Having spent many years of my life in a Baptist church which was notorious for it’s extremely dogmatic views, it has taken a long time to shake many of the tenets I once considered correct. That combined with the years of pledging my allegiance to the Flag in government school was a powerful elixir. Thankfully my innate sense of right and wrong (that got me in more trouble than it seemingly should have with the “authorities” at school) prevailed and the truth became apparent to me.

One thing that is still particularly bothersome even today is that church had an American Flag and a Christian Flag at the front of the church and we would regularly pledge our allegiance to the American and Christian Flags concurrently. In hindsight, that was an egregious example of the teaching of Matthew 6:24. Jesus said you cannot serve two masters. How can you pledge allegiance to a government whose function is to murder, steal and lie and then in the same breath pledge allegiance to God who clearly condemns these activities. YOU CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!

Serving Two Masters?

According to the prevailing (and incorrect) admonition of the evangelical right supported by a flawed interpretation of Romans 13, Christians are to unconditionally obey the government and dutifully pay their tribute as demanded or be under the judgement of God. What is interesting about this concept when arguing about the validity of this interpretation, proponent’s arguments fall flat when the US government (which is supposedly exceptional) is substituted with Hitler or Stalin or ISIS.

If you’re going to argue that Romans 13 is a blanket exhortation to obey the government du jour, then clearly those seeking to avoid capitulating to Hitler’s SS were in the wrong. However, very few would admit that is the logical end of arguing that Romans 13 requires us to submit to the government. This seems to be a contradiction, but if you’re like most Christians, you believe the Bible to be inerrant, so there must be an answer.

I have done my own research regarding this and the conclusions I’ve arrived at have satisfied me, but I’ve never written about it because I haven’t had the time or energy to devote to it. Today I ran across an article and a subsequent linked article by Paul Green which I believe to be a fairly accurate representation of my views regarding the subject, so I’m sharing them with you.

Jesus was an open critic of the government. He opposed paying taxes to Caesar, regarded property rights as inherent, placed an prodigious value on life, overturned the money changers tables (think bankers), opposed punishment for victimless crimes and generally opposed the use of force. It’s his example we should follow.

“Conspiracy theorists” have long lamented the coming “microchip” that will be implanted under our skin so the government can track our movements. As most of us know, we’ve willing submitted to being tracked by the NSA. We carry the device voluntarily in our pocket or purse everywhere we go. Now Apple will be selling us the latest cool device that is capable of monitoring our vital signs. I will predict that it will be a huge seller.

Unfortunately, most likely the only way to defeat the globalist oligarchs is rejecting their system of surveillance and data compilation. Are we going to willingly give up our wireless devices in order to do that? I will go out on a limb here and say emphatically no.

We’re screwed.

I know that sounds defeatist. I think I’d be willing to do it and actually am seriously considering it, however most people I’m acquainted with, probably including you who are reading this, politely agree or disagree with my rantings and go blithely on their way.

I understand.

Most of us are compelled by more pressing matters. Earning enough to feed our families, running kids to the myriad activities kids are involved in these days (another subject for another day), or maybe we just don’t really think it matters enough to expend any energy on. Plus we really like our gadgets. I’m not judging you. I love my gadgets too. And we are pretty comfortable as of the moment, right? Right? Maybe you should think about it again.

Will you have enough money to retire on? With zero percent interest and a stock market that is in a constant state of bubbles perpetuated by easy Fed money and the Wall Street casino, I’m finding it difficult to plan for my “golden years”. But I digress.

Back to the subject at hand, rather than repeating what’s already been written by others, read Paul Craig Roberts article here. He goes into detail about John Whitehead’s latest book Battlefield America (2015). Whitehead has been sounding the horn on Police State activity and it doesn’t look good for the average citizen.

Since I’ve been an adult, I’ve always considered watching professional sports a waste of time. The baser tribal instincts displayed by spectators/fans is clearly indicative of herd mentality. Running with the herd has never been my strong point, even though at times in my life it seemed like the right thing to do. Departing the herd is very freeing.

Now I simply refuse to watch professional sports, particularly NFL football. It is estimated 114 million people watched the Super Bowl. Where else can you get a third of the population to sit down and be mesmerized while administering them large doses of propaganda? Frankly, it is amazing so many people are willing to subject themselves to it.

The reasons for not participating are many. Here are a few:

Virtually every stadium where NFL games are played are heavily subsidized by the taxpayers. Many team owners have seen their net worth skyrocket once a new stadium is built, without ever risking a dime of their own capital. Guess who’s behind the fleecing of the citizens? I’ll give you a clue, it rhymes with “the publicans”.

