INTRODUCTION
Every September, I recall that is now more than 65 years since I landed
Every September, I recall that is now more than 65 years since I landed
at Nagasaki with the 2nd Marine Division in the original occupation of
Japan following World War II. This time every year, I have watched
and listened to the light-hearted "peaceniks" and their light-headed
symbolism-without-substance of ringing bells, flying pigeons, floating
candles, and sonorous chanting and I recall again that "Peace is not a
cause - it is an effect."
In July, 1945, my fellow 8th RCT Marines [I was an ARman] and I returned to
Saipan following the successful conclusion of the Battle of Okinawa. We were
issued new equipment and replacements joined each outfit in preparation for
our coming amphibious assault on the home islands of Japan.
B-29 bombing had leveled the major cities of Japan, including Kobe, Osaka,
Nagoya, Yokohama, Yokosuka, and Tokyo.
We were informed we would land three Marine divisions and six Army
divisions, perhaps abreast, with large reserves following us in. It was
estimated that it would cost half a million casualties to subdue the
Japanese homeland.
In August, the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima but the Japanese government
refused to surrender. Three days later a second A-bomb was dropped on the
city of Nagasaki. The Imperial Japanese government finally surrendered.
Following the 1941 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese admiral said, "I
fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant..." Indeed, they had.
Not surprisingly, the atomic bomb was produced by a free people functioning
in a free environment. Not surprisingly because the creative process is a
natural human choice-making process and inventiveness occurs most readily
where choice-making opportunities abound. America!
Tamper with a giant, indeed! Tyrants, beware: Free men are nature's pit
bulls of Liberty! The Japanese learned the hard way what tyrants of any
generation should know: Never start a war with a free people - you never
know what they may invent!
As a newly assigned member of a U.S. Marine intelligence section, I
had a unique opportunity to visit many major cities of Japan, including
Tokyo and Hiroshima, within weeks of their destruction. For a full year I
observed the beaches, weapons, and troops we would have assaulted had
the A-bombs not been dropped. Yes, it would have been very destructive
for all, but especially for the people of Japan.
One of the most constructive programs we initiated was to over-see first free election
Japan following World War II. This time every year, I have watched
and listened to the light-hearted "peaceniks" and their light-headed
symbolism-without-substance of ringing bells, flying pigeons, floating
candles, and sonorous chanting and I recall again that "Peace is not a
cause - it is an effect."
In July, 1945, my fellow 8th RCT Marines [I was an ARman] and I returned to
Saipan following the successful conclusion of the Battle of Okinawa. We were
issued new equipment and replacements joined each outfit in preparation for
our coming amphibious assault on the home islands of Japan.
B-29 bombing had leveled the major cities of Japan, including Kobe, Osaka,
Nagoya, Yokohama, Yokosuka, and Tokyo.
We were informed we would land three Marine divisions and six Army
divisions, perhaps abreast, with large reserves following us in. It was
estimated that it would cost half a million casualties to subdue the
Japanese homeland.
In August, the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima but the Japanese government
refused to surrender. Three days later a second A-bomb was dropped on the
city of Nagasaki. The Imperial Japanese government finally surrendered.
Following the 1941 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese admiral said, "I
fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant..." Indeed, they had.
Not surprisingly, the atomic bomb was produced by a free people functioning
in a free environment. Not surprisingly because the creative process is a
natural human choice-making process and inventiveness occurs most readily
where choice-making opportunities abound. America!
Tamper with a giant, indeed! Tyrants, beware: Free men are nature's pit
bulls of Liberty! The Japanese learned the hard way what tyrants of any
generation should know: Never start a war with a free people - you never
know what they may invent!
As a newly assigned member of a U.S. Marine intelligence section, I
had a unique opportunity to visit many major cities of Japan, including
Tokyo and Hiroshima, within weeks of their destruction. For a full year I
observed the beaches, weapons, and troops we would have assaulted had
the A-bombs not been dropped. Yes, it would have been very destructive
for all, but especially for the people of Japan.
