From: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com (roc-digest) To: roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: roc-digest V2 #338 Reply-To: roc-digest Sender: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk roc-digest Sunday, May 7 2000 Volume 02 : Number 338 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 06 May 2000 14:54:28 -0500 From: Joe Sylvester Subject: Re: Slavery, an honest look (fwd) roc@xpresso.seaslug.org wrote: > >On May 05, david-ben..david wrote: > >[-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] > >I have, in the past, contemplated the "cause" of slavery in ancient >times, why it was accepted and continued for millenia. The reason is >quite obvious considering their lack of socialist societies. If a >person had no family, was not landed, had no property, had no >employment, he/she became a vagabond and thus a threat to the people, >it being necessary to turn to crime to survive. > >Just my opinion, but, I think slavery was instituted either >for prevention or punishment for infraction of laws regarding theft >of >other people's property. It is easy to believe in slavery and >support it, even practice it, in a "truly civilized" society where >people look to their families for support rather than calling on >their >gov't to rape their neighbor of funds for support. Not hardly, slaves were either members of "other" groups, a nother tribe or people from another village, who were captured. Often the only purpose of the fighting they were captured in was to collect slaves. The African slaves that were brought to this country usually fell into this category, with the additional twist that the were caputured not to be the slaves of the capturors, although they did that too, but to be sold, first to other Africans, or to Arabs, who in turn sold them to the slavers who then distrubed them to various places, most importantly to the Americas. > >I look at all of these crack-heads walking the streets of America and >can't help but think that these people are totally out of control and >unable to help themselves, worthy only of slavery because of the >crimes which are committed in order to support their habit. So, what >do we do in reality? We incarcerate them, put them through >rehabilitation whether they want it or not, which seldom ever works >without desire on their part, letting the gov't rape us of our money >to accomplish this. > >We say we do not believe in slavery. I say au contraire, we most >certainly do. We, the people, are the slaves, compelled to >financially subsidize the irresponsibility of these people, compelled >at the point of a gun by this communist perversion of a gov't to >cough >up the money, threatened with loss of our liberty and property unless >we cooperate with this extortion agenda which does little to help >those for whom it is intended, all the while fattening the pockets of >those involved with policing, jailing, judging, beaurocratically >managing and otherwise so-called treating these addicts. We would be much better off if those "helped" by government handouts were required to perform some service to the rest of us, like picking up trash, sweeping the sidewalks, or whatever. This would give them both some true dignaty, since they would have at least partially *earned* their keep, and would also given them some incentive to get off the program, since if they have to peform "honest labor" anyway, they might as well do so in the private sector where wages and working conditions might be more favorable. I would set the rules and standards to inusre that private sector work would be more attractive. :) > >What a joke it is, this socialist agenda, this thing of giving the >poor and so-called disadvantaged their "dignity". They have no >dignity inasmuch as they are theives, robbing their neighbor through >the gov't programs, prospersing at someone else's expense. > >When I see the whores having more and more bastard children, paid to >have more, subsidized in their perversion of bringing into the world >fatherless children all for the purpose of getting a bigger check, >given food stamps, welfare because of being so-called disadvantaged, >HUD housing, free education, free medical care, I am compelled to >come to the conclusion that there is "indeed" slavery here in >America, >the enslavement of John Q. Public. > >You'll notice that I didn't mention a particular race and that for >good reason because one single race does not bear the blame. Slavery >is alive and well in this American Union of Socialist Republics. If not slavery, then it's surely involuntary servitude, which is prohibited by the 13th Amendment. OTOH, if the recipients were providing a service, then it would be no different than the various other (mostly) local and state employees who maintain the roads and sewer systems. > >[------------------------- end of forwarded message ---------------- The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution. ---Doug McKay" Joe Sylvester Don't Tread On Me ! - - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 06 May 2000 17:13:36 -0500 From: Larry Ball Subject: Re: Slavery, an honest look (fwd) Sorry, Joe, all involuntary servitude (slavery) is not prohibited under the 13th Amendment. Those convicted of crime can be forced to perform involuntary servitude. Seems like a good idea to me. It would be better having these blokes working an producing than sitting arround pumping iron, watching T.V. and improving their sex lives. Larry Ball lball@inetnebr.com Joe Sylvester wrote: > roc@xpresso.seaslug.org wrote: > > > > >On May 05, david-ben..david wrote: > > > >[-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] > > > >I have, in the past, contemplated the "cause" of slavery in ancient > >times, why it was accepted and continued for millenia. The reason is > >quite obvious considering their lack of socialist societies. If a > >person had no family, was not landed, had no property, had no > >employment, he/she became a vagabond and thus a threat to the people, > >it being necessary to turn to crime to survive. > > > >Just my opinion, but, I think slavery was instituted either > >for prevention or punishment for infraction of laws regarding theft > >of > >other people's property. It is easy to believe in slavery and > >support it, even practice it, in a "truly civilized" society where > >people look to their families for support rather than calling on > >their > >gov't to rape their neighbor of funds for support. > > Not hardly, slaves were either members of "other" groups, a nother tribe or > people from another village, who were captured. Often the only purpose of > the fighting they were captured in was to collect slaves. > > The African slaves that were brought to this country usually fell into this > category, with the additional twist that the were caputured not to be the > slaves of the capturors, although they did that too, but to be sold, first > to other Africans, or to Arabs, who in turn sold them to the slavers who > then distrubed them to various places, most importantly to the Americas. > > > > >I look at all of these crack-heads walking the streets of America and > >can't help but think that these people are totally out of control and > >unable to help themselves, worthy only of slavery because of the > >crimes which are committed in order to support their habit. So, what > >do we do in reality? We incarcerate them, put them through > >rehabilitation whether they want it or not, which seldom ever works > >without desire on their part, letting the gov't rape us of our money > >to accomplish this. > > > >We say we do not believe in slavery. I say au contraire, we most > >certainly do. We, the people, are the slaves, compelled to > >financially subsidize the irresponsibility of these people, compelled > >at the point of a gun by this communist perversion of a gov't to > >cough > >up the money, threatened with loss of our liberty and property unless > >we cooperate with this extortion agenda which does little to help > >those for whom it is intended, all the while fattening the pockets of > >those involved with policing, jailing, judging, beaurocratically > >managing and otherwise so-called treating these addicts. > > We would be much better off if those "helped" by government handouts were > required to perform some service to the rest of us, like picking up trash, > sweeping the sidewalks, or whatever. This would give them both some true > dignaty, since they would have at least partially *earned* their keep, and > would also given them some incentive to get off the program, since if they > have to peform "honest labor" anyway, they might as well do so in the > private sector where wages and working conditions might be more favorable. > I would set the rules and standards to inusre that private sector work > would be more attractive. :) > > > > >What a joke it is, this socialist agenda, this thing of giving the > >poor and so-called disadvantaged their "dignity". They have no > >dignity inasmuch as they are theives, robbing their neighbor through > >the gov't programs, prospersing at someone else's expense. > > > >When I see the whores having more and more bastard children, paid to > >have more, subsidized in their perversion of bringing into the world > >fatherless children all for the purpose of getting a bigger check, > >given food stamps, welfare because of being so-called disadvantaged, > >HUD housing, free education, free medical care, I am compelled to > >come to the conclusion that there is "indeed" slavery here in > >America, > >the enslavement of John Q. Public. > > > >You'll notice that I didn't mention a particular race and that for > >good reason because one single race does not bear the blame. Slavery > >is alive and well in this American Union of Socialist Republics. > > If not slavery, then it's surely involuntary servitude, which is prohibited > by the 13th Amendment. OTOH, if the recipients were providing a service, > then it would be no different than the various other (mostly) local and > state employees who maintain the roads and sewer systems. > > > > >[------------------------- end of forwarded message ---------------- > > The Second Amendment is the RESET button > of the United States Constitution. > ---Doug McKay" > > Joe Sylvester > Don't Tread On Me ! > > - - - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 6 May 00 22:51:55 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: NOW THE U.N TELLS US WHAT TO EAT! (fwd) On May 06, Odell Harwell wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] Subject: Fw: Fwd: NOW THE U.N TELLS US WHAT TO EAT! Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 19:42:06 -0500 From: odellh@juno.com "The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance, which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime----and the punishment of his guilt." John Philpot Curran (1750-1817) Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 09:49:46 EDT Subject: Fwd: NOW THE U.N TELLS US WHAT TO EAT! Message-ID: From: Jim Hardin Date: Sat, 06 May 2000 00:05:19 -0500 Subject: NOW THE U.N TELLS US WHAT TO EAT! Friends, This is from Bob. Although there is no "subscribe" message for Bob's mail list in the message, Bob sends out several articles each night. If you have the time for more information, you can contact Bob to be added to his list. You will receive many of each day's most important articles. Thanks Bob. Jim Hardin The Freedom Page http://freedompage.home.mindspring.com To receive Freedom Page mail, put "Subscribe" as subject to freedompage@mindspring.com To be removed, put "Remove" as subject. Alabama Committee To Get Us Out of the UN http://themustardseed.home.mindspring.com From: boro@computer.net Organization: THE REAL NEWS Subject: NOW THE U.N TELLS US WHAT TO EAT! SERIOUSLY Attention all subscribers: This is a matter of immediate urgency! Please read this and contact the necessary agencies. STOP CODEX..... While the leaders of several major alternative health organizations are remaining silent on the matter, a major threat to your Health Freedom is fast approaching.... WHAT IS CODEX: Codex Alimentarius is a United Nations agency which was started to maintain overview of Medical Pharmaceutical products. This UN agency has now and announced that it is expanding its overview to all products for human therapies-including Vitamins, Herbs, Minerals and Alternative therapies.... Over the last few years The United States government has attempted to place Natural Non Pharmaceutical Health remedies under the Medical Prescription system. They were defeated by a storm of protest. Well, Now the government intends to proceed on the grounds that the U.S. acceptance of the GATT TREATY makes it subject to the United Nations CODEX registration and administration. CODEX regulations call for the placing of limits on all human therapy Materials, Requiring Both Federal and United Nations Licensing of All Firms Producing HEALTH Products AND LICENSING of each individual item! Codex will strongly promote the placing of all NON PHARMACEUTICALS under the PRESCRIPTION SYSTEM and make continued activity of NON CORPORATE FIRMS in the field very difficult... WHAT YOU CAN DO: *Call your Congressman and Senator; tell them you don't want your Choices Limited by any UNELECTED BUREAUCRAT DOMESTIC OR INTERNATIONAL agency. * Call the Media! The Press, TV/Radio Talk shows etc. Get the word out about CODEX; (this especially applies to radio talk shows) tell those you reach you don't want regulation of YOUR HEALTH! Tell them how extensive the EFFECTS of this new regulation/registration will be. Contact your Health Organizations; ask them what they are doing about CODEX and WHY there hasn't been More Notice on this new VERY dangerous condition... and make your future contributions dependent on their responses to you. SUPPORT organizations fighting CODEX. Many organizations already in the fight need your support. The following is a list of organizations that may have info on CODEX and need your help. International Advocates for Health Freedom 504-745-6534 or 1-800-333-2553 Web Site :www. IAHF.Com Life Extension Foundation 954-766-8433 or Fax 954-761-9199 International Counsil on Health Freedom 619-702-1282 or Fax 858-581-6640 AD Publications 212-886-5413 The CODEX program threatens everyone who wants and needs freedom of choice. In Europe right now strong limits have been placed on both the availability dosage of even common vitamins! Anyone who has had "expierences" with the FDA should consider what it would be like appealing to a licensing bureaucrat in Brussels! Please respond and let the world know that we do not want to be told by the U.N. what to eat! This is another move by the U.N. to take more of our freedom. Also see http://themustardseed.home.mindspring.com Get US out of the U.N. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ------------------------------------ Looking for what the Bible says about Christians and Civil Government? Pastor John Weaver covers this and much more. Audio tapes are only $4.00 each. Just click: http://freedompage.home.mindspring.com/johnweaver.html [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 May 00 09:38:45 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Are You A Willing Seller? (fwd) On May 7, Lynn wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] Think about this. Then take action. Private property is at risk here. So, they take your guns, land, home, kids, free speech, jobs, church. What's left? Only slavery. Or death. Lynn/MT - --- Clarice Ryan wrote: > From: "Clarice Ryan" > To: "Repr.Rick Hill" > Subject: FW: Are You A Willing Seller? > Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 08:31:04 -0600 > > We keep hearing the terms "destroy the > economy", "loss of private property", > "intrusive governmental rules and regulations". > Read the following to get a > MENTAL PICTURE of what these terms REALLY MEAN > !!! IT is hitting close to > HOME. > > The CARA bill going to vote this coming > Wednesday, May 10, would provide the > money to both the states and the federal > government for acquisition of > private property. IT is closely related to our > problems with the Forest > Service and policies concerning access to all > public lands. Other states are > also experiencing increasing limitations on use > and enjoyment of government > held property: county, state and federal. Mail > this to your friends in > other states. Our Repr. Rick Hill has been > fighting for a long time to > defeat CARA. Lets give him our support in > convincing the other Congressmen > to vote against it. Add your own personal > opinions to the E-mail to your > friends saying how it is affecting you and will > also be affecting them. > Everyone in the United States will eventually > feel the consequences in one > way or another. Clarice > > > WILLING SELLER - A MYTH WE MUST > VOTE "NO" ON CARA, HR 701 > > > "John Jones is a willing seller. He didn't > want to sell and held out as > long as he could. First the Park Service came > in and purchased the homes, > farms and timberlands of his neighbors who did > want to sell. There will > always be some. Then the agency began to > search out those families who > were in some kind of financial distress such as > from a death, divorce, loss > of job and other reason. > > > "Jones watched as his community was > checkerboarded by the Park Service. > He remembered being told when the park was > created that he would not be > forced out. But now the agency was targeting > local businesses and the > county itself. Many small businesses were > purchased and put out of > business. The Park Service purchased the > holdings of several large > timberland companies. Smaller timber owners > began to sell as they saw > that the logging infrastructure might > eventually not be there. The mill > eventually had to close because it could not > get enough wood. Like a > natural ecosystem, the economic ecosystem of a > community is very fragile. > > > "As more timberland was purchased, more homes > and farms began to disappear. > Many residents wanted to hold out but with > fewer jobs in the county, the > value of their homes and property began to go > down. As the Park Service > purchased them, they lay empty for months or > even years because the agency > said they did not have the funds to clear them > out. They became havens for > vandals and drug houses. > > > "The Nature Conservancy and other land trusts > began to circle like > buzzards. They would buy from financially > distressed landowners, then turn > the land over to the Federal government. Time > after time this happened, > quietly, secretly and silently they helped > undercut the community. > > > "As properties were taken off the tax rolls, > the schools and county > services began to suffer. Several closed > making longer trips to school > necessary for families. The school district > didn't have the money for the > busses they needed. Roads began to close. As > large areas were purchased > by the Park Service, the agency put up chains > across the roads. Some of > these roads had been used for years by > neighbors as access points to the > river or to go camping, swimming, woodcutting > or berry picking. Usually we > knew another way but over time, all the access > was closed off. > > > "Churches, clubs and other community services > began to close. The Rotary > Club couldn't keep enough members. The > library was in trouble. The hours > were cut for it and other county services. > There had been several markets > in town and three gas stations. There is only > one of each now and it looks > like the store will close. That means a 80 > mile drive to Millersville for > groceries. Over time, other essential services > and stores began to > disappear. > > > "When the park was created they promised > tourism. I don't know where it > is. We gave up a lot of good jobs for this > park and the tourists don't > come. Several motels and restaurants were > built in anticipation of the > visitors. All but