WhatFinger


Tolerating evil eventually amounts to aiding and abetting evil. There comes a point where tolerating evil is evil in and of itself

God and Guns



"The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. ... Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" --Patrick Henry (1736-1799) Normally I keep my beliefs to myself regarding God and theology, and could give a rat's patootie about sharing them with others--but these are not normal times, and I feel that scratching the surface of divinity a bit may be in order.
I do not believe that God is a finite anthropomorphic deity made in man's image a la Michelangelo's rendition on the Sistine Chapel's ceiling--which to paraphrase Eric Butterworth, may be great art, but it is lousy theology. I believe in an infinite God of majesty and might--"A Breather of Stars" to use Louie Giglio's memorable phrase. I do not believe in an ancient God, a tired God, a dead God. I believe in a God that doesn't just give life but is life; a God that is Truth, and Spirit, and sacred, ineffable radiant Love--a God that is forever Now. A God constantly engaged in the rebirth and resurrection of all that exists--the unspeakably glorious, complex, and rich chiaroscuro of existence. A God whose ways are not our ways, and who does not fit neatly into some manmade intellectual pigeon hole. We should be careful not to truncate and limit God so as to fit the confines of our human, finite, and all too often diseased, imaginations. I believe it is our job to stretch our finite mental capabilities to encompass as much of the infinite as we can, and not God's job to cram Himself into our puerile paradigms.

