Thursday, August 24, 2006

Why does President GW Bush Allow the Invasion from Mexico?

I write to ask why you think GW Bush and past presidents of every stripe have done so little to stop the invasion of the states from Canada, Mexico, and the oceans.

Breach of Contract

United States of America Constitution Article IV Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.

50 USC 1701 -Unusual and extraordinary threat; declaration of national emergency; exercise of Presidential authorities - (a) Any authority granted to the President by section 1702 of this title may be exercised to deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States, if the President declares a national emergency with respect to such threat. (b) The authorities granted to the President by section 1702 of this title may only be exercised to deal with an unusual and extraordinary threat with respect to which a national emergency has been declared for purposes of this chapter and may not be exercised for any other purpose. Any exercise of such authorities to deal with any new threat shall be based on a new declaration of national emergency which must be with respect to such threat.

Clearly, the states have the right to secede from the Union on the basis of breach of contract.

Two United States – U.S. v U.S.A.

Most people do not see clearly the relationship between the United States and the States. The “United States of America” consists of the union of the several States (now 50 in number), minus any land ceded by those states to the “United States.” The corporate "United States" has a democratic government, unlike the states, now 50 in number, to which the above section of the Constitution guarantees a republican form of government. The U.S. does not have the same character or identity with the United States of America for which the Constitution serves as supreme law. The U.S. cannot make laws governing the several states because of the limitation imposed by

United States of America Constitution Article I Section 8 Clause 15-18:

[Congress shall have the power... ]

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;--And

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

The Constitution, based on knowledge that the United States, as a legislative democracy, can run amok, limited the territorial reach of Congress and its laws to the "Federal Zone" (download free book at http://www.supremelaw.org/fedzone11) defined in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17. To the several States, the U.S. stands as a "foreign power". The contract or treaty called the Constitution binds that foreign power to protect the states from invasion, to call up the militia and repel invaders, and to prevent any state from switching its government to a monarchy, oligarchy, theocracy, democracy, or other form of government.

Note that when President Wilson's guiding light, Texas Colonel Edward Mandell House, coined the WWI slogan "to keep the world safe for Democracy," he referred to the power of the US, not the US of A.

Nothing in the constitution explicitly guarantees the US a republican form of government, so it can metamorphose into a kind of monarchy or oligarchy, with only the semblance of democracy as its form.

In what form of government can the congress destroy the currency of the states by eliminating its precious metal standard and handing its gold over to a bunch of private bankers like the Federal Reserve?

In what form of government can the Congress and President ignore their responsibility to protect the states from invasion?

In what form of government can the President wage war without a declaration by Congress?

In what form of government can the President and Congress violate Amendment XIII and impose involuntary servitude of immense oil prices upon the people of the States?

In what form of government can the President send his private Treasury's Gestapo to pillage the bank accounts, wages, real estates, and homes of State citizens because of unilaterally declared deficiencies of alleged Income Taxes for which no law of Congress can or does make them liable?

In what form of government can the President's henchmen require banks to demand social security numbers from those who want to open accounts even though no law imposes such a requirement?

Amendment IV - The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

In what form of government can the President's henchmen declare you owe money and then collect it without a ruling from a judge of a court of competent jurisdiction?

Amendment V - No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

In what form of government can lower courts consistently ignore rulings of the Supreme Court, and routinely conspire with prosecutors to deprive citizens of their rights of due process (such as by quashing subpoenas for witnesses, refusing to allow pertinent evidence, and declaring jurisdiction when no one has proven jurisdiction?


Amendment VI -In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

In what form of government can lower courts rule that petty municipal corporations can deny people the right to own and possess guns for their own defense, particularly when the crime and conviction rates clearly show criminals direly threaten and injure people as a result of lack of effective police protection?

Amendment II - A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

What form of government will destroy the power of its own several states-united to express their individual wills in the USA Congress?

Amendment XVII

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

The Answer:

Oligarchy, defined as:

A political system governed by a few people - "one of his cardinal convictions was that Britain was not run as a democracy but as an oligarchy"; "the big cities were notoriously in the hands of the oligarchy of local businessmen"

Our precious Republic known as the United States of America exists no more, not since passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913 when Congress stripped all states except the Federal Zone (the corporate board of directors, the legislative democracy known as United States) of their voice in government.

The pledge we said as school children "to the republic for which it stands" has only the echo of a hollow, empty dream from the bereaved hearts and minds of our ancestors two and a half centuries ago.

For all practical purposes, King George, in all his maniacal fury, has returned to direct the trouncing of America's citizenry with the furtive huaraches and boots of low-IQ Mexicans and angry Muslims who stream across our borders by the thousands every day to dumb down our gene pool and mire our civilization in the insanity of 7th century religio-political disputes.

May God help our children, for our populace has grown too obese, indolent, lethargic, and ignorant about all that matters, and has neither the will, courage, nor ability to fight the monster looming over us.

We deserve the slavery into which our Federal Zone U.S. overlords have thrust us, supporting municipalities who disarm us so we shall have no power to fight the virtually unchecked 140-year invasion from Mexico.

Invasion Example

Let me show you a case in point of the invasion in an area you might not expect it.

In Clearwater, the heart of Pinellas County Florida where I live, at least 20,000 Mexicans from the state of Hidalgo have taken residence illegally in the past 11 years. They and their darting, diffident eyes form a permanent part of the silent landscape as they take low-pay jobs from the area's low-IQ legal residents, and procreate children at the rate of 4 or more per family.

