Tag: secular

Houston, We Have A God Problem

As we mere mortals reach for the stars and the moons and the galaxies, we must first ground ourselves in Truth for it is this Truth that paved our way to the stars, moons and galaxies.

God’s creation is an orderly approach to what then become the creations of men and women. Notice that there is nothing humankind can create that isn’t from an existing element which only God could create. In nature, only elements up to atomic number 94 exist; to go further, it is necessary to synthesise new elements in the laboratory. All synthetic elements are unstable, but they decay at widely varying rates: the half-lives of their longest-lived isotopes range from microseconds to millions of years.* Scientific methods are human made. We should not consider ourselves as God because only His creations, including you and me, are infinite.

Alternatively, the human mind is much more than a creation of God. Human kind can use the mind to imagine and act out a multitude of scenarios. The mind is chaotic and requires proper guidance. But who’s guidance? I believe it must be guidance by God. Hence the formation of the Torah, the Bible and other religious books and systems. ‘In the beginning was the Word’ means ‘at the beginning of everything, there was the entity we know as God, who embodied, and created, the rational principle on which everything is founded’. Divinely inspired Truth is the fundamental basis of human thought which lead to the natural rights ensconced in the U.S. Constitution. This is what makes us a free people in America.

Beware the man made “systems” that remove God’s meaning and purpose. Secular is non religious yet was never meant to be non God. Religion is a man made system for being with and relating to God as science is a man made system for being with and organizing God’s creation on earth. Likewise government is a man made system for organizing a community of humans. Humans are a creation of God which He saw as good. However humans have the capability of committing acts both good and bad which is why God also created boundaries by handing down The Word through prophets and articles like the 10 Commandments. This is where secularists and atheists always get stuck…The “separation” of church and state is not a clause in the Constitution. Instead the Constitution guarantees no establishment of one religion for the state or states https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/885/establishment-clause-separation-of-church-and-state … Belief in God and the individual’s practice of religion was sacrosanct.

Fix reason in her place…

We have taken this freedom for granted. We can witness this in the human chaos that is all around us. The frailty of the human spirit is reflected in the blatant rejection (“revolution”) of the boundaries of scientific methods, man’s laws and the constitutional limits all of which have been traditionalized in our secular world. This rejection has conditioned many people to believe in human made false gods such as climate change, critical race theory and party politics…Modern day golden idols shining as stars and moons and galaxies for those who worship them and attempt to control others through them. Man’s misuse of the military industrial complex is an unfortunate outcome of this Godless control.

Ground yourself by getting real with God. Place importance in objective truths. If your faith in God is weak then you are vulnerable to the evils, the false gods, the golden idols of our material world. You don’t need to follow a church or a preacher, but you do need to educate yourself with The Word by following a kind and humble path with similar seekers. God is Love, Light and the Way.

*from Wikipedia

God is For Giving

Ah the Holidays! Traditions that give our existence in the United States a meaning that goes beyond the words we know as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year. And meaning is so very important to the human species…We all know these dates exist in earthly time, and attached to these dates there are national as well as religious and family traditions, but reverence is definitely the central theme for them all.

Reverence is a showing of deep respect. The Holidays during November through December allow us to set aside time in our lives to dwell on this deep respect. But what or who are we to be respectful of or to? Think about this for a moment, if we secularize these special days then why would respect ever enter into any part of a holiday’s recognition or tradition? The truth is, these are holy days and the secular has no place in them.

God is Love

Oh sure, Thanksgiving can be about turkey, Christmas and Hanukkah about lights and gifts, Kwanzaa about community, and New Years about starting anew. We can even give a “sinister” new meaning to them as Thanksgiving has unfortunately acquired because of our ability to associate current human progress with past human realities…Hindsight is always 20/20.

But a nation needs its traditions in order to build upon its positive communal spirit. And the best way to build a positive communal spirit is to give joy and love to our gatherings. God as the “Great Creator” is the silver lining of our most profound loss and the essence of everlasting Love. To revere God is to give the greatest gift of all which is compassion. A nation that builds upon Godly traditions is at its most compassionate. Secular traditions eventually become divisive because there is no unifying principle to humble the communal spirit. Turkeys, evergreen trees, presents, candles and ball-drops are not unifying principles!

Because God is forgiving, God is for giving. Our nation’s year-end celebrations are meaningful because God has shown us the way. May we be blessed enough to know this Love, respect it, and share it always.

Shrew U: Reading List…

One big reason why I started my blog, The Shrew, was to create a journal documenting a female perspective counter to mainstream influences like that of the women on the ABC talk show The View.  It is very apparent to me that the most vocal women on The View (Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar specifically) have absolutely no desire to do meaningful research beyond their own closed boarders of “the resistance”.  The gossip, innuendo and emotional superficiality on The View perpetuates the often “catty” stereotype of the female human species and sets back the progress of intellectual women everywhere.  Who watches this garbage?

