A loyalty is a perceived moral obligation. It may be a misplaced sense of obligation, but people will be loyal to what they believe to be morally important. A street gang, a family, and a religious denomination are alike in the sense they have, even if unwritten, a list of moral obligations to the group. This moral sense of duty to a specific group can be heroic or demonic. History is full of examples of great sacrifice and heroism done for the benefit of one's group or people. On the other hand sectarian loyalties have led to unbelievable barbarism.
Slavery depended on sectarian loyalty. It was so obviously morally bankrupt it had to be defended by pitting white against black, north against south, states rights against the federal government, Democrat against Republican. The slave holders had to depend on the racial, regional and political prejudices to overcome the moral perverseness of their cause. If the Americans who lived then had their moral priorities (loyalties) in order there would have been no reason to fight the Civil War. Before we pass judgement on that generation however we have our own issues. Pro-abortion advocates use the same tactics on this generation. They pit male against female, Conservative against liberal, the religious against non-religious, Republican against Democrat. When an issue is made into a sectarian cause and the sectarian loyalty card is used the most awful practice can be defended by simply playing upon man kinds tribal instincts.
This is the very reason I believe my loyalties should be prioritized. There is a higher moral obligation that transcends any sectarian affiliation I have here on earth. Just because something happens to benefit my segment of society does not make it right. It is also true that something that may inconvenience me and mine is not necessarily wrong. There are moral truths that apply universally and are worth my loyalty to them. No matter what my country, community, church, party or family believe and practice, my first obligation is to the Biblical God.
The reason I use the term, "Biblical God." If I do not use a written revelation of God and His will, I can make my own god and conveniently apply to him any attributes or tenets I feel necessary to justify any behavior at any time. The Biblical God set parameters for our behavior and the Bible prioritizes our allegiances. It takes into account our desire to belong to a community and be affiliated with like minded individuals. Loyalty is an honorable trait that inspires great acts of courage and human sacrifice. But misplaced loyalties can be used to encourage and justify any action no matter how cruel and detrimental to others.
If our first priority is to an earthly sect be it racial, national, political or religious we become ripe for the use of those who play upon our differences to do mischief. Through the lens of sectarian unquestioned loyalties any war can be justified any injustice excused and any cruelty rationalized. Our God in His Holy Bible has left us the freedom to join and promote any cause we see fit. He lets us love and defend our nation and promote the beliefs of our favorite organizations. However He demands that our first loyalty be to Him and his will expressed in the Holy Bible. (At least in the western world) God has also given us the freedom to voluntarily submit to any religious organization and follow any religious leader we choose as long as we hold the organization and it's leaders to Biblical standards.There is no earthly entity secular or religious that deserves our loyalty or promotes our well being more than the God of the Bible.
With all the competing interests be they gender, racial, religious, tribal, or national the Holy God of the Bible, and His moral precepts when applied universally can be the final arbiter. When Jesus Christ came to earth He brought division as well as liberty. He gave each individual follower a moral compass and gave them the freedom to split from the pack when it became morally incongruous with the word of God. When we make the doctrine and interests of our particular sect our final moral authority we become a slave to faction. Jesus Christ offers us liberty from faction and sectarianism. He frees us to become free moral agents governed voluntarily by God and His Holy Word. When we make anyone other than the Biblical God the final authority on what is morally right we do a disservice to the group of any kind we belong to. We also leave ourselves and the causes and organizations we support vulnerable to tyranny..
Wesley Jones
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
What In The World Does God Want From Me?
In the Old Testament book of Micah the prophet Micah stood between God and the people of Israel. He became the spokesman for God to the people and the voice of the people to God. He ask of God for the people; "With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the High God?" He asked if God wanted them to sacrifice their best and in great numbers, or did God want them to vow and give them their first born for the sin of their soul? God's answer was simple and direct. " He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God." In other words what God wants from us is simply to be humble, just, honest, and compassionate human beings.
In my journey through this world I have sought truth, peace and God's will for my life in many different places. I have attended hundreds of churches, dozens of denominations and heard thousands of sermons. A lot of what I saw was not good. Everything from believing God wants us to see how loud and wild we can be in a church service. To God wants us to be strict, prohibitive and austere as we can possibly be. I have heard it preached that what God wants is our money and only the most generous tithers please God. I have heard it taught that only the people who give up TV, radio, card playing, dance, short pants and short skirts, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, fatty foods and cut their hair in a certain way can possibly please God.
