Author: Liberty Principia

Do What is Right, Let the Consequence Follow

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4399655f9862fe2e7bf227af7c43a87eThe battle for liberty and freedom is a constant struggle against the forces of tyranny and coercion. The Grand Yin/Yang of the universe. It permeates everything in our lives. We push forward towards understanding and promoting liberty, and tyranny pushes back. All we can do in our limited lifetime is seek to understand the truth of all things, take a stand, be immovable, and face the consequences of our actions, good or bad.  The cumulative actions of all of us, acting individually, swings the pendulum towards one pole or another at any given time in history.  What direction are you pushing?

Do What is Right, Let the Consequence Follow

It has become my custom to sing a hymn each morning to start my day. Not only to I get to learn the music but I also get to learn the lyrics, and ponder them. Last week it was an old hymn called, “Do What is Right”.

One morning the thought occurred to me that the song seemed to be talking about slavery and I wondered if it had been written during the time of the American Civil War. Looking at the bottom of the music, I noticed that it had been included in a collection of hymns called The Psalms of Life, published in Boston in 1857. This sparked an interest and the hunt was on.

I found a really great blogsite called Latter-Day Saint Hymnology. The author presents a wonderful history of the hymn. He says, “Recent scholarship, however, indicates the text was first published on October 17, 1850, in The National Era, an abolitionist newspaper published at Washington, D.C.” A review of the footnotes shows that The National Era is “the newspaper in which Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin debuted in serial form in 1851, before it was published as a book.” Uncle Tom’s Cabin is one of my favorite books.

As I pondered the lyrics in a new light, it seemed to me that they apply to us today as well as to a specific time in American history. They apply to our spiritual struggle for an inner liberty, as well as our political struggles in society at large.

Do what is right; the day-dawn is breaking,
Hailing a future of freedom and light.
Angels above us are silent notes taking
Of ev’ry action; then do what is right.

[Don’t we often feel we are on the cusp of something but can’t quite reach it? On as side note, as a child the concept of angels keeping track of my actions was both frightening and unrealistic. However, with today’s surveillance state, the reality of imperfect humans keeping track of my every action is far scarier.]

Do what is right; the shackles are falling.
Chains of the bondsmen no longer are bright;
Lightened by hope, soon they’ll cease to be galling.                                                             Truth goeth onward; then do what is right.

[There are many types of shackles – physical chains, addictions, debt, some of the philosophies of Mankind, etc. As we seek Truth and put that truth into action in our lives, we experience more and more freedom, which blesses not only ourselves but others, as we become free to give to those in need, helping them move to remove their shackles.]

Do what is right, be faithful and fearless.
Onward, press onward, the goal is in sight.
Eyes that are wet now ere long will be tearless.
Blessings await you in doing what’s right.

[During the seven years I served as National Communications Director for the Constitution Party, I would often get emails or phone calls from people thanking us for taking a constitutional stance on this issue, or that issue, and not backing down. They felt that there is light at the end of the dark political tunnel. It made them feel that there is hope for America’s future.]

Do what is right, let the consequence follow.
Battle for freedom in spirit and might;
And with stout hearts look ye forth till tomorrow.
God will protect you; then do what is right.

Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1995-2008), wrote a book entitled, “Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes” In it he said, “It is not enough just to be good. We must be good for something. We must contribute good to the world. The world must be a better place for our presence. And the good that is in us must be spread to others. This is the measure of our civility.”

My challenge to you is to find your truth, stand for it, and let the consequences follow, whatever they may be.

“Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”  Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Karen Signature

EyeWitness 2020: Re-Establishing the Constitutional Republic

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In the beginning was the Word . . . in the beginning was the Word of the Declaration of Independence; in the beginning was the Word of the Constitution of these United States, a culmination of all the Words which went before – the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Arbroath, the Mayflower Compact, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, and many more.  In the end, will there be the Word of Liberty or will there be the nothingness of chaos and anarchy, every man for himself, the survival of the fittest, tyranny?  Civilizations without a common Word to unite them fall. Civilizations which ignore their common Word fall.  2020 may very well be the tipping point for America.

The Word of the Declaration of Independence Defines the Spirit of America

Thomas Jefferson, as the author of the Declaration of Independence said it best, ” When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.  We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

The Founding Fathers, in terms of education, having great minds and souls, have never had their equal gathered together and committed to creating a nation of Liberty in the history of the world.  There is certainly not their equal in our day.  There are a few Statesmen scattered here or there across the globe, but none their equal.  To be sure they were not perfect, none of us humans  are, nor have we ever been, nor will we ever be on  this mortal plane of existence.  But the ideal they gave us does not have its equal either, though many movements have tried.  Most countries have a constitution now, modelled on the American constitution, but none are its equal in spirit or potential for liberating the struggling masses of people in our world.

The Constitution and the Republic which it Defines is the Word for America

When the Constitution was finally crafted and Benjamin Franklin left Independence Hall in Philadelphia, he was asked by a woman what form of government had the delegates giving the new country.  He answered “A Republic, if you can keep it”.