What a stark contrast to the rate of less than 2 children per family of more prosperous white families in the area. While whites do not procreate at a rate sufficient to sustain the race, low IQ Mexicans and blacks proliferate at rates of 3 to 5 children per family. Little wonder 8 states' statistics show white babies now stand in the minority. That's 16% of the states. I predict Utah falls last to the statistics.

Do you think our slave master, President George W. Bush, has awareness of the above statistics?

The Effect of Unchecked Illegal Immigration from Third World Countries

Well how about these analyses from the scholarly La Griffe du Lion (http://lagriffedulion.com/)?

http://www.lagriffedulion.f2s.com/sft.htm - La Griffe presents a mythical dialog between Prodigy and Mentor regarding an article in the Summer 2001 Mankind Quarterly. In the article, National IQ and Economic Development: A study of Eighty-One Developing Nations, Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen expose a relationship between national wealth and IQ. Bottom line, he proposes a Smart Fraction Theory (SFT) that shows the extent to which average IQ affects the Gross National Product.

The bad news: the lower the average IQ, the lower the GNP.

http://www.lagriffedulion.f2s.com/sft2.htm - La Griffe addresses the apparent disparity of the Smart Fraction Theory in countries that have a high average IQ, like North Korea and China, but a relatively low GNP.

The good news: the adjusted SFT proves useful for all countries.

Why do hordes of low-IQ people immigrants adversely affect GNP? Because businesses and factories hire them do manual work. That stifles the necessity-spawned creativity that drives mechanization and computerization. The nation creates fewer automated facilities for manufacturing, farming, and other things cheap laborers can do. But, since smarter countries do mechanize and computerize the same tasks, and end up doing them more cheaply, they leave less mechanized countries in the economic dust.

What About the Effect of Low IQ in America?

Right now America has close to 45 million blacks (average IQ 84-85) and 55 million non-white Hispanics (average IQ 90), the bulk of which hail from Mexico. Most of those from the Caribbean islands also have predominantly black ancestry, but many prefer to call themselves "Hispanic" out of pride and to diminish attention on their black genes. Blacks and non-white Hispanics (average IQ about 87) comprise fully 1/3 of the USA's population. Nearly half (about 47 million) have IQs below 85.

Lest you start calling me a racist for pointing out the obvious (if you’ve ever visited an inner city ghetto). I shall not ignore whites in this discussion. Of the 200 million whites in America, about 33 million have IQs below 85.

Regardless of race, one must have an IQ greater than 85 to graduate from high school. Let’s face it. Like it or not, a person with an IQ below 85 seems and acts relatively stupid. The person cannot evaluate relative importances or solve problems well, gets into trouble easily, cannot compete for the better jobs and smarter mates, and often resorts to crime and welfare abuse in order to get by, particularly if reared in an inner city ghetto. Such people typically have low-IQ parents who cannot ever achieve financially well enough to provide the better things in life. But most such families have color televisions on which they see families of all races and colors doing well, never realizing the lie of such TV shows. Let’s do a little arithmetic about low IQ.

33 million stupid whites
+47 million stupid blacks and non-white Hispanics
80
million stupid Amercians

Our penal institutions populations, high school dropout rates, and welfare roles show the net impact of such an enormous percentage of low-IQ people. And stupidity have ravaged family structures. 70% of all black children have no father at home, Unmarried children give birth to 20% of the black babies and 30% of the Mexican babies in the USA. 50% of black children do not graduate from high school, and about 45% of Hispanic children don't graduate. 10% of all black adults males sit in prison at any one time and upwards of 70% have done some jail time. In fact, blacks have 7.4 times the likelihood of doing jail time that whites have. That explains why jailbird attire (baggy pants falling down below the underwear line) and jailbird poetry (rap music) dominate the black and inner city Mexican culture outside jails.

Now, because of the invasion by illegal immigration, the USA contains more low-IQ Hispanics than it contains low-IQ blacks. They bring their language and culture with them, and they fully intend to make their language and culture prevalent in the USA. To see their native cultures in full bloom, have a look at the living and educational conditions in Mexico and sub-Saharan Africa. Even Puerto Rico, after more than a century of Americanization and the enjoyment of quasi-statehood, still operates internally like a 3rd world country.

The invasion of low IQ people from within and without America has a huge impact. Because America has no formalized system of apprenticeships for blue collar labor trades into which to dispatch low IQ children upon completion of primary education, the children too seldom mature into productive, law-abiding members of society. Because they fail in school, society labels them as failures, even though they can well succeed in organized labor or in the less mentally challenging trades. Labeled as failures, and having no supervision, they fail to earn enough money to sustain the existences of themselves and the large families they soon produce through premature sexual relationships. They resort to crime and poverty to get by, both of which rob the wealth from the more productive members of society.

On top of this, liberal pressures encourage multiculturalism, as though the society should celebrate the primitive and often ignominious cultural roots of Africa or Mexico’s natives. If you want to see the disaster caused by multiculturalism, look to Europe. Europe's governments now beg and plead for productive whites to start having more babies because the countries suffer the whelming influence of hordes of blacks from Africa, Asians from India and the Far East, and Mideasterners, the bulk of who bring with them the religion of Islam and their slothful cultural influences.

The best we can say about such invasions: we probably receive the best those countries have to offer from their lower classes. In the case of India, we receive the best the higher classes have to offer because lower classes suffer under such poverty they will never leave their towns of birth, and certainly not their nation.

