#laws of a democracy have no right being made by religious zealots

[runephoenix6769]

The hand of God has no place being on the gavel.

[clementine-lominsan]

Why I am not a liberal

12/26/2015

“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.”

– Franklin D. Roosevelt

Madame de Stäel once said, “In Frace, freedom is classical and tyranny is modern.” Nowadays, speaking of freedom, most people would think of “civil liberty” and “political freedom”, and so many “public rights”. But in the feudal era of medieval Europe, political freedom meant private property rights, and, civil liberty and political freedom were the two sides of a coin: private rights dominated so there was no such thing as an independent “public right”. The so-called “freedom”, originated from consequences of evolution – traditions such as property, contract, inheritance, and family. Inside privileged organizations which had been formed spontaneously like feudal nobility, urban and rural communities, and commercial guilds, people were free. Thus, the freedom of the communities ensured the decentralization of power into local institutions. As a result, ‘state’ was reduced to the level of an external form.

This old order was not out of human design, but a result of the spontaneous evolution of civilization. At that time, “freedom” was a historic practice, but not an ideology from theory innovations. In such an order, freedom was but one significant feature and was not this order per se. To maintain such an order, responsibilities must be undertaken and duties must be fulfilled. Those who only enjoy the euphoria of absolute power and interest would never achieve it. It is precisely this spontaneous order that gave birth to an ideology named liberalism. However, ideology is not reality and liberalism is not liberty. The liberty of the liberal era was not brought by liberals, but ruined by such intellectuals who loved talking about ‘-ism’, and had a fetish about Enlightenment and equal rights. The advocacy of Enlightened despotism by the founding fathers of liberalism, i.e. Physiocrats, was one of the most ironic examples of them.

In modern times, many liberals are fond of talking about ‘left liberalism’ and ‘right liberalism’, but the dichotomy of left vs. right came from France, which facilitates the disintegration of community and creates divergence and chaos. Before the bloody French Revolution, different political parties had not had differences as large as today. Under such a discourse system of left and right, many metaphysical ideologies which are neither verifiable nor falsifiable preceded practical interests, which resulted in the dominance of intellectuals who are good at constructive rationalism, undermining the restrictions traditions impose upon power. Paul Johnson once said, “In a French-style pseudodemocracy, intellectuals have considerable influence, at both government and street levels. In a true democracy, intellectuals are no more powerful than their arguments.”

In the theory innovations of such intellectuals who are obsessed by the idea of Enlightening – although it is nothing but cheap sedition and expensive indoctrination – the masses, the following pseudoconcepts are popularized: social democracy, social market, social contract, social justice, social freedom and even – socialism. “Society”, as an imaginary entity which had been nonexistent in the feudal Europe, was created and inserted between state and individuals, to replace the localized old forms of community. The collectivist tendency, I am afraid, is not difficult to see: to love the diversity of moral standards and the behavior under the guidance of them, but to hate the diversity of the consequences of human actions – especially the diversity of incomes, the whole “society” became the aquarium and zoo of the chattering class! Among them, social freedom and “social liberalism”, I am afraid, are the most fashionable Zeitgeist. They love equal right but hate equal duty: happiness precedes responsibility, and euphoria precedes wisdom. In this manner, their view on power is also quite interesting: they enjoy the authority and euphoria of being a leader, but refuse to fulfill corresponding duties, and, moral melodramas are more paramount than practical concerns for them. Even when they are proven wrong by hard evidence, they will try to evade with verbal virtuosity and even to wield power to mute dissidents. It seems to them, the title “the leader of the free world” brings them more euphoria than freedom per se. The fact that the difference between social liberals and liberal socialists is almost as trivial as that between social democrats and democratic socialists, I am afraid, is no coincidence.

Freedom, in their narrative, changed its meaning long ago. From “equality before the law” to “equal opportunity”, to “equal outcome”, eventually to “equal beginning, path and outcome” in “left liberalism”, no matter how much they claimed to be disciples of “liberalism”, their behavior has been undermining the foundation of liberty – private property. Of course, among the many branches of socialism, the tyrannical machinery of Leninism is dystopian and repulsive. But returning to the fascist model of big corporations, big unions and big government, i.e. the alleged “social democracy” is actually “the end of history” which liberals should applaud? On one hand, the real private property rights are infringed upon by such “modern” constructs like fractional reserve banking. On the other hand, imaginary “rights” – such as basic income and intellectual property right – are created to make way for the expansion of bureaucracy. What a wonderful “end of history”!

Among liberals, many not only believe the source of morality is relative but also believe the consequence of following it is also relative, or more directly, neglect such consequences: you can find liberals “helping” sodomites and libertines complain about the insufficient “social” investment on the control and prevention of venereal diseases making the loss of “artists” and “philosophers”, or “helping” dopehead liberals complain about the insufficient “social” investment on dental problems making them losing teeth, and of course, destigmatizing such “disadvantaged” and “marginalized” “communities”! “Spontaneous” becomes “to rid the minds of the younger generations of the prejudice of the older generations”, and “order” becomes “chaos”. A “society” full of alcoholism, drug abuse, promiscuity and sodomy is probably the stable and ordered utopia in the eyes of such liberals?

Furthermore, all those who promote “freedom from religions” criticize and mock western churches and religions with a near-revolution attitude, and even do not hesitate to fabricate outright lies to serve their own “liberal” political agenda, except that an immediate consequence of it, is to facilitate ordinary citizens’ conversion to Islamism and communism. The critical thinking of skepticism becomes uncritical negativism for these “liberals”. However, they follow atheism “religulously” – and maybe Mother Gaia believed by green supremacists (the so-called “environmentalists”)? Freedom is a crucial characteristic of European feudal traditions, and religion is the carrier of such beneficial traditions which was formed spontaneously in the process of civilization evolution, albeit it may be a collection of pure ideals in the beginning. The belief that being irreligious is a tautology of being antitheist, I am afraid, is the kind of stereotype that all those who claim to be skeptic must strongly oppose. Although the omniscient and omnipotent “God” is neither verifiable nor falsifiable, yet if following certain religious doctrines – namely, certain traditional moral standards – results in happiness, I am afraid, for “the not-so-well-educated masses that do not have time, capacity or interest in ‘deep thinking’” (by the way, it is the most favored preoccupations of the self-anointed intellectual liberals), to be religious is not necessarily such a horrible thing as many “liberals” suggest. By contrast, history tells us, it was exactly some of those liberal zealots who believed in the abstract ideological concept of freedom made way for the volcano eruption of the revolutions of Islamism and communism to destroy the thin crust we call “civilization”. If one genuinely respects the scientific attitude, then he should check his own ideology with corresponding historic consequences, instead of neglecting and even distorting facts. Unfortunately, so many “liberals” like discarding the wisdom enduring the ruthless tests of time and disposing of valuable traditions but keep on trying new ideas without checking the consequences. Even when someone points out the problem, they never admit it but always stubbornly force “society” – that is, other people – to pay for their reckless “change” guided by their own “free will”. They utilize eloquence to gain favor from the masses and to oppress others’ individual independent dissent. In such attempts of “improving” freedom, they invite the bloody rebirth of war and tyranny, like they did in late 19th and early 20th centuries. How come the abstract “liberalism” became so enchanting? It is nothing else than the delusion that man could get rid of the constraints reality imposes upon us. For those who want to fly without wings, seemingly, the disappearance of gravity is an attractive idea. However, without gravity, one can indeed fly, but the atmosphere will disappear too, so the atmospheric pressure will become zero, the blood in his veins and arteries will boil…perhaps death is the only consequence.