One of the most constructive programs we initiated was to over-see first free election
in Japanese history - which included the women's Right to vote equal to the men!
That single event alone did more to turn Japan right-side-up than anything else
we did in the occupation! It had a marvelous and on-going healthy effect on their
daily lives. Individual value had arrived - to stay! Thank you, General MacArthur!
When we landed in Japan, for what came to be the finest and most humane
occupation of a defeated enemy in recorded history, it was with great
appreciation, thanksgiving, and praise for the atomic bomb team, including
the aircrew of the Enola Gay. A half million American homes had been spared
the Gold Star flag, including, I'm sure, my own.
Whenever I hear the apologists expressing guilt and shame for A-bombing and
ending the war Japan had started (they ignore the cause-effect relation
between Pearl Harbor and Nagasaki), I have noted that neither the effete
critics nor the puff-adder politicians are among us in the assault
landing-craft or the stinking rice paddies of their suggested alternative,
"conventional" warfare. Stammering reluctance is obvious and continuous, but
they do love to pontificate about the Rights that others, and the Bomb, have
bought and preserved for them.
The vanities of ignorance and camouflaged cowardice abound as license for
the assertion of virtuous "rights" purchased by the blood of others - those
others who have borne the burden and physical expense of Rights whining
apologists so casually and self-righteously claim.
At best, these fakers manifest a profound and cryptic ignorance of causal
relations, myopic perception, and dull I.Q. At worst, there is a word and
description in The Constitution defining those who love the enemy more than
they love their own countrymen and their own posterity. Every Yankee Doodle
Dandy knows what that word is.
In 1945, America was the only nation in the world with the Bomb and it
behaved responsibly and respectfully. It remained so until two among us
betrayed it to the Kremlin. Still, this American weapon system has been the
prime deterrent to earth's latest model world- tyranny: Seventy years of
Soviet collectivist definition, coercion, and domination of individual human
beings.
The message is this: Trust Freedom. Remember, tyrants never learn. The
restriction of Freedom is the limitation of human choice, and choice is the
fulcrum-point of the creative process in human affairs. As earth's
choicemaker, it is our human identity on nature's beautiful blue planet and
the natural premise of man's free institutions, environments, and respectful
relations with one another. Made in the image of our Creator, free men
choose, create, and progress - or die.
Free men should not fear the moon-god-crowd oppressor nor choose any of his
ways. Recall with a confident Job and a victorious David, "Know ye not you
are in league with the stones of the field?"
Semper Fidelis
Jim Baxter
Sgt. USMC
WW II and Korean War
point-man/follower of The Lion of Judah
occupation of a defeated enemy in recorded history, it was with great
appreciation, thanksgiving, and praise for the atomic bomb team, including
the aircrew of the Enola Gay. A half million American homes had been spared
the Gold Star flag, including, I'm sure, my own.
Whenever I hear the apologists expressing guilt and shame for A-bombing and
ending the war Japan had started (they ignore the cause-effect relation
between Pearl Harbor and Nagasaki), I have noted that neither the effete
critics nor the puff-adder politicians are among us in the assault
landing-craft or the stinking rice paddies of their suggested alternative,
"conventional" warfare. Stammering reluctance is obvious and continuous, but
they do love to pontificate about the Rights that others, and the Bomb, have
bought and preserved for them.
The vanities of ignorance and camouflaged cowardice abound as license for
the assertion of virtuous "rights" purchased by the blood of others - those
others who have borne the burden and physical expense of Rights whining
apologists so casually and self-righteously claim.
At best, these fakers manifest a profound and cryptic ignorance of causal
relations, myopic perception, and dull I.Q. At worst, there is a word and
description in The Constitution defining those who love the enemy more than
they love their own countrymen and their own posterity. Every Yankee Doodle
Dandy knows what that word is.
