I guess people’s perspective on the level of oppression is relative. Some people apparently think that if you’re rich, you can’t be oppressed. Were the Israelite slaves oppressed in Egypt? They had leeks and onions back in Egypt (Numbers 11:5). Maybe some people can be bought off.
If you’re a government farming the people, and you want to maximize your income, you shouldn’t tax them at 100%. Communist regimes fail. So, maybe they’ve figured out that current tax rates are near optimal, where people remain happy and comfortable, and the government still makes a lot of money. I don’t know.
All I know is there is an absolute standard in God’s law, and the U.S. government violates that standard. It doesn’t matter whether we’re better off than others. It only matters that they are violating God’s law, and we need to stand against them.
A common refrain among conservatives is that the soldiers have died for our rights. One way of looking at that is to scoff, because our rights have only eroded over the last 100 years or more. But there is another way to look at it. While so many rights have been lost, we have earned a lot of new rights even just recently.
Here are a few of our recently-earned rights:
1. The right to self-determine your sex and use the bathroom and lockerroom of your choice.
2. The right to marry someone of your own sex.
3. The right to free or reduced-cost health insurance if you qualify.
Here are a few rights that are not-so-recent, but are still innovations of American freedom and/or the Communist Manifesto.
1. The right of a woman to tear her unborn baby limb from limb.
2. The right to retire on Social Security.
3. The right to send your kid to a government school paid for by your neighbors.
None of those were rights when the Revolutionary War was won. None of those missing rights were listed as grievances in the Declaration of Independence.
So, dear conservative, if you want to say the soldiers have died for our rights, are you sure it’s not a sin to serve in the U.S. military? Is it possible for a soldier fighting in Iraq to choose to fight for freedom of speech (as an example), but not for the right to abortion? Are you sure they’re fighting on the right side?
When the regular people of Germany sent their young men off to fight in World War II, were they intending to do evil? Did they realize that they were evil, and they were on the wrong side and trying to ruin the world? Of course, not. They were regular people trying to do the right thing. They thought they were doing good, or at least that serving their country was a good thing. Maybe they just weren’t thinking very much. They sure weren’t thinking biblically.
Are you thinking very much? Is America really the good guys? How many babies have to be murdered before you consider the possibility that this isn’t a morally good country? Are we fighting just wars? Are we protecting innocent lives?
I believe it’s possible to live a Christian life in this country while the country goes off the moral deep end, but part of living that Christian life requires not working a government job (at any level, unless your purpose is to sabotage it), not serving in the military, not standing for the national anthem, and not pledging allegiance to the flag. We all question the wisdom and morality of those who supported the Third Reich. Don’t fall into the same trap as them.
There is much good about America, but singing the praises of this country isn’t fighting evil. What will help is recognizing the evil and fighting it.
This Kaepernick thing has been a real eye-opener for me. To see the worship of the American flag from my Christian friends has shown me why this country is where it’s at, and how there is currently no hope from this country apart from Christians repenting. If Christians don’t know right from wrong, how will anyone else?
Here’s a comment I left on one friend’s post.
How evil does this country have to become before Christians stop standing for the national anthem? Apparently 60 million dead babies isn’t enough. Transgender bathrooms, obamacare and legalized gay marriage aren’t enough. Maybe Kaepernick is onto something. Maybe we should all repent of our American pride and stop standing for the national anthem as long as it’s legal to murder babies.
Who has an incentive and motivation to foment racism? Is it big business and capitalists or government or labor unions. I’ve never thought about this before, but Bojidar Marinov obviously has. Here’s what he said:
Corporations didn’t create racism and don’t support it today. If anything, it was the rich Northern magnates of the 19th century who supported abolitionism and backed up the War between the States. There is absolutely no economic logic behind racism from the perspective of the corporations. The corporations want (1) a larger and more equalized pool of consumers; and (2) a larger supply of qualified workers. Neither is served by racism.
The real culprits behind racism are Big Labor and Big Government. Big Labor wants a smaller pool of available workers in order to have a better negotiating position. Big Government wants a divided population which would be focused on its internal divisions, and not on issues of justice. Both are served by racism.