one restaurant is closed, > and it cut its hours back. We > have two motels still open but they are > struggling. > > > "We have a very nice ski area but a Park > Service trail runs through it. > The agency has harassed the owners so often > that they're close to giving > up. They can't get any kind of commitment from > the Park Service as to a > final trail location so they can't invest in > modernizing and expanding the > ski area. There sure are a lot of people in > town who would benefit if the > ski area were allowed to meet its potential. > > > "We thought the Park Service supported > recreation. Now it seems the > opposite is true. We heard from people out > West that the Park Service and > the environmental groups were becoming > anti-recreation. It couldn't be > true we said. It looks like we were wrong. > They seem to be against skiing > and snowmobiling. Snowmobiles are being kicked > out of all parks. It > doesn't make sense. > > > "The county had no choice but to raise our > taxes. The tax base for the > county was shrinking almost daily. We had one > local bank and several bank > branches. Now there is only one branch open as > part of the market, but it > may go away too. The banks have not made loans > in our town for several > years now because the future is unstable. They > won't make loans to > loggers, equipment suppliers, or small > businessmen because of threat from > the Feds. No new houses have been built in some > time. The theater closed > and the cable television company is considering > shutting down. It feels > like a ghost town. > > > "We always thought we could fall back on our > farmers and ranchers. But as > farmland was purchased, more and more farmers > began to leave. Their kids > didn't see any reason to stay. There aren't > enough farmers now to support > the supply store and the farming infrastructure > and other needs. The > farmers have to drive so far to get services > that it just doesn't make > sense. More and more are selling. > > > "It's ironic. When the park was proposed there > was a big land acquisition > fund before Congress at about the same time > that included some funding for > recreation. Many county commissioners > supported it because they wanted > money for soccer fields and swimming pools. > Now they see they've lost > their tax base and have trouble finding the > resources to maintain those > assets. The population has changed so much > they may not even need them > soon. > > > "Surprisingly, even homebuilders and realtors > supported the land > acquisition funding originally as well as the > park. They really thought > the tourism would come and provide an economic > boom. Now they see they > don't have a market anymore and most people > have been driven to the city. > The land acquisition has sucked the vitality > right out of the community. > But it's too late to go back. > > > "Frankly, it seems like most of these big > organizations like the realtors > and homebuilders and even the county > commissioners are controlled by hired > guns from the big cities so I'm not sure they > really care about what > happens in our community. And our local county > commissioners are so busy > they hardly have time to go to all the meetings > as the planners from the > Federal government come and take over the > process. > > > "The Government even wants a buffer zone around > the park now and is trying > to close down the roads and access to the > National Forests. What a > difference between now and when I was growing > up. So many places we used > to enjoy are either owned by the government or > regulated so tightly you > can't go there or use them. > > > "The hunters and sportsmen really got a > surprise. They supported all the > land acquisition only to find that they lost > access to many places. And > frankly, game was more plentiful on the land > when it was private. I've > never been convinced these hot shot fancy > education government officials > knew much about protecting wildlife. I know we > had better hunting around > here before all the private lands were taken by > the government, especially > when tree harvesting was taking place. > > > "Some of my neighbors are determined to stay > and suffer the consequences > and severe hardships of living within a now > nearly all Federal enclave. I > love my town. I was born and raised here, went > away to college and came > back. It looks like that even though I stood > up to those Federal land > acquisition agents, there will soon be nothing > left to stand up for. I > never thought I'd be a willing seller. But I > am now." > > > "This is a composite of experiences from > landowners who have been forced to > sell their property against their will." > > > > WANT TO STOP CARA (HR 701)? > > You have only a few days until the vote is > scheduled May 10th. The bill > advocates are trying to say CARA has > protections for private property > rights. Don't you believe it. They do have a > couple of token provisions > which will only slightly slow