W.J. Astore
I subscribe to a news feed called “Breaking Defense” (the name may be more ironic than the site creators intended). I saw this advertisement today, which sums up much of what is common in America, where jargon substitutes for thought:
Kratos’ next generation unmanned aerial target drones and their capabilities continue to evolve to represent ever changing, evolving threats from near-peer adversaries to best prepare the American warfighter while keeping costs down for the American taxpayer.
I know nothing about the company (Kratos), but it does appear to have a good command of Pentagon jargon. Those “near-peer adversaries” (meaning China and Russia, mainly). Those “ever changing, evolving threats.” And of course the almost obligatory appeal to the “warfighter.”
From this ad (and others like it), it’s simply assumed that America will always be at war. There’s also an assumption that Americans fall into two basic categories: warfighters and taxpayers. Warfighters are the doers, the hard men and women on the front lines, deserving of everlasting support and praise, and the taxpayers are there to fund it all and cheer along. Naturally, there’s no mention of “peacemakers.”
If we truly want to keep costs down for the American taxpayer, maybe we shouldn’t buy any of these target drones?
In the same email send-out, here’s a sample of the articles at “Breaking Defense”:
For Space Force, it’s acquisition, acquisition, acquisition: 2022 PreviewIn 2022, the Pentagon will need to see real movement on acquisition reform to reduce long understood vulnerabilities that have been essentially ignored for many years.
The Pentagon’s new strategy might already be behind the times: 2022 Preview
A Russian invasion of Ukraine could derail the Defense Department’s planning.
For the Army, looming budgets and multi-domain everything: 2022 Preview
Here’s the key Army storylines we’ll be tracking at Breaking Defense next year.
Seems like the “Space Force” will be spending lots of money in 2022 due to “vulnerabilities.” Meanwhile, a Russian invasion of Ukraine might “derail” the DoD’s “new strategy.” And the Army is looking at “multi-domains,” which I assume is a smart way for the Army to expand its budgetary reach in the new year.
Nice to know the Pentagon has a new strategy, but how could a Russian incursion into Ukraine derail it? If the U.S. invaded Mexico, would that derail Russia’s defense planning? Or China’s?
Here’s another ad from a different “Breaking Defense” send-out.
Systel’s fully rugged computing solutions are purpose-built for the most demanding environments and workloads. High performance, SWaP-optimized, single LRU solutions supporting edge AI and force-protection missions. MOSA/CMOA, SAVE, and GCIA-compliant. Fully rugged, configurable, and modular. Centralized sensor ingest and data fusion support.
Ah, the good old days of military acronyms! Again, I know nothing about Systel, but the company has a solid command of opaque acronyms. Even the ad has redundancy in the sense that it mentions “fully rugged” twice! Note the mission of “force-protection,” as in keeping U.S. “warfighters” safe while in harm’s way.
Maybe we should keep our troops safe by not putting them in harm’s way, unless the defense of America truly requires it?
There’s nothing special about these ads or stories, which is why I cite them here. Just another day in the American empire of warfighters buying weapons systems to force-protect and confront near-peer threats out to exploit our vulnerabilities across multiple domains. Or, put simply, multi-domain everything!
Happy New Year, everyone.
Bracing Views 
“We are one species. We are Star-stuff.”— Carl Sagan Lets just hasten our demise. I swear the human race has a Deathwish! As it is one day all our atoms will be blown into space in the disintegration of our inner Solar System when our Star goes into its final expansion into the Red Giant stage of its stellar evolution from mass to pure energy we will all become, and of this it will surely one day be…! Happy New Year.
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I’m almost cheering for an acceleration of our Red Giant stage. Merciful — and quick!
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My husband and I were talking about the Space Force yesterday, wondering exactly what it consists of, what its mission is, where/how it would deploy, and so on. Is the DoD really spending money on this nebulous entity?