Most low-IQ immigrants take low paying jobs and stifle productivity and creativity, and no laws restrict their procreativity. And most send part of the money they earn back to their lands of origin to help family members there. So, you see a flood of wealth leaving the USA, in the form of cash, wealth that does not covert to savings or investment here, wealth that ultimately makes our nation poorer.

Worst of all, we cannot even engage in civil discussions about the net effects of low IQ and how we can correct them. Those who have an interest in such discussions might do well to start with Steve Sailer’s fair and balanced assessments of biodiversity and IQ. Look through and ponder his articles at http://vdare.com/sailer and http://isteve.com. Start with this one: America and the Left Half of the Bell Curve - Part I: IQ and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It.

Does Bush Know? Why Does He Allow the Invasion? What Can We Do?

Do you think President George W. Bush, with all his fancy advisors, knows nothing of these things?

Well if he knows, and certainly he must, what can possibly motivate him to do virtually nothing to slam the borders shut and export all illegal aliens? Why hasn't our Congress amended the Constitution to deny citizenship to the children of illegal alien parents? What effective corrective action can and should you as a state National and a citizen of the United States of America (not of the corporate United States) take? And what fate do you deserve if you take no action?

I don't think I shall answer those questions for you. I think you need to stew in the juices of the obvious conclusions you must reach.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Does Prayer Help God?

My brother Norman ponders:

I notice in the quote below that there's no mention of the effects of prayer on God, but it instead refers to the effect praying has on the ones praying.

So even though God may or may not be listening, praying is still helpful for the people doing the praying... is that what this says? If so, I'm okay with that.

I know praying hasn't helped my team win or that God will smite my enemies if I ask him to. And the reason I know that is.... oh, well, nevermind.

Norman


And I respond:


The people and leaders of our nation can remedy the nation’s problems best by starting with sincere prayer.

More to the point, foam-at-the-mouth fundamentalist Christians, Muslims, and Urantians SHOULD be able to agree on most elements of the functioning of prayer. What sensible alternative do they have?

I know of no scientific study that proves the workability of prayer, no proof outside my personal experience of the existence of God or anyone else who might secretly listen to prayers, nothing but my own personal feelings about the efficacy of prayer for myself, and no proof other than bowed heads and murmured or shouted words to a non-evident deity of the efficacy of group prayer.

And yet, there in the Urantia Book I see that little comment about the evolution of prayer and its improvement of morality:

"But prayer need not always be individual. Group or congregational praying is very effective in that it is highly socializing in its repercussions. When a group engages in community prayer for moral enhancement and spiritual uplift, such devotions are reactive upon the individuals composing the group; they are all made better because of participation. Even a whole city or an entire nation can be helped by such prayer devotions. Confession, repentance, and prayer have led individuals, cities, nations, and whole races to mighty efforts of reform and courageous deeds." The Urantia Book Paper 91 - The Evolution of Prayer.


At the same time, I see the news media and wild-eyed patriots of this or another land proclaiming that the US Government conspired to bring about 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq so as to enslave us to George Bush’s military control.

Such an alarm should jolt us into action, but what kind of action?

Somewhere lies a common ground between the extremes of doing nothing and marauding through the streets with the corpses of criminally derelict politicians on our minds. Somewhere lies a starting point for the rehabilitation of America, politically, socially, and civilizationally.

Frankly, I believe prayer serves as the best starting point because:

  1. You can lie to everyone else, but you can’t lie to God– prayer at least will make you honest, just a little.

  2. A sincere attempt to resolve a problem according to God’s line of thinking must produce a better end result than any alternative approach – after all, God is God, the all-being I-AM, the Great Eye-in-the-Sky, the Majestic Mind, and he really does know the right way to resolve the problems – so, using prayer to tune in to what he thinks might give us a clue how to improve conditions.

  3. Whether participant or player, whether in baseball, symphony, sex, or prayer people really feel wonderful doing benign things as a group.

  4. Group activities provide synergistic solutions – the whole system effects a greater result than does the sum of its parts.

As for whether prayer helps God, I believe it does. Remember that at least two deities exist:

  1. Existential Deity – the never-ending, never-beginning, fully complete, absolute, and eternal God.

  2. Experiential Diety – the evolving composite mind and spirit of achieved perfection, comprising the attained perfection experience of all evolutional willed creatures in the universe – the Supreme Being.

In other words, we now grow to become like God through our perfection pursuits, and some day in the far-flung reaches of time, space, and eternity, we shall achieve relative deity status, by wholeheartedly embracing God and serving as a living expression of his will and nature.

Perhaps you recall having read Jesus’ comment according to the Bible when he interrogated his examiners thusly:

John 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

He got that from the psalmist, presumably David:

Psalms 82:6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

The prophet expressed our obligations further:

Isaiah 41:23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods…

Oh, whatever meaning has that phrase “Ye are gods?”

And why else would Jesus quote it but to instruct his unenlightened detractors with a little truth?

Like the psalmist said, “all of you are children of the most High.” And, as we know, children do grow up to be like those of whom they enjoy childhood.

Does prayer affect God? Oh, yes, in that way it really does. Prayer serves as the channel of communication to our Daddy, the one who never did and never will abandon us. It helps us grow to resemble him. And some day, experientially speaking, it will have helped us to comprise part of him.