the land > acquisition process down. The > bottom line is: "IT'S THE MONEY, STUPID." If > the Feds have the money, > they'll find a way to get you. Count on it. > > > There must be no trust fund. No new > Entitlement. All the money must go > through the appropriations process which keeps > Congress in control. > $45 billion dollars over 15 years is a lot of > money available to the > government to buy your house and your land. > Something isn't right here. > > > Call your Congressman at (202) 225-3121 to urge > him or her to vote NO on > CARA. > > > Send a copy of "Willing Seller, A Myth" to your > Congressman. Better yet, > had deliver it to him over the weekend when he > or she is home. We have > attached a formatted version with this E-Mail. > We've suggested that you > use a phone call or fax over E-mail at the last > minute. In this situation, > E-mail is very appropriate and some will get > read in time. > > > Send a copy of "Willing Seller, A Myth" to at > least five other people. > > > Make photocopies of the formatted version and > hand them out to your > neighbors and friends. As them to call your > Congressman at (202) 225-3121. > > From: LandRights Network > [mailto:alra@pacifier.com] > American Land Rights Association - Land Rights > Network > http://www.landrights.org > Legislative Office: Mike Hardiman - 508 First > St SE - Washington DC 20003 > Phone: 202-251-3473 - Fax: 202-543-7126 - > Email: hardimanmike@aol.com ===== Give them your message without speaking... Now- "Community Currency" redeemable in silver! The best pro gun news on the web! [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 17:33:41 -0700 From: "Harry E. Barnett" Subject: FW: Keyes on Gonzalez matter Dr. Keyes' Alabama address Renew America Rally Alabama 4/29/00 Good evening! Thank you for coming. I am going to, I guess, have to repay your willingness to come out and listen for a few minutes in an unaccustomed way. Because, while I do mean to show my gratitude for your being here, I also think it would be important to spend the next few minutes - fewer than I would usually have because I have to catch a plane - so I am faced with the challenge of having to lay out for you what I believe to be the critical stage that this nation is in with perhaps a little more directness than I might otherwise do. And as all of you've probably heard, I'm pretty well known for my directness anyway, so you're in for something special. (laughter) But I think that we are coming down to the wire in terms of the fate of this nation's freedom. I was thinking of that over the course of the last weekend when, as you know, this famous episode in Miami occurred. We saw, sent around the world, this picture of a six year old with automatic weapons stuck in his face as they grabbed him out of the clutches of the wicked, evil , bad folks in Miami, whose crime was that they loved him too much. And they decided to take him off, and actually, take him off under an understanding that sadly, though we ought to know this as Americans, we no longer seem to understand. Because I was noticing a cover on TIME I think it was, that has "Papa!" and so forth, and the whole mythology that Elian is going back to his father really irks me. You know that that cannot be true in Cuba don't you? Because Cuba is a Communist totalitarian society, one of the few on the face of the earth where they thoroughly implement the concept of Communism, and that means the children are not raised by their parents in Cuba, they are raised by the Castro Communist totalitarian state. And as I've often pointed out to folks, I deeply believe that fathers have the right to decide where their children are living. And with the mother gone and so forth and so on, it is absolutely the right of that father to decide whether that child is going to be with him or not, provided that the decision can be made in freedom. There's just one problem with Cuba. No decision taken by a parent in Cuba can be made in freedom because no parents in Cuba live in freedom. And that faces us with an awesome dilemma. It means we've got a government that just did the bidding of the Communist master of Cuba, and he decided this time that he would do it in the fashion of the Communist master of Cuba. So they've implemented this thuggery against citizens of the United States. And I don't even think we even recognize what's going on because people are coming out saying, "This is a family dispute," and so forth and so on. Last time I looked, you don't solve most of these family disputes with automatic weapons. And there are a lot of other ways this could have been dealt with. Why do you think they did it this way? Well, they did it this way because this is THE way of the Clinton era in order to get the American people accustomed to the fact that we are no longer the free people we once were. Knocks on the door in the middle of the night with people coming to snatch away your children or yourself, those are things we used to associate only with the Communist