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Depending on who is breaking down the list the news is reporting between 30 and 50 distinctive sexual behaviors that are to be protected under the newly proposed Hate Crimes Bill H.R. 1913. Have we gone from the moral majority to the immoral majority all in about a mere thirty years? What Happened?
One of the definitions for prurient is an itching which is to say that anyone who is constantly aroused by some new and shifting sexual interest has got an itch. As a nation it would seem that our enemy has flown over undetected at some extreme altitude and sprinkled the country with a strong dose of the proverbial itching powder.
The first question that begs to be answered is not what is on the list but why the Congress is even looking at it. Does arriving at super power status automatically give us the free time and clear path to get down into the finer details of our nationhood that we may have never had time for before? Is there finally a chance to elevate those specifics that heretofore were suppressed by world wars, the democracy experiment and holding ourselves up as an example to the rest of the world?
Do we now have explicit permission from the priests of science who assures us that we have come from pools of mud and are now on the brink of wandering among the stars to just cover the health risks with condoms, pills, and precautions and then sail into the nearly endless realms of prurient interests with a vengeance?
With the ever increasing evidence coming from creation scientists that refute the evolutionary model and the prominently missing links between primates and humans have the evolutionist resorted to PC instead of science to bolster their wobbly conclusions. Shouldnt someone tell them that if and when humans choose to act like monkeys it is not immutable proof that we are their descendants?
Have we sufficiently belittled, dismissed and castigated the preachers, prophets, sages and wise men who have nagged us for centuries with warnings of judgment and Gods displeasure with our laxity. Looks that way doesnt it? Ask the Congress, they should know. What a brave new world our lawmakers have envisioned for us. Imagine a world where at last the exhibitionist can bring the mom who slapped him on the face for exposing himself to her kids to court under the shiny new hate crimes legislation.
Using tongue in cheek to make a point is fine but the grueling reality is that this nonsense is passing itself off as a necessity among the governed. The Middle East is a powder keg, Iran and North Korea are racing each other for nuclear pre-eminence while in the wings anti-American sentiments are raging in Central and South America, doesnt it seem we got to this belayed matter of sexual diversification just in a nick of time?
Maybe America is no longer hearing or even entertaining the call to collective or personal holiness but what about common dignity, has that also seen its better day?
Oddly the call to holiness has never ceased but interestingly the easier to understand version of holiness is connoted in the Greek dignita which is our English word, dignity. We could perhaps lay aside the more religious terms like sanctified, separated, and holy but can we really afford to cast aside all dignity as a nation?
We were told that prior to her husbands victory in the 2008 election that our First Lady was not proud of America and we were shown after Barack Obama toured the world that he too could not see much dignity in his countrys past and purpose. Is there anyone out there who thinks this country is, was and can still be the noblest nation on earth?
As the GOP in America frantically searches for a strong leader and a new rallying cry someone should point out to them that the best course is one they already have shown to the world. It must be revitalized and be made to stand up again. Definitions aside and simply put that purpose was to foster and defend the dignity of this nation as it sought to do what was right and equitable at home and abroad. To be ashamed of past nobilities is cowardice and dissimulation and does not deserve consideration among patriots.
Often the prophets of old were sent to bolster and encourage those who still practiced righteousness in the land and not just to pronounce judgment and warning. Such an admonishment came from the Prophet Isaiah who said Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. (Isa 35:3) This rallying cry is more of what the GOP needs than a new leader. If what you really stand for was worth a plug than stand up and get on with it. That goes for proud Independents and the few Democrats that havent thrown all dignity to the wind as well.
The polls have indicated that among the Christians there is a full apostasy underway. That too is merely the abandonment of dignity. It was reported recently that in an address made by the troubled Miss California at Liberty University that the males cheered and whistled at the mention of her swimsuit pictures. Jerry Falwell may be turning in his grave but even worse the embarrassing nature of this outburst is anything but dignified much less Christian.
The apostasy is part of prophecy and prophecy is pre-written history so the falling away is a foregone but it too is not a necessity. Those who choose to stand instead of backsliding are the dignified and are not social geeks or misfits. Some kinds of pride are wrong but this kind of pride is healthy, productive and powerful. Found in Conservatives, Christians the GOP or any American of any persuasion it is the very salt of the earth.
It has been over twenty centuries since Christ left the earth with a warning that he would one day return in power to pick up the pieces and see just how well we had done. Less than three decades after he ascended Christ came and spoke to the Apostle John on the Island of Patmos. He spoke to the seven churches around Asia and Asia Minor and out of the seven Churches five were rebuked for their fall into idolatry and promiscuity, one received almost a neutral response and one and one alone was commended.