Precious Brother Norman, because of your genuinely joyous and loving nature I have always known that YOU are your Daddy’s son -

The family resemblance… well, it’s unmistakable.

And as you yourself mature into an ever greater Daddy to those around you, I encourage you to continue doing your best in hearing and answering those prayers others pray to you.

Just as your Daddy does.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Nostalgia - All of Us Have Some

Lorraine and Anita wrote to their fellow orphans about times in the Buckner Orphan's Home in Dallas during the sixties:

  • Thanx Anita, something light is always good to start the day on., hope you are well and things are good for you. You always make my day brighter.Wish we could have known each other at BOH, but better late than never, and like I have said so many times before, we all know each other by heart........Your friend and sister, Lorraine
  • Anytime, me too I wished I'd have known you too back then too, when ya'll are talking I try to imagine the time frame you were in and how it must've been stricter times than ours and I respect all of you so much for making it through it and braving that path for us younger ones and also some of the same stuff we went through, that's why I really enjoy hearing your stories and looking at pictures.Sometimes it feels like when your talking like your still the ages you were then-and it's like you don't even have to say anything and you understand each other-even us! It's a bond and love, so unexplainable, so innocent and pure! Innocent Hearts. Glad to know all of you, late than never! Love Anita



Dear Anita and Lorraine:

Regarding your nostalgia about Buckner’s Orphans Home in Dallas during the sixties…

My three youngest siblings (Norman, Debbie, and Claudia) lived at Buckner while I lived alone or with a friend in Dallas during my last year in high school. I narrowly escaped being sent to a similar orphanage on the Gulf Coast not far from Houston a couple of years earlier.

Because of that, I might have difficulty dredging up an emotional experience like the one you shared when you recounted your nostalgia over your childhood at Buckner’s.

Except for one.

After high school, I joined the Navy, went to Boot Camp in San Diego, Submarine School in New London, Connecticut, and then my first submarine assignment in Key West (see Web Cams), the USS Quillback (SS 424). Once assigned to the sub, I settled into whatever chores they assigned me, including learning enough about the “boat” to qualify “SS” Submarine Service sailor. After nearly a year, the Navy assigned me to another Key West boat, the USS Threadfin (SS 410).

Key West sat then as a tiny town with tons of sailors and locals who called themselves “Conchs.” I thought the place a tropical paradise, except of course for the dearth of females. Sailors had to share those local chicks who would deign to a tryst. Most worked as barmaids rather than church-going neighborhood sweethearts. In their spare time, most sailors sat around the bars, strolled the beaches hunting for “strange,” and wistfully fantasizing about boat rides to Jamaica or the Mediterranean to break the boredom.

Several submarines sat in side the quay walls at the west edge of the small Navy Base on Key West. A large ship called a Submarine Tender moored north and south at the Navy mole inside the quay, and submarines tied up along side it for repairs and refitting. The mile-long main drag Duval street, home of Sloppy Joe’s Bar, ran north and south just outside the main gate. I used to sit in that bar and sip a cheap beer while lusting for the barmaid and listening to a Leon Redbone precursor play 4-string guitar and sing old blues and ragtime songs on the tiny stage behind the bar.

I did make friends on boats aboard which I served, the USS Quillback and USS Threadfin, people I remember today with fond affection, like brothers.

Some of my ship mates had wives, but most enjoyed bachelor life the best they could. Because we could not all sleep in the boat’s bunking quarters at the same time, the salty sailors who had been in the Navy some years lived in barracks quarters while the boat sat in port. When we put out to sea the junior sailors “hot-bunked.” That is, we shared the same bunks. When one would be on watch, another would sleep in the bunk.

While at sea, we sealed the topside hatches, and the engine exhaust and diesel fumes unavoidably permeated the boat. All of us and our clothing smelled like diesel fumes because of the nature of the submarine environment. We did not notice the smell ourselves, but we heard remarks from others when we dressed in our white sailor suits and ventured into town for some excitement. Several of my shipmates grew fond of Canoe cologne because it covered up the subtle stink while making them smell like tropical flowers.

The SS qualified sailors whiled away their time on watch playing Acey-Deucy (backgammon) or cribbage. The unqualified spent all their spare time studying, learning about the boat’s propulsion, buoyancy, weapons, steering, oil, water, electrical, and other critical systems. We went through frequent drills to make sure we could handle emergencies like fire, flooding, or explosive that might arise. We got to know one another’s fortes, foibles, humors, moods, and sometimes secret yearnings.

During my first few months aboard the Quillback I worked as a messcook – a server in the mess hall and dishwasher in the galley (kitchen). I rather enjoyed the job, even though I had gone through school to learn how to set up, operate, and service the computers and other equipment used to aim and shoot guns, torpedos, and missiles (Fire Control Technician). I got to meet and interact with all my shipmates.

And sometimes for entertainment, I’d go topside while in port after taking out the garbage from the mess hall, and hook a piece of fat on a fishing line, toss scraps along with the baited hook into the water, and try to lure one of the flock of hungry seagulls to snag the bait. Inevitably, I’d catch one and reel it in dazed, confused, and squawking, to release it and try for another. One day when dropping the cylindrical stainless steel garbage cans down the hatch to my fellow messcook Swartwood, I failed to notice he had bent over to pick up the pen that had fallen out of his pocket, and the can bonked him on the head with a loud clang, putting a blood-spurting gash in his scalp. I felt so horrible about that because I loved Swartwood as I did nearly all of my shipmates.

