National Treasure

National Treasure

By

JT Bogden

Comment: I wrote the contents for this article over 20 years ago. In the earlier works, my goal was to retrace the forefathers thinking when forming the United States based on Biblical origins. While the Bible's primary message is about the revelation of Jesus Christ, I felt the other messages relating to the government were more relevant in political discussions. I will take a dispensationalist approach drawing from the Age of Mosaic Law, the Age of Government, and much more. Entire books have been written on this topic such as Politics According to the Bible by Wayne Grudem. So I'll summarize as best possible. I will reference the source in the Bible. This is not an attempt at Apostlization, Proselytizing, or Evangelizing. This is simply an intellectual discussion. However, if you should be moved then, by all means, pursue your inner calling.

Image 1: Insignificant Earth

Humans live on an insignificant planet, in an insignificant solar system, on the edge of an insignificant galaxy amongst billions of galaxies in the vastness of space, Image 1. The only self-aware and sentient life known to exist is located in this insignificant place called Earth. Earthlings or humans are given a variety of revelations from gods who make claims that are self-truths and that counter each other such as they are the one and only God. These Earthlings must somehow vet these revelations and determine which ones possess truths that are self-evident. The logic is that all gods are sovereign over the natural and nature must therefore produce evidence consistent with the claims of the god. Judeo-Christian theology rises above other cosmologies, philosophies, and theologies drawing the attention of the American forefathers. The forefathers wrote in the Declaration of Independence:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...

Background about the Bible

The Judeo/Christian Bible is a revelation revealed to man which is one of the most discussed but not so accurately studied or understood by most Earthlings in the social climate post-1900 when Earthlings shifted to theory-based thinking placing a high degree of confidence in unsupported personal belief. They hold an opinion and there is no natural Right to an Opinion. But who can understand the Bible rightly and who decides what is the right interpretation? Among honest and responsible Biblical scholars there is consistent widespread agreement throughout history up to today on all major messages and themes compared to disagreements on minor issues that do not impact the major messages and themes. Of course, there are life application differences among Christians on a variety of topics such as a Just war, death penalty, poverty, wealth, social programs, abortion, etc... However, through civil discourse and formal argumentation, most of these differences can be resolved.

The Bible is an integrated message system, an anthology of 66 books written by more than 40 authors over thousands of years. Literally, over 100s of 1000s of documents come together to form the Biblical text. All these documents come together in three general collections or sources. The last source is the Dead Sea Scrolls penned by the Qumranites (believed to be the Jewish Sect of the Essenes) who personally witnessed Christ. The Thanksgiving scroll is the Book of Isaiah, which details the entire Bible in one book, and is a third confirmation of what we know from the other sources.

The Bible is not a science book, history book, or literary prose but uses these subject matters and others to convey and confirm its messages. The Bible is the only book that uses all 226 rhetorical instruments. The Jesuits mapped out all theologies and religions, demonstrating that the Bible is the only one that begins before time and completes after time. All other theologies, cosmologies, and religions have touch points on the Biblical map, usually denying or counter-messaging some aspect or message of the Bible.

The Bible maintains a consistent message having internal consistency meaning that everything relates to each other and nothing is left dangling or unconnected. In other words, the Bible makes use of a system of systems approach. Systemic Theology is the means to study the Bible in this manner. Whenever a conflict is thought to be found, it is a hint of something deeper, something hidden that requires more thorough study. In rabbinical terms, this is a golden nugget of knowledge called a remez.

Over time, humanity split and reorganized geographically achieving major advances such as civilization, sciences, mathematics, complex economies, and various forms of governance. Humanity also grew to understand, in time, the deeper meaning within the Bible. The Bible's messages were revealed as humans matured through a natural course of discovery using technology, archeology, and general investigation.

The American Forefathers investigated every moral and ethical system determining that Christianity was the kindest to human government and the freest expansion of the mind. However, this also required people to be principled, educated, and to be moral (ethical).

"The Christian Religion, when divested of the rags in which they [the clergy] have enveloped it, and brought to the original purity and simplicity of its benevolent institutor, is a religion of all others most friendly to liberty, science, and the freest expansion of the human mind," Thomas Jefferson March 23, 1801.

The Bible establishes the Republic (Representative Democracy) as the supported form of government. The Republic is underpinned by Free Market Capitalism which in turn is driven by energy gifted from God.

The Biblical Framework for Government

All governments are of God but not all governments are considered God's ideal. The Bible details the framework for a Republic also known as representative democracy. I am listing the relevant topics to America's founding.

Separation Of Powers: “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, and the Lord is our king; he will save us” - Isaiah 33:22 NIV. The separation of powers is a principle to balancing powers in Government the forefathers felt. They viewed men in power as ones to be distrusted and feared that the judicial branch would become too powerful. Because of this fear, Thomas Jefferson remarked that he thought the judicial branch was a mistake. They also knew that Government has to be powerful enough to control rebellious humans. As a result, they instituted a trilogy of powers that acted as checks and balances. This is a critical point as other forms of democracy do not have this system of checks and balances.

Pursuit Of Happiness: John Locke was the main proponent of this notion using the phrase as the underpinnings of his political ethics. He felt that the rights of liberty and property were tightly entangled with this notion as well. The other forefathers agreed. They also believed that the character of happiness included good health, reputation, and knowledge. In this context, the forefathers never intended this to mean the pursuit of hedonistic pleasures or selfish objectives. Thomas Jefferson explained that this notion of happiness was aimed at the nation as a whole and not so much at the individual. This sense of happiness was derived from Chapter 11 pages 110-124 of The Law of Nations by Emmerich De Vattel. Vattel got the idea from the Bible.

Pursuit of Liberty: The forefathers knew the Judeo/Christian Bible promoted freedom for humans in many ways and viewed slavery as counter to the notion of liberty they were promoting. "Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death", Exo 21:16 NIV. Another perspective on freedom is that Jesus Christ died on the cross and fulfilled the law for each human's rebellion. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery" Galatians 5:1 NIV. Thus, freeing each man from the yoke of the law and to conduct himself in accordance with the Ten Commandments. "Now the Lord is the spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom", 2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV. This is presenting the notion once again that each human should conduct themself in accordance with the Ten Commandments.

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of Government, but upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the 10 commandments” - James Madison

Liberty or Freedom is coupled with living by principles rather than by laws as laws cannot cover every circumstance. Society arrives at a point when there are so many laws that society becomes lawless as people can no longer keep the law. People unknowingly break laws. Principles are much broader in scope having duties and responsibilities to values, towards intrinsic good. These become Rights.

God Given Rights: Human rights have been founded in the Judeo-Christian Bible and come from God. Humans are created in the image of God, Gen 1:26-27 and 9:6. Being created in such an image comes with duties and responsibilities to protect the dignity of the image in each human. Biblically, man has a right to life and property. Humans also have the right to freedom, Exo 21:16 and Deut 24:7. There are other rights as well. The Ten Commandments are the world's first bill of rights, viewed in terms of a modern language equivalent, and written in a positive context as completed by theological scholars during the early 1900s.