Support Canada Free Press


God may be "Ancient of Days" according to our confused and partial understanding of time, and His foundation is unchanging--the Rock of Ages indeed--but Genesis is not just some occurrence from the dim reaches of the musty past. Genesis is now ("See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?") Sages proclaim it, scripture affirms it, and empirical science proves it. My God is not a deus ex machina, or absentee landlord, or some "deadbeat dad," but He is very much an alive, vibrant, and active hands-on Creator--here and now. The terms "now" and "eternity" are synonymous--both exist outside of space/time. "Now" may be usefully envisaged as a motion picture screen--pure, unchanging--the immovable plane upon which the "movie" of existence plays. The past is always slipping away and the future perpetually arriving--they are always in a state of flux -- but the razor-edge cusp of now is eternally still. The late atheist Carl Sagan made much of the fact that "we are made of star stuff" -- how much grander, inspiring, and uplifting to realize that we are made of "God stuff." There is not God -- and that which is not God. "There is one God" is profitably reversed to "God is One." Why people insist on separating the Creator from His creation is beyond me--why do we persist in limiting God; drawing boundaries around Him, circumscribing Him? (We'll save topics such as "the unity behind duality" for another day).
Speak to Him, thou, for He hears, and Spirit with Spirit can meet -- Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet. -- Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
God may blaze forth gloriously in some areas, and appear to vanish in others, but as Walt Whitman wrote, "may-be at many and many-a-more removes" God is there. He may be hidden, obscure, invisible, yet He is there, always. In every thing God is there. In the space between things God is there. It is not our job to diminish God, to reduce, minimize and squash God into the limited confines of our intellectual comprehension and theological ruminations. It is our job to glorify God and attempt to put ourselves into alignment with His will. Yes, we should seek to understand the Creator, but the intellect will take us only so far. Research into consciousness and the other noetic sciences continues apace, and holds great promise for the future. (Sidebar: I have been using the masculine label "He" when referring to God, but in truth I do not believe that the pronouns "he," "she," or "it" are applicable to God. I believe that God transcends sexuality and besides, as Joseph Conrad noted, words are great foes of reality). This is not to belittle intelligence. In the Psalms we find God asking us whether we believe that he who designed the ear cannot hear, or he who designed the eye cannot see. I might add that would not he who designed the brain be intelligent? Only the arrogant, ignorant, and willfully blind ignore the remarkable findings of the scientists involved in Intelligent Design (ID) research. As I mentioned earlier, I have zero interest in proselytizing, and mention some of my beliefs only to underline the abysmal vacuity of what passes for thought among most atheists. For example, one of their ploys is to bandy about the idea that humanity owes its birth and evolution to extraterrestrials--which, with a little thought, begs the question "who created the extraterrestrials?" This "kick the can down the road" evasiveness is all too typical of their "thinking." For any who might be bothered by what they consider to be any anti-Christian influence in what I have written, please feel free to keep it to yourself. I won't bother you about your beliefs, and ask that you respect my space as well. Besides, you don't know the half of it--I believe in reincarnation and celestial and hellish realms ("In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you"). I have no desire to argue, defend, or explain any of it -- at least not here, not now. As muddled, confused, and confusing as modern day Christianity is (and I do consider myself to be a Christian) it is still by and large on the right track--something that I cannot say about our secular society as a whole. By the "right track," I mean that Christian values tend to support and promote attitudes and behavior that are in harmony with a universe that is loving, peaceful, encouraging, forward looking, and bright with promise. Secular utopias envisaged by social engineers on the other hand, have a track record of bloodshed, misery, and failure. (I find preposterous the idea that a God that creates no two snowflakes alike would approve of the cookie-cutter paradigms so beloved by these Progressive social engineering idiots). In not one instance have these "utopias" proven to be viable templates for a successful society--quite the opposite. They do, however, serve as dandy staging areas for arrogant self-serving narcissists to lord it over "their inferiors." It is here that guns come into my article. First a few words on passive/aggressive behavior. Passive behavior can be thought of as stemming from an attitude that has too little self-respect, while aggressive behavior stems from too little respect for others. Passive/aggressive behavior flips back and forth between these extremes. The attitude that we as individuals and society as a whole should strive for is assertiveness--where a healthy self-respect is balanced by a respect for others. Our 2nd Amendment (the right to keep and bear arms) promotes assertive behavior, or mutual respect. Gun-control laws feed passive/aggressiveness, and encourage behavior among its members that is detrimental to any society. It typically takes the form of a passive populace ruled by an aggressive elite. In these days of relativism, secularism and lies, it is often hard to decide whether to flip, flop, or fly--and most folks tend to be tolerant, open-minded, and possess a "live and let live" attitude. Normally such attitudes are commendable, but at times like these a line needs to be drawn in the sand and a firm stand taken. One of the reasons that I have always been drawn to Jesus is the fact that He was not a fatalist--no "que sera sera" for Him. He was proactive, He changed things--radically and often ("...which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written"). Alone among the world's spiritual heavy hitters this unique iconoclast thumbed His nose at The Powers That Be and did His best to improve society top to bottom--or, if you prefer, God did so through Him. In this universe of unity behind duality He took sides. He took the side of life, love, peace and goodness--He sided with that which is hopeful, inspiring, and uplifting. As a devotee of His I can do no less. I look about me at the "money changers," "Pharisees," and "ruling elites" of our modern era--the globalists, utopians, bankers, globalists, and their ilk--and I do not see that which is hopeful, inspiring, uplifting, and spiritual. Instead I see that which is banal, crass, grasping, vain, and temporal. And I choose my side. I read the lies printed by our traitorous media telling us that guns are evil, that guns are bad. They reprint and broadcast the same old lies over and over again like broken records. "Britain and Australia are so much better off since guns were banned" they lie. The depth, breadth, and arrogance of their lies is breathtaking in its audacity. There can be only one reason for such vociferous and sustained lying--it is a power grab by The Powers That Be to steal "we the people's" ability and right to be assertive; to stand strong and defiant against the tide of tyranny. The Founders of the United States appreciated all too well the dangers inherent in any government, and they provided safeguards for "we the people" in the Bill of Rights--which The Powers That Be have been trying to dismantle ever since. Maj. L. Caudill (USMC Ret.) recently wrote a fine article defending gun ownership, and correctly stating that it is a civilized and civilizing practice.
When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation... and that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act.
Those who blindly deny the uglier side of human nature and foolishly believe that if law abiding people were denied access to guns then gun violence would vanish, will no doubt disagree with the Major's assessment--but he is correct, and the facts and figures back him up. I see how the Godless barbarian elites have slowly maneuvered "we the people" into a position of weakness--all the better to inflict their arrogant vision of another nightmare utopia on us. I see that it will stifle freedom, crush hope, and encourage narcissism and greed. I will not side with such evil, I will oppose it. Tolerating evil eventually amounts to aiding and abetting evil. There comes a point where tolerating evil is evil in and of itself. I have chosen my side. Molon labe --come and get 'em!


View Comments

Jim ONeill -- Bio and Archives

Born June 4, 1951 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Served in the U.S. Navy from 1970-1974 in both UDT-21 (Underwater Demolition Team) and SEAL Team Two.  Worked as a commercial diver in the waters off of Scotland, India, and the United States.  Worked overseas in the Merchant Marines.  While attending the University of South Florida as a journalism student in 1998 was presented with the “Carol Burnett/University of Hawaii AEJMC Research in Journalism Ethics Award,” 1st place undergraduate division.  (The annual contest was set up by Carol Burnett with money she won from successfully suing a national newspaper for libel).  Awarded US Army, US Navy, South African, and Russian jump wings.  Graduate of NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School, 1970).  Member of Mensa, China Post #1, and lifetime member of the NRA and UDT/SEAL Association.


Sponsored