If we were given a choice between living in a system governed by the rule of law or one having individual liberty, the choice is obvious: give me liberty! However, before jumping to conclusions we need to examine exactly what each system is really like. If we declare our allegiance prematurely we could be entering something radically different from what was promised. After some contemplation we realize the rule of law is preferable to life where everybody thinks they have total liberty when instead they have lawless anarchy. Total liberty for some means no liberty for others.

We examine a system promoting individual liberty; its characteristics and where it originated. These ideas were first proposed in a place far away two hundred thousand years ago. Next we investigate a system of regular laws tempered by mercy and love. This system is much older and was put in place by someone we know and love. Finally we look at present day fallout from these systems; some acts in our distant past have had a severe effect on current society.

Individual Liberty

Lucifer, Satan, Caligastia

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” (Bible; Isaiah 14:12) This quotation is from the King James Version; Lucifer was translated out of most other versions.

The smallest unit of universe government is the local system. When complete each system will have about 1,000 inhabited planets; our system, Satania, currently has 619 inhabited planets. Two hundred thousand years go Lucifer was the system Sovereign in Satania. He had been in charge of the system government for a few hundred thousand years when he decided to rebel against universe authority. There was no external situation that needed to be changed; this rebellion arose entirely within Lucifer’s mind. (602.5)^[1] His second in command, Satan, was won over to the rebellion.

The rebellion was announced with the Lucifer Manifesto which had three broad parts. (603.3-604.1) In the first item Lucifer declared God does not exist, and that natural forces were inherent in the universe. Next he stated that the local universe Creator Son who created the local universe did not have authority to rule, that the systems should be autonomous; no higher branches of government had authority in the local systems. His final declaration was that too much time was wasted on training ascendant mortals, beings like us who have passed from mortal life into beginning spirit life. We will be meticulously trained for an unrevealed eternal future career; Lucifer thought this effort was wasted.

Satan declared to the assembled citizens of the system capital that allegiance could be acknowledged only to the actual and present ruler, Lucifer, the “friend of men and angels” and the “God of liberty.” (604.3) This is the way demagogues always seek to gain power: by emotional appeals to the masses.

Satan went to the inhabited worlds to convince their Planetary Princes to join the rebellion. On 38 of the inhabited worlds the Planetary Prince joined the rebellion against universe authority. On our planet, known as Urantia on universe records, the Planetary Prince was Caligastia who also joined the rebellion. This calamity has had a severe effect on the history of each planet in rebellion. On our planet some civilization was gradually appearing, but upon the rebellion this was rapidly destroyed. (758.6-7)

Liberty is suicidal when divorced from material justice, intellectual fairness, social forbearance, moral duty, and spiritual values. Liberty is nonexistent apart from cosmic reality…. (613.6) True liberty must recognize the existence of our sisters and brothers; each is indwelt by a fragment of God, and each has equal standing before our creator. Recognizing cosmic reality means we recognize a creator behind the creation we observe and experience. Lucifer and his followers do not accept this, including his present day followers on Urantia.

Individual liberty is false liberty; attempting to implement it would result in a lawless anarchy with no laws and no liberty.

Rule of Law

Michael: Jesus

Our local universe was created by our Creator Son, Michael, and the Universe Mother Spirit. Together they created all life in this universe, including Lucifer himself. The system they set up involves laws tempered by mercy.

Even though he created this local universe, Michael had to earn the right to rule it on his own authority; this he did by incarnating seven times as one of his created beings. At the time of the Lucifer Rebellion this process had not been completed; he did not have authority to summarily end the rebellion. His last bestowal was as on our planet, Urantia, we know him as Jesus. After this bestowal was completed he became sovereign, yet he still treats the rebels with mercy and offers them rehabilitation.

Law is life itself and not the rules of its conduct. Evil is a transgression of law, not a violation of the rules of conduct pertaining to life, which is the law. Falsehood is not a matter of narration technique but something premeditated as a perversion of truth…. One can be technically right as to fact and everlastingly wrong in the truth. (555.1)

Those who proclaim individual liberty declare law must include their own personal liberty; however, recognizing cosmic reality means realizing LAW IS LIFE ITSELF. The moment we twist truth in the least amount we enter the realm of falsehood and evil. Recognizing our cosmic citizenship means realizing an obligation to sisters and brothers.

Mercy is simply justice tempered by that wisdom which grows out of perfection of knowledge and the full recognition of the natural weaknesses and environmental handicaps of finite creatures. (38.1) Heavenly Father knows us, knows our weaknesses, and tempers law with mercy accordingly.

An example of the difference between fact and truth is in the novel “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo. The fact is that the main character, Jean Valjean, stole something and therefore he was a thief and went to prison. The truth is he stole a loaf of bread so his brother’s child could have something to eat. In this case justice was not tempered by mercy.

Current Implications

We explore our current situation by looking at an interesting quotation from The Urantia Book; each sentence is examined separately.

True liberty is the associate of genuine self-respect; false liberty is the consort of self-admiration. (614.1)

Self-admiration was probably at the root of the Lucifer rebellion. He was spiritually brilliant and he knew it; out of more than 700,000 Lanonandeks he was ranked at number 37. (601.1) In our global society there are many dictators and dictator wannabes; these self-admiring individuals have such a bloated opinion of themselves that they know they must exert themselves over their “lesser” citizens. Those who have true liberty respect themselves as well as their fellow citizens.

True liberty is the fruit of self-control; false liberty, the assumption of self-assertion. (614.1)

There is a world of difference between self-control and self-assertion. Demagogues are certainly self-assertive. The self-assertive individual will forcibly assert their views regardless of consequences, while the self-control individual knows limitations and works toward inclusion and teamwork.

Self-control leads to altruistic service; self-admiration tends towards the exploitation of others for the selfish aggrandizement of such a mistaken individual as is willing to sacrifice righteous attainment for the sake of possessing unjust power over his fellow beings. (614.1)

A large portion of current global society is aimed towards possessing unjust power over fellow human beings. Greed, selfishness, and materialism seem to rule the day; these are a direct result of Caligastia’s betrayal of his responsibility as ruler of Urantia. After the bestowal of Jesus, Caligastia was shorn of his title but he remains on Earth seeking to spread mischief.

The problems associated with human existence on Urantia are impossible of understanding without a knowledge of certain great epochs of the past, notably the occurrence and consequences of the planetary rebellion. Although this upheaval did not seriously interfere with the progress of organic evolution, it did markedly modify the course of social evolution and of spiritual development. The entire superphysical history of the planet was profoundly influenced by this devastating calamity. (754.1)

Consequences from the rebellion have certainly had an effect on our society. We have elected to high office an individual strong on self-admiration and self-assertion; voting districts are redrawn so votes from individuals with certain superficial characteristics are diluted. Our planet needs laws tempered with mercy, as well as leaders with self-control. Forward, not backward.