As for “warfighters,” it goes back to a comment you made some time ago, Bill, about nomenclature: “warriors” versus “citizen soldiers.” Not only is the attempt being made to normalize war for the sake of perpetuating it, there’s also the effort to glamorize military service for the purpose of sucking in more innocent young people. Call me bitter and cynical, but every time I see a solicitation commercial for the Wounded Warrior Project, I think what a damn shame it is that they have to keep up the fiction that all these desperately, permanently injured people somehow made a sacrifice for a noble cause, when they were actually hurt in the name of U.S. hubris and profit.
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Language again. “Wounded warrior” instead of “casualty of war.” It’s in the service of the old lie that Wilfred Owen wrote about: Dulce et decorum est/Pro patria mori.
https://poets.org/poem/dulce-et-decorum-est
But I think we shall always have “children ardent for some desperate glory,” especially when these children are immersed in a nationalist and militarist culture.
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Your last phrase being the money quote. Children raised in a truly advanced society wouldn’t long to die on the altar of their country. They’d find glory in bettering the world.
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Ads are Propaganda, and we’re ALL Propagandists according to the Full Definition of propaganda:
1 capitalized : a congregation of the Roman curia having jurisdiction over missionary territories and related institutions
(makes sense since Western governments are modelled after the Vatican government structure)
2 : the spreading of ideas, information, or rumour for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person
3 : ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause also : a public action having such an effect
Naturally, since 1976, I paid closer attention to the unfolding events in the US Domestically and Internationally, because of the Historical Newspaper record in The Kansas City Times on September 13, 1976, with a followup on ALL SOULS DAY, November 2, 1976, and Coast to Coast in CanaDa spread over many years after that Chronicling my Personal voyage of Faith. That is a unique record for a virtual unknown.
Over all those years, I’ve had many scattered thoughts about so many things.
I am particularly pleased to have read these 3 articles just Today, bringing all those scattered thoughts in a ordered cohesive Focus.
This is my recommended reading list as we enter the New Year of The Lord 2022.
May it be filled with Peace and Joy for all of you I’ve enjoyed reading so much this past year.
‘Since its inception, the Israeli intelligence agency has been a terrorist organization’
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/12/30/the-angry-arab-how-mossad-helps-arab-despots/
‘Britain helped create the refugees it now wants to keep out – Those making perilous journeys for asylum in Europe have been displaced by wars and droughts, for which the West is largely to blame’
https://www.jonathan-cook.net/2021-12-30/britain-refugees-keep-out/
‘America’s ‘Suez moment’: Another strategic mistake would be its last’
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/56949.htm
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One can always count on the U.S. military to butcher language so egregiously that lampooning their belligerent babble becomes irresistible to even moderately literate persons. Hence, my last verse comment of 2021:
Hoisting the Hero
Breaking “defense” that is already tanking.
“Braking” offense when we’ve no wish to stop.
Borrowing trillions to boost bad-boy banking.
Ponzi-scheme bubble about to go “POP!”
“Warrior” wastrels in Washington whimper,
throwing more money at contractor friends.
Supplicants shrink as they snivel and simper,
begging to “battle” for Seizure Class ends.
Surely the Russians and Chinese feel frightened.
How could they not, as we lunatics laugh
loudly while ropes ’round our own neck we’ve tightened.
“Hoist by himself,” our deserved epitaph.
Michael Murry, “The Misfortune Teller,” Copyright © 2021
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Following the launch and ongoing deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope, I caught several NASA videos live-streaming the event. As appropriate, NASA Director Bill Nelson (a former U.S. Senator, Congressman, and Shuttle payload specialist) did a short presentation congratulating all concerned on their technical competence and dedication to scientific exploration. Well and good.
