Put down, get away from, or unplug whatever screen has your attention and go create something of beauty, anything, but do it without your electronic device.
Cook a meal from scratch out of our imagination, make something new.
Draw a picture of yourself, then do it again.
Get out of the slavery and bondage of the Internet!
It is a web that is catching its prey.
The World Wide Web.
always watching
And it has caught humanity as its victim and they don’t even realize it.
Many are called but few are chosen.
And why are they not chosen? Because they put their hearts and minds on the things of this world and wish for status and to dominate over others with authority.
We are all called to do a great work, and sometimes we are released from our callings, to see if we will continue in the work…and THAT is how we become Chosen.
It is a call to service, to keep the two great and only Commandments given to us by Christ. Love the Lord, and serve our brothers and sisters. The ten commandments were given to the Jews by Moses. These are OUR Commandments.
If we learn to do those two things while we are called, and continue to do them after we are released, we become Chosen.
At a glance many people will smirk and chuckle about the title of this post, but I’m not using hyperbole and trying to emphasize a point of view; I’m stone cold serious. And I’ll demonstrate how I found this and why I believe it and why it’s important.
First off, this country is not a Democracy nor is it a Republic per se.
We live in a Constitutional Republic.
Why is it important to understand this from the beginning? Because it is the very foundation upon which our nation was perceived, framed and constructed; and the antithesis of Barack Obama’s vision for our future.
What is a Constitutional Republic? First, let’s start by defining Democracy and Republic.
A democratic form of government is simply, majority rule. Everyone who is eligible and can vote has a voice, and in the end the majority’s persuasion wins the day.
A republic form of government is one where the elected government officials represent the individual, but are beholden to the populus at large and therefore, their affairs are open to public view and scrutiny.
America is a Constitutional Republic.
We adhere to the tenets of our founding Constitution and its articles of declaration and our elected government officials, who are elected by a process that is democratic (and that’s why people believe America is a democracy, because we vote) are therefore bound to the principles within the Constitution and its amendments. The Constitution is their playbook. Everything they do, comes from within those documents. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work.
In America, the Federal government has no power over the people. They merely have the authority act within the boundaries created by the Constitution; nothing more and nothing less.
The individual united states however, have authority to pass laws and regulations based on their social needs created from the desires of the people living within their boundaries by a democratic process.
Elected officials within the states represent the people to the Federal government i.e. Congressmen and Senators.
So to make it very simplistic, the people in the states vote for individuals who have the same beliefs and principles and give them their trust as they then go to the Capital of the Nation to represent the voice of the individual.
Why are there Congress and Senate and what do each do?
I’m not going to go into all that much detail but the purpose of a Congressman is to hear the voice of the people by the state in which he was elected and take that voice to the Federal government to be heard.
The Senate is there to evaluate the deeds of Congress, and to ratify their bills and laws and decide if they are in line with constitutional principles. If they are, the laws are passed, amendments chartered and so on and so forth.
The purpose of the President is to oversee the deeds of the Congress and Senate and to make sure that they are upholding the principles of the Constitution, from which their authority is granted. And he is given the power to veto bills and laws if they are not in line with the Constitution.
He is an overseer. The president is granted no legislative authority. That is reserved for the purposes of the Congress and the Senate.
But all to often, once a man is given a little authority, he immediately exersizes unrighteous dominion, and that is why there is a Senate, to keep Congress in check, and a President to make sure all bills are in line with constitutional principles.
And then we have the Supreme Court, but we won’t go into that. Enough is enough with our discussion of government 101.
However, many people believe that the office of the President is one of authority, and power over Congress, the Senate and the People. This is completely opposite to the purpose of the creation of this experiment called America. For the President to have authority over the legislative bodies and the people, would be to have a King or a Dictator. As I said before, the President is merely an overseer and protector of our freedoms; nothing more, nothing less.
The office of the President is very simple, although its execution is complicated by politics. And now we return to the temptation that a man given authority has the tendency toward the immediate exersize of unrighteous dominion.