1. Unless otherwise noted, all references are from The Urantia Book one column version in the format page.paragraph. ↑

In this posting we briefly discuss the sad state of affairs in current society; this emphasizes society’s need for many lights of truth. We then outline how each of us can become a light of truth for our sisters and brothers, especially those who hunger and thirst for spiritual guidance.

Troubled Society

There are many troubling trends in society; our social fabric is starkly polarized in many ways. Among these stress fractures are political, economic, racial, labor, and religious tensions; add to this mix the rise of many hate groups and authoritarianism around the world.^[1] How did these flash points arise seemingly arise all at once? Actually these stress issues were increasing throughout the twentieth century; they became suddenly conspicuous as a result of COVID-19. To understand what is going on we briefly examine world history, a 30 second version.

For most of the history of planet Earth, change was exasperatingly slow. True, communication was spotty at best, but there was just not much of long-term value going on. During the last 5,000 years only a few things stand out as making a lasting change; following is a short list of newsworthy events during this time period, selected at random.

BCE

Abraham: ~1900

Moses: 14-13^th century

Buddha: 6-5^th cent.

Muhammad: b. 570

Alexander the Great: b 356

Jesus: b. 7

CE

Norman Conquest of England: 1066

Genghis Kahn: b. ~1162

Magna Carta: 1215

Black Death (Bubonic Plague): 1347-1351

Gutenberg Bible: 1455

Martin Luther: 95 Theses, 1517

There were certainly other sudden events such as wars, plagues, and famines, but these generally had little impact on the gradual evolution of society at large. In spite of sudden upheavals, lives of the vast majority of people were little changed over time.

Things started to pick up in the last quarter of the 19^th century, particularly with scientific advancements by Louis Pasteur and others.

20^th Century “Progress”

Contrast this with the progress achieved during the twentieth century alone, which is mind boggling. My father, born in 1901, was a rural mail carrier; he started with a horse and buggy and lived to watch men walk on the moon. My wife’s grandmother, born at nearly the same time, arrived in Kentucky by covered wagon. Such a staggering level of progress in a short period of time places drastic stress on the fabric of society. It is like running downhill as fast as you can, there will come a time when you lose control and fall on your face.

It is important to consider what sort of progress was made in the previous century. All of these advancements were materialistic, based mainly on science; there was also progress based on the mind, for indeed this is where scientific gains originate. However, a third and equally important component of our being, spiritual reality, has been ignored while our materialistic society races madly downhill toward certain destruction.

There has been no significant advancement in the spiritual awareness of society since Jesus of Nazareth over two thousand years ago. We are about to pay the price for this spiritual neglect: the collapse of society as we know it.

We are already seeing the start of this collapse: in grocery stores there are empty shelves, our favorite brands may be missing; in July I ordered a book (“Please Scream Inside Your Heart” by Dave Pell) which was supposed to be shipped in September, but there was a delay in the book binding, it arrived in the second week of November. Ports in California are clogged with ships that cannot be unloaded because there are not enough truck drivers to carry the goods away; trucking companies have trouble hiring drivers because many applicants fail drug tests; many businesses are unable to hire enough qualified workers. And there is more: this year there has been large number of cases concerning violent passengers on airline flights, many more than previous years. A lot of people are just angry.

Our society is coming apart because it has no moral foundation; we desperately need a spiritual uplift.

We who study The Urantia Book have all the information we need to begin this spiritual renaissance. What are we going to do with this revelation? How can we use it to begin the spiritual transformation of planet Earth?

Lights of Truth

We have this revelation but many of its students do not fully appreciate it. Many treat it as if it were a textbook, perhaps a history textbook. I have attended study groups where it was read like a phonebook. This is the fifth epochal revelation of truth to our planet; {Epochal Revelations} only the fifth time in our planetary history advanced truth has been revealed to us. Treat it as such!

We begin this process of spiritual transformation by applying the teachings of The Urantia Book in our daily lives. The keys of the kingdom of heaven are: sincerity, more sincerity, and more sincerity. All men have these keys.^[2] We use these keys of sincerity as we make decisions to do the will of God; in this way we grow stronger in the Kingdom of Heaven. Each decision we make can have an impact on our soul depending on how sincere we are; we cannot become a light of truth while harboring falsehoods and insincerity.

Spiritual progress is predicated on intellectual recognition of spiritual poverty coupled with the self-consciousness of perfection-hunger, the desire to know God and be like him, the wholehearted purpose to do the will of the Father in heaven.^[3] We cannot make spiritual progress until we realize we are spiritually impoverished, that is when we develop perfection hunger, an indescribable reaching out for something above and beyond us.

As we reach out with perfection hunger we begin to manifest fruits of the spirit in our lives; it is at this point that we are beginning to become a light of truth. You who know these truths must yield the increase of the fruits of the spirit and manifest a growing devotion to the unselfish service of your fellow servants. And remember that, inasmuch as you minister to one of the least of my brethren, you have done this service to me.^[4]

Those who are lights of truth care about each one of their sisters and brothers. They know as a truth everyone has within an actual spark of God, they know God respects everyone equally. We become a Light of Truth when every moment of our lives radiates our faith, our absolute certainty that life eternal is ours for the asking.

Being a Light of Truth means we exhibit our firm faith in every interaction with those around us. It becomes our way of life into eternity.

Being a Light of Truth does not necessarily mean doing anything flashy; the most valuable aspect is in the ordinary, everyday interactions with those around us. Perhaps any contact might ignite another light of truth. Being a Light of Truth is a fulltime endeavor.

Together we can light up our world, Michael’s world!

1. For a look at how autocracy spreads see: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/12/the-autocrats-are-winning/620526/?utm_source=feed ↑

2. Unless otherwise stated, all references are to The Urantia Book one column edition in the format page:paragraph 435.7 ↑

3. 1095.5 ↑

4. 1917.1 ↑

One glaring example is Communism; its founders desired a “worker’s paradise” where labor would receive proper compensation for their work. This is certainly a noble idealistic goal, but when its precepts were implemented, a dark repressive society emerged. Something went wrong between ideological conception and actions supposedly leading to the goal. Communism became a government with no recognition of the worth of laborers to whom it was supposed to bring equality. It resulted in a government whose primary goal became staying in power, while their “worker’s paradise” was put off into a far distant future.

Ideology

In this context, ideology means a set of ideals strongly motivating a group of citizens. Secondary considerations fall by the wayside because the idealistic goals are deemed to be urgently needed; they become the focus of existence for followers of the ideology. This goal is of such supreme worth, any action not contributing to it is shunned. This ideology becomes the primary motivation for the group.

