Progressive Ideology: Return to the Dark Ages

The history of man is a record of a journey of enlightenment, with occasional setbacks and long periods of superstition & oppression.  The reformation, the age of reason, the scientific method, & the enlightenment were all interrelated, & built upon each other to free man from the dark ages of superstition, elitism, & a ruling aristocracy.

The Reformation ended the Dark Ages.  Here are some of the characteristics of that time:

1. There was an elite ruling class.  They were separate & privileged.  They believed & acted on their superiority over the huddled masses.
2. Their mandates were absolute.  They spoke for God & the Universe, & nobody could question them.  Everyone else was expected to submit to their pontifications.  Truth & reason were irrelevant, as the mandates from the elite were supreme.  There was no appeal to Reason, Science, or a Higher Law.
3. Superstition & submission to the elite were indoctrinated into everyone.. not critical thinking & discovery.  The institutions of men required absolute devotion, loyalty, & submission, & were not to be questioned.
4. Wealth was concentrated in the hands of the elite, ruling classes.  There was no middle class.  The privileged elite did not work, themselves, but were leeches & looters of the production from the working class.
5. The ruling elite were above the laws that they themselves decreed & enforced.
6. Violence, torture, & intolerance of diverse views were used to keep the reins of power, & any dissenters were targets of their wrath.  Non conformity was punishable by death.

The Reformation was the beginning of the end of the dark ages.

1. Sola Scriptura.  Man's edicts were not absolute, but there was a Higher Power.. there is a Natural Law that was above the whims & pontifications of man.
2. A common language, Latin, where a knowledge base began to build.  Advances in mathematics, science, & technology began to replace superstition.  Science & reason worked, & provided a stable base for discovery, rather than the whimsical mandates of man.
3. The beginnings of the Equality of Man, & a rejection of elitism & the Divine Right of Kings.
4. Birth of Defiance.  The reformation saw the legitimatizing of defiance, 'We must obey God rather than man', was a common theme.  The compliance & submission that the ruling aristocracy demanded began to crumble, as people held conscience above the edicts of the elite.

Almost concurrently, the Age of Reason began, which promoted scientific methodology over superstition.  This was also the beginning of the Enlightenment, where Reason & all the old values of the dark ages were cast off.  From this ideological basis, the American Experiment was born, where our collective governance was based on these central values:

1. the equality of man.  ALL men are created equal, & are endowed with unalienable Rights.
2. Natural Rights, & a Higher Law was over everyone, & the orders of aristocracy were destroyed. Life, Liberty, & Property, the core values of Natural Law & the Enlightenment, were codified into a system of checks & balances.
3. Citizen Representatives, not a ruling elite.
4. The right of the people to resist & overthrow any collective institution that oppresses or violates the natural rights of man.

These were High Ideals, that have been bought with the blood of thousands of humans who died resisting the dictates of the privileged elite.  Generations of people born in the last hundred years have been the beneficiaries of those who believed in & fought for the rights of the individual over the collective institutions & tyrants who would enslave them.  They were never completely defeated, but have always been there, working to assert their control over others, striving to gain power, & drawn to any system where they could insert themselves into seats of authority & rule.

From early in the 20th century, the progressive movement was based on several principles that influenced their agenda.

1. Dismantle or render ineffective the constitution of the US. "..government is not a machine, but a living thing. It falls, not under the theory of the universe, but under the theory of organic life. It is accountable to Darwin, not to Newton." Woodrow Wilson.  Govt was seen as the Solution for all of the problems of humanity, not as the source of them.  Early progressives had nothing but disdain for the American Founders, & the principles of Enlightenment thought.  The 'checks & balances' of the constitution were seen as a hindrance to the progressive agenda.
2. Gain control of the institutions of power.. academia, journalism, the courts, local & state govts. 
3. Darwinism was much of the driving force of progressive ideology.  Superior thinkers & leaders were more highly evolved than the common man, & should have an elevated position of power & control in any collective endeavor.  'Living political constitutions must be Darwinian in structure and in practice. Society is a living organism and must obey the laws of life, not of mechanics; it must develop. All the progressives ask or desire is permission—in an era when “development:... “evolution,” is the scientific word—to interpret the Constitution according to the Darwinian principle…' Woodrow Wilson
4. 'Rights' are a gift from govt, not something inherently possessed.  "Natural rights and natural liberties exist only in the kingdom of mythological social zoology." John Dewey.

