Throwing Stones

Violent acts should never be an option. This is as true now as it was at the dawn of human existence. The trouble is that we humans never learn our lessons. Why is this? Not even Buddha, Moses or Jesus could rid us of this scourge. To be human is to suffer. God needs us to understand the relationship of ignorance and insecurity in order to reduce any and all societal brutality.

The dragons of Ignorance and Insecurity

Consumerism has contributed to our misunderstanding of this relationship. While it’s true that money and stuff cannot create happiness, it is also true that money and stuff build walls between us. Clearly defining our needs and wants can release our society from the suffering that leads us to violence. But should it be the individual or the collective that defines these needs and wants?

During Covid-19 we saw what happened to the supply chain. The unintended consequences of “shutting down” to reduce virus spread limited certain industries from doing business as usual. Needs for personal protective equipment, medicine and paper products were limited. Certain in-patient and out-patient services were postponed or cancelled. Many events and ceremonies were postponed or cancelled too. During this time we were all stuck in our homes consuming all sorts of things: food, alcohol, drugs, social media, news and online goods. Where was the happiness?

In the above example we can see that individual needs were determined by the collective…Everyone had to go along to get along. If you didn’t follow the rules that were set by politicians then you were considered an outcast. It didn’t matter if you needed to run your in-person business, visit a dying relative or have an outpatient health screening because these normal needs were now considered selfish wants set by a narrative of fear. A collective ignorance associated with denying these individual needs was allowed to develop. A person could be shamed and even shunned based upon many unreasonable factors. I believe that the Covid 19 experience also damaged our emotional maturity resulting in a collective insecurity.

Insecurity arises when ignorance is allowed to grow. Effective communication and information help to dissipate ignorance. When one party will not converse with another other party, the insecurity of that non-communicative party develops into activism which can lead to violent acts. This is true when the ignorance and insecurity is between two individuals, between an individual and a group or between groups.

But the worst violence that occurs is within an individual’s own heart and mind…When this happens, no person or community is spared from the consequences. It takes a deeply disciplined Godly approach to solve one’s own ignorance and insecurity. Emotional maturity depends on this discipline. The true sin is to never understand or comprehend one’s own shortcomings.

Activism that exhibits violence is an injustice to all. We need to look inward before wanting to cast that stone. This is true for all things happening in our liberty minded society today. Oppression is a collectivist scapegoat used to mask ignorance and insecurity. God does not want us to fall pray to it!

When Feelings Don’t Lie

Since the time of Aristotle and no doubt even before, human kind has contemplated our existence. Every individual’s life experience is unique yet we all are conceived, born into existence, live, die and “feel” along that journey.

Where do “feelings” come from? This question is definitely hard to answer. I believe it’s more important to ask what feelings are grounded in. Plato developed more understanding around the latter question. Each individual has their own body/soul linkage…neither are independent from the other because one needs the other to form the basis of the human capacity to feel whether it’s the tangible aspects or the emotional aspects. Yet the body will one day decompose so humans are left with one more question, “What then?”. In this post I will focus only on those feelings that happen while we are alive.

Let’s start with the notion of “world view” which is different for everyone because we all have various family, religious, educational, cultural and geographic situations. This is our immediate experience, our “grounding”. Is the experience (aka grounding) “normal”? Heavens no! There are too many variables to account for. The grounding is the individual’s acceptance of their earthly experiences. It’s all relative to the order that is necessary for procreation of the human race without which we would not exist. This order is actually that which is normal. Societies are meant to thrive by bringing forth life within a structured familiarity (i.e. world view).

Our “world view” experience can expand with the help of modern technology. Travel, communication and media connect us with even more variety, but is this experience “grounding”? Heavens no again! These technological advances are a marvelous tangible distraction, but they do very little to advance our metaphysical sensibilities. The human soul was already a package deal from conception…Life on this planet is a distraction from the soul’s real purpose which is a oneness with God’s love for us. Ultimately He created us and wants us to live our physical lives graciously with each other before returning to Him in the metaphysical world.

As I have pointed out in my previous blogs (see https://shrewview.com/2019/04/03/a-religion-for-our-time/), order is based in the Male Principle (MP). Feelings that are grounded in the MP are orderly and cause no emotional distress. On the other hand, feelings that are grounded in the Female Principle (FP) are chaotic and cause much emotional distress…our metaphysical selves are always trying to balance these two Principles while we live in the physical world. Our feelings are expressions of this dual energy. Hence, our physical capacity to exist in this duality may or may not “fit” into the physical order of earthly circumstances. We see extremely ugly expressions of these dualistic feelings revealed as depression, anxiety, addiction, self harm or harm to others. The oneness with this ugly energy is our satan, our evil. There is no grounding, only physical and metaphysical unrest.