Nowadays, there are many Wilsonians deemed “neoconsevatives” who also praise “freedom” and “free world”. Self-determination sounds indeed like the necessary conclusion of “national freedom” – a kind of “collective freedom”: relying on the Roman Republic of our times, i.e. USA, to export spontaneous order (“freedom”), using collective security to ensure the independence of the weak nation-states which were created from the thin air, defeating the evil totalitarian empires, and morphing the free world. So what about reality? In the Golden Time of Wilsonianism, Europe was filled with bloody conflicts and violence. WWI was caused by the rise of liberal nationalism originated from France, and WWII and the Cold War were caused by the tragic death of the Habsburg Empire. Even the ongoing substitutions of population and religion in Europe, is also the natural bust of the soap bubbles called nation-states which lack the immunity to resist alien cultures. In the decolonized Third World, there is hardly any Golden Time of nation-states: it is full of all kinds of totalitarian despots. The medicine we call “Wilsonianism”, for them, is just like using Penicillin to treat patients troubled by mood disorders but actually allergic to Penicillin. In fact, there are no “successful” and “unsuccessful” nation-states, but only nation-states that are already bankrupt or are on the way of bankruptcy. The so-called “democratic and secular nation-state with universal suffrage”, is not a new era of history or “the end of history”, but the last radiance of the setting sun of civilization. Relying on Rome to export the order of freedom is no different from transporting ice-cream in a desert: most of it is evaporated on the way. At large, this kind of “liberalism” is actually reducing the degree of freedom, just like redistributing wealth is reducing wealth.

Why am I not a liberal? (Hayek once wrote an article, “Why I am not a conservative”) Because I admire the luxuriant giant tree with the name of civilization, including its roots. So many liberals are so obsessed by the sweet fruits of the tree that they totally ignore the other parts, and even do not hesitate to damage the roots for more fruits. Ironically, they often consider themselves to be THE roots, albeit in fact they are nothing but a bunch of parasites.

[go-redgirl]

***Live Updates*** Trump Holds Georgia Rally for Sens. Loeffler, Perdu

President Donald Trump will hold a Saturday evening rally in Valdosta, Georgia, for GOP Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue ahead of next month’s critical run-off elections that will determine control of the U.S. Senate.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates.

All times Eastern.

—

9:01 PM: Trump says our fight to drain the Washington Swamp and reclaim our destiny has just begun. “We will never, ever surrender,” Trump says.

8:58 PM: Trump says everything they have achieved is on the line on January 5th and talks about the right to bear arms and religious liberty.

8:55 PM: Trump says he has built the greatest political movement in history over the last four  years and he doesn’t want others to “rip it apart” after talking about his ally Ronna McDaniel being back at the RNC. Trump now listing off all of his accomplishments like he did during his campaign rallies. No new material.

8:50 PM: Trump asks supporters to vote in the runoff to show the radical left that they don’t surrender. Trump talks about winning back the White House in 2024 and says hopefully he won’t have to be a candidate again.

Trump now praises Doug Collins and asks if he wants to run for governor of Georgia in two years.

8:48 PM: Trump says Democrats are trying to take away the country and says “we’re going to be watching… every element of what they do” on January 5th and will watch the runoff election more closely than any election in history.

8:46 PM: Trump talking about glitches that went in favor of Biden. He says the left lies, cheats, and steals and are “ruthless” and “hellbent on getting power.” Trump says the left beats you down, shuts you up, and makes you retreat.

8:45 PM: Trump airing grievances about vote dumps in the middle of the night and wee hours in the morning in Midwestern states.

8:31 PM: Trump says Democrats can only win the Georgia runoff if they cheat. Trump says nobody cheats better than Democrats. Trump says “we have to hold the line” in Georgia and says Georgians need to register to vote before Monday.

He says Voter ID laws need to be passed after the runoff along with citizen confirmation.

8:30 PM: Trump asks Perder and Loeffler to come up and say a few words. Loeffler says Trump made America great again because he put America first. She says Trump created the strongest economy because he put the American worker first while standing up to cancel culture, Big Tech, China. Crowd chants “fight for Trump” as Perdue speaks.

Trump now talking about voter fraud in Georgia. He says he is deeply disturbed by the lying and cheating and he says Democrats will have dead people, illegal aliens, and people from out of state voting.

8:19 PM: Trump praises Loeffler for “standing up to the marxists” when law enforcement officials were attacked. He says she also introduced legislation to block gun-grabbing Democrats like Beto O’Rourke. Trump says Warnock has called police officers gangsters and wants to abolish cash bail.

“This is not for Georgia,” Trump says. He says Warnock should move to another state and try again. He hits Warnock for also being “anti-Israel.” Video plays of “dangerous” Warnock and his past statements, reminding voters he even defended Reverend “God Damn America” Wright.

8:15 PM: Trump says Ossoff is a “radical zealot” who supports “defunding the police” and the “Green New Deal” that Trump says will cost $100 trillion. He says Ossoff supports a government takeover of health care and nationwide lockdowns. He says Ossoff will be a “complete tool” of the radical left and their donors.

Trump then lets it slip that he raised $250 million dollars in the last couple of weeks.

8:07 PM: Trump talking up the brilliance of “America first” and he wonders how people can say they are opposed to “America first.” Trump now back to listing the accomplishments of Perdue and Loeffler.

8:06 PM: Trump says the happiest people right now are the Chinese and the Iranians because he lost.

8:03 PM: Trump says the “radical left” will win if Georgians don’t vote in protest.

