Saturday, February 08, 2014
America was built on a belief in God, and there’s just no way to deny that fact | The Matt Walsh Blog
America was built on a belief in God, and there’s just no way to deny that fact | The Matt Walsh Blog
The country was founded on a belief in a creator God and has OFFICIALLY endorsed
the concept from the very beginning. That is the reality. It is not
really up for debate. You may wish to turn America into something else,
but do not pretend that you are turning it into what it was always
designed to be. Have the courage of your convictions. Make your case for
an Atheist America, but do not stand there and tell me that America has
always been atheist.
The evidence against you is staggering:
-Five mentions of God in The Declaration of Independence.
-In God we trust – the motto found in the National Anthem and on coins dating as far back as 1860.
-The Continental Congress issuing the first national proclamation of thanksgiving to God.
-The Continental Congress calling for national repentance of sins.
-Church services being held inside the Capitol Building during the time of the Founders.
-The President swearing in on a Bible. (This is not required, but
it’s a custom many have followed. George Washington kissed a Bible
after swearing his oath.)
-Swearing on a Bible in court, “so help you God.”
-Federal Oaths that require federal officials to say “so help me God.”
-The Chaplain of the United States Senate.
-Every Senate session beginning with a prayer.
-“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of
Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and
humbly to implore His protection and favor.” – George Washington.
-“You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and
above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater
and happier people than you are. Congress will do every thing they can to assist you in this wise intention…” – George Washington’s speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs.
-“The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human
government upon the first precepts of Christianity.” – John Adams
The list goes on and on.
Two can play at the “Founding Fathers religion quotes” game, I
realize. I’m sure hundreds of secularists are busily Googling “Thomas
Jefferson anti-religion quotes” as we speak. It’s true that some of the
Founders were skeptical of “organized religion” (as opposed to
disorganized religion, I guess?) but none of them were atheists.
Jefferson was a Deist; a fact that only enhances the case for him
being very accepting of God in the public square. Deists believe that
the truth of a Divine Creator can be ascertained through observation and
reason. In other words, they viewed God as an Absolute Reality (same as
any other theist) but disagreed on the application of the reality.
Would Jefferson the Deist think that the governors of men should be required to ignore the Absolute Reality of God?
I doubt it. And the Declaration of Independence seems to indicate otherwise.
After all, we don’t need to cherry pick random statements from dead
men, or even analyze the religiosity that is undeniably ingrained in our
official laws and customs. We need only think about the philosophy that
serves as the foundation of our country. It is a philosophy of Natural
Rights. Our Natural Rights come from Natural Law. Natural Law
— particularly since Augustine and, later, St. Aquinas’ Summa
Theologica — has been understood as a set of foundational moral laws
that are inherent in human beings.
Natural Law, and
thus Natural Rights, either come from nature itself, or they come from
the Creator of Nature. If they come from nature itself, then all
democratic notions are in stark defiance of Natural Law. In nature, the strong survive and the weak are preyed upon. That is the law of the jungle; the law
of beasts. We, however, subscribe to the transcendent notion that all
humans possess a certain dignity which entitles them to certain
liberties. This immaterial dignity did not come through an evolutionary
process. It was endowed somehow. If it means anything, then it must be
more than a “social contract” or a policy of government.
The dignity exists. It is real. It means something. It comes from somewhere.
That “somewhere” must be God.
Without God, your rights are an abhorrent perversion of the only True Natural Law — the Law
of Mother Nature – and they are conditionally granted to you by
bureaucrats and politicians, who can revoke them at any time and for any
reason.
The Declaration of Independence might not be a legal document, but it
is a philosophical document. It is America’s Manifesto. It explains
that we have rights which are endowed on us by a Creator God. Every good
thing about America has grown from this basic starting point.
But… the Separation of Church and State, you shout.
Should I insult your intelligence by reminding you that no such
phrase exists in the Constitution? In fact, the First Amendment makes no
mention of “separation,” “church,” or “state,”
in any order or combination. The First Amendment puts no limit on
religion at all. Instead, it limits the governments ability to interfere
in religion, and permanently codifies our right to the “free exercise
thereof.”