Unfortunately I have witnessed too much emphasis put on the external while the matters of the heart were mostly ignored. I believe the animosity between Christian sects are not caused by the great Biblical truths taught in scripture. They are caused by the misunderstanding caused by a false notion of what God wants from us. King David in the book of Psalms chapter 15, asked God directly what He wanted from mankind. "Lord who shall abide with you and live with you forever?" God's answer to David was .. " He that lives honestly and does what is right and speaks what is right from their heart. He that does not slander or mistreat their fellowman. He who refutes the wicked and cruel while honoring the just and merciful."
In my almost 53 years of living ( 32 of them as a Christian ) I have found this one thing to be true. There is nothing more that God wants from us than for us to be kind, tenderhearted and honest human beings. Whatever rules and regulations we put upon ourselves or others are at best secondary to what lies within our hearts and minds. I can not speak for everyone else, but as for me the only remedy I have found in changing the foolishness and pettiness of my heart is in knowing God's Son , Jesus Christ and God's will revealed in the Holy Bible.
I am of the opinion that many people reject God because of the false notions about His will promoted by ignorant and disingenuous religious leaders. My advice to all seekers of truth is to not to rely on others to find God's will for your life. Seek God and His will for yourself. Both can be found in the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible, but only by those who look for themselves..The alternative is to be ran in circles trying to live up to what everyone else believes is God's will for your life.
Wesley Jones
In my journey through this world I have sought truth, peace and God's will for my life in many different places. I have attended hundreds of churches, dozens of denominations and heard thousands of sermons. A lot of what I saw was not good. Everything from believing God wants us to see how loud and wild we can be in a church service. To God wants us to be strict, prohibitive and austere as we can possibly be. I have heard it preached that what God wants is our money and only the most generous tithers please God. I have heard it taught that only the people who give up TV, radio, card playing, dance, short pants and short skirts, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, fatty foods and cut their hair in a certain way can possibly please God.
Unfortunately I have witnessed too much emphasis put on the external while the matters of the heart were mostly ignored. I believe the animosity between Christian sects are not caused by the great Biblical truths taught in scripture. They are caused by the misunderstanding caused by a false notion of what God wants from us. King David in the book of Psalms chapter 15, asked God directly what He wanted from mankind. "Lord who shall abide with you and live with you forever?" God's answer to David was .. " He that lives honestly and does what is right and speaks what is right from their heart. He that does not slander or mistreat their fellowman. He who refutes the wicked and cruel while honoring the just and merciful."
In my almost 53 years of living ( 32 of them as a Christian ) I have found this one thing to be true. There is nothing more that God wants from us than for us to be kind, tenderhearted and honest human beings. Whatever rules and regulations we put upon ourselves or others are at best secondary to what lies within our hearts and minds. I can not speak for everyone else, but as for me the only remedy I have found in changing the foolishness and pettiness of my heart is in knowing God's Son , Jesus Christ and God's will revealed in the Holy Bible.
I am of the opinion that many people reject God because of the false notions about His will promoted by ignorant and disingenuous religious leaders. My advice to all seekers of truth is to not to rely on others to find God's will for your life. Seek God and His will for yourself. Both can be found in the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible, but only by those who look for themselves..The alternative is to be ran in circles trying to live up to what everyone else believes is God's will for your life.
Wesley Jones
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Somethings Are Worth Paying For: A Commonsense Solution To The debt Crisis
Our current budget problems can be reduced to; what programs are worth the government funding, and who has to pay for them. Most Americans have no problem with the idea of helping the destitute and disabled. Many programs that do this are worthy of the financial sacrifice made by the more fortunate citizens. Keeping food on everyone's table and a roof over their head and medicine in their cabinet is a worthwhile goal of government. The rub comes when we have to decide who pays for it. The easiest solution is to put it all upon the taxation of future generations by borrowing and spending now...That option is about to run out..
The desire to make taxes painless and politically palatable usually leads to going after business.Since a business can not vote it is the logical solution. However a business has employees and stock holders ( mostly the 401ks of middle class workers ). Most businesses greatest expenses are salaries and benefits of employees. When a business is taxed it adds another expense and the employees and stockholders pay the bill with lower wages and less benefits. The alternative is to pass the tax on to the consumer in the form of raising the price of the product or service. This often reduces market share and gives an advantage to competitors usually based over seas where there are less taxes and regulations.