In 1945, America was the only nation in the world with the Bomb and it
behaved responsibly and respectfully. It remained so until two among us
betrayed it to the Kremlin. Still, this American weapon system has been the
prime deterrent to earth's latest model world- tyranny: Seventy years of
Soviet collectivist definition, coercion, and domination of individual human
beings.
The message is this: Trust Freedom. Remember, tyrants never learn. The
restriction of Freedom is the limitation of human choice, and choice is the
fulcrum-point of the creative process in human affairs. As earth's
choicemaker, it is our human identity on nature's beautiful blue planet and
the natural premise of man's free institutions, environments, and respectful
relations with one another. Made in the image of our Creator, free men
choose, create, and progress - or die.
Free men should not fear the moon-god-crowd oppressor nor choose any of his
ways. Recall with a confident Job and a victorious David, "Know ye not you
are in league with the stones of the field?"
Semper Fidelis
Jim Baxter
Sgt. USMC
WW II and Korean War
point-man/follower of The Lion of Judah
5th Grade Teacher - 30 wonderful years!
vincit veritas
vincit veritas
The Human Paradigm: Earth's Choicemaker Psalm 25:12
Consider: The missing element in every human 'solution' is an accurate
definition of the creature.
In an effort to diminish the multiple and persistent dangers and abuses
which have characterized the affairs of man in his every Age, and to assist
in the requisite search for human identity, it is essential to perceive and
specify that distinction which naturally and most uniquely defines the human
being.
Because definitions rule in the minds, behaviors, and institutions of men,
we can be confident that delineating and communicating that quality will
assist the process of resolution and the courageous ascension to which
In an effort to diminish the multiple and persistent dangers and abuses
which have characterized the affairs of man in his every Age, and to assist
in the requisite search for human identity, it is essential to perceive and
specify that distinction which naturally and most uniquely defines the human
being.
Because definitions rule in the minds, behaviors, and institutions of men,
we can be confident that delineating and communicating that quality will
assist the process of resolution and the courageous ascension to which
man is called. As Americans of the 21st Century, we are obliged and
privileged to join our forebears and participate in this continuing
paradigm proclamation.
"WHAT IS MAN...?" God asks - and answers:
HUMAN DEFINED: EARTH'S CHOICEMAKER
by James Fletcher Baxter (c) 2011 AD
The way we define 'human' determines our view of self, others,
relationships, institutions, life, and future. Many problems in human
experience are the result of false and inaccurate definitions of humankind
premised in man-made religions and humanistic philosophies.
Human knowledge is a fraction of the whole universe. The balance is a vast
void of human ignorance. Human reason cannot fully function in such a void;
thus, the intellect can rise no higher than the criteria by which it perceives and
"WHAT IS MAN...?" God asks - and answers:
HUMAN DEFINED: EARTH'S CHOICEMAKER
by James Fletcher Baxter (c) 2011 AD
The way we define 'human' determines our view of self, others,
relationships, institutions, life, and future. Many problems in human
experience are the result of false and inaccurate definitions of humankind
premised in man-made religions and humanistic philosophies.
Human knowledge is a fraction of the whole universe. The balance is a vast
void of human ignorance. Human reason cannot fully function in such a void;
thus, the intellect can rise no higher than the criteria by which it perceives and
measures values.
Humanism makes man his own standard of measure. However, as with all
measuring systems, a standard must be greater than the value measured. Based
on preponderant ignorance and an egocentric carnal nature, humanism demotes
reason to the simpleton task of excuse-making in behalf of the rule of
appetites, desires, feelings, emotions, - and glands.
Because man, hobbled in an ego-centric predicament, cannot invent criteria
greater than himself, the humanist lacks a predictive capability. Thus, his
man-made criteria rises no higher than eyebrows - and too often, no higher
than pubic hair! Without instinct or transcendent criteria, humanism cannot
evaluate options with foresight and vision for progression and survival.
Lacking foresight, man is blind to potential consequence and is unwittingly
committed to mediocrity, collectivism, averages, and regression - and worse.
Humanism is an unworthy worship.
