the once former leader of the Black Panther Party realized after finally embracing freedom's light. He said, "I'd rather be in jail in America than free anywhere else." Yet despite our earned freedoms, we have continued to allow the same corrupt organization and politicians to mock and defy our very liberties on our own soil and at our own expense, both financially and morally, since the U.N.'s establishment in 1952.

Senator Barry Goldwater once said this about the UN:

"The time has come to recognize the U.N. for the anti-American, anti-freedom organization that it has become. The time has come for us to cut off all financial help, withdraw as a member, and ask the U.N. to find a headquarters location outside the United States that is more in keeping with the philosophy of the majority of voting members, someplace like Moscow or Peking."

Amen, Senator. Amen.

Former Secretary of Agriculture and Prophet to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Ezra Taft Benson, said this about the U.N. and its disorganized and unharmonious actions:

"Supporters of the U.N. often tell us how wonderful it is that all nations can come together under a single room and air their problems in open debate. The implication, of course, is that this procedure is a way of "blowing off steam," a safety valve that somehow reduces the international tensions that otherwise might lead to war. How utterly absurd! Consider what would happen if every time a small spat arose between a husband and wife they called the entire neighborhood together and took turns airing their complaints in front of the whole group. Would there be much real chance of reconciliation? Instead of working out their problems together, the necessity of saving face, proving points and winning popular sympathy would likely drive them further apart. Not only that, by the time the issue was put to a vote, the neighbors would be forced into taking sides. Suddenly their own ranks would be divided and they would return to their own homes to continue a quarrel that, previously, wasn't even known to them. What starts out as an argument between two people now infects the entire neighborhood with bitterness and dissension.
Exactly the same kind of thing happens daily as the U.N. diplomats stand in front of the General Assembly, shake their fingers at each other, hurl insults at each other, and then ask all nations of the world to choose up sides. Far from being a procedure calculated to preserve peace, this kind of madness can only increase the likelihood of war. Quiet diplomacy always has been and still is far more conducive to real international progress than diplomacy on the stage."

And let us not forget the second and more serious component of effective diplomacy, Roosevelt's proverbial "large stick."

Secretary [President] Benson stated further:

"The U.N. has become a professional politician's paradise...it is becoming a world legislature, world court, world department of education, world welfare agency, world planning center for industry, science and commerce, world finance agency, world police force, and world anything else anyone might want - or might not want."

The only world government I am in favor of is the one which Jesus Christ Himself will establish upon the earth soon after his triumphant return. Until then, any other collective group or body of corrupted politicians and diplomats who assume that they have unlimited power over their subjects so as to authorize doing absolutely anything can all go to hell. The voice of the people is the sovereign power.
The United Nations is not a legislative body nor can it ever have the power to do so on our behalf. It is a venal chamber paved and held up by the mortar of mass deception and the resigned souls of apathy - a catacomb for the weak and corruptible. In it is deceit and from it bellows pure wind.

As many have come to know, the Lord is merciful to those who call on His name in righteousness and take upon themselves His holy name, even Jesus Christ, to be valiant defenders of the faith and the cause of truth and liberty. To such He offers protection, power, and the strength to endure our sufferings well. However, He will not permit the works of darkness to continue on unabated within His promised and chosen land, even the United States of America, "so long as a band of Christians remains to possess the land." And as long as wickedness reigns supreme, in public office as well as in the private affairs of our own homes, His wrath will be kindled.

As I mentioned earlier, the earth needs to be shaken. Like the Psalm says, "the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth." (Psalms 18:7) Such quakes and commotions happen all the time throughout the world. Many start and end far from land while others strike at the very heart of nations. Still, there are those who persist in their wicked habits as if there were no consequence to sin, like a man building a house of sand along a fault-line. Just as a dog will shake itself dry after being weighted down with water, so will the earth one day shake and tremble the evil away from before her face until only the righteous remain. God wants a firm mind, steadfast and immovable - not a shakable one in hard times. He will not tolerate compromise or retreat on moral issues. He will not support tyranny over freedom. He does not support corrupt officials and organizations (and those who vote for them) who deal in secret rather than openly. The United Nations and others of the same ilk will not stand the test of time. And when that fateful day arrives, when the earth moves and trembles, wherever it may originate, I would not want to be found anywhere near Turtle Bay, Manhattan.

We should get out of the U.N. and get the U.N. out of the United States. By the voice of the people it must be done.

Long live the fighters

8 minutes

I've been thinking about the Sun a lot lately and its life-giving light. So powerful and full of brightness, its effects cannot be ignored nor underestimated. In fact, it has become a daily routine of mine to look up at it at least once - though for a brief moment - to remind myself that there is a higher glory than the one we presently walk upon, a majestic orb too set on fire for exposed eyes to behold for more than a second. Centered about 93 million miles from our planet, the Sun still emits an all-encompassing shine that commands the movement of all those who look upon it with deferential respect. For this reason, it can also be said that sunlight quickens us. And throughout Earth's history, there have been many cultures, such as Pharaonic Egypt, who worshipped the Sun as an exciting entity. Light, they believed, was thought to be "the gaze of God." Circa 1370 B.C., the then Pharaoh of Egypt, Akhnaton, or Son of the Sun, proclaimed that there was only one God, Aton, symbolized by the Sun and signifying the universal force of light throughout the world over all things. Of such reverence the once great Egyptian hymn is written (with many similarities to Psalms 104):

"When you are risen on the eastern horizon
You have filled every land with your beauty...
Though you are far away, your rays are on Earth."

Surely there is something to be said about our nearest star!

When was the last time you witnessed a sunrise? A sunset? Have you every really considered the brilliancy and awe of such an event? Or rather, contemplated on the awesome influence its light brings into our world and into our lives? Indeed, there is something truly awe-inspiring about our closest star and its life-giving properties. If you doubt it, go look outside your window. Everything you see is visible and defined because of the Sun. As the only star in our Solar System and single source of heat and light, we would do well to acknowledge the Sun's pivotal role in our lives from time to time. To be more exact, it would behoove us to reflect on the power of light itself and its "activating" and "reactivating" properties within us.