The launch from French Guiana on the coast of South America finally took place after years of schedule delays and billions in cost overruns, resulting in a launch date that just happened to fall on December 25. This utterly irrelevant coincidence compelled Mr Nelson to start thumping on his Bible, babbling about a shepherd, poet, and king whom he did not name or accurately place in any historical era. It hurt my fingers to type this drivel, but I lay it out here as background for my further comments:
“It’s significant that we had the delays and it kept us all the way to today, Christmas day. When others long ago peered up into the sky and saw stars. But it’s also another millennia before that that a shepherd, grazing his sheep, would look up at the night sky. He became a poet. And he penned the words: “The heavens declare the glory God; and the firmament shows his handiwork.” That shepherd, that poet, became king. And those immortal words in Psalm 19 encapsulate the expressions that we have today. The handiwork of God as we peer back in time, over 13 billion years ago, to capture the light from the very beginning of the creation.” – NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
I thought that a quotation from the Old (Hebrew) Testament seemed rather strange coming from a person who started off talking nonsense about the Winter Solstice holiday (shortest day of the year) misappropriated from pagan astronomers by Christians who mistook “sun” for “Son” (you know, “Jesus”) whom Jews do not recognize as The Messiah. But I did remember enough from junior-high-level Sunday School to recognize the “shepherd/poet/king” as David who once saw a naked married lady bathing; had her brought to his palace where he had sex with and impregnated her; then had her husband — one of his generals, Uriah the Hittite — sent into battle in an exposed position “So that he may be struck down and die.” Some “shepherd,” some “poet,” some “king” to extol on the occasion of a scientific venture just beginning to unfold in our own — ostensibly more enlightened — age.
Moving right along, the Hebrew name that I inferred from Mr Nelson’s comments — “David” — triggered an association with another Hebrew name, “Isaac,” which carries with it yet another story of parental marital infidelity involving Abram (later Abraham), his wife Sarai (later Sarah) and Hagar, an abused and exploited Egyptian slave woman, Isaac’s mother. No need to go into the tawdry details here, but suffice it to say that the Biblical name “Isaac” and the notion of scientific experimentation caused me to reflect upon a more recent someone who did look a bit deeper into the appearances of nature to discover more fundamental truths about its operations. As a real nineteenth-century American scientist/philosopher/logician put the case, distinguishing between unbridled imagination (fantasy) and bridled imagination (science):
“When a man desires ardently to know the truth, his first effort will be to imagine what that truth can be. He cannot prosecute his pursuit long without finding that imagination unbridled is sure to carry him off the track. Yet nevertheless, it remains true that there is, after all, nothing but imagination that can supply him an inkling of the truth. He can stare stupidly at phenomena; but in the absence of imagination they will not connect themselves in any rational way. Just as for Peter Bell a cowslip was nothing but a cowslip, so for thousands of men a falling apple was nothing but a falling apple; and to compare it to the moon would by them be deemed ‘fanciful.’” — Charles Sanders Peirce, The Scientific Attitude and Fallibilism (1896)
Hence, my penultimate (next-to-last) verse commentary of 2021:
Of Isaacs and Newtons
(another rather basic sonnet format: abbacddceffegg)
In “His” own image “God” made human kind,
some say, when clearly men made “God” in theirs
and then proclaimed themselves “His” lawful heirs
in stories over centuries refined
by priests and prophets joined into a caste
who claimed The Unseen Power spoke through them;
that they, alone, “His” righteous wrath could stem
if men ate apples, Lucifer’s repast.
Or, “knowledge,” bane of ignorant belief,
begins with doubt and leads one to inquire
and theorize: how best can one aspire
to live a useful life, however brief,
and leave as legacy a Truth profound
about an apple falling to the ground.
Michael Murry, “The Misfortune Teller,” Copyright © 2021
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If a lie is repeated often enough, it will be accepted as the Truth.
It has been called “the Apple Tree” so often, People no longer question it.
It was the Tree of the ‘Knowledge of Good and Evil’ from which all of Humankind had a taste, more or less.
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Thanks for the response, Ray. I truly appreciate it. It confirms — as I had more or less assumed — that persons indoctrinated in Single Spook Animism (Jewish/Christian/Muslim variety in this case) would understand the metaphorical use of “apple” (only two syllables) as representing the Biblical story of Adam and Eve getting booted out of Paradise (or The Garden of Eden) for daring to try and figure out the workings of nature for themselves. The fundamental principle at the root of this religious metaphor holds that Ignorance = “Good” whereas Knowledge = “Evil”. Or, as the British Pragmatist philosopher F. C. S. Schiller put it: “the word ‘sacred’ generally means a fear that the things so denominated cannot bear investigation.” Hence the timeless use of religion as a means of enforcing unquestioning obedience to authority in the service of social control.