The next attempt is always directed at the prosperous. The people who have succeeded in acquiring wealth. They prospered through hard work, sacrifice, wise investment, or just fortuitous enough to have parents that acquired wealth honestly themselves. The problem with putting an unfair burden on prosperity is it diminishes the reward for education , hard work and effort. It also stymies risk associated with investment, especially in cutting edge technology... All is not lost there is a fair and equitable solution in funding worthwhile government programs.
In the current political climate there are plenty of politicians who build their careers on pandering to business and the rich, or playing upon the envy and jealousy of people towards those who for whatever reason are more successful than others. What we need is a system of taxation that does not open the door for the politicians who play one segment of our society against the other, or give tax exemptions and subsidies to their financial supporters.
The most obvious and simplest form of fair taxation that does not punish success, or put the poor and middle class at a disadvantage is a universal flat tax. If we are going to tax business at all, it is best to tax them in a way they can not lobby for exemptions or subsidies. An example: Five percent of net (period) without exemptions.The parameters that determine net income should be universal, for the self employed, to the largest corporations. This approach would bring stability and certainty and encourage investment while adding to and stabilizing our tax revenues. It also would let the free market determine the value of the product and the viability of the company, not the politicians making sweetheart deals with business for tax exemptions and subsidies.
The same is true for individual taxation. If the only exemptions from a five percent taxing of individual gross income are the number of dependents, politicians could not pit one segment of society against the other. If taxes are to be raised or lowered, all but the destitute would share the burden or benefit.( there should be exemption from income taxes for those below a realistic poverty line) ...There will be those who claim a flat tax is not progressive enough, the rich should pay a higher percentage. Five percent of 200,000 dollars is 10,000 dollars. Five percent of 20,000 dollars 1,000 dollars. If you make ten times more than your neighbor you pay ten times more. Anymore or any less would be unfair.... After a 1,000 dollar dependent exemption the person making 20,000 dollars would pay zero.The person making 200,000 would pay 9,000 dollars...If that is not fair, the problem is not with fairness but one of envy.
The percent is not set in stone, but if it raised or lowered universally for all citizens and businesses alike it takes out a lot of the rancor and corruption out of politics.If taxes are raised they are raised on everyone including those who support you politically. If we also were to have a enforceable balanced budget amendment along with a flat tax none of our national wealth would be wasted on servicing an unnecessary debt. It would also keep politicians from buying votes by offering government programs, tax exemptions and subsidies without raising taxes on everyone but their supporters. Interest on debt and foreign energy costs are driving us to the edge of bankruptcy..We can have a solid, effective social safety net, along with a second to none infrastructure, but we all need to equally fund and pay for them.
Low and fair taxes, and a certain and simple tax system not only will help our economy and encourage investment. It will provide the funds to pay for worthwhile government programs to improve the quality of life for all of us. A balanced budget mandate would insure our taxes went for the benefit of our fellow citizens, rather than paying interest to foreigners who hold our debt. If we all have a say, and share the burden equally, instead of having politicians pitting different segments of society against each other, and/or giving their supporters tax exemptions and special subsidies and benefits. The world would marvel how generous and prosperous our government and economy could be.
Wesley Jones
The desire to make taxes painless and politically palatable usually leads to going after business.Since a business can not vote it is the logical solution. However a business has employees and stock holders ( mostly the 401ks of middle class workers ). Most businesses greatest expenses are salaries and benefits of employees. When a business is taxed it adds another expense and the employees and stockholders pay the bill with lower wages and less benefits. The alternative is to pass the tax on to the consumer in the form of raising the price of the product or service. This often reduces market share and gives an advantage to competitors usually based over seas where there are less taxes and regulations.
The next attempt is always directed at the prosperous. The people who have succeeded in acquiring wealth. They prospered through hard work, sacrifice, wise investment, or just fortuitous enough to have parents that acquired wealth honestly themselves. The problem with putting an unfair burden on prosperity is it diminishes the reward for education , hard work and effort. It also stymies risk associated with investment, especially in cutting edge technology... All is not lost there is a fair and equitable solution in funding worthwhile government programs.
In the current political climate there are plenty of politicians who build their careers on pandering to business and the rich, or playing upon the envy and jealousy of people towards those who for whatever reason are more successful than others. What we need is a system of taxation that does not open the door for the politicians who play one segment of our society against the other, or give tax exemptions and subsidies to their financial supporters.