Without being too detailed, I’ll lay out, based on my understanding, which has come by my formal education and relentless pursuit for the knowledge of our nation’s history and government (I’m not just repeating what I hear others say) so that as we proceed, we also understand together the same definition of political titles and terminologies, where authority is given and its boundaries. Because too often conversations turn contentious simply because ideas are represented by words which are defined differently from one person to another; ergo the explanation of the authorities of the different branches of government in America.
And now that we have that foundation laid down, and a common understanding of things we can begin to discuss all this communist-in-the-whitehouse hoopla (see what I did there, with the foundation and that…).
One thing I’ll give to this president is his honoring the promise to fundamentally transform America. Because that’s exactly why he ran for office. Hope and change, to fundamentally transform America.
Here’s the actual quote given October 31, 2008
“After decades of broken politics in Washington, and eight years of failed policies from George W. Bush, and 21 months of a campaign that’s taken us from the rocky coast of Maine to the sunshine of California, we are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America. In five days, you can turn the page on policies that put greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifice of folks on Main Street.”
And in this context its critical to remember that in another speech given February 19, 2008, which has been given the title “Just Words”, he quoted many former presidents and emphasised how important the words used in presidential speeches really are, and that they mean what they say.
He threw those words over our heads in his speech but when I heard him say that my hair caught fire. And that’s one of the reasons I’ve been relentless over the past five or six years in pointing out his actions and trying to demonstrate in a way that people can understand, the direction in which they are steering our nation.
So what does a ‘fundamental transformation’ really mean and why would he say something like that in regards to his Hope and Change campaign?
It’s important now, that we understand where the campaign slogan “Hope and Change” originated. What are the roots of these terms and why did he use the word Hope, and what does the word Change really mean to him?
Those words resonate with everyone on a level that brings comfort and enthusiasm for prosperity, and relief from our burdens. But it’s important to understand what those terms mean to the person who used them in the first place. Why did he say them to us and what is he really trying to say? Because he knows that those are positive, uplifting terms to most, however his definition of them is far more sinister than many of us realize. And its because of the origin of those terms coming from him, in context with his background, that they are so dangerous.
Let’s start with the term ‘change’ and what it really means coming from his roots.
Barack Obama was indoctrinated deeply with sympathy for the cause of Marxist, Leninist, Taoist, Trotskyite, AKA Communist principles, especially while he was at Columbia University and then in Chicago in the mid nineteen eighties where he was given accolades, attention, a taste of power and some vision he could believe in, in actually being an influential part of the infiltration and eventual overthrow of what he perceived as a corrupt and oppresive American regime.
When Obama got to Chicago, he began his work as a community organizer. This is public knowledge and sounds like a credible and honorable position of leadership. But understanding what a community organizer is and where its roots spring is critical in understanding Obama’s indoctrination into a full blown Marxist.
He began training in the mid nineteen eightees at the Midwest Academy, through a grant from the Woods Fund which he received through his associations with Thomas Ayers.
Thomas Ayers is the father of William Ayers and was then CEO of Commonwealth Edison, which is one of the largest gas and electric utility holding companies in the nation.
One of Bill Ayers’ most poignant comments was, after being charged with terrorist bombings and being acquitted on a technicality, “guilty as sin, free as a bird.” Of course he was acquitted because of his powerful connections through his father.
The Midwest Academy was founded by sixties radicals who were members of the SDS, Students for a Democratic Society. Remember the definition of Democracy? Majority rule. No foundation in principle or ethics and no constitution. Simply a powerful arm to forcing the rule of the strong over the weak.
Now were going to take a little diversion to explore the origins of the SDS, just for a moment, so that we can better understand what type of motivation his trainers at the Midwest Academy had in forming him into a community organizer, then I’ll demonstrae what a community organizer really is.
The SDS was born of Marxist philosophy and founded upon its principles. In short, the SDS is a new-age euphamism for modern day Marxist think-tankers.
NOTE: If you don’t understand Karl Marx and the fact that he was a megalomaniac bent on the destruction of liberty and freedom then you should go back to the drawing board, get a little brush up on the origins of Communist theory and start all over with this post.