As well, for a scientifically literate audience of 19th century Americans, Charles Sanders Peirce could speak economically of someone watching an actual apple falling from a tree and wonder why the Moon overhead did not fall to earth in the same way. For this audience (many of whom knew their Bibles inside and out) the two-syllable word “apple” brought to mind Sir Isaac Newton, who did so much pioneering — if not immortal — work in physics and mathematics. As a preface to my poem, I had hoped that my quoting Peirce in this regard would stimulate a similar recognition, if not appreciation.
So, to belabor the literary point about poetic metaphor, the sonnet format allows only 14 lines and so I had to squeeze all the metaphorical mileage I could out of that single two-syllable word: “apple,” in that it could stand for both religious ignorance in one sense, and scientific knowledge in another. You picked up on the first usage, although you chose not to assess the real — and deleterious — religious consequences of invisible spooks punishing people “eternally” for just thinking. For some reason, you did not seem to appreciate the additional use of “apple” as a metaphorical reference to scientific investigation in the service of all humankind.
As a final note, while working as the Coordinator of Computer Services for a small, start-up Buddhist college in Rosemead, California, I got to take masters’ degree classes in Religious Studies as part of my employment. Since I did not have to pay tuition, I went along with the program although I had little real interest in the subject. As an unexpected bonus, I got to know Dr Ananda W. P. Guruge, former Minister of Education in Sri Lanka and that country’s ambassador to France and the United States who also taught classes in Buddhism and Sanskrit at the school. In one of our memorable conversations, I asked him, in regard to the ancient scriptures (in several religions) that we had to survey: “How can anyone seriously expect me to read this stuff?” His genial, elegant reply: “You’re not supposed to read it. You’re supposed to worship it.” Big difference.
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Michael, I read the words in the Book of Books literally, in the Spirit of the letter, as allegory and metaphors. It’s Faith in the Spirit of God, and thinking, that helps discern which is which?
I really enjoy your talent expressed in your poems and writing, but there are also a lot of misconceptions of Bible History, and this line is one of them,
“religious consequences of invisible spooks punishing people “eternally” for just thinking.”
The writings of the Prophets, and Jesus’ Testimony, are evidence of “thinking.”
I think a lot on what I read in the Bible and elsewhere.
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD:
Isaiah 1
To reason, you have to think.
Today, we have smart phones and dumb people in both senses of the word.
I don’t think this is elegant or True, “You’re not supposed to read it. You’re supposed to worship it.”
The Scriptures, many consider The Law, is meant to be a guide or Tutor to bring us to this realization, putting the Book in it’s proper perspective.
“Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And you will not come to me, that you might have life.”
In my Faith, Eternal Life is the gift of God I’m experiencing while I’m in the Body before I give it up. The 10 Commandments are good advice to follow.
Will this World be better off and more harmonious, if People didn’t lie, steal and kill for MATERIAL THINGS that are so transitory? People stop doing that and WARS will stop
The Human condition is, we all come into this World toothless, dependant, vulnerable, having to wear diapers. Most of us leave this MATERIAL realm the same Way.
Most People don’t think there is anything after Death. That’s Freedom of Thought we all have.
With that belief, in effect, People are already the WALKING DEAD. It is Eternal Damnation ceasing to exist FOREVER.
As for the FIRES of Hell, I think that will be NUCLEAR WAR where moments will seem like an Eternity if the People consent to it coming by their SILENCE seeing the Signs of the Times.
I can’t judge anyone’s Soul as so many people are prone to do. That is the prerogative of the Eternal Spirit. I’m still working with the Christ Spirit perfecting my own.
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The idea God created man in His image — and then granted to him exclusive dominion over all other life on earth — is surely the height of human arrogance.
And my wife is none too keen on the idea of Eve’s creation as an afterthought — basically a playmate for Adam. From his rib — really?
Those Old Testament scribes have more than a few things to answer for …
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Bill, Modern Medical Science tells us the Male has both X & Y chromosomes while the Woman has only the X.
By THINKING, that could be evidence the Woman was made up from a part of Adam as the Genesis says.
