"Freedom of expression is the matrix, the indispensable condition
of nearly every other form of freedom."
Benjamin Cardozo (1870-1938)
"There's greater danger in trying to limit freedom of expression than
there is in permitting its abuse."
The poet, author
All why,
"We should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions
that we loathe."
Oliver Wendall Holmes, associate justice of the USA Supreme court
(1841-1935)
The Cheek!
Oh, did I upset you? Said something you didn't like? Sorry, how wrong of me.
I guess I got carried away with one's right to free speech — oh yes, and liberty.
I shouldn't have said anything but what you actually wanted to hear,
'Cause after all, who wants folk to disagree with them, or opposite views share.
Yes, how thoughtless of me, I should've kept my thoughts to myself, just zipped my lips,
But I guess it's so easy for us to say what we think, and so out it slips.
Sorry, I shouldn't be myself, should only consider what you have to say,
Rather than letting my selfish individuality get in the way.
By Lance Landall
YOUR OPINION:
NO LONGER WANTED, APPARENTLY,
AND LAST SEEN IN THE VICINITY OF SACKINGS,
NASTY VERBAL ATTACKS, OSTRACIZATION,
AND LOST BUSINESS.
"I can understand the heat of an argument, but I find this age of accusation and the need to
condemn irrational. I find the level of hatred that people express about views that differ from
theirs, and the violence of language towards others, disturbing."
Ralph Fiennes
"In a civilised country, you counter ideas you don't like with more speech and debate,
not violence and intimidation,"
Dr James McDowall
"The remedy for speech that is false is speech that is true. This is the ordinary course in a free society.
The response to the unreasoned is the rational; to the uninformed, the enlightened; to the straight-out
lie, the simple truth."
CANCEL CULTURE:
“To stifle an unwanted opinion is to sit on the throne of a dictator. And to vilify and persecute
because of such, is to wield the sword of an executioner.”
The poet, author
Medieval mobocracy.
Reverse bigotry.
A manipulative, controling, bullying, spiteful, punishing and conformist mentality.
Militantly aggressive, unforgiving, ruthless and unbending behaviour.
Skewed judgment and mob justice.
Tyrannical vilification.
A form of fascism.
A very real threat to freedom of expression.
Generates fear of speaking out and suppresses open debate.
Boycotting someone’s business can hurt their employees; those who supply or buy from them,
which in turn hurts one’s community.
Demanding that someone be removed from their job or position can hurt their wife,
children and even extended family.
A CLUSTER OF QUOTES OF MY OWN MAKING ON FREE SPEECH.
“When the right to say whatever we think or believe is lessened by law, the power of
government and the opportunity for evil is increased.”
"Laws will never stop hatred, racism or bigotry, because laws are purely directive and punitive, not a cure,
and thus simply strengthen the arms of power rather than the arms of creative love."
"Hate speech is a horrid thing, but any inroad into freedom of expression is a perilous thing."
"We can shut down hate speech but not hateful hearts — and therefore, our loss much greater
than our gain come freedom of expression and liberty."
"There's greater danger in trying to limit freedom of expression than
there is in permitting its abuse."
"The greatest theft is stolen rights."
“To stifle an unwanted opinion is to sit on the throne of a dictator. And to vilify and persecute
because of such, is to wield the sword of an executioner.”
"We can't make any inroad into freedom of expression without endangering it."
"You may not like what someone says, but let them say it lest the cork in their bottle blows."
"Truth and discovery are always better served by open forums and unshackled voices."
"The preservation of everyone's right to speak freely, should be pursued as strongly as that
need to halt climate change."
"Freedom of expression is more than a right. It's who and what we are."
"Interfering with voice or pen, endangers both the truth and men."
"Our right to free speech begins at birth, and all why laws should mind their reach and girth."
The poet, author
The following article stands on its own.
HATE SPEECH
(My own comments and other sources)
Lance Landall
No, criminalising hate speech does not stop hatred, but merely drives it underground where it continues in a more inventive form, where it can’t be kept an eye on the same, and where that hatred can fester (their platform and safety valve having been removed, and then pow!).
If it’s in the heart to say and do, it’s most likely that it’ll be said or done, and all why rapes and murders continue as well. Such people respecting and recognising no law.
Hence why criminalising hate speech is counter-productive, it punishing rather than changing people, simply antagonising citizens and making them more dangerous. Enter those free speech martyrs whose hateful message will get a larger platform than it might have otherwise got.
To gain something at the expense of what we can’t afford to lose, even partly, is folly. There will always be those who wait in the shadows and who shouldn’t be given half a chance. No matter how much we may abhor hate speech, some things should always be beyond any government's reach, and free speech being one such thing, and given that free speech is the first thing that tyrants interfere with or remove.
Hence why where there has been those shouts for democracy in places like Hong Kong, Myanmar, Cuba and so on, there has been a social media crackdown, shutdown.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Thus better to allow a lesser ill here in order to prevent a greater ill — the endangering of liberty itself; that individual right to self expression that allows us to be truly free, bearing in mind the following:
Benjamin Cardozo (1870-1938) Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Thus any inroad into freedom of expression would render it an oxymoron. Restrictions and free speech being incompatible. Part of respecting people’s autonomy is letting them express who they are and what they think, even if we strongly disapprove. Silencing one form of speech ultimately opens the door for all speech to potentially be sanctioned. Criminalising hate speech inhibits free speech given that it effectively prevents others from speaking.
It’s dangerous to give the government the power to restrict dangerous speech, given that it’s likely to misuse that power (either by making mistakes about what is genuinely dangerous, or by abusing that power for political purposes). Protecting hate speech is necessary because the alternative—granting governments the power to punish any speaker that it doesn't like—risks even greater harm.
but without understanding."
Louis Dembitz Brandeis (1856-1941) Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Thus it's safer to entrust people with access to ideas than to entrust the government with the power to decide which ideas we may express or hear.
there is in permitting its abuse."
Lance Landall
People can't be forced into abandoning their erroneous, hurtful and/or dangerous opinions. They can only be argued out of them.
Therefore, the most effective way to counter the potential negative effects of hate speech is not through censorship, but rather through more speech. By debunking what we deem to be hateful rhetoric through discussion, not force, we grow in our own conviction of what’s right while preserving liberty in the process. Thus people learning from each other.
Hateful views are often the product of ignorance. By permitting the expression of dangerous views (or ideas), we’re better able to defuse their danger by arguing against them. Treating people as adults means letting them hear bad views (or ideas), so that they can make up their minds for themselves.