Here’s how the SDS links directly to Karl Marx and the proof that Obama is a Communist. But that’s not even the smoking gun in all of this, so stick with me because it will all come together.
Karl Marx was inspired by the philosopher George Hegel, who created dialectic theory and the art of argument. Without going into the details of Hegelian Dialectics, I’ll define it briefly. George Hegel isn’t the man who created the dialectic theory originally but he is the one to whom its philosophical body is commonly attributed.
Dialectics approaches all theories and theoroms based on the premise that all supporting axioms of thought are inherently flawed. Therefore the proponents of dialectic theory naturally seek to find fault in everything around them and therefore are able to create a new problem which then needs to be overcome by thier implementation of a solution, thereby giving them the control; which was their original design, taking control.
Dialectic is more than just rhetoric or debate. It is a mode of moving an idealogy or philosophy off of its foundation for the purposes of change and assimilation, to bring differing ideals into a more commonly accepted realm of thought.
This is how socialists, leftists, Marxists and facists think and approach everything. At a glance it looks like a healthy way of exploring ideas, because we must be open to the possibility that there are flaws in ideas so that we can correct them and move forward to healing and truth.
However, those who have more diabolical ideals coursing through their thought processes use dialectic theory to poke holes in otherwise sound and solid modes of thought for the purposes of usurping power over more natural and morally based ideals which have stood for millenia. That’s why it’s so easy to lead a group around by the nose once religion, or a principled foundation is removed from the equation.
There are no absolutes in dialectic thought. Everything is up for discussion and everything is open to change; and a democratic power structure who rules over a dependent, lower class is always the force manipulating that change for their own needs and pleasures at any given time.
All that the power hungry structure needs for a populus to follow them is a large enough common crisis that affects everyone, and then they are able to propose a solution to what seems an unsolvable problem.
Please share this with everyone who is open to the truth. It’s important that Americans are knowledgeable about these things. This isn’t a game and it isn’t a safety net. It’s literal tyranny, just what the Founding Fathers escaped.
(image used without permission)
Daniel Johnston is one of my favorite artists. If you’re unfamiliar with his work, to see one of his drawings or listen to one of his recordings you likely wouldn’t be terribly impressed. But after hearing more of his work it becomes apparent that Daniel Johnston is an inspired visionary. He is not the best performer in comparison to some more accomplished artists but if you have an understanding of what Daniel Johnston is about and what he lives for, his performances take on a whole new meaning.
Art and music flow from Daniel like water down the Nile. He is unstoppable and it is as though he can’t help but create music and art. He has many recurring themes throughout his art, mostly of battles between good and evil and the same themes run through his songs. Much of what he sings about has to do with his affection for a never gotten love interest named Lori. He met her in his youth and followed her with a video camera as his way of worshiping and admiring her. He did get her to say, “I love you Danny” but that was only to satisfy him and she eventually went on to marry an undertaker who he used as the subject of many songs.
His mother would lecture him endlessly about his slothfulness and call him an unprofitable servant of the Lord (he would call himself an unserviceable prophet) as he spent all of his time drawing, writing and recording. Daniel grew up with faith in his religion and a profound fear of hell and damnation. He spoke often of Satan and the torment of the devil in his songs and in his conversations and lived in fear of losing his soul. One therapist said about Daniel, after analyzing his drawings, that he is surely going to heaven because it’s obvious he has already been to hell.
Daniel finally realized one of his life long dreams by accident when MTV profiled the Austin music scene in the mid eighties. Dan worked his way in front of the cameras, was interviewed and eventually given a spot live on MTV performing his songs. The world was finally introduced to Daniel Johnston and his career began to bloom. But Daniel perceived the experience as a dichotomy or paradox in that MTV was serving the devil but there he was on MTV, just like he said he would as a kid.
When Dan was still pretty young he began to develop bi-polar disorder which became so severe he spent a lot of time in and out of many mental institutions. He changed suddenly from a happy and care free young boy to a troubled and self loathing youth.