At the very core of progressive ideology is the belief in a naturalistic explanations of origins.  There are no moral absolutes.  There is no Higher Law.  There is no God, or He is irrelevant.  Man makes himself, & is the Author & Finisher of his own fate.  The irony of this is the elevation of Man into his own god, but one who is fickle & unstable, unlike the unseen God of the universe whose laws were orderly, which was the basis for the Enlightenment.  This new god was more terrible & fearful than the old one, & he demanded loyalty & submission in this life, or you will suffer the consequences.  Forget the afterlife, they will make this life a hell for you if you defy them.  All of the basic traits of the dark ages are being reborn under the new mantle of progressivism.  But instead of elitists from a distant, unseen God, they are present & visible.  The roots of the dark ages religion have changed, but the actions & principles they operate under are the same.

America's foundational beliefs have transitioned from the enlightenment view of a Creator, Human equality, Natural Law, & individual freedom to the naturalistic, collectivist pop religion that currently permeates all of our culture.  Progressivism is the State Religion, & is promoted & indoctrinated as such.  Even in the court cases, you can see the slow 'evolution' of progressive dominance.  We are returning to the dark ages, with a new crop of elitists to rule over us, mandates based on position rather than science or reason, intolerance for dissenting views, & mandated conformity.  Collectivism from Marx, with the basis of naturalistic origins have blended to form progressive ideology.  It's twin sisters were born at the same time, but have not been as successful.  Communism & Nazism were born of the same era, with the same philosophical bases.  The success of progressivism lies in its ability to lurk in the shadows, & slow gains of power in the institutions.  It is a chameleon, able to change colors with the surrounding habitat.  It is not surprising that the elitist views of Islamism are viewed sympathetically by progressives, as they see their central enemy as traditional American values.  The constitution, with roots in absolute morality, freedom, & diversity of thought are at odds with the mandated conformity of Islam & progressivism.  Both are driving us back to the dark ages.  Both are based in elitist rule.  Both require absolute submission & obedience from the subservient masses.  Both destroy the middle class & prosperity.  Both use political power to control the people.

Progressive ideology:  Anti-American, enemy of mankind, driving us back to the dark ages.

2016 Elections: History repeats itself

Two hundred and forty years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.  Seven score & fourteen years ago, we engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. The 2016 elections are a great battle-field of a new war, in a repeat of history. This war is a struggle for the soul of America.  The conflict of today is the same, philosophically, as the other 2 major conflicts in American History.

 

"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." -- Thomas Jefferson

That is the issue.  Will America be a govt of, by, & for the people, or will we be controlled by a small ruling elite?  Will the working man be a slave of King George, Plantation owners, or a collectivist class of media elite, propagandists, career politicians & their enablers?  The working man has forever been the target of control & manipulation by these elitists, for all time.  America was an attempt at self rule, where productive citizens represented the people in a system of checks & balances, & public service was an altruistic act for your fellow man, not a euphemism for lordship.

We are seeing a repeat of history, in the 2016 elections.  The same forces are at work, as they have been for all of the American Experiment.  Progressive ideology, with its anti American basis, has been driving us toward division & elitism for decades.  I see the current election cycle as a temporary pause in our downward spiral.  It is providential, & should cause us to reevaluate the direction we have been going.

Lincoln made the following statements, but i have heard similar things from Trump as he addresses the division & rancor in this post election season:

We have just carried an election on principles fairly stated to the people. Now we are told in advance, the government shall be broken up, unless we surrender to those we have beaten, before we take the office. 

We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best, hope of earth. 

Let us then turn this government back into the channel in which the framers of the Constitution originally placed it. 

The forces of destruction are legion.  I do not expect this pause to last, or to change the general direction of destruction of the American Experiment in self rule.  This is a last gasp.. a brief recovery before we take our final breath.  All of our institutions are controlled by progressive ideology, & its anti American collectivist values.  They will continue looting the Treasury, indoctrinating the youth, & exploiting the working man.  There is nothing to indicate otherwise.  I would like to be optimistic, & see a new birth of freedom, & have hope that govt of, by, & for the people can endure.  But i do not.  I see a brief setback for the enemies of America, as a small minority of working people made their voices heard.  But the elites control the megaphones, & the propaganda machine.  They will get their subjects back in line, with more promises of free stuff from the working man.

