Bandit kings and quasi-CEOs

eejoseph, ,

The Canaan Abraham knew was plagued by kings ruling nothing more than walled towns and villages. They formed alliances for raiding neighbouring farms and ranches. They kidnapped people for ransom. They were most certainly not democratic or had any interest in protecting the rights of human beings as such. They were bandits and thieves, an an ancient portrait of the modern chief executive officer who learns how to bypass the wishes of the people whom he serves.

They found refuge in a state north of Canaan, namely Syria, as we learn in Abraham’s action against the northern alliance. “He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.” (Genesis 14:15, NASB)

“Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed.” (Genesis 14:11, NASB)

“They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.” (Genesis 14:12, NASB)

What do these ancient kings have in common with the 21st century’s civic elected leaders? Cities have become extremely powerful entities, with huge budgets and extensive economic interests and increasing draconian tendencies. The Ontario premier has inserted a culture of bandit monarchy by creating legislation which gives mayors “strong powers”. This is squarely fascist play. Mayors can appointment civil servants in the city, hire and fire these individuals, and place them essentially beyond the necessary checks and balances, and mayors can now proceed to pass by laws with only one third of the council members in agreement. Let’s tell Mayor Tory that there is no respectable or reasonable way to be undemocratic, and provincial priorities must not be a cover for denying Toronto’s elected government to be sidelined by corrupt and cowardly Conservatives like Doug Ford and his cronies.

Smell the cannabis you noses of love and justice

eejoseph, ,

What exactly is canceled culture?  I’m not going to look it up,  but I guess it relates to people who think that whatever they have to say, whatever they have to contribute, must be accepted by everybody else.  People cannot say no to them.  People can’t say “Hey Buster. You’re done”.  Let’s face it some people are done.   There is no longer an empire named Babylon.  There is no Empire named Persia on this planet.   There’s no Empire name Greece.  It is over for world-ruling empires.  What is left of world empires is iron and dirt.  That is Rome today, and we can see where Rome  is heading today.  Exciting revelations are pouring out from Stanley Tucci explorations, so let us see if we can talk culture and cancel without getting trigger happy and loose tongued.  A neo-fascist Italy is not too far from the Rome that built London, and Rome had nothing to do with Washington, or the capitals of Texas, Florida, Michigan, or Arizona. Railing against cannabis is a rotting fish, and the justice sniffers are inoperative, because alcohol, annual killer of thousands, is a favorite of many politicians, one of whom promised citizens beer for a buck.

Make who great again?

If people do not read they can hardly call themselves civilized.  Ask the Iraqis and the Iranians about writing and progress.  There is no spin that can unseat the facts.  Ask the Germans, French and the British about empire and you will discover that watching reality TV and consuming hundreds of poisonous viral videos will end in soiled hands and pants with no water in sight.  Greatness is not an idea; it is the result of honest and courageous persons living where all men can see them.  If you have ever wondered why the 45th president of the United States steals documents, does his best to leave no trail of his communications, ask “Why does wax melt in the presence of a fire?” Who seriously wants Babylon Persia, Greece or Rome to be in charge of the global agenda again?

The gloves are off

America has gone from grand adventure to wild West, to an unending civil war and the theatre of  political games.  What else can a two party state be but a game of all fall down?  So they want to play with official opposition, well, there it is, and the house divided falls.  The readiness with which people deny that humanity contains a standard of goodness, even a potential goodness to one’s enemies is surprising and shameful.  The powerbrokers on one side of the aisles of power are equipping themselves to empty the government of the nation of basic welfare for all.

Serving justice has a new face

Why should using the law to permanently injure people for cannabis use be reversed?  Short answer: cannabis is neither a narcotic nor an intoxicant like alcohol.   Apart from the desire to have abundance (the love of money) we can see what makes siblings of Iran, the United States, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the PRC.  Misogny.    If women, the lynchpin of human existence, can be the target of such a destructive attitude and program, we should not be surprised that racist and xenophobic mindsets also thrive in these places.