When he was in New York City spending time with the members of Sonic Youth he had a severe episode and was again sent to a mental facility. He was accidentally released on a clerical error and found himself at CBGB that evening and opened up for the LA band fIREHOSE.
Daniel Johnston had many extreme episodes of mania where he would essentially lose touch with reality. One time he was in his father’s private airplane, his father piloting and he turned the engine off and threw the keys out the window. The airplane crash landed in the trees and both were uninjured. Another time he whacked his manager over the head with a lead pipe three times. Daniel has been quoted as saying, “I whammed him, I whammed him good“. After these episodes he again found himself committed to mental institutions where he realized the horror of what he had done.
As Dan got older and into his forties he went back to living with his parents, taking his meds and focusing on writing and playing music. Dan tours the world and elsewhere performing his music to the delight of devoted fans. Sometimes his shows are sub-par and sometimes they are purely brilliant. True fans love his performances either way.
God bless Daniel Johnston. The poor man has been tormented all of his life and he has produced some amazing art and beautiful songs. Over 400 artists have covered his music including Beck, fIREHOSE, Sonic Youth, Death Cab for Cutie, Tom Waits, David Bowie, Built to Spill and Pearl Jam.
Daniel’s life has been chronicled in the movie “The Devil and Daniel Johnston“. It spans over twenty years of Daniel’s life as he had recorded most of his life on video and audio tape. Learn more about Daniel Johnston at his fan site rejectedunknown.com
(some images used without permission of the artist)
During all the controversy I’ve created among my circle of friends and family with my thoughts and opinions I’ve come to find that they want sources for my insights. I have failed to provide the sources of my research, therefore I am being accused of lying and making things up.
In the future I will start to cite my sources but for now I’ll say that all of what I have gathered has come from the study of a combination of sources. Many of which will go against the grain of many peoples comfort but these are my conclusions based on research of the best books I have found in life. And one of the things I was taught as a child was to find truth from the best books, and I have held on to that as a standard of guidance for my life, to answer the questions I come up against throughout my trials and they have served me well as I now have inner peace and calm and I am in balance with what I believe is divine nature, God.
People in my life accuse me of many things but I have come to this by work, research, experience, living life, making mistakes, making choices, exercising reason and applying these things to my daily life. These are all the things the people in my life who are accusing me of wrong doing are telling me to do, and I do them, and these are the results. So why are they pointing fingers at me? I think the confusion is with them, not with me. I am fine and I am free.
My primary sources are the cannon of scripture from the LDS church. The King James version of the bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, along with many translations of ancient Egyptian writings from the times of the pharaohs. I also follow after the philosophies of the ancient Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero, coupled with the reason and integrity of our founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams and George Washington.
Recently I have been privileged to have been enlightened by the teachings of Dr. Bruce Lipton, a microbiologist who has done stem cell research since 1967 and who has pioneered the new bio-science of epigenetics.
Thanks for following along. Comments are welcome, please check your anger at the door. This is discussion of important matters that pertain to life. Humor is welcome always!
(top image used without artist permission)
Alright, every once in a while the virtual soap box upon which I stand on the information superhighway becomes a platform for religious discussion. All my life I’ve been a pretty consistent rule breaker and I’m breaking the politic/religion rule here. I’m not trying to start a war or convert anyone, it’s just that there are some things that are so intimately woven into the fabric of my being that I have to express them, and that’s what this blog is all about.
Everyone knows by now that I’m one of those kooky Mormons. I’ve been growing my hair long to hide my horns and I have sixteen of my wives living secretly in a bunker west of the Great Salt Lake.
And most people know that we Mormons have this extra bit of scripture we call the Book of Mormon. I’ve mentioned it in other blog posts because a lot of what I think about corresponds to its teachings and it has helped shape my philosophy throughout my life. It’s a good book!
But there are some things about its coming forth that are somewhat extraordinary. They don’t prove its authenticity but they are things not to be merely dismissed and taken lightly if one is prone to argue against the truthfulness of the book.