1. God’s right to exclusive alliance. You shall have no other gods before me, Exodus 20:3 
2. God’s right to self-definition. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:4-6 
3. God’s right to proper representation by his people. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Exodus 20:7 (This is not referring to vulgar language. Instead, ‘taking the Lord’s name in vain’ biblically means not doing what you are commanded or supposed to do.) 
4. God’s right to his people’s time. For in six days, the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. Exodus 20:11 A households right to human treatment Deut 5:8-10 
5. My parent's right to respect. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you. Exodus 20:12 
6. The right to life. Thou shall not kill Exodus 20:13 
7. The right to secure marriage. You shall not commit adultery. Exodus 20:14 
8. The right to property. Thou Shall Not Steal. Exodus 20:15 
9. The right to an honest hearing. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Exodus 20:16
10. The right to secure existence. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's. Exodus 20:17

Providence: The Declaration of Independence closes using the phrase, '... with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence ...' Providence is a scriptural notion of God's benevolent and sage superintendence of his creation including the affairs of humans. "The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, he directs it like a watercourse where ever he pleases" Prov 21:1 NIV. "He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them." Job 12:23 NIV. Our forefathers believed that God had his hand in Government since morality was so important to him that he retained control as in 1Samuel when Israel prayed for a secular leader. They also believed that the Judeo-Christian God does not force himself upon humans then who are humans to try themselves. Thus they believed that the state should not impose a religion upon the governed. However, this did not preclude religion from infusing into government the moral values of the society. They saw God’s image in humans who participate in government by holding a seat. There is no separation between public life and private life. Thus, by holding a seat in government a person's values infuse into government.

Law of the Land: The purpose of the law is to provide for the righteous rule of life. Biblical Law is based on the works of Moses or Mosaic Law. The Dispensation of the Law begins in Exodus 19:3 and runs the period to Acts 2. Although, the Mosaic law ended at the cross for Christians. Law of the Land is a mix of Biblical Law and secular law. Those under the law continuously fail. Christians live by principles and not so much by the law. Those who are not Christian live by the law of the land which can be divergent from God's framework when non-Christians hold seats in government. Violators of the law come under judgment. The selection of Judges who enforce law and politicians who write the law of the land should be based on close alignment with the Judeo-Christian worldview to avoid conflicting laws.

The Biblical Framework for the Economy

The Bible promotes Free-Market Capitalism as the ideal economy which centers on the Lesson of Talents; Matt 25:14-30. People are given resources and gifted with skills to make something greater than what they are given, to create wealth. In a free market, wealth is created mainly by private property ownership. The Bible reinforces a system in which property belongs to individuals, not to the government or society as a whole; Exo 20:15, Exo 20:17. The Bible sets boundaries for land to individuals, Duet 19:14, and is gifted by God, Lev 25:23. To move a boundary is to steal. Humans are stewards of the land, Ps 24:1. With private ownership, people work the land by extracting resources or planting crops in exchange for just rewards. People also improve the land building structures for commerce. People are hired, interest-bearing loans are made, and equity is created.

Fundamental to the Judeo-Christian doctrine is the Judeo-Christian God is the creator (Gen 1:3) whose image is in humans (Gen 1:26-27) which sets humans apart from other creatures. God endowed each individual with intellectual abilities such as reason, imagination, and creativity so that new things may be revealed and created. Free market Capitalism is creativity in service to humanity. Humans are architected with a mind to imagine things, hands to create things imagined, and feet to transport things created to the market where just rewards are earned as the fruits of one's labor.

At the free market's core are human relationships and the art of negotiation. The only form of 'greed' that works for all parties is to negotiate in self-interest. In doing so, everyone achieves an equitable just reward. The buyer acquires goods or services at a fair price and the seller receives just rewards for the fruits of his labor.

The concept of work began when humans were created during the Age of Innocence to commune directly with God in the Garden of Eden. God himself walked in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:8) cultivating his creation or performing work and sharing duties with Adam and Eve. Thus, man is architected to perform work as originally in the Garden of Eden in likenesses to God’s own work (Gen 2:15).

The Biblical Framework for Energy

Many people may be surprised to learn that the Bible discusses energy. The energy needs of Israel are met for seven years following the Magog Invasion of Israel; Ezk 39:9-10. Weapons-grade energy is converted into fuel but requires experts; Ezk 39:11-16.

Energy is critical to driving the free market. Human imagination has amplified the manual ability to produce more, transport more, and achieve higher quality, tolerances, precision, and accuracy. This takes energy to operate trucks, trains, power equipment, and even power finished goods. Fossil fuels are the only resource that can meet this demand.

The Judeo-Christian position on the origin and presence of fossil fuels is a gift from God. Christians argue that the great flood, Gen 6, caused biomatter to accumulate at the bottom of the waters. The water was cold enough to preserve the biomatter long enough such that the water pressure formed a 16-foot coal seam that encompasses the entire planet. Prior to and after the seam, there are very few fossils. In this seam, are where diamonds, oil, methanes, and coal are found. Christian scholars point to the eruption of Mount Saint Helen as modern-day evidence of the process which caused lakes and the riparian system to jam up with biomatter that settled at the bottom of lakes a consistent scientific process.

Furthermore, God provided a complete carbon cycle to delicately balance the ecology when using fossil fuels that produce carbon dioxide and methane. Photosynthesis processes carbon dioxide into oxygen humans breathe and run the carbon via the root system into the ground. More than 90% of the atmosphere is processed by evergreens located mostly in Canada, Siberia, and Northern Europe. Methanes break down in sunlight into puddles of water and soak the carbon back into the ground.

Conclusion

The Biblical scriptures revealed the Republic and the free market to the American Forefathers during the Age of Reason, The Enlightenment. They wrote their revelation into the founding documents creating a nation where individuals could flourish and they did. Over the course of time, the creativity of invention and innovation caused necessity that serviced humanity. For example, the invention of the light bulb spawned numerous markets that through creative destruction now include smart LED bulbs over a smart grid.

Preservation of what the American Forefathers achieved requires working knowledge or life application of the Biblical narrative. For those who cry out for the separation of church and state, the Forefathers never intended for the Church to be apart from the state. The forefathers only intended that the state not promote any specific religious sect. Historian David Barton debunks the Supreme Court rulings as baseless in his Book Original Intent.

The American Forefathers having researched and exhausted all moral and ethical systems available to them determined that Christianity was the kindest toward mankind.

“The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected, in one indissolvable bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity,” John Quincy Adams

References:

Bible Dictionary, Holman Reference, 2003, ISBN: 0-8054-2836-4

King James Bible Commentary, Nelson Publishers, 1999, ISBN: 0-7852-4602-9

The NIV Study Bible, Zondervan Publishing House, 1995, Library Of Congress: 95-060484

Barton, D (1999) Original Intent, Wallbuilder Press

Colson, C. (1997) Burden Of Truth, Tyndale, ISBN: 0-8423-0190-9

Eidsmoe, J (1996) Christianity And The Constitution, Baker Books, ISBN: 0-8010-5231-9

Federer, W.J. (1996) America's God and Country, Fame Publishing, ISBN: 1-880563-05-3

Levy, L.W. (1999) Origin of The Bill Of Rights, Yale Nota Bene Books, ISBN: 0-300-08901-5

Mayer, D.N. (1999) Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson, University Press Of Virginia; ISBN; 0-8139-1485-X

Ogwyn, J.H. (2008). The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy. (1.2 ed). USA. Living Church of God.

