RAMBLINGS ON INTELLIGENCE/Atheists/Mormonism/ACLU/
Warning: Declaration of smilies_plugin::GetDefaultSettings() should be compatible with Plugin::GetDefaultSettings(&$params) in /home1/vporter/public_html/b2e/plugins/_smilies.plugin.php on line 73
Warning: Declaration of smilies_plugin::GetDefaultUserSettings() should be compatible with Plugin::GetDefaultUserSettings(&$params) in /home1/vporter/public_html/b2e/plugins/_smilies.plugin.php on line 149
Warning: Declaration of facebook_plugin::SkinTag($params) should be compatible with Plugin::SkinTag(&$params) in /home1/vporter/public_html/b2e/plugins/_facebook.plugin.php on line 56
Deprecated: Methods with the same name as their class will not be constructors in a future version of PHP; OnlineSessions has a deprecated constructor in /home1/vporter/public_html/b2e/plugins/_whosonline.plugin.php on line 121
Warning: Declaration of whosonline_plugin::SkinTag($params) should be compatible with Plugin::SkinTag(&$params) in /home1/vporter/public_html/b2e/plugins/_whosonline.plugin.php on line 84
Intelligence is useful in devising ways of describing reality, in developing ways to expand the boundaries of science, in establishing cooperative efforts between peoples, and in passing to our children knowledge and skills they will need in order to cope with the responsibilities of adult life. It is useful to think of intelligence as a repository of information which in the mortal sphere is indistinguishable from the brain, but has a separate and lasting existence when the spirit is separated from the body at death. What I’m talking about is an eternal essence, an immortal existence as an entity of spiritual substance.
It’s our ability to consider and believe in the existence of this essence which separates us from the beasts. Believing that this intelligence will continue to exist after the dissolution of our physical bodies is essential to the formulation of just laws and maintaining of order which will protect our liberties while punishing antisocial behavior. People who do not believe in the continuation of existence have no need to feel obligated to submit to law though they may desire that others behave in an orderly fashion.
Atheists who don’t believe in the eternal nature of intelligence are subject to serious errors in judgement. We are all subject to errors in judgement, but believing that the death of the body marks the end of our existence makes us especially prone to certain types of extreme behavior. If we tend to be selfish we are more likely to be extremely selfish if we think that this life is all there is. If we tend to dote on our children we are more likely to be too lenient and expect that they should not suffer any consequences for their antisocial behavior. If we are overly concerned with status and a personal legacy we are more likely to be too controlling and expect them to become just like us. If we tend to be overly compassionate we are more likely to hope that criminals will be able to avoid the consequences of their antisocial behavior. If we tend to be critical of how others lead their lives we will likely find it difficult to avoid being over zealous if we are environmentalists, in law enforcement, or the clergy, etc. If we tend to become obsessive we are more likely to allow an obsession to lead to antisocial behavior. If we have a tendency towards envy we are more likely to become thieves.
People who believe in the eternal nature of the human spirit find it easier to see purpose in this mortal existence and in the next life. Our mortal existence can then be seen as a chance to learn and grow and see what kind of person we can become. The way we behave in this life can be seen as determining what kind of limitations will be placed on our ability to have additional experiences in the next life. Living should be about more than strict obedience in this life, and reward or punishment in the next.
For the down trodden it is enough to look to the hereafter as an escape from the cares of this world. Those who don’t believe in the hereafter hate that because it interferes with their efforts to stir up revolution. That’s why Karl Marx sneeringly called religion the “opiate of the people.” For the radical Islamic terrorist mortal life is not about living and developing character, but in dying in a certain way which will guarantee a large supply of virgins in the next life and gardens with rivers flowing under them. What a shallow way of life, or should I say, death.
Leaving the Baptist Church in my late teens I found in the LDS Church a stronger sense of purpose for mortal life and a greater sense of continuing purpose in the next life than I had known before. It was uplifting to my spirit to picture the hereafter as more than merely singing in heavenly choirs or suffering in hell. The notion of different degrees of glory came to mean continuing challenges based upon our capacity to learn, grow, and obey rather than differing numbers of stars in our crowns. When I began thinking of that conversion I had experienced it became obvious to me that I must rejoin the Mormon Church which I had left nearly 25 years ago. They hoped to establish a haven of peace in Jackson County, Missouri. Their own failings and the hatred and envy of the mobs made that impossible, but many of them stuck together following their twelve apostles with Brigham Young at the head and established for themselves a new home and destiny in the Utah Territory. I am satisfied that the Lord made it possible in spite of efforts to the contrary by state and federal government.
Our founding fathers exercised their intelligence to declare their right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” as unalienable by virtue of an endowment from their Creator. They created a form of government which by its Bill of Rights was prohibited from interfering with religion or religious exercise. The government they formed guaranteed our freedom. This Bill of Rights frequently fails to protect portions of the citizenry from the unlawful and selfish acts of the greedy and power hungry because bystanders often fail to do their duty and because officials can be tricked or corrupted. The founders recognized that the maintaining of our freedom would require vigilance and the promotion of Christian morals.
There are those among us who resent our Christian morals and the idea that our intelligence is everlasting and that our Creator endowed us with unalienable rights. They want to determine what our rights are by redefining morality in terms of “Fairness” because by changing our ideas of “Fairness”, they can restructure society around principles of fairness instead of traditional principles of right and wrong. They hate the idea of an everlasting spiritual essence because that thought makes us more willing to fight and die for freedom. They hate capitalism and freedom because the police state they wish to establish cannot compete with it. God will eventually establish a utopian society with those who have developed the proper character and potential. Those who don’t believe in eternal life know that they cannot begin to establish a utopian society among the unsanctified without the imposition of a very powerful and immoral, in the old sense, police state.
Now that “Fairness” has become the rule the ACLU is trying to destroy the Boy Scouts because they will not let go of their belief in traditional morality. Laws are being passed which can be used against ministers who preach traditional morality from the pulpit. The ACLU is taking sides with the Man Boy Love Association which promotes the seduction of young boys by old men. This new “Fairness” crap has become popular with our Democrat congressmen in Washington D.C. because they don’t want to compete with Republicans to see who can accept the fewest bribes, who can be the least adulterous, who can tell the fewest lies, etc. The Democrats in D.C. cannot be trusted to protect us from terrorists or stand up for traditional morality.
Some of those who consider themselves patriots hate capitalism. They hate it so much that they cannot look at any attempt to help other countries become bastions of freedom as anything more than an attempt to spread capitalism. They blindly ignore the freedom they have in this country to join communes, organize co-operatives, or just retreat from society. Instead they insist on trying to spoil things for the rest of us and make it more difficult for us to enjoy our freedom. No matter how sweet and sincere they may sound, make no mistake, they are bitter people full of lies and misinformation. Many of them are atheists, but some Christians have become infected with the seeds of destruction - hate and envy.