Hate speech is too subjective to be defined. Across the world there is no consistency regarding what actually constitutes hate speech. Thus what one may determine to be hate speech, another may consider a legitimate argument that's worthy of debate. The whole point of free speech is to create the conditions for robust debate, which includes the challenging of obnoxious views.
One could say that the biggest issue isn’t over what qualifies as hate speech, but who gets to decide what speech is objectionable and punishable.
Hate speech and violent speech are two different things, and provisions already exist for prosecuting those who threaten, incite harassment, violence , injury and murder.
The censorship of hate speech has been shown around the world and throughout history to do more harm than good. Creating an atmosphere in which some people can be prosecuted for what they say can make everyone feel afraid and unwilling to say what they think, which is far from healthy.
Free speech and democracy are intimately linked. Free speech being a universal good. And this being why societies flourish more so where there's the greatest extension of free speech.
In fact, democracy only works where everyone believes that their voice counts, which means both the voices of antagonists and protagonists.
Noam Chomsky
So where might it all end — The banning of certain religious beliefs? After all, you can't protect freedom of worship without protecting freedom of expression.
Criminalising hate speech simply encourages both that horrible dobbing in (which reminds one of Nazi Germany) and cancel culture. And both of them only aggravating the situation, creating a divide.
which is why this is the worst possible time to empower lynch mobs who choose to take offence
at ideas they don't support.”
David Seymour
All why hate speech should be protested and challenged, not criminalised.
Altered or added to on 15 July 2021.
LONE QUOTE:
Viewed in this light, hate speech legislation is simply a euphemistic term for handing to the state the power to determine what is and is not acceptable political discourse. That is just not a power the state ought to have in a democratic society.
Even if it were possible to draft laws that would ensnare only people who, deliberately and in bad faith, say ugly and offensive things with intent to cause upset and distress, they would still be a bad idea. That is because they would put in place a legal principle antithetical to democracy. Once the precedent of the state controlling speech in the name of avoiding offence is established, it can, and—over time—inevitably will, be used to control political discourse more broadly.
TOLERANCE
Tolerance is something that’s reserved for those whom we consider wrong. Tolerance (by definition) implies disagreement or dislike. Given that tolerance requires a disagreement and an initial objection, it surely follows that the least tolerant person is the one who accepts everything. Why? Because such people aren’t required to overcome any internal objections. Hence why much that masquerades as tolerance today is hardly genuine tolerance at all, but rather, cowardice — yes, such people frightened of becoming unpopular in the eyes of our relativistic culture.
Unsure of source
WHY EXPOSING ERRORS IN ANY DENOMINATION OR RELIGION ISN'T BIGOTRY
Because that information made public can help those who’ve already embraced that error to see why it is in fact error.
Because that information should naturally be made available in order for people to not only make up their own minds but truly have freedom of choice.
Because people often come up with opposite arguments from the very same source as us — the Bible, say — thus one not only having to find and present the correct position, the truth, but show and prove the error in any counter argument (which some people wrongly call knocking when it's really informing and aiding).
Because certain beliefs that some people are holding to are unhealthy, or very destructive — ISIS being one example. And such passing from generation to generation.
Because much that's been said and done in the name of God hasn't been of God at all.
"Truth and discovery are always better served by open forums and unshackled voices."
The poet, author
Most of us were generally getting along until enter the Me Too,
Black Rights and LGBTQ plus movements, but now, what have things come to?
Are we really a sexist, racist, homophobic lot, like they seem to say,
Or is such not so, but how they see it, and thus has other ill come our way?
These movements may have their merit, but when things are taken too far, that’s not good,
Credibility suffering — and as far as questioning goes, people should.
Just like we should question any lawlessness come Greenpeace, and hypocrisy,
Or that taking things too far, that stretching of facts, underhand activity.
Some accusations have caused anger and dismay, a widening of the divide,
Which once only existed in certain minds and hearts, but then in came the tide,
A wave of unbalanced, ill thought out, rioting and persecuting attacks,
And so, rather than moving forward, does danger now lurk behind our backs?
Yes, can’t say this or that, people hyper now, it all threatening liberty,
Even one’s religion, that right to express differing beliefs openly.
Seems we’ve exchanged one problem for another, and laws hardly solving a thing,
They naught but patches, ’cause out of the unwell heart, ill and evil will still spring.
Meantime, who’s lost customers, friends, or their job — oh, the share nonsense of it all,
And people too scared to disagree anymore, which all of us, should appal.
Such no way to deal with sexism, racism or homophobia, and
Will there come a backlash; a different festering on its way through the land?
Oh, how that pendulum is forced to swing, there always a better and right way,
But anger not having a bar of it, it’s simply this or else, sad to say.
Yes, it’s a kind of people dictatorship, some things only pushed underground,
And who knows where that will end — oh, the folly of those who seek to force and hound.
Thus men, white people, and straight people feeling set upon, losing sympathy,
It all counter productive, pitting humanity against humanity.
A world fixated with the outside, not the inside, and why ill still remains,
Because any change for the better, the unchanged and forced person simply feigns.
There’s two sides to every story, and many reasons, hence healthy debate,
Education and example; not copycat tactics, which adds to ill’s plate.
The world no better off, ’cause it’s oft just certain people getting their own way
(Taking us on their trip), and some seeming to have too much say, or all the say.
There seems to be tailors of sorts who’re wanting a one-size-fits-all world, and so
Busy they are, oft gagging dissenting voices when that’s not the way to go.
Such heightening the desire to speak, 'cause the gagged feel that they can’t breathe too,
And where would those movements be but for free speech; all why they should mind what they do.
By Lance Landall
2. Some Consideration From You Too, Please
Many of us have changed, or have made great strides, and are trying to live rightly,
But now, appear to be guilty of racism, sexism or bigotry.
Yes, it’s all so discouraging, depressing, as if we’ve made no change at all,
And why I want to shout, “Stop finding faults! Since when is our opinion your call?”
Oh, how hard and unfair it is, more condemnation coming our way, and why
It all needs to stop, cause it’s going too far, and it kissing free speech goodbye.
Some wanting this world swabbed clean, and even to the point of clinical, and why
We need to stop this rising madness, certain voices hysterically high.
Rather than fixing things, it’s simply creating more problems, and we’ve enough,
People desperately in need, or dying, without this PC kind of stuff.
And cancel culture causing pain to the accused one’s employees or family
Due to “Don’t shop there!” or “Sack 'em!” — yes, past witch hunts still plaguing society.