An Andy Rooney Moment: Why Is It?

An Andy Rooney Moment: Why Is It?

By

JT

Andy Rooney was a news writer and commentator best known for his unique satirical style while appearing on the CBS news magazine, 60 Minutes. Rooney often poised his segment with the satirical commentary; Why is it that... In a Roonaical spirit, I pose my own satirical look at the American Political Left.

Have you ever wondered why the Political Left demonstrates such poor leadership skills and why is it that voters keep electing those same poor leaders? Is it because voters cling to a dead script or because our politicians are just good actors? It seems to me that the Political Left is good at acting. Al Franken, for example, was an SNL comedian whose Senate service was laughable too. If you speak with liberal voters they seemed locked in a rerun that was never appealing the first time around. I think they call that insanity when you repeat the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Rossiter concluded that the liberal mind is a deeply disturbed personality in his book. You can find his conclusion on page 330.

Can you think of anything positive the Political Left has done for you? They partner with industries and businesses taking a lot of money from them but contributing nothing positive. Minimum wage jobs are actually maximum wage jobs as companies have to pay nothing more than what the government says to pay you. So, leaving one job for another job to get better pay is kind of pointless. For those struggling with identity, there is now a culture of bathroom options. Quite frankly, a person either stands to pee or sits to pee. And where is the option for about half the population that has to sit to pee? Will Congress take up the age-old debate to regulate whether to put the seat up or down?

I thought egalitarianism was a core principle of liberalism but the Political Left has created a culture where many people are special. How about parking? Parking is not special unless you are handicapped, a pregnant woman, law enforcement, delivery, a to-go order, an employee of the month, management, be there 5-minutes, or even 10-minutes. How often has anything taken 5 or 10 minutes? There is always someone who holds up the check-out line or a problem that takes more than 10 minutes to correct. There is also veteran parking at some places. Okay, our veterans deserve something since most places do not offer discounts these days. The point is the Political Left takes a lot of money, creates unusual cultures, offers nothing substantive, and makes it difficult to receive so-called entitlements. I do not understand how anyone could vote for the Political Left unless voting for ideology.

Let us discuss ideology. People who advance ideology are called ideologues which may be a polite way of calling them, idiots. When was the last time people stopped what they were doing and regulated themselves according to someone else's idea imposed on them? People seem to fight against other people's ideas and idiots seem to forcefully impose their ideology attempting to achieve some impossible utopian dream that no one else cares about. We see socialist governments deteriorate into communist regimes. The movement is always towards tyranny in those cases of human ideas because they are not natural and have to be forced.

We live in a practical world driven by natural order and natural systems. The American Forefathers saw humankind as corrupt at the most fundamental level. They built a system of government that dilutes corruption and appeals to the natural order of a free market and republic. American citizens struggle against who they are to become something better. The natural order is about the individual and their journey in life appealing to the conscience. The Preamble to the Constitution reads that the people are striving towards a more perfect union. We know ourselves to be imperfect with a history of failures and false starts. Nonetheless, we are striving and find confidence in our freedoms, not controls imposed on us and that which is taken from us.

• Religious Freedom • Friedman on Welfare State • Friedman on Free to Choose

You hear about a time to change but for all the change in the world, there is nothing new under the Sun. Shakespeare wrote in his play, As You Like It, that all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances... The scripts have run their course and the acting on the Political Left is tiring. I would like to see many of our politicians on the Left take their exits and all the men and women take up the natural roles giving the American story back to its citizens - back to individuals.

Note: Milton Friedman was an American economist who won the Nobel Memorial Prize in 1976. Friedman has been a leading economic voice refuting Keynesian Economic Theory which advocates increasing government spending to pull out of economic slumps. Governments have failed miserably at pulling societies out of economic slumps and preparing for future slumps as most people understand that increased spending must be paid usually sooner than later.

History Repeats Itself: What About War?

History Repeats Itself: What About War?

By

JT

War is an unpleasant aspect of life and wars seem to be inevitable regardless of how peace-loving one has become. Evil will always bring wars to the peace-loving people who must decide how to deal with the onset of war. There are only a few options; fight, flee or submit. Remaining neutral is nothing more than submitting or surrendering.

Long Term Trending

A Long-term economic trend known as a super-cycle or Kondratiev Wave has war cycling about every 80 years and coincides with major American history. The Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War II, and the current times all have the same pattern consistent with this super-cycle.

The repeating pattern involves a 30 year period of rapid growth followed by a 30 year period of increasing commoditization when making money become more difficult. Then there is about a 5-year boom period, a 12 year bust period, and a major war lasting up to 5 years before repeating the cycle again beginning with a new way of living.

The most recent cycle has shown the pattern with the following sequence and approximate years.

• 1945: WWII ends & the Rapid Growth term begins as the Age of Luxury Living
• 1975: Rapid growth period transitions to the Commoditization period as companies began right-sizing, downsizing, reorganizing, and offshoring
• 2005: The commoditization period transitions to the short boom period with the rise of the housing boom and dot-com boom.
• 2010: The Dotcom and housing boom transitions to the bust period
• 2022: The bust should conclude with the onset of war

There was some timing variation in the sequence that may have been politically driven. For example, the Bust Period seemed to start closer to 2008 as the economy began to falter with huge layoffs. The transition to the Commoditization Period seemed to start following 1976 as interest rates skyrocketed, an energy crisis set in, and windfall profits became taboo. Nonetheless, the cycle seems to be closely on point.

Rarely do people see the conditions that lead to the onset of war. There are conflicts occurring in other cycles and skirmishes that spring up not connected to any cycle that confuses the circumstances. Political activity may also influence variations and conflicts.

Political Influences

Let us look at American history and the influences that the Political Left has had on causing the US involvement in belligerence. I hold that the peace-loving Progressives through their leadership and decision making have precipitated nearly all the US involvement in more than a century of wars. Progressives continue to demonstrate an inept ability at leadership.