tyrannies that we fought against. But now this is an image you must associate henceforward with YOUR country! And if you think it will be confined, in the days to come, to families like that of Elian Gonzalez, think again. For what we are looking at is a dress rehearsal for your future. The tyranny in this nation has already begun. They're easing us into it so that by the time the stench grows bad enough, we will have gotten so used to it, we won't even recognize the images of that tyranny. And this is sad. But it's where we are and it's where we've been heading for a long time. And I don't think that we have much longer to turn around. I cannot understand why Americans believe that we can go on destroying the most important foundations of our whole way of life, and expect it to survive. Why do you think this is going to happen? I guess it's because like so many other things, we tend in our political life to take everything for granted. "Always been this way therefore it will always be this way." That's not true. We live in a century that proves it without a doubt. There were whole civilizations wiped off the face of the earth in the 20th century. Even the one in Europe, which they claim to have rebuilt from the rubble, is not today what it was before it destroyed itself in two World Wars. And the people who lived both before the first one and in the interim between the first and second, they thought it would always be thus. They lived oblivious to the destruction that would be wrought in their own society and sadly, I think we do too. And right now, in the midst of a little material prosperity and so forth and so on, some of us believe that nothing bad is ever going to happen. That's not true. I think we're just in a little lull before the storm. Given the nature of our technology and the new means that we have, not only to abuse man's physical nature but to distort and abuse the very essence biologically and genetically of that nature itself, the tyranny that is to come will fasten itself upon us in ways that we have not even begun to imagine. And why would this happen? Because, as a people we took the heritage of freedom, threw it away. We watched it be destroyed before our very eyes! We sat by silently while the basic principles and concepts on which it rests were taken out of our public life and wrested even from the very consciousness and souls of children, and didn't even know what was going on. That all sounds very dramatic, why would I say that? I think it's very clear. This nation was founded on a clear, simple and easily stated premise. Right there in the Declaration they make it crystal clear: "We hold these Truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights..." The importance of that statement is that it makes it clear that the claim that we have to human rights and dignity does not come, as some folks n the ACLU want us to believe, from the Bill of Rights and it doesn't come from the Constitution and it doesn't come from the laws passed by the Congress and it doesn't come from the decisions that are taken by the Supreme Court. That claim to human dignity and human rights which is the foundation of our whole way of life, rests on the power and the will, the existence and the authority of Almighty God, not on any human foundation. That is a powerfully important statement because it contains that creed which then becomes the basis for courage and perseverance even in the face of the vast array of human power. Why we are fighting for our rights is because we know, or at least we have grown to be certain what most people at most times in the history of the world did not even imagine: that we have a dignity sanctioned by the most awesome power there is in the universe. And that when we fight to sustain it, we do not stand alone. No matter what powers seem to stand against us. I think that that has emboldened many hearts in the history of this nation to fight for its independence, to fight against slavery, to fight for the rights of women, to fight against the abuses of workers, to fight for all those things that down through the years of this nation's life have extended the promise and reality of freedom to more and more of our people, have allowed more and more of us to stand with that dignity which was the promise of our founding. And the courage that allowed folks to achieve all those results even when the world stood totally arrayed against them came ultimately from that belief , that though you may seem at first to stand alone, you can still prevail because the Lord stands with you. What do you think happens then if we let that go? And we are letting it go, we have already let it go in so many ways. We have let it go by buying into the lie being told by the folks in our courts right now who have taken the principle that our rights came from God and thrown it on the ash heap of history. That's the significance, by the way, that is so often lost about the abortion issue and it's why I always get to it at some point or other in