The void of human ignorance can easily be filled with a functional faith
while not-so-patiently awaiting the foot-dragging growth of human knowledge
and behavior. Faith, initiated by the Creator and revealed and validated in
His Word, the Bible, brings a transcendent standard to man the choice-maker.
Other philosophies and religions are man-made, humanism, and thereby lack
what only the Bible has:
1.Transcendent Criteria and
2.Fulfilled Prophetic Validation.
The vision of faith in God and His Word is survival equipment for today and
the future. Only the Creator, who made us in His own image, is qualified to
define us accurately.
Human is earth's Choicemaker. Psalm 25:12 He is by nature and nature's
God a creature of Choice - and of Criteria. Psalm 119:30,173 His unique and
definitive characteristic is, and of Right ought to be, the natural
foundation of his environments, institutions, and respectful relations to
his fellow-man. Thus, he is oriented to a Freedom whose roots are in the
Order of the universe. selah
At the sub-atomic level of the physical universe quantum physics indicates a
multifarious gap or division in the causal chain; particles to which
position cannot be assigned at all times, systems that pass from one energy
state to another without manifestation in intermediate states, entities
without mass, fields whose substance is as insubstantial as "a probability."
Only statistical conglomerates pay tribute to deterministic forces.
Singularities do not and are therefore random, unpredictable, mutant, and in
this sense, uncaused. The finest contribution inanimate reality is capable
of making toward choice, without its own selective agencies, is this
continuing manifestation of opportunity as the pre-condition to choice it
defers to the natural action of living forms.
Biological science affirms that each level of life, single-cell to man
himself, possesses attributes of sensitivity, discrimination, and
selectivity, and in the exclusive and unique nature of each diversified life
form.
The survival and progression of life forms has all too often been dependent
upon the ever-present undeterminative potential and appearance of one unique
individual organism within the whole spectrum of a given life-form. Only the
uniquely equipped individual organism is, like The Golden Wedge of Ophir,
capable of traversing the causal gap to survival and progression. Mere
reproductive determinacy would have rendered life forms incapable of such
potential.
Only a moving universe of opportunity plus choice enables the present
reality.
Each individual human being possesses a unique, highly developed, and
sensitive perception of variety. Thus aware, man is endowed with a natural
capability for enacting internal mental and external physical selectivity.
Quantitative and qualitative choice-making thus lends itself as the superior
basis of an active intelligence.
Human is earth's Choicemaker. His title describes his definitive and
typifying characteristic. Recall that his other features are but vehicles of
experience intent on the development of perceptive awareness and the
following acts of decision and choice. Note that the products of man cannot
define him for they are the fruit of the discerning choicemaking process and
include the cognition of self, the utility of experience, the development of
value measuring systems and language, and the acculturation of
civilization.
The arts and the sciences of man, as with his habits, customs, and
traditions, are the creative harvest of his perceptive and selective powers.
Creativity, the creative process, is a choice-making process. His articles,
constructs, and commodities, however marvelous to behold, deserve neither
awe nor idolatry, for man, not his contrivance, is earth's own highest
expression of the creative process.
Human is earth's Choicemaker. The sublime and significant act of choosing
is, itself, the Archimedean fulcrum upon which man levers and redirects the
forces of cause and effect to an elected level of quality and diversity.
Further, it orients him toward a natural environmental opportunity, freedom,
and bestows earth's paradigm title, The Choicemaker, on his singular and
definitive characteristic is, and of Right ought to be, the natural
foundation of his environments, institutions, and respectful relations to
his fellow-man. Thus, he is oriented to a Freedom whose roots are in the
Order of the universe. selah
At the sub-atomic level of the physical universe quantum physics indicates a
multifarious gap or division in the causal chain; particles to which
position cannot be assigned at all times, systems that pass from one energy
state to another without manifestation in intermediate states, entities
without mass, fields whose substance is as insubstantial as "a probability."
Only statistical conglomerates pay tribute to deterministic forces.