It is the Church of Sardis that seems the most like the American church and the American political body at this juncture in time. It had a name, Christ said, but it took its name a little too seriously and became lax and tolerant of all the prurient interests of the surrounding peoples and was adversely influenced by them. Christ told them to can the nonsense and strengthen the things which remain, Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: (Rev 3:2)
Most observers of prophecy today are more convinced that American politics, churches and society in general are more like the Laodicean Church in the book of Revelation. This is an argument that is fast becoming hard to refute. Lets see.
Christ told the Church Laodicea I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (Rev 3:15-17)
The words dignity, separateness, holiness and sanctified all have one thing in common regardless of their etymology. These words speak of one or a collective body that stands apart and that is what gives them what we call dignity.
Standing apart may at times also means standing alone. In this day of adherence to all that is politically correct standing alone is severely frowned upon. Conversely it is standing alone that gives dignity to the standee. The choice is ours to make and we can only hope that we will make the choice that in times past was what made America and Americans great.
About the Author:
http://americanprophet.org is the place for news, article, movie and book reviews and many insights for life. The Website for Insight features the articles of Rev Michael Bresciani whose columns appear in major online and print publications from around the world. Millions have read his timely articles and reviews.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Negative Campaigning - What Does America Want?
In this presidential election year of 2008, the stakes regarding victory or defeat for each candidate are high; the competition for votes is fierce; and the strategies are abundant on both sides with which to win over the undecided. We, the public, see things happening as part of political life and of campaigning that we do not approve of, that we feel we can do without. But can we? Is negative campaigning something that is being foisted on an unwilling public, or does it correspond to the state of mind and consciousness that we are in?
Democracy is not simple. It is complex. And it is not easy. It is hard. It demands from us all that we have to give, and asks us, at the very least, to become responsible citizens who maintain an involvement with both the principles and policies that govern us.
Democracy asks us to not abandon our individual or collective awareness and voice - not for ourselves, and not on behalf of those whose voices have become diminished or who no longer feel they have a voice. It asks us to use this voice and this awareness not to shout, but to speak for the truth as we see it, to reflect upon this truth, and to offer it up as we speak, and vote, and as we take a stand for what we believe in. In this way, we create and ensure a government that represents the best interests of the governed.
All this is the ideal that democracy strives for. And yet it is not what we see in practice. Not by a long shot. Instead of widespread citizen involvement of a judicious and thoughtful kind, we often see anger, fear, projection, and sometimes fanaticism. Instead of voting with conscientiousness, employing our capacity to reflect, compare, and analyze, we often vote with our emotions or the emotions that are being activated within us in the course of a campaign.
We cannot be manipulated by emotions, whether presented by candidates, campaign ads, news media, or television personalities if we do not allow ourselves to be. We cannot be reduced to less than what we are capable of unless we allow ourselves to be. And yet, this is often what we do. We take the easier way rather than the harder. We let an external shaping of opinion such as that of negative campaigning define our emotions and create our state of feeling. We begin to identify with the innuendo, accusation, and fear-currents that surround us, so that we lose sight of what is true in favor of what sounds true while not begin so. We come to believe that the feelings that we have are natural and inevitable, even when they come from portrayals and strategies that mix half-truths with truth. In many cases, we have difficulty maintaining the 'high ground' of forming our own opinions, when the 'low ground' of negative campaigning, advertising, and criticism is so prevalent.
No, democracy is not easy. It is much easier to feel and to operate out of instinct and unconscious emotion, than to think and evaluate with a consciousness of choice.
We, as a national consciousness, are offered negative advertising and campaigning because it feeds the lowest common denominator among us that forms the basis of our perceptions - that of unconscious reflex which seeks to avoid fear and danger and to seek safety and security. Such campaigning paints the world in terms of fearful outcomes that have to do with the 'other', and encourages us to choose between fear and not-fear when we determine who to vote for. We are reduced to a very basic, even primitive level of feeling - that of the desire for survival both physically and economically - and this fundamental level, because of its importance to our overall sense of wellbeing, drowns out other considerations that may paint the world in softer shades of gray.
To remedy this situation, we must become responsible citizens - responsible for the content of our own consciousness. And we must learn how to recognize information and perspective that comes to us riding on currents of fear, and information that comes to us in more objective terms. Our voice and our awareness are precious gifts that we hold with which to construct a life that supports us. We cannot afford to sacrifice these to the methods and modes of the time we are in, not if we wish to create a new kind of government that is truly accountable to each and every citizen.