There are countless such motivating threads in our society; in no particular order there are: Conservative Christianity, seeking to promote a narrow interpretation of Biblical teachings; White Nationalism, promoting a white only society; Conservative Politics, promoting the desires of big business at the expense of working people and removing their health care during a pandemic; wild conspiracy movements; anti-abortion groups; radical and violent members of all political ideologies; agents secretly promoting interests of other nations in our social media and society. No doubt there are many more.

There are segments of society where goals do not rise to such a level of fanaticism; some individuals recognize the importance of morality in realizing their goals. These elements are beginning to realize the value of every citizen, they realize the worth of every human, and they are beginning to become conscious of the presence of God in the life of each thinking mortal. For them the end can never justify the means because therein lies a Godless anarchy.

Proponents of a particular ideology may follow leaders with whom they do not fully agree; they do this so they can have access to power and advance their own goals. The leader obtains a larger following while the ideologues gain recognition and access. Leaders with dictatorial aspirations eagerly accept such fiercely dedicated ideologues because they tend to ignore issues not related to their goal.

Ideologues firmly committed to their beliefs will claim their goal is so important it must be pursued with utmost vigor; it rises above conventional morality. They rationalize their actions with “absolutes” as a basis for their actions; they might claim “The Bible says…” therefore they are justified taking any action. Any time we seek to avoid moral responsibility by employing such ideological processes we are going against the will of God who is within every thinking mortal, not just the ideologues.

Moral Foundation

One way to understand the problem with ideological processes is to examine the importance of having a moral foundation. Any undertaking needs to have a firm foundation if it is to succeed. It is a Biblical truism that a house cannot be built on shifting sands, but neither can an individual life, or even a civilization. All civilizations of the past have eventually failed because they had no moral foundation. Many an individual has failed because they lost their moral footing. Moral foundations are vital.

How does one construct an enduring foundation? The only truly lasting moral foundation consists in realizing every thinking mortal on Earth has within them an actual spark of God; our Heavenly Father is within every person and we all stand equal before Him. Knowing by faith and experience that God is within becomes our moral foundation.

How does this foundation work? We can still have noble idealistic goals, but now before we act we must consider any proposed action relative to our moral foundation; determine if it is consistent with our moral base. If the proposed action includes immoral shortcuts, if it means marginalizing anybody at the expense of others, causing physical harm to others, or if it takes unfair advantage of the poor, then the proposed action is inconsistent with our moral foundation and has to be rejected. If it passes these tests, it may be acceptable. Every proposed action must be carefully evaluated relative to our moral foundation. This naturally means it might take longer to reach our idealistic goal but it would also make reaching it more realistic. The Communist Revolution took place about a hundred years ago and today there is no indication its initial goals can ever be reached. Every action requires a firm moral foundation.

Interactions

These various ideological threads have polarized society so much there is an excessive amount of anger, fear, and hatred. Each group is so fixated on their own goals there can be very little dialog between these ideological groups. Many of these groups follow leaders who are, or want to become, demagogues; they follow with the hope their own goals will be advanced. In their rush to realize their goals they ignore moral deficiencies in the leader they have chosen. Exchanges between competing groups become heated and compromise is nearly impossible; there appears to be no effort to understand holding different beliefs. Misinformation fills social media and influences many who are ill informed; those in political power frequently contribute to this flood of lies.

These ideological interactions sweep across society on many levels, having a logical dialog becomes more difficult every moment. Until more individuals become aware of the powerful truth that our Heavenly Father literally dwells within each human being, these interactions will continue to be difficult. Frequently these exchanges are heated because the ideologues are so firmly convinced of the rightness of their beliefs; they have left conventional morality behind.

Consequences

The result of these conflicting ideologies is our society has become highly polarized; compromise, even governing, has become nearly impossible. When a collection of these ideological processes takes control in a nation such as ours, there is no obvious way to carry out important governmental activities, such as implementing a timely and effective response to our Coronavirus disaster.

It goes even deeper than that. Many people have become indifferent to the needs of other human beings. They are being pulled in so many directions at once there appears to be no way of reconciling these various processes. There certainly are people who deeply care, but the overall tenor of society is divisiveness.

At the core of these activities are individuals who, for whatever reason, are purposefully deceptive. Perhaps they feel their goals are too important to totally depend on conventional morality; they are above such mundane pursuits. The consequence of this flood of ideas is that whenever we receive information we must evaluate it with respect to its truthfulness. Some news sources may generally be trusted, but never social media where there is little fact checking.

We realize our society has a problem; it is time to move forward and seek solutions.

Solutions

When having a discussion with an ideologically driven individual no solution can be found if the dialog is heated, if the participants cannot have a calm, reasonable discussion. A shouting match only makes everyone even angrier. The number one priority is to cool down the rhetoric. Often there appears to be no way to accomplish this, but a way to begin is to find why they are angry. If this cannot be done there can be no dialog. If they respond saying “I am angry because…” the reason can be discussed and perhaps progress can be made toward having a reasonable discussion.

Next we need find a way through the ideology so exchange of ideas is possible. Frequently ideologues use code words that encompass a wide range of ideas, sometimes it is difficult to determine exactly what the code words are and what is meant by them. We need to understand what they want, only then can we progress to the next step.

Finally we must seek common ground. Finding this common ground is the only way society can continue; it is vital to our survival.

When each one of us realizes every human being has within them an actual spark of God, realizes we are all sisters and brothers, we can begin to work toward building a more inclusive society, one where the worth of each mortal is recognized.

Sisters and brothers of planet Earth: unite for the Triumph of Righteousness!

In today’s society all over this planet our sisters and brothers are obsessed with short term goals, especially in these days of Coronavirus, racial bigotry, materialistic greed, global warming, violent storms, and raging wildfires. There seems to be no time for thinking about our eternal future because we are being squeezed here and now in so many ways. Regardless of our circumstances, the problem with exclusively pursuing short term goals is that there will come a time when there is no short term remaining; our time will run out. Ever-changing short term goals ignore all future eternity. It is imperative we find time to recognize and seek our goal of destiny.

This goal of destiny is our ultimate goal. We realize we are mortal; our physical frame has come from dust and to dust it will return. However, as a result of our lives we have a moral consciousness residing within our mortal body; we have awareness, thoughts, experiences, longings, and love. What becomes of these, our superphysical components? Is there any part of us that continues after our physical apparatus ceases to function?

What is our goal of destiny?

Tangled in a Web of Dogma

There is much anger and fear in our society. This anger arises from many sources: fear of changes, alienation, insecurity, being taught from an early age to fear those who are different, reaction to materialistic greed, and following a restricted ideology. Elements promoting fear and division have even taken over governments around the world. When individuals protest being disenfranchised by those preaching fear they are attacked by police or their peaceful demonstrations are hijacked by violent elements. Our society needs to be delivered from these destructive emotions. We need a firm moral foundation based on spiritual reality.