“If you don’t vote, the socialists and the communists win,” Trump says.

8:02 PM: Trump now says he calls it “fake news” and “suppression news.” Trump says his attacks on Hunter Biden were hurting Joe Biden so Big Tech and the media decided, “under no circumstances will we ever talk about him again.”

He says it’s hard to have a scandal when nobody talks about it.

8:00 PM: Trump says Democrats want to take away borders and freedom and even Christmas as Melania looks on…. He says he has to be careful when he is “sarcastic.”

7:58 PM: Trump says the Georgia Senate seats are the “last line of defense” against all that his administration accomplished.

7:56 PM: Trump now talking about how experts said he was going to lose Texas and he won the state big. He says these are “suppression polls.”

7:53 PM: Trump talks up the Dow Jones and breaking “30,000, a number that was unthinkable.” Trump says states and cities should open up.

7:52 PM: Trump again warning Democrats will end the filibuster the first day they Chuck Schumer becomes majority leader. He now talks about the great justices he has appointed to the Supreme Court and the 300 judges he has appointed to the federal bench.

7:50 PM: Trump says the extreme left will pack the Supreme Court with “24 radical justices.” He says they want them to “revolve up and down the court system.” Trump says they want to “hurt the Supreme Court and they want to hurt it badly.”

7:45 PM: Trump says Democrats will open voters and give illegal immigrants free health care and welfare and allow them to vote so Republicans never win another election. He says they will also take down the wall, which Trump says he built despite…having Democrats oppose him. Trump says Democrats want sanctuary cities across the nation and release criminals and MS-13 gangsters. Trump says he has removed thousands out of the country.

Trump says Democrats will confiscate privately-owned firearms. He says they will also “cut up” the Second Amendment and will make D.C. a state. He says Democrats want six more senators and 40 House members from places you have never heard of. He says they will vote against Georgia and “cancel out your voice.”

7:42 PM: Trump rips “cryin’ Chuck Schumer” and says Democrats have been investigating him since he came down the escalator. Trump says if Democrats win Georgia, Democrats will take over farms and radical Democrats will abolish the Senate filibuster and ram through the most left-wing agenda while destroying our military through lack of funding. He says tell Senators to end Section 230. He says that’s the only thing Big Tech fears.

7:38 PM: Trump claims Georgia’s governor and secretary of state are afraid of Stacey Abrams. Trump now talking about getting to know a lot of legislators and having some in his “pocket” as he pulls out a list. Trump now asking for signature verification before name-checking more legislators.

7:37 PM: Trump says he won all over the place except in swing states. He claims the election was rigged and says we can’t let it happen to Loeffler, Perdue.  Trump now claiming “hundreds of thousands” of illegal votes were cast and poll watchers were thrown out.

7:35 PM: Trump talks about receiving the highest percentage of non-white votes for a Republican since the 1960s. He talks about winning 18 of 19 bellwether counties. Trump wonders how Joe Biden got 80 million votes but only gets 1,000 people online to watch his Thanksgiving address.

7:31 PM: Trump says he got the most votes for a sitting U.S. president and insists he didn’t lose. He says they found a lot more ballots. Trump says he received most votes than any other incumbent in history and “we lost.”

7:27 PM: Trump says he is here to ensure that Loeffer, Perdue win the most important election runoff in American history.

Trump says you have to make sure Georgia’s governor “gets a lot tougher” and he says people have to make sure votes are counted and ballots aren’t thrown away.

He talks about the importance of Senate committees and Georgians will decide whether their children will grow up under socialism or freedom. He says Democrats want to go further than socialism and usher in a “communistic” type of system.

He says Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are the two most radical candidates. Trump says they rigged the presidential election and insists he is still going to win it. He says they are going to try and rig the runoff.

“We continue to fight,” Trump says. “We’ve had some great moments.”

7:25 PM: Melania introduces Trump. Crowd chants “four more years.” Trump claims he won Georgia and “lots of other places.” Trump talks about being five down in Florida and winning by “a lot.” Trump says this has to be the first time someone lost the election after winning Florida and Ohio before saying he’s still fighting. He talks about numbers coming out of “ceilings and leather bags” that makes you wonder what’s going on. He says he’s thrilled to be back in Georgia and wishes everyone “Merry Christmas.”

Trump sends along prayers to Loeffler’s staffer who passed away in a car accident yesterday.

He also expresses warmest wishes to people suffering from COVID before talking about the vaccine. He says even some of his “enemies” are calling it a “medical miracle.” He says his administration should “always get credit” for the vaccine.

7:20 PM: Melania Trump thanks the crowd for coming out to support Trump, and she says “we must keep our seats in the Senate.” She says it is more important than ever for Georgians to exercise their right to vote in the runoff.

7:15 PM: President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump get off Air Force One. Rally about to get started. “Defund Democracy” signs in the crowd.

7:05 PM: Loud cheers for Air Force One. Rally should be starting shortly.

____________________________________________________

OPINION: “He says Voter ID laws need to be passed after the runoff along with citizen confirmation.

Yes,  Americans agree with that statement from President Trump 1000%.

The President is teaching our Country to be proud and never allow anyone from the ‘inside’ or ‘outside’ of our country to destroy  our great country for the sake of power over American freedom of democracy and speech.

[smokeybrand]

The Worst

I wasn't really planning to touch this one because I'm so goddamn tired but this sh*t with the Duggars is itching my booty so I'm going in. I got time today. Josh Duggar f*cks kids. Some of those kids were his own sisters. He was caught, convicted, and sent off to conversion therapy camp instead of jail because his pops' unwieldy power in Arkansas. In 2015. This all came out in 2015 because of rather diligent reporters and investigators. That's when we found out about the transgressions, which actually took place before then. Dude went through all of that, did all of those terrible things, BEFORE 2015! By the time all of this came out, the "issue" had already been resolved and that coward hid behind his "faith" through PR snippets and cats just okey-doked it. Sure, the Duggar lost their show, but who cares? They're still supported by the religious zealots on the Right. They still wield unheard of power in Arkansas, all because the Duggars are “Christian” in the “right” way. Because they're "good" people. Well, it's 2021 and ol' Joshy-boy is facing forty years for the same sh*t he got busted on, way back before 2015. I guess f*cking kids is “Christian” in the “right”, according to how these people interpret the bible. Why the f*ck is this even a thing? How the f*ck is this a thing. More importantly, where the f*ck are all of these bible-thumping, Conservative hypocrites, who support straight up insurrection, now that one of their own is about to be nailed to the wall for the most heinous sh*t a person can do? Today, I awoke and chose all the violence.