The Biblical solution is libertarianism: Get the government out of the market altogether. Some employers may be racist and refuse to hire blacks. Thus, their marginal rates of hiring will be higher, for they will choose from a smaller pool of available workers. Other employers will take advantage of it and will hire mainly blacks.
Blacks were better off when there was no government to control the market.
This is an interesting conversation that took place on homeschooling and whether public school is a sin.
Another conversation took place on this thread where some who thought public school is not a sin, believed that sending a kid to an Islamic school would be a sin. What they don’t see is that what purports to be a secular education is really just as much a rejection of the lordship of Christ as any Islamic school would provide.
This website specializes in outlining abuses by police. Police abuse people of all colors for breaking unjust laws or sometimes for doing nothing wrong at all (Freddie Gray). Collin Kaepernick, QB for the 49ers, has been attacked for not standing for the national anthem in the last week, and conservative claws have come out. I want to go over some of their inconsistencies, and I don’t necessarily want to defend Kaepernick, but I want to ask my conservative friends this question: What does this country have to do before you stop singing its praises and pledging your allegiance to it? I hope you’ll think about it and answer that question for yourself, because that time has come and gone for me.
So I’m going to post some of the arguments I’ve seen against Kaepernick’s actions and respond to them.
To answer the question, you’d have to ask whether the wars we’ve fought recently are just wars. My heart is broken over that fact that the war in Afghanistan and Iraq are unjust wars and they’re wars we’ve lost. Americans have died and bled and will be affected for the rest of their lives for an unjust, unbiblical war, and it’s all been a waste, because we’ve been defeated. Iraq and Afghanistan were better off in 2001, and millions of their lives have been lost. Since it is an unjust war, I believe their death was murder. I take no pleasure in saying it. It’s terrible to think about, but I lay the blame at the feet of Christian pastors.
When we talk about just or unjust wars, we’re talking about justice. God determines what justice is. God’s law defines justice. Christians are the ones who have God’s law, and if they don’t teach what a just war is, then no one will know. Not only did they fail to teach what God requires for a just war, they were rooting for us to start those wars.
As far as how much money Kaepernick makes, that is completely irrelevant. Here’s what Bojidar Marinov had to say about that:
“Folks, most of the Founding Fathers were wealthy, and some were quite rich.
That didn’t stop them from saying that Americans were oppressed under the Crown, nor did it stop them from rebelling against that Crown . . . let alone from refusing to stand for “God Save the King.”
Just because a person is rich doesn’t mean they shouldn’t make any statements about justice.”
So, I don’t consider either Kaepernick or Glen Coffee to be a hero.
You obviously shouldn’t be bothered by someone praying, though many were. The problem for me with this meme is that it seems as though they’re saying that you should be bothered by Kaepernick and you shouldn’t be bothered by Tebow–as if standing for the national anthem is an equal duty to praying. If that’s what they’re saying, that would be blasphemy.
Here’s another argument I’ve seen (that doesn’t have a meme). Standing for the national anthem is our duty, because so many soldiers have died for our rights.
Did the soldiers die for our right to abort unborn babies? Did they die for our right to have the government steal from other people so that we can have Obamacare and public schooling and food stamps (socialistic redistribution of wealth)? At what point is standing for the flag an insult to their sacrifice on the battlefield?
Another argument I’ve seen over and over is if you don’t love America, leave it. There’s even a song about it:
It’s complete BS. Did George Washington love Great Britain or leave it? No. He threw off the shackles of his tyranny. Most of the founders were wealthy and powerful (like Kaepernick). They didn’t leave their country, but stood up for justice (which is a stand for what’s right and Godly). Who is saying the founding fathers are a bunch of wealthy crybabies? Shouldn’t they have just shut up and been grateful they lived in a country that allowed them to become wealthy?
Kaepernick says that black people are being abused by police. THEY ARE, and so are white people. It’s just that black people seem to be the only ones who care that they’re being murdered. Eric Garner was choked to death for selling loose cigarettes. The cops who murdered him faced no consequences. If that was the only instance of injustice, I’d be angry. But there are dozens of such instances of people of many colors.