When Thomas Jefferson used the notorious phrase “Separation of Church and State”
in his letter to the Danbury Baptists, he was describing a one-sided
wall where the corruption of the Government could not infiltrate and
infect the operations of the Church. He only chose those particular
words because he was speaking to Baptists. He thought it might resonate
with that crowd, considering the founder of the Baptist Church in
America, Roger Williams, had written 150 years earlier about the need
for a “wall of separation between the garden of the Church and the wilderness of the World.”
So when the Supreme Court later used this letter to justify its legal
opinion in Everson vs. Board of Education, it was really deciding case law based on part of a sentence written by a 17th century Baptist preacher.
Stellar work there, Your Honors.
Remember, the settlers were escaping a country that persecuted
Catholics after King Henry VIII threw a hissy fit when the Pope wouldn’t
change Canon Law to suit the
king’s habit of divorcing and/or murdering his wives. The Crown was
declared the “only supreme head of the Church in England,” and guys like
Thomas More were summarily beheaded and chopped into pieces for
refusing to recognize the king’s spiritual authority.
In other words, they were leaving a country where government had intruded on religion — not the other way around.
(**NOTE: I’m not saying that most of the North American settlers were
Catholics fleeing Henry VIII. I’m only using this as an example of the
sort of persecution religious people suffered under British rule.)
But, my atheist friends, I think you know all of this. Or at least some of it.
This country was built by God fearing men and women who intended
to enshrine and protect the very rights that could only come from God
Himself. God has always been central to America, both officially and
unofficially, publicly and personally. This is
the incontrovertible truth. It is a historical reality, and not one that
can be reasonably debated.
If you would like to change America into something else, you are free to try. But have the guts to admit what you are doing. Be honest.
The country was founded on a belief in a creator God and has OFFICIALLY endorsed
the concept from the very beginning. That is the reality. It is not
really up for debate. You may wish to turn America into something else,
but do not pretend that you are turning it into what it was always
designed to be. Have the courage of your convictions. Make your case for
an Atheist America, but do not stand there and tell me that America has
always been atheist.
The evidence against you is staggering:
-Five mentions of God in The Declaration of Independence.
-In God we trust – the motto found in the National Anthem and on coins dating as far back as 1860.
-The Continental Congress issuing the first national proclamation of thanksgiving to God.
-The Continental Congress calling for national repentance of sins.
-Church services being held inside the Capitol Building during the time of the Founders.
-The President swearing in on a Bible. (This is not required, but
it’s a custom many have followed. George Washington kissed a Bible
after swearing his oath.)
-Swearing on a Bible in court, “so help you God.”
-Federal Oaths that require federal officials to say “so help me God.”
-The Chaplain of the United States Senate.
-Every Senate session beginning with a prayer.
-“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of
Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and
humbly to implore His protection and favor.” – George Washington.
-“You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and
above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater
and happier people than you are. Congress will do every thing they can to assist you in this wise intention…” – George Washington’s speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs.
-“The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human
government upon the first precepts of Christianity.” – John Adams
The list goes on and on.
Two can play at the “Founding Fathers religion quotes” game, I
realize. I’m sure hundreds of secularists are busily Googling “Thomas
Jefferson anti-religion quotes” as we speak. It’s true that some of the
Founders were skeptical of “organized religion” (as opposed to
disorganized religion, I guess?) but none of them were atheists.
Jefferson was a Deist; a fact that only enhances the case for him
being very accepting of God in the public square. Deists believe that
the truth of a Divine Creator can be ascertained through observation and
reason. In other words, they viewed God as an Absolute Reality (same as
any other theist) but disagreed on the application of the reality.
Would Jefferson the Deist think that the governors of men should be required to ignore the Absolute Reality of God?
I doubt it. And the Declaration of Independence seems to indicate otherwise.
