By ANY Means Necessary?

     Recently a violent protest took place on the California State Capitol property.  A group called the Traditionalists Workers Party (TWP), which is a loosely organized white neo-nazi group, was granted a permit to host a rally on the capitol steps.  Another radical leftist group called BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) decided to take away this groups 1st amendment right to voice their opinion by assembling near building dressed in black clothes, wearing black hoods and masks and carrying baseball bats and rocks.  A violent fight took place between the two groups and several of the TWP were sent to the hospital.

    Do I agree with TWP?   Absolutely NOT!  

    But as citizens they have their right to voice their opinion peacefully and without interference. 

    Does BAMN have the authority to take away those rights?   Absolutely NOT!

    Groups like BAMN, make me nervous.  Do they really believe in what their name espouses?  Does ANY MEANS really mean ANY MEANS?   ANY does not leave ANY room for discussion or contemplation.   As a superlative it has not boundaries.  What is missing from their name are adjectives like: LEGAL or ETHICAL which might seek to limit the scope of what their mission might promote.  Can a person who connects themselves with BAMN feel any limitation at all?   Probably not.

     I wrote in a previous blog about how many in our government have used a similar argument:  "The ENDS justifies the MEANS".   This is a predecessor of the By Any Means Necessary ideology and has been used over the years to allow the government get its way with the American people.

    Take for example, a professor of economics by the name of Jonathon Gruber was caught on video discussing how they had lied to the American people about the effects of Obamacare on the healthcare industry.  He informed the audience that they (the Obama administration for whom he was employed) did this to dupe the people into supporting it and it worked.   The ends justified the means.

   In another case, Senator Harry Reid was asked about whether or not it was right for him to lie about Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's taxes on the Senate floor (he said Romney hasn't paid ANY taxes and he knew the Senate floor is the ONE place in the US where you can say anything and not be sued for libel ).  Reid laughed at the question and said,  "Well it worked didn't it?".   To him, the ends justify the means.

   Lies are one thing, but seeking to inflict pain or to kill others are quite another.  Other radical leftist groups will follow BAMNs mantra and will use violence to prevent others from voicing their opinions.  Those opinions might be at the voting booth,  or at the checkout counter or in your car.   They will scream out their ideology that they must stop you BY ANY MEANS POSSIBLE.   In their vitriolic anger and malice nothing will stop them and as long as people like the news media choose to look the other way and misreport their actions. They will grow bolder and bolder.

    Our only hope is that those on the left who still believe in the rule of law and the Constitution will stand up in the Democratic Party and demand that these radical factions be thrown out from within them so that we can return back to nation of laws and not of tyranny.  I believe they are a silent majority in their party but they need to start speaking soon to turn the tide around before it's too late.

Government employees don't pay taxes.... REALLY!

I want you to consider a hypothetical nation of 4 people.  In this pretend country all 4 of them make $1000 per week in pay.   1 person (let's call him citizen A) works for the government and the other 3 (B,C,D) work in the private sector.   All 4 pay 25% in taxes.

So let's see how this works.   All 4 would pay $250 in taxes each each.  To make it easier to visualize, let's say they all get 2 checks each pay check.  1 check for $750 for their take-home pay and $250 check to pay their taxes.

Each week B, C & D get 2 paychecks but all of their tax-checks are directly cashed and paid to the government to cover NEXT weeks expenses (A's salary).  That's 250+250+250 = $750.    "A" however gets 2 paychecks also, with $250 assigned to the government and $750 from the money gathered the previous week from B,C & D.    One interesting difference however is "A"s $250 check never needs to be cashed as it will just be handed to him again the NEXT week.  So week after week "A" gets the same $250 check each week and a NEW $750 check from the money collected from B,C & D's taxes the previous week (why cash it when you just have to write another one to him the next week).  Since "A"s tax-check is never really cashed, you can arguably say that "A" doesn't really pay any taxes at all.