The most obvious and simplest form of fair taxation that does not punish success, or put the poor and middle class at a disadvantage is a universal flat tax. If we are going to tax business at all, it is best to tax them in a way they can not lobby for exemptions or subsidies. An example: Five percent of net (period) without exemptions.The parameters that determine net income should be universal, for the self employed, to the largest corporations. This approach would bring stability and certainty and encourage investment while adding to and stabilizing our tax revenues. It also would let the free market determine the value of the product and the viability of the company, not the politicians making sweetheart deals with business for tax exemptions and subsidies.
The same is true for individual taxation. If the only exemptions from a five percent taxing of individual gross income are the number of dependents, politicians could not pit one segment of society against the other. If taxes are to be raised or lowered, all but the destitute would share the burden or benefit.( there should be exemption from income taxes for those below a realistic poverty line) ...There will be those who claim a flat tax is not progressive enough, the rich should pay a higher percentage. Five percent of 200,000 dollars is 10,000 dollars. Five percent of 20,000 dollars 1,000 dollars. If you make ten times more than your neighbor you pay ten times more. Anymore or any less would be unfair.... After a 1,000 dollar dependent exemption the person making 20,000 dollars would pay zero.The person making 200,000 would pay 9,000 dollars...If that is not fair, the problem is not with fairness but one of envy.
The percent is not set in stone, but if it raised or lowered universally for all citizens and businesses alike it takes out a lot of the rancor and corruption out of politics.If taxes are raised they are raised on everyone including those who support you politically. If we also were to have a enforceable balanced budget amendment along with a flat tax none of our national wealth would be wasted on servicing an unnecessary debt. It would also keep politicians from buying votes by offering government programs, tax exemptions and subsidies without raising taxes on everyone but their supporters. Interest on debt and foreign energy costs are driving us to the edge of bankruptcy..We can have a solid, effective social safety net, along with a second to none infrastructure, but we all need to equally fund and pay for them.
Low and fair taxes, and a certain and simple tax system not only will help our economy and encourage investment. It will provide the funds to pay for worthwhile government programs to improve the quality of life for all of us. A balanced budget mandate would insure our taxes went for the benefit of our fellow citizens, rather than paying interest to foreigners who hold our debt. If we all have a say, and share the burden equally, instead of having politicians pitting different segments of society against each other, and/or giving their supporters tax exemptions and special subsidies and benefits. The world would marvel how generous and prosperous our government and economy could be.
Wesley Jones
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Is It Time To Give Up ?
After an outbreak of severe weather, series of earthquakes, threat of war or even a major defeat of our particular political party and/or political cause, it is human nature to entertain apocalyptic thoughts. Things like ; man has gone too far to be redeemable, it is the day of reckoning, the end of the world is at hand, all is lost and things can only get worse.... Catastrophe or political calamity can be an excuse to quit and run to the extremes, or simply a time to roll up our sleeves and try to work even harder to make this planet a better place to be until God sees fit to change it Himself.. Often the doomsday prophets no matter their politics or affiliation have the exact opposite impact on society they intend to. They try to motivate the masses with hyperbole and worse case scenarios. This approach more often then not creates apathy and fear more than it does productive change.
I posted a previous article for this blog titled, How Our Eschatology Effects Our Politics. In it I addressed how an overly pessimistic, non-Biblical view of eschatology can cause discouragement and even doubt about us even having a future. It causes fear an suspicion and rampant speculation in some people. Probably worst of all it causes apathy and a, "whats the use in trying to change things", attitude in all of us. The evening news can be discouraging, but believe me things have been worse. Consider that at one time, Hitler Stalin, Mao, Mussolini and Franco were all alive and were in power or ascending to power. Japan was a military dictatorship killing thousands in Asia. Central and south America were ruled by dictators while under crushing poverty. Most of the world was in the midst of a great depression. All of this in a short span of less than 20 years. Our problems pale in comparison.
Life went on and we made it out of the twentieth century and unless God intervenes it will go on for us as well. I believe there is always hope we can build a better tomorrow. The alternative is to sit on a hill and wait for the end. Or worse we could all stop caring and begin to live only for today, "eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die". The extremes that live on the lunatic fringes of political, religious and cultural reality thrive on ignorance, fear and apathy.