We all lived a fairly confined, circumscribed life in a special community on the submarine, just as you did at Buckners. Our captain and officers regulated our schedules, chores, and group leisure and recreation activities, just as the adults regulated yours at Buckners. And I earned a whopping $80 or $90 per month, some of which I sent home to my mother.

We did take the boat to Guantanamo Bay, Jamaica, and various exercises at sea. I loved all those adventures, but shall save till a future note some of my juicy stories about native girls, island music, swapping cigarettes for services, and smoking weed in the bulrushes behind Port Antonio’s Sunset Lounge.

When at sea, I loved standing watch on the top of the sail as the boat seem to cut a swath through the sea with its pointy bow and porpoises (called dolphins) raced the boat and leaped across the bow wake. I loved the storms at sea, with the puffy gray clouds showering rain in the distance against a bright blue sky. I loved scanning the beautiful horizon with binoculars and talking with my fellow watch and the Officer of the Deck. I loved diving into the rich blue water of the Caribbean during swim call. I loved the fabulous food, the best I’d ever eaten. I loved the excitement of learning how the submarine operated and working with shipmates during the drills, then hearing the Captain call out a congratulations and well-done for our accomplishments. I loved driving and diving the boat, the double-ooogah of the diving alarm, flooding the buoyancy tanks and feeling the boat settle beneath the waves, and then the silent running underwater. I loved going to the sonar room and listening to the sounds various fish made, and tracking the navigation of other vessels at sea. I loved the brilliant sunshine and warm temperatures, the balmy breezes swaying palm trees, and even the crotchety provinciality of the community of Key West. I enjoyed the sense of danger sitting only 90 miles from Cuba in the early 60s when we had a terrible relationship with Castro.

And I remember the day of the assassination of JFK. The topside watch informed me about it as he and I saluted one another when I walked aboard after a sunny afternoon adventure in town on a day in late November, in 1963. I lived in Key West just short

In 1998, after not having seen Key west since leaving in the fall of 1964 for Polaris missile fire control school in Dam Neck Virginia, I returned with my wife to Key West. How the town had changed. The salty feel of a navy village had transformed by some magic into a teeming tourist trap visited every day by pleasure cruise ships that had ignored it earlier. Sloppy Joe’s bar had no more of its Hemmingway atmosphere, and had converted much of its space to retail store selling Key West and Hemmingway souvenirs. The Conch Train still takes tourists around the town, pointing out historical landmarks, vegetation, and areas to visit on foot. My favorite bar had disappeared, the Tomato Patch, where a barmaid had taught me the jitterbug, Texas Two-Step, and slow dancing to Buck Owens songs like “Together Again”. The dangerous Cuban expatriate saloons no longer existed. Captain Mel Fisher had built his a treasure museum.

We visited the remains of the Navy Base, called the “Truman Annex.” The CIA listening station at the south end of the base still bristled with antennas, and cars in the parking lot hinted that the CIA personnel were still tuned in to radio signals sneaking out of Cuba. We drove down to the quay where the submarines had lain at their moorings. None of the 7 or 8 boats sat where they had in those days of my youth a year after I had graduated from a Dallas high school. The government had sold the submarines to foreign Navies or scrapped them. The base, although well-groomed and lovely as it had been 34 years earlier seemed deserted - I didn’t see a single sailor anywhere.

I stood there on the concrete mole overlooking the submarine basin and let the waves of nostalgia flood my thoughts and sense of existence. This tiny Navy base had served as home to many submarine sailors, including me. All had lusted, loved, and indulged the obligations and benefits of life there. Now, nothing remained but the memories.

And those memories, while not real, surely seemed so intensely true. But only the tidy little white buildings and manicured lawn stood behind as a hint to the work and play of so many years ago.

Norman and Debbie visited the remains of Buckners a few years back, and mentioned that little remained there but rubble and memories. I know they felt the same nostalgia I felt in Key West, and the same you must feel now as you think of your childhood years.

Bob Hurt


Thursday, August 10, 2006

Open Letter to Christian Evangelists

I appreciate your sharing your religious views with me. I often do not reciprocate because I wish to avoid unnecessary conflict, but you seem so intense that I shall provide you with comments from my heart to yours.

Jesus’ life and teachings have such importance that we can lift them out of the bible altogether and they can stand on their own as the only primary religious truths on this world. We do not need any associated writings by prophets, seers, historians, philosophers, or epistleers.

Jesus spent over 4 years living and teaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, and encouraging his followers to follow his lead and embrace that gospel:

  1. The reality of the sovereignty and Fatherhood of God – the Father loves us as his children.
  2. The truth of the Brotherhood of Man – we must love and unselfishly serve others
  3. Faith in the effectiveness of the supreme human desire to do God’s will – to be like God

Through the faith-embrace of our eternal relationship with our Heavenly Father, following Jesus’ guidance and inspiration, we shall engage in eternal adventures with the Father’s individuated spirit presences within us as our constant companions, both here on earth, and in heaven.

We have the divinely endowed purpose here to learn to show the nature of our loving Heavenly Father to the others around us – to develop balanced and majestic personalities like that of Jesus.

To the extent Christianity or any other religion falls short of the above concepts, it fails the mission the Father set for Jesus on this world, and it fails the Great commission Jesus gave his apostles before he disappeared from view for the last time on the morning of Pentecost.