I know this is a simple case, but it illustrates the fact that government employees really don't contribute money to the government operation at all since their pay is derived from the government and their taxes collected simply get rolled over from the previous week into the current weeks pay, like a check that never gets cashed and is just re-used from week to week.

Only the 3 private sectors actually contribute to the government.

BONUS QUESTION:
    Should it therefore be required that government employees NOT be allowed to VOTE since they don't really contribute to the government financially?

What is "good enough"

    As children we are often wanting to know what is the LEAST amount of work we had to do in order to be allowed to go to the park or to a friends house.  Do I have to vacuum the WHOLE house or just the downstairs area?   Do I have to do ALL the laundry or just MY laundry.   We asked those questions almost immediately after being told to do the chores in question.  We wanted to make absolutely sure we did not do more work than was needed.

    Some areas in our life the minimum is not enough for us.  When we step up to the launch pad for a bungee cord site we don't ask the operator "Could you only attach the minimum number of cords to my legs before I jump?"   Of course not!  In cases like this we ask them to triple and even quadruple the number of cords needed to insure our safety going down.   We will take no chances when our life is on the line. I am reminded of a comedian from Oklahoma who talked about taking a flight on a small airline in the Midwest he called "Bubba Air" in which the booking agent on the phone for the airline asked him his weight in pounds.  He asked, "My weight??  Why do you need to know that?"  to which they answered, "We need to know how much gas to put in the plane".   In his astonishment he told them over the phone, "Well I am 300 pounds!  Fill it up! Fill it up!"   He didn't want to take any chances of the plane running out of gas to get to his destination.

   In the parable of the 10 virgins, Jesus lays out the situation where 5 wise virgins waiting for the bridegroom to come take EXTRA oil for their lamps and 5 foolish virgins don't.   The wedding goes late into the night before they arrive and now the 5 foolish ones must go in the dead of night to fill up their lamps with oil.   They had considered only the MINIMUM amount of oil to take with them.  They missed out because they were foolish.

   In another Gospel Jesus is approached by a "wealthy young ruler" who asks

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’^[d]”
²⁰ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
²² At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

   Here another man was looking for what was "good enough" or the minimum he had to do in order to gain eternal life, but left sad as he saw the real cost was more than he was willing to pay.  So many today are still like that ruler seeking the minimum.  Do I HAVE to give up my Sunday mornings?   Do I have to give money to the church?  Do I have to stop sleeping with my girl-friend or boy-friend?  Do I have to give up my sexuality and what pleases me?   Do I have to give up my foul mouth and sick jokes?  Do I have to love those who hate me?  Do I have to return good for evil?  

    Did Jesus bargain for you with the Father?    Did Jesus ask if maybe only a few strikes of the scourge whip would be enough?   Did he ask the Father if a few beatings from the Roman soldiers would be "good enough"?  Did he ask the Father if just carrying the cross up the steep hill and being mocked by the public was "good enough"? 

   No.

    He went the whole way.  He filled up his cup with God's wrath so we didn't have to.  Our time with God spent in church on in His Word is not payback for what he has done, but is done out of love for what he has done for me.  He doesn't want us to be "fools" who think there is still time left to fill up our lamps.  Our time may be shorter than we think.   We don't know the hour of our calling and so must always be ready with ample oil in our vessels.

    Don't be a fool and play the "good enough" game.

You didn't build that... Oh yes I did!

We all remember the famous speech given by Obama in which he touted that the roads and bridges that a companies workers travel on to get to work or bring in new customers was built by the government. He also implied that the workers mostly educated in public schools and went mostly to public colleges.    The phrase "You didn't build that!"  went on into infamy along with "One small step for man... one giant leap for mankind".   