One problem with seeking a goal of destiny is that there is no clear voice saying “this is the way.” Each religious sect has their own presentation of the path to eternal life, each one based upon a different collection of tradition, dogma, and theology. This, coupled with the incessant materialistic drive, means there is little effort to seek eternal goals.

The spiritual life of our society largely consists of a tangled web of dogma with various scattered islands of faith. Lines of similar dogma loosely connect the various faith islands. No wonder society is secular.

Most individuals are not aware they are candidates for eternal life; even those who are nominal Christians frequently do not consider eternity in their daily lives, in their interactions with sisters and brothers. Their existence is moment to moment.

Eternal Goal

What is this goal of destiny?

Thus does the whole social body push on slowly toward the goal of destiny — extinction or survival — depending on whether that goal is self-maintenance or self-gratification. Self-maintenance originates society, while excessive self-gratification destroys civilization. (The Urantia Book, 764.5)

This passage refers to society, but it also applies to the individual. Each person must make a choice between extinction and survival, between a short life in time or an unending existence into future eternity. The choice we make then becomes a motivation for our lives, guiding the personal decisions we must make many times each day.

Human life continues — survives — because it has a universe function, the task of finding God. The faith-activated soul of man cannot stop short of the attainment of this goal of destiny; and when it does once achieve this divine goal, it can never end because it has become like God — eternal. (The Urantia Book, 1459.7)

Our universe function is to find God; this should be the motivation for our lives. When we desire to seek God we have a way to measure each proposed decision: will this action bring us closer to God or move us farther away from Him? Our actions declare our true intentions, how sincere we are in our God quest.

Man has well earned some of his present-day joys and pleasures. But look you well to the goal of destiny! Pleasures are indeed suicidal if they succeed in destroying property, which has become the institution of self-maintenance; and self-gratifications have indeed cost a fatal price if they bring about the collapse of marriage, the decadence of family life, and the destruction of the home — man’s supreme evolutionary acquirement and civilization’s only hope of survival. (The Urantia Book, 943.1)

There needs to be a balance between self-maintenance and self-gratification. The healthy mortal recognizes the latter is necessary in moderation for a happy and satisfying life while the former results in a healthy mortal life that joyously transitions into eternity.

Implications

This new gospel of the kingdom renders a great service to the art of living in that it supplies a new and richer incentive for higher living. It presents a new and exalted goal of destiny, a supreme life purpose. (The Urantia Book, 1778.3)

We now have a reason to live a moral life, a life based on high values, a life of service. A life founded on reaching out to God is one that reaches out to sisters and brothers realizing every human has value and is indwelt by a spark of God.

When a significant number of our citizens become aware of and reach for their goal of destiny, society will be transformed. Fearful, destructive emotions will dissolve in waves of brotherhood, love and joy. People actively seeking to include more of God in their lives will no longer harbor these self-destructive emotions. This will certainly be a slow transformation; it depends on each individual making their own choice between selfishness and eternity.

Every personality must at some point declare their preference. When physical death happens, if we have not made a final declaration to seek our goal of destiny we will resurrect, just as Jesus did, so we can make that decision. Everyone must finally declare to seek God and eternity or selfishness and that final death from which there is no resurrection.

When a significant portion of any society becomes motivated to seek a better life for everyone that society will begin to leave the path of destruction and start on the path of survival.

In these times of coronavirus, disrespect for science, economic instability, cases of police brutality, and poplar uprisings against bigotry, we need a functioning government worthy of respect and loyalty. The underlying causes of these events have been simmering largely unrecognized for decades. One way to approach a partial understanding of them is to briefly examine bigotry.

The Unites States is one of few governments on the face of Earth that has erected monuments celebrating traitors against the government. A traitor is “a person who betrays his or her country; one guilty of treason or treachery.”^[2] Article III, Section 3 of the United States Constitution declares treason consists in levying war against the U. S.; every confederate General and soldier is a traitor guilty of treason; this is true regardless of how the war ended. Our soldiers in the American Revolution were traitors in England but that struggle was successful, as a result we are one separate and free country. Declaration of war by southern states against the national government was an act of treason; those participating in this treason are traitors. They did not declare war on the north because it was not a separate political entity; war could only be declared on the national government. Currently there are even military bases on American soil named after traitors; these bases house brave, loyal American soldiers; a travesty.

When I moved to South Carolina from Pennsylvania in the late 1960’s, I had no concept of southern history. I subsequently bought a house near Summerville and began my working life. Later I took walks through the subdivision where I lived and noticed the names of various streets. It was many years before I realized the significance of these names. Most of them were named after confederate generals. One general, Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, was celebrated by four streets; I lived on Toutant Court. One street was named Longstreet; naively I assumed this was because it was a long street but General James Longstreet was General Lee’s principal subordinate. Another street I walked on was Ruffin; I remember at the time having a creepy feeling about that name but only now do I realize its significance, forty years later. Edmund Ruffin was a Virginia land owner and political activist advocating slavery and states’ rights; after the war he committed suicide so he would not have to endure Yankee rule. I would not want to live on a street celebrating such a cowardly individual.

This is only one small subdivision near one moderate sized town in one state in the south; however, this state was the first to secede from the United States in December 1860. It offers an idea of how deeply bigotry permeates southern life. White society is largely oblivious, while human beings subjected to bigotry have been powerless for more than three hundred years. Bigotry has been an integral part of southern society, even global society, for so long eradicating it will be difficult. The only way to accomplish this is to help our sisters and brothers become more aware of spiritual truths, revealed in teachings of The Urantia Book.

Among these is the truth every thinking human being on the face of Earth has within them a spark of God.^[3] God is truly “no respecter of persons;”^[4] He respects everyone equally, no exceptions. When will those who pretend to follow teachings in the Bible realize this?

Black lives matter; brown lives matter; LGBTQ lives matter. That is a truism. It is heartening to witness sisters and brothers of all colors and orientations marching in solidarity with this realization. These demonstrations are taking place in many lands.

Any nation cannot function efficiently if a portion of that nation is systematically marginalized, disenfranchised, put down. Each citizen of every nation must become empowered to become the best they can be and contribute to society; only then can society continue smoothly into the future. Our society is not even close to approaching this moral goal.

Other trends also contribute to current events; one is oppressive materialism which contributes to inequality. With materialism there is generally no consideration of the rights and needs of others, its goal is to increase one’s own wealth.