If God was as intolerant, we would’ve been wiped off the map long ago,
And why the same grace He’s shown, we should show, and tolerance being how we grow.
But some wanting no growth, just punishment, another law to add to the rest,
Just when, given the struggles and obstacles in our life, we thought we’d done our best.
But no, our best not good enough, we now accused of this or that, unfairly,
It oft over the top, just creating divides, not facing reality.
This world’s hardly Heaven, and even God not wanting robots, so who are we
To force and oppress in our own little way, rather than acting lovingly?
All why I'm just trying to get on with my life, so hey, how about you too,
You who appears to want perfection, yet how many flaws might be found in you?
So if you must point, point at the real offenders, those who threaten and incite,
Not those whose opinion might differ somewhat, and who're trying to do what's right.
But not what you think is right, having taken on the role of judge and jury,
The world according to you, while indulging in your own kind of injury.
And having taken on the role of policeman too, quick to collar someone,
Hence how you lose sympathy and support, not realising just what you've begun.
By Lance Landall
This poem was added to 19 July 2021.
3. Woke Zealots
It’s right to call out racism, say, but please don’t be a woke zealot, ’cause there
Is seen another “String ’em up!” pack, horde, company, another group to fear.
Yes, another group of vigilantes, and dangerously self-righteous, who
Effectively take the law into their own hands, stamping their beliefs or view.
Oh, how they look for any little thing, under rocks and behind any tree,
Their howls mob-like, yet they piously demanding, no kind appeal, entreaty.
No, reason and debate giving way to another form of hate, bigotry,
And it all in the name of love, supposedly — and we call this democracy?
It doesn’t matter how right they are if they’re going about it all wrongly so,
Judging, vilifying and persecuting, when if right, shouldn’t they better know?
And thus those they accuse (rightly or wrongly) angered, or made much more angry,
The woke squad getting their way, but not changing hearts, and there lies the tragedy.
By Lance Landall
4. Dobbing In
It’s clear that a horrid dobbing in culture is being created today,
Such pitting person against person, and now many afraid to have their say.
It’s so unhealthy and destructive, reminding me of Nazi Germany,
So what on earth are these people thinking, and who’s behind this insanity?
It’s horrid to tell on others, and it also reminds me of my school days,
Those objectionable little tell-tales, and haven’t we learnt that such never pays?
After all, what goes ’round comes ’round, ’cause we were never meant to be spies or narks,
And telling on people being how to create enemies, ’cause how it rarks.
Yes, “Liar, liar, your pants are on fire!” we used to holler, angrily,
’Cause many accusations weren’t fair or true, and such kids disliked intensely.
But dobbers seemingly encouraged today, though still disliked just as much, and
Harming as much as they think they’re helping, when guilty of their own sins they stand.
Yes, there's a time and place to report things, things that are serious enough, but
These days, you can't even say what you think without being told to keep your mouth shut,
Or without being abused, sacked, boycotted — yes, dobbed in, accused of a crime,
The world having gone crackerdog, we living in a sad and dangerous time.
By Lance Landall
"Rark" meaning: To anoy, rile someone.
The title of this poem was changed on the 11 August 2021.
5. Children Will Be Children
There was a chap I used to know, one I now remember with fond regard, who
I could discuss anything with, be such controversial or not, and who
Didn’t treat me any less, allowing me that freedom of expression, and
Despite disagreeing with me at times, and who I wish was still close at hand.
He clearly believed in free speech, true democracy, all why I miss him so
Given cancel culture and the likes, and how so easily one’s rights can go.
Yes, it's all so sad, because when we mistreat those who share an opposite view
We act undemocratically — and as for maturity, that gone too.
Such behaviour’s childish, that “I’m not going to play with you anymore” stuff,
Or that “I’ll tell on you” stuff — yes, too many not having grown up enough.
And thus their character and/or state of development clearly on display,
They giving themselves away, and how they can lose their right to this or that say.
By Lance Landall
6. Throw Some Spikes On That Crazy Road
It’s a romantic moment, his lips on her mind, and their heads moving closer,
Their gaze on each other; he hoping that it’s what he thinks is coming from her.
Yes, a kiss. Wait a minute! She hasn’t sought consent! Naughty, naughty — oh dear,
Too bad both were willingly caught up in that desired, hopeful atmosphere.
Oh, that boy and girl thing such a risk now, candlelight manoeuvres out, you see,
So go on, you lot, spoil everything, too bad about spontaneity.
Yes, mind that hand on her back as you usher her across the road like a man,
’Cause you’re touching her body, you know, I not recalling her saying you can.
You might laugh, but this is where things are heading, so much being taken too far,
The world having gone mad, or it a certain group forcing all into their car.
And who knows where they're heading — so please, someone, throw some spikes on that crazy road,
Lest some princess not awaken, or another prince be turned into a toad.
To be honest, this world needs to grow up, it having become childish and petty,
And there’s way too much hypocrisy, some John behaving no worse than some Betty.
But modern witch hunts, book burnings, kangaroo courts, losing sight of balance and sense,
And how one's opinion and innocent words and actions have become an offence.
By Lance Landall
7. Don't Toss Good Because Of Bad
If someone’s creation is a worthy thing, perhaps a set of paintings, say,
And you find that that person raped, say, why throw their beautiful paintings away?
Surely those paintings stand alone, they something good that that criminal has done,
And hey, would keeping those paintings be more likely if that rapist was your son?
A telling question, I suspect, yet worthy creations and sins worlds apart,
Each being the product of two compartments existing within the same heart.
The good compartment we accept, the bad compartment we reject, acting fair,
A great book a great book, a great song a great song, hence why sense is needed here.
But no, out goes the baby with the bathwater, feelings running high, askew,
So off the bookshelf, no more air time, and as for those paintings, they’re tossed out too.
Oh, when will we start playing grownups, bearing in mind that good folk err too,
That a rapist can turn the corner, “And as for my creation, what did you do?”
And what would you say? You having tossed what one should applaud, that excellent side,
Confusing and discouraging him, and why rather than rise, further he’ll slide.
And so, we not selling our house because the builder who built it raped someone,
But appreciating his worthy contribution, any good that he’s done.
However, too many are judged guilty before they have even been to court,
Losing their job or position, possibly because of someone’s false report.
So much for blind justice, that lady with the scales, it public opinion now,
Strong pressure coming from certain quarters to which cowardice is seen to bow.
Anger and not sense steering, others caving in, dropping any good too,
That person penalized before a court finds the accusations false or true.