Duggar was convicted as a minor but was never held accountable for his bullsh*t and now, some sixteen years later since he was exposed as a predator and threat, cat is on the hook for some verifiable, factually provable, horrific sh*t. The feds found terabytes upon terabytes of graphic child porn on his personal computer. Dude had a whole ass Ashley Madison account a while back, for which has since apologized,but those thing are used strictly for adultery. So, Joshy-boy is on record for molesting kids as a minor, cheating on his wife through the interwebs, and has now got the feds on his butt, because he picture of kiddy butts on hand. You see, that's a patter of escalation. Josh Duggar is a monster and it makes me wonder how that monster was allowed to roam or, more importantly, how man other monsters are hiding in that f*cked up family. Of course, the family is denying the claims but, with that verifiable history, you can really be telling me this asshole ain't out here f*cking all of the underage partners he can get his hands on. Really? He f*cked his sisters, man! There are no limits to this dude's disgusting predilections. He's been doing the same sh*t he got nailed with from before, for decades. Why would he ever stop? Who stops their bullsh*t, especially after getting caught and let go with a slap on the wrist? If I burn down an orphanage and you make me pick up trash as a consequence, I'm just going to keep committing arson on sh*t because picking up trash ain't sh*t. The juice id definitely worth the squeeze at that point and I am thirsty, bud. So was Joshy-boy, but for kiddy-diddling, not theoretical arson.

Josh Duggar has been getting away with f*cking kids for decades. Decades of slipping the noose because of his clout and the fact his family is viewed as 'God fearing.” I'm not even going to get into that toxic mess, and how it enabled this scumbag, but ol' Joshy-boy has little girls in his own home, where, because of his "faith" his word is law. What the f*ck is he doing to those kids? He diddled his little sisters. That's fact. He was convicted of that in the court of law. That's fact. He has a record for that and was never properly disciplined for it. That's fact. If he could do that to them, and get away with it unscathed, it's not unheard of to think he could do it to his own. And that's not to slight his boys because, if he's been doing this since he was a kid and escalation is a thing, pretty sure a little boy butt is fine now, too. Of course, this is all speculation on my part but I'm comfortable throwing around these alleged accusations considering the actual evidence onhand. I'm comfortable say Josh Duggar f*cks because he f*cked his sister when she was a kid. One is more than enough, bud. Which is why I don't understand how he has gotten away with this sh*t for years after. Why wasn't Duggar put on a list like a regular person? Why wasn't he forced into proper therapy? Why wasn't he watched like a hawk for the rest of his life? Why was he allowed to escape consequence and re-offend for decades? Why were his sisters forced to interact with this dude on that show for years, when every KNEW what he did to them? Why the f*ck was he allowed back around kids and no one said a peep until the feds found straight up, hardcore, graphic child pornography on his home computer?

Sh*t like this is why i don't understand how Conservative people feel like they know the moral way. They use the bible as some sort of blanket, get-out-of-jail-free card, refusing to even acknowledge their transgressions. Even Matt Gaetz is doing that sh*t. Sure, he's leaning heavy into the "cancel culture" lie, even though there are literal Venmo receipts of him buying sex from a minor, but he claims this a witch hunt predicated on his loyalty to 45 and his strong Conservative values. Values that are intrinsically linked to that Jesus jargon. So, according to him, he can traffic women for sex, at leas one of which was underage but we'll see how many actually were, while being engaged to a woman he claims to love, but this is persecution? This is a politically motivated attack? He's the victim? Really? It doesn't even stop there. Most cats who still believe in 45, and i mean actually believe in him because they think that asshole is some sort of real life Second Coming, conveniently dismiss his long record of adultery, the fact that he uses their faith as a disingenuous prop, and, more to the point of this discussion, THE COUNTLESS ACCUSATIONS OF CHILD RAPE! Dude beat up a fourteen year old before raping her, because he wanted to take her virginity by said rape, but Epstein raped her first, so she was “defiled” when it was his turn to rape her and he was mad about it. So, I repeat, Trump beat up the fourteen year old girl before he raped her, for already being raped. Your president did that sh*t and I know he did because she sued. Put that in your pocket because we're going to circle back around to it in a bit.

There was an entire documentary about Epstein on Netflix and 45's name is riddled throughout it. There are Cosby levels of victims in his ledger and, like Cosby, where there's smoke, there is definitely fire, bud. Trump has for sure f*cked at least one child and that's more enough. He should be castrated and tossed into a hole, not uplifted as some great leader who is going to lead America into it's next golden age. If you actually think that, you're a f*cking idiot, and I mean that in the most aggressively disrespectful way possible. If you actually, in your heart, believe that Donald f*cking Trump is some sort of moral barometer, that he is the one best fit to guide this country into the future, you are the worst kind of person and don't deserve a voice in our democracy. The girl who sued him over her traumatic experience, is in that doc and recalls her story exactly the same way she's told it for decades, exactly as i heard it a decade and half ago. See? Full circle. This chick sued him and he settled. He paid her to make that sh*t go away, per usual, the December before his inauguration and no one talked about that. The difference in her case and the many, many, other settlements, is the fact that Trump doesn't pay anyone without at least three appeals or the Feds force him. He shot this chick an undisclosed amount of loot almost immediately. I don't even think her case made it to trial. I think they were still in Discovery and he whipped out the checkbook. Why was that? Maybe he didn't want her talking after he became President? Or maybe because she could substantiate the horrible f*cking claims she has never deviated from making, for two whole ass decades? I f*cking wonder.

Now, I'm not, in anyway, saying the Left doesn't have their issues. Of course they do. When you get to a certain amount of wealth and power, your moral compass goes wacky and you end up in the papers for giving everyone herpes or trying to start a cult or some sh*t. Celebrities are f*cking weird, bud. What I am saying is the fact that most of these ridiculously damaging and hypocritical f*ck problems, tend to err on The Right more than the Left. I mean, Hilary Clinton has buried bodies, for sure, and i don't mean just Benghazi but, since 2000, the Right has been riddled with some of the most egregious acts you can imagine, in terms of Christian morality. There's a list you can check out on Wikipedia and that hard "R" pops up a great many times. Lots of infidelity on the Left. Lots of the OTHER stuff AND infidelity on the right. It's pathological with these people. The harder you thump that bible, the harder you're apparently thumping some strange. Be it trans trysts, adulterous liaisons, getting it the gay way, straight up sexual battery, or outright rape, the Right is just out here, throwing their sh*t around at whatever will gush. However, when caught, they hide behind their “faith” as a deterrent from actual accountability. It's f*cking disgusting, dude. I mean, Bill Clinton got head from a co-ed in the Oval office but Trump gave head to a nine year old in one of the elevators at Mar-a-Lago. These are not the same and just because one overtly pretends Jesus is his savior, doesn't mean he should get that pass or that the comparison is in anyway apt.