Not only does the world need knowledgeable people who still care and have a hope for tomorrow. The world needs a method to sort the wheat from the chaff. There is so much non-sense out there especially in the areas of politics and religion. There is also no shortage of the overly ambitious who want to be our messiah and/or dictator. Mankind does not have to be at their mercy without a resource to consistently discern truth. I found that resource around the age of 14.
I was an avid reader in high school, when I could find the time between sports and work. One thing I quickly learned; not all political or religious experts were offering the same thing, or taking the same path to get there. Most were at least in part well meaning. Many were out right demagogues. I needed a scale to weigh their arguments. I found it in the Holy Bible. I could use the Proverbs and Ecclesiastes to learn to recognize worthwhile knowledge and acquire wisdom. I used the Psalms to learn how to worship God. I used the words of Jesus to understand how to conduct myself and treat others ( I still made most of the foolish teenage mistakes) but I had found a solid method in sorting truth from foolishness. The writings of the apostles helped me recognize false religious doctrines and false teachers. knowing the prophetic books of the Bible made the false prophets easily identifiable.
We do not need anymore charismatic leaders to lead us from one extreme to the other. We need solid individuals with a firm foundation in reality, and an informed electorate that will not change course every time someone screams the sky is falling. The Bible was the arbiter of truth and the definer of terms when this nation was founded. I know it can be used to sort through the half baked and self promoting ideas that have led us to our current state of national confusion. If we as a people do not find both a common starting point and a common foundation on which to build we will continue to be jerked from the far left to the far right every few years. If a few disasters are mixed with a few demagogues we could end up with a 1940s style dictatorship of our own. Or even a nation of competing extreme religious cults.
Wesley Jones
I posted a previous article for this blog titled, How Our Eschatology Effects Our Politics. In it I addressed how an overly pessimistic, non-Biblical view of eschatology can cause discouragement and even doubt about us even having a future. It causes fear an suspicion and rampant speculation in some people. Probably worst of all it causes apathy and a, "whats the use in trying to change things", attitude in all of us. The evening news can be discouraging, but believe me things have been worse. Consider that at one time, Hitler Stalin, Mao, Mussolini and Franco were all alive and were in power or ascending to power. Japan was a military dictatorship killing thousands in Asia. Central and south America were ruled by dictators while under crushing poverty. Most of the world was in the midst of a great depression. All of this in a short span of less than 20 years. Our problems pale in comparison.
Life went on and we made it out of the twentieth century and unless God intervenes it will go on for us as well. I believe there is always hope we can build a better tomorrow. The alternative is to sit on a hill and wait for the end. Or worse we could all stop caring and begin to live only for today, "eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die". The extremes that live on the lunatic fringes of political, religious and cultural reality thrive on ignorance, fear and apathy.
Not only does the world need knowledgeable people who still care and have a hope for tomorrow. The world needs a method to sort the wheat from the chaff. There is so much non-sense out there especially in the areas of politics and religion. There is also no shortage of the overly ambitious who want to be our messiah and/or dictator. Mankind does not have to be at their mercy without a resource to consistently discern truth. I found that resource around the age of 14.
I was an avid reader in high school, when I could find the time between sports and work. One thing I quickly learned; not all political or religious experts were offering the same thing, or taking the same path to get there. Most were at least in part well meaning. Many were out right demagogues. I needed a scale to weigh their arguments. I found it in the Holy Bible. I could use the Proverbs and Ecclesiastes to learn to recognize worthwhile knowledge and acquire wisdom. I used the Psalms to learn how to worship God. I used the words of Jesus to understand how to conduct myself and treat others ( I still made most of the foolish teenage mistakes) but I had found a solid method in sorting truth from foolishness. The writings of the apostles helped me recognize false religious doctrines and false teachers. knowing the prophetic books of the Bible made the false prophets easily identifiable.
We do not need anymore charismatic leaders to lead us from one extreme to the other. We need solid individuals with a firm foundation in reality, and an informed electorate that will not change course every time someone screams the sky is falling. The Bible was the arbiter of truth and the definer of terms when this nation was founded. I know it can be used to sort through the half baked and self promoting ideas that have led us to our current state of national confusion. If we as a people do not find both a common starting point and a common foundation on which to build we will continue to be jerked from the far left to the far right every few years. If a few disasters are mixed with a few demagogues we could end up with a 1940s style dictatorship of our own. Or even a nation of competing extreme religious cults.
Wesley Jones
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