Only a growing defiance & activism from the working man can turn the tide.  But there are not enough producers, & little time to turn this juggernaut around.  I grieve for the loss of America, but am amazed that she had such a great run.  There has been nothing like Her in all of history, & i am glad to have been alive to see it before the forces of destruction ruined her.

Separation of Church and State

The Big Questions are: How, Why, What, & When. They are questions of matter, purpose, law, & time.

Origins
Meaning
Morality
Destiny

HOW did i (and everybody else) get here?
WHY are we here? Is there a purpose to our existence?
WHAT do we do? Are there rules for our existence?
WHEN we die, what happens? Is there a soul?

For all of human history, since man has been able to contemplate & record his thoughts, these questions have been gnawing at us. From time to time, some people have claimed 'special insight' for the answers, & have constructed plausible scenarios for these questions. This is what i will call, 'Religion'. It is an attempt to define & solve these basic questions of the Universe.

It does not matter how far back you go in history. It does not matter who the philosopher, guru, wise man, scientist, or thinker of great thoughts is, they wrote, spoke, & obsessed over the Basic Questions of life.

Now you may ask, 'What does this have to do with the separation of church & state?' It is a long way around to this issue, but it is necessary to define the basic terms & concepts.

In the human experience, there are 2 basic expressions of Religion: Institutional & Individual. We have constructed institutions to be the caretakers & managers of our philosophies of life. Most of these are found as churches or organizations that reflect the opinion of the founders. But there are also individual beliefs & opinions that do not fit neatly into any particular institution.

I would also like to point out some basic Truths about humanity & the Big Questions:
1. NOBODY really knows the answers to these questions. There are only beliefs.
2. Atheism, agnosticism, pantheism, absurdism, theism, & ANY speculation about these Questions are ALL beliefs.
3. There are NO empirical answers for any of these questions. They are outside of scientific methodology.
4. Truth is not a democratic process, but there is not even a consensus among humans to the Absolute Truth of the Questions.
5. Since ANY belief about the basic questions of life are purely BELIEF & conjecture, & since the questions are outside the realm of empiricism & scientific inquiry, ANY & ALL beliefs about these Questions are Religious & philosophical.

For most of human history, including now, a Majority Opinion was the consensus in a society. There was little tolerance for diverse views on these things, & conformity was expected. Wars, force, & conflict were & are common strategies for persuasion of a particular philosophical world view. The American Experiment was born as an attempt at self rule, & was a utopian dream of human governance. The religious/philosophical question was addressed in these 2 basic concepts:
Govt was to secure freedom of religion. This is the 'free exercise' clause.
Govt was NOT to 'establish' or give any preference to any religion. This is the 'establishment' clause.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; ~1st Amendment

For the next 200 yrs or so, there have been various interpretations & explanations by the supreme court on this phrase. In most instances, there was no conflict with any expressions of belief by individuals, or any 'free exercise' parts of human belief. The 10 commandments on the courthouse, or a nativity scene in the city square were not considered to be violations of the establishment clause. God was mentioned freely in all human institutions.. education, govt, media, law. Prayers were (and are) offered before congressional sessions & other public settings. The religious beliefs of the majority opinion were allowed expression without violating any minority beliefs. The roots of America were based on Christian biblical principles of human equality, Natural Law, & freedom. These were Enlightenment concepts, & they were incorporated into the founding of this radical new expression of human governance.

The Majority Religious Opinion
Here are the summary premises as a basis for further analysis:

1. ALL beliefs about the 'Questions' are Religious & philosophical.
2. America was founded upon the utopian dream of free exercise, & non establishment by govt in matters of religious expression.

Ideally, the collective organization (aka, govt) should be indifferent to any 'free exercise' of religious expression, & only inserts itself if there is a conflict between the beliefs of one violating the rights of another. That is the role of the courts, to adjudicate any disputes between the citizens. For most of the history of America, there was no conflict with a nativity scene, or some other expression of religious faith by the citizens. The 'majority view' was primarily theistic, & specifically christian.