Singularities do not and are therefore random, unpredictable, mutant, and in
this sense, uncaused. The finest contribution inanimate reality is capable
of making toward choice, without its own selective agencies, is this
continuing manifestation of opportunity as the pre-condition to choice it
defers to the natural action of living forms.
Biological science affirms that each level of life, single-cell to man
himself, possesses attributes of sensitivity, discrimination, and
selectivity, and in the exclusive and unique nature of each diversified life
form.
The survival and progression of life forms has all too often been dependent
upon the ever-present undeterminative potential and appearance of one unique
individual organism within the whole spectrum of a given life-form. Only the
uniquely equipped individual organism is, like The Golden Wedge of Ophir,
capable of traversing the causal gap to survival and progression. Mere
reproductive determinacy would have rendered life forms incapable of such
potential.
Only a moving universe of opportunity plus choice enables the present
reality.
Each individual human being possesses a unique, highly developed, and
sensitive perception of variety. Thus aware, man is endowed with a natural
capability for enacting internal mental and external physical selectivity.
Quantitative and qualitative choice-making thus lends itself as the superior
basis of an active intelligence.
Human is earth's Choicemaker. His title describes his definitive and
typifying characteristic. Recall that his other features are but vehicles of
experience intent on the development of perceptive awareness and the
following acts of decision and choice. Note that the products of man cannot
define him for they are the fruit of the discerning choicemaking process and
include the cognition of self, the utility of experience, the development of
value measuring systems and language, and the acculturation of
civilization.
The arts and the sciences of man, as with his habits, customs, and
traditions, are the creative harvest of his perceptive and selective powers.
Creativity, the creative process, is a choice-making process. His articles,
constructs, and commodities, however marvelous to behold, deserve neither
awe nor idolatry, for man, not his contrivance, is earth's own highest
expression of the creative process.
Human is earth's Choicemaker. The sublime and significant act of choosing
is, itself, the Archimedean fulcrum upon which man levers and redirects the
forces of cause and effect to an elected level of quality and diversity.
Further, it orients him toward a natural environmental opportunity, freedom,
and bestows earth's paradigm title, The Choicemaker, on his singular and
plural brow.
In the Bible, God's Word has accurately defined the human being as
'the earth creature endowed with the ability to choose.' His natural Rights,
therefore, are merely an extension and application of natural human
endowments, which all humans - everywhere in the world - possess.
Even as goldfish, canaries, and puppy dogs require an environment
based on their natural features, so humans require external freedom
to fulfill their natural internal abilities of decision, choice, selection,
election, and consent. Uniquely, America was founded on this definitive
paradigm in human nature. All nations should reject foundational human
opinion that teaches otherwise.
Deterministic systems, ideological symbols of abdication by man from his
natural role as earth's Choicemaker, inevitably degenerate into
collectivism; the negation of singularity, they become a conglomerate
plural-based system of measuring human value. Blunting an awareness of
diversity, blurring alternatives, and limiting the selective creative
process, they are self-relegated to a passive and circular regression.
Tampering with man's selective nature endangers his survival for it would
render him impotent and obsolete by denying the tools of variety,
individuality, perception, criteria, selectivity, and progress. Coercive
attempts produce revulsion, for such acts are contrary to an indeterminate
nature and nature's indeterminate off-spring, man the Choicemaker.
Until the oppressors discover that wisdom only just begins with a respectful
acknowledgment of The Creator, The Creation, and The Choicemaker, they will
be ever learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth. The rejection of
Creator-initiated standards relegates the mind of man to its own primitive,
empirical, and delimited devices. It is thus that the human intellect cannot
ascend and function at any level higher than the criteria by which it
perceives and measures values.