The cognitive dissonance between espousing the virtues of Christ and actually living them is always so stark with these Conservatives. It's a tool to them, not a calling, not a guide. But so many of their proliferate eat that sh*t up. F*cking why? These people are pandering to you. They don't respect your beliefs. They literally f*ck kids. How can they be good Christians and do sh*t like that? None of those people are genuine in their belief. How the f*ck can you just give these assholes the pass? How can you exalt them as idols worth following, protecting, and aggrandizing? None of those frauds worship the way you do. Hell, the people you look to in order to deliver the Word, don't even live the Godly life. They're multi-millionaires flying around in personal jets they bought from Tyler Perry, because God told them they shouldn't have to fly coach with all those demons. Those demons are you, you f*cking sheep. That's how they see you. From your Orange demagogue to your sycophant senators to your televangelist false idols, you are the demons. You are the fodder. You are the rubes. And they know you'll turn the other cheek as they spread them kiddy cheeks, because all they have to do is hold a bible upside down from time to time and say “God is good.”

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy

by Frederick Clarkson

Frederick Clarkson is a widely published journalist, author and lecturer who specializes in the Radical Right.

Book published March 1, 1997 (Bear in mind, since this book was written things have moved swiftly to the right.)

____________________________________________

“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

– Thomas Jefferson, who was attacked by the religious right in the election of 1800. These words are engraved inside the Jefferson Memorial.

____________________________________________

Back cover

What is behind the violence against abortion clinics, attacks on gays and lesbians and the growing power of the religious right?

Frederick Clarkson makes it clear that beyond the bombers and assassins who sometimes make news, is a growing, if not well understood, movement that encompasses Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition, the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon and the Promise Keepers—the lead agency of the so-called Christian men’s movement.

Drawing on years of rigorous research, Clarkson exposes the wild card of the “theology of vigilantism” which urges the enforcement of “God’s law” and argues for fundamentalist revolution against constitutional democracy. Contrary to popular belief, these figures are usually neither nuts nor alone.

Eternal Hostility concludes with a challenge to leading neoconservative academics who attempt to blame much of the current culture wars on the legalization of abortion while ignoring the theocratic intentions of leading “conservatives.”

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Review

Frederick Clarkson’s Eternal Hostility provides a chilling road map to a growing movement whose roots go back to the founding days of the country. Clarkson asks the reader to consider what it would be like if having an abortion was punishable by death, if gays and lesbians were thrown into jail, or if our constitutional rights were replaced by biblical law. In a stunning analysis, Clarkson debunks the “objective” bestseller Culture Wars to reveal a tract written by a rightwing church elder.

Chastising liberals and the left for failing to recognize the depth of the threat to liberty, Clarkson argues that we must develop a coherent response to a well-organized effort aimed at overthrowing democracy. When he exposes the aims and strategies of such diverse Christian zealots as the “Promise Keepers” and the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon, remember that it was Clarkson who first to exposed the Christian Coalition’s plans to take over the Republican Party, plans which have largely succeeded in several states and was actually seen as it was acted out on television in the 1996 Texas Republic Convention. Clarkson was also the first to expose how elements of the Christian Right were encouraging the formation of citizen “militias” almost five years before the Oklahoma City bombing propelled the militia movement into general public awareness. Eternal Hostility is a warning bell in the night and is essential reading for any secular humanist or freethinker needing to be aroused from a complacency that “it can’t happen here” — because it has, it is, and it may well succeed if enough good men do nothing to stop it.

— Midwest Book Review

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Contents

Introduction by Robert Meneilly  vi

Acknowledgements  viii

1. Eternal Hostility: The Born-Again Struggle  1

2. Neither a Juggernaut nor a Joke:  19 How Overestimating and Underestimating Helps the Christian Right

3. Americans for Theocratic Action:  45 Rev. Sun Myung Moon, “Family Values,” and the Christian Right—One Dangerous Theocrat

4. Laying Down the (Biblical) Law:  77 Christian Reconstructionism by the Book

5. Theocrats in Action: From Theory to Practice  97

6. The Devil in the Details:  125 How the Christian Right’s Vision of Political and Religious Opponents as Satanic May Lead to Religious Warfare

7. Bombings, Assassinations, and Theocratic Revolution:  139 Vigilantes Enforce “God’s Law”

8. The Fight for the Framework:  163 Resetting the Terms of Debate

9. Promise Keepers: The Death of Feminism?  187

10. Defending Democracy: Rethink the Strategy  203

Appendix: Resources  217

Notes  227

Index  264

About the Author  280

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Introduction

Rev. Robert H. Meneilly

As a Presbyterian (USA) clergy with a life-long zeal for both my Christian religion and our democratic country, Eternal Hostility has illuminated my mind and sensitized my heart like nothing I have read in recent times. This is exactly what is needed to help us secure the health of our democracy and preserve true religious liberty. Its honest and intelligent investigative journalism embodies some of the most in-depth research and reporting on the religious right in print. An encounter of my own with the religious right may serve to illustrate the need for this book.

In the spring of 1994, I gave a sermon to our 7,600 member congregation, introducing the personnel, theology, and goals of the radical religious right. The text was subsequently published locally and then in the Sunday New York Times. This drew the wrath of religious right leader James Dobson of Focus on the Family in the form of a full page ad in the Kansas City Star. This was just the tip of a large iceberg of stealth campaigns by the religious right to take over the Republican Party and run for public office in our area. It was then that a local grassroots Mainstream Coalition was formed to challenge the religious right.

I first met Fred Clarkson when we shared the podium at a public forum a few months later in July, 1994, titled “Exposing the Agenda of the Radical Religious Right” and sponsored by Planned Parenthood. The event turned out to be a benchmark in the growing struggle with the religious right in our suburban community outside of Kansas City.

The Planned Parenthood Forum drew extensive coverage from television, radio, and out of town newspapers. Fred spent all day before the evening forum doing interviews. So concerned had the community become that more people had to be turned away than those who packed the large auditorium. On that unforgettable evening, Fred detailed with clarity, and with good humor essential to civil discourse, the imminent threat of the radical religious right to our democratic institutions. This was especially significant in that there were many religious right activists present. It is evident that people are starved for accurate information and analysis about the radical religious right as it affects our communities.