A Republic, in which the interests of the people and the interests  of the State are balanced, is a difficult form of government to keep.  Just ask the ancient Romans.  Corruption, greed, and other human failings can destroy it, if great care and diligence are not taken to keep the Rule of Law, as outlined by a constitution.  The Constitution of these United States is very particular about balancing the interests of the people, the interests of the State, and the interests of the Federal government so that no one aspect could gain power over the other and lead the nation into a tyranny – a tyranny of the people, or a tyranny of government.

America today has lost its constitutional moorings and has drifted into a strange creature  best defined as a democratic oligarchy, meaning that a small group of people with the idea of controlling every aspect of the average citizen’s life, while ignoring the rules they make for others, has been put in control by manipulating the demos, or the people, into believing they have a real choice, when in fact, the people in charge are really two sides of the same coin.  Both are determined to gain and keep power by manipulating the demos into re-electing them year after year after year, with no fundamental reversal of the destruction of the Constitutional Republic.  Both use the Constitution as their justification while ignoring it when it suits their agenda.

None of the current presidential candidates, nor the sitting president have any clue or mind as to the need to restore the Republic, or the understanding of how to do so.  It is a lot of hard work and will take a lot of sacrifice just to start the process, let alone see it through to the end.  It cannot be done over night, nor with the flick of a pen.  It will take several presidents and several congresses before it can be achieved.  It will take state legislatures and most importantly, it will take the will of the people.  The will of the people is essential.  On the other side of the struggle will be Liberty, the liberty of a limited government and low taxes, the liberty of being out of debt – both personally and nationally, the liberty of a free enterprise economy, and the liberty of being a free nation with the means to influence the world to move towards Liberty, instead of becoming an increasingly imperialistic power.

I’ll be addressing many issues this year, and although a constitutional Republic seems complicated, it is really quite simple.  I’ll also be looking at all the presidential candidates, including third parties, seeking for the one with the best understanding of the role of a constitutional presidency, and one which is committed to that end.  I recommend three things:

  1. Read the Declaration of Independence and contemplate its words.
  2. Read the Constitution of these United States.
  3. Read “A Constitutional Presidency” by Kerry L. Morgan.  It is downloadable for free if you want a copy.

PS: If you like what you read in “A Constitutional Presidency”, send a copy to your favorite candidate and challenge them to be that President.

 

The Sea of Glass

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Truth in science and truth in religious teachings are, in fact, truth.  They do not negate each other, they complement each other, they support each other.  If they do not meld into one fact now, they may very well do so in the future.  It is up to us to use our minds and spiritual intuition to seek out the correct puzzle piece with which to complete the picture, moving forward in faith, and not settle for a piece that fits, mostly, and force it in.  In this article we may be on the path to just such a discovery.

earths-layers

One morning, as I was listening to this episode one of my favorite podcasts called “Suspicious Observers”, I heard an astounding scientific fact – 97% of white dwarf stars, such as our sun will become, eventually morph into crystal globes.  These globes will eventually gather dust and matter on their surfaces, and it was speculated that perhaps our earth is one of these types of globes, with an old star as its crystalline core.

I did a little more research and found an article on the Space.com website entitled “The Sun Will Turn Into a Giant Crystal Ball After it Dies”.   The facts and information in the article totally astounded me and brought a lot of thoughts to mind.  The lead author of the study is Pier-Emmanuel Tremblay, a physicist at the University of Warwick in England. Here are a few quotes from the article and my thoughts on them:

  • All white dwarfs will crystallize at some point in their evolution.
  • This means that billions of white dwarfs in our galaxy have already completed the process and are essentially crystal spheres in the sky.
  • The sun itself will become a crystal white dwarf in about 10 billion years. 

The author then goes on to explain the importance of oxygen and carbon in the crystallization process, which I found thought-provoking. To quote a section of the article:

“The result is likely a core composed of crystallized oxygen and a mantle dominated by carbon. ‘Not only do we have evidence of heat release upon solidification, but considerably more energy release is needed to explain the observations,” Tremblay said. “We believe this is due to the oxygen crystallizing first and then sinking to the core, a process similar to sedimentation on a riverbed on Earth. This will push the carbon upward, and that separation will release gravitational energy.” 

What this says to me is that the current model of the earth’s core being composed of iron may be fundamentally wrong.  The rest of this paragraph is pure speculation on my part. The oxygen-carbon cycle described may explain why space dust and matter particulates might adhere to such a star in it crystal stage, eventually creating a mantle and a crust.  The crystallization of the oxygen which pushes the carbon created by the heating of matter causes gravity on the planetary body.  It also creates the atmosphere we know today – 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases.  The process by which the other gasses form would be a chemistry lesson for another day.

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at a higher ratio in the past would have created the greenhouse effect so necessary for life to begin and to sustain that life in abundance, as evidenced by the fossil record.