Honor your feelings but learn their value. The awareness they bring is for only you to understand because there is a much deeper duality at play…The middle path is not necessarily the safest and each extreme is not always the only choice. You must comprehend the metaphysical Male (order) and Female (chaos) Principles to actuate a balanced life in the physical world. The lie comes when you shun this reality and exist on a merely physical basis…living life becomes chaotic and difficult in a real sense.

Soon humans will be sold a non-physical experience in order to create a more “perfect” concept of “reality”. This experience is not metaphysical even though the Company logo identifies itself as “meta”. This will be corporate cronyism at its finest. Remember what I said previously, societies are meant to thrive by bringing forth life within a structured familiarity. We are not meant to be used and manipulated by others for a social purpose…The Male Principle and the Female Principle will be replaced with radically formulated principles in this new non-physical experience. This artificial “grounding” will give us everything we want and need for a fulfilling yet manipulated life experience. It “feels” wonderful, but it will cost us our God given free will…just what satan wants.

Lies can be easily sold to you if your feelings are not grounded first and foremost in God’s love for you. Removing the familiarity of God from society IS destructive to your soul.

Triple A Consequences

Are you part of a group? By group, I mean a set of people who have something in common. If you are part of a group, is it important that you all think alike and act the same? Are there rules for your group and consequences when someone breaks a rule? What are the benefits of being in your group?

When I was young I belonged to a group of neighborhood friends. The neighborhood was what we had in common. Initially we all went to the same grammar and elementary schools. Some of us went to churches of different religions in the same neighborhood too. We liked to hang out, play games, celebrate happy occasions and sometimes even get in trouble. That was kid stuff!

By middle school some of us went to different schools and so became part of other groups like sports, theater and music groups. Then as teenagers we each had to focus on what life had in store for our individual future development. College, the trades, or work became the focus yet there was always some time somehow to reconnect with that old neighborhood group. Change for our group was inevitable because even though we shared the old neighborhood as a common bond, none of us had the same talent, skill, passion or drive. The only rule was to be kind to each other. The only benefit was that we were friends. The rule and benefit extended to anyone else who wanted to be with us and abide by the same rule of kindness.

Be kind, be friendly. These are the best rules for being in a group…Any more rules can become a clique. I’m not fond of cliques because they tend to be exclusive.

It’s not a stretch to say that some groups are social constructs. The people in the group are socially connected with a common sense of belonging. When this belonging becomes a vehicle for “social change” then it is important to be critical of the group’s goals. Goals are different from rules because goals are the changes being sought. Are the goals inclusive or exclusive? Do the goals uplift all people or deprive some people of their rights?

It is very important for an individual to understand completely why they identify with a particular group before they become engaged with them. This is the ultimate struggle humanity faces! Insidious people often build social systems (ie. constructs) that tend to erode public trust. Once the system is in place, those who identify with it on some level can be swept up by its ideology often without realizing the consequences. What are those consequences? 1) Allegiance to the group, 2) Activism without critical thought, 3) Anger toward everyone outside the group. This triple A rating (Allegiance, Activism, Anger) is a sign of danger to the freedoms we hold dear in the USA. Kindness disappears. It can be an emotional struggle to remove yourself from a socially constructed group.

I think most independent people are smart. They may not engage in many group affiliations. Usually they are committed to reason. They are the ones to discern the dangers of the triple A consequences and vote against them regardless of the propaganda narrative. And if they miss the danger the first time, they will definitely correct it the next time. As the proverb goes: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Don’t get fooled again…Discern the dangers, correct the consequences.

Giving Over Personal Control

It’s true! Bit by bit my incredibly ordinary life is being controlled by forces that have very little compassion for me and my values. What forces? Basically they would be anything and anyone in government that I personally cannot hold accountable for actions that are contrary to my welfare.

The “general welfare” clause in the US Constitution is incredibly important for the individual citizen. General is meant as inclusive rather than exclusive AND very different from “for the public (common) good”.Think of it this way…As one individual in a family, that one person has the same personal rights and responsibilities as every person in that family to keep that family whole. But, not everyone in the family has the same abilities so each individual must learn how to contribute to the family’s overall health and survival. It’s just the same for our nation! We as individuals with our own unique abilities have the rights and responsibilities to keep our country whole. WE do this…We The People. Get it?