• The first Progressive president was Teddy Roosevelt who commissioned the Great White Fleet to introduce America to the world at the turn of the 20th century. The Great White Fleet sailed around the world remarking; be our friend or we will attack. They used the philosophy that either a country is our friend or our enemy.
• After 8 US-flagged ships were sunk by German U-boats, President Woodrow Wilson, a Progressive, insisted that the US was too proud to fight. An emboldened Germany then tried to ally Mexicans against the US. Congress overrode the President drawing the US into WWI.
• President Franklin Roosevelt, a Progressive, defunded the military, parked many Navy ships at the pier, and much of the military was poorly trained for combat. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor as the Pacific fleet was sitting ducks. Radar operators thought the Japanese attack force was an unscheduled training exercise.
• President Truman, a Progressive, ordered the world's first and only use of Nuclear weapons to end WWII. The Truman doctrine got the US into the Korean War which has never ended with a live DMZ today and a third-generation dictator. Truman ended one war and started an indefinite war.
• President Johnson, a Progressive, faked the Gulf of Token Incident which has been proven to be a lie, and got America into the Vietnam War after the French had completely withdrawn from a hopeless situation.
• President Carter, a Progressive, turned his back on the Shah of Iran effectively turning Iran over to Islamic fundamentalists who in turn overran the Embassy and took US hostages for 444 days. Later Ahmadinejad, one of the terrorists who held the hostages, became President of Iran. Carter attempted a failed military rescue of the hostages that was doomed from the start due to poor planning and leadership.
• April Glaspie, a Progressive US diplomat, gave Saddam Hussein the green light to invade Kuwait sparking the Gulf Wars and US involvement.
• President Clinton, A Progressive, demonstrated complete ineptness at foreign policy, diplomacy, and military use. During diplomatic talks in Haiti with diplomats on the ground, launched bombers threatening the capture of the US diplomats. Clinton, knowing of Osama Bin Laden's threat to the US, bombed mountain goats and empty villages claiming to just miss Osama Bin Laden setting the conditions for the 911 event.
• President Obama, a Progressive, apologized for being the US and took a submissive posture around the world. He embraced the Arab Spring which sought to unify the Middle East under the Muslim Brotherhood by ousting leaders who were soft towards the West in favor of more hard-line fundamentalist leadership. Obama used the US military to weaken long-standing Islamic leaders in order to be replaced by fundamentalists. Unification of the Middle East is necessary for Global Government and establishing a regional center of economic influence. Obama also attempted to normalize US relations with longstanding threats to democracy. Much of this administration's influence and outcomes need to be seen in time.

Where are we today and what has transpired? Is the situation any better or different than in the past? Coincidentally, modern political factions map just a little too close to the Biblical Jewish sects of the Pharisees and the Sadduccees. The Political Left could be seen as the Sadducees who were focused on the law of the land and liberalism. Not one Sadducee came to Christ in the Bible. America's founding is 100% from the Bible including the original intent for warfighting doctrine.

The Biblical Warfighting Doctrine

Most scholars either reject or are very reluctant to discuss warfighting doctrine in the Bible. Many scholars will claim there is no such doctrine. Before I get into the details, I want to clarify the difference between a warfighting doctrine and a doctrine of war. Warfighting doctrine is a set of principles, duties, and responsibilities or a dogma established as a response to the act of war or serious threat. A doctrine of war is the provocative use of force to gain land, resources, passage, or impose one way of life on another way of life. The Bible has a warfighting doctrine that is consistent with God's war on evil and wickedness, Genesis 3:15 and Ephesians 6:12, and establishing Christ as Lord, Revelation 19:11, who judges and commands legions of Angels. These Angelic forces battle demonic forces that march on the City of God, Jerusalem, through the Valley of Armageddon.

As for humans throughout the Bible, there are several kinds of war; secular wars, holy wars, and wars of judgment. Secular wars are of human origin and human objectives and work for the good of God. Holy wars only involve Israel. Wars of judgment are when God judges nations based on their treatment of Israel or rebellion against God's order. God judges nations using war.

Biblically, the government prosecutes the war. A nation goes to war only after peaceful attempts at resolving the reasons leading to war have failed. When a nation wars, they do so with the intent to annihilate the enemy. War booty is prohibited and should never be expected. Prisoners of war are to be treated humanely. If the enemy surrenders then the prevailing nation is to indoctrinate the fallen nation into Godly ways as bad cultures are not to be preserved. The Bible assigns duties and responsibilities to gender. If necessary to war, males are called to fight beginning at the age 18.

Nothing New Under the Sun

Wars come and go throughout history for all sorts of reasons. Some are random skirmishes, many wars result from megalomaniacs seeking power, and others are occurring on cycles. All wars are a reflection of the fight between good and evil. War is brought to the peace-loving people by evil actors. The peace-loving people must determine how they are to respond.

Based on long-term economic cycles, the world is poised for a major war in the near term. Traditional wars have been dyadic or have two opposing sides. In the modern world, there is a possibility that the coming cyclic war will be a complex war involving many actors. This will be a difficult war to fight as there will be several opposing sides whose alliances shift regularly based on moving objectives founded on power, money, and control.

War is inevitable and we need to learn from our past as well as look to successful doctrines. Otherwise, we are doomed to repeat mistakes, achieve lukewarm outcomes, and sadly cause loss of life.

Star Trek vs America's Founding

Star Trek vs America's Founding

By

JT

Nearly everyone is familiar with the Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry then popularized through numerous television series and movies. Many people seem to draw their sense of ethics, leadership, and societal mores from the fantasy episodes that explore issues common to Earth but seem to exist throughout the galaxy. Nonetheless, Star Trek has an agenda that is not exactly compatible with America's Founding.

In the ethos of Star Trek is the Prime Directive that prohibits Humans from interfering in off-planet affairs and societies. In the first season of The Next Generation (TNG), episode 22 which is called Symbiosis, Captain Picard explains the Prime Directive is not a set of rules but a philosophy that protects the normal course of the universe and mandates that humans are expendable to prevent violation of the directive. During the second season of TNG in episode 15 called Pen Pals, the senior staff debate the extent and limits of the Prime Directive. The staff volleys between philosophy and practical application, theology and religion. In many episodes, the Prime Directive is broken usually in favor of some ethical fabric that is beyond the human convention but often cast as their humanity.

From where does the Prime Directive originate? This directive is from the human convention of Star Fleet Command in the series. But the notion of the Prime Directive is a secular humanist, atheistic, construct drawn from the human imagination. Atheism denies the existence of sovereign God(s) but promotes with evangelical zeal nothingness. The atheist's god is appropriately named the god of nothingness, a NULL, for which they fight. Numerous US circuit court cases have upheld that Atheism is a religion protected by the First Amendment having the Right to free exercise and the Right to assemble. One of the more recent cases was Kaufman v. McCaughtry (2005) which relied on the precedence set by numerous earlier cases and a US Supreme court ruling (Davis, 2005).

Roddenberry was a secular humanist, an atheist, who imagined the Prime Directive. Roddenberry held a belief in levels of ascension or a New Age philosophy that he wrote into the Star Trek The Original Series (TOS) and early TNG episodes before he died. According to Roddenberry, there are pre-warp, warp-capable, and post-warp societies as well as alternate planes of existence. Ultimately, intelligent and sentient life achieves the continuum where the Q exists. The Q is god. To Roddenberry, man achieves a god's status in time. In the Star Trek TNG third season, the fourth episode called Whose Watching the Watcher highlights Roddenberry's Secular Humanist Theology and thinking. Picard breaks the Prime Directive to prove he is not a god - yet.

Watching Star Trek reveals what secular humanists are thinking and what is on their uninspired minds. The Star Trek TOS episode, The Mark of Gideon which is a Biblical reference aired in February 1969. The leader of the planet Gideon uses a virus to reduce the over-population which sounds too close to COVID-19 which may have been a test run in reality.