It all like going back in time — mob rule — messages going from phone to phone,
It all shameful and wrong, and seemingly the contemporary way to stone.
By Lance Landall
Another poem like this one called Talent And Sins Are Two Separate Things can
be found in the orange box titled Follywood, Poems page, secular section.
8. Creative Love
Sadly, too many come to the table with a left or right mentality,
A bias of some kind, or are driven by something that has made them angry.
And as a consequence, a new law or law change is sought; such almost standard fare,
Instead of creative love, which isn’t driven by bias, anger or fear.
And creative love knowing that laws simply punish and not change, and therefore,
Hate still in the hearts of those who’re into hate speech, and who recognise no law.
And hence why that hate just continues, but in a more inventive form, which means
The problem isn’t solved, but pushed underground, where even greater hatred steams.
Yes, the safety valve having been removed, their platform gone, and where are they now,
Unable to be watched the same, countered in some way, and then suddenly, “Pow!”
Such being the reality, laws not changing hearts, which creative love knows,
Seeking better and lasting answers, which those gaping doors of hatred will close.
All why creative love fosters better relationships, educates wisely,
Starting in the home, continuing in the school — but by example, mainly.
Force nothing but force, and oft just anger’s demand, which can trample on rights too,
Simply because of a few, and thus free speech encroached upon, though foolish to.
If it’s in the heart to say and do, it’s most likely it’ll be said or done,
All why rapes and murders continue, and thus laws not how the battle is won.
Such merely patching things, appeasing certain voices, and all when laws there are
That cover those who incite, threaten or injure; so why on earth go too far.
Don’t we realise how precious free speech is, how hard it’s been fought for? All why here,
Creative love should rule, lest further down the track, we have greater things to fear.
Thus some things kept beyond the reach of governments — and one, our autonomy,
That individual right to self expression, that we may be truly free.
Seems everyone’s looking to laws when they’re not the answer, but oft failure, and
In this case, treading on ground that should be sacrosanct, built on rocks and not sand.
Such a law pleasing some whilst angering others, and running a risk as well,
Given free speech is the first thing evil seeks to limit; but push, people will.
To gain something at the expense of what we can’t afford to lose, even partly,
Is folly, and usually the path of those who do not understand fully.
Creative love knowing this too, and that there are those who wait in the shadows,
Who shouldn’t be given half a chance, ’cause any door ajar, simply temps toes.
Those who demand, often scorn those who don’t feel the same way, thus posing a threat
(’Cause all are entitled to their opinion), and how a worrying scene’s set.
Thus where to come the future? Cancel culture taking no prisoners, and so,
It accept or else, democracy their way — and down the tubes, here we all go.
But creative love working in the interests of all, bridging the divide,
Generating both tolerance and understanding whilst favouring no side.
Laws the last thing on its mind, and especially where there’s greater loss than gain,
And why the following quote should be kept in mind midst that “Ban hate speech!” campaign:
"Freedom of expression is the matrix, the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom."
Benjamin Cardozo (1870-1938)
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Creative love also seeks to find exactly what’s causing that hate, that ill,
Thus working on the root cause, surgery and not punishment serving us well.
In other words, it’s the heart and mind that needs attention — and hey, who knows why,
The lives of many complicated, but we won’t get anywhere ’till we try.
Punishment counter productive here, another law just adding to the list,
And here, courting danger pointlessly, laws not stopping hateful words, some gun or fist.
Laws purely directive and punitive, and thus hardly extinguishing hate,
And so unworthy of any rush that will hardly change that sad inner state,
That only creative love can change.
By Lance Landall
This poem was added to on 27 June 2021.
This poem can also be seen on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7Yq25WVD5k
See my poem Hate Speech which is on my page: This World And Us.
Also see my article Creative Love which is found on my page titled the same,
purple box, Home page.
Christian content or degree.
9. Everyone's Looking To Laws
Seems everyone’s looking to laws when they’re hardly the answer, and hence why
(And as an example only), we’re hearing that strident “Outlaw hate speech” cry.
However,
If it’s in the heart to say and do, it’s most likely it’ll be said and done,
Hence why laws aren’t the answer, but more creative love — and with which, we should run.
Force never changes hearts, nor God’s Ten Commandment Law, ’cause that’s not where it’s at,
And therefore, one simply going around in circles just like a tail chasing cat.
All why salvation’s about God’s grace alone, and not effort, ’cause God knows too
Change can’t be forced, but needs to come voluntarily, divinely, or it not true.
Yes, it just feigned, all why those who’re into hate speech are simply pushed underground,
Their ill still continuing, and thus they simply faking smiles when above ground.
Much like those works-based Christians whose hearts haven’t changed, and therefore, they still the same,
Laws only directives, and many lawbreakers there are, some Christian in name.
Though there’s a place for laws, there shouldn’t be more than are truly necessary,
Hence God’s Ten, but we, tying ourselves in knots with that law-based mentality.
Laws punishing, not changing — necessary, but just laws all the same, and so
It all about attitude, none of us perfect, and why we grow as we go.
So why’s everyone looking to laws all the time, and not creative love,
Anger making them just as bad, hence that fighting fire with fire, not from above.
Two wrongs not making a right, and force not the answer, and thus all why we see
The same ill occurring, but more inventively, because change there needs to be.
At the end of the day, it’s all about an inner moral code, inner law,
We being driven by the heart, something that's beyond us, thus well at the core.
Hence the words education and training, it all starting in the home, and thus
One having been taught at the feet of sound parents, or that God who’s called Jesus.
Laws may show us how we should act, like God’s Ten Commandments, but that’s where they end,
They hardly able to save or change us, and hence why most people still offend.
So, enter creative love, or a divine transformation, and then we see,
Real change, greater change, lasting change, change that comes willingly and genuinely.
By Lance Landall
"Our response to an opposite opinion or belief (and indeed the person them self)
reveals our true character and/or state of development."
The poet, author
10. This World's Hardly Heaven
People say horrid things, be they racist, sexist or whatever else they might be,
And as sad as that is, don’t make it your problem too by responding as badly.
Words are just words, and bigger we must be in order to attain maturity,
And this world’s hardly Heaven, so putting up with things being how one needs to be.
We can protest about this and that, and standing up often has its place, of course,
But that sad old human condition isn’t going away, so just forget force.
Yes, changes are needed, but such is more an inner thing, and some folk never change,
Though life and people as random as it gets, and trials test, so count it not strange.