Additionally, such rejection of transcendent criteria self-denies man the
vision and foresight essential to decision-making for survival and
progression. He is left, instead, with the redundant wreckage of expensive
hind sight, including human institutions characterized by averages,
mediocrity, and regression.Humanism, mired in the circular and mundane egocentric predicament, is
ill-equipped to produce transcendent criteria. Evidenced by those who do not
perceive superiority and thus find themselves beset by the shifting winds of
the carnal-ego; i.e., moods, feelings, desires, appetites, etc., the mind
becomes subordinate: a mere device for excuse-making and rationalizing
self-justification.
The carnal-ego rejects criteria and self-discipline for such instruments are
tools of the mind and the attitude. The appetites of the flesh have no need
of standards for at the point of contention standards are perceived as
alien, restrictive, and inhibiting. Yet, the very survival of our physical
nature itself depends upon a maintained sovereignty of the mind and of the
spirit.
It remained, therefore, to the initiative of a personal and living Creator
to traverse the human horizon and fill the vast void of human ignorance
with an intelligent and definitive faith. Man is thus afforded the prime
tool of the intellect - a Transcendent Standard by which he may measure
values in experience, anticipate results, and make enlightened and visionary
choices.
Only the unique and superior God-man Person can deservedly displace the
ego-person from his predicament and free the individual to measure values
and choose in a more excellent way. That sublime Person was indicated in the
words of the prophet Amos, "...said the Lord, Behold,
I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel." Y'shua Mashiyach
Jesus said, "If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto myself."
As long as some choose to abdicate their personal reality and submit to the
delusions of humanism, determinism, and collectivism, just so long will they
be subject and re-acting only, to be tossed by every impulse emanating from
others. Those who abdicate such reality may, in perfect justice, find
themselves weighed in the balances of their own choosing.
That human institution which is structured on the principle, "...all men are
endowed by their Creator with...Liberty...," is a system with its roots in
the natural Order of the universe. The opponents of such a system are
necessarily engaged in a losing contest with nature and nature's God.
Biblical principles are still today the foundation under Western
Civilization and the American way of life. To the advent of a new season we
commend the present generation and the "multitudes in the valley of
decision."
Let us proclaim it. Behold!
The Season of Generation-Choicemaker
CONTEMPORARY COMMENTS
"I should think that if there is one thing that man has learned about
himself it is that he is a creature of choice." Richard M. Weaver
"Man is a being capable of subduing his emotions and impulses; he can
rationalize his behavior. He arranges his wishes into a scale, he chooses;
in short, he acts. What distinguishes man from beasts is precisely that he
adjusts his behavior deliberately." Ludwig von Mises
"To make any sense of the idea of morality, it must be presumed that the
human being is responsible for his actions and responsibility cannot be
understood apart from the presumption of freedom of choice." John
Chamberlain
"The advocate of liberty believes that it is complementary of the orderly
laws of cause and effect, of probability and of chance, of which man is not
completely informed. It is complementary of them because it rests in part
upon the faith that each individual is endowed by his Creator with the power
of individual choice." Wendell J. Brown
"These examples demonstrate a basic truth -- that human dignity is embodied
in the free choice of individuals." Condoleeza Rice
"Our Founding Fathers believed that we live in an ordered universe. They
believed themselves to be a part of the universal order of things. Stated
another way, they believed in God. They believed that every man must find
his own place in a world where a place has been made for him. They sought
independence for their nation but, more importantly, they sought freedom for
individuals to think and act for themselves. They established a republic
dedicated to one purpose above all others - the preservation of individual
liberty..." Ralph W. Husted
"We have the gift of an inner liberty so far-reaching that we can choose
either to accept or reject the God who gave it to us, and it would seem to
follow that the Author of a liberty so radical wills that we should be
equally free in our relationships with other men. Spiritual liberty
logically demands conditions of outer and social freedom for its
completion." Edmund A. Opitz
"Above all I see an ability to choose the better from the worse that has
made possible life's progress." Charles Lindbergh
"Freedom is the Right to Choose, the Right to create for oneself the
alternatives of Choice. Without the possibility of Choice, and the exercise
of Choice, a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing." Thomas
Jefferson
THE QUESTION AND THE ANSWER
Q: "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You
visit him?" Psalm 8:4
A: "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set
before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that
both you and your descendants may live." Deuteronomy 30:19
Q: "Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man,
that you are mindful of him?" Psalm 144:3
A: "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves
this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served
that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in
whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Joshua 24:15
Q: "What is man, that he could be pure? And he who is born of a woman, that
he could be righteous?" Job 15:14
A: "Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way he
chooses." Psalm 25:12
Q: "What is man, that You should magnify him, that You should set Your heart
on him?" Job 7:17
A: "Do not envy the oppressor and choose none of his ways." Proverbs 3:31
Q: "What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take
care of him?" Hebrews 2:6
A: "I have chosen the way of truth; your judgments I have laid before me."