This is what is wrong with so many democrats today.  They fail to understand BASIC economics.  Yes the government built the roads and bridges that the workers used, but where did the government get the money to PAY for the roads, bridges, schools, fire departments etc.   Yes, of course, tax dollars raised by businesses who employed the workers and therefore paid the taxes that the government swept up out of their paychecks.  Money that went to the workers later paid for houses which garnered more tax dollars in the form of property taxes, gas taxes, sales taxes and DMV fees.   Without the jobs supplied by the businesses none of that would have been possible.

SO YES MR PRESIDENT,  THE PRIVATE SECTOR DID BUILD THAT TOO!

Words to my daughter on her graduation from college

    Congratulations!! You’ve made it!   9 years of elementary school.  4 years of high school and now 5 years of college are complete.  No more sweating out classes and papers.   No more trying to figure out class schedules and figuring out which courses to take.  The course work is all complete and now you are a graduate. It’s a time of celebration of what you’ve accomplished and anticipation of what lays ahead for you.  I wanted to share with you something that was handed down to me when I was young that has helped me.

    As you know, when I grew up in Illinois I mowed lawns for spending money.  One of my customers was a retired Lutheran pastor named Pastor Zimmerman.  He was a wonderful person to talk to and for me he was a surrogate grandfather as he went to seminary with my grandfather who was also was a Lutheran Pastor and had passed away before I was born.  He always invited me in afterward for lemonade and ginger-snap cookies.  When I graduated from high school and was moving on to college I decided to hand over my lawn business to someone else as I would not have time to do it.  On my last time with him he gave me some grandfatherly advice.  He said to me

"You probably played on the monkey bars at school as a child, and the challenge was to get from one side to the other without falling.  The trick to getting across is not losing your momentum as you swing and the best way to do this is to let go of the previous rung as soon as you grab hold of the next rung.   If you hesitate and hold on too long you will be stuck between the two rungs and will lose all of your forward momentum.  You can still get across but now you will have to exert a lot of energy to swing to the next rung.  Life is like that.  We are moving from one rung to the next in life and we need to let go of the past behind us."

    He went on to share a Bible verse with me that I have always kept mindful of.  It is from Philippians 3:13-14
"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind me and straining toward what is ahead.  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus"

   As you swing from this rung to the next that lays ahead of you reach-grab-and-let-go.    Does that mean we forget the people we have worked with or spent time with?  Of course not.  It means we take them with us in our heart and in our memories  but we must leave all our decisions, mistakes and hurts behind us.  We can look at the past with fondness and learn from our mistakes, but we cannot stay here.  We must move on to the next rung and the rung after that.   Press on for the goal God has set before you.  Keep moving knowing God is there to dust you off and help you get back on if you fall.

   We are very proud of you!  You’re on to the next rung in life and moving forward!
 

I worship a Rational God

     When people look at many of the Old Testament laws they normally have one of two views. One side views them as odd relics of an ancient people long ago that can be ignored and even laughed at. The other views them as a way to garner Gods favor by dutifully following his rules and getting "blessings" in return for their "good behavior" like some sort of cosmic vending machine.

    To me, both of these views could not be more wrong.

     I don't look at God as some irrational being who comes up with irrational rules just to see if we are willing to follow them and then hand out little pats on the head in return.  I don't see God's laws as just random ramblings of an ancient God.   They have meaning and purpose to his people and the blessing is in direct correlation to the doing of them.  Like a parent who pushes their children to do well in school and they are "blessed" with good paying careers, so also many of God's laws have built in blessings for those who follow them.  

     As I wrote in a previous blog, some of God's laws were meant only for the Jewish people to keep them separate and distinct from the other heathen cultures that surrounded them and threatened to assimilate them into their way of living and take them off their course to bring the Messiah to save the world.   Other laws, were meant to bring blessings to them