There are some people who have 2 Chronicles 7:14 yard signs in front of their house. It would be interesting to knock on their door and see what they think about Collin Kaepernick. Most of them would start ranting and raving and foaming at the mouth about how disrespectful Kaepernick is. Rather than humbling themselves, and praying and seeking God’s face and turning from their wicked ways, they will arrogantly ignore Kaepernick’s grievance. That is the opposite of what this country needs.
Here’s what 2 Chronicles 7:14 doesn’t say, but which does typify most reactions to Kaepernick I’ve seen. As long as this is the case–as long as Christians behave like a bunch of statist idolaters, God will not relent in bringing His judgment as the previous verse (verse 13) says.
If my people who are called by my name will arrogantly ignore criticism of their country and tell anyone with a grievance to get out, I will heal their land.
Is schooling mentioned in the Bible (and does God have an opinion)? Why YES! I’m glad you asked!
This is just one of many passages that should solifiy this issue, but in Ephesians 6:4 we are commanded:
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but instead, train them up in the nurture (literally, “Biblical counseling”), and admonition (the Greek word, “Paideia”) of the Lord.”
What does Paideia mean? From the Encyclopeida Brittanica:
“Paideia, (Greek: “education,” or “learning”), system of education and training in classical Greek and Hellenistic (Greco-Roman) cultures that included such subjects as gymnastics, grammar, rhetoric, music, mathematics, geography, natural history, and philosophy. In the early Christian era the Greek paideia, called humanitas in Latin, served as a model for Christian institutions of higher learning, such as the Christian school of Alexandria in Egypt, which offered theology as the culminating science of their curricula. The term was combined with enkyklios (“complete system,” or “circle”) to identify a large compendium of general education, hence “encyclopaedia.”
Everything that could be taught in academics was wrapped up in the Greek word, “Paideia.” It was the word the Greeks used for “Schooling.” Paul commanded fathers to train their children up NOT in the Paideia of the world, but instead, in the Paideia of the Lord.
Sometimes I wonder what it will take to convince people that the police are an occupying army roving our streets. Surely if they killed an innocent man from the turret of one of their armored SWAT vehicles that would convince people.
This country abounds with idolatry. We conservatives and Christians take great pride in our country and we stand when the flag passes by in a parade. We say the pledge of allegiance. We shed a tear during a moving rendition of the Star Spangled Banner before every sporting event.
If you want to get a real reaction out of people, don’t do those things. Stay seated when they stand. Don’t put your hand over your heart, and see what happens. They will act as if you spit on their idol. Because you have, not literally spit, but you have not paid homage to their literal idol. They idolize our country, and once you see that truth, it will make you sick to your stomach.
I’m grateful to live here; we have it pretty comfortable. But I worship Jesus Christ alone–not my comfort and not the country that’s helped provide it. It is definitely not above criticism, and I don’t particularly care whether someone observes the religious ceremonies.
But the standard for America, and how great it is, isn’t other countries. We measure any country by the standard that God provides in His law. We have no idea what justice is apart from His law. We have no idea what good and evil are apart from His law. Does America provide justice? Is America a morally good country? The answer to those questions is a resounding NO. Are we doing better than some other countries. Yes. Are we doing better than every other country? I don’t know.
Many of us have a limited perspective–including myself. My parents wanted to never travel outside of the USA. We drove to every one of the lower 48 states, but just crossed over the Canada and Mexico borders a few miles, and only briefly. I think that the PR they put out is that many other parts of the world are dangerous and backward. I’m sure there are plenty of places that are, but many that aren’t.
Where God’s law is, there is liberty. This list ranks America as the 11th freest country in the world. 11TH! This is supposed to be the land of the free–the greatest nation in the world. We rank behind Estonia. Most Americans couldn’t even find Estonia on a map. Chile ranks ahead of us. Most Americans are too afraid to go to Chile. I’m personally ashamed to be ranked 11th.
And, if you’re an unborn baby, you’re considered sub-human and you can be ripped apart limb from limb. How’s that for justice and freedom? They have no right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The words in the pledge of allegiance are false. I refuse to say them, because I see it as a creepy religious ceremony AND the words are complete BS. As the purpose of this website is to encourage secession, I believe it is definitely not indivisible.