Just to give a very brief synopsis of what the Book of Mormon is: It’s a record of a people who came from Jerusalem during the reign of King Zedekiah around 600 BC. They built a boat and crossed the waters, brought with them records of the ancient prophets, i.e. Jeremiah, Isaiah, Moses, Zenock, Zenos (guess they liked the Z names); some in the Bible and some not but for the most part they had the law of Moses and the writings of the old testament prophets.
This people kept records on plates made of brass and gold and hid them up with prayers to God and a promise from Him to them that the record would come forth in the latter days by simple and small means to bring to pass the work of righteousness for the salvation of their ancestry and the family of men. Joseph Smith, Jr. was the vessel directed by God’s hand to bring this record to light in these, the last days.
Here is a list of many factoids concerning the Book of Mormon and its translator, Joseph Smith, Jr.
You can read it online –> here
(some images used without permission)
I need to preface this post by saying I don’t 100% agree with the sentiment expressed within. I do, however like the way I expressed it and think there’s some food for thought here. It’s easy to be hyper-sensitive at times and perceive things that are not actually taking place.
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“He who takes offense when no offense is intended is a fool, and he who takes offense when offense is intended is a greater fool.”
— Brigham Young
Tonight I went to a dance. It was weird, but I was there. It was a dance in downtown SLC at a Masonic lodge put on by some people who throw parties and dances for single people over the age of thirty five. So I went with a friend for something to do, to hang out, dance a little, mingle, munch on some snacks, say hi to some friends and call it a night.
It was good for the most part, but I do have one big complaint. And I hate to complain. I used to like to complain a lot. I used to have a good old time blogging and criticizing people, complaining about all sorts of crazy and unimportant things I found irritating in my life. That was back when I was basically miserable inside; happy on the outside but tormented on the inside. Now I’m what you see is what you get.
So I wandered down to the area where all the people I know are dancing and they’re laughing, having a good time and dancing. Now, the deal here is that all the guys want the women to like them and they’re all trying to impress all the women. And all the women want to look good enough to be accepted by the other women and to be liked by all the guys. So there’s this dynamic going on of human mating rituals, showing off, trying to impress each other and all sorts of one-upsmanship and I’m just there to hang out. I could give two shits about impressing anyone or making a love connection.
These are people I know, I’ve associated with in the past; not people I’d put on my Christmas list or to whose funerals I would be invited, but they are people I’ve shared the social spotlight with and we have common friends. When I go to these dances I don’t get all excited and immediately run out on the dance floor and start cutting a groove to China. I like to stand back for a while, watch everyone, see who is around, watch what’s happening, have some snacks, meet a person or two and then maybe dance a little bit. I think because I approach it this way that some people think I’m being a snob or anti-social. It’s not that at all; I just like to soak things in. I’m different from most people and I don’t feel like I have to jump into the fray to avoid missing some critical moment in social evolution. OK, that was a snobbish comment; maybe I should take it back. It doesn’t apply to everyone but I know it applies to some.
When I finally got down to the group I started dancing with my friend and I said hello to a few of the people there from across the room; talked to one or two of them a little bit. There were some casual hellos given with a little courteous wave of the hand but it was mostly insincere, formal gesturing.
When the whole shebang was through the house lights came up and all the glad handing and hugging commenced and people started saying their goodbyes. This is where it was really apparent that I was not part of the pack. Eye contact was avoided with me by people I’ve had lengthy intimate conversations with in the past and except for a few of them who are genuinely cool people, nobody had any time or interest in my being there. I only bring this up because I know why it happened like this. It’s because of my past; because I spent some time in jail and that I have a reputation for associating with more rough-around-the-edges sorts of crowds. In short, it’s a result of the choices I’ve made in the past.
Now, it does bother me on some level but I really want to say it doesn’t bother me at all, and tomorrow it isn’t going to bother me one bit and I’m going to feel like I shouldn’t have made this blog post at all; but like I said in the preface, I think there’s some food for thought in here.
Truly, it doesn’t really bother me other than just on the surface. I mean I could take them or leave them, except that they’re my brothers and sisters and I do care for them and love them, but they’re just people, regular people who have regular lives. They come and go; they’re not a critical part of my life.