Hugh Nibley, a world renowned LDS scholar and historian, made this statement about light in his book Temple and Cosmos:

"Without light, matter is inert and helpless. It must be improved by the action of light. You've got to put into it some animating principle. Whenever that acting principle is withdrawn, the matter at once falls back into its original lifeless, inert condition."

He then talks about it not being enough to arrange matter in order and system, referring to God's first creative processes as one of organization and order into the universe. "If you organize it," he says, "you've just got a geometrical structure or something similar, but it's still inert." Again, light is the activating agent by which all things become. What is meant by this is light has revelatory properties. Just as we can only see when a room is lit, we are limited, or rendered helpless, when light is withdrawn. Imagine what your life would be like if you were to live in total darkness for one full day. How about one hour? What thoughts and feelings would arise within such a vacuum? Think of how you would react once the time expired and light was once again introduced. After a minute of readjustment the finer details of your surroundings would become clearer and more defined. This natural process is no different than the manner in which we learn and grow. Just as our eyes respond immediately to the presence of great light, so are our minds influenced by pure intelligence when it is before us.

If light brings matter to life then it would follow that in darkness there would be death, or more fittingly, spiritlessness. As mentioned previously, the Sun quickens our world and our own individual selves, enlivening our spirits and all forms of matter to grow and to improve. Interestingly enough, through a process called photomorphogenesis, or "light-mediated development," a plant's conducted sunlight from its uppermost surface to its lower roots serves as a map for such things as how high it will grow, when it will flower, set fruit, and when to age. But if light is able to bring about such great things, why are there still so many disbelievers in God who seek shelter from its influence? Even more, why does virtue so often languish in the shadow while vice triumphs in the sunshine? The answer is readily visible: Fear.

Recall the quiet moments of the night, when the floorboards are heard creaking, the stairwell stirs and snaps, even the windows seem to shake. To many frightful minds a haunting seems afoot reflected by panicked gasps and spousal nudging. But such reactions only reflect an uncertainty of things as they are not supposed to be. In other words, we expect our world to remain constant and static, always the same as if the weather had an accuracy rate of 100%. And truthfully, the sounds that invariably go bump in the night are almost always just that. But despite this higher probability, frightful images still surround our covered faces, leaving us feeling exposed and vulnerable to all levels of influence. To be sure, these fearful moments make our condition even more intolerable yet assuredly improved by our knowledge of a nearby light switch. Surprisingly, many remain frozen in the dark, wallowing in their unpleasantness, afraid of what might actually be revealed to them by light's scrutinizing ray. What is more, just as the Earth radiates absorbed sunlight back into space in equal measure, so does it also sustain its own body core temperature. Carl Sagan, the once famous astronomer and writer, spoke of the Earth glowing "in its own eerie, cool infrared light...not as sunlight reflected...but as the planet's own body heat." The resultant glow is a direct reflection of the amount of sunlight absorbed. To put it more simply, the more light we can permit to come in ourselves, such as through faithful discipleship, the more of it we can radiate back into the world and in the lives of others. Hence, the hotter we are, the greater is our "glow in the dark." Such steadying brightness quickly dissipates the mists of fear and despair. Feeling more sure of our place and ultimate destination, we are now fit to successfully overcome the temptations and snares of the evil one for God's Word will serve as "a light unto my path."

Yet in resisting evil we would also do well to consider the good and its higher, though seemingly less defended purposes. Accordingly, M. Scott Peck made this statement about the problem of evil and the mystery of goodness:

"It is a strange thing. Dozens of times I have been asked by patients or acquaintances: "Dr. Peck, why is there evil in the world?" Yet no one has ever asked me in all these years: "Why is there good in the world?" It is as if we automatically assume this is a naturally good world that has somehow been contaminated by evil. In terms of what we know of science, however, it is actually easier to explain evil. That things decay is quite explainable in accord with the natural law of physics. That children generally lie and steal and cheat is routinely observable. The fact that sometimes they grow up to become truly honest adults is what seems the more remarkable. Laziness is more the rule than diligence. If we seriously think about it, it probably makes more sense to assume this is a naturally evil world that has somehow been  mysteriously "contaminated" by goodness, rather than the other way around. The mystery of goodness is even greater than the mystery of evil."

Indeed, there is much good in the world and even greater cause to celebrate its ultimate victory. Typically, when we think about "the world" we consider that which exists outside ourselves such as our neighbors, town, city, or country. However, to the honest man world peace and goodness are sustained and lived within the walls of his own home. This is the place where such vitalizing principles ought to shine the brightest. And if it dims, the good man will not avoid the pain that comes from self-examination, but will rejoice in it until his vision clears and sharpens. Conversely, the wicked man is as "the ghosts of the tribe" in Robinson Jeffers poem, Apology for Bad Dreams, where they "crouch in the nights beside the ghost of a fire, they try to Remember the sunlight, Light has died out of their skies." This lesson reveals an important truth about the presence of light and its absence. When we engage in riotous living and reject the truth in its highest form, choosing to be carried on the stink-wind of popular sentiment, we have no promise. We revert to our most basic state that thrives on pleasure rather than principle. Without this latter guiding light, we are as a blind man attempting to navigate a car on Paris's grand circle road, Place Charles de Gaulle. Surrounded by temptation, with every road promising the same limited happiness, the corruptible man, so beset by indecision, remains in the same self-defeating cycle. In this progress is halted and seemingly displaced, similar to that of an unfree ghost.