Now Clarkson has drawn on the themes of that address and more, to create a very readable and well-documented book. In bringing out the facts, he is discerning, and not judgmental—a true investigative journalist.

From his critique of authors dealing with the so-called “culture wars,” to his first-hand observation of the founding meetings of the Christian Coalition, much of his writing comes of personal experience, not hearsay. Everything he reports is carefully documented.

Clarkson exposes the distorted use of American colonial history— as some use statistics, interpreting as they will in an attempt to prove whatever they want—and the misreading of the Constitution by the leadership of the religious right. Pat Robertson and his fellow generals in the army do the same with holy Scripture to give their narrow sectarian views the authority of “thus says the Lord.” Clarkson eliminates any confusion; he clearly demonstrates that the Constitution and Bill of Rights were purposefully designed to preserve this democracy and forever save it from being made a theocracy.

Eternal Hostility introduces many important players who receive little media attention, from the anti-democratic “reconstructionist” theologians to James Dobson, long-hailed hero of family values who has been building a prime political empire for a decade. He may well influence more people than the Christian Coalition. His “Focus On The Family” brings in annual revenues of more than $100 million. But while Clarkson issues a warning about these groups and others such as the Unification Church and the Promise Keepers, the author makes clear that apathy on the part of mainline Christians and other centrists is more to be feared. Clarkson insists that “Political participation must not be limited to the voting booth, but active participation in political and electoral life must span the calendar year.”

Too many wonderfully good citizens upon hearing the religious right stand back and say, “They certainly don’t speak for me.” But they do speak for you if you are not doing anything to keep our democracy from being converted to a theocracy!

This book is a masterpiece for God and country!

—Robert H. Meneilly

Robert H. Meneilly founded and then pastored the Village Presbyterian Church (USA) for more than 47 years in Prairie Village, Kansas. It is the second largest mainstream Presbyterian Church in the country. He is one of the founders of the Interfaith Alliance and the Mainstream Coalition, organizations of mainstream religious leaders who oppose the agenda of the religious right.

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“Moon’s Law: God Is Phasing Out Democracy” by Frederick Clarkson

Missing Pieces of the Story of Sun Myung Moon by Frederick Clarkson

Trivializing FFWPU mass weddings and underestimating the Christian Right

The CIG constitution is the paperwork for what Fraser and every Moon org critic has warned was the Moon org’s goal all along

Hak Ja Han’s Cheon Il Guk Constitution is troubling

Church and state: A personal and public tug of war

Sun Myung Moon: “church and the state must become one”

U.S. Presidents Endorse Sun Myung Moon From ‘Spirit World’

United States Congressional investigation of Moon’s organization

Politics and religion interwoven

The Resurrection of Rev Moon

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[theliterateape]

Competing Visions of the Future Society

by Don Hall

The parable of the blind men and the elephant is one that consistently resonates with me.

The quick hits version is simply this:

Five blind men encounter an elephant. Each touches a part of the animal but, due to the limited exposure to each element, misidentifies what they are interpreting. The guy who touches the ear thinks they have stopped at a palm tree. The guy who grabs the trunk thinks it’s a python. And so on. Until the five confer with one another, they can’t know the bigger picture.

We are blind men and the pandemic is the elephant.

Individually we encounter:

A massive hit to our preparedness for mass extinction events

Globally, we’re all just flailing around and while COVID-19 is not a plague destined to eradicate 50% of the world’s population, this experience demonstrates that we are wholly incapable of surviving one of those 100,000 year old viruses being unleashed from the melting permafrost.

Our tribal divisions are increasingly a threat to our survival.

A country so divided by race, gender, religious extremes, and a strident refusal for compromise has created a culture war out of everything we deal with. When the very simple task of social distancing and wearing masks to contain the disease is a political hill to quite literally die upon, we’re in trouble.

The American version of Capitalism is corrupted so thoroughly by greed and power acquisition, it now exists as an existential risk with reward for so few as to eat itself alive.

Bernie tried to get the message across. Most didn’t listen or care. Instead of addressing the harsh economic disparity of the status quo, collectively we decided to focus on cults of personality and cultural tribalism. With the simple reality of a pandemic shutting down so much of our economic viability so quickly, the cracks of our system are widening.

As the balance of society is thrown off its axis, the time for revolution seems ripe.

The revolution at play is not about income inequality or the rights of women. It’s not even really about police brutality. On two fronts, the revolutionaries are fighting for equity and supremacy for black Americans and the transgendered. As the economy tanks and the anxiety of finding some sense of normalcy within the pandemic sits at the forefront, the creature that is the status quo is weakened so it seems like time for a killing blow.

Looking at the elephant from all of these angles gives a macro view of possibility. Potential for serious and widespread change.

The question at hand isn’t whether or not change will occur. It is inevitable. There is too much will for substantial changes in our system to be ignored and that will to change is how all true shifts in paradigm come to fruition. The question to be explored is what will that change look like?

Our choices seem to be limited more due to the the diverse nature of our American constituency and size than any ideological desires.

CHOICE #1: FULL ON WHITE SUPREMIST DICTATORSHIP

If improbably Donald Trump and the GOP-run Senate manage to cheat their way into a victory in November (because, at this point, the Trumpster Fire has already been impeached for blackmailing a foreign country to assist in his re-election campaign so assuming he won’t cheat is almost diabolically naive) the table will have been set and we’re all dining on the scraps of white supremist authoritarianism.

The white identity politicking of these old white dudes with intent upon stoking fear of black people, young people, and socialists is so stridently horrifying it is no wonder Americans are at each others’ throats over this current regime. If he wins again and maintains that creature of a Senate, he’s gonna get his Wall, he’s gonna get his deportations, and he’ll likely get his war.

Perhaps I’m less trusting of our institutions than I should be but with the courts packed as they are now with arch-conservative judges, the SCOTUS almost completely conservative, and the very Republican charge to “Save the Economy at the Expense of Old People, Black People, Brown People, and Everyone Else in the Service Industry” I’m not as confident in our chances should these greedy monsters prevail.

We can do so much better than embrace this retrograde America where white men ruled and everyone else was beaten into submission.

CHOICE #2: FULL ON SOCIAL JUSTICE DICTATORSHIP

As the Racial Marxists continue their rampage through our cultural institutions, calling out minor mistakes as firing offenses, the onslaught of censorship of speech and thought, the cult-like insistence that all white people are racist, putting these hucksters and secular religious zealots in charge will be a full on rebuke to all the advances of the Enlightenment as well as any good created via the Liberal Democratic experiment of the United States.