Each of us have the self-governing authority to ensure a governance that promotes our general welfare. This means that elected officials and administrative bureaucrats must use BEST PRACTICES to ensure the security of each and every individual who is a citizen of the country that ALL OF US are a part of, a.k.a. the More Perfect Union. Not the “Perfect Union” because we all know nothing and no one is perfect, but we can and must at least strive for a perfection which is God’s will NOT man’s will. As a child of God and as an individual of our human family I honor others of my human family by helping and not hurting our general welfare.

Elected officials and administrative bureaucrats hurt our general welfare by using their will to control the general population. Methods of this control typically come in the form of Congressional overreach. For example: The Democratic Party for years have been wanting single payer health care. To achieve this end they put out the narrative that 30 million people every year go without any health insurance and therefore go into debt trying to pay back bills for their major medical care (we can equate this initiative to the current college debt forgiveness). This narrative is repeated over and over with help from the liberal media in effect drowning out any hard data that shows many of these people are temporarily without insurance because of a job change, a lifestyle interruption, preferring to pay cash, or have no idea they can negotiate their costs and afford a pay back plan. Leaving out this hard data creates the perception of a “crisis”, therefore health insurance for 320 million people must change for the needs of 30 million people who are either in a transition for health insurance or who know how to deal with their health care needs in their own way. Reality could indicate that only 500 thousand people need actual help which could be managed through their representatives directly or through a charity source. Interestingly, much of this debt was directly forgiven anyway by every healthcare user through increased facility costs which you have much more control over rather than your tax dollars going into a federal healthcare fund.

Enter the “care team” of the federal government…Taxpayers across the board foot the bill that bureaucrats implement through laws, regulations and IRS oversight. I don’t know these people! I’ll never meet these people and there is no guarantee I can even talk to them. Yet the money from my paycheck that goes to Washington DC is supposedly working for my benefit. Congressional oversight of the administrative state is currently a lever only pulled by a Democrat majority (with help from a Republican establishment), which is to say that oversight isn’t actually happening for our general welfare. Control is in their hands. Affordability is never a result. My tax dollars are being spent on initiatives that go counter to my values in some cases.

Even “private” industry is tracking our second amendment right. Government along with Big Tech definitely have an interest in this.

In the not too distant future nothing the individual does will be left unchecked which is the complete opposite of the limited government that our forefathers envisioned. Once the federal government has access to your health care practices, education choices, energy usage and banking records you have handed over control of your ability to decide what is best for your general welfare. Your Liberty is not even an option. The only choice you will have is at a federally mandated voting booth (or app lol), but the results will be made by majority rule conditioned by media propaganda. Personal rights and responsibilities become obligations and contrition.

We as individuals, families and communities take care of ourselves. Politicians and bureaucrats do not take care of us, and regulations should be implemented only when clear and scientific data along with bipartisan debate ensures that liberties are minimally encroached. When a federal government works hard to divide people racially, culturally, economically and politically then it becomes harder for us to form bonds to take care of each other and easier for that manipulative government to provide that care by picking winners and losers with our own tax dollars.

Never allow yourself to be guided toward division against your fellow man. Let go and let God as it is said. Pray for more kindness in all of our hearts. And treat your neighbor the way you would want to be treated. Love is a verb, use it.

The Autonomy Illusion

Definition of autonomy from Mariam-Webster dictionary

1: the quality or state of being self-governing especially : the right of self-government.

2: self-directing freedom and especially moral independence-personal autonomy

3: a self-governing state

The current transformation toward World “Liberal” Governance will destroy our US Constitution and the protections we enjoy for our individual autonomy. This is “No joke” as President Biden would say…In fact his current administrative State supports this proposition!

A “Liberal” according to the same Mariam-Webster dictionary is one who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional, or established forms or ways. When the term is used politically it is a philosophy based on the belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, the autonomy of the individual, and government as a crucial instrument for the protection of political and civil liberties. Sounds great doesn’t it! However this definition isn’t exactly what the U.S. is bargaining for with a “Liberal” World Government. Our traditions are being transformed, but to what? Are our political and civil liberties really being protected? And if the human race is essentially good, why even bother with checks and balances or defining what it is to be “bad”? Is my morality also like your morality?