The poet and playwright, Henrik Ibsen, spoke of human nature and its associated problems in much the same way:

"I am half inclined to think we are all ghosts. It is not only what we have inherited from our fathers and mothers that exists again in us, but all sorts of old dead ideas and all kinds of old dead beliefs and things of that kind. They are not actually alive in us; but there they are dormant, all the same, and we can never be rid of them. Whenever I take up a newspaper and read it, I fancy I see ghosts creeping between the lines. There must be ghosts all over the world. They must be as countless as the grains of the sands, it seems to me. And we are so miserably afraid of the light, all of us."

When confronted with the truth, many "choose not to say" or "see" the light. Christ saw this all too frequently among the disbelievers, namely the Pharisees and Sadducees, who were "unable to answer Him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions." (Matthew 22:45) Like sunlight, which breaks forth like a searchlight suddenly turned on against sin and corruption, "there seems to have been in the presence of Jesus a spell of mystery and of majesty which even His most ruthless and hardened enemies acknowledged, and before which they involuntarily bowed." (Farrar, The Life of Christ) Furthermore, "it was to this that he [Jesus] showed His escape when the maddened Jews in the Temple took up stones to stone Him; it was this that made the bold and bigoted officers of the Sanhedrin unable to arrest Him as He taught in public during the Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem; it was this that made the armed band of His enemies, at his mere look, fall before Him to the ground in the garden of Gethsemane. Suddenly, quietly, He asserted His freedom, waved aside His captors, and overawing them by his simplistic glance, passed through their midst unharmed. Similar events have occurred in history, and continue still to occur. There is something in defenseless and yet dauntless dignity that calms even the fury of a mob. They stood-stopped-inquired-were ashamed-fled-separated."

"The evil hate the light," Dr. Peck similarly declared, "the light of goodness that shows them up, the light of scrutiny that exposes them, the light of truth that penetrates their deception." The slavish life, the one chained up by external forces such as drugs, alcohol, pornography, and infidelity cannot subsist without our justifying the dark arts with such careless comments as "all is well" and "there is no harm in this." But in the process of self-examination and ultimate nature change, we allow the light to fill our minds and bodies in large measure, absorbing it not as a tiny soft beam we see coming furtively from under a closed door, but rather breaking forth "out of obscurity" as an all-encompassing, all-consuming glow. Hebrews 12:29 states, "For our God is a consuming fire." Thus, by biblical definition, it is heaven, not hell, that is the source for light, heat, purity, and refinement, all of which comprise the central properties of fire. Additionally, the Prophet Joseph Smith saw in vision the heavens opened and declared the following in Doctrine and Covenants 137:

1- The heavens were opened upon us, and I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, whether in the body or out I cannot tell.
2- I saw the transcendent beauty of the gate through which the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like unto circling flames of fire;
3- Also the blazing throne of God, whereon was seated the Father and the Son.

Conversely, hell would be chill, isolating, barren, and utterly dark. This notion was eluded to very well in a favorite movie of mine called Sunshine, where a group of astronauts (humanity's last hope) are sent to commandeer a nuclear ship left to reignite the dying sun. I really love this film. There is a scene at the beginning where a member of the crew is viewing the sun from the observation deck. Appearing at only 2% brightness but still magnificent, he asks the computer to behold the sun at 4%, a sight he is told would cause "irreversible damage" to his retinas. As an alternative, he is told he can view the sun at 3.1% for a period of not longer than 30 seconds, which he does. The following scene is nothing short of incredible. Attached below is the actual image from the movie:

As depicted above, at just 3.1% brightness we cannot even begin to fathom the total light produced by our Sun. I marvel at what it would be like to witness such glory in full compared with the supreme majesty of God and His Christ. Soon after his lighted experience, the doctor explains to the rest of the crew his feelings about what occurred. He states:

"The point about darkness is...you float in it. You and the darkness are distinct from each other because darkness is an absence of something, it's a vacuum. But total light...envelops you, it becomes you."

This is why sin is so isolating in contrast to choosing the right which is more inclusive. In choosing the darkness we attempt to cover ourselves from the piercing exposure of our conscience, which serves as an inner mooring during times of mental conflict. In much the same way, the glaringly evident truths which remind us of a loving Creator and Savior are rejected wholesale by the "Mr. Hyde" part of our personalities. In awe of our own shadows, we seem to focus more on the product of light in our cast outlines than the truer features revealed by self-examination and contemplation. When the latter occurs, we are more fit to marvel at the grand majesty of the Sun and the power of God to envelop us with His light, thereby becoming one with Him.

In his short essay on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, John A. Sanford notes that the evil part of Jekyll's personality, that of Mr. Hyde, eventually destroyed itself [himself] by suicide. "For it tells us that evil eventually overreaches itself and brings about its own destruction. Evidently evil cannot live on its own, but can exist only when there is something good upon which it can feed." Indeed, a thing cannot be fully understood without also considering its counterpart, such as the light from the darkness. It is requisite then that we know our enemies, but it is even more dangerous to share our beds with them. A careful examination should never include conversion. As described earlier, the point about darkness is that you seem to float in it, as it is an absence of something. To clarify this point, Hugh Nibley stated that,

"The ultimate form of damnation is "to be like the demons of the air." Satan is the prince of the air (Ephesians 2:2-3), because he has no place for his foot - no sure footing, no base of operations anywhere. As the Pistis Sophia says, "To be deprived of the ordinaces is like being suspended in air, having no place for his foot."