But as is often the case in human society, changes bring new dynamics. The sense of tolerance & diversity about religious beliefs, that was the basis for the American ideal, has changed with a new majority ideology. What was once 'endowed by the Creator' is now 'granted by the state.' Naturalism has replaced Natural Law. I see the changes illustrated by a few highlights in court decisions.

• 1925- the state of Tennessee passes a law banning the teaching of evolution in public school. It went to court, in what has been called the 'Scopes monkey trial'. Many other states followed suit, banning the teaching of evolution. The tennessee law was upheld initially.
• 1967 – Tennessee repeals the Butler Act, the law that banned the teaching of evolution in public schools.
• 1968 – In Epperson v. Arkansas, the Supreme Court strikes down an Arkansas law banning the teaching of evolution.
• 1973 – Tennessee passes a law requiring that public schools give equal emphasis to "the Genesis account in the Bible" along with other theories about the origins of man.
• 1975 – Tennessee's "equal time" law is declared unconstitutional by a federal appeals court.
• 1982 — In McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education, a U.S. district judge strikes down an Arkansas law that required public schools to give "balanced treatment" to evolution and creationism whenever either was taught.
• 1987 – In Edwards v. Aguillard, the Supreme Court rules that a Louisiana law requiring public schools to give "balanced treatment" to creationism and evolution is unconstitutional.
• 1990 - In Webster v. New Lenox School District, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals found that a school district may prohibit a teacher from teaching creation science.
• 1994, in Peloza v. Capistrano School District, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court finding that a teacher's First Amendment right to free exercise of religion is not violated by a school district's requirement that evolution be taught in biology classes.
• 2005 - in Selman et al. v. Cobb County School District et al., U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper ruled that a evolution warning label required in Cobb County textbooks violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The disclaimer stickers stated, "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."

What is interesting to me, is the slow change from one view to the other, & the transition from one being the 'banned' view, into the other now being the 'banned' view. Neither have any empirical evidence of absolute Truth, & both are merely OPINIONS about the origins of man. Yet we have officially transitioned from one 'majority view' exclusive opinion to the other, in the short span of a few decades. This example is easy to follow, as you can see in the court rulings the gradual changes from one to the other.

But this is only one reflection of the majority opinion of Naturalism. It has become the de facto 'religion' of the day, & dominates all of our institutions, especially in the public arena.

The irony to me, is that naturalism used the 'tolerance' & 'free exercise' principles in the constitution to find public validity, & is now using its majority opinion to squash any dissent from alternate views. In matters of free expression, secular humanism & other flavors of naturalism carry the 'religion' label, but in matters of establishment, they disavow the 'religion' label in favor of the 'science' label.

Secular humanism has been defined as a 'religion' by the supreme court (Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488, 1961) . It is, in fact, a belief system about the universe, origins, the nature of man.. it is an attempt to answer the 'How, Why, When, & What' of our existence.

Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism, and others. See Washington Ethical Society v. District of Columbia, 101 U.S. App. D.C. 371, 249 F.2d 127; Fellowship of Humanity v. County of Alameda, 153 Cal. App. 2d 673, 315 P.2d 394; II Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences 293; 4 Encyclopedia Britannica (1957 ed.) 325-327; 21 id., at 797; Archer, Faiths Men Live By (2d ed. revised by Purinton), 120-138, 254-313; 1961 World Almanac 695, 712; Year Book of American Churches for 1961, at 29, 47. footnote 11 from the case

In summary, the concept of the 'separation of church & state', while lofty & ideal, seems to be impossible with humans how they are. All they do is go from one majority enforced view to another, in the realm of religious & philosophical beliefs. Even in the melting pot of America, where diversity & tolerance is celebrated, an exclusive view seizes control, & its followers demand strict adherence to the tenets of the faith. American once had a majority view of christian theism, but is now mostly transitioned completely to naturalism. It has taken over in most expressions of Law, & is decidedly intolerant toward any competition of other world views. Science is misused, & indoctrination is the preferred method of instruction in this ideology.

The Central Flaw of Democracy

The Central Flaw of Democracy:

People who have not worked for it get to decide how to spend other people's money.