By Lance Landall
11. Something To Dwell On
No one should be prevented from saying what they believe,
Nor from penning such — otherwise, we’ll all have cause to grieve.
Freedom of expression is a right, and necessary,
'Cause how else is truth found and error exposed, please tell me?
Hence why political correctness is not a healthy thing,
'Cause out of such, even more can eventually spring.
Yes, it all starts with those small things that invariably grow,
And which in time see liberty and democracy go.
By Lance Landall
Religious take.
The following poem was penned November 2019.
12. Regarding Israel Folau
Israel Folau is a young Christian man, one who’s committed to his walk,
And who, via his blog, said that Gay folk will burn in Hell, thus creating much talk,
Though many have been seen to balk.
His blog statement having seen him removed from his team, his contract having said, “No,”
But he still conveying his beliefs anyway via that strong statement on show.
However,
It’s same-sex sexual acts, not born Gay people, that the Bible condemns, so
Israel Folau has erred here, given every Christian should better know,
Because stating something is one thing, but getting it wrong quite another, and
Therefore, public reaction more anti, people less likely to understand.
And midst it all, Israel Folau’s thought and care for the fate of others lost,
He truly believing that ultimately same-sex sexual acts will cost,
And thus seeking to warn, albeit rather poorly, love and sense not quite wed,
But even so, he taking the time to bother, though it’s all about how it’s said.
It’s rather sad, because it’s great to see young people trying to live rightly,
And he a fine sportsman as well, but here, he not having acted too brightly.
We all erring somewhere, and the good in us, or the good we’ve done, getting lost,
And an overreacting public simply creating yet another cost.
Yes, because more young men and women who’re trying to warn and right are needed,
And especially given that many sound warnings are not being heeded.
Society hardly a bright and shiny example today, much astray,
And Israel conveying things as he believes them to be, and who’s to say?
He may be right, he may be wrong, but surely he’s entitled to say it, and
Lest it be so, because should something be so, what might the wrong decision hand?
Much scoffed at having proven true, yet, one can always ignore things that are said,
Rather than rounding on decent young folk, who like us, don’t always quite use their head,
When sincerely conveying what they think should be said.
Where people can be proven wrong, lets reason with them rather than condemn them,
And where things can’t clearly be proven either way, lets take hold of wisdom’s hem.
And thus not proving a threat to freedom of expression either way, ’nough said,
Both sides showing the same thought that they desire from each other, using their head.
Yes, freedom of speech is all about protecting Israel Folau’s rights too,
Many only concerned about their own, and not that compass that’s gone askew.
Rights being a two way street — and just as important too, is living rightly,
Not just wanting what suits us, and hardly worrying about society.
Well, Israel is worried about society, hence his blog statement, and
He not just pointing out that one thing mentioned, but other things, I understand.
Things he believed would also cost if they weren’t turned from (and how sad that would be),
He not inciting folk to hate, beat or kill, but to think more seriously.
Perfection’s not found in anyone, we all getting things both right and wrong, and
Aren’t always conveying things well, over exuberance colouring our stand.
Hence how we can be misread, though too many are rushing to judgment too soon,
And some seem stuck in their own little world that seems as far away as the moon.
And nor should we make laws to cocoon everybody from what might upset,
Otherwise, there being no end to such decrees, and soon, serious regret.
Yes, we living in a world that’s not real anymore, but simply window dressed,
And thus tolerance, forbearance and forgiveness unable to meet the test.
To be frank, if anything’s offensive, it’s the hopelessness of Darwin’s theory,
Which also removes morality and just scoffs at accountability.
Now there’s a worry, ’cause if God doesn't exist, anything’s permissible,
And therefore, the soundness and value of Darwin’s theory but invisible.
Okay,
So Israel’s now attributing Australia’s bush fires and drought to
Gay marriages and abortion legalisation, which is also askew.
But say it he’s entitled to, askew as it is, and ignore it we can,
Focussing (like I said) on the better aspects of this good but mistaken man.
At the end of the day, Israel hasn’t raped, stabbed or killed anybody
(As far as I know), and thus just his Facebook posting has done, genuinely.
Not said to assault, maim or murder, and yet you’d think that he’s a criminal,
Going by the roar of many, and some, whose own lives an awful lot could tell.
By Lance Landall
LIBERTY AND FREEDOM QOTES
We
should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression
of opinions that we loathe.
Oliver Wendall Holmes,
Jr (1841-1935)
The truth is found when men are free to pursue it.
Franklin Delano
Roosevelt (1882-1945)
Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.
Edward Everett (1794-1865)
If
liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what
they do not want to hear.
Eric Arthur Blair, pen
name George Orwell (1903-1950)
The price of freedom may be high, but never so costly as
the loss of freedom.
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
The
greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of
zeal, well-meaning
but without understanding.
Louis Dembitz Brandeis
(1856-1941)
The loss of freedom seldom happens overnight...Oppression
doesn't stand on the doorstep with
toothbrush moustache and swastika armband. It creeps up insidiously;
step by step; and all of a
sudden the unfortunate citizen realizes that it is gone.
Baron Lane (1918-2005)
The purpose of freedom of speech -- especially in a
properly protected political debate -- is to allow a verbal
outlet in the marketplace of ideas, and to thereby avoid conflict and
violence.
Becky Hawkins
I prefer liberty with danger than peace with slavery.
Jean Jaqueas Rousseau
(1712 -1778)
Freedom
is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit.
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
The welfare of the people in particular has always been
the alibi of tyrants.
Albert Camus (1913-1960)
Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
Freedom
is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass
it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for,
protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent
we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
George Washington
(1732-1799)
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790)
It is better to die on your feet than to live on your
knees.
Emiliano Zappata
(1879-1919)
God grants liberty only to those who love it and are
always ready to guard and defend it.
Daniel Webster
(1782-1852)
The condition upon which God has given liberty to man is
eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is
at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.
John Philpot Curran
(1750-1817).
He
that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemies from
oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent
that will reach to himself.
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
Freedom of expression is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of
nearly every other form of freedom.
Benjamin Cardozo
(1870-1938)
No
man survives when freedom fails, The best men rot in filthy jails, And
those who cry 'appease, appease' Are hanged by those they tried to
please.
Hiram Mann
The deterioration of every government begins with the
decay of the principles on which it was founded.
Charles-Louis De
Secondat (1689-1755)
Woe to that nation whose literature is cut short by the
intrusion of force. This is not merely interference with freedom
of the press but the sealing up of a nation’s heart, the excision of
its memory.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
(1918-2008)
True
patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.