Similarly, in the Book of Mormon, we read of Lehi's Vision where he beheld many profound things,

26 - ...on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth.
27 - And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.
33 - And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building. And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not.
34 - These are the words of my father: For as many as heeded them, had fallen away. (1 Nephi 8)

Soon after, Lehi's faithful son, Nephi, is able to receive further light and knowledge about the same vision and the meaning of that great "floating" structure:

36 - And it came to pass that I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Thus shall be the destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, that shall fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (1 Nephi 11)

Herein lies the futility of evil and the efforts of those who attempt to last while in sin. For evil cannot sustain itself for long just as a plane cannot stay airborne indefinitely. It has no foundation. But with the sure light of truth and virtue, the sinner can once again find solid ground, enveloped by light and the tight embrace of a loving Father in Heaven. The following scriptures reveal additional insight into this promised state:

-While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. (John 12:36)
-Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalms 119:105)
-And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. (2 Samuel 23:4)
-Therefore, gird up your loins, that you may be the children of light, and that day shall not overtake you as a thief. (Doctrine and Covenants 106:5)
-Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14)
-That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day. (Doctrine and Covenants 50:24)

In one particular verse in the Book of Mormon, the word light occurs six times with reference to King Lamoni's conversion after the preaching of Ammon:

6- Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that King Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness - yeah, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God. (Alma 19:6)

In Elder Lynn A. Mickelsen's talk entitled, Light and Growth, he speaks about our spiritual lives and the growth we may determine based on how we follow the Savior. "If we become stiff-necked and cease to look to His light, or if we allow sin to damage our receptors for light, we will die spiritually. But if we obey the commandments, we come closer to God and gain greater light. This increase in light stimulates the "photomorphogenesis" of our spiritual lives and governs our spiritual progress."

As stated earlier, light has animating and reactivating processes. It awakens us each morning and satisfies our lawns. It warms us when we are cold and fills us with joy after a wild storm. It also purifies us from the bitterness of sin insofar as we do not throw it back. Thus, it is imperative that we become lighted, living disciples of Christ. Are we growing toward the light or withering from it? May we let light be the controlling force in our lives. If the old saying is true that, "Light is darkness - lit up," then we ought to consider the way we presently view the problems of the world and our individual responsibilities toward their solution. Then, as our awareness grows, so will our perspective on life shift from that of eye-level to sky-level, where we can more appropriately follow wisdom's paths to its brightest and highest point.

Now, if the sun is out, go take a quick look at it to be reminded of its power. With the naked eye, the event won't last long. It only takes about 8 minutes for sunlight to reach the Earth. Perhaps it's taken you approximately the same amount of time to read this entire post. Maybe you've learned something. It's possible that the rays of truth have already started conducting themselves through you. The question then remains: Has your spiritual self been reactivated? And if so, how long will you permit the light to work within you? 

8 minutes? 

Long live the fighters

The Last Pillar

I've always admired the grand architecture of columns and pillars. To me, they signify power and great strength. Rising solid and tall they stand as witnesses to the great empires of ancient times and the leaders who established and maintained them. Consider the Parthenon of classic Greece with its majestic structure still reflective of their once great authority. In its totality, the Parthenon consists of 69 pillars which comprise its inner and outer arranged marble walls. Completed in 432 BC, it has remarkably survived the ravages of time and war, with many of its pillars still standing atop the Acropolis in Athens proving that sound principles built upon platforms of truth and wisdom will endure the test of time. Though, for many other cultures, a single column would be erected in honor of a great leader, saint, and/or heroic conflict to remind the populace of their earned heritage and national pride. For example, (and likely unbeknownst to many) since 1893, a 150 foot monument has stood at the heart of Trenton, New Jersey, known as the Trenton Battle Monument, which bears solid testimony to the heroic efforts of General George Washington and his broken band of Continental soldiers during the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Trenton one bitterly cold Christmas night in 1776. The conflict was a pivotal victory for the fearful Americans who had been suffering under the psychological dominance of Britain with her vast military and political influence. With depressed morale and the daily desertions of army personnel, Washington himself submitted to doubt - but only for a moment. With faith in God and the desire for national sovereignty from tyrannical rule, General Washington successfully turned feelings of despair to divine purpose culminating with the following words after his victory over the dominant Hessian Army:

"This is a glorious day for our country."

With the weight of a nation upon his shoulders, George Washington demonstrated great strength despite the stress and heavy responsibilities, choosing to stand upright and firm with confidence as a pillar among men.

A simple Internet search can produce a plethora of information about these structures and their marked semblances of a time gone by. In the Bible, we read of men seeming as pillars, the kingdom of God being likened unto a pillar, and the Lord's manifestations to the children of Israel in similar fashion, such as with fire or by a cloud. I do not find this coincidental as the very purpose of a column or pillar is to support and uphold. In the above mentioned examples, the Lord was teaching his people that he would always support and direct them insofar as they chose to live righteously and remember Him. But such blessings and divine protection can only come by maintaining a strong foundation built on principles and morals whereon the commandments of God, or pillars of truth, could be firmly planted. Hence, the base plate of the pillar, which serves to reduce the pressure and stress exerted by a weighted covering, is akin to the self-evident truths of liberty and personal responsibility sustained by Christ-like living. But alas, the same protective covering of moral clarity and responsibility over our own national security and sovereignty is crumbling. Like today's Parthenon, our roof is also severely damaged, falling to the floor in large measure to be broken further by the contact of sin and moral depravity. Now exposed to the unforgiving elements of nature and terror, the first pillars of civilized life are more vulnerable to external influence like terror, social control, and reductive materialism which are anathema to the inspired truths of the Constitution. But rather than reflect on the iron, granite, or marble columns representative of a nation's history, it would behoove us to examine our own inward parts and convictions, i.e. the morals and values that help qualify us to be real Americans and chosen warriors of God. These universal truths are not to be found exclusively within the walls of a chapel hall or as visions and revelations singly manifested upon the altar. Rather, the Lord manifests His mighty arm to all those who profess His name through obedience to the Commandments as He sees fit - sometimes in miraculous ways.