The following is my recommended reading list for women and men who wish to honestly understand the social, political and emotional underpinnings of why the “resistance” movement is a non-starter for the majority of people in the United States:

  • Fields of Blood: Religion and The History of Violence by Karen Armstrong
  • Sapiens; A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
  • The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
  • Where Do We Go From Here; Chaos or Community? By Martin Luther King, JR
  • The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You’ve Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson by David Barton Thomas
  • Jefferson and The Tripoli Pirates by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yeager
  • The War on Cops; How The New Attack On Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe by Heather MacDonald
  • The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter Godwin Woodson
  • The African Background Outlined by Carter Godwin Woodson
  • The Righteous Mind; Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
  • Cop Under Fire: Moving Beyond Hashtags of Race, Crime and Politics For A Better America by Sheriff David Clarke JR.
  • Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell
  • Sacred Instruction; Indiginous Wisdom For Living by Sherri Mitchell
  • 12 Rules For Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson
  • Stealing America: What My Experience with Criminal Gangs Taught Me About Obama, Hillary and The Democratic Party by Dinesh D’Souza
  • Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
  • A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
  • Black Rednecks and White Liberals by Thomas Sowell

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This list of nonfiction literature encompasses various perspectives from authors who are passionate about their topics.  Even though many of these books are not in themselves a balanced perspective, I have found that a balance is gained by reading the complete selection.  Why?  Because the books that drive on emotion lack references to actual contextual data and the books that drive on references to actual contextual data lack emotion.  We need both experiences in order to form a compassion that has integrity from which to speak and act effectively.

My religious faith has in the past two years made it known that it is part of the “Resistance Movement” which is why I no longer support the Unitarian Universalist (UU) Association.  I’ve been doing my due diligence and reading quite a bit to understand the logic behind this movement.  I’ve also met with my minister to voice my concerns.  My church only encourages the reading of emotional literature (The New Jim Crow) and preaches a narrative of white supremacy as well as toxic masculinity.  Please tell me how this approach furthers our doctrine of peace among people?  It doesn’t!  Hiding behind a “spiritual” and emotional mask does not automatically make you moral.  Actions and words have consequences.  You cannot say that you “side with LOVE” (a current UU catch phrase) and then support a movement of hate-filled rhetoric.  Marginalizing whiteness and masculinity is in actuality a quasi-creed for the UU religion and I cannot condone the practice.  UU’s have always boasted that they are non-credal.  This doctrine does not support a spiritual belief, instead it moves it toward the political which is completely out of the realm of religion.  It encapsulates the heart, closing the door on true compassion for humanity and oneness with our Creator.  When religion becomes political, chaos and tyranny will follow.  Just think about how kings in the past usurped the “God” Priciple to subjugate their kingdoms…Is this now similar to Athiest Democrats and Progressives exclusively claiming the moral high ground while at the same time trying to get rid of those who uphold Judeo-Christian values as well as the Constitution, both of which are being tread upon in the current political and cultural environment?

My next blog will focus on the deterioration of representative leadership in the U.S.

 

I’m Shrewd: Religion and Values

Religion and Values

What does one value when leading a secular life? What does one reflect upon when leading a secular life?  

When I was young I can remember that Sunday was sacred. My mom, dad, siblings and I went to church, mom would make an exceptional Sunday dinner and the whole family and sometimes a friend or two would make it a point to gather and enjoy eachother’s company. Most stores were closed and liquor wasn’t sold until after noon. For me, Sunday was time to relax before the busy week ahead, especially when school was in session. I valued the peace and reflection that Sunday’s brought.

While my children were young I began to implement a similar Sunday routine. It was different, however, because my then husband really didn’t want to “do church”. He liked that our children had this routine, but he didn’t value the practice for himself even though we both grew up in the same religion. For Sunday dinner I would either cook a traditional meal that my mother would have made or travel nearly two hours to eat and relax at my mother’s house with my siblings and their spouses and children. Unfortunately by this time my father had passed away.

Today the times have changed. Mom has passed away too and my children are grown and living on the other side of the country. Will my children continue similar practices when they have their own children? I suppose this might depend on how much they valued the past practice and if Sunday remains sacred to them.  Since 1999 every day now seems so busy.  Opportunities to work, shop, and be entertained have increased dramatically since then.  As a culture we have taken Sunday and made it as any other day.  One has to be very intentional in order to implement a day of rest and reflection…We wonder why our mental health is suffering so!  The practice of this day of rest is no longer valued by a majority of folks.  I find the secular way of living chaotic and mind numbing.  What does one value when leading a secular life?  What does one reflect upon when leading a secular life?  Is it fulfilling to take a walk in the woods with your electronic device?  Is science really an alternative to the wonder that is felt by simply taking out time to meditatively observe the expanse of the universe?  Can a Sunday morning political panel explain the complex nature of humanity?

We are seeing increased drug abuse, suicide, murder, homelessness and lack of respect for personal boundaries.  I contend that these selfish behaviors are a result from government (AKA secular) interventions that have, on the surface, seemed compassionate, however, in actuality they do nothing to connect a person to the spirit of giving and the value of this gifting.  Government programs are no substitute for personal responsibility.

We must get back to valuing a day of rest and reflection which is an intentional path for developing dignity and purpose for living.  Think about it…Do you want a government authority telling you what should be your values?  Aren’t values subjective?  If my government takes away my personal perspective, feelings or opinions of something and interprets them for me by a statement of “these are our values”, then must I comply?  And if I think or feel differently and express that opinion am I no longer part of my community?  This is not a hallmark of Liberty folks, instead I sense a tyranny beyond belief!  My work, my income, my home is no longer my valued domain; instead it is only valuable to the government for its programs and what they deem worthy to fund through their appropriation.

Be wary of Federal Government and political compassion.  Do not allow it to be a substitute for your own compassion.  Practice responsible free thought and expression by considering its cause and effect.  Put your values into service at home and in your community.  These are the greatest gifts we bring and they reflect our individually Devine purpose for being.

The U.S. Constitution provides the framework for American values and our elected leaders take an oath to uphold this framework, not to abuse the context and dare to eliminate or reframe the fundamental rights of the people: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.