Current economic policy is built largely on “trickle down” economics where government assistance is donated to the wealthy in the hope they will trickle part of this upon those in need. Instead of “trickle down,” why not “growing up?” Instead of giving wealth to those who already have wealth, hoping some of this might be “trickled down” upon the rest of humanity, why not give assistance to those truly in need? Unlike the wealthy, those in need do not have the luxury of “options.” The wealthy have many options to place wealth they receive, and out of this multitude only one is to bestow, or trickle down, their largess upon those requiring assistance. “Growing up” would involve giving assistance to those in need (what a radical concept!) with the knowledge they have a very limited set of options. Most of these options are concerned with protection of life itself: feed the children, pay the rent, buy clothes for the children, pay for needed medication, transportation to work, child care expenses, and so much more. There might also be an occasional bottle of something to ease their pains and bring relaxation, good for them. The wealthy have options while those in poverty have very few. Most of the funds they receive will quickly be put into circulation. In this case, to receive funds, the wealthy would actually need to do something, such as provide services which needy persons could now afford; they would actually need to put forth effort to receive wealth the same as everybody else.

Seeking to remedy this situation, radical proposals have been made by politicians who care about assisting the disadvantaged. These proposals have not received wide-spread support because paying for them would be difficult. This funding would not be such a problem if welfare for the wealthy were replaced with “growing up,” assisting those in poverty. Politicians should also consider there are several orders of magnitude more needy individuals than there are wealthy welfare recipients, and they would certainly vote their thanksgiving, if given assistance.

How do we get from here to there?

There are proposals for doing this; one of them states: “White Supremacy, a political economy based on the disenfranchisement of people of color and concentrating wealth among the white population, is the foundation and on-going pre-existing condition that brings disproportionate harm to communities of color in crisis after crisis from Katrina to COVID.”^[5] Institutionalized economic inequality and racism are intimately interconnected. This structure of society has been in place for so long there appears to be no hope in overthrowing it; however, with a strong motivating force these radical proposals could become reality. The vital element is a strong, faith based, desire to make a difference in the world; a desire to enlarge the concept of the brotherhood of all humans so it truly includes all humanity.

This proposal involves three phases; Phase one is Emergency Measures. This would start with improved data collection on racial inequality; changes cannot be made without proper data. Using this data, proposed recovery plans would be audited with respect to their effect on racial inequality. There would be income support that transitions into a guaranteed income. This report also suggests expanding the Postal System to include banking; this would allow the disadvantaged to gain access to financial products they currently cannot obtain.

Phase two is Emerging from Recession, the first element of which is Medicare for all. “The racial disparities in Covid-19 mortality dramatize the moral necessity to have a system that boosts overall health equity and wellness.”^[6] The next proposal would promote equitable home ownership and housing. There would also be a federal jobs guarantee with a living wage; these may be public service jobs with the government being the employer of last resort. Finally there would be Baby Bonds given to every newborn, they would be managed by the government and be available for home purchasing and other investments when adulthood is reached.

Phase three is Interrupting Inequality, which has several tax reform proposals aimed at reducing inequality.

Proposals for making society more equitable for every mortal are out there waiting to be implemented; we must have the will to fully realize them. Each one of our sisters and brothers has within them a spark of God; society must act on this truth because its future is at risk.

1. There are a few versions of this attributed to Mark Twain. ↑

2. Third College Edition Webster’s New World Dictionary of American English, Victoria Neufeldt and David B. Guralnik eds., Webster’s New World, Cleveland and New York, 1988, p 1418. ↑

3. Bible, I Corinthians 3:16 ↑

4. Bible, Acts 10:34 ↑

5. “White supremacy is the pre-existing condition: eight solutions to ensure economic recovery reduces the racial divide” by Darrick Hamilton, Preface, Co-authors Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chuck Collins and Omar Ocampo, downloaded 7/2/20 from https://ips-dc.org/white-supremacy-preexisting-condition-eight-solutions-economic-recovery-racial-wealth-divide/, p 2. ↑

6. Hamilton et.al p 4. ↑

Parliament

Click on photo for information about it.

This posting on sovereignty is a slightly condensed version of a new Talking Points page. This is an important topic in these times of unsettling events in many areas. We the people have the right to direct our government and how it functions; however, what is our recourse when government appears unable to deal with current events? How can we incorporate revelations about spiritual reality into our societal interactions, help everyone to become empowered, and participate in society?

While in England June 2015, we spent a few nights at Runnymede on the Themes, which is within walking distance of where the Magna Carta was signed that same month exactly 800 years previously. (When reservations were made we had no idea of the significance of its location.) In that unremarkable field, today a cow pasture, the concept of sovereignty of the people was given birth as a result of actions by a group of barons against King John. Growth of the idea of sovereignty of the people was gradual and marked by uneven progress, but this was an historic turning point in the history of government on Earth, when it started moving away from absolute monarchs, toward something more representative of the people’s will.

Representative government such as ours is the best form of government available to evolutionary beings.^[1] Having government answerable to the people is the only way to govern because this allows citizens to elect their representatives at all levels of government. When voters are educated and involved in the process, this works quite well. However, there are potential dangers with this system; it may glorify mediocrity, ignorant rulers might be chosen, it may have a majority of uneducated and indolent citizens, and also become slavery to public opinion instead of well-informed reason.^[2] Our government has certainly been influenced by these democracy destroying effects.

Our form of government has evolved over the years resulting in the American democracy which has been in place for over 230 years. While it functioned well in the past, it is now fraying around the edges. We need to discover and implement something better.

Mother Earth has inherited a patchwork system of nation-states each claiming absolute sovereignty over territory, even extending out into the surrounding ocean and sky above. Borders of each nation are sometimes arbitrary, subject to change; except for island nations, there is no obvious way to separate one from another. Photos of our beautiful blue orb from space show no national boundaries, only a blue marble apparently isolated in space.

Each nation claims the right to do whatever it wants to its citizens and environment. Various nations are constantly competing on many levels; the United Nations is able to deal with many issues but unable to prevent wars or persuade powerful nations to refrain from harming its own citizens or environment. This is because it has no sovereign authority; it must instead deal with each nation claiming total sovereignty. Environmental issues, especially groundwater and atmosphere, expand to affect other nations who generally can do nothing against pollution coming in by water and air.

Sovereignty is defined as the supreme political authority.^[3] On Earth sovereignty resides in each nation, and its citizens. This patchwork system is unable to cope with problems arising from competing interests of the various nations.

As long as nations claim absolute sovereignty over their territory, it will be impossible to have peace on Earth. People of Earth must rise up and assert true sovereignty, that of all citizens of this planet, this beautiful blue sphere in space. As long as nations cling to the fiction of national sovereignty there will be no peace on planet Earth. People of our planet have to endure destructive wars which are the direct consequence of this false notion of national sovereignty. You cannot prevent nations going to war as long as they remain infected with the delusional virus of national sovereignty. (Urantia Book, 1489.1) While it may appear war is a disease on our planet, that is not the case; war is a symptom of the virus of national sovereignty.^[4]

With scientific progress, wars are going to become more and more devastating until they become almost racially suicidal. (Urantia Book, 1490.3) Having atom bombs, missiles, chemical, and biological weapons of mass destruction, we have arrived at the point where wars are truly suicidal. It is imperative we find a way to end “the delusional virus of national sovereignty” before the next widespread war. Future of life on our planet is at stake.