     Take for example the Jewish law to "not cook the goat in the milk of the mother" (Exodus 23:19).  This is one of the most misunderstood and laughed at laws by unbelievers (just check any Reddit comment section on religion and you are bound to find this one brought up).  This law has nothing to do with meat sauces.  Any farmer will tell you a mother goat will wean her baby when it reaches a certain size.   So why does God care about this?  This verse appears in a section dealing with the three annual sacrifice festivals and essentially he is telling them to not sacrifice a young goat that is not yet weaned.  Why should God care about this?   First of all, he wants them to sacrifice an animal that they have spent time and energy raising and not just a baby goat that has just been born.   He wants them to have stock in the sacrifice.   Secondly, these sacrifices were eaten by the people during these festivals and so a larger/older goat would feed a larger group of people present at the festival.   If it were not for this requirement we as sinful human beings would be bringing in little baby goats and calves to sacrifice to meet the requirement but not meet the needs of others.  

    Take another example of where God tells his people give the land a Sabbath rest.  In Leviticus 25:3-5 he says,

³ For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. ⁴ But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. ⁵ Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest.

     Is there some magic to the number seven?  Is God just wanting to test their obedience to him?   I don't think so in the least.  By requiring this he forces them to refresh the land and thus insure they have an abundance at harvest time by not over stressing the land. Leaving the land fallow for a year would re-energize the land and put much needed Nitrogen back into the soil and make better crops in the following years.   Today, farmers do this all the time (crop rotation) because science has shown it to be beneficial.  In ancient times they had no way of knowing this, but God knew it because he created it.   Here again the blessing is built right into the law and it is a direct byproduct of obeying God and not a handout from him for obedience.  

    A final example is God's requirement to the Jews to forgive the debts of their fellow Jews every 7 years and all debts every 25 years. Imagine the benefit to the people that would never be burdened with debts covering multiple decades and generations.  Imagine how their gentile neighbors would feel about them seeing their debts forgiven.   Debts would be kept short in length (why have a 10 year loan when you know you will have to end it after 7 years), and people would be happy to do business with you in return.  

Likewise you also would not get yourself strapped with heavy loans that would enslave you and your children for years to come and you would become "debt free" every seven years.   Today, many financial advisors see the wisdom in this approach and counsel their customers to work towards becoming debt free as well.     

     In all of these cases we see God blessing his people not by some voodoo magic or a pat on the head by following his laws.  Instead many of these laws have built-in blessing inside of them.  Similarly, many of these laws that non-believers scoff at can be seen to be truly rational in nature when you take the time to understand them and read into them what God is trying to do.    

  He, in effect, blesses them by giving them his law and they receive his blessing by doing what it says.   

   So how do these apply to me today now that we have refrigerators and many of us are not farmers etc.?

   Let's take a look at the calf-in-mothers-milk law.   Granted, yes we do have freezers today and we can store large quantities of food for days, weeks, months and even years to come.   Does this mean we can ignore this one?   Not really.   Maybe we need to take a look at our investments and not just look at them for ways to "take care of ourselves" but also to take care of others in our families and communities.   We sometimes short-cut our investments because "it's enough for us" so maybe we should see the bigger picture.   For example, do you sell a stock early because it's better for you rather than hang on to it a little longer and pay a smaller capital gains tax?   If you paid a smaller tax you could give more of the proceeds to charity instead.  

   What about the giving the land a rest law?   Two ways you could apply this in your life.   One is to give yourself a rest.  How many of us can't stop working even on Sunday?   Always too much to do and then we wonder why we are tired all the time.    Another is to look at our investments.   Do you have all your eggs in one basket?   Maybe you should divide it up and give each investment a "rest" by putting it into a CD for a year.   

   Finally what about the 7-year-debt-free law?   Maybe tell yourself that you will never take a loan longer than 7 years (or 10 since most banks do so in 5 year increments).    This would force you to save up a substantial amount of money for a down payment and pay off your debts quickly.   It would also secure a lower interest rate most of the time as the bank is on the hook for a shorter period with less risk.   Being debt free would free you up to help others around you as well.

   In conclusion, God's laws are not irrational ramblings of an ancient mystical god for a people who are not like us.   They are rational and helpful.  They are there to promote a better life and a better community for all.