my discussions of America's present life. Because some people think, even in the right to life movement, I was at a dinner the other night in which, you know, very big Right to Life organization holding its national dinner, we go through the whole evening and they'll talk about wonderful achievements, getting the numbers of abortions down and all this other sort of stuff. They talk about the abortion issue as if it is only an issue of how many babies we have killed and how many we are going to reduce the number of, as if nothing else is involved than that loss of physical life. That loss of physical life is indeed bad enough, it's heinous, it's criminal, but at the end of the day, that is not the only loss this nation suffers. And no matter what specious arguments can be used to try to demean and degrade the physical life in the womb, those arguments don't hold a candle in their effect to the one reality that once we have adopted the principle of this abortion lie, we have abandoned the principle of our freedom. Our rights don't come from God if they are based upon our mother's choice. And once we have banished God from the throne of that authority then we have no claim to liberty or dignity that cannot in the end be trampled down and destroyed by the superior power of force or wealth or ability. And one of the things this nation is suppose to stand for is the equal dignity of all, regardless of station, standing, intelligence, ability, whatever it might be. That acknowledgement that in every human being, in every human life, there is present a kernel of God's Word and divinity that must be respected by every human will and power whatsoever. But once we embrace the abortion lie we throw away that truth that is the foundation of our justice. And it is not the only area in which we are fast abandoning our acknowledgement of that sovereignty of God, we're doing it in our schools! I find it amazing. Here we live in a country, the first principle of which is "All men are created equal," and yet you go into our tax-funded, government dominated schools and it is forbidden to teach the concept of the Creator or even to acknowledge his existence or mention his name, much less speak as if His authority has meaning for our lives. You really think that the children in these new generations are going to grow up with the courage to stand firm for their liberty when they no longer acknowledge the authority from which that liberty is derived? Still think they're going to have the courage to stand against the vast array of human material powers when they no longer believe that their claim to dignity is sanctioned by an authority greater than those powers? See, I think that once you've convinced people that this material equation is all there is, you've put them in a position where when faced with overwhelming odds, they're going to surrender. And that has been the case throughout most of human history. Most people didn't fight against tyranny, they simply bowed down to it, surrendered to it. I often used to marvel as I read the accounts of all these great empires in history where a handful of human beings had managed to subjugate masses of millions. Ever wonder how that can happen? Well it happened because in the end, human beings are not subjugated by the force of sword and gun. They are shackled by the fears that darken the mind, that cloud the vision, that destroy the courage, that undermine the sense of dignity, that make people believe that in the end, whatever it is that is meeted out by power is their just desserts. Because might makes right, because force legitimizes everything. We live in a society where that ugly principle of destructive injustice was overturned and thrown aside in order to lay the foundation for that land whose freedom we enjoy but the foundations of which we are now neglecting. How much longer can we go on before we will fully reap the bitter fruits of that neglect? In terms of the destruction of our moral character and decency, I think over the last several years we've already seen that the fruits are already there, undermining and destroying our institutions at the highest level. And I don't only mean the lack of decency, the shameless lack of integrity of our 'President,' so called, Bill Clinton. I mean even more so the fact that those who should have called him to account for his shameless lying and disregard for the Constitution and the integrity of our institutions. Those sitting in the Congress and sitting in the Senate of the United States did not have the integrity to kick him out when he deserved to be gone. That's an indictment of their integrity, but it's also, I think, a telling warning of the extent of which we have lost our own. For they are our representatives, and you do at some point have to wonder whether they do not represent us all too well... For full transcript go to: http://www.keyes2000.org/issues_and_speeches/renew_t.html - - ------------------------------ End of roc-digest V2 #338 *************************