We can’t smell justice even right under our noses

These same states that are famous for concocting legislation that outlaws things that are perfectly legal can fool the gullible.    Ronald Reagan’s war on drugs was a verifiable red herring: it targeted black and brown people and ignored the use of synthetic chemicals by white people practically in the open.  Ronald Reagan and the GOP did not close a single bar or liquor store.  Yeshua and his apostles said nothing about what go ornament justice should look like, and no one wants to adopt Mosaic legislation wholesale.  Yeshua’s mother, on the other hand, was cogent and precise about what justice looks like.

And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him. He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; And sent away the rich empty-handed.

Luke 1:50-53, NASB

When you find a politician who is ready to scatter proud people, ready to bring down the rulers from their seats, ready to exalt the humble and the meek (basically the oppressed people), ready to fill the hungry with good things, and ready to send the rich people away empty-handed, give us a call then we’ll talk about real justice in the 21st century.

The patriotic slogans mask

eejoseph, , ,

The vast majority of Canadians can smell insurrection, fascism, white supremacy and blind political rage when  they see it.  People can’t just slap the label “freedom” on their anger and questionable slogans and get hailed as heroes, especially when the nation has not shown its readiness to atone for genocide.  My mother and her generation had a saying tagging lawyers as liars and we that not all lawyers are liars,  but all the legal posturing possible by conservative types and churches are just a mask for more White privilege spam.

Lawyers cannot legitimize white privilege

Convoy leaders and political leaders hoped that police would look the other way while the power of church money, the designs of mob rule and insurgent strategies played out in Canada’s capital. I  do not know of anyone  who wants to hear grievance or protest from Nazi sympathizers or from people who feel neither sympathy nor solidarity for immigrants and Canada’s First Nations.

The commission of compulsory cowards

The present police force in Ottawa was clearly cowardly and we dare not even mention the Ontario premier, who wanted to be hands off while a group of people that he seemed friendly towards were crippling the nation’s capital and at the same time putting the knife to the throat of the nation’s economy at border crossings. Who does not know the truth about courage and cowardice in those circumstances? The Royal Canadian Mounted Police might seem to be incompetent in the resolution of the freedom convoy’s assault on Canada’s tranquility and economic ascent, but we had all better remember that the force is as we speak protecting the nation from both internal and external threats, both of which in many of us do not want to hear about and many of us have no right to hear the strategies they use to do so.

“End the lockdown” bombed badly

Anger at covid19 restrictions was a gift to many people who are always looking for a reason to appear better than White Anglo Saxo Protestant. Most Christian’s know that freedom happens in aconte of loving constraint, but not the freedom convoy. It wanted the freedom to urinate and defecate on sacred grounds, hold a city and a nation hostage, and the freedom to camp out on city streets. Christian money, petitions and websites like http://chng.it/YNfcpNVz were not figments. It was not a figment that the Ontario Government gave th4 city of Totonto the power to take action in emergencies with only a third of council in agreement. What kind of democracy does not see the use of extraordinary powers as insurrectiontionist-prone? Not only did the anti-mandate slogans not work, they were happily allied with other historically distasteful characters but the convoy strategies also made losing appearances at the Public Order Emergency Act inquiry. Governments can say the pandemic is over and restrictions are no lo get necessary, but the scientific community and institutions of learning are not buying it. The dangers of fatal respiratory disease continue and the status of Canadian hospitals and healthcare institutions statistics are not lies The patriotic mask should be retired because it just does not work any more.

City on a pedestal

eejoseph,

Eyes on the ball and breaking down the walls of vanity are in order at the richness that leaps out from the psalm titled “For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, set to Alamoth. A Song.” It makes me smile and want to hug. It celebrates refuge and strength and assistance. For a Christian reading this song, the Holy Spirit is front and centre in the interpretation and embrace of the song’s message. Especially distinct is the reference to water, the gladdening river.

“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.” (Psalms 46:4-5, NASB)

  • River, nature, Holy Spirit
  • Streams, life-supports
  • God’s city, Jerusalem, me/you
  • Dwelling places, many, mishkanē, me/you
The sacred tent, the MISHKAN, the tabernacle

The city on a hill, the glad tent, is the believer, more so than any piece of real estate . You are more than a proverb or picture.

