There is a common error that the ideals of liberty, individualism, limited or no government, and universal inalienable human rights are an invention of Western culture and history. This is not true. In fact, the very opposite is true. The oldest texts to recognize these truths date back almost 2,500 years ago and come from China. This article explores the ancient Chinese history of liberty through the writings of one of history’s greatest and most important philosophers – Lao Tzu, the Old Master.
Tag: Liberty
What It Means To Be Like Jesus
We talk about being Christ-like all the time. Our hymns repeat the refrain and our children sing about how they are “trying to be like Jesus.” But what does that mean? What was Jesus like as a person? And how could we hope to emulate Him? The question may seem impossible to answer and we may feel despondent under the weight of it. We can know Jesus Christ and we can fulfill His commandment to become like Him. This lost LDS Classic explores what character is, what Christ’s character is, and how we can manifest His character in our thoughts, words, and deeds today. This is how we can possibly, happily, joyfully be like Christ!
Insights Into The Dangers of Government from Aldous Huxley
This article is about the insights given to us about democracy, totalitarianism, decentralization, self-government, war, and power in the writings of Aldous Huxley. HIs insights into the true nature of the government, the threats in levels at the basic human rights and dignity of the individual, the origin of those threats, and what to do in order to end those dangers and reassert our essential humanity and liberties are herein. If you thought you understood Huxley after reading, “Brave New World,” that was just the tip of the iceberg compared to what else he wrote. Dive deeper with this article.
Great Profiles in Courage: Mary Dyer Executed for Religious Liberty
Mary Dyer is one of the greatest examples of true Christianity in American history. A member of the Society of Friends, a Quaker, she stood up against one of the most authoritarian and autocratic societies to ever exist in North America, the Puritan ran Massachusetts Bay Colony. While plenty of people talk about liberty and religious freedom, Mary did more than talk – she lived and died asserting her basic human rights in the face of a brutalist and oppressive society that would deny her basic rights because of her faith. She is a shining example of what it means to love liberty more than life and what it means to truly live pure Christianity. Her example is a righteous example to us all.
How Can You Be A Good Christian? Part 2
We all know that Christ and His Apostles taught us to love our enemies, to pray for those who use and abuse us, and to serve those who persecute us. These are the basic fundamentals of a Christian life. But often the how and why have eluded us. This article looks at the Sermon on the Mount as the Manual for How to Be a Christian and explores exactly what Christ meant, why it matters how we live, and how we are supposed to live as His disciples. This is how you be a good Christian.
The Place of Politics in the Church
This Lost LDS Classic looks at the role of partisan politics (loyalty to political parties) and nationalism play in the role of Latter-day Saint culture and religious practice. The political divisions in the church are both bothersome and poisonous. The Body of Christ, the Kingdom of God, should not be divided by the political ideologies of the world. The more we allow ourselves to be defined by our politics – as “liberal” Mormons, “conservative” Mormons, etc. – the more we weaken ourselves, disrupt our Christian unity, and weaken our ability to establish Zion and do the work that God has given us. Nationalism and political partisanship have no place in the Kingdom of God and the sooner we drive them from our hearts and minds the more we become Saints of the Most High God and true Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
Not Amnesty But Prison For The COVID Tyrants
The last few years have been utterly devastating for the entire world. In response to the appearance of Covid-19, the governments of the world asserted insane, unconstitutional, illegal, and immoral powers to seize control of every aspect of society, imprison entire populations of provinces, states, and nations in their homes as if they were criminals under house arrest, to irrationally determine who could work, who couldn’t, and who had to starve, prevent people from going to church, seeing their loved ones, or being with their families, and cause such mass hysteria and fear that society turned on itself in fits of outrage, hate, and self-destruction. The end results of all this were utterly predictable and were reported on endlessly by many people, including those of us here. Now the monsters, fools, and tyrants that wreaked all this havoc simply want you to forgive and forget what they have done. We cannot let that happen!
Correcting The Liahona on the U.S. Constitution
The Liahona, the official magazine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published an article on the United States Constitution in its September 2022 issue. And boy is it terrible, for numerous reasons. For example, despite having degrees in the subject the author doesn’t even have a basic understanding of human rights or the history of the Constitution and actively tries to justify government tyranny.
This article is a step by step dismantling of the Liahona article and its problems, not only in order to provide Latter-day Saints with a necessary correction for something published in a church magazine, but because such a work will serve as a solid foundation for discarding much of the same kind of dreck (from both academic and amateur sources) that the reader will encounter endlessly elsewhere whenever discussing the Constitution.
Cancel Culture Is Nothing New. Neither Is Its Solution.
I was watching “Seinfeld,” recently and made a shocking discovery. Not only did the show directly take on the topic of abortion (and deliver a more pro-life message than is commonly known and maybe even than was intended), but it also took on what we call cancel culture today and showed us how to handle it. When the PC mobs are foaming at the mouth at anyone who dares utter something not already on the 3×5 card of allowable opinion while also destroying the lives of many people who never stray from the Approved Beliefs, it can be hard to know what to do in order to survive as an intelligent and independent human being. But “Seinfeld” showed us how to do it decades ago – call the cancel culture cultists out as the morons they really are and expose their beliefs for their fundamental idiocy.
What To The Latter-day Saint is the Fourth of July?
I find nothing to celebrate on the Fourth of July. It, like all nationalist holidays, is nothing more than the largest, loudest, and obnoxious propaganda program that has ever existed. Through all the parades, fireworks, and barbeques, people rarely ask what exactly are they so effulgently praising and whether or not the should be doing it. As a result, they reaffirm their loyalty to and love for one of the most violent, bloody, and dangerous regimes in the world, one responsible for murdering over 6 million civilians in the last 20 years. The great William Lloyd Garrison called such devotion, “the latest and the most terrible form of idolatry,” and he was correct. As this article explains, it is in direct opposition to the commandments of God and the direction of His prophets.