Perhaps that’s a bit extreme but so is a co-founder of #BLM writing the following:

Maybe I’m over-reacting but when diversity training indicates that objectivity, individualism, and intellectualization are markers of white supremacy, I’m thinking we are waltzing into the demise of rational society.

The goal for both the Extreme Right and the Extreme left are almost identical. The power to push their agenda, to punish those who disagree with that agenda, and to fundamentally sabotage the ideals of Liberal Democracy. 

I have to admire the Left, though. The Right went after Obama and Hillary Clinton. The Left decided to go after all white people. At least they think big in their scorched earth strategy.

CHOICE #3: A True Liberal Democracy

The third possibility is to go back, not to the mores of the Constitutional Days of pre-Civil War, but to the ideals written in those documents. Equality (not equity). Checks and Balances that still mean something. Rationality and the goal of the common good rather than the good of the few (the few being defined as the wealthy in the first model and the marginalized in the second).

If one takes a strong look at all the data collected it becomes apparent that the liberal democracy begun 244 years ago has made genuine strides into that utopian ideal. America is a far better place for all people than it was two centuries, one century, fifty years, or even ten years ago. Progress is slow and looking beyond the ear or trunk of the elephant is essential to truly gauge it accurately.

In essence, liberal democracy is working. It may not be working as fast as the current crop of activists would like it to but it is working and can continue to work.

The goals of equality are winning. Yes, we took a backwards turn with Reagan and then Gingrich using their slowly diminishing power to sow the seeds of polarization among the citizens but we can move forward again. The right wing zealots decided to make the culture war between the elite whites and the rural whites. Today the elite whites are waging campaigns to twist themselves into sycophants to the teachings of Derrick Bell, Ibram X. Kendrick, and improbably Robin DiAngelo. The rural whites adhere strictly in reaction to this by cleaving to the fetid breast of Trump.

The rest of us, the vast majority of the country, do not subscribe to either camp but are nonetheless heavily influenced by them via the digital megaphones they wield so well.

From a new online community, Persuasion:

There is much to lament about the changes that have taken place in some of the country's most important institutions over the past years. But there is also much to criticize in what these institutions looked like at their supposed best. Our goal is not to return to a golden age that has, sadly, never existed; it is to build societies that live up to the noble and ambitious values of freedom and justice better than any society of the past.

That’s our job. To build our society to be better.

Better looks like this elephant:

Accessible and excellent healthcare for all citizens.

Accessible and excellent education for all citizens.

Equality under the law with no regard to wealth or race.

Effective and just reparations for the crimes of the past (specifically addressing the ugly discrimination done against American blacks).

Due process and accountability for those in authority positions.

Accessible and excellent financial safety nets for our least able.

A return to ethics, justice, and grace.

In the competing visions of the future society, the centrists have the best and most noble ideals regarding how we proceed. The elephant of pandemic has given us the possibility.

All we have to do is have the will to resist demagoguery and the false ideas of moral purity and commit to the path set for us when the country was founded.

[j-kaiwa]

Discussion Article March 30th

Intolerant Anti-Bully laws are killing Freedom of Speech

Only July 4, the United States will be celebrating Independence Day, the birth of our nation. Unfortunately, the greatest freedom provided us by this new democracy has been dying and few people seem to be aware of it or care about it. And many others are even cheering it on.

The democratic world has made "tolerance" its number one social goal. Nevertheless, this goal has been elusive, as victimized groups continue to lobby for laws that remove the stigmas against them, and educators, social scientists and parents continue to proclaim the horrors of bullying. Despite decades of diversity education, members of the various races congregate largely with their own kind in our schools and neighborhoods.

The truly ironic thing is that the most essential element of a tolerant society has been with us for the past two centuries, as it is also the central element of democracy, but we are slowly but surely killing it. That element is in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and is called Freedom of Speech. We need to be allowed to say what we want, as long as our words don't cause tangible harm to people's bodies or property, or society will stagnate and we will be prisoners in our own skulls, only permitted to say things that the authorities approve of. Without Freedom of Speech, we would never solve problems that require abandonment of current ways of thinking. Without Freedom of Speech, the government could be as despotic as it wishes, killing off any protestors without impunity. Where the concept of Freedom of Speech is absent, people believe they are entitled to kill others who say things they find offensive. Without Freedom of Speech, we would literally be living in the Dark Ages.

We Americans love to call our Constitution the greatest political blueprint ever created. It was formulated by wise, educated, brave men who studied philosophy and spent a great deal of time hashing out the principles for a system of government that maximizes human freedom and well-being. But the ultimate freedom, Freedom of Speech, is now dead.

Do you think I am exaggerating? Perhaps. But only a drop. Who teaches Freedom of Speech anymore? It is ignored from grade school through university. And if it is taught, is it ever given more than brief lip service? Is more than one paragraph ever allocated to it?  Are its meaning, purpose and practice discussed? Even many journalists today, who owe their professions to Freedom of Speech, do not believe in it because they don't study and understand it.

As I repeatedly demonstrate at my seminars, in my videos and in my writings, Freedom of Speech is the key to peace among people. It is a wonderful principle not only for running a country. It is also a wonderful principle for interpersonal harmony. And though it is a wonderful psychological and moral principle, it is never taught in courses in psychology or morality.

Not only is no one teaching Freedom of Speech anymore, that precious freedom is being slowly but surely killed. It is being murdered by the growing social movement that has successfully brainwashed virtually everyone into believing that the solution to human emotional misery is to create, by force of law, a society in which no one says anything anyone else finds offensive, in which there is no stigma, and in which there are no imbalances of power. There is not one social movement in the history of the world that has enjoyed such unanimous support as the anti-bully movement. Not one religious or political group has criticized it, despite its being contrary to the basic philosophies of most religions and political groups. Not one psychological organization has criticized it, despite the fact that it violates the principles of almost all major schools of psychology. Neither the American Civil Liberties Union nor any other rights-advocacy group has criticized it, despite the fact that anti-bully laws violate the most basic democratic right, Freedom of Speech. Even organizations that are dedicated to promoting Freedom of Speech have failed to criticize this anti-free-speech movement.