I think of Saul of Tarsus walking down the road to Damascus to persecute the Christians, filled with animosity for the cause of Christ and those "bound unto Jerusalem." I am sure the desert road was not paved nor consisted of a well-landscaped shoulder bright with flowers and ripe vegetation. It was likely of dirt - travel-worn and misshapen - decorated by loose stones kicked up by pulled carts and the long prints of weary feet. Yet still dedicated to the anti-Christ movement, Saul kept both eyes fixed on Jerusalem, the hub of Christendom. It was then that Christ Himself appeared before him, blinding him for three days resulting in a total conversion that qualified him for the appointed calling of apostle to the Lord Jesus Christ, henceforth to be known as Paul. Throughout the rest of his life, Paul stood for something. He taught of Christ and His Resurrection amidst being beaten, stoned, thrown in prison, and ridiculed by the very people he had once identified himself with. Truly, Paul was a pillar among men, standing fast to his beliefs and convictions despite being persecuted for them by upholding the teachings of Jesus and their saving influence, a protective covering that sustained him to the end of his days with the closing words:

 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith."
                                                                             - 2 Timothy 4:7

Sadly, there are those within our own national borders, civilian and politician alike, who seem to be following in the same footsteps as Saul on the road to Damascus, possessing the same disdain and determination to overthrow the liberties of the land and the cause of Christians. Ezra Taft Benson, a true pillar of righteousness, declared in his talk The Price of Liberty: Eternal Vigilance that:

"The greatest threat to the freedom of any nation is erosion - not erosion of the soil, but erosion of the national morality and character. What we have to fear is not force from without, but weakness from within. Every nation yearns for liberty, but too frequently its own self-indulgence precludes the possibility of freedom. I speak of the trend of pleasure without conscience, wealth without work, business without morality, politics without principle, and worship without sacrifice. I believe personally there is a strong relationship between a strong, prosperous nation and the faith and righteousness of its people." (p.3)

He also reveals the destructive cycle of the body politic as it progresses "From bondage to spiritual faith - From spiritual faith to courage - From courage to freedom - From freedom to abundance - From abundance to selfishness - From selfishness to complacency - From complacency to apathy - From apathy to fear - From fear to dependency - From dependency to bondage."

At the end of his discourse, he outlines the four pillars upon which any nation's security rests:
1. Faith in God and in the universal brotherhood of mankind.
2. Strong homes and family ties.
3. A political climate and governmental system that protects man's inalienable rights.
4. Elected government officials who are wise and good, and a vigilant, informed citizenry.

As long as these columns remain supported by our first principles and intrinsic rights, we as a nation can withstand any oppressor or calamity that befalls us. But when one becomes compromised, such as by the dissolution of the family and responsible parenting, the weight of the roof is tilted and imbalanced, leading toward imminent collapse. Therefore, it is imperative that we stand as pillars of truth at all times, in all things, and in all places. We cannot compromise what we know to be true - ever. The whole "let's make a deal" philosophy so heavily used in the political arena today comes at a great cost - the people lose. Many of our "elected" officials are no different than the scribes and Pharisees of old who "love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues." (Matthew 23:6) If only politicians stood firmly on principles rather than friendly compromise, choosing to rise to the occasion as Christ did in the temple against the moneychangers with a ready whip, driving off the droning members of "the hive" who serve as mouthpieces to a collectivist mind so far removed from reality as the band who played on while the Titanic sank. Such outliers from reason cannot be suffered nor like-minded politicians be re-elected.


"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear." 
- Cicero

The earth is filled with history's columns, some having been reconstructed, others since fallen, while many more continue to stand the test of time. We must value them as monuments to civilization and high places of courage. While the future remains uncertain, and the present course of our nation is turned backward to war and wise leadership, it would be well for us to no longer avoid the pain that comes from self-examination, but to embrace our faults as opportunities to grow toward heaven. Like Paul Muad'dib in Frank Herbert's masterpiece Dune, we can all be "the strength of the base of the pillar" in our own homes and communities - paving the road for our own children to follow in the same way General Washington and his men marched onward to Trenton despite blood and cold.


I am eternally grateful for the sacrifices of all those who have died to preserve our way of life and the many freedoms we still presently enjoy as a free nation. May we never take them for granted or become complacent in their defense. 118 years have passed since the Trenton Battle Monument was erected. Let us hope, for the sake of our country, that the same amount of time can be added upon this first one. If not, then may we all stand firm in the truth until that fateful day arrives, courageous and strong, joined in loyal defense of our inalienable rights against all forms of tyranny - to be a testament of liberty and freedom rising high through the ashes as the last pillar of humanity.

Long live the fighters

Israel, Israel

I recently revisited an old book in my possession entitled Fighting Terrorism by Benjamin Netanyahu. After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, I came across this great work with keen interest as I wanted to know more about who our enemy was and how to defeat them. At the time, I did not care about why our enemies hated us more than to discover a clear strategy aimed at easing them of their miserable and wretched lives. But despite my learned satisfaction attained by reading, the more dominant liberal sensitivities from a population turned more fearful and complacent were precisely what the mainstream media persisted on reporting. This only served to embolden the enemy and his reaffirmed cause rather than dismiss him altogether. Now, ten years later, the music is still the same, though softer and more trance-like befitting a fallen culture who calls "evil good and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20). And this same melody of apathy and deliberate discontent toward national sovereignty and justified defense (both foreign and domestic) was portrayed through smiling eyes of contempt by our cocksure President aimed at Benjamin Netanyahu, now Prime Minister of Israel, during his immediate visit to the White House after Obama's twisted declaration for an indefensibly reduced Israeli State. Although he has recently claimed the statement as "misrepresented," behind the mask and prosaic statements there still exists a favorable allegiance to Palestine - and with such - an implicit support for Hamas. While I cannot at all bear witness to the experience of living in a country like Israel where rockets and suicide bombers are included as rain during the morning weather forecasts, I feel I do have a responsibility in sharing my thoughts and feelings on the present matter in the Middle East, particularly and most importantly with respect to the divine kinship and fidelity we must maintain for the chosen people of Israel.