Psalm 119:30 "Let Your hand become my help, for I have chosen Your
precepts."Psalm 119:173
References:
Genesis 3:3,6 Deuteronomy 11:26-28; 30:19 Job 5:23 Isaiah 7:14-15; 13:12;
61:1 Amos 7:8 Joel 3:14 Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Psalms 25:12 119:1-176
DEDICATION
Sir Isaac Newton
The greatest scientist in human history, a Bible-Believing Christian, an
authority on the Bible's Book of Daniel, committed to individual value and
individual libertyhttp://www.choicemaker.net
jfbaxter@choicemaker.net
"No one is smarter than their criteria." selah jfb
natural role as earth's Choicemaker, inevitably degenerate into
collectivism; the negation of singularity, they become a conglomerate
plural-based system of measuring human value. Blunting an awareness of
diversity, blurring alternatives, and limiting the selective creative
process, they are self-relegated to a passive and circular regression.
Tampering with man's selective nature endangers his survival for it would
render him impotent and obsolete by denying the tools of variety,
individuality, perception, criteria, selectivity, and progress. Coercive
attempts produce revulsion, for such acts are contrary to an indeterminate
nature and nature's indeterminate off-spring, man the Choicemaker.
Until the oppressors discover that wisdom only just begins with a respectful
acknowledgment of The Creator, The Creation, and The Choicemaker, they will
be ever learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth. The rejection of
Creator-initiated standards relegates the mind of man to its own primitive,
empirical, and delimited devices. It is thus that the human intellect cannot
ascend and function at any level higher than the criteria by which it
perceives and measures values.
Additionally, such rejection of transcendent criteria self-denies man the
vision and foresight essential to decision-making for survival and
progression. He is left, instead, with the redundant wreckage of expensive
hind sight, including human institutions characterized by averages,
mediocrity, and regression.Humanism, mired in the circular and mundane egocentric predicament, is
ill-equipped to produce transcendent criteria. Evidenced by those who do not
perceive superiority and thus find themselves beset by the shifting winds of
the carnal-ego; i.e., moods, feelings, desires, appetites, etc., the mind
becomes subordinate: a mere device for excuse-making and rationalizing
self-justification.
The carnal-ego rejects criteria and self-discipline for such instruments are
tools of the mind and the attitude. The appetites of the flesh have no need
of standards for at the point of contention standards are perceived as
alien, restrictive, and inhibiting. Yet, the very survival of our physical
nature itself depends upon a maintained sovereignty of the mind and of the
spirit.
It remained, therefore, to the initiative of a personal and living Creator
to traverse the human horizon and fill the vast void of human ignorance
with an intelligent and definitive faith. Man is thus afforded the prime
tool of the intellect - a Transcendent Standard by which he may measure
values in experience, anticipate results, and make enlightened and visionary
choices.
Only the unique and superior God-man Person can deservedly displace the
ego-person from his predicament and free the individual to measure values
and choose in a more excellent way. That sublime Person was indicated in the
words of the prophet Amos, "...said the Lord, Behold,
I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel." Y'shua Mashiyach
Jesus said, "If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto myself."
As long as some choose to abdicate their personal reality and submit to the
delusions of humanism, determinism, and collectivism, just so long will they
be subject and re-acting only, to be tossed by every impulse emanating from
others. Those who abdicate such reality may, in perfect justice, find
themselves weighed in the balances of their own choosing.