After all, we don’t need to cherry pick random statements from dead
men, or even analyze the religiosity that is undeniably ingrained in our
official laws and customs. We need only think about the philosophy that
serves as the foundation of our country. It is a philosophy of Natural
Rights. Our Natural Rights come from Natural Law. Natural Law
— particularly since Augustine and, later, St. Aquinas’ Summa
Theologica — has been understood as a set of foundational moral laws
that are inherent in human beings.
Natural Law, and
thus Natural Rights, either come from nature itself, or they come from
the Creator of Nature. If they come from nature itself, then all
democratic notions are in stark defiance of Natural Law. In nature, the strong survive and the weak are preyed upon. That is the law of the jungle; the law
of beasts. We, however, subscribe to the transcendent notion that all
humans possess a certain dignity which entitles them to certain
liberties. This immaterial dignity did not come through an evolutionary
process. It was endowed somehow. If it means anything, then it must be
more than a “social contract” or a policy of government.
The dignity exists. It is real. It means something. It comes from somewhere.
That “somewhere” must be God.
Without God, your rights are an abhorrent perversion of the only True Natural Law — the Law
of Mother Nature – and they are conditionally granted to you by
bureaucrats and politicians, who can revoke them at any time and for any
reason.
The Declaration of Independence might not be a legal document, but it
is a philosophical document. It is America’s Manifesto. It explains
that we have rights which are endowed on us by a Creator God. Every good
thing about America has grown from this basic starting point.
But… the Separation of Church and State, you shout.
Should I insult your intelligence by reminding you that no such
phrase exists in the Constitution? In fact, the First Amendment makes no
mention of “separation,” “church,” or “state,”
in any order or combination. The First Amendment puts no limit on
religion at all. Instead, it limits the governments ability to interfere
in religion, and permanently codifies our right to the “free exercise
thereof.”
When Thomas Jefferson used the notorious phrase “Separation of Church and State”
in his letter to the Danbury Baptists, he was describing a one-sided
wall where the corruption of the Government could not infiltrate and
infect the operations of the Church. He only chose those particular
words because he was speaking to Baptists. He thought it might resonate
with that crowd, considering the founder of the Baptist Church in
America, Roger Williams, had written 150 years earlier about the need
for a “wall of separation between the garden of the Church and the wilderness of the World.”
So when the Supreme Court later used this letter to justify its legal
opinion in Everson vs. Board of Education, it was really deciding case law based on part of a sentence written by a 17th century Baptist preacher.
Stellar work there, Your Honors.
Remember, the settlers were escaping a country that persecuted
Catholics after King Henry VIII threw a hissy fit when the Pope wouldn’t
change Canon Law to suit the
king’s habit of divorcing and/or murdering his wives. The Crown was
declared the “only supreme head of the Church in England,” and guys like
Thomas More were summarily beheaded and chopped into pieces for
refusing to recognize the king’s spiritual authority.
In other words, they were leaving a country where government had intruded on religion — not the other way around.
(**NOTE: I’m not saying that most of the North American settlers were
Catholics fleeing Henry VIII. I’m only using this as an example of the
sort of persecution religious people suffered under British rule.)
But, my atheist friends, I think you know all of this. Or at least some of it.
This country was built by God fearing men and women who intended
to enshrine and protect the very rights that could only come from God
Himself. God has always been central to America, both officially and
unofficially, publicly and personally. This is
the incontrovertible truth. It is a historical reality, and not one that
can be reasonably debated.
If you would like to change America into something else, you are free to try. But have the guts to admit what you are doing. Be honest.
Humor
(1) Facebook: Boudreaux was driving down the road the other day, with his wife, Marie, and his mother-in-law in the car. Every couple hundred yards, the two women would take turns telling him something about his driving.
"Slow down ! Watch the other car ! Don't drive so close to the center line ! Look out for that curve ! Etc. Etc." After awhile this started to wear on Boudreaux. He slams on the brakes and pulls onto the shoulder of the road.