The Theology Behind America's Founding

A brief account of the historical path to America's founding began with the printing of the Gutenberg Bible which lead people to read the Bible discerning the unfiltered message. In time, the Bible was annotated and cross-referenced in the margins creating the Geneva Bible which was used by the Protestants and the Pilgrims. These annotations lead to a more in-depth understanding and, in time, were carried over to the King James Version of the Bible. At the outset of the Pilgrims to America, Pastor John Robinson wrote a farewell letter that detailed the Biblical form of Government for them to live under in the New World. The Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower on September 6, 1620. Upon arriving in the New World on November 11, 1620, there was a near mutiny on the ship. They sat down and used Pastor John Robinson's letter to draft the Mayflower Compact which became their Constitution.

Over 150 years later, the French and American Revolutions were occurring close together. In an odd sensibility, America is a Tale of Two Cities. Charles Dickens wrote about Paris and London were the worst of times and the best of times. America is about Jamestown, VA and Plymouth, MA which were experiencing the worst of times and the best of times as well. Jamestown was under the rule of King George III. They were warring with the Indians, there was famine, economic depression, plagues, martial law, and harassment by the King's agents. Meanwhile, Plymouth was enjoying an abundance of food, good relations with the Indians, a thriving economy, and good health. The American Forefathers were inspired by the contrast between these cities and observed the Mayflower Compact. In 1756, the Biblical model was well understood as demonstrated by John Adams' diary entry:

"Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God... What a Eutopia, what a paradise would this region be." - John Adams on February 22, 1756.

The American Forefathers were well studied in many theologies and philosophies. They were not proponents of religion although most were practicing members of Protestant sects. They determined that Judeo-Christian Theology was the kindest towards establishing the new nation. The Judeo-Christian theology became the underpinning of America and is known as Original Intent which was focused on the individual, his or her path in life, and unalienable human rights. Original Intent was 100% derived from Judeo-Christian Theology.

Original Intent Compared to the Prime Directive

The Bible is an integrated message system having internal consistency meaning no message or question is left dangling or open-ended. Every message compliments other messages supportive of Christ, the individual, and ordained systems or constructs. One of the systems in the Bible is the construct of a Republic, also known as representative democracy. This is underpinned by the free-market economy which is creativity in service to humanity. The free market is underpinned by the energy, fossil fuels, that were gifted by God following the Great Flood. The Republic is an overseer ensuring natural rights are not lost or infringed upon and the safety of its citizens. Individuals are architected to support the free market given a mind to imagine things, hands to create things imagined, and feet to transport things made to the market where just rewards are earned. Each individual has God's image in them and these Biblical systems give levity to the image in people. However, unlike the Prime Directive that expends human life to preserve itself, the Bible has commandments that uphold life and the individual. For example, Thou Shalt not kill is the Right to Life.

The commandments which also include The Ten Commandments are written in a negative connotation. When written in a positive connotation and modern-day language become natural and unalienable Rights that have duties and responsibilities that protect society from the wilds of an individual. An individual's Rights are directed at them by others as opposed to impressed upon them and respected by others. Nonetheless, the action is incumbent upon the individual. The commandment Thou Shalt not kill is a simple example which is the Right to Life. Each individual has a duty not to kill and a responsibility to uphold the sanctity of life. In this way, society is preserved and everyone is alive and well. In short, your Right to Life persists because other people fulfilled their duty and responsibilities. The Right to Fair Treatment is the commandment "Thou shalt not to bear false witness" which applies to all circumstances including criminal, civil, and even gossip. The duty is to be honest and the responsibility is to uphold truthfulness in all circumstances.

Other commandments are developed in a more complex manner in the Bible as themes more than simple statements. The pursuit of freedom is a theme throughout every book in the Bible. Freedom is not a hedonistic pursuit to do self-indulgent things. In general, the pursuit of freedom included entire nations fleeing slavery to individuals serving their masters up to the Year of Jubilee. In other Biblical terms, freedom is from bondage to Mosaic Law and is found in Christ who fulfills the law. Thus, Christians live not by rules or laws but by principles. Laws are for those who are not in Christ. Sometimes principles and laws of the land conflict and Christians are to adhere to God's commandments. Commandments can also be viewed in terms of principles that humans aspire towards since everyone falls short. One Biblical struggle is people struggle against who they are to become who they are supposed to be. America is aspiring toward a more perfect union and America's citizens are to live by and aspire to principles.

The difference between the Prime Directive and Original Intent is opposite of each other. The Prime Directive asserts non-interference, even hiding from other cultures, and is self-preserving at the expense of humans. America's Original Intent asserts that the United States is a beacon to the world to be seen, an example known as American Exceptionalism. Original Intent asserts that America is seen as a principled place and at times interferes to uphold those principles which exalt human rights that preserve people and virtuous societies. Original Intent is the exact opposite of the Prime Directive. The only Star Fleet I see are the fifty stars on the American Flag. 

 

References:

Davis, D, (2005) Is Atheism a Religion? Recent Judicial Perspectives on the Constitutional Meaning of “Religion”. Journal of Church and State. Vol 47 No 4. Oxford University Press: USA. pp. 707-723.

Federer, W. (1996). America's God and Country. William J Federer, Fame Publishing, ISBN: 1-880563-05-3

Censorship, Cancel Culture, and The TattelTale Society: Part II

Censorship, Cancel Culture, and The TattelTale Society: Part II

By

JT

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Part I of Censorship, Cancel Culture, and the Tattletale Society looked at understanding these social phenomenons. In this post, we are seeking to explore the problems caused by censorship, cancel culture, and TattleTale Society is likened to a black hole that draws everything at the event horizon into what seems to be inescapable doom. However, America's founding principles have the power to turn this problem around.

The Problem of Corporate America

Let us begin by pointing out that much of what Corporate America does is not consistent with the Original Intent of the Forefathers. Thomas Jefferson said, "Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. (Federer, 1996, p 329)." In the book the World is Flat, the author Thomas Friedman concludes that Karl Marx could have predicted the flattening as American corporations outsourced, offshored, streamlined workflows, etc... (Freidman, 2005, pp 233-235). Perhaps Corporate America should be labeled Corporate Socialist instead. The problem stems principally from the way companies have been legally structured which fundamentally changes the philosophy of business and industry. In the past, people worked to support their lifestyle choices. In more contemporary times, the work is attempting to define a person's lifestyle and choices for them. The problem has emerged over time as the philosophy of business has changed.

In the 1886 case of Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company, the United States Supreme court ruled that a corporation is the same as a living breathing organism. This ruling is the notion of corporate personhood in which an organization legally becomes human-like and is the basis for corporate law in the United States. The emergence of corporate governance fundamentally changes a corporation when commingled personhood.

Corporate governance has companies, a fictitious entity, as a meme for the political aspirations of their corporate boards which are composed mostly of proponents of the Political Left. Under Corporate Governance, the corporation takes on duties and responsibilities that the government would normally perform. If the corporation performs these duties and responsibilities reasonably well then the government will simply monitor as opposed to enforce.