It is a basic problem of Conflict of Interest.  Those who vote for a living will begin to outnumber those who work for a living, & the downward spiral has begun.

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with a result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." ~Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler

I saw this in the republican debate last night.  All the politicians promise goodies from the treasury.  Public service is lauded as the most virtuous career.  Police, fire, & military are elevated as icons of humanity, when it is the taxpaying producer who pays their salaries.  Justice providers are a necessary evil.. an expense on the producing segments of society.  But those blinded by the lights & glory of Govt cannot see the source of their very survival:  The producing, working man.

It is an inherent flaw of any democracy, made worse by a watered down citizenry, state centered propaganda, & universal suffrage.  This is not the goal of American Governance.  This is a bastardization of the American Experiment, driving it to ruin.

“We are a Republican Government. Real liberty is never found in despotism or in the extremes of Democracy… It has been observed that a pure democracy if it were practicable would be the most perfect government. Experience has proved that no position is more false than this. The ancient democracies in which the people themselves deliberated never possessed one good feature of government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure deformity.” ~ Alexander Hamilton

Problems

• Diluted Citizenship. Citizenship is treated as a cheap commodity, rather than a sacred duty.  It is handed out like candy, to anyone who wants to vote.  This has been the METHOD that the statists have used to usurp the rule of citizens, by flooding the electorate with useful idiots & self interested voters.

The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.  ~Winston Churchill

• Ruling Elite. For self rule to work, you have to have CITIZEN Representatives.  Public service cannot be a magnet for shysters & scoundrels, looking for easy living.  They have turned the American Experiment into a den of thieves, not a rotation of representatives with the interests of the tax PAYERS in mind.

"All [reforms] can be... [achieved] peaceably by the people confining their choice of Representatives and Senators to persons attached to republican government and the principles of 1776; not office-hunters, but farmers whose interests are entirely agricultural. Such men are the true representatives of the great American interest and are alone to be relied on for expressing the proper American sentiments."  ~Thomas Jefferson

• Conflict of Interest.  The control & management of the public treasury is in the hands of those who have not contributed to it.  It is easy for them to hand out goodies from the treasury for votes.  It compounds & snowballs into corruption, & it has corrupted the American System of govt.

Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear.  ~Alan Corenk

Propaganda is to a democracy what violence is to a dictatorship. ~ William Blum

Solutions

• Term Limits.  End the 'career politician'.  Structure our electoral process so that 'drudgery & subsistence' is the only draw for public service.  Duty & SERVICE should attract altruistic citizens into collective administration.  Lock down the revolving door to riches, which is the current system.

"Our public economy is such as to offer drudgery and subsistence only to those entrusted with its administration--a wise and necessary precaution against the degeneracy of the public servants." ~Thomas Jefferson

• Balanced Budget.  The accountants of the public treasury should have the same constraints as everyone else.  They should not spend more than they take in.  It is immoral to burden future generations with the excesses & folly of previous ones.
• Cherished Citizenry.  Being a Citizen should be difficult & hold accountability.  It should not be open to anyone.  Only those who actually produce wealth for the nation should have a vote.  Leeches & dependents should not be part of the spending decision process, as they will always lean toward corruption.  Universal suffrage is an enemy of a stable, productive society.  It breeds dependency & corruption, & is the primary problem in Western democracies.
• Civil Disobedience.  This quote by Franklin is often used as a 2nd amendment support, but it is about the inherent flaws in a democracy. “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”  ~Benjamin Franklin.  At some point, the working producers will have to throw off the tyranny of the moochers & looters, & their conspiracy against them.  This seldom happens peacefully.  Liberty is always well armed.

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."  ~Thomas Jefferson

The ONLY way to get back on a sustainable track is to address the FUNDAMENTAL problems in our governance.  It is mostly about the money, & those administering it.  Politicians are like Parade Queens, tossing out the taxpayer's hard earned money like candy.  It is a flaw in the core of our system, & one the founders foresaw.  But we have not heeded the warnings, but let a professional ruling elite gain control, enabled by the mooching hordes who are too happy to vote the looters in.  If we do NOT address & face the flaw of Conflict of Interest in our system, they will continue, & eventually destroy us.