As defined in Fighting Terrorism, "Terrorism is the deliberate and systematic assault on civilians to inspire fear for political ends." I cannot help but think how congruent this definition fits with our current system of government. While we do not have our elected officials blowing themselves up or firing rockets from the Capitol Building's rooftop at innocent civilians, their fear tactics and apocalyptic assertions regarding such things as not raising the debt ceiling, enacting universal healthcare, and printing a new stimulus are, by the same definition, acts of terror. As cited in an earlier post, this deliberate and systematic assault on the freedoms and appropriations of taxpayer funds are summed up justly by FDR when he said, "In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way." Such domestic terror should be given no intellectual quarter. But even more should we not make great efforts in gaining a clinical understanding of terrorist psychology as intellectual insight alone will not produce the action(s) necessary to resist and destroy evil at all costs. The reasoning is simple - insight leads to understanding which will invariably turn to acceptance. An old Jewish saying bears credence to this fact when it says, "Those who are kind to the cruel end up being cruel to the kind." Right is right and wrong is wrong. There is no middle ground here. Evil does not follow in stages ranging from beginner, intermediate, to expert level. You either choose the light or dwell in the darkness. Terrorists are soulless, godless, and uninspiring individuals who show greater obedience to the ticking timer strapped to their chests than to the still small voice of reason and truth. In one section of his book, Fighting Terrorism, Benjamin Netanyahu talks greatly about moral clarity and the responsibility we have as free-men to resist and defeat terror in all its forms rather than waste precious time, energy, and resource distinguishing the horrific from the unalarming. He then cites several major events from history where maintaining moral excellence prompted swift action and honorable victory:

"This [moral] clarity is what enabled America and Britain to root out piracy in the nineteenth century. This same clarity enabled the Allies to root out Nazism in the twentieth century. They did not look for the "root cause" of Nazism - because they knew that some acts are evil in and of themselves, and do not deserve any consideration or "understanding." They did not ask whether Hitler was right about the alleged wrong done to Germany at Versailles. That they left to the historians. The leaders of the Western Alliance said something else: Nothing justifies Nazism. Nothing!" (xx-xxi)

Without such moral excellence we are as the blinded Samson, fit to fight but incapable of seeing the true face of terror - the devil himself. Like shooting from the hip, our point of accuracy lessens and more than likely misses the mark entirely, as if David had instead hurled his stone at Goliath's mailed chest rather than the center of his forehead. To be sure, immoral conduct creates a significant delay between the act of aggression and the victim's response. The reason for this bears repeating: an obsession with understanding evil leads to identifying with the aggressor. Because of this, our tactical responses to these murderers is slowed and thereby more costly, like a car having a five minute delay between the turn of the steering wheel and its moving right. In place of this, we should be strengthening ourselves more by counterterrorist education beginning with Netanyahu's book, Fighting Terrorism, in learning how to defeat God's enemies than on promoting their cause further by our futile and arrogant attempts made to understand them. Nevertheless, this is our present awful state. Voices of sin within our own borders have already lamented the fact that Osama Bin Laden was not granted due process! A fair trial for a mass murderer! We can only assume that many more "intelligible" judges and politicians have echoed the same foolish sentiment. Like the Israelites of old who denied the saving power of the brass serpent lifted up by Moses, our corrupt leaders appear no different, so puffed up in their pride and wicked ambitions they fail to realize the slow coiling of the same snake around their exposed throats.

It is a well known fact that Israel sits surrounded by enemy states. In 1967, they took defensible action over a six-day campaign against Syria, Egypt, and Jordan and secured for themselves a sovereign nation, still independent and free to this day. Long before that, the Israelites were deemed God's chosen people, a body the Lord Himself loved and covenanted would never be defenseless insofar as they kept His commandments. In Deuteronomy 7: 6-11 we read:

6 - For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
7 - The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
8 - But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you our with a mighty hand, and redeemed you our of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 - Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
10 - And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
11 - Thous shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.

With reference to Israel's enemies and the surrounding regimes that aid and abet terrorism, the Lord declared further:

17 - If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
18 - Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
21 - Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.

As I ponder these inspiring verses, I cannot help but think of David and his going alone before the giant Goliath. So filled with faith and the power of God, he "ran toward the army to meet the Philistine." And after prevailing over Goliath with a small stone and then beheading him with his own sword, the Philistine army fled in derision, in immediate fulfillment of David's originally bold declaration:

46 - This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
47 - And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.

With such strength, knowledge, and confidence in a population standing in defense of freedom, any perpetrator of terror will begin to look exceedingly remote to them. Notice how David did not feel sympathetic to the Philistines or their threatening champion; nor did he attempt to engage in "meaningful" or "robust" peace talks to assuage their desire to conquer by asking Goliath: "Why do you hate us?" For how can a reasonable man reason with a brute who says, "Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field." If only Neville Chamberlain, the once "savior of modern Europe" acted similarly toward  Hitler rather than be fair to German concerns!

David [Israel], did not run from the drums of terror. He instead ran to face them, in full stride and filled with grace and power because of the promise the Lord made to make him [Israel] mighty unto deliverance. David also did not come out swinging, throwing objects carelessly forward at the giant in hope that one would deal the deadly blow. All it took was one sling. One stone. One aim. He won beforehand. This miraculous event reminds me of an ancient Samurai story about a disciple of Japan's greatest swordsmith, Masamune. This excerpt is taken from the novel, The 47th Samurai, by Stephen Hunter:

"A disciple of Japan's greatest swordsmith, Masamune, believes he has finally made a better blade than his teacher. Being vain and ambitious, he demands a competition. The old man resists but ultimately relents. The young man's blade is placed in a stream. Things drift down: it cuts...everything, twigs and leaves and fish. It cuts garbage and paper and bubbles. Everything that floats it sunders. Then the old man's blade is placed in the water. It cuts...nothing. Whatever floats to it is magically diverted. After a time, the young man exults.
I have won! My blade is better! My blade cuts everything, his nothing!
Old Masamune pulls his blade from the water with a smile.
Admit it, Master, says the young man. Mine is better. It cuts everything.
Old Masamune walks away, satisfied.
The young man sees a priest, who has watched the action.
Priest, tell him how much better my blade is. Make him see.
No, says the priest. His blade knew the way. It saw nothing that had to be cut. It brought no harm into the world. It has come to help the world; it is a blade of justice. Your blade, on the other hand, cut everything without discrimination. It is an evil blade. It has no morality. It should be destroyed."