Clarence Darrow
(1857-1938)
If
I am to be hedged in on every side, to be fretted by the perpetual
presence of arbitrary will, to be denied the exercise of my powers, it
matters nothing to me whether the chain is laid on me by one or many,
by king or people. A despot is not more tolerable for his many heads.
William E. Channing
(1780-1842)
It is the
duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government.
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
Man
is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and
effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As
government expands, liberty contracts.
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.
Tacitus (AD 56-AD117)
When the people fear the government there is tyranny, when the
government fears the people there is liberty.
Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826)
Liberty
has never come from government. Liberty has always come from the
subjects of government. The history of liberty is the history of
resistance. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of
governmental power, not the increase of it.
Woodrow Wilson
(1856-1924)
My reading
of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much
government.
Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826)
A
nation of well-informed men, who have been taught to know and prize the
rights that God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region
of ignorance that tyranny begins!
Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790)
A
nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot
survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable,
for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves
amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through
all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the
traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his
victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the
baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a
nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the
pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no
longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
(106 BC-43 BC)
Many
journalists now are no more than channelers and echoers of what George
Orwell called the 'official truth'. They simply cipher and transmit
lies. It really grieves me that so many of my fellow journalists can be
so manipulated that they become really what the French describe as
'functionaires', functionaries, not journalists.
John Pilger, Australian
journalist
It
is not enough for journalists to see themselves as mere messengers
without understanding the hidden agendas of the message and the myths
that surround it.
John Pilger, Australian
journalist
There are two histories: official history, lying, and then secret
history, where you find the real causes of events.
Honore de Balzac
(1799-1850)
Propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government.
Edward Bernays
(1891-1995)
Official truths are often powerful illusions.
John Pilger, Journalist
The
Press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of the government
and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can
effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the
responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the
government from deceiving the people.
Justice Hugo L. Black
Every man
should know that his conversations, his correspondence, and his
personal life are private.
Lyndon B. Johnson
(1908-1973)
One
of the things that bothers me most is the growing belief in the country
that security is more important than freedom. It ain't.
Lyn Nofziger (1924-2006)
Whoever
would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the
freeness of speech.
Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790)
Secrecy,
being an instrument of conspiracy, ought never to be the system of a
regular government.
Jeremy Bentham
(1748-1832)
To
renounce liberty is to renounce being a man, to surrender the rights of
humanity and even its duties. For he who renounces everything no
indemnity is possible. Such a renunciation is incompatible with man’s
nature; to remove all liberty from his will is to remove all morality
from his acts.
Jean Jacques Rousseau
(1712-1778)
Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.
Edward Everett
(1794-1865)
According
to Gestapo records…they had little need to engage in direct spying on
the citizens since the citizens themselves were more than willing to do
their spying for them.
Kort E. Patterson
Patriotism
means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the
president or any other public official.
Theodore Roosevelt
(1858-1919)
Without
an unfettered press, without liberty of speech, all the outward forms
and structures of free institutions are a sham, a pretense -- the
sheerest mockery. If the press is not free; if speech is not
independant and untrammeled; if the mind is shackled or made impotent
through fear, it makes no difference under what form of government you
live, you are a subject and not a citizen.
William E. Borah
(1865-1940)
The
very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are
as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to
secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the
dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far
outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it.
John F. Kennedy
(1917-1963)
We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.
Edward R. Murrow
(1908-1965)
If
cruelty is no longer declared unlawful, but instead is applied as a
matter of policy, it alters the fundamental relationship of man to
government. It destroys the whole notion of individual rights. The
Constitution recognizes that man has an inherent right, not bestowed by
the state or laws, to personal dignity, including the right to be free
of cruelty. It applies to all human beings, not just in America -- even
those designated as 'unlawful enemy combatants.' If you make this
exception the whole Constitution crumbles.
Alberto J. Mora, former
Navy General Counsel
Liberty may
make mistakes but tyranny is the death of a nation.
Giacomo Matteotti
(1885-1924)
A state of
war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
(1918-2008)
There
hasn't been peace on earth because people cant seem to figure out that
the real enemy is the people manipulating world events from behind the
scenes for their own selfish interests.
James Dye
People don't start wars, governments do.
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
We are on the precipice of being so ignorant that our democracy is
threatened.
Walter Cronkite (
1916-2009)
Government is never more dangerous than when our desire to have it help
us, blinds us to its great power to harm us.
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
Unless bureaucracy is constantly resisted, it breaks down
representative government and overwhelms democracy.
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear
the government there is tyranny.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
Government is not a solution to our problem; government is the problem.
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
I hereby certify that I do not believe in or advocate the initiation of
force as a means of achieving political or
social goals.
The Libertarian Party of
the United States
How fortunate for leaders that men do not think.
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)
Democracy lies in the public knowing the state's doings.
Newspaper Headline
Further food for thought:
When
it comes to freedom of expression, anything and anyone must be fair
game (not exempt from scrutiny and criticism), because any line drawn
is an automatic infringement and one step always being the beginning of
more.
And remember this: That religion should be big enough to
cope with ridicule, and every one of us sensible enough to know that
there's a time, place and way, and every one of us kind enough to show
the same thought and feeling
that we would like to receive from others.
"Let others speak as they will, and your right to speak likewise will be assured, because
it's only by looking after the rights of others that we secure our own."
"It
has ever been the way of man to call some truth a lie and some lie a
truth, and why men often utter with
their lips what their heart denies."
"Though
things are easier said than done, and none of us beyond tripping,
falling or failing, things should
still be said, and things should
still be done."
"If it's true and should be said, then say it, but mind the time, place and way."
The poet, author
And so,
Stand
up, speak out, and if you must, march peacefully and in a dignified
manner, not turning to lawlessness, violence, rioting, foul or
deceptive means, because by such foolish behaviour, you will stand
condemned yourself,
will simply spin that tired old merry-go-round, and harden the resolve of the authorities.
And remember this: Many things that have been achieved via dubious means could’ve just as easily been
achieved if only more voices had been raised and felt in the corridors of power.
SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE QUOTES
"A
civil ruler dabbling in religion is as reprehensible as a clergyman
dabbling in politics. Both render themselves odious as well as
ridiculous."
James Cardinal Gibbons (1834-1921)
"When
a religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and, when
it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support it, so
that its Professors are oblig’d to call for the help of the Civil
Power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."
Benjamin Franklin (stated Oct. 9, 1780)
"All
religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty.
All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty."