Turning to Marie he says, "Look, who's driving dis car? You or your Momma ?"
"Slow down ! Watch the other car ! Don't drive so close to the center line ! Look out for that curve ! Etc. Etc." After awhile this started to wear on Boudreaux. He slams on the brakes and pulls onto the shoulder of the road.
Turning to Marie he says, "Look, who's driving dis car? You or your Momma ?"
Thursday, February 06, 2014
Wednesday, February 05, 2014
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
Even So, It Is Well
Even So, It Is Well:
If you became dictator of your country, and you can enact one law that could not be repealed once you are forcibly removed from office, what would that law be?
If you became dictator of your country, and you can enact one law that could not be repealed once you are forcibly removed from office, what would that law be?
Monday, February 03, 2014
Futility Closet
Futility Closet: Unquote
“I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise.” — Montesquieu
“It is a profitable thing, if one is wise, to seem foolish.” — Aeschylus
“All wisdom is folly that does not accommodate itself to the common ignorance.” — Montaigne
“I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise.” — Montesquieu
“It is a profitable thing, if one is wise, to seem foolish.” — Aeschylus
“All wisdom is folly that does not accommodate itself to the common ignorance.” — Montaigne
Sunday, February 02, 2014
Saturday, February 01, 2014
MyRightWingDad.net: FW: Mass Exodus US Oil Refinerys
MyRightWingDad.net: FW: Mass Exodus US Oil Refinerys
How
can anyone expect any company to do business with an anti-American,
hostile gov out of control? You can't. That is why we are seeing a mass
exodus, across the board in every industry in the US LEAVING.
The Closure Of The U.S. Oil Refinery Industry In The Past 2 Years
In 2010, there were 149 operable U.S. refineries
with a combined capacity of 17.6 million barrels (2,800,000 m3) per
day. Something odd started happening in late 2010-early 2011. The US oil refinery industry quielty announced the closure of numerous US oil refineries. Many are completely unaware the US ships
oil overseas to be processed. We do so as we do not have enough
refineries to process the vast amounts here, and we are barred from
building anymore refineries. All refineries perform three basic steps: separation, conversion, and treatment. Pretty simple.
with a combined capacity of 17.6 million barrels (2,800,000 m3) per
day. Something odd started happening in late 2010-early 2011. The US oil refinery industry quielty announced the closure of numerous US oil refineries. Many are completely unaware the US ships
oil overseas to be processed. We do so as we do not have enough
refineries to process the vast amounts here, and we are barred from
building anymore refineries. All refineries perform three basic steps: separation, conversion, and treatment. Pretty simple.
Several reasons include technical and economic factors as to why we ship it overseas to be processed.
1. The crude petroleum is sold to the highest bidder, NOT the nearest bidder
2. There are different kinds of crude oil, such as sweet/light and dark/heavy. They have different applications and uses.
3.
Different kinds of refining processes are needed to make different
products from the crude oil. Petroleum is processed to make lots of
products other than gasoline, like plastics and asphalt.
Different kinds of refining processes are needed to make different
products from the crude oil. Petroleum is processed to make lots of
products other than gasoline, like plastics and asphalt.
4. Politics, unions and the "enviornmentalists"
How many of you are aware Sunoco, ConocoPhillips and The HESS Corp are all closing US oil
refineries? Not many, as the media refuses to give this HUGE story
coverage. My guess is that if Americans understood the complete truth to
how we are being sold out, and enslaved there just might be the much
needed revolution to turn this country around.
refineries? Not many, as the media refuses to give this HUGE story
coverage. My guess is that if Americans understood the complete truth to
how we are being sold out, and enslaved there just might be the much
needed revolution to turn this country around.
Last
September, both Sunoco & CP announced plant closing, effecting
thousands of workers. Sunoco announced they are completely getting out
of the oil industry. Closing up shop. They are done with the US oil industry.
September, both Sunoco & CP announced plant closing, effecting
thousands of workers. Sunoco announced they are completely getting out
of the oil industry. Closing up shop. They are done with the US oil industry.