The above principles of the gospel sit in the Bible for all to read and heed, woven through Jesus’ life and teachings, both public and private. And yet, when I ask my Christian brothers to tell me the gospel in a nutshell, they usually tell me anything but the above, and add other things that never comprised the teachings or focus of Jesus’ religious life.

I believe Christianity contains more of Jesus’ teachings than any other religion, but that it fell grossly short of the above ambitions because of cult practices, denominationalism, dogmatizing, formalizing, polluting, and crystallizing the religion OF Jesus into a religion ABOUT Jesus.

That distraction retarded the spread of the gospel at least 1500 years, paving the way for the rise of Islam. Had early Christians remained loyal to the gospel of the Kingdom of God as expressed by Jesus, Muhammad would have embraced it and Islam would not exist as we know it today – Islam (Submission to the Will of God) would constitute the religion of Jesus I outlined above. In that respect, Christianity shot itself in the foot, and produced militant Islam to terrorize the world today. In fact, Islam’s growth has outpaced Christianity’s growth for the past several years.

Some day, Christianity must reform itself and rejuvenate its interest, thrust, and focus on the gospel of the Kingdom of God without all the other ritualistic, denominational, and dogmatic trappings. When and as it does, it will attract far more converts from misguided religions than it does today.

The question: will YOU play a role in that reformation and refocus, or will you tune in only to fundamentalist dogma that distracts from the Great Commission?


As just one example of the wrong focus, people somehow mention how others are “bound for hell” because of not embracing Paul’s atonement doctrine. A person who embraces the religion of Jesus has no concern for hell. He does not enter his religion out of fear of burning, but out of desire to walk with God, accept the Father’s inner leading, feel Jesus’ personal spirit presence (the “comforter”), and show the nature of the Father to others. The truth-seeker cannot help feeling a craving for those things, and the gospel gratifies that craving.

Christianity focuses on Paul’s atonement doctrine: Accept on faith that the death of Jesus constituted a human sacrifice that appeases God, atones for your sins, and allows you to have relationship with God, or you will burn in hell forever.”

That seems to ignore Luke 4:18, Luke 4:43, Matthew 6:14 and 15, Luke 10:25-28, Mark 12:29-31, and John 3:16, and to violate the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18:20 and Mark 16:15. In fact, Jesus started teaching the gospel before he ordained his apostles in the Sermon on the Mount, and he did not even mention his death till over 3 years into his public ministry. Therefore, neither his death nor any thing related to or derived from it had any role in the gospel teachings. Jesus’ gospel also did not concern his status as Messiah or a divine being, for he told his apostles to stay quiet about it. And yet, Jesus very clearly said he came here to teach the gospel of the Kingdom of God

Upon dedicing to start his public mission. Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised…

After selecting the first apostles, but before ordaining them. Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

After ordaining his apostles. Luke 4:43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.

Over 3 years into his public ministry. Matthew 16:20-21 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Just 8 months before his death. Mark 9:9-10 And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.

You see from the above chronology that the gospel could not possibly contain any element of the Atonement Doctrine.


On top of that, Jesus’ very clear teachings about Love and Forgiveness, and God’s father relationship to us as his children constitute the essence of his teachings, and they also make the Atonement Doctrine impossible.


You receive the Father’s forgiveness you if you forgive others, but not if you don’t.
Matthew 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

You live forever (in Heaven) if you love God and your fellow humans. Luke 10:25-28 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

You must believe Jesus’ teachings (which you will if you accept his authority to teach) in order to live forever. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

He supplemented the Ten Commandments with a new one. John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

He made it clear that we already have the Father’s spirit within us. Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

He even claimed that his own spirit dwells with us. John 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

He loyally taught the Gospel the Father sent him to teach. John 17:7-10 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

His last Commandment, the Great Commission. Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He claimed absolute divine authority from the Father. Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

He said to spread his commands, not Paul’s atonement doctrine. Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

So now I ask: why would you take Paul’s atonement doctrine to heart above the direct unequivocal teachings of Jesus, particularly when Paul never met Jesus in person and never listened to his teachings? Paul’s letters caused much mischief in the spread of Christianity. They corrupted the simple gospel of the Kingdom of God with the personal religious philosophy of Paul.

For that reason, I encourage you as follows: refocus on the Gospel of the Kingdom of God as taught by Jesus.


Thanks for allowing me to share my views with you.

Bob Hurt.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Sunni, Shia, Atonement, the Gospel

In a recent message, my brother Norman provocatively asked:

Does anyone know the difference between a Suni and a Shia? From what I can gather they are lined up against each other in all the mideast. Why can't the Muslims just get along with each other? Of course, if they did, they'd unite against the rest of the world, right?

Sunnis believe the leader of Islam should show an honorable, religious nature, above all other qualities. Shi’as believe the leader should have descended from Muhammad, regardless of how honorable or religious he seems. I agree with the Sunnis. Saddam Hussein adheres to Sunni beliefs, as do most of his faction of followers in Iraq.

I would ask you why Christians didn’t get along with one another during the reformation and rise of Protestantism about 600 years ago, but I know you know the answer, so I won’t ask.

Religion, however crass, base, illogical, or primitive, means “devotion to supreme values.” Those values seem so supreme in the mind of the religionist as to compel one to believe the entire universe should embrace them wholeheartedly.