All this reminded me of several scriptures, which I will share and comment on below:

  • Speaking of the sphere upon which God dwells, John the Revelator says in Revelation 4:6 – “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto a crystal”. 
  • Joseph Smith asked for the Lord for clarification of the meaning of the term “sea of glass”. The answer was given in Doctrine and Covenants 77: 1 – “It is the earth in its sanctified, immortal and eternal state.” 
  • Doctrine and Covenants 88:18-19: “Therefore, [the Earth] must needs be sanctified from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory; For after it hath filled the measure of its creation, it shall be crowned with glory, even with the presence of God the Father.” 
  • 2 Peter 3:7 speaks of a “burning with fire” of the heavens and earth. Certainly our current sun going through the process of becoming a white dwarf would fit this imagery.  The concept of a cleansing by fire is also mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 64:24. 
  • Perhaps in the process of our sun becoming a white dwarf in its own right, the earth is caught up in the fire of its expansion and is celestialized…”And the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth.” [Doctrine and Covenants 29:23] 
  • “The place where God resides is a great Urim and Thummim. This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ’s.” [Doctrine and Covenants 130:8-9] 

My commentary:  I believe it is possible that the star cycle of life goes something like this: a star like our sun burns out its energy becoming a white dwarf – which goes through a crystallization process – which then begins to accrue matter about its oxygenated-carbonated crystal core until a planet suitable for life is formed – after an time period allotted by God, this planet goes through a process of celestialization in which the properties of a Urim and Thummin are naturally imbued into the earth crystal itself.

In considering all of these things, I can more easily understand Moses when he says, “Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed” [Moses 1:10].  We seem so insignificant compared to the wonders of the Universe, yet we are so important that “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” [John3:16].  We exist symbiotically with the Universe – we are of it and through in and in it.

I leave you with this thought from Max Erhmann’s “Desiderata”:

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be,

and whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Karen Signature

 

 

The Nature of Time

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Sun_Moon_Stars“Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” (Genesis 1:14)

Time.  What is the nature of Time, I wondered as I sat stunned by the beauty of a full autumn moon  with its brilliant light filling the sky.    The next day most of America would dutifully adjust their clocks back one hour as they head for bed.   The morning after everyone’s lives would be synced to the artificial Time of calendars and clocks so we all be about the business of the day, and our society.

Modern time is an artificial construct overlaid on the natural cycles of Nature, which were given to us by our Creator.   Man changes them according to his will, by legislating Daylight Savings Time (DST), for example.  DST gives no one more time, nor does it take away time.   It only re-orders the natural cycle to meet Man’s demands upon other Men.   We got along very well on this planet without it.

God is no respecter of persons or societies.  He has set in motion a wonderful clockwork, designed to give us the best markers for the time and seasons that all can understand, no matter where we live on this planet, nor the era in which we live.  He does this without price or strings attached.   All we need do is raise up our heads and observe the sky in motion around us.

Our ancestors observed the sky.   They filled the landscape with standing stones to mark the movement of the sun, the moon, and the stars.   Nothing mystical or mysterious, just creating on earth what they observed in the heavens.   What if we all lived our lives this way?

The Sun.  Many cultures have built their houses with the doorway to the East, to welcome the sun into their homes – to give them light and warmth as they start their day.   The sun marks the hours of the day with a simple sundial – a stick in the ground, a standing stone, fashioned from metal, arranged in a circle.  The length and position of the shadow on the edge of the circle determines the hour of the day.  Simple, easy, and always the same, self-adjusting for latitude and longitude, though a cloudy day could make it more difficult.  The sun’s position on the horizon also determines the procession of the seasons, also easily marked wherever one lives.

The Moon.   Cold-hearted orb that rules the night, as intoned by the rock band Moody Blues.   Cold as a new moon withholding its light maybe, but brilliant and warm when full.   The Moon marks the passage of the month, each quarter, each crescent, waxing and waning through its 29 – 30 day cycle.   Anyone could say “in three moons”, or “at the next full moon”, and all would understand by observing the night sky the meaning of the time of the expected event.

The Stars.   I often wonder if astrology is simply astronomy gone awry.   There are patterns in the stars, which we call “constellations”, that progress through the night sky at a predictable rate, depending on the hemisphere in which one lives.   In Fall/Spring Pegasus and Andromeda dominate.  In Winter/Summer, we see Orion and Canis Major.  In Spring/Fall, Leo and Virgo.   In Summer/Winter, Sagittarius, Lyra, and Hercules.  Their progression tells us where we are in the year and helps us understand what we should be doing to prepare for the next season.   Our ancestors, no matter where they lived on the planet and no matter what their culture, recognized these patterns and used them for navigation as well as for determining the seasons.   Some assigned characteristics to each constellation, projecting them onto anyone born within the season of the star’s dominance.  For example, one could say that he or she was born on the third hour of the day of the first full moon in Orion, and all would know they were born at 3 am on May 10, 2017, and since Orion is a hunter, then one born under the sign of Orion would possess skills necessary for hunting, whether for food or for information, as we now live in the Information Age.  A good provider or a good detective or a good researcher, perhaps?

All these random thoughts led me to wonder what would happen if we all went back to living according to Nature’s cycles rather than Man’s impositions.   Would we sleep better?   Would we be healthier?  Would we be more productive and enjoy life more?   What would happen to modern society as we know it?  What do you think?