For autonomy to work well, morals must be front and center. Morals are relayed in several ways…Biblically, traditionally and authoritatively. Many times one way will build off of another to help reinforce morals. Success is most often achieved through early life lessons. Otherwise obtaining and maintaining a new moral system can be exceptionally difficult, in fact doing this can become quite tyrannical.

Education is the next extremely important ingredient for autonomy. We are all imperfect and make mistakes, but there are people and events that have come before us that can provide excellent examples to educate ourselves to do what is right and kind rather than what is wrong and mean. History can repeat itself whether it’s yours or a society’s. We must learn from these examples in order to progress to that which is better. The Bible, our shared cultural traditions, and our system of law and order are American anchors of stability which the authority (aka tyranny) of a New World Order will not accept.

Finally, a world system of governance would be fraught with failure. We can see this in some of our own federally run programs. Waste, fraud and corruption are easily hidden in the labyrinth of unionized government employment and bureaucracy. Blow a whistle and you will lose your job and status. Hold the line and make no waves and you will receive a kickback. Ethics and morals are out the window! Self-governance happens best when implemented small and local. I know this because I’ve served as a city councilor after being part of a community “watchdog” group to rein in astronomical property tax increases. When government officials actually have the opportunity to meet their constituents then it’s easier to hold these officials accountable. How the heck would you or I be able to hold a world bureaucracy accountable when we can’t even get our elected representatives to solve our nation’s problems? Bigger government leads to more unaccountable incompetence.

Local control of elected and appointed officials is critical to America’s success as a nation.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” This preamble had you and me in mind when it was written by men who yearned to be free from religious and political tyranny. We must not allow our individual autonomy to be made an illusion by the current men and women who yearn to create a world that is free from want while forgetting that their self aggrandizement has a sub-optimal effect on others. Tyranny is sure to follow and Liberty will be hard to win back again. Liberal World Government will bring division rather than unity, war rather than peace, and secrecy rather than transparency. How moral is that!?

Shrew View: Oh Women, My Women

Women are more than a word and more importantly women must remain the word.

“Trans woman” Lia Thomas (pictured left) is NCAA “Woman” of the Year.

Just as culturally ethnic people have norms and experiences attributed to them, biological women own their norms and experiences. It is illogical to me that radical leftists scream racism and cultural appropriation relating to people of color while also trying to pawn off the idea that a biological man can claim to be a woman. What these leftists want the mainstream populace to believe is that two genders (male as man and female as woman) is an idea constructed solely to make humans conform to one or the other. Poppycock!

Anatomy and hormones are hard facts for determining gender. Sure, we can and should acknowledge that there are birth anomalies that can blur this distinction, but these are not the norm and parents along with their pediatrician choose the best path forward for these beautiful individuals. Any other “gender” description beyond man or woman is based on personality, is an appropriation of gender and harms societal norms.

Women are suffering the most during this absurd time of gender appropriation. Through the decades women fought hard for their autonomy and equal rights. Sisterhood, motherhood and menopause are distinctly anatomical and hormonal in their development. Men can never experience these physical and emotional demands no matter how they change their hormones or anatomy. And sexuality is not the same as gender…sexuality is about who or what you fuck! So, when you are asked what your sex is this too is gender based as male or female, one or the other. God gave us genitalia to procreate our species…we can’t fake this no matter how you get your sexual thrills!

We women must remain strong in word and deed. We cannot allow our righteous power to be usurped by personalities that demand our privileges. Men cannot be women. “Trans-women” are not women but rather men with very feminine tendencies, and this is fine as long as actions are clearly modeled as such. The world is a far more interesting place when individuals believe they are blessed by God given physical and metaphysical attributes, these cannot be taken away except if a government steps in to create laws denying them. However, when individuals appropriate new supposed “genders” government then must step in to define them and the laws to grant special “rights”.

New gender definitions beyond women and men are stepping stones to Artificial Intelligence “rights”. We must be careful what our culture and our government begin to normalize. Extinction of the human race could be legalized if we aren’t careful. Think about it.

Is Less Really More?

Empty store shelves, back-ordered web purchases, higher food costs, increasing energy prices, slower services, and hours cut back at your favorite restaurant or coffee shop…How are you adjusting?