Nothing better than carving out sovereignty

eejoseph

Here is incontrovertible evidence that an Alberta Conservative politician can bamboozle Albertans with legislation defining hypothetical fights with the government of Canada. Launching a sovereignty shield is pure thumb-twiddling that takes the place of real work for citizens.

Sovereignty act segways to chaos

Don’t Canadians see, in bright letters,  where the pride and passion of sovereignty ends?  How many sleepless nights are Albertans going to endure to have this Quixotic shield against the Federal government up and functional? I am pretty sure that every regional leader in Canada, with a vanguard of lawyers at their disposal, knows exactly where the lines of federal, territorial and provincial authority intersect, and I am no lawyer.

Honestly, Canada tries

eejoseph,

Canada’s new Indo-Pacific strategy represents the best of a modern nation’s honourable venture in international affairs. Canada can put no aircraft or aircraft carriers into the Pacific ocean to deal with the People’s Republic of China’s belligerence and manipulative practices, not to mention it’s atrocious human rights record. I dare to say it would be difficult to find the Canadian who has not wondered why are there so many Chinese products on our shelves including our groceries when we know that the Chinese government has made no attempts to join the family of nations who treat their people with dignity. The People’s Republic of China is not what it wants the world to believe it is. Canada is one of the few nations that tries real hard to do the right thing with as much transparency as possible. KEEP UP YOUR PRAYERS FOR THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT – that a life of peace and wellbeing be extended to more and more people continually.

A simple faith

eejoseph

Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.

Mark 11:24, NASB

This saying should excite the believer. It will do nothing for the unbeliever. It comes on the axis of a request for faith to continue.

“Have faith in God.”

Mark 11:22n
Ἔχετε πίστιν θεοῦ· targets a faith already in possession.

The disciples, like us, were amazed at the effect of Yeshua’s disappointment over a tree that had no fruit. They heard him curse the fig tree, and seeing the tree the next day was truly eyeopening. It had withered!

On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening. (Mark 11:12-14, NASB)

Being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.”

Mark 11:21, NASB

This instruction is not about getting the faith, drumming up the faith, or letting faith rise to get something we want. It speaks about the faith one already has and how, in pursuit of a normal satisfaction, in this case, a fig snack, faith might bring on unimagined consequences. Significantly, Yeshua’s faith did not bring him a fig snack.

Blessing a fruitless tree may produce fruit next time you go looking for a snack.

Saint Mike of McPence

eejoseph

How many pence there are in the wallet of political character making up the profile of the former Vice-president Pence is hard to tell. If the only response evoked by St Mike’s president’s criminal tweets and vulgarity is anger at the coup attempt on January 6th 2021 a shilling is too much.  If a VP did not serve to keep his commander-in-chief from offending the people he swore to serve his stash is meager indeed.

A shameful fawning sycophant

VPs are more than yes men, and St. Mike did not even try to find a way to erase the stain of “Mexicans are rapists”, “Muslims are unfit immigrants”, “Nazis are very fine people”, and “Black people have nothing to lose”. Christian faith may figure in St. Mike’s speeches but it can have no more divine credentials than the goals and messages of white nationalists. God did not help the insurrectionists in the civil war and he slammed the door on the attempt to crown a criminal TV personality as American saviour on January 6th.

St. Mike is the smilefree and anger-free face of American Christofacism. No synthetic entity of this kind will ever pass muster. If people keep thinking that there is an essential nexus between politics of any brand and the faith of Jesus Christ then there will be no difference between America and totalitarian regimes like the peoples Republic of China or the Islamic republics or cross-eyed Democratic states like Israel and Hungary.

The insurrectionist and their crimes

If you want to know how many pennies there are to St. Mike you should hear him say that Congress has no right to his testimony. He speaks of the coequality of the executive and the legislative bodies in the United States government but fails to recall that the Congress can impeach the president and can call any person in the United States to give testimony when crimes have been committed. We must wonder if Saint Mike forgets that his life was in danger in plain sight and with audio on January 6th. St Mike is hanging himself, clinging to the scam that 45 was good for America except for his coup attempt. The GOP is felled tree. Turn the page, all ye Pences and Farthings.