Our planet is one complete heavenly body; arbitrary lines drawn on paper have no validity other than historical precedent. When one segment of society, one nation, claims to formulate laws and regulations without considering global reality, that nation is irresponsible. Currently one nation can pollute the air or water going into another and be restrained only by unenforceable regulations. “Democracy is a sham unless it is world democracy.”^[5]

The only legitimate sovereignty is that of all people of Earth; anything else is fiction.^[6] We are one Earth, one beautiful blue marble in space, one people; every thinking mortal is equally indwelt by a fragment of God. Arbitrarily selecting one group of humans and declaring they can decide for themselves how to construct their government while at the same time ignoring the rest of humanity is an insult to reason.

There are only two levels of genuine sovereignty; first, the individual who has spiritual free will to make personal decisions. The second level is that of all humanity, there are no intervening levels.^[7]

It will require government of all mankind to solve problems of all mankind. Nothing short of this can possibly work.^[8] We have seen this on a smaller scale; in America individual states gave up their sovereignty to the United States government. Also, England, Scotland and Wales fought many wars until they gave their sovereignty to the United Kingdom.^[9]

The best political system cannot be enacted until we have intelligence, spiritual receptivity, discipline, and wisdom to properly implement it and persevere in its operation. Now is the time to seek God’s will in creating a better political system for our planet, assist global political evolution; we need Earth Federation.

Earth Federation is a systematic structure for a world government, complete with a ratified and amended constitution, and a procedure for implementation. Nations can only enter this Federation after a majority of its citizens have voted to request it; their entry will become final when the nation has disbanded its military, given Earth Federation half of the money thus saved, and destroyed all weapons of mass destruction.

Peace will not come to Urantia until every so-called sovereign nation surrenders its power to make war into the hands of a representative government of all mankind. Political sovereignty is innate with the peoples of the world. When all the peoples of Urantia create a world government, they have the right and the power to make such a government SOVEREIGN; and when such a representative or democratic world power controls the world’s land, air, and naval forces, peace on earth and good will among men can prevail — but not until then. (Urantia Book, 1489.3)

Government of All Mankind is the next logical step in political evolution. Only such a government with global sovereignty has any chance to bring warring nations together in peace and brotherhood. Sometime the supernational sovereignty of the planetary government of mankind will be similarly created by nations for their own benefit and for the benefit of all men. (Urantia Book, 1490.1) This will happen and we must work to realize Earth Federation; the only other option is to wait for another world war which would probably bring global annihilation of all life.

When government becomes unable to deal with current events people must become aware of the situation, examine various possibilities, then vote for responsible, able, and experienced public officials; the duty of citizenship means citizens must wisely exercise their sovereignty. It is also the duty, even the responsibility, of those given an advanced revelation such as The Urantia Book to live these teachings. This is especially true of the realization everyone equally has a spark of God within, we are all sisters and brothers; all of our interpersonal relationships need to be infused with this truth.

1. The Urantia Book, 517.5, this refers to the page.paragraph of the one column edition. All references are to The Urantia Book unless otherwise noted. 517.5 ↑

2. 801.13 – 801.18 ↑

3. Third College Edition Webster’s New World Dictionary of American English, Victoria Neufeldt and David B. Guralnik eds., Webster’s New World, Cleveland and New York, 1988, p 1283 ↑

4. 1491.1 ↑

5. “World Revolution Through World Law, Basic Documents of the Emerging Earth Federation;” Edited with an introduction and other writings by Glen T. Martin, Institute for Economic Democracy Publisher, Sun City, AZ, 2006, p 181 ↑

6. Martin, p 66 ↑

7. 1487.9 ↑

8. 1490.5 ↑

9. 1490.6 ↑

In this posting, we briefly discuss two quotations from The Urantia Book, both of which apply to these times. The first says our society is moving out of the sheltered bays of tradition into seas of destiny. The other looks at a troubling forecast by Jesus which may indicate workings of the Most Highs as they guide political evolution;^[1] that the Most Highs rule in the kingdoms of mortals is also mentioned in the Bible.

Urantia society can never hope to settle down as in past ages. The social ship has steamed out of the sheltered bays of established tradition and has begun its cruise upon the high seas of evolutionary destiny; and the soul of man, as never before in the world’s history, needs carefully to scrutinize its charts of morality and painstakingly to observe the compass of religious guidance. (Urantia Book, 1086.6)

These seas of destiny will not be smooth like the sheltered bays of tradition we have resided in these many years. While the bays were enjoyable, such tranquility rarely causes human mortals to struggle and improve themselves. The vast majority of humanity would rather sit underneath a palm tree with a jolly beverage than move out and transform society. The urge to instigate societal transformation necessarily requires some sort of motivation, a “slap in the face” to get things moving.

Human beings need a firm moral foundation for these uncertain times; we must follow our compass of religious guidance. Only when we base our lives on living truths taught by Jesus will we be able to sail safely upon these seas of destiny.

Whatever the source of this pandemic, it is our slap in the face, a wakeup call saying we must make our native planet safe for everyone; we are all in this together. There is no safe space where we can hide to avoid this virus, to escape this mandate to move out and make this world of ours safe for every living creature. Many governments all over the world are failing in their efforts to deal with this health and economic calamity. In addition, there is no sovereign Earth government to regulate dealings between nations.

On these seas of evolutionary destiny we will encounter methods to utilize in guiding society toward recognizing spiritual reality, and basing society upon it; if this does not happen society will collapse because any society not based upon spiritual reality cannot endure.^[2] Study any previous society in our history; all of them failed because they were not based on spiritual reality; God.

On the morning of his last free day on Earth, Jesus taught a group of believers, disciples, and the apostles near their camp in Gethsemane. This presentation, which lasted almost two hours, was about the relationship between the Kingdom of Heaven and kingdoms on Earth. He emphasized believers should follow laws of earthly kingdoms as well as adhere to spiritual directives such as the Golden Rule. The only exception was when earthly rulers should require homage given to them; years later, Peter was crucified in Rome because he refused to worship Caesar. This discourse by Jesus is summarized in The Urantia Book, Paper 178, “Last Day at the Camp,” section one, “Discourse on Sonship and Citizenship.”

One paragraph in this address^[3] is especially relevant to our current situation. Each sentence will be considered separately. When Jesus speaks about “you” he is speaking to each individual as well as the collective body of Kingdom believers.