Henry Clay (1777-1852)
"Leave
the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private
school, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church
and state forever seperate."
Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885)
"The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state."
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)
"Every
man, conducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to God
alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshipping
the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience."
George Washington (stated May 1789)
"Religion
is essentially distinct from civil Government, and exempt from its
cognizance; ...a connection between them is injurious to both."
James Madison (stated March 19, 1823)
"It
is a fundamental human right, a privilege of nature, that every man
should worship according to his own convictions... It is assuredly no
part of religion to compel religion—to which free-will and not force
should lead us."
Tertullian (c. 160 - c. 200 AD)
"Once you attempt legislation upon religious grounds, you open the way for every kind of intolerance and religious persecution."
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
"Almighty
God hath created the mind free; ...all attempts to influence it by
temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only
to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the
plan of the Holy Author of our religion, who being Lord both of body
and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was
in his Almighty power to do."
Thomas Jefferson (stated 1786)
"If
God himself was not willing to use coercion to force man to accept
certain religious views, man, uninspired and liable to error, ought not
to use the means that Jehovah would not employ."
W.J.Bryan, in introduction to “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson.”
"To
discriminate against a thoroughly upright citizen because he belongs to
some particular church, or because, like Abraham Lincoln, he has not
avowed his allegiance to any church, is an outrage against the liberty
of conscience, which is one of the foundations of American life."
Roosevelt’s letter on religious liberty.
"The
notion that the church, the press, and the universities should serve
the state is essentially a Communist notion. In a free society these
institutions must be wholly free -- which is to say that their function
is to serve as checks upon the state."
Alan Barth (1906-1979)
"I
believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant
nor Jewish — where no public official either requests or accepts
instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of
Churches or any other ecclesiastical source — no religious body seeks
to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace
or the public acts of its officials — and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is
treated as an act against all."
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
“Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between Church and State must therefore answer a difficult question:
Why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly?”
Sandra Day O'Connor
“We
establish no religion in this country. We command no worship. We
mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are and must
remain separate.”
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
"As
Christians we are not here to provide an ethic for society or the
state, but to clearly define an ethic for disciples of Jesus Christ. In
the American system of government it is difficult for this stance to be
understood. We operate with the myth of being a Christian nation, and
we seek to interpret for society an ethic that we can bless as
Christians. We need a new awareness of the pluralism of the New
Testament, that the crucial issue is the difference between the church
and the world, and that the church operates "within the perfection of
Christ," while the world operates outside the perfection or will of
Christ. Christians influence the state for good through Christian
ethics and integrity, but they do not equate church and state. Only an
indepth understanding of this issue can save us from a cultural and a
civil religion."
Myron Augsburger
"We
Christians may not do as Americans something that we must not do as
Christians. As we listen to and debate arguments about going to war,
note how often our Christian identity is subordinated to our American
identity. We have been so formed by the collusion of the church with
America that we find it difficult to even distinguish between Christian
and national identity, and harder to subordinate our national identity
to our identity in Christ."
Jonathan R. Wilson
"Religious and racial persecution is moronic at all times, perhaps the most idiotic of human stupidities."
Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
"To take the sword, gun, or bomb in Christ's name is to repudiate both Christ and his message."
John C. Lennox
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it with religious conviction."
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
"Of all bad men religious bad men are the worst."
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)
"A religion which requires persecution to sustain it is of the devil's propagation."
Hosea Ballou (1771-1852)
"Persecution is disobeying the most solemn injunction of Christianity, under the sham plea of upholding it."
Paul Chatfield
"There
are only two things in which the false professors of all religions have
agreed -- to persecute all other sects and to plunder their own."
Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832)
"The invention of printing and the
Reformation are and remain the two outstanding services of central
Europe to the cause of humanity."
Thomas Mann (1875-1955)
"It is iniquitous, unjust, and most
impolitic to persecute for religion's sake. It is against natural
religion, revealed religion, and sound policy."
William Murray (1705-1793)
Contains Christian content or degree.
This article is found elsewhere on my website.
Why Church And State Should Always Remain Separate
“It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power
to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds
of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988)
“The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless
strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries.”
James Madison
Because Church and State is collusion and failure.
Because separation promotes human rights for all, regardless of religious belief.
Because separation not only keeps religion out of government, but keeps government out of religion.
Because history shows what happens when Church and State are blended, and hence the Protestant Reformation.
Because history shows what happens when the Church gets a hold of the military might of the State.
Because Church and State gives opportunity to opportunists.
Because society isn’t just made up of religious people.
Because Church and State are direct opposites.
Because the Church is all about Christ, and the State is all about man.
Because one adheres directly to ones private life and one adheres directly to ones public life.
Because separation avoids marginalisation of non-members of favoured associations, and consequent denial of protection or privilege.
Because separation both respects the nature of religious faith and supports the maturation of religious liberty.
Because religion wise, everyone should be immune from coercion by individuals, social groups, and every human power.
Because Christians aren't here to provide an ethic for society or the state, but to clearly define an ethic for disciples of Jesus Christ.
Because Church and State can equate to a cult.
Because State sanctioned Churches become puppets of the government.
Because the Christian Bible both warns of and condemns a persecuting religious-political global power that it prophesizes will be reigning just prior to Christ’s return (Rev 13:11-18; 14:9-13), it also being a power that will be but a copy of a past persecuting one, and one that forces all to worship it.
Because there are already those with a certain agenda: "We must move as quickly as possible to a one-world government; a one-world religion; under a one-world leader" — Robert Muller, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations.
Because God-appointed and God-directed theocracy ended with ancient Israel's disobedience, apostasy, and rejection of Christ, and the beginning of Christianity. The New Testament ushering in a new era. No more mediating priests, sacrifices and so on.
Because if set apart ancient Israel was forbidden to make wrongful alliances with others, and given that Christianity is now considered as spiritual Israel, a peculiar people who're to come out of the world, then it would hardly be right for Christians to form wrongful alliances too.
Because God wasn't happy that ancient Israel wanted a king.
Because God has given Christianity no such mandate.
Because it took the Church and State to kill Jesus.
Because God said not to mix the Holy with the unholy.
Because the Church is always corrupted when blended with the State.
Because ones Christian identity shouldn’t be clouded by ones country's identity.
Because followers of Christ are primarily citizens of the kingdom of God and not the kingdom of ones country.
Because Church and State equals faulty witness and backlash against Christians.
Because Christians are to put their trust in God and not man.
Because Christianity and militarism, and State sanctioned executions [the death penalty], don't go together.