One can know the Bible by heart and not know the heart of God. The Resurrected Christ sees while the Material Economy has grown by leaps and bounds all around us, Spiritually, the People are still here as recorded in the Book of Books,
You hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
This people draws close to me with their mouth, and honours me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
As a Believer, I can see there is a disconnect between heaven and earth in the Church.
The Official position IS the Church is the BRIDE of Christ. The Church is made of of Males and Females.
They have no problem with Male Brides in heaven, but refuse to acknowledge them on earth.
Your sentence, “The idea God created man in His image — and then granted to him exclusive dominion over all other life on earth — is surely the height of human arrogance.” is not clear to me, mindful of these insights in the unfolding Revelation. I see evidence of human arrogance all too often, especially in the minority of the Powerful.
And the nations were angry, and your WRATH is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should give reward to your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear your name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth.
Revelation 11:18
With Man’s dominion over the Earth and all the blood shed and WARS over the MATERIAL RESOURCES in the Earth with Human Arrogance, Science is telling us this World may be facing an Existential THREAT with Climate Change.
Maybe this line, “and should destroy them which destroy the earth” is indicative NATURE ITSELF is fulfilling those words in the Revelation literally, that can be seen unfolding in Today’s World.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them.
(The kingdom of heaven is within you-Luke 17:21)
Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great WRATH, because he knows that he has but a short time.
Revelation 12:12
Everyone can see the Nations are angry and getting angrier, especially in the US, but who can discern WHICH WRATH IS WHICH?
Living the Love of the indwelling Christ, in DEED and WORD, saves us from the WRATH of God and the WRATH of the devil.
I see what’s happening in Colorado as an example of that Living Bible.
The WRATH that recently drove a man to just kill people indiscriminately is indicative of Revelation 12:12 in action, and the destructive wildfires are indicative of Revelation 11:18 in action.
If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, (drought & wildfires) or if I command the locusts to devour the land, (happened & happening) or if I send pestilence among my people; (COVID)
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:13-14
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Ray: I wouldn’t mix modern science with Genesis. They are truly two different things.
The story of Eve being created from Adam’s rib is a sign of a biased and patriarchal tale. And, as you know, there appears to be two creation stories in Genesis, one where Eve is clearly subservient, literally a part of Adam, and the other being a story of male/female co-equal creation, hence the myth of Lilith.
When you think about it, the continued existence of humanity depends far more on women than men. Even Jesus needed a human mother. Joseph had no role except meek acceptance.
Even the inherent strength of women in child birth, their ability to endure more pain than the average man, is turned into a “curse” in the Bible.
As my wife likes to say, the Bible was written by men for men; there’s a large helping of truth there, especially in how it’s been used and interpreted.
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Bill, that’s the difference between the Old Testament and the new way of Jesus’ thinking in the New Testament.
The followers don’t always live by Christ’s teachings.
When the woman caught in the act of Adultery was brought to him, the Old Testament said she should be stoned to Death, along with the man caught in the act with her.
He was not brought to Jesus with her. Jesus rejected the Death penalty for her even though it is written down as “the Law” in the Old Testament.
The record of Jesus talking with the Woman at the well in John 4, shows a Jesus being much more liberal going against the Cultural norms of that Time period.
When Jesus was Resurrected from the dead, he revealed himself to Women before appearing to his Male Disciples I give more Spiritual significance to than the Church.
Even with that record, it took until 1920 before Women were even allowed to Vote.
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As an afterthought, you wrote, “there appears to be two creation stories in Genesis,”
Genesis is the 1st Book in the Book of books.
Did you mean in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the last Book in the Book of Books, as it’s written?
These things say the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the BEGINNING of the creation of God;
I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot: I would you were cold or hot.
So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue you out of my mouth.
Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness do not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
[…]To him that overcomes will I grant to SIT WITH ME in my throne, even as I ALSO OVERCAME, and AM set down with my Father in his throne.
He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelation 3:14022
You can’t ask for a more level field than that!
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Yes. I find the conviction that humans have the right to rule (i.e., abuse, exploit, murder) all the rest of creation to be perhaps the most offensive of the Christian teachings.
