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: History
Is The Book of Mormon Racist?
The claim that the Book of Mormon is racist is a common refrain among our critics, some of their most potent ammunition to destroy the interest of investigators and sow doubts in the faithful. But they’re wrong.
The Book of Mormon isn’t racist. And in this article I prove it by taking a detailed look at the symbolic and literal interpretations of the Lamanite curse and “skin of blackness” to demonstrate that it not only isn’t racist, it has nothing to do with race at all. The Book of Mormon, when understood in its proper context as an ancient document reflecting the language and ideas of people whose culture and understanding of the world was fundamentally different than ours, is very clearly not racist. When someone sees it as racist they are only demonstrating their ignorance of the document itself and projecting our own modern problems onto it.
The Lies At The Heart of School Shooting Reports
It seems like every month we hear about a new school shooting somewhere in the United States. Terror inducing, these reports are often followed by calls for greater government gun control from politicians, news agencies, and people across social media. Every year it just seems to get worse. But, can we actually trust these reports?
No, I’m not talking conspiracy theories like the so-called “Sandy Hook Hoax.” I’m talking about actual studies, with verifiable sources, originating with trusted agencies such as NPR, USA Today, and the ACLU. I’m talking about the independent reports they have release that have shown that out of hundred of reported school shootings less than a dozen could be verified while the vast majority of them were outright proven false.
I’m talking about cutting through the lies and distortions of news agencies to get to the manipulation and deceit at the heart of the way school shooting are reported and how that information is presented to us.
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.
Save Jesus Only: The Greatness of the Prophet Joseph Smith
With December being the Christmas season I feel like we often get so caught up in celebrating the birth of Christ that we overlook the birth of the second greatest man in history – the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., born December 23, 1805. This year I wanted to take a day and celebrate his birth as well. Second only to the Savior, the Prophet Joseph is worthy of all the admiration, respect, and honor the Saints give him. This article was written to highlight some of the many ways that the Prophet Joseph was a paragon of Christianity, worthy of learning about, learning from, and following the example of in our lives.
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.
A Short History of the Horrific Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
There is nothing controversial or unclear about what is happening in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The only thing that makes it seem confusing is the amount of pure lies and propaganda which are constantly spewed from the political and media talking heads who do everything they can to distort obvious facts into falsehoods which serve those in power. Here I provide a short review of the history of Israel and Palestine in order to dispel the dark mists of deceit which surround this issue and establish what has and is happening in the so-called Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
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.
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.