Under the soon-coming persecutions by those who hate this gospel of joy and liberty, you will thrive and the kingdom will prosper.

After Jesus ascended, his followers were indeed persecuted by those resisting these new teachings; those having religious and political authority were afraid of losing positions of influence, power, and their very livelihood. They were more interested in material considerations of self-preservation than understanding and accepting these new spiritual teachings of joy and liberty. In spite of this resistance, the Kingdom of Heaven did indeed thrive, prosper, and grow.

But you will stand in grave danger in subsequent times when most men will speak well of kingdom believers and many in high places nominally accept the gospel of the heavenly kingdom.

As the centuries passed, modified teachings of Jesus spread even farther, eventually covering most of the Earth; many nations and their leaders appeared to accept these teachings. Nominal Christianity was, and still is, one of the most prominent religions on our planet. However, this apparent acceptance shielded an underlying insincerity; this reception of the teachings was superficial and incomplete. The transformed message of Jesus did not generally bring about a fundamental spiritual renewal in individual believers; they did not truly manifest fruits of the spirit in their lives. Because of this artificiality, grave danger was lurking unseen.

Learn to be faithful to the kingdom even in times of peace and prosperity.

Being faithful to the kingdom means not only incorporating these truths into our daily lives, but also sharing them with sisters and brothers, contributing to growth of the kingdom. Believers need to be focused at all times on spiritual reality, upon values of the kingdom; this is especially true when things appear to be easy, when everything seems to be going well. During these idyllic times we are vulnerable to unforeseen events suddenly overwhelming us, catching us unprepared, obliterating our complacency, and bringing calamity upon us.

Tempt not the angels of your supervision to lead you in troublous ways as a loving discipline designed to save your ease-drifting souls.

This is the kicker to the entire paragraph. When spiritual reality has been ignored for a considerable length of time, there comes a moment when the tipping point is reached, when the system can tolerate no more abuse, and misfortune follows. We do not need to know how or upon whose orders these “angels of our supervision” operate. If we ignore our spiritual potential and become complacent, the angels watching over us may lead us into “troublous ways” in an effort to guide us into more spiritually productive efforts. These angels may be our individual guardian angels, and for society they would be the angels of progress or the angels of the churches. Their directions would come from the Most Highs.

What does this mean for our current situation? Our society has become mired in secularism for so long our Heavenly Father seems to be of minor importance. God has been marginalized and forgotten, to our peril. Therefore, our guiding angels may be directed to lead us into difficult times in an effort to help us become somewhat aware of spiritual reality and our obligation to humanity.

The way to make the best use of these opportunities is to examine our faith, becoming certain it is sincere. Next we need to accept the new covenant, a sincere commitment to follow God’s guidance knowing we will be assisted. We must choose to do His will at all times; if we are honest we will know how to proceed. Finally we must recognize our own light of truth and go forth sharing these teachings of love, joy, and service.

These times try our souls and force us to seek new ways of living. These times can transform society so every living soul becomes treasured, loved, nurtured, and assisted so they can become productive members of global society with global government.

These seas of destiny will become extremely rough and last far longer than we can imagine, but they are necessary to bring about an equitable society for each individual citizen, a citizen of the cosmos.

1. All references are to The Urantia Book one column edition and refer to page.paragraph, 1488.2 ↑

2. 2075.12 ↑

3. 1931.1 ↑

Every day we learn of some new way in which it seems we live in dangerous, changing times. The troubled environment such as America is experiencing is not exclusive to our nation; as we will see there are currently many troubled places on our planet.

The Urantia Book states we are moving out of the sheltered bays of tradition and into rough waters before we will find a more secure harbor based on inclusion, brotherhood and love.^[1] Society is moving from one level, materialism, to another more spiritual level. These changes define our times: they test our values; also they present opportunities for spiritual growth and service. The nature of our eternal future will depend on how we respond to current challenges. We definitely need to be certain of our moral foundation before moving into the troublous times ahead.

The Urantia Book gives guidance for this transition period. One section discusses philosophic statements, called mota, which are aimed at increasing our spiritual awareness and guiding us toward a more balanced viewpoint.^[2] Selected entries will be discussed with the aim of gaining insight into how we should proceed in the times ahead.

These mota lessons are aimed at teaching the less advanced students on the transition worlds where we will be repersonalized after physical death. The goal is to help them attain a higher awareness of applied philosophy before they proceed to more advanced spiritual realms.

These statements guide us as we seek to deal with the troubling times ahead. They provide guidance as to how we should act, react and seek a better world for each one of our sisters and brothers.

Selected mota:

Few persons live up to the faith which they really have. Unreasoned fear is a master intellectual fraud practiced upon the evolving mortal soul.^[3] There is no reason we should fear because each one of us is indwelt by an actual spark of God.^[4] All we need do is cooperate with our God within, also called our Thought Adjuster, knowing we have an internal perfect guide who has a plan for our lives. There is no place for fear in the lives of faith motivated individuals.

To enjoy privilege without abuse, to have liberty without license, to possess power and steadfastly refuse to use it for self-aggrandizement — these are the marks of high civilization.^[5] By this measure our civilization does not qualify as being particularly “high,” we need only read the signs of our times to see troubled waters ahead.

Blind and unforeseen accidents do not occur in the cosmos. Neither do the celestial beings assist the lower being who refuses to act upon his light of truth.^[6] If we follow the internal guidance each of us receives, if we act upon our own light of truth we will be assisted by celestial beings and forces. We are certainly not alone.

The weak indulge in resolutions, but the strong act. Life is but a day’s work — do it well. The act is ours; the consequences God’s.^[7] This does not need further comment except to say that the consequences brought by God are strongly influenced by the nature of our actions.

The greatest affliction of the cosmos is never to have been afflicted. Mortals only learn wisdom by experiencing tribulation.^[8] Experience certainly seems to be the best teacher and lessons learned during trying times are long remembered. Those who have not been afflicted do not know the thrill of choosing God’s will over lesser choices in times of desperate needs. {Spiritual Free Will}

Impatience is a spirit poison; anger is like a stone hurled into a hornet’s nest.^[9] Impatience and anger each bring damage to our soul, they deflate our true self. If we have true faith we will not be tempted into these destroying emotions. True faith is certain guard against them. {True Religion}

Anxiety must be abandoned. The disappointments hardest to bear are those which never come.^[10] How often do we worry incessantly about something that never takes place? We might imagine some bad thing that may or may not happen, then waste valuable time worrying about it. Again, we have a perfect guide, God within, showing us the true way; all we need do is listen within and we will know the true path.

The evolving soul is not made divine by what it does, but by what it strives to do.^[11] Our goals define us more certainly than do our accomplishments. What we wish to become has more lasting (spiritual) value than who we have been or what we have done.

