Monday, June 27, 2005

    A Great Country, Part 1

    This weekend Americans will celebrate July 4th with flags waving, parades, fireworks, picnics, etc. It's a holiday that the ACLU hates, liberals and socialists couldn't care less about, and terrorists would love to target.
    229 years ago our forefathers declared independence from Britain, beginning the birth of Democracy. Even to this day people try to come to this country in hopes to attain the American Dream. Some are good people that do so legally. Some are bad people that don't care enough about the country they wish to come to and so their first step is to break her laws.
    It cost hundreds of thousands of lives prior to 1776 to attain this freedom - freedom is never free. It cost hundreds of thousands of lives to maintain the democracy even before seeing the year 1900. Democracy is not free. All in all the suffering, the lives lost, the effort made, the work done - all to be free - freedom. There are plenty of governments, groups, "isms", etc. that would like to take away our freedom or worse yet, destroy it.
    Could pacifists have accomplished this task of nation building? No way - they have no vision or drive and don't think anything is worth making a sacrifice for (in other words they are selfish, unable to think on a scale as large as a nation). Could socialists have done so? Never! Our freedom and our democracy is like a human body - not perfect, some flaws, some zits, etc. Socialism is like a cancer on our body - we become the host while is sucks our resources, our dreams, our freedom. Sometimes it's hard to see since cancer takes on the look of the surrounding tissue - until it becomes so invasive it shows it's ugly head - then it becomes easier to target for removal.

    12 comments:

    The Rambling Taoist said...

    Could pacifists have accomplished this task of nation building? No way - they have no vision or drive and don't think anything is worth making a sacrifice for (in other words they are selfish, unable to think on a scale as large as a nation).

    Hmm. Someone should explain this concept to the citizens of India. They wrested control of their country away from England without an armed revolution. Under the guidance of Gandhi, they won their independence through civil disobedience.

    Obviously, Jesus of Nazareth didn't get your memo. He revolutionized world thought and suffered an agonizing death himself proclaiming a message that is the exact opposite of yours.

    Who knows? Maybe more people will see your "truth" and you'll become the Messiah of the Church of Justadog.

    JustaDog said...

    How odd for someone that hates Christianity and religion in general to be so knowledgeable about the life of Christ he now feels compelled to reference Christ and his life. If you really do some digging he (Christ) also said: Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? Hardly a pacifist - unless pacifists have huge armies standing by . Also check out the Old Testament and read how God slaughtered his enemies. If you’re going to reference something from Christianity you can’t just extract only that which gives you tingles and justifies your pacifist existence.

    J.D. – thanks for the heads-up on the grammar. I count on liberals and pacifists like you to have no valid points other than to do my spell and grammar checking – LOL. Also, nowhere did I say the number killed was just in the Revolutionary War – the post simply says prior to 1776.

    I’m a second generation immigrant (on my fathers side) – his parents having entered this country legally - not that it is any of your business or that pacifists would even care about legal vs. illegal immigration.

    I also wonder whether they could afford the standard of living to which they're accustomed without the workforce supplied by illegal immigrants. – plain stupidity. There would be millions of Americans and legal citizens that would have work but that work is being given to illegal aliens – aka, criminals.

    Seems like pacifists love to reference India – yet they prefer to live in America. The comparison is like someone fighting over gold vs. iron. People will fight harder and kill for something of greater value. DUH!

    BTW, I don’t listen to Rush Limbaugh nor have I ever subscribed to his or anyone’s newsletter. I am on many mailing lists for unions, socialism, etc. - it does well to know the enemy!

    Anonymous said...

    i doubt if a socialist or pacifist even own a flag, let alone proudly fly one.

    The Rambling Taoist said...

    How odd for someone that hates Christianity and religion in general to be so knowledgeable about the life of Christ he now feels compelled to reference Christ and his life.

    Just because I don't accept the man/God Messiah, doesn't mean I don't think Jesus was an enlightened sage. In fact, many Taoist believe Jesus' words are closer to Taoism than Christianity.

    If you really do some digging he (Christ) also said: Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

    So what? During his life, he was persecuted. Later he was flogged, mock and crucified. At ANY point during his life, did he raise a hand against his oppressors? Nope. Did he ever call on the 12 to do mortal battle with the non-believing? Again, no.

    In fact, when the authorities came for him in the garden, Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of a centurian's slave. Did Jesus say, "Peter, way to go! Toss me a sword and let's show these guys who's boss"?

    Quite the contrary. He admonished Peter. He told him to PUT AWAY his sword and then he healed the slave's wound. Later, after withstanding all manner of abuse, he prayed FOR his accusers.

    You can dish out all the biblical quotes you want, but it doesn't alter the fact that Jesus REFUSED to meet violence with violence. He was the ultimate man of peace. Even when death was staring him square in the face, he refused to budge from his stance of nonviolence.

    The Rambling Taoist said...

    i doubt if a socialist or pacifist even own a flag, let alone proudly fly one.