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The following passage from our esteemed author caught my attention and started a train of historical, metaphorical, and literary associations hooking up with each other as I followed the progress of the James Webb Space Telescope towards its (hopefully) ultimate unfolding a million miles from our home planet:
There’s also an assumption that Americans fall into two basic categories: war-fighters and taxpayers. War-fighters are the doers, the hard men and women on the front lines, deserving of everlasting support and praise [emphasis added], and the taxpayers are there to fund it all and cheer along. Naturally, there’s no mention of “peacemakers.”
As noted in my other comments above, I took special notice, if not umbrage, at NASA Director Bill Nelson’s bible-thumping reference — without using the actual name — to the Hebrew shepherd/poet/king “David” whose adulterous, murderous betrayal of his general, Uriah, I have already mentioned. I have also noted my objection to Dr Robert Zubrin’s identification of gothic cathedrals and the JWST. I suppose this latter objection occurred to me because the contemporary term “War-fighters” evoked a mental association with Christian crusaders known as the Knights Templar, and in particular their rabid cheerleader, (Saint) Bernard de Clairvaux, who issued — from one of these imposing cathedrals — a truly bloodthirsty call to “Christian” arms (probably still echoing today at the US Air Force Academy) :
A WORD OF EXHORTATION FOR THE KNIGHTS OF THE TEMPLE
IT SEEMS THAT A NEW KNIGHTHOOD has recently appeared on the earth, and precisely in that part of it which the Orient from on high visited in the flesh. As he then troubled the princes of darkness in the strength of his mighty hand, so there he now wipes out their followers, the children of disbelief, scattering them by the hands of his mighty ones. Even now he brings about the redemption of his people raising up again a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.
. . .
Go forth confidently then, you knights, and repel the foes of the cross of Christ with a stalwart heart. Know that neither death nor life can separate you from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ, and in every peril repeat, “Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” What a glory to return in victory from such a battle! How blessed to die there as a martyr! Rejoice, brave athlete, if you live and conquer in the Lord; but glory and exult even more if you die and join your Lord. Life indeed is a fruitful thing and victory is glorious, but a holy death is more important than either. If they are blessed who die in the Lord, how much more are they who die for the Lord!
. . .
Wow. For the entire religious rant see: In Praise of the New Knighthood (Liber ad milites Templi: De laude novae militae)
The “War-fighters” do not seem to have changed much — nor have their Jewish/Christian sponsors — in centuries. Or so the congratulatory speeches, accumulating metaphors, and literary references lead me to conclude . . .
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As for Christian Soldiers, this view in the Revelation is interesting for me to think about.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war.
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
(The sword coming out of the mouth is a metaphor for the Power of The Word)
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
That you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Imagine that! Once you get to heaven, the Soldiers of Christ have to come back to Earth and wage WAR against the kings of the Earth, the Billionaires, Presidents, Prime Ministers, CEOs and other IDOLS of the People. Why not engage in that on Earth before you give up the flesh?
In 1981, I hitch hiked the 7000 mile round trip Voyage of Faith from Ottawa to Whitehorse in the Yukon, to draw attention to that rider on the White Horse.
The Whitehorse Star, and CanaDa’s National Magazine, MacLeans. reported from Whitehorse, along with The Calgary Herald, The Edmonton Journal and The Vancouver Sun, sent Coast to Coast via The Canadian Press.
This was the appropriate and relevant cover of the MacLeans mention in the People Section,
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I am not a self-proclaimed prophet. I just told the Press how the Secret Service called me out of the compressed crowd in the Lobby of the Crown Centre Hotel for questioning during the 1976 Republican National Convention in Kansas City as The President was expected to be standing at his podium on the Secret Service restricted Mezzanine any minute.
To my unexpected surprise, the Secret Service Agent led me to stand at The President’s podium, and questioned me in view of everybody below.
It was even a greater surprise when the SS Agent eventually asked me if I was Jesus Christ? Having no illusions about that then or now, in a nanosecond said NO! The next question was, “Who are you then? A Prophet?”