The U.S. military in cahoots with the NFL conducts regular military worship rituals at games where they have huge captive audiences. No wonder American Sniper is a huge hit at the box office. I won’t see that either, but that’s fodder for another post. Military worship, particularly among evangelicals has risen to sickening levels. I thought Christians were supposed to emulate Christ?

The halftime entertainment at least when I’ve watched it in the past, is usually a culturally significant display of debauchery, decadence and lewdness. (Forgive the redundancy, one word just didn’t seem enough.) Certainly not something you want your prepubescent children watching.

The Oligarchs having seemingly perfected the art of propaganda, keep bringing it to new levels. The military-industrial complex needs you. By watching their circuses, you are giving your tacit support of their evil deeds. NFL football and the explosion of “Reality TV” are spectacular examples of the power of groupthink.  

Who won anyway? Was it the Baltimore Colts?

For that matter, if you voted Democrat, you’re even more part of the problem. In fact, if you voted at all, in most cases you’ve enabled the ruling class to further expand consequently robbing you of more of your precious liberties.

Clearly the Republican neocon establishment has a firm grasp on its caucus. Why else would John Boehner win the speakership virtually hands down? Those Republicans who voted against him are clearly suffering repercussions for their actions. Michele Bachmann’s replacement, Tom Emmer, has plainly shown he has begun consuming the kool-aid on day one of his stint in Congress by voting for Boehner. Evidently so as to not be denied a suckling place at the teat of the powers that be.

The Republicans clarion call, since Obamacare was passed, was that they, if elected, would repeal the abomination known as the “Affordable Care Act”. Interestingly, the “CRominibus” bill, passed by a large majority of so-called conservatives, continues to fund Obamacare. So it’s business as usual in Washington, while the Republican activists whistle past the graveyard about their “victory”. Some victory.

In some future election, if the voters simply decided they would only elect individuals-notice I didn’t say politicians- who committed to only passing bills that expand liberty or repeal existing laws, we would experience a sea change in the way of reverting to what Thomas Jefferson envisioned.

That future election will never happen unless the people recognize and admit to themselves that the criminal political class in Washington and state and local governments has been the cause of the malaise among the lower and middle classes. Unfortunately, the situation will have to worsen before the people wake up. Equally as unfortunate is the fact that as the situation worsens, most people will look to the cause of the discomfort, namely the government, to fix it.

So, what will it take? Jefferson alluded to it in his quote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” How metaphorical that statement was no one knows. In order to bring about change, particularly considering the current political climate, it must be taken as a metaphor. Even if an armed uprising were possible, as the most principled member in the last fifty years to grace the halls of Congress has pointed out, it would be ineffective in the long run if the hearts of the people are not changed.

A peaceful revolution must ensue! When will it begin? It has already started. Ron Paul has probably been the most visible proponent of this revolution, but there are hundreds (probably thousands, maybe more) of vocal and articulate authors, lecturers, actors, radio personalities, news anchors, and bloggers spreading the message of liberty and peace.

Don’t just sit on the sidelines and lament the sorry state of our world. Talk to your neighbors and friends and get them to see how they’ve been duped by the oligarchical propaganda machine. Tell them it’s nothing to be ashamed of. We can all admit to being there at one time, until we saw the light.

Please, please, please read this article by Ron Paul. It is likely the most concise, clear and articulate message you will ever receive about the state of the world today.

The recent revelations regarding torture combined with the fact that a majority of so-called Christians believe it can be justified is disturbing, but not really surprising.

Christians reading this should really examine their beliefs regarding the current culture of war and ensure they are consistent with the teaching of Jesus.

This Bionic Mosquito post sums up the decline of Western culture and the apparent abdication of Biblical Christian ethics by the very ones who claim to abide by them. It is a pensive and sad account, but truth should never be ignored.

The State has become so firmly entrenched in almost every aspect of our lives, it’s difficult to go a single day without feeling the effects of it.

Power changes hands regularly each election cycle but the bureaucracies the politicians have established for the most part remain unchanged and continue to burgeon unchecked. Ronald Reagan accurately and poignantly pointed this out when he said, “The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.”

The “power”, however, is really not in the political parties, but in the oligarchical structure that drives politics. Bankers, crony capitalists and the media (the aforementioned structure) don’t really care which party is currently in power. They can accomplish their miscreant deeds because of or in spite of who’s in “power”. Mostly because they are the ones responsible for putting the “powerful” in their respective positions. They are the State. The Deep State if you will.

Most people who have critical thinking skills-obviously a diminishing percentage of the populous-are well aware of the corruption that takes place at all levels of government, but feel powerless to do anything about it other than to complain and dutifully show up at the voting booth. As we know neither changes anything.