    Wrong! I proudly fly a peace flag on my truck antenna. (My wife & I even have a iron peace symbol hung on the front of our house. Now if I could only find an iron Yin-Yang...)

    JustaDog said...

    The mission of Jesus at that time you reference was not one of war and destruction of his enemies - that happens later (such as And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming - just do a search for destroy and such words on any online Bible. However, I'm sure those are the parts you will find some explaination not to accept.

    Taoism came much later than Jesus - sorry - no connection. But I'm glad you are finally admitting to that Taoism is just another religion!

    Let's see - my post has flags on the image, red/white/blue with stars -- do you really think anonymous meant any flag? Please tell me you're not that dumb trey. Of course he/she meant an American flag - DUH.

    The post was about the upcoming July 4th holiday - DUH. But I'm sure he/she got it right: i doubt if a socialist or pacifist even own a flag, let alone proudly fly one. (ty anon)

    The Rambling Taoist said...

    Taoism came much later than Jesus - sorry - no connection. But I'm glad you are finally admitting to that Taoism is just another religion!

    Now you've displayed your IGNORANCE for all to see. Taoism predates Jesus by about 2,000 years!! In fact, Taoism predates Judaism.

    Philosophical Taoism is NOT a religion. To qualify as a religion, adherents must worship a diety. Philosophical Taoism rejects the concept of a diety. Another characteristic of religion is a creed or official doctrine. Philosphical Taoism has no creeds nor official doctrine. Religions also have sacred texts. Philosophical Taoism has texts, but none of them are sacred (because there's no diety).

    I realize no amount of reality-based reasoning nor rational thought will sway you from your self-deluded belief in your own inerrancy. Consequently, the above information is provided for those open-minded individuals who might happen to read the comments here. You, on the other hand, will continue to say that Taoism is a religion simply because you think, if you write it enough times, it must therefore be true.

    The Rambling Taoist said...

    The mission of Jesus at that time you reference was not one of war and destruction of his enemies - that happens later

    To humor you, let's say what you've written above is true. You are admitting that a) Jesus did not strike out against his oppressors during his life on earth and b) HE will do the striking down later. Since you or I or George Bush or the US military are not Jesus, we have no right to be claiming HIS authority unto ourselves (unless, of course, YOU are claiming that YOU are Jesus). We should let things go and HE will deal with things when HIS time comes.

    There's still no justification for your current hawkish position -- by YOUR OWN words.

    Anonymous said...

    Justadog don't argue with a socialist - they only have a one track mind(less).

    JustaDog said...

    Now you've displayed your IGNORANCE for all to see. Taoism predates Jesus by about 2,000 years!! In fact, Taoism predates Judaism. - trey, are you so easily duped? I knew you would react just like you did, but I'm not surprised.

    Any child of the Christian faith will tell you Jesus predates any man - he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending. He is the creator of the heavens and the Earth. He existed long before any life existed on the Earth, he existed before the Earth. He allowed himself to be transformed into a flesh and blood man so he could be crucified as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of mankind. Got it now?

    As for Taoism you still have not refuted my previous statements in other posts that the major universities (Harvard, Yale, University of Chicago, etc.) of this country classify Taoism as a religion. Books about religions of the world classify Taoism as a religion. If you wish to pretend your particular division of Taoism is not a religion I really could care less – nor does anyone else. You can go buy an apple and call it a banana if you want. No body cares about your redefinitions – except you.

    This post was not about religion – yet I answered your tangential responses into that realm – I suppose because you couldn’t respond to the subject of the post. There will be no more religion about this post here – or they will be deleted.

    The Rambling Taoist said...

    This post was not about religion – yet I answered your tangential responses into that realm – I suppose because you couldn’t respond to the subject of the post.

    Not true. Both JD & I pointed out that the PEACEFUL revolution in India dismissed your purile contention that pacifism has never led to nation building. Your response was so typical of a close-minded person. When faced with facts that don't dovetail with your preconceived notions, you stuck out your virtual tongue and whined, "That doesn't count."

    As I stated before, it's obvious that no one can have a rational conversation with you because the only facts you will accept as true are those that support what you already think. As you stated yourself, you can call a banana a jet plane and no amount of contrary evidence will sway you for your self-deluded opinion.

    BTW, does it make you feel powerful invoking censorship as a way to insure you can have the last word on any topic you want?

    The Rambling Taoist said...

    Just so you know, I'm on to your "game". I've noticed there are few sane and open-minded comments on your blog. It's easy to understand why. Anytime someone with a brain drops in to visit and decides to leave a rational comment, you immediately call them names, make fun of them, disparage any opinion that's not yours, threaten to censor their future comments and insult them in anyway you can think of. So, most of them leave, never to return. This makes you very happy because you can then continue to engage in your one-voice monologue of disinformation and self-righteousness.

    Your hate filled words just slide right off of me. Your insults and disrespectful tone don't faze me in the least. (As my parents taught, I simply consider the source.) So, unless you can come up with a filter to reject my comments out-of-hand or you simply decide to delete any comment I might leave, you better get used to me. I'm not going away.