I tell the Media and everyone exactly what happened as I do above, and the Media called me a Prophet, not I.
When the Apostle John received the Revelation of Jesus from an Angel, the record is John fell down at the feet of the Angel to worship him. The Angel said, ‘Don’t do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
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Many apologies for straying beyond the original article detailing the U.S. military’s longstanding practice of bankrupting the United States through endless acquisitions of useless, destructive (but highly lucrative for some) toys. I got off on a tangent, first of all, because I wanted to contrast government expenditures on the exploration of space with useless military expenditures that only kill and maim people while retarding the advancement of scientific knowledge. Then I wanted to highlight and contrast the recent launch of the James Webb Space Telescope as an example of taxpayer funds and scientific/engineering talent well allocated so as to achieve genuine progress in understanding our universe. But then came the celebratory commentary that unfortunately included “religious” babbling about “Christmas,” ancient Hebrew despots (“David”), and architecturally impressive cathedrals out of which emerged vicious, bloody crusades against the native inhabitants of the Middle East, in many cases continuing to the present day, with the taxpayer-funded U.S. military actively and energetically involved. “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.”
I really do appreciate the commentary above regarding the present state of human evolution — at all times continuing (with periodic reactionary backsliding in the social/political environment, of course) — from a scientific perspective rather than from a “religious” (meaning “sectarian,” “dogmatic”) one. By “scientific perspective,” I mean the following, as enunciated by the British Pragmatist philosopher, F. C. S. Schiller:
“The application of Scientific Method is universal. Despite the attempts by certain scientists to represent it as something exclusive and mysterious, there is nothing too lowly, repulsive, obscure, contentious, or deceptive to come within its scope. Neither is there anything too ‘sacred,’ which generally means a fear that the things so denominated cannot bear investigation. Scientific Method is the only genuine method of knowing, and will tackle anything knowable. It despises no problem and prejudges no question. It is willing to begin operations on any material it can get, however insecure, dubious, or dull, and to pry into lingering pseudo-sciences like astrology, heraldry, and Formal Logic as zealously as into the most flourishing and progressive sciences. For it has confidence enough in itself to shrink from nothing, and to be capable of learning from anything.” — Logic for Use: an Introduction to the Voluntarist Theory of Knowledge (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1930), p. 386
The scientific perspective can equally motivate a person to study the far-infrared spectrum for cosmic data revealing the origins of the universe, on the one hand, as well as to study the historical variety of religious practices that one can find from the most “primitive” to the more “advanced” human societies, on the other. By studying actual religious practices comparatively — rather than dogmatically from within a single, confining sect — one can derive a more useful, generally applicable understanding of this ancient social institution. Sir James George Frazer took this scientific approach and produced an exhaustive study entitled The Golden Bough: a Study of Magic and Religion (New York: Collier Books, 1922). None of my master’s degree courses in Religious Studies required me to obtain and read this remarkable investigation, but fortunately I happened to discover it for myself in the school library. I wouldn’t trade it for all the other books — and their contents — required by the curriculum.
One can study anything and everything scientifically, and genuine progress only occurs when people do. Happy Scientific New Year to Everyone. An Age of Discovery awaits us and our descendants, if we only pursue the method of inquiry with ever-greater diligence and fortitude.
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Michael, I read TV and Microwave ovens are by-products of the Military application of Scientific Method. So is the Internet.
Eisenhower wrote about government investment in research in his 1961 Military-Industrial Complex WARNING,
Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.
In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly.
A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.
Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields.
In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research.
Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must, also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.
It is the task of statesmanship to mould, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system — ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.
Such Wise Council in Eisenhower’s 1953 CROSS OF IRON speech on assuming the Presidency, and in his 1961 MIC speech leaving his 8 year Presidency, totally ignored by the Leaders and Citizens of our Times.
Both speeches should be part of the US Educational System Nationally.
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All the high tech state-of-the-art weaponry for events that can’t come to pass.
How about putting the minds behind all this stuff into something we desperately need for the epic consumption that takes place every day: come up with packaging that degrades after the product inside is taken out.
That would truly be a big move for defense, against what we ourselves are doing.
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