Sunoco is closing it's 2 oil refineries in July 2012 in Philadelphia and Marcus Hook, Pa. Those 2 facilities alone process over 500,000 barrels a day.
Also
announced last year, ConocoPhillips announcd 2 plant closing for sure
in Trainer, PA and Bayway, NJ., the other 3 plnts are undecided as of
today.
announced last year, ConocoPhillips announcd 2 plant closing for sure
in Trainer, PA and Bayway, NJ., the other 3 plnts are undecided as of
today.
Conoco also announced they were closing their Alaskan refining facility:
Valero also announced in late 2011 the closure of US oil refining facilites, costing numerous jobs, and the loss of 210,000 barrels of oil per day:
Just a week ago, the US 3rd
largest oil refinery owned and operated by The HESS Corp just announced
it's permanent closure. Costing over 2,000 jobs, and effecting 950
contractors:
largest oil refinery owned and operated by The HESS Corp just announced
it's permanent closure. Costing over 2,000 jobs, and effecting 950
contractors:
Refineries on the East Coast of the US supply 40% of the gasoline sales and 60% of the diesel and other fuel oils.
Of that, HALF that comes from the Sunoco & ConocoPhillps plant closures.
When
ConocoPhillips announced that it was closing the Trainer refinery,
Willie Chiang, then ConocoPhillips' Senior Vice President of Refining,
Marketing, Transportation and Commercial, noted that their decision to
sell, like Sunoco's, was based on unfavorable economics caused by a
competitive and difficult market environment characterized by
"...product imports, weakness in motor fuel demand, and costly
regulatory requirements."
ConocoPhillips announced that it was closing the Trainer refinery,
Willie Chiang, then ConocoPhillips' Senior Vice President of Refining,
Marketing, Transportation and Commercial, noted that their decision to
sell, like Sunoco's, was based on unfavorable economics caused by a
competitive and difficult market environment characterized by
"...product imports, weakness in motor fuel demand, and costly
regulatory requirements."
They
are ALL closing up shop due to gov regulations, union demands and
excessive operating costs brought on by the Gov regulations.
are ALL closing up shop due to gov regulations, union demands and
excessive operating costs brought on by the Gov regulations.
Then you have the unions, led by Barry's buddy Leo Gerard saying they will clsoe ALL US oil refineries starting from the east coast to west coast today.
The
unions are shutting down ports, rail and air across the pond right
now......the SAME EXACT thing they plan on doing here. When the ships
stop importing, the rails & air stop delivering....how much is
everything you consume gonna cost? Remember...we are a CONSUMING
country, no longer a producing one.
unions are shutting down ports, rail and air across the pond right
now......the SAME EXACT thing they plan on doing here. When the ships
stop importing, the rails & air stop delivering....how much is
everything you consume gonna cost? Remember...we are a CONSUMING
country, no longer a producing one.
The excessive and costly gov regulations on the US oil refinery market has forced companies to re-evaluate the cost of doing business in the US.
Why have operations in the US where you bleed money via regulations & demands, when you can have refineries built in Columbia, Mexico or Brazil for pennies on the dollar, and less regulations?
It's all business America...nothing personal.
Besides.....your gov is giving BILLIONS to Columbia and Brazil to build refineries to process all that oil the US is losing.
We are building up every country on earth, while destroying our own....all in the name of redistribution of wealth.
I covered some of these "deals" Barry inked in my previous note:
You do the math. When the US oil
refineries finally close up shop, who will process all that oil....and
how much do YOU think that oil will cost when it's ALL processed over
seas?
refineries finally close up shop, who will process all that oil....and
how much do YOU think that oil will cost when it's ALL processed over
seas?
Think gas and energy costs are high right now.......wait 6 months. You haven't seen anything yet.
can anyone expect any company to do business with an anti-American,
hostile gov out of control? You can't. That is why we are seeing a mass
exodus, across the board in every industry in the US LEAVING.
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