The Master's blade is with Israel, whose steely resolve and military might continues to keep in check the numerous armies that surround them. While Israel possesses the advanced arsenal and weaponry necessary to deliver massive destruction on an apocalyptic scale to its dissatisfied neighbors, it chooses not to. Israel does not claim the deliberate murder of civilians as terrorists do but to the freedom and welfare of its countrymen and the spread of democracy to whomever desires its freeing effects. In truth, as George Washington once wrote, "To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." Unlike the West, who cannot comprehend at all what life is like in the Middle East except for what the state-controlled media lay claim to, Israel understands that nothing can ever justify terrorism - toward anyone.  Like the justice blade of Masamune, which is moral and sharp, the world is a better place because of Israel. They remain a powerful force for good in a world gone dark and a true brother and friend to the United States. Sadly, however, many are unwilling to recognize their won sovereignty and their proven and committed efforts to rid the world of terror, viewing them instead as the "Little Satan." The old Psalm rings true, "And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love." (109:5)

Appropriately, on July 4, 1976, after a 53 minute rescue operation in an airport terminal at Entebbe, Uganda, an elite Israeli commando unit successfully rescued 103 hostages, killing all the hijackers who had brought them there by plane along with many of their Ugandan sympathizers. In one week, Israel had been able to formulate a stratagem to rescue their countrymen, gain the approval from their governing body, even attempt at negotiations despite the futility of such an endeavor, only to arrive in Uganda under cover of darkness in one of the greatest rescue missions ever undertaken - all completed in less than an hour. I mention this heroic operation, "Operation Thunderbolt," as evidence for moral clarity, excellence, and the righteous cause of freedom. In the wake of the mission, Israel rightfully received more support for its actions than condemnation. In his address to the United Nations Security Council, Israeli ambassador Chaim Herzog said:

"We come with a simple message to the Council: we are proud of what we have done because we have demonstrated to the world that a small country, in Israel's circumstances, with which the members of this Council are by now all too familiar, the dignity of man, human life and human freedom constitute the highest values. We are proud not only because we have saved the lives of over a hundred innocent people - men, women, and children - but because of the significance of our act for the cause of human freedom."

Imagine how different the world would be if all nations stood in defiance to tyranny and terror with the same confidence that Israel so efficiently demonstrated in their answer to the terrorist actions made against them. In addition, with how David stood before Goliath, solemnly declaring the Lord's assurance that he would be able to "take thine head from thee." I would expect that international terror would no longer be able to function or receive sanctuary from their crimes against humanity; its entire network collapsing under the pulled rug of economic and political influence.

One of my favorite phrases in Latin is the term "Obsta Principiis," which means, "oppose bad things when they are small." This wise maxim would do us well if appropriately applied in all areas of our lives - at home, work, school, community, and nation. We must possess the will to win. Evil is like interest, it never sleeps, therefore it, like freedom, requires our constant vigilance. As Benjamin Netanyahu stated, "We have received a wake-up call from hell. Now, the question is simple: Do we rally to defeat this evil, while there is still time, or do we press a collective snooze button and go back to business as usual?"

It is my prayer and hope that we will lift up our heads, wipe the sand from our eyes and hair, and embrace freedom with our brothers in Israel, demanding from our leaders their support for that great country - at all costs - so that we can share in their grief and defiance as they did with us when our own nation was on fire on 9/11. I love the people of Israel and their unwavering commitment to the cause of freedom and peace. Let us not forget the cost of freedom and to recognize more abundantly the guiding hand of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, who holds our two great nations graven upon his bruised palms by which all things have been and are made possible.

May we never have to bemoan the words, "Blind among enemies, O worse than chains."

Today we are all Israelis.

Long live the fighters

The Liberal's Fiddle

Nero's 14 year reign as emperor of Rome is considered by many historians to be a period of tyrannical and extravagant rule by the unfavorable leader. So absorbed with wealth and fame, Nero sought to reconstruct Rome with huge palaces and temples along with a 120 foot golden statue of himself rather than rule in favor of the people and their individual liberties. His lofty visions of an empire turned stylish devalued the dollar to the point of economic ruin. As well did he find displeasure with the Christians whom he placed blame for the Great Fire that overtook the city in 64, choosing to illuminate his palace garden at night with their captured torched bodies. Further accounts also make the claim that Nero played the fiddle while the city burned, himself dressed in full theatrical costume as if he were on stage. In short, torture, murder, and excess define the reign of this tyrant, a man enslaved by his own passions and the lust for public adulation. In the end, he did what all tyrants and dictators seem to do when faced with a just insurrection of the citizenry - commit suicide. Perhaps Cato said it best when he declared, "Whoever will pretend to govern a People without regarding them, will soon repent it." Regrettably, we are once again living in the time of Nero, only this time it is our own nation that is on fire - a conflagration set by the dirty hands of king-men who rejoice in the sufferings of the people and the demise of the Constitution. And in the distance, through all the smoke and haze, the rightly tuned ear can distinguish the riotous sound of the same fiddle being played without pause to the depressing tune of modern liberalism.