Political action benefits no one except the politicians. It may make those involved in the political action feel like they’re actually bringing about some sort of change when “their guy” gets elected, but history shows us that the State continues to grow unabated regardless of whether “their guy” is a Republican or a Democrat. So called “conservatives” are responsible for some of the largest government programs, most recently “No Child Left Behind” and “Medicare part D”.

So, what to do?

When your computer runs too long, the code tends to get corrupted causing your computer to run slowly, do strange things or crash. So you reboot it. Your system reverts to its default parameters and runs good (good being relative, especially if you are running Windows) again until the code becomes corrupted again. Perfectly analogous to the State. The system needs a reboot. In this case the analogous reversion would be to DOS. Or maybe the abacus. Or maybe a better analogy would be to wipe the hard drive and install Linux. The State needs to be abolished altogether.

This may sound simplistic, idealistic and impractical. Most would consider it impossible, however, it is really the only solution.

So, how to do it?

Secede. On a state, county or city level it would be unlikely to take place in our current culture. However, it can be done on a personal level. Position yourself to be unaffected (or at least less affected) by the State. You go “Galt”. The State cannot survive without the express consent of those under its giant thumb. Once the people begin to resist en masse, the State fails. Unfortunately, the only way this will likely come about is after a massive collapse. If the prognosticators that have been right in the past are correct, we are in for a major correction at the very least and a total worldwide economic collapse is probably inevitable. This will be bad for the State in the long run. Maybe we should hope for it.

Today on Dave Thompson’s radio show on KTLK, Thompson was interviewing Congressman John Kline from Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District. While Kline doesn’t hide the fact that he’s a warmonger, like most of his Republican colleagues, it was surprising to hear just how candid he was in expressing his desire to get the US involved in another conflict.

It was not surprising to hear Kline excoriate the Obama administration-well deserved no doubt-while letting Obama’s predecessor completely off the hook. Very few Republicans are willing to go off the reservation and criticize one of their own, even if it’s well deserved. Considering the Bush Administration is mostly responsible for the creation of ISIS, hopefully more Republicans will begin to see their party for what it is and hold their neocon counterparts responsible for the atrocities they’ve committed.

Thompson, to his credit, put forward the forgotten concept of a congressional declaration of war before starting another conflict abroad. He got a tepid acknowledgement from Kline who quickly moved on. The Republicans certainly don’t want The Executive to be hampered by procedure when it comes to starting a new war.

The White House is seemingly confused and conflicted about who we need to bomb next. ISIS or the Assad regime? It sounds like it could be both, kind of an even day/odd day affair according to David Stockman. According to this AP article, “In an effort to avoid unintentionally strengthening the Syrian government, the White House could seek to balance strikes against the Islamic State with attacks on Assad regime targets.” This is the most schizophrenic brand of foreign policy we’ve seen in some time. Considering most of the politicians in Washington are psychopaths, I guess that stands to reason.

Will you be fooled again?

The standard argument made by proponents of government is we need them for police and fire protection among the myriad of other services we’ve been conditioned to believe can only be supplied by government. This is an excellent article regarding police and private markets.

Or you may be gunned down in the street. Is this the message Ferguson police are trying to send by releasing the video of Michael Brown in the convenience store? Since the facts are unclear, we should definitely withhold judgement in this particular case, however, it is bringing to light the vast accounts of inappropriate, unnecessary and deadly law enforcement responses due to perceived danger to “law enforcement officials”.

While the neocon warmongers would have you believe “terrorism” is all the justification we need for a National Police State, statistically it would appear we have more to fear from “Law Enforcement” than “Terrorists”.

More Americans have perished at the hands of “Law Enforcement” than terrorists since 9/11. Many unjustifiably so.

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/08/21/ferguson-justice-american-police-state-paul-craig-roberts/

The incident in Ferguson is the most recent example of how lethal the combination of “Law Enforcement” and their mantra of “Officer Safety” are. Unbeknownst to most people only a few days earlier a black man was gunned down by cops a few miles from Ferguson. Cell phone video refuted the cop’s testimony and it is now abundantly apparent they did not need to use lethal force on this poor man who was obviously mentally impaired.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cell-phone-video-emerges-refutes-st-louis-cops-version-shooting/

MRAP’s, Swat Teams and militarized police coming to a town near you! Or maybe your town.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/man-threatens-suicide-police-respond-swat-sniper-mrap/

The lesson in the next video is never, ever, ever call the cops. This poor mentally ill family member was in the bathroom threatening suicide. The family calls the cops and they show up and do the job for him. Evidently, these slobs have a penchant for donuts as they’re extremely overweight which is typical for “law enforcement” personnel.

Update: An interesting link sent by one of my readers.