I remember several household habits from my childhood quite distinctly:

– Keeping lights off in a room that you were not using;

– Dad cleaning the dishes by hand;

– Mom giving the hair cuts;

– One bathroom for a household of seven people being do-able;

– Cans of vegetables being stored and rotated in the basement;

– Re-using or re-purposing plastic food containers, brown paper grocery bags, wrapping paper, news paper, milk jugs, etc…

I also remember as a family we would go out to eat on rare occasions, get along with one car just fine, and communicate with one home phone. I am a child of parents who grew up during the depression. The 1970’s weren’t the 1930’s, yet hard times did make their appearance none the less. Learning how to adapt to hard times is a skill not easily acquired if you have never been exposed to hard times. Our current inflation is a good reminder that hard times can make an appearance no matter what the circumstances.

Sometimes habits or behaviors from one generation transfer to the next…Obviously all the above household habits are healthy habits and I have used the experiences at times in my own adulthood. Reduce, reuse, recycle therefor comes naturally to me as does planning for one trip to grocery shop for the week and minimizing the stuff I WANT to have as opposed to the stuff that I NEED to have. But I really don’t think that my example has been adopted by my children all that well. My children have not been spoiled, but I think the consumer-driven era that they have grown up with can really spoil the generations of its time.

It’s a Woolworth vs an Amazon mentality. Either you can walk about a mile or so to get your basics or you can sit and have many different boxes and bags delivered on your doorstep. It’s a Main Street vs a Corporate Monstrosity mentality. Either you want to be in person with your community or you want a socially distant social media pseudo relationship. When people need a web device to direct their day to day experiences, then I suppose there may be less aggravation and more time for other experiences. But when people must use a more “hands on” and in-person approach to daily life, then one might find that less consumerism is actually required perhaps because the physical sensations are more satisfying. Sure, there may be more frustrations when you can’t find exactly what you want, but that can happen at Woolworth or Amazon. Some of us are just that picky lol! The ability to curb frustration is a cornerstone of healthy character building.

I believe that the Covid19 pandemic has really shed some light on this topic. Locking people down in their homes has driven the web-based consumer appetite to higher levels. This is obvious given the billions of dollars that the owners of these platforms have amassed. Lock-downs have also reinforced the notion that physically distancing from others is a medical necessity to minimize the spread of germs, but is there more to maintaining a healthy immune system? Of course there is! The average physically fit person on zero medications is a virus’s worst nightmare. Being around people when you are a healthy, fit individual builds immunity for the whole environment…Immunologists have known this for decades if not centuries.

A society that emulates a place of scarcity is similar to putting healthy, fit individuals in hiding from a virus…Wealth (similar to immunity) is not allowed to spread. In fact, hoarding can happen. But when a society embraces abundance, it builds wealth (i.e. immunity) for everyone in the environment and is almost “contagious”, but in a good way…Wealth and giving among and between individuals spreads! An individual in the USA always has the choice in an abundant environment to cut back on their consumption either to save money for the things that they wish to redirect the money for or to maintain a perspective of “reduce, reuse, recycle” (less can become more). However an individual living in an environment of scarcity will never be able to improve the quality of their consumption (less is always less). We should never allow the elitists in government to control our marketplace by imposing their will on our choices and our freedom of movement.

I want my children to live in a country where there is limitless abundance and opportunity for all individuals. A country that uses the framework of God’s Laws to help guide their choices and the Rule of Law to help hold them responsible. LESS control imposed by government IS MORE freedom for we the people!

The Representative Power Play

Our government seems to be conditioning its citizens into believing that those who were elected to represent them are actually working on their behalf. I’m not talking about how the government “gets things done”. Those “things” are probably not at all needed by the citizens of a Liberty-minded nation. Every one of those “things” must be measured within the context of the Constitution and existing law…Capitol Hill’s charter. I’m talking about how the government enriches itself by using its power to manipulate legislation according to the demands of the corporate donor class.

Think about this, President Trump was very successful growing the economy and building workable treaties and agreements with and among nations. Most of his actions were challenged in the courts and this was fine…It’s one method of checks and balance in our system. When the economy grew, jobs were available, innovation was allowed to thrive, the tax base expanded and our CO2 emissions actually went down. https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/greenhouse-gas-emissions-continue-decline-american-economy-flourishes-under-trump-0 … And, try as hard as they might, Congress was unable to remove a President that understood the underbelly of the corporate donor class. Trump was elected by we the people to represent middle class America and the entrepreneurial spirit.