But this sort of thing has never happened to me before although I have witnessed it happening to others in this very same circle. I have seen people come and go from this social circle because they become offended and feel ostracized by the indifference of others.
I like to talk to people. I like to say hello to strangers and make conversation with people I don’t know. I like to make someone I don’t know laugh and try to make an impression on them to help them feel like there’s somebody out there who found them interesting enough to give their attention to. That’s what uplifting our brothers and sisters is about. And it’s not about doing it just to get it done, it’s about being sincerely interested in another person.
This sort of snubbing I see going on with people of this age only happens in Utah and in the LDS social circles. It’s sad but true. I certainly hate to be critical of my people; and they are my people because of my ancestry, my culture and the group I primarily identify myself with.
The core of our religious beliefs is Jesus Christ and love, compassion and service. The purpose of our very lives is to help up build the kingdom of God on the earth and welcome all of our brothers and sisters into the fold; especially those who have been lost and wandering; not to shun them because they have habits or tendencies toward things that go against the teachings of our gospel. Because to be completely honest, all of us are guilty of that very thing. If that were not true none of us would need repentance. It’s just that many people have bad habits that are easy to hide, that don’t outwardly offend others or make others out-rightly uncomfortable.
Say there’s one guy who shows up reeking of cigarette smoke, wearing a Headbanger’s Ball t-shirt and another guy shows up who has just spent the past three hours watching hard-core pornography in the privacy of his own home. How easy is it to pass judgment in a case like that? The outward appearance is important, but the truth is more important.
Sometimes I wonder if the feeling is that if they associate with me they will somehow be categorized by their peers as being sympathetic to whatever behavior or experience in my past opposes their values. I have a checkered past and it surely rubs some people the wrong way. And there are others who look right past it and know me as the person I am; not for the light that shines on me but for the light that shines from me.
Often times, people close themselves off and huddle together in their social groups like Jr. High School kids. I know they don’t do this on purpose and I know they have bigger hearts than I’m making it sound like, but their actions certainly mean something. I know they do good things and give service, are good parents, good friends and good, honest citizens. I tried to socialize with them, I tried to be a part of the crowd, tried to be friendly, tried to open up but there’s something going on, something about me that threatens or otherwise makes them feel uneasy.
Somebody is going to read this blog post and word is going to spread and then they’ll know how I feel, then they will feel justified in ignoring me because they can point to the attitude expressed in this blog post and say it’s because of my own behavior I feel this way. But I didn’t feel this way until tonight.
So I got this off my chest, it’s just a rant and it’s probably an overblown misunderstanding but the essence of what I’m saying is surely going to resonate with some people who understand exactly where I’m coming from. Then there will be the defensive group who won’t have a clue what I’m talking about and think I’m just being a jerk. Then there might be a couple who are exceptions, who were actually very cool to me and who don’t belong as part of this rant, but who mistakenly think I still mean them too.
You can’t make everyone happy all of the time. There’s no use in trying, so I just tell the truth, call it like I see it, speak my mind, say what I’m feeling and let the cards fall where they may. This makes some people uncomfortable but I live life with a clean conscious knowing that I’m honest and truthful. People don’t have to guess what I’m thinking or wonder how I feel. Despite all of this ranting, I have nothing against any of these good people and I admire all of them in many different ways.
It’s just unfortunate that some of them feel uncomfortable. Is it my fault or is it their problem? I don’t know. I don’t think it really matters anyway. I think what matters is that the future holds good things and that everything is going to be just fine and that I have no reason to bitch about anything.
I was thinking about making peace the other day with someone for whom I have created a bit of anxiety over the years; justified for the most part, but not cool and not necessary at all. In light of everything that’s gone on in my life over the past twelve months, and this amazing change of heart I’ve been experiencing (when it starts you think you’ve changed, but it keeps getting more profound), I decided to extend the olive branch or, in words I like better, bury the hatchet.