Corporate governance arose out of a power struggle between government and industry during the late 1970s. The US Government was enacting many reforms that were a burden on industry. Industry reacted by applying economic pressure to the elected officials' districts who were in favor of the reforms. Originally, Corporate governance was aligned with the business and markets usually through sustainability initiatives. However, through the decades corporations have moved towards socio-political issues that have a very little-to-no connection to the business. Many companies latched on to the Woke tactics while imposing opinions, views, and beliefs on the labor force denying the labor force any voice in the matter. Court rulings have suspended unalienable rights during the time the employee is at work and in some cases have applied the suspension every day and around the clock. Unalienable rights are not for sale and can never be taken away as they are unalienable.

Remarks by Twitter CEO that Twitter's role is not bound to the First Amendment, Right to Free Speech, need to be held accountable to America's Original Intent. Making a statement of intent then following through with actions is at least in contempt of the American Founding or malicious intent against America. These corporate boards, the people, need to be held accountable to the standard set forth by the American founding when operating in the United States.

Other Examples of Free Speech Problems

The internet is groupthink on a global scale tending to promote a secular humanist narrative. For example, web services such as Wikipedia attempt to discuss a variety of topics and use a moderator to guide the truthfulness and accuracy of the articles. Often these moderators are biased to the Political Left with secular humanist thought. Thus, contributions even when properly attributed, referenced, and have merit are frequently removed when not consistent with the moderator's personal narrative. The moderators, regardless of the platform or venue, tend to lack the authoritative competency to properly assess comments for accuracy and truth disenfranchising the audiences from making those determinations themselves. As a form of censorship, moderators steer the conversation to support their own narratives.

The internet bubble is the notion that people are more interested in what goes on in their front yards than what is going on somewhere else. Thus, news, information, and knowledge are filtered to what is presumed to be in one's interest. This filtering is performed by technocrats who develop algorithms that not only learn one's habits but also act on biased guidance to mask news, information, and knowledge that may create warranted dissent. This is an instrument that limits free speech from reaching intended audiences and attempts to manage audience outrage.

COVID-19 Mandates Infringe on Unalienable Rights

A mandate is an official order to do something that differs from laws. Laws are enacted by a legislative body and are durable. Whereas, mandates originate within the administrative state headed by the executive branch and are not supposed to be durable. Constitutionally, there is a separation of powers under which the legislative body enacts laws and the executive branch asserts the law. The government's authority is vested in the ability to police which is under the executive branch. Through mandates, the executive branch is effectively and errantly creating the force of law usurping the legislative branch and the people's will. This is often done in the sense of urgency to meet some sort of crisis or temporary event. Unfortunately, many mandates persist due to the administrative state's persistence across election cycles. In short, the legislative branch is delegating its duties and responsibilities instituting, even leveraging, the administrative state undermining Constitutional constructs to advance ideas that are unConstitutional, unpopular, and even unsupported by the people. Mandates are imposed upon the people and those imposing the mandates are not accountable to the people. Who are they accountable to, some sort of political faction against America's founding.

The Right to Fair Treatment is the commandment "Thou shalt not to bear false witness" applying to all circumstances including criminal, civil, and even gossip. The duty is to truthfulness and the responsibility is to uphold honesty in all circumstances. Often we hear the call to science as though science is nonbias, objective. Unfortunately, scientists are not objective, holding bias and even extreme prejudice. Often this is observed in an unwillingness to examine work counter to their own work. Nonetheless, many scientists hold political or philosophical postures advancing errant science supportive of their own bias at the expense of truthfulness and honesty. COVID-19 is no different as narratives are being pushed as clear evidence pours out against the narratives. These narratives are advanced often through the cancel-culture, censorship, and tattletale society preventing the Right to Free Speech and equal participation in the public sphere.

The Right to be Secure in One's Person originates from Bible and is a theme throughout many books. Personal security underpins nearly all other unalienable Rights and freedoms too. The American Forefathers wrote this into the Bill of Rights as The Right from Self-Incrimination, The Right to a Secure Home, and many other Rights. In short, people have the Right to make intimate personal decisions without external recourse or interference. Thus, no one can poke, prod, stab, jab, search, induce, or cause injury to another person. This includes mandates to be vaccinated, take a pill, or even wear a mask. People often argue about the collective good of society which is foundational to socialism. The United States was founded upon individualism. If the unalienable rights are exalted then everyone participates in a manner in which their duties and responsibilities protect other people and society as a whole. This approach begins with truthfulness and principle-based character ethics.

Reinforcing The Founding Principles

The Declaration of Independence declares quite eloquently that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights. There is a lot of meaning packed in the founder's statement. First, an unalienable right is one that cannot be taken away, given away, or otherwise removed by any human or human institution as the Creator gave those rights to all humans and only the Creator may affect these rights. Second, among these rights overtly mentioned is liberty or freedom such as the freedom of speech. Other unalienable rights include the Right to Fair Treatment, the Right to Life which is not simply a contrast between life and death but also to live one's life freely.

Americans need to stand up to impositions on these unalienable rights. The American Forefathers created a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people. Infringement upon unalienable human rights cannot be for the people.

Within the American founding is the peaceful ability to assemble and address grievances against the government. Part of the problem is that the government has created an economic situation in which the people's time is consumed with trying to make ends meet. There is no time for the citizens to assemble and address grievances. Another aspect of the challenge is that addressing the issues with the administrative state is senseless as they have no accountability to the people and are adherents to their narrative regardless of people's desires or concerns. They will simply provide demagoguery to any challenge and continue their narrative and activities.

The approach is not to address the symptoms or overt issues but instead to address the principles and lack of constructs that limit the administrative state's power and authority - if America is going to continue with an administrative state. The challenge of the tactics of censorship, cancel culture, and tattletale society can be addressed by re-enforcing founding principles. Making the people reporting and performing these tactics known under the Right to Fair Treatment will stop much of this activity when the accused faces the accusers, reporters, or otherwise subversive actors who are protected by a false Right to Anonymity. Once these actors are known they can be held accountable for their conduct and that should greatly reduce the use of these tactics.

The American Forefathers built the United States on timeless principles that work for everyone but everyone has to strive towards those principles. When individuals, groups, or factions decide to pursue humanist beliefs and principles that are counter to the founding, conflict is unavoidable. Patriots must stand up for America's founding and be prepared for the ensuing conflict.

Censorship, Cancel Culture, and The TattelTale Society: Part I

Censorship, Cancel Culture, and The TattelTale Society: Part I

By

JT

What does censorship, cancel culture, and the tattletale society have in common? All are about quelching disagreement, discourse, dissent, and free speech. This is an attempt to control the conversation and promote a narrative regardless of merit. In fact, assessing the merit is not desirable as those seeking to control the narratives are utopians and ideologues who can only see the dream and are not grounded in reality. Often there is little to no merit to their narrative.

Social media outlets attempt to control the conversation while at the same time promoting their narrative or a narrative they are sympathetic towards. Facebook issued this response to an advertisement rejection.

Your ad may have been rejected because it mentions politicians or is about sensitive social issues that could influence public opinion, how people vote, and may impact the election or pending legislation.

The point of any discussion regardless if interpersonal, written, an advertisement, or any other form of communication is to influence by sharing information, knowledge, or wisdom. While Facebook insisted that the people behind the advertisement are known which is an entirely different issue this is still an attempt to control the conversation.