Let’s take Christianity in general as an example. The bulk of Christians, many of whose antecedents warred against one another over ideology, hold the common belief that

  1. Jesus died on the cross as a human blood sacrifice to atone for man's sins, and that
  2. Accepting that notion on faith somehow washes away their sins and allows them to go to heaven and enjoy eternal relationship with God (be saved), whereas
  3. Not accepting that notion on faith will cause the unbeliever to burn in hell forever.

Many Christians espouse and push that atonement doctrine with all their hearts, stuffing it into every possible sensory orifice of every possible child and adult with all the vigor they can muster. If you argue against the notion, there will be hell to pay. And you never get your pesky questions answered, questions like these:

  1. Since God ordered his children not to murder others as a major tenet of the 10 commandments, why would he break that rule in ordering the sacrificial murder of Jesus?
  2. Why would the Father order a sacrifice of his only begotten son to pay for the sins of others when such an order violates principles of justice and fairness? Isn’t God always fair and just?
  3. If the Father loves his imperfect, sinning children on earth and wants to save them, wouldn’t he love his only begotten sinless son at least as much?
  4. Why would the Father order the death of a being nearly his equal? Since Jesus rose from the dead, doesn’t that put his sacrificial death in the category of a sham? If his death had a sacrificial nature, why didn’t he stay dead?
  5. Isn’t the murdering of a human being as a sacrifice an effort to bribe God so that he will show favor to his children even though they do not deserve it? Can we bribe God?
  6. Doesn’t the offer of a sacrifice to God as a bribe to keep him from punishing us sort of turn God into some kind of divine Mafia Chief?
  7. If God is “no respecter of persons” why would he accept any bribe or sacrifice at all for any reason?
  8. Didn’t Jesus show disdain for the concept of sacrifice by overturning the moneychangers’ tables, driving sacrificial beasts out of the temple, shunning sacrificial meat at his Passover feasts, and saying “love is greater than all the burnt offerings”?
  9. What need or want could God have for sacrifice if he already has everything he wants and needs?
  10. How can belief in sacrifice make man able to have relationship with God when at least 18 different bible scriptures clearly state that the Spirit of God indwells our minds? What could be closer than that? How can any other relationship possibly compare to our Father’s individuated presence in the human mind?
  11. Didn’t Jesus teach in Matthew 6:14 and 15 that if you forgive the sins of others, your Father will forgive yours, but if you don’t, he won’t? Doesn’t this mean your forgiving others earns your Father’s forgiveness, even if you don’t believe the death of Jesus had a sacrificial nature? Doesn’t it also mean that even if you believe the death of Jesus had a sacrificial nature, you will not have your Father’s forgiveness so long as you refuse to forgive others who have sinned against you?
  12. Didn’t Jesus teach in Luke 10:25-28 that if you love God and your fellow humans you live forever (you go to heaven after you die)? Doesn’t that stand true even if you don’t believe Jesus’ death had a sacrificial nature?
  13. Didn’t Jesus say he was sent to this world in order to teach the gospel of the Kingdom of God?
  14. If so, how does the concept of his sacrificial death fit into that gospel when Jesus taught the gospel early in his ministry, but never mentioned his death till over 3 years into his public ministry, and even then he told the apostles to stay quiet about it?
  15. If the purpose of Jesus’ life on this world was to die a sacrificial death, why didn’t he teach about that atonement doctrine throughout his public ministry instead of NEVER mentioning it publicly, not even once?
  16. If the belief in the sacrificial death of Jesus was so important to man’s salvation, why didn’t Jesus say so on the morning of Pentecost when he gave his apostles his final orders before ascending into Heaven?
  17. Why did Jesus tell his apostles to go into all the world teach all he had commanded, and to spread his gospel to every creature, when neither his commands nor his gospel contained any words of reference to the atonement doctrine?

Many related questions exist which, answered honestly from the scriptures, will reveal, as do the answers to those questions above, the utter falsehood of the atonement doctrine. Very simply, Jesus never taught it, and he ignored it in giving the Great Commission to his apostles to spread the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, not the atonement doctrine.

On the morning of Pentecost, Jesus delivered his Great Commission then disappeared from view for the last time during the apostles’ earth lives. And yet, that very afternoon, Peter forgot everything Jesus had said when he took the people in the upper room to the temple court and preached his fireball sermon on the history of the Hebrews, how they had killed their prophets and killed Jesus too, and the importance of the fact of the “risen Christ.” Peter did not mention a single fact about the Gospel of the Kingdom ofGod Jesus had labored so prodigiously and against such immense political opposition for more than 4 years to teach to the apostles and other followers and listeners.

Behavior like Peter's causes false beliefs to spread like wildfire. Bombastic but misguided orators alter the original truth to something of their own creation because of what they think has importance or relevance, ignoring what their master taught them. The apostle Paul carried the error even further by replacing the Gospel with his own personal religious philosophy – the atonement doctrine, something Jesus never taught.

And, if we’re honest about it, we must admit that the atonement doctrine propounded by nearly all Christian churches drives away people of good education and common sense. Just one byproduct of the focus on the atonement doctrine rather than on Jesus’ Gospel of devotion to the principles of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man (Norman and I call it FOGBOM – don’t bother, I already own the main domain names) lies in the religion of Islam. Islam still does focus on good things, in spite of horrible aspects like the insane belief that dying in holy jihad while battling infidels earns earthly treasures in heaven. Those good things include focus on devotion to God (praying 5 times a day), doing God’s will, helping the poor and downtrodden (like orphans and widows) through the poor tax, and religiously adhering to the specific teachings of their Prophet.