I have often wondered what the x-ray film of a liberal's skeleton would look like. In fact, I wonder more if there exists any firmness at all within their slouched, bendy forms. Careless and soft, emotional and vacuous of any sound reasoning, the liberal mind is truly 'matter unorganized.' To put it more simply, "Tis hard for an empty bag to stand upright." Indeed, the inner cobwebby chambers of the liberal brain are just that - unused and wasted - as a well whose deeper watery abundance sits untapped and unexploited, waiting to rise on the saving light of Reason. Like the Pharisees and Sadducees of old, the elitists sense of piety and knowledge for what they feel is right in the moment is as non-producing as a dog whistle - an inaudible sound distinguished only by the flapping tongues of liberal dogs after the attention of misleading masters. The ancient Samurai elaborated on this concept further:

"Reason is four-cornered and will not move even in an extreme situation. Woman [Liberal] is round. One can say that she does not distinguish between good or evil or right and wrong and tumbles into any place at all."

While I do not at all agree with the above notion that women are mindless and without direction, I do acknowledge the same 'tumbling' nature of the liberal wicked and their 'nest mentality' to swallow anything and everything in one gulp without assessing the complete contents first. "Government is not reason," said George Washington, "it is not eloquence - it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." Indeed, the Founders looked upon government as a volatile and wild instrument of explosive power which must be harnessed within the confines of a strictly interpreted Constitution, or else it would destroy the very freedoms for which it was designed to preserve.

Without the reigning in of government power, the people quickly lose their own and in the process their individual sovereignty, hard-earned fortunes, and sacred honor. Therefore, it is up to us to resist the pull of government increase and to ignore public sentiment and its cradling of immoral and gross conduct in order to reestablish a Republic built upon the foundation of Christ, "which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Helaman 5:12) Tragically, we have suffered fools far too long and voted for worse. Now past feeling, do many march in step to the destructive anthem of government control, played on a fiddle whose originating source echoes from the gallery floor of the Capitol Building. Like Nero, modern liberalism sits perched upon its own ivory tower, savoring the view of a nation on fire with the same gladness as a bird watching worms emerge after a rainstorm. Careful though they are not to acknowledge the direction from whence the life-sustaining moisture comes! Such is the case of the damned. They care not for the freedom and welfare of their countrymen but for their abject poverty and oppression. So wroth with the Ten Commandments and of a Power greater than themselves that they fail to experience any real joy in life, instead turning inward like a dead star through which light can no longer enter. But the truth is our weapon. To oppose it is folly - like an ant attempting to resist the heavy foot stepping upon it.

In this climate of political correctness, calling evil evil and good good is as revolutionary a statement as burning the flag. Ironically, this is exactly how the liberal mind demonstrates its defiance to God's rule -the desecration of heaven's banner. Like the king-men in the Book of Mormon, "who were in favor of kings...those of high birth...and they were supported by those who sought power and authority over the people," (Alma 51:13) today's liberal bee thrives on discontent and promotes division among the masses to deceive and to manipulate. Seething with contempt for the principles of liberty, these traitors would likewise refuse to take up arms to defend them and their country in a time of war. In response to such deliberate stubbornness and conscientious stupidity, Captain Moroni would surely deal with the king-men of today in the exact same way he did with the traitors of liberty during his time:

"14. And it came to pass that when Moroni saw this, and also saw that the Lamanites were coming into the borders of the land, he was exceedingly wroth because of the stubbornness of those people whom he had labored with so much diligence to preserve; yea, he was exceedingly wroth; his soul was filled with anger against them.
 18. And it came to pass that the armies did march against them; and they did pull down their pride and their nobility, insomuch that as they did lift their weapons of war to fight against the men of Moroni they were hewn down and leveled to the earth.
 20. And the remainder of those dissenters, rather than be smitten down to the earth by the sword, yielded to the standard of liberty, and were compelled to hoist the title of liberty upon their towers, and in their cities, and to take up arms in defence of their country.

George Washington has also said, "In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness [religion and morality]." Furthermore, and more frightening as well as prophetic did Joseph Stalin declare, "America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: it's patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within."

As we fortify and defend these pillars of truth in both speech and action, the Lord will reward us for our integrity and courage with a portion of His Spirit, empowering us to stand ever the more firm and steadfast in defeat of the miserable, as an approaching person sends a frightened squirrel up a tree. By eternal truth, sin runs while Righteousness stands. And when confronted with the facts, the Great Puppeteer himself takes flight, leaving his subjects to stumble and collapse in consequence of their empty interiors until they are lying prone upon the earth, being compelled to humility before an all-merciful and powerful God.

Robert J. Matthews, former dean of religious education at BYU, described the liberal mind in this way, in context of Lucifer's plan proposed in the pre-earth Council:

"It seems strange to me that a third of all the spirits that had the potential to be born into this world would have favored a plan based on forced obedience. Most of us do not like to be forced. As I see it, the real issue was not so much one of force as it was that Lucifer said he would guarantee salvation for his spirit brothers and sisters. He promised salvation without excellence, without effort, without hard work, without individual responsibility. That is the lie he promulgated in the preearth councils. That so-called shortcut to salvation captivated many gullible and lazy spirits. They wanted something for nothing."

Relatedly, the radical Saul Alinsky, in his book on radicalism and social control made this traitorous statement toward both nation and God:

"Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgement to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history...the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom." - Lucifer

This, my friends, is proof of their insanity. Know your enemy. As Goethe once said, "Our friends show us what we can do, our enemies teach us what we must do." May we not pull in our horizons as they do but expand them further through the cause of Christ. May we extinguish the flames of evil with the living water of the Savior, looking to Him as the only true and real source of lasting peace and strength. Finally, may the solid, steadying sound from our own united march lead us to victory as the armies of Joshua echoed at the walls of Jericho; and that through the dust and smoke created by wicked's flight from Virtue's Arm the Liberal's fiddle may be forever deprived just as Shakespeare wrote in his Coriolanus,

"When some certain of your brethren roar'd and ran
From the noise of our own drums."

Long live the fighters