That human institution which is structured on the principle, "...all men are
endowed by their Creator with...Liberty...," is a system with its roots in
the natural Order of the universe. The opponents of such a system are
necessarily engaged in a losing contest with nature and nature's God.
Biblical principles are still today the foundation under Western
Civilization and the American way of life. To the advent of a new season we
commend the present generation and the "multitudes in the valley of
decision."
Let us proclaim it. Behold!
The Season of Generation-Choicemaker
CONTEMPORARY COMMENTS
"I should think that if there is one thing that man has learned about
himself it is that he is a creature of choice." Richard M. Weaver
"Man is a being capable of subduing his emotions and impulses; he can
rationalize his behavior. He arranges his wishes into a scale, he chooses;
in short, he acts. What distinguishes man from beasts is precisely that he
adjusts his behavior deliberately." Ludwig von Mises
"To make any sense of the idea of morality, it must be presumed that the
human being is responsible for his actions and responsibility cannot be
understood apart from the presumption of freedom of choice." John
Chamberlain
"The advocate of liberty believes that it is complementary of the orderly
laws of cause and effect, of probability and of chance, of which man is not
completely informed. It is complementary of them because it rests in part
upon the faith that each individual is endowed by his Creator with the power
of individual choice." Wendell J. Brown
"These examples demonstrate a basic truth -- that human dignity is embodied
in the free choice of individuals." Condoleeza Rice
"Our Founding Fathers believed that we live in an ordered universe. They
believed themselves to be a part of the universal order of things. Stated
another way, they believed in God. They believed that every man must find
his own place in a world where a place has been made for him. They sought
independence for their nation but, more importantly, they sought freedom for
individuals to think and act for themselves. They established a republic
dedicated to one purpose above all others - the preservation of individual
liberty..." Ralph W. Husted
"We have the gift of an inner liberty so far-reaching that we can choose
either to accept or reject the God who gave it to us, and it would seem to
follow that the Author of a liberty so radical wills that we should be
equally free in our relationships with other men. Spiritual liberty
logically demands conditions of outer and social freedom for its
completion." Edmund A. Opitz
"Above all I see an ability to choose the better from the worse that has
made possible life's progress." Charles Lindbergh
"Freedom is the Right to Choose, the Right to create for oneself the
alternatives of Choice. Without the possibility of Choice, and the exercise
of Choice, a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing." Thomas
Jefferson
THE QUESTION AND THE ANSWER
Q: "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You
visit him?" Psalm 8:4
A: "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set
before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that
both you and your descendants may live." Deuteronomy 30:19
Q: "Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man,
that you are mindful of him?" Psalm 144:3
A: "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves
this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served
that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in
whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Joshua 24:15
Q: "What is man, that he could be pure? And he who is born of a woman, that
he could be righteous?" Job 15:14
A: "Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way he
chooses." Psalm 25:12
Q: "What is man, that You should magnify him, that You should set Your heart
on him?" Job 7:17
A: "Do not envy the oppressor and choose none of his ways." Proverbs 3:31
Q: "What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take
care of him?" Hebrews 2:6
A: "I have chosen the way of truth; your judgments I have laid before me."
Psalm 119:30 "Let Your hand become my help, for I have chosen Your
precepts."Psalm 119:173
References:
Genesis 3:3,6 Deuteronomy 11:26-28; 30:19 Job 5:23 Isaiah 7:14-15; 13:12;
61:1 Amos 7:8 Joel 3:14 Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Psalms 25:12 119:1-176
DEDICATION
Sir Isaac Newton
The greatest scientist in human history, a Bible-Believing Christian, an
authority on the Bible's Book of Daniel, committed to individual value and
individual libertyhttp://www.choicemaker.net
jfbaxter@choicemaker.net
"No one is smarter than their criteria." selah jfb
Lewisville, Texas
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