The number one tool of science is logical thinking. 2,400 years ago, Aristotle said, "One thing no government can do, no matter how good it is, is to make its citizens morally virtous." Simple logic will lead anyone with a basic understanding of human nature to realize that a society in which everyone is always nice to each other is impossible. It has never existed-and will never exist-because it can't exist. Only in Heaven, if such a place exists, is such a society possible. And logic will lead thinking people to conclude, as Aristotle and our Founding Fathers did, that the attempt to create such a society by force of law can only cause more harm than good. But the social sciences, in their zeal to protect the feelings of people, have thrown logic out the window and are unwittingly creating a less tolerant society. We are in effect teaching: It is very important to be completely tolerant of everyone. And if anyone shows you any kind of intolerance, we will have no tolerance for them!

Ironically, some of the most intolerant, offensive people you can find are ones who most forcefully insist that we need to create a society in which no one is intolerant or offensive. As I am wont to say at my seminars, few people get insulted as much as I do. I have given seminars to tens of thousands of people, and I get evaluations at the end of the day. It never ceases to amaze me how nasty mental health professionals and educators can be! Thanks to my website and blog, I receive letters from people all over the world. Because I am the world's most visible critic of the anti-bully movement, I am also the world's leading recipient of the vitriol of anti-bully zealots. Many angry emailers naively accuse me of having no idea of what it's like to be bullied. They should read my email! They should read the threatening letters sent to Cross Country Education for daring to sponsor my seminars! They should have been there to witness the vicious attacks against me at a few of the presentations I have given in schools! They should read some of the nasty comments to articles about my work on the Internet! Very few people get bullied and cyberbullied as much as I do! (And i haven't tried to get any of my bullies punished!)

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." ~Voltaire

Freedom of Speech requires me to respect your right to say what I don't like to hear--even to publicly insult and humiliate me--just as it requires you to respect my right to say what you don't like to hear. And just because we have ideas that are unacceptable to each other, it doesn't make us enemies. You may be giving me the best advice in the world but I don't realize it and find it offensive. Should you be prevented from, or punished for, saying it? We are supposed to love each other despite our opposing ideas. When I recognize your right to say things I don't like, I don't get angry at you for saying them. You, in return, respect me for acting respectable. Furthermore, since I don't get angry at you, you cannot have the pleasure of getting me angry, so you don't seek to torment me with words. All wise people throughout the world understand this. It is the most basic ingredient of peace.

Unfortunately, because Freedom of Speech is no longer taught, and our citizens have been indoctrinated with the very opposite, many people today cannot tolerate criticism, insults, or views opposite to their own. And that's why bullying has becoming a more serious problem during the very period that we have been trying hardest to get rid of it. Especially during the ten years since the Columbine massacre, the anti-bully movement has been teaching us that no one has a right to say anything to us that can cause us emotional or psychological distress. So when people say things that are offensive to us, we feel totally justified in getting angry, thinking self-righteously, "You have no right to say that!" and the situation escalates as they become even meaner back to us. And when we try to get them in trouble with the authorities, that's when they really want to kill us!

So that this won't be just theoretical, I would like to present you with a couple of recent examples of intelligent, educated people who would like to deny me Freedom of Speech.

I received the following email from someone identifying him/herself as Real Person, who had apparently read my article, The Psychological Solution to the Stigma of Obesity, and didn't like it. The article is written respectfully and is based on ideas that any decent Cognitive Behavior therapist or Rational Emotive therapist would whole-heartedly advocate. (I just reread it, and I happen to think it is quite good. I believe it will help any obese person who is willing to face reality.) The subject line of the email was, Sometimes the freest speech is silence. What this writer obviously wants, as you will see, is my silence, not his/her own, God forbid.

And the greatest freedom is to not have to listen to you! You know nothing. Some cute slogan and a soapbox and you're off... There needs to be an anti-bullying movement in every heart, everywhere! It's called common decency and respect for others. With your help, and the idiocy of bureaucrats, people have divorced their own actions from any sense of responsibility. Who are you to say that the stigma of obesity isn't worse than the obesity itself? Cruel words lead to cruel actions. It's just too bad that the gentlest souls far too often direct those actions toward themselves. Then idiots like you turn around and blame them. Do the world a favor and just shut up. Listen for a change. You might be surprised at what you haven't heard.

This person insists there must be decency and respect for everyone. Except, of course, to me, because she doesn't agree with me. She doesn't question her right to be as nasty and insulting to me as she wishes.

I received the following comment to my blog entry, The "Perfect" Anti-Bully Law, from someone identifying herself as Jeannette:

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You have either no understanding or no experience - probably both - of any kind of bullying behaviour that reaches deeper than mild irritation. There are few people for whom the usual daily small and sometimes painful lessons of childhood - do not give them sufficient life skills to deal with the kind of bullying your 'booklet' describes. I checked out your infallible rules. Complete nonsense....I have listened with too much patience already to voices like yours, who recommend these simplistic solutions - ideas from people who - on finding themselves in any similar situation - would have not the slightest idea of any way to cope, and would be brought down very low by it....If you have never experienced that - you may not hope to understand how your article sounds, like nonsense, to anyone who has.

You have absolutely no right whatsoever to be making this attempt to harrass those who try to protect the lives of children and adults from one of the most pernicious ills of our time.

This intelligent writer believes that since I am criticizing the failing anti-bully movement, trying to wake the public up to the folly of anti-bully laws, and providing free advice that has helped countless people throughout the world successully deal with bullying, I am somehow "harassing" her. Have I ever done a thing to stop her--or anyone else--from trying to protect children from each other? It is not I who is fighting for laws that force us to think or behave in a certain way.

She says I "have absolutely no right whatsoever to be making this attempt..." Absolutely no right whatsoever?! How about the First Amendment?! But Freedom of Speech is dead, and even the most educated people today have forgotten it. These anti-bully activists who are so dead set against nastiness have no hesitation to be nasty to anyone they don't agree with. Only one point of view is permitted today. The only Freedom of Speech we have today is to say things that the anti-bully crusaders approve of. Three cheers for the demise of democracy!

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If you haven't already viewed these videos, I invite you to see the power of Freedom of Speech in action. Two of the three sample videos from my Victim-Proof Your School program that can be viewed on my website demonstrate the power of Freedom of Speech to stop bullying. In each video scene, I first try to deny the other person Freedom of Speech; the second time I grant them Freedom of Speech.

The following is a scene in which a student is cursing a teacher: How Should Teachers Handle Being Bullied

The following is a medley of scenes of people calling me idiot (it would work with any other insult): The Idiot Game

I hope you are getting an increased appreciation for Freedom of Speech. If society were to spend a fraction of the time and effort teaching the meaning and practice of Freedom of Speech that it does fighting for anti-bully laws, we would achieve a greater reduction in bullying and a greater increase in tolerance and harmony than we can ever hope to achieve through the most intensive anti-bully laws!