If Christians adhered as strongly to the specific teachings of Jesus, most likely Islam would never have started because missionaries would have taken the real gospel to Muhammad, and he would have become a greater proponent of the Gospel. As it is, he warned all Muslims in his recital (the Koran) to heed the gospel, the REAL gospel, even though he did not know what it was. Sadly, most Christians don't know either. Don't worry, if you can't enumerate the points of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, you will soon have a remedy for that problem.

I personally believe adherence to the atonement doctrine and other religious delusions of the apostle Paul set back the spread of Jesus’ real gospel at least 1500 years. As a result the world contains 2 billion Christians and a billion Muslims instead of 3 or 4 billion Jesusonians or Gospeleers. And the world faces daily and terrible crises at the hands of a violent, vituperative minority of Muslims who rush headlong for the destruction of the West and all infidels (including Christians and Jews) who resist Islam.

We would probably be right to blame that on Paul, but at least we can say Christianity did spread to 2 Billion because of the few teachings of Jesus that manage to peek through the shroud of the atonement doctrine. And that’s a good thing. Maybe Paul meant well, and maybe not. I feel inclined to give him rave reviews in his methods, and the benefit of the doubt as to his motives, but I have no doubt that he screwed up, big-time, in the content of his message.

Nevertheless, I believe Christianity faces a renaissance sometime in the next couple of hundred years as its leaders resurrect the real gospel from the bog Peter and Paul tossed it in nearly 2000 years ago, and breathe new life and liberty into it. Maybe a new kind of John the Baptist will arise to bring the Gospel back to the forefront of Christianity where it belongs.

I know that will happen. It’s only a matter of time.

Just remember that Christianity had a 600-year head-start on Islam, and it began from the enlightened teachings of a brilliant Son of God to flourish in the western centers of learning and culture and experienced birth amidst Jews who had 2,000 years of history in the growth and stabilizing of their religion. By contrast, Islam got started from the expressions of the illiterate orphan Muhammad who claimed a visionary connection to Gabriel (not to the Father himself, as did Jesus) in an exceedingly backward and primitive area of the world where the people still worshipped the moon and multiple deities.


Muslim factions fight now somewhat like Christian factions fought 600 years ago. Give Islam another 600 years to catch up, and it will reform itself significantly, as did Christianity.

Let us hope Christianity also reforms itself by resurrecting and putting at the forefront of their religious philosophy the Gospel of Jesus, obliterating the abhorrent and illogical atonement doctrine (no offense intended, but a spade is after all a spade).

And now, as a little treat for those of you with some curiosity as to how you can precisely enumerate the tenets of the Gospel, I present this excerpt from the very end of Paper 140 of my favorite book of religious truth. I encourage all of you truth-seekers and gospel advocates to memorize it, for it contains the very heart and soul of Jesus’ mission on and to this world.

The Urantia Book, page 1585.

This same evening Thomas asked Jesus: "Master, you say that we must become as little children before we can gain entrance to the Father's kingdom, and yet you have warned us not to be deceived by false prophets nor to become guilty of casting our pearls before swine. Now, I am honestly puzzled. I cannot understand your teaching." Jesus replied to Thomas: "How long shall I bear with you! Ever you insist on making literal all that I teach. When I asked you to become as little children as the price of entering the kingdom, I referred not to ease of deception, mere willingness to believe, nor to quickness to trust pleasing strangers. What I did desire that you should gather from the illustration was the child-father relationship. You are the child, and it is your Father's kingdom you seek to enter. There is present that natural affection between every normal child and its father which insures an understanding and loving relationship, and which forever precludes all disposition to bargain for the Father's love and mercy. And the gospel you are going forth to preach has to do with a salvation growing out of the faith-realization of this very and eternal child-father relationship."

The one characteristic of Jesus' teaching was that the morality of his philosophy originated in the personal relation of the individual to God--this very child-father relationship. Jesus placed emphasis on the individual, not on the race or nation. While eating supper, Jesus had the talk with Matthew in which he explained that the morality of any act is determined by the individual's motive. Jesus' morality was always positive. The golden rule as restated by Jesus demands active social contact; the older negative rule could be obeyed in isolation. Jesus stripped morality of all rules and ceremonies and elevated it to majestic levels of spiritual thinking and truly righteous living.

This new religion of Jesus was not without its practical implications, but whatever of practical political, social, or economic value there is to be found in his teaching is the natural outworking of this inner experience of the soul as it manifests the fruits of the spirit in the spontaneous daily ministry of genuine personal religious experience.

After Jesus and Matthew had finished talking, Simon Zelotes asked, "But, Master, are all men the sons of God?" And Jesus answered: "Yes, Simon, all men are the sons of God, and that is the good news you are going to proclaim." But the apostles could not grasp such a doctrine; it was a new, strange, and startling announcement. And it was because of his desire to impress this truth upon them that Jesus taught his followers to treat all men as their brothers.

In response to a question asked by Andrew, the Master made it clear that the morality of his teaching was inseparable from the religion of his living. He taught morality, not from the nature of man, but from the relation of man to God.

John asked Jesus, "Master, what is the kingdom of heaven?" And Jesus answered: "The kingdom of heaven consists in these three essentials: first, recognition of the fact of the sovereignty of God; second, belief in the truth of sonship with God; and third, faith in the effectiveness of the supreme human desire to do the will of God--to be like God. And this is the good news of the gospel: that by faith every mortal may have all these essentials of salvation."

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