The world is capable of changing if we are ready for change, and campaigns are ready to become something different in tone if we are ready for that as well. To achieve this end, we must wake up and learn to listen, to reflect, to become more confident in our ability to see what we see, and to know what we know. When each of us is able to make the choice for consciousness, becoming firmer in our own center of truth and judgment, then we shall finally be ready for a democracy that truly represents what America is meant to be, and we shall be able to share this gift with the rest of the world as well.
About author: Julie Redstone
Julie Redstone is a teacher, writer, and founder of Light Omega, a center for spiritual teaching and healing whose purpose it is to create an understanding of the sacred transition into light that the Earth is presently going through. For more about the spiritual roots of democracy in America, see www.lightamericaspirit.org.
Democracy is not simple. It is complex. And it is not easy. It is hard. It demands from us all that we have to give, and asks us, at the very least, to become responsible citizens who maintain an involvement with both the principles and policies that govern us.
Democracy asks us to not abandon our individual or collective awareness and voice - not for ourselves, and not on behalf of those whose voices have become diminished or who no longer feel they have a voice. It asks us to use this voice and this awareness not to shout, but to speak for the truth as we see it, to reflect upon this truth, and to offer it up as we speak, and vote, and as we take a stand for what we believe in. In this way, we create and ensure a government that represents the best interests of the governed.
All this is the ideal that democracy strives for. And yet it is not what we see in practice. Not by a long shot. Instead of widespread citizen involvement of a judicious and thoughtful kind, we often see anger, fear, projection, and sometimes fanaticism. Instead of voting with conscientiousness, employing our capacity to reflect, compare, and analyze, we often vote with our emotions or the emotions that are being activated within us in the course of a campaign.
We cannot be manipulated by emotions, whether presented by candidates, campaign ads, news media, or television personalities if we do not allow ourselves to be. We cannot be reduced to less than what we are capable of unless we allow ourselves to be. And yet, this is often what we do. We take the easier way rather than the harder. We let an external shaping of opinion such as that of negative campaigning define our emotions and create our state of feeling. We begin to identify with the innuendo, accusation, and fear-currents that surround us, so that we lose sight of what is true in favor of what sounds true while not begin so. We come to believe that the feelings that we have are natural and inevitable, even when they come from portrayals and strategies that mix half-truths with truth. In many cases, we have difficulty maintaining the 'high ground' of forming our own opinions, when the 'low ground' of negative campaigning, advertising, and criticism is so prevalent.
No, democracy is not easy. It is much easier to feel and to operate out of instinct and unconscious emotion, than to think and evaluate with a consciousness of choice.
We, as a national consciousness, are offered negative advertising and campaigning because it feeds the lowest common denominator among us that forms the basis of our perceptions - that of unconscious reflex which seeks to avoid fear and danger and to seek safety and security. Such campaigning paints the world in terms of fearful outcomes that have to do with the 'other', and encourages us to choose between fear and not-fear when we determine who to vote for. We are reduced to a very basic, even primitive level of feeling - that of the desire for survival both physically and economically - and this fundamental level, because of its importance to our overall sense of wellbeing, drowns out other considerations that may paint the world in softer shades of gray.
To remedy this situation, we must become responsible citizens - responsible for the content of our own consciousness. And we must learn how to recognize information and perspective that comes to us riding on currents of fear, and information that comes to us in more objective terms. Our voice and our awareness are precious gifts that we hold with which to construct a life that supports us. We cannot afford to sacrifice these to the methods and modes of the time we are in, not if we wish to create a new kind of government that is truly accountable to each and every citizen.
The world is capable of changing if we are ready for change, and campaigns are ready to become something different in tone if we are ready for that as well. To achieve this end, we must wake up and learn to listen, to reflect, to become more confident in our ability to see what we see, and to know what we know. When each of us is able to make the choice for consciousness, becoming firmer in our own center of truth and judgment, then we shall finally be ready for a democracy that truly represents what America is meant to be, and we shall be able to share this gift with the rest of the world as well.
About author: Julie Redstone
Julie Redstone is a teacher, writer, and founder of Light Omega, a center for spiritual teaching and healing whose purpose it is to create an understanding of the sacred transition into light that the Earth is presently going through. For more about the spiritual roots of democracy in America, see www.lightamericaspirit.org.
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