Because Jesus shunned political power, was not political, though challenging the religious establishment, that "brood of vipers" called Pharisees.
Because Christ said His kingdom is not of this world. Hence why when on Earth, He didn't try to reform or replace the government, even though it was dishonest and cruel, nor interfere with the authority of those in charge. Christ's kingdom will not be established via the decisions of courts or legislatures.
Because, “And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's...” (Mark 12:17, KJV), thus a clear distinction being made here between the Church and State.
Because Calvary's all about grace, Church and State all about law.
Because Christendom has become more worldly and errant too.
Because the Christian Church is a people who are living midst a mixed multitude. They're not seperated like ancient Israel.
Because the Churches’ witness worldwide is greater if it’s not identified with Western culture or with one or more specific governments.
Because one reason Europeans went to America in the first place was to escape governments that forced a particular religion on them.
Because even if America had begun with Church and State, say, it certainly shouldn't end with it. However, the American constitution's authors actually designed a civil government and not a theocracy. Therefore, there should be no politics from the pulpit and no religion from the Whitehouse.
Because Church and State assumes the right to control the conscience and thus usurps the perogatives of God.
Because forcing Christian ways on people via government is opposed to the way of Christ.
Because when the State heads the Church the integrity of the Gospel is all too easily compromised.
Because religious liberty is a gift of God. Hence why we've been given the choice of following Him or not.
Because Christians can't serve two masters.
Because so many Christians are just as bigger hypocrites, if not more so, which makes their desire for Church and State a gall.
Theocracy is the worst of all possible governments."
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)
"Don't pray that God's on our side, pray that we're on His side."
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
“We at the Christian Coalition are raising an army who cares. We are training people to be effective — to be elected
to school boards, to city councils, to state legislatures, and to key positions in political parties…. By the end of this decade, if we work and give and organize and train, the Christian coalition will be the most powerful political organization in America.”
Pat Robertson, fundraising letter, July 4, 1991
“Tolerance is the worst roar of all, including tolerance for homosexuals, feminists, and religions that
don’t follow Christ.”
Josh McDowell, Youth for Christ rally, 1994
“I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate
is good. Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a Biblical duty, we are called by God, to conquer this country. We
don’t want equal time. We don’t want pluralism.”
Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, quoted in The News-Sentinel, 8-16-93
“It is quite unlawful to demand, defend, or to grant unconditional freedom of thought, or speech, of writing or worship,
as if these were so many rights given by nature to man.”
Pope Leo XIII, “Great Encyclical Letters” (p.16)
“As the nation [America] teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos, observers are reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is broken. But almost no one blames the culprit: our insistence on obedience to the Constitution, with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions…”
Louis Michael Seidman, (Catholic law professor from Georgetown University which is a Jesuit University,
“Let’s Give Up on the Constitution,” The Opinion Pages, New York Times, December 30, 2012).
1)
That the ancient Jews had wrongly interpreted things, pinning their hopes on national greatness and glory too. They thought that the coming Messiah would appear in glory to lead the armies of Israel to victory over their enemies, and thus a new power establishing itself, Christ its head.
However, their rejection of Christ and the Holy Spirit put Christ on the cross at Calvary and led to the sad destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of the Jews worldwide.
2)
That in the days of Elijah, there were many widows in Israel, but that when the famine came, God sent Elijah to stay with a widow in a different country;
that In the days of Elijah, there were many lepers in Israel, yet only Naaman of Syria was healed.
Richard Owen Roberts' words (Looking At America And The Church) are worthy of note:
arrogance that is almost beyond belief. The neglect of prayer, the involvement of Philistine methodology,
the moral evils, and the doctrinal corruptions that characterise the movement are sufficient to cause Sodomites
to wonder at God’s justice in destroying their city while sparing the United States.”
"On the right and on the left, ordained and self-proclaimed "reverends" and honorary "doctors" appear to spend
more time trying to reform a fallen and decaying world through politics and earthly power than they do promoting
and proclaiming the ultimate answer [the gospel] to that fallenness."
I'll let the Bible have the last word here:
"He was granted power to give breath to the image [copy] of the beast [historic persecuting power], that the image
of the beast [coming global power] should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image to be killed [like once before]" (Rev 13:15).
“And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. ["forever and ever" is figurative speech denoting complete destruction]” (Rev 14:11, NKJV).
“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult
the Lord! [sound counsel for Christians too]” (Isa 31:1, ESV).
"These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren." (Prov 6:16-19, KJV).
"Treat others the same way you want them to treat you" (Luke 6:31, NASB).
"Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him"
(1 John 3:15, NIV).
"But I say unto you. Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matt 5:44, KJV).
Some Christians point to 2 Chronicles 7:14 — "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" — but God's promises are conditional, and because of human failure, His purpose regarding Israel was thwarted, and 2 Chronicles 7:14 not applying to any nation today.
History Will Repeat Itself
Just as Paul’s own kind turned on him, and with the evilest of intentions, soToo, will certain Christians turn on their own kind, and that same devilish spirit show.
When ministers of religion unite with secular rulers, Church and State,
Things will be repeated as surely as they were in Paul’s day, enter same hate.
Oh, how such Christians now and in the future misrepresent their God, their Head,
Who long ago, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another,” clearly said.
Not that Christians should be mistreating Christians like those Jews did Paul in his day;
They hardhearted, deluded, fanatical — and doctrinally, well astray.
Yet, so sure they were right, but how could they be, they angry and forcing their way,
Demanding this and that, shoving, turning to earthy rulers too in their day.
And so, just like Paul suffered, so too will Christians at the hands of Christians, and
Just as guilty of the same charges as those Jews in Paul’s day, will also stand.
Yes, history will repeat itself, as it always does when people forget,
Or when they lose their way, bias and close-mindedness ensuring their path’s set.
They so sure they’re doing God’s will, but God nothing to do with it, and one day,
“I never knew you (either),” depart from Me, ye that work iniquity," will say.
By Lance Landall
"For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will
think they are doing a holy service for God" (John 16:2, NLT).
An interesting parallel, above and below.
"He [the coming global government] was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast [a past power], that the image [copy] of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image [copy] of the beast to be killed [here it's referring to dissenters, those who won't bow to certain demands]" (Rev 13:15, NKJV).
"Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus"
(Rev 14:12, RSV).
And how many Christians today falsely believe that the Commandments were abolished at Calvary?
Unlike the apostle Paul:
"Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law"
(Rom 3:31, ESV).