Today during contemporary times, the public sphere is supported by the World Wide Web technology. Social media companies are not unlike the coffee houses as both skimmed on the conversation to make money. Unfortunately, many social media companies and the elitist behind them attempt to control the conversation today.

The Cluetrain Manifesto discusses controlling conversations. If a company tries to control the conversation, the conversation will continue to the detriment of the controlling entity as the public sphere belongs to the public. No one can control the conversation, they can only participate in the conversation as an equal (Weinberg, 2000).

Jonathan Turley who is an author and George Washington University Professor said, "The Aspen report is the latest evidence of a building anti-free speech movement in the United States. It is a movement that both rejects core free speech values and seeks to normalize censorship (Unruh, 2021, p 11). "

Let us look more closely at Censorship, Cancel Culture, and the TattleTell Society.

Censorship

In the United States, historically free speech has been limited. Remarks that incited panic such as shouting 'fire!' in a crowded theater when there is no fire or threatening a crime such as making death threats are prohibited. Nonetheless, free speech is not normal or ordinary in this world. As of 2018, the world's countries that surveil and censor internet information were mostly totalitarian regimes including secular humanist governments and theocracies such as Islamic Caliphates, Figure 1. However, three years later, surveillance and censorship have increased as evidenced by the sheer number of bannings or de-platforming from social media mostly based on partisan ideology and narratives but these platforms lack competent authority to discern the truth.

Figure 1: Internet Censorship and Surveillance by Country as of 2018. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_and_surveillance_by_country

Social media platforms claim to be stopping rumors and misinformation but lack any competency in making such assessments. Teams that assess the information for accuracy have no competent authority on them to assess truth, misinformation, or otherwise rumors. For example, Dr. Robert Malone, the inventor and foremost authority on mRNA gene therapy technology was de-platformed from social media because he made comments not consistent with the political left's narrative. The de-platforming had nothing to do with the truth or accuracy of the information. Dr. Malone's position is that social media is not competent to make assertions about truth and, in fact, suppress the free speech of competent authority. Dr. Malone has had attack articles discrediting him and the de-platforming in an attempt to cancel his views despite being the competent authority.

The Cancel Culture

The Cancel Culture is a form of ostracizing persons who hold competitive views to the ostracizer. This culture persists when the ostracizer has no basis for the belief or their opinion nor is there any reason for anyone else to believe in their opinion. Nonetheless, the holders of the belief insist on imposing their views on others who hold competitive views by marginalizing the opposing view holders, the ostracized. The culture is vindictive and revengeful character quality of these cancel proponents.

Often the cancel culture shows up in many ways depending on the relationship between the parties. Typically, if in a provider-buyer relationship or when peer reviews are in use the action by a cancel proponent is to provide a low rating or to marginalize the opposing view by attacking the person. When in a superior-subordinate relationship poor performance reviews or counseling may be used often in an unfair manner. When equals in a conversation, the proponent of the cancel culture may use gossip, blogging, or red (attack) articles to discredit the equal. Typically, the focus shifts from the topic to attacking the person. This is not free speech as free speech is not about the attacking person but instead about debating the view, a thought, or idea apart from the messenger. In essence, one should not be killing the messenger.

The Tattletale Society

The tattletale society is characterized by the mantra that everybody should tell someone about somebody. This is facilitated by anonymous reporting systems and the imagined Right to Anonymity that now pervades the fabric of the US Landscape. The Right to Anonymity does not exist except in the imagination of those who sponsor the unnatural Right. However, there is a Right to Fair Treatment and to face one's accuser or reporter regardless of whether the accusation, report, or allegation is criminal, civil, or gossip in nature. Fair treatment applies to all circumstances and social interactions. All involved parties should be known and not hide behind anonymity.

The Tattletale Society often rides on the coattails of political correctness which is the sensibility that conduct and language should be eliminated that may offend another person. Once I overheard a conversation among attorneys that discussed when a word becomes politically incorrect. Essentially, this boiled down to when a lawsuit is won determining a word is no longer acceptable. Unfortunately, the offended party is often not of the ilk of the conduct or language but instead enjoys a sense of empowerment believing they hold a moral and ethical superiority over others. The snob effect. Moreover, the inner workings of a person's mind cannot be known and no one else should be accountable for the thoughts of another person. In other times, a person was showing character whenever they spoke out and other persons had thick skins. There was a social grace among people. Today, social skills are lacking in most people and that social grace has faded away. In the place of social grace, there has emerged a need to tattletale based on political correctness conjured up by politicians, technocrats, jurists, and bureaucrats or the administrative state.

Part II will look at the problems that censorship, cancel culture, and the Tattletell Society have caused and then reinforcing founding principles.

References:

Federer, W.J. (1996) America's God and Country: Encyclopedia of Quotations. Fame Publishing: USA.

Friedman, T. (2005) World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. Farrar, Straus, Giroux: New York

Unruh, B. (2021) Censorship is needed to stop disagreement, says Aspen Institute. Twenty-First Century Watch, Fourth Quarter, Vol 24, No 4. P 11.

Weinberg, D. (2000) The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual. 1st ed. Basic Books: USA.

Truth: A Quick Study

Truth: A Quick Study

By

JT

Everyone is talking about truth and there are self-proclaimed keepers of the truth. Usually, these keepers of the truth are found in social media, so-called fact-checkers, and mostly on the Political Left. But have you noticed there are fact-checkers on the Political Right who counter the fact-checkers on the Political Left? If the facts are the facts then why are we confronted with opposing 'facts'? The truth is the facts do not matter and the issue is not about truth. The issue is about the idea, view, or opinion. Selective facts, regardless of the strength of veritable truth, are chosen to support whatever the issue is about. So, what is a person to do? Moreover, The Naked Truth Report is about the truth but the truth often seems elusive and even ethereal at times.

Truth has deep roots steeped in world history. The question of truth goes as far back as the ancient Greeks who studied truth with great fever. The great Philosophers all wrestled with the notion of truth and philosophy breaks everything substantive into being, essence, and virtue. In this case, truth relates to virtue which is goodness, morality, and the quality of being useful. Pontius Pilate jeered, "What is Truth?" circa 35 AD. Pilate was acknowledging that truth can be fleeting.

We need to get a grasp on what is truth! Then, we need to understand how to discover the truth by understanding what truth is. Quite frankly, this is why the Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D., exists and the truth is central to becoming a Ph.D. Although, many PhDs are using the discipline to manufacture truths rather than discover truths. They create doubt using skepticism.

The Past and Post-Modernism

The recent surge in relativistic truths emerged out of post-modernist pop culture. Postmodernism appeared during the 1940s and gained widespread acceptance during the 1960s. The postmodern movement questioned reason and the notion of absolute universal truth. The postmodernist argued that truth is contingent upon historical and social context being partial and 'at issue' rather than complete and certain. The core message of postmodernism is pluralism, relativism, and human identity is a social construct rejecting any notion of certainty and absolute values or belief. The challenge of postmodernism is that it lacks coherence, is hostile to certain or absolute truth, and causes problems for reliable information and knowledge.