The destiny of eternity is determined moment by moment by the achievements of the day by day living. The acts of today are the destiny of tomorrow.^[12] Each insignificant action in our daily lives appears to be without meaning, but the truth of the matter is there is no such thing as an insignificant act. Each decision may signal a change in the soul’s attitude or it may be a reaffirmation of our dedication to do God’s will at all times.^[13]

The argumentative defense of any proposition is inversely proportional to the truth contained.^[14] This mota gives deep insight into much rancor in our lives and in our political environment. Stated otherwise, the more violently we shout and argue, the less truth we have. A sign we have no facts or truth to make our point is when it becomes necessary to shout and raise a fuss. If we had reasonable points we would calmly make them, if that is not the case we wave our arms and get red in the face. This is a vital point to remember.

Where we are going?

What are some indications that severe changes are imminent?

Our nation, the United States of America, is currently experiencing political turmoil; there is no point in dwelling further on this. Our neighbor to the north, Canada, recently had an election where no party gained a majority; the current ruling party will need to form some sort of a coalition to be able to pass legislation. Another nation that is politically unsettled is Great Britain, which has voted to secede from the European Union but there is no mechanism for them to do this. The recent election in Israel also gave no clear winner and negotiations to form a government are ongoing.

There are other nations where there are riots and anti-government protests.^[15] Among these are: Hong Kong, Lebanon, Iraq, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Egypt, France, Ethiopia, and Syria. Including some from earlier in the year adds the following:^[16] Guinea, Haiti, Nicaragua, Malawi, Russia, Sudan, Spain and Zimbabwe. These are generally protesting unfair government practices. More than ten percent of the nations on Earth have some sort of political turmoil, and these are only the ones that are in the news.

There are also movements protesting the effects of climate changes such as Extinction Rebellion, which started in London and FridaysForFuture, started by Greta Thunberg.

Each one of these movements has a valid, important point to make; each one declares more must be done to bring about a better life for all citizens.

We are witnessing the beginning of the collapse of state-ism; our patchwork of individual sovereign nations will not work in an increasingly interconnected world. The transition from our current state of affairs to recognition that every person on Earth must have individual and equal sovereignty will necessarily be contentious, but eventually the transformation will be recognized as being vital to the survival of life on Earth.^[17]

If we look at our democracy, or any statist democracy, as one of the so-called individual sovereign nations on planet Earth then, “yes” this should be the end of our democracy, and the end of every sovereign nation on our blue orb in space. The only valid sovereignty is the sovereignty of all mankind or that of each individual. There is nothing in between. The universe name for our planet is Urantia.

War on Urantia will never end so long as nations cling to the illusive notions of unlimited national sovereignty. There are only two levels of relative sovereignty on an inhabited world: the spiritual free will of the individual mortal and the collective sovereignty of mankind as a whole.^[18]

There is already a framework for global government called the Earth Federation. There is a masterful constitution for this world government. When the citizens of Earth recognize that statism has failed they will seek to join the Earth Federation and accept the constitution of Earth. Only this way can there be peace on Earth and good will among all humanity.

1. All references are to The Urantia Book unless stated otherwise. The number refers to the single column version in the format page.paragraph; 1086.6 ↑

2. see pages 556-7 for the full list of mota ↑

3. 556.4 ↑

4. Bible: I Corinthians 3:16 ↑

5. 556.8 ↑

6. 556.9 ↑

7. 556.13 ↑

8. 556.14 ↑

9. 557.4 ↑

10. 557.5 ↑

11. 557.8 ↑

12. 557.10 ↑

13. 1475.1 ↑

14. 557.14 ↑

15. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-protests-markets-graphic/global-protests-gaining-attention-in-financial-markets-idUSKBN1X326E, retrieved 10/24/2019. ↑

16. https://reliefweb.int/report/world/press-briefing-note-protests-and-unrest-around-world-25-october-2019 retrieved 10/26/2019 ↑

17. 1489.1 ↑

18. 1487.9 ↑

Coloring an entire movement with the characteristics of one leader sometimes may be unfair, but in our political environment one leader has taken advantage of our strongly polarized society with no opposition from his supporters, in this case such colorization is warranted. If his supporters disagreed with him there would be public comments. This silence is confirmation of their support, even admiration, of their leader. His values and ideals have become their values and ideals.

This leader admires only those world leaders who are brutal dictators such as Kim Jong-un in North Korea and Vladimir Putin in Russia while he says unkind words about democratically elected ones such as Angela Merkel in Germany. These are the values admired by his silent supporters.

This leader forcibly takes young children from their families and locks them in cages. He has unkind things to say about women, those with handicaps, the free press, and minorities. These are the values admired by his silent supporters.

And there is more.

Why is there silence from his supporters? In order to get elected and reelected politicians need financial support which will dry up if they go against this polarizing leader. These politicians are afraid to speak their minds because if they do, there will not be enough funds to run a political campaign. The money they need comes from wealthy donors who have a particular ideology the leader espouses.

These wealthy donors have a set of values they believe in strongly and they are willing to give a large amount of money to further their values. To them these values are so important anything is acceptable as long as it enhances their values. Therefore they give money to this leader and those supporting him, all of whom have become beholden to the wealthy donors.

What is wrong with this? What is wrong with following strongly held beliefs? The problem is that everything needs a solid foundation. Just as we cannot build a house upon sand, we cannot build our life on a moral quicksand; there must be a firm moral foundation. When any goal becomes so important that morality is lost, the goal becomes unattainable. After this point there will be no way to evaluate decisions, no way to judge which is the proper course. Going astray is inevitable.

As an aside, for those working to counteract climate change the motivation is the health of Mother Earth. Everyone, even super-billionaires, depends on their environment for sustenance; therefore working to protect our environment for the good of humanity might be an acceptable foundation. However, this is not adequate because violent radicals would be unrestrained; a more enduring foundation would be to recognize that everyone has within them an actual spark of God;^[1] He is literally within each thinking human being. With this truth as a moral foundation, protectors of Planet Earth will be well guided. With this as a moral foundation there will be a way to judge each proposed action: what effects will the action have, will it harm human beings who are indwelt by God?

How did this leader come into power? Because of the extremely unequal distribution of wealth in our society (and around the world), a significant segment has been disadvantaged and frustrated. These frustrations led them to vote for anybody promising to help them. Of those running for this office, one largely ignored these disadvantaged voters while the other made empty promises but cut taxes for the rich once elected.

Our polarized society needs to recognize the value of every human being; since everyone equally has within them a spark of God, everyone has value. God is no respecter of persons, He respects everyone equally. This truth needs to be incorporated into our greed-filled economic system, our overburdened welfare system, our immigration policies, our interpersonal relationships, and even into how we think about our sisters and brothers.

1. Bible: I Corinthians 3,16 ↑