Then I started thinking about the phrase and where it originated. Obviously it has roots in Native American lore. So I did a little research and found some anecdotal evidence that some time prior to the arrival of Columbus, the Iroquois leaders Deganawidah and Hiawatha had convinced the five major tribes to stop fighting and form a confederacy, and as a sign of peace or a treaty of peace, to bury their weapons of war beneath the roots of a white pine. This tradition was carried on through history with tribes and with settlers from the east and the phrase ‘bury the hatchet’ that we use today eventually sprang from this demonstration of peace for settling disputes and conflict.
And I thought about it a little more. Just because this is one of history’s earliest recorded events of burying the hatchet it certainly wasn’t the first. Then it dawned on me that burying the hatchet is a peace keeping maneuver I’ve been taught about all my life through the scriptures in my church.
Yeah, I’m a Mormon. Throw out the word Mormon and you get all sorts of responses. The name itself evokes a myriad of images in the mind depending on your exposure to Mormonism or what you’ve heard. Ideas of polygamy, secret ceremonies, no coffee, no alcohol, for some it means family, charity, doing unto others. To me Mormonism is a culture. It’s more than a religion. It’s a way of life. But it’s far from a kooky cult or some brainwashing society of patriarchal overlords. And the Mormons have the Book of Mormon.
Now, this blog post isn’t going to be an exposition on the origins of the Book of Mormon or why I believe it is a companion to the Bible and another testament of Jesus Christ (had to get that in there), I just want to refer to a section of the book where we can read about our Native American ancestors first burying the hatchet as a covenant of peacekeeping. I said I wouldn’t give an exposition on the history or origins of the Book of Mormon but it’s important in this context to at least understand the setting I’m about to discuss, so I’ll give a very brief synopsis of the contextual setting of the Book of Mormon story.
About 600 years BC a group of Israelites, around the time of the destruction of Jerusalem during the 8th or 9th year of the reign of king Zedekiah (Old Testament book of Jeremiah 37-39), fled Jerusalem and built boats that sailed to the western hemisphere. They took with them ancient records of scripture, the books of Moses, writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah and other ancient, Old Testament prophets up to that time written on plates of brass. During their travails they experienced many things, prosperity, divisions, wars, etc. and they kept records. These records were kept and handed down from the beginning by those who had left Jerusalem and guarded as sacred, recording the dealings of God with men and the patterns of righteousness and sin so that they could come forth in the latter days to demonstrate God’s goodness and mercy in preserving his people and showing his arm is outstretched all the daylong to any of His children who desire to come unto him.
So, without going into all the detail and getting into the history of Mormonism and the idea that God didn’t just reveal Himself to the people of Jerusalem and that Christ taught that there are other sheep which were not of the fold at Jerusalem, I’ll just leave it at that. The Book of Mormon is an ancient record of scripture about the dealings of the family of men on the western hemisphere during the same time the bible was being recorded in the so called old world.
So there’s this people in the Book of Mormon, a tribe who has been uber rebellious and has committed heinous crimes and murders on the more righteous people of the land, and by the teachings of the judges and prophets in the lands round about these areas they come to the knowledge of God and find common ground with their enemies. When this happens they have incredible remorse for their murders and for all the bloodshed and destruction they have brought upon the people of the land. So they decide to make a covenant of peace with God and with the people and bury their weapons of war; or as they are referred to in the Book of Mormon account, ‘their weapons of rebellion’.
So this tribe buries their weapons deep in the ground to show that they no longer desire to shed blood and they covenant that they will never again take up arms against their brothers. And when the enemy comes upon them to fight they bow down before them in prayer to God while the enemy fell upon them and began to destroy them. At first their enemies thought they were bowing down in submission for fear but soon realized that they were giving praises to God and freely giving their lives rather than to fight and destroy. They wouldn’t take up their arms in their defense because of the horrendous atrocities and bloodshed they had committed previously. And some were slaughtered, but this demonstration of humility softened the hearts of their enemies so that they stopped destroying them as they saw that these people would not rise up in battle.