Well, what does an elected ruling class like Congress do when their perceived power is interrupted by a successful President? Everything in their power of course. We saw this play out in almost every format available to these corporate brown nosers when mainstream media colluded by disseminating misinformation, social media canceled opposing opinions and a multitude of “crises” overwhelmed traditional systems.

Representative influence…One heaping pile 💩

Build Back Better is nothing but a Biden Administration term for corporate cronyism. His decades of time spent on Capitol Hill makes him a certified corporate brown noser. His track record of helping credit card companies over consumers’ best interests shows how compassionate he is to corporate banks which now under the global economy will impose ESG scores on businesses that don’t comply with new global “norms”… https://www.alva-group.com/blog/what-is-an-esg-score-and-how-is-it-calculated/ Free markets will be demolished.

It’s time for voters to take a serious and honest look at how their representatives (Nationally and locally) have used their power, understand that both political parties have abused their power, look closely at their records and listen to how they answer tough questions. What do they consider a real crisis and how do they plan to fix it? Does the plan focus on actionable measures with clearly defined results? Is there precedence to learn from before enacting such measures? Voters must focus on policies and not personalities…Anyone can seem like a nice person or be rough around the edges, but what are their results?

A government that isn’t willing to self reflect on their own abuses is not a government of, by and for the people. The commander in chief must hold their justice department accountable to those who are not in power and investigate the federal agencies; agencies that spend more and more taxpayer dollars to undermine taxpayer rights.

I’m waiting patiently for Congress to get a grip on themselves. This will only come when we the people elect representation that respects the rights of the individual and the entrepreneur. Anything else is cronyism and self serving.

Woke to Wickedness

Wicked, adjective – evil or morally wrong; intended to or capable of harming someone or something (Google dictionary)

Do you really want to know why certain people seem to be melting down over perceived differences as a nation?

I watch all news channels, listen to podcasts and radio programs from various sources, and read news clips and books from all authors on both sides of an issue. I like doing this because my questioning takes on a much deeper meaning…not everyone is right and not everyone is wrong, and, in point of fact, much material can seem to be simply glossed over or blatantly left out.

I’ve been following the chaos that has been developing since before the 2017 general election. I try to make sure that my research and sources have a very broad scope because I like to keep in mind my friends, family and acquaintances who are all very different people with diverse thoughts, ethnicities and group affiliations. I feel blessed to have come from a type of background which placed me in diverse situations when I was growing up because not everyone gets to see and experience what our large, complex, multi-ethnic, culturally diverse country has to offer, and, quite frankly, it is not until you are past the age of 50 can you appreciate the exposure.

“Wickedness was like food: once you got started it was hard to stop; the gut expanded to take in more and more.” – John Updike, The Witches of Eastwick

I believe the “wicked food” Updike is referring to is connected our egos as individuals. Lately we have been digesting this food at an alarming rate. We must make an effort to look outside ourselves and take smaller bites, chew the information a few more times and rinse it down with a heavy dose of calm reason. It is our ability to reason that will connect our mind to our heart and drive a wedge between wickedness and our ego.

Consider the wickedness of the Socialist/Marxist movement that’s been brewing. It does not believe in the individual’s capacity to succeed in a free market system, yet this movement does believe that a small group of elites have the capacity to tell each person what they can do, think, and be…

The harmful wickedness fed to people of all races by an elite few in America today is unquestionable. I present to you a few examples:

1) The rewriting of history (As in the 1916 Project) instead of adding more information that is fact based to improve upon its richness.

2) The removal of historic statues and plaques by force without considering their context and significance for a teachable moment.

3) Banning certain types of free speech no matter who might be either offended or positively inspired.

4) Condoning mob rule when such behavior infringes on the rights of others.

5) Reworking social interactions in order to remove the possibility of proper civil discourse.

6) Changing the meaning of words to abuse cultural norms instead of creating new words that might reflect better our human progression.

7) Segregating  differences as a way to cause chaos instead of promoting our human capacity to allow for differences as a means to grow spiritually and intellectually.

You might be able to think of a few more examples.

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Consider these solemn words from Jane Austin:

“When I look out on such a night as this, I feel as if there could be neither wickedness nor sorrow in the world; and there certainly would be less of both if the sublimity of Nature were more attended to, and people were carried more out of themselves by contemplating such a scene.”

All of us have the capacity to be individual ambassadors of good will in our pursuit of happiness in this land of liberty which is grounded in Judeo-Christian principles. Put the politics aside! Let wickedness reign no more…