In addition to be a novelist who managed to give form to the American identity in his tales, James Fenimore Cooper also had a keen insight into America’s social and political culture. His writings on politics, culture, society, and government also magnificently captured the early American ideals of liberty, humanity, and freedom, preserving the wisdom and insight into these concepts that so many of us so desperately need today, but have lost. Drawing from his work, “The American Democrat,” I explore Cooper’s insights into subjects such as social equality, liberty, the basis of good government, the limits of political power, and more. If more people understood these truths then the world would be a freer, safer, more prosperous place for all.
Category: Cult of the State
Music For The Revolution, Volume 1: The Mixtape of Liberty
In church we are taught that the songs of the righteous are a prayer to God that He delights in hearing. (D&C 25:11–12) Elder Dallin H. Oaks has taught that because of the power of music to direct our thoughts is so strong we should memorize hymns as a way to move our minds away from sinful and temptuous thoughts and as a way to better learn and understand the doctrines of the Restored Gospel.
The same is true when it comes to promoting the ideas and values of liberty. f we want to buttress the message and values of liberty within ourselves, our homes, our families, our children, and our friendships, we have to be more conscious about which kind of music we are listening to and willfully choose to immerse ourselves in the songs of freedom which promote liberty and avoid music that encourages ideas of subservience to people, organizations, substances, and ideas that weaken and destroy our humanity and liberty (for you cannot do the one without the other.)
In an effort to do this I thought I would share some of the music that I regularly play, music which embraces and promotes the ideals of liberty, freedom, and the worth of the individual. That way you too can fill your home with the doctrines, values, and spirit of liberty.
The Catastrophic Dangers of the Attitude of Servitude
Have you ever wondered why so many submit to the obviously stupid, destructive, oppressive, and insane demands the government makes upon them? Why are people so willing to allow the ruling classes to do everything from rob them to steal their children away to be slaughtered in wars? Why do people believe what they’re told to believe and think what they’re told to think by politicos, corporate talking heads, and others who so clearly have every incentive to lie to everyone for their own gain? Why do people allow themselves to be abused constantly? And why do they lash out so violently at anyone who dares even question the ruling elites and their systems of power, nevermind those who actually challenge it?
This article is about why all these things happen and what can be done to change it.
Latter-day Saints Will Never Find Justice In The Legal System
The history of the Church of Christ is full of men and women imprisoned for putting the Kingdom of God before the kingdom of men. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego, Peter James, John, Paul, Abinadi, the brothers Nephi and Lehi, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum the Patriarch, even the Savior Jesus Christ – all of them were imprisoned because they loved God more than men and were loyal to His commandments no matter what the laws of men said. All of there examples, and many more, prove the truth that no follower of Christ can ever expect to find justice in the courts of men. This address from Apostle Lorenzo Snow, on the eve of his imprisonment by the U.S. government for obeying God’s commandments is one of these stories about how a true Christian acts when the demands of men contradict the commandments of Christ.
Brigham Young: Anti-Government Activist and First Wave Feminist
Reading through some of President Young’s sermons I have been astounded at the clarity with which he understood and addressed the threat of the State. He understood the threat of its so-called charity and he especially understood the role of public schools as indoctrination centers whose purpose was to implant loyalty and obedience into the minds of children form a tender age. He also clearly understood the threat this indoctrination posed to the Church and the Restored Gospel. Those who would support public schools he labelled as miserable apostates. Openly.
Interwoven with this are his comments about the role of women in Latter-day Saint society. He consistently calls upon them to be self-independent, to be educated, and to take their place in the workforce of Utah. The only jobs that he saw as not being for women were strenuous physical jobs, otherwise he declared a woman could perform any work any man could. Which was remarkably radical for his day.
Brigham Young Explains The Evils of Socialism and Public Schools
In this LDS CLassic, President Young explains that the United Order is based on private property and does not seek to create material or social equality. Instead it promoted economic inequality by rewarding greater profits to those who could earn them. He also explains one of the foundational problems of Socialism and describes how it would only lead to greater poverty than that which it was designed to prevent. He also describes what it will be like when the Saints return to Jackson County to found the City of Zion.
He also addresses the dangers of “free schools” – what we would think of today as tax funded public schools ran by the government. I won’t spoil it here, but he comes out at the end sounding like his name should be Brigham “Taxation is Theft” Young or Brigham “the Government is a Gang of Thieves” Young. He explains how charity is the exact opposite of state taxation and that it works in opposition to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it brings people together. Though he doesn’t dwell on it here, this also further explains how Socialism in education is also dangerous, counterproductive, and in violation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as well as how the Saints should eschew public schools and educate their own children.
All The Evidence You Need That War Is Evil
After 21 years of the War on Terror, we have to ask what actually has been accomplished? As the Taliban, the governing powers that the United States supposedly ousted in 2001 after it invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, retake the entire nation within a matter of weeks, you have to ask what has been sacrificed on such an obviously failed policy and was it worth it?
This article is dedicated to answering that question and more. Here I chart out the cost in money, material, and men – in human lives – what the cost of the War on Terror has been, why it has been an utter failure, how it has caused lasting harm to American society while devastating millions abroad, how it has actually resulted in more terrorism, and what we can actually do to decrease the threat of terrorism in the world. The War on Terror has been an absolute horror, an international abattoir, and an utter failure. Here is the proof.
Joseph F. Smith On The Satanic and Evil Nature of War
and will twist the scriptures in order to use their events to justify war no matter how many men, women, and children it murders – in shot, to justify reigning with blood and horror upon the Earth. Such Satanic ideas have long been the daily bread of the Natural Man. But when one studies the actual teachings of the scriptures (as opposed to simply assuming that because a “good” person did something then it must be right) and listens to the teachings of the Prophets of God we find that their teachings are the exact opposite. Repeatedly they teach that war is evil, that we do not need violence because God will protect us, and command us to renounce war in all its forms and justifications in order to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This LDS Classic from President Joseph F. Smith preaches these exact truths.
Modern Nations Are Founded On Human Sacrifice
When we look at the people of the past we often react in horror at their actions and question how any people of any age could be so barbaric or cruel. In comparison we imagine ourselves to be so much more refined, progressive, and civilized. We imagine we are simply better than them. The truth is that for all our pretensions, technological improvements, and delusions of grandeur, modern humans are barely any different than our ancestors. We are just as violent, barbaric, and brutal. We are just as cruel. We are just as bloodthirsty. And in no way is this more obvious than the mass, universal prevalence and acceptance of human sacrifice.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: “Live Not By Lies”
How do we resist the government? After all, it is many and we (or I) am few. How can anyone possibly alter the course of the state? How can anyone challenge the power of the government and force it to back down?
What can one person do?
This article answers that question. Here is the one thing you can do to effectively and meaningfully challenge the authority of the state and effect change in the world around you.