I must stress that information and knowledge are not one and the same. Information is a statement of quality or character traits of a person, place, or thing regardless of whether the information is true. Knowledge is the accumulation of relevant information which in combination reveals some sort of higher meaning regardless of any truth or not. Thus, there has to be some sort of dogma to discern the truth. The science of epistemology is the study of the extents and limits of truth and knowledge.

Generalized Definition of Truth

Truth is, of course, the opposite of falsehood. Falsehoods arise from human behavior involving lies, deceit, ambiguity, ignorance, innuendo, obfuscation, pride, selfishness, etc... These factors distort truths or create pseudo-truths.

Truth as defined in many dictionaries is the state, quality, or fact that is empirically verifiable. The dictionary definition is a very narrow definition of truth. A more generalized definition of truth is needed.

Truth is, of course, the opposite of falsehood. Falsehoods arise from human behavior involving lies, deceit, ambiguity, ignorance, innuendo, obfuscation, pride, selfishness, etc... These factors distort truths or create pseudo-truths.

Truth is a property of reality. Reality is based on a person's worldview. Any truth must be evaluated with respect to a worldview seeking the strongest support. This creates the problem of a person's fundamental belief system becoming challenged which we will explore later in this discourse.

A generalized definition of truth for the purposes of this discourse is:

A combination of facts and factors that combine to support, in a repeatable and verifiable manner, either through direct evidence or deductive reasoning claims of truth.

Theories of Truth

There are different truth theories that hold a much broader definition. Five mainstream theories are the:

• Correspondence Theory: Truth propositions correspond to the facts. 
• Semantic Theory: Truth is a property of sentences. 
• Deflationary Theory: A statement is true is just to assert the statement itself. 
• Pragmatic Theory: Defines Truth in terms of utility. 
• Coherence Theory: Any proposition must be coherent with a specified proposition set to be true.

Most of these theories have serious problems of various sorts and were advanced to counter the Correspondence Theory of Truth. For example, The Pragmatic Theory was advanced to support relativistic truths based on usefulness which we have rejected in this study.

Theory-Based Thinkers

Modes of thought or ways of thinking span several forms to include; critical thinking, analytical thinking, instinctive or gut thinking, creative thinking, etc...

In the American pop landscape, theory-based thinking emerged about 1900. This shift in thinking replaced any justification for belief or investigation into a matter with fantasy, ideas, and interesting notions that had no basis in reality. A good example of theory-based thinking is the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, SETI. Without any basis other than the idea that there may be life elsewhere, SETI began searching. They formulated the Drake Equation, Figure 1, which is supposed to suggest the possibility of the number of off-planet civilizations Earthlings could communicate with.

Figure 1: Drake Equation Used by SETI

The Drake Equation formulated by the Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence, SETI, is unbounded, the variables are impossible to know, and the equation amounts to junk math and junk science. Franchises in the entertainment industry such as Star Trek, Star Wars, and other space thrillers have captured the imagination of millions of people but lack any honest evidence that intelligent lifeforms exist off-Earth. There has been no evidence that has ever been observed to support such a scientific investigation and to date, more than 60 years later, there have been no discoveries.

Whereas in the book, The Privileged Planet, the Astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez approaches the search for life by bounding the problem to a known set of parameters identifying the type of galaxies where life could persist and where within the galaxy life is possible, then Goldie Lock zones within a solar system where life could survive. Gonzalez concludes that life off-planet is probabilistically impossible and, in fact, life on Earth is a statistical improbability that is carefully balanced. The issue of intelligent and sentient life becomes a theological rather than a cosmological investigation.

Theory-based thinking has permeated into American Society and become the predominant mode of thought leveraging creative thinking patterns but has no foundation in honest science. However, as Einstein pointed out that without imagination there would be no science. Einstein was based on the known four natural forces and was formulating a method of combining them. He used a technique known as image streaming to place himself as if he were a photon of light. Through this method of image streaming, he was able to make a breakthrough discovery that became the well-tested and well-established theory known as Relativity. Einstein’s use of imagination was quite different from theory-based thinkers. Einstein was founded on evidence and mathematical formulation using imagination to make the quantum leap. Whereas, theory-based thinkers have no evidence and pull a good idea from the ethereal space of their minds. Theory-based clouds matters of truth with the fantasy but can be discerned using a dogmatic approach.

Spectrum of Truth

Missing from the five theories is the Epistemological Theory of Truth. Epistemology is the study of the extent and limits of knowledge to justify a belief as opposed to an opinion. There is a Spectrum of Truths, Figure 2, that ranges between two extremes. At one end are the Epistemic Truths and at the other end are the Correspondent Truths.

Figure 2: Scale of Truth

Human perception of the world is based on a worldview. Worldviews generally stem from the rejection or acceptance of a sovereign deity and the level of engagement from a deity, if the deity exists in the worldview.

In the case of rejection of a sovereign deity, a reliance on science is used to assess truth and limits truth to a correspondent theory and in various degrees of support the other theories too. As an outcome, we begin to observe a pliable science or science that is bent to fit a form of thought known as Theory-Based Thinking which is not associated with scientific dogma but instead social conduct. This Theory-Based thinking approach imagines an idea without any observable basis for forming the idea then seeks to apply science using mostly selective evidence to support the idea. Theory-Base Thinking is the opposite of traditional scientific dogma that requires observation in nature first to support an investigation. That investigation tests the observation and places boundaries limits on the phenomenon. Variables are known, measurable, and have boundary limits.

In the case of a sovereign deity, claims are made in the scriptural messages from the deity. These are examined to assess the validity and ultimately the truth of the claim. These kinds of truths are called Epistemic Truths which may also apply to secular claims of truth. Epistemic Truths are based on a set of foundational assertions. These assertions are often validated through reasoning rather than observation. This reasoning may be deductive but most often is inductive reasoning requiring a leap in judgment. For example, if three findings point to A and five findings point to B, then the five findings underpin stronger support for B than A without having correspondent support for either A or B. Often the findings that point to an inductive reasoned conclusion are called fingerprints or impressions.

In the case of a sovereign deity, claims are made in the scriptural messages from the deity. These are examined to assess the validity and ultimately the truth of the claim. These kinds of truths are called Epistemic Truths which may also apply to secular claims of truth. Epistemic Truths are based on a set of foundational assertions. These assertions are often validated through reasoning rather than observation. This reasoning may be deductive but most often is inductive reasoning requiring a leap in judgment. For example, if three findings point to A and five findings point to B, then the five findings underpin stronger support for B than A without having correspondent support for either A or B. Often the findings that point to an inductive reasoned conclusion are called fingerprints or impressions.

Since most of the world holds a belief in some sort of sovereign deity, Epistemic Truths shape the world perhaps more than correspondent truths. Thus, scientific dogma is applied to the study of all the scriptural messages from all the different deities to examine their claims and discern which claims are the strongest. The deity having the most claims with the greatest underpinning strength is deemed to be the closest to the truth.

The topic of truth is expansive and difficult to cover in a blog posting. Nonetheless, having a basic foundation is essential to growth and understanding when discerning matters of truth. Assessing the foundational assertions behind any claim to truth is the starting point.