And in perspective, as the lesson of the story teaches us, those who were lost by giving up their lives were received into the presence of God and saved by their repentance, by their sacrifice to not commit any more destruction and bloodshed and by their demonstration of peace and change of heart. This seems quite extreme but in retrospect it is a priceless lesson we can learn from; the sacrifice of these dedicated people who had a clear understanding of the purpose of life, that there is so much more beyond what we can see in this mortal coil. This people did not only sacrifice their lives for their own salvation, but their demonstration carries endlessly forward to those of us who have the perspective to learn from their great sacrifice to be grateful to God for His mercies, for the gift we have of being able to truly change and be made clean after being some of the vilest of sinners.
So to me bury the hatchet doesn’t just mean to put our differences behind us, it means to put our differences behind us and to move forward with a commitment or covenant of peacekeeping. To never again take up arms, whether they are physical arms, mere words, thoughts or intentions against our brothers and work every day to create peace and harmony through compassionate service. Compassionate service, meaning to serve without regard for reward, to do it for the good of those we are serving and for no other reason, to uplift our brothers and to make the world a better place.
Of course it is extreme to think that we shouldn’t defend our lives in the face of certain destruction, but these stories serve as lessons, taken in context as they are told, to our lives that we can incorporate into who we are and who we wish to become. Once we have committed certain atrocities and have found true change of heart and forgiveness, it is critical that we don’t go back in any way, shape or form to that old behavior. To bury the hatchet means to put our old lives away, to bury them in the ground and to take upon ourselves newness, a new life, to be born again and become beings of light and goodness.
That sounds like new age, fruit pie, mumbo-jumbo especially in this day and age of the hustle and bustle of me-me-me, gimme-gimme-gimme, now-now-now, but it’s what I really believe. And it all starts with Christ, who is love and salvation, and creation, re-creation into newness of life, healing, being reborn into something great, to achieve our full potential as children of God. There are too many misunderstandings about who Christ is and what He expects of us, too much fear, too much of the fire and brimstone and not enough of the compassion and love of what He truly is and what He wants for us, and why He created this whole mortal plan for us. But once we begin to understand real, pure truth, the essence of what is real; we begin to understand who we really are and what purpose we serve in this world; that we are all one in Him and that to be healed and to be whole is to be in harmony with what science calls ‘The Field’ and what spiritualists call the powers of the universe and what I call God, my Father in Heaven, and what He calls the family of man.
There is much we don’t understand, because it’s not time for us to get it all, but it’s time for us to search. And if we search we will find, and as we begin to understand and incorporate that knowledge into our beings, into who we are, to help the world move forward into greater consciousness, greater things will be unfolded to our minds until we can comprehend all things.
Knowledge may be power, but raw power can be destructive. It matters what we do with that knowledge, how we harness it and how we transfer it into constructive creation of life and healing for progress toward the good of all mankind, never to control and subject others to our will. As we keep our minds set on things greater than ourselves, we are able to act as conduits for others in achieving greatness within themselves.
We will make mistakes. Others will make mistakes. But if we can bury the hatchet then we can love one another, and that’s when we start living.
I found this blog post interesting. It talks about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and the fact that Palestinian Christians are more prosperous than Palestinian Muslims. Food for thought. You can read the entire blog at http://palestinesolidaritymovement.blogspot.com/
Friday, January 19, 2007
Palestine Solidarity Movement encourages Palestinian Muslims to convert to Christianity
(2) Murder other people because of their religion or sexual orientation
(3) Commit suicide while murdering other people
(4) Engage in mindless violence that keeps Palestinians poor while their Judeo-Christian neighbors become rich through application of Judeo-Christian ethics and principles.
The Palestine Solidarity Movement accordingly concludes that conversion to Christianity and adoption of Christian principles would be in the best interests of the Palestinian people, and would result in an enormous improvement in their standard of living.
The Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM) is an international movement committed to assisting peaceful Palestinians using legal and nonviolent public relations methods and principles. Founded by a small group of activists, PSM aims to support and strengthen Palestinian resistance against oppression by providing the Palestinian people with a voice to nonviolently resist terrorism and coercion.
posted by Winged Hussar 1683 at 11:30 AM
Calmer Than You Are 
