LOL! How true! ;-)

The law is not mythical — 'as you sow, so shall you reap' is eternal and self-evident.

Interesting.  Is that one of the reasons the fruit of the tree of 'knowledge' of good and evil was forbidden?  Because it was finite and introduced a concept foreign to 'truth' and the infinite possibilities of heaven?  Apparently such 'knowledge' condemned perfect and immortal man to a mortal and 'fallen' existence.  Why put such a tree in the garden in the first place, not to mention a talking and tempting serpent...? I get a sense that the 'knowledge' spoken of is missing something in the translation.

I love this!  It is my guiding principle as a truth-seeker, and I can attest to it.  For the most part, our understanding of the world is tainted by a false understanding of what is so.  Deception abounds and even written into the history books.  False flags, covert operations, and downright lies from the wicked in high places are treated as gospel.  And what has been the result?  Servitude, hatred, envy, and all matter of evil treated as 'right.'

Jesus represents the Truth incarnate, and I can find no fault in his teachings and example.  I questioned his authenticity in my youth, but I can say that eventually God proved himself to me.  The Truth becomes self-evident to anyone who will let it in.

The existence of a lie depends on the truth it aims to hide.  But once the lie is exposed, it has no more power, and is destroyed.  The truth is eternal and requires nothing to prop it up, it stands alone without effort — it 'is.'  A lie has no substance, it is an absence like a shadow is an absence of light.  The truth is the real and substantive, the lie is unreal and without substance. 

So, to build a 'world' upon that which is not true is to build an illusion that will eventually fall once the truth becomes known.  Those that deny truth, refuse to examine false premises, do so because they have too much invested in the lie and have too much to lose.  Some lie to themselves and others lie knowingly — it all ends up the same way, inheriting the wind.

Indeed the truth makes us free — we know because we have been liberated from the lies and see plainly now.  I wish that for everyone who has ears to hear.  Merry Christmas!

Huh?  Sorry, Robert, I think you have this one wrong...

This is one of the issues with collectivist thinking... "America" is a concept, a straw man, not a ship or a person.  Perhaps you could say 'Americans' lost their integrity, but it would again be fallacious because each American has varying degrees of integrity, history, attitudes, etc..  Such generalized statements carry no weight.  The same with making blanket statements about Christians, Muslims, blacks, whites, etc.  As far as massacring, there is plenty of that throughout the world and not confined to any specific group.  That doesn't make it right.  Robert, you are British, so I find that such holier-than-thou arguments are hypocritical at best.  (See how I just demonstrated a strawman argument to belittle you?😉)

Discerning 'right' and 'wrong' is a matter of conscience, and we are not without examples throughout history from which to learn 'the way.'  Given the 'Law', "As you sow, so shall you reap," the 'rules' are set by religion and tradition.  The adherence to these rules is considered 'moral.' 

The concepts of what is 'good' are founded upon Life, Love, and Truth, the opposite of which are considered 'evil.'  To uphold these ideals in their many forms and to adhere to the Golden Rule is considered 'moral,'  and to oppose or ignore them is 'immoral.' 

Thus the morality of a religion, tradition, or a people is determined by whether the actions followed by such are in accordance with these precepts.  In pursuit of the ideal, we may trip and fall, but our faith in them allow us to not give up, to get up, and to continue on such a path for its own sake.  Thus the call for 'forgiveness,' because absolute justice is condemnation of all. 

This, to me, sums up morality and spiritual understanding.  Merry Christmas!

That is truly marvelous, Mike.  I love to hear those testimonies.

The Golden Rule is golden because of the Law: as you sow, so shall you reap.  It is not a result of plagiarism that one can see the Truth which is eternal and ever in front us to be realized/discovered.  It takes a truly narrow mind to be atheistic.  The artist is known through his art, and the designer is known through his designs.  The entire natural universe from the atom to galaxies are obviously ordered and ingeniously designed.  The human is a masterful creation, as well as life, the mind and consciousness itself (referred to as spirit or soul).  To mock that is truly arrogant.

This is what America was founded upon.  Has the world ever seen a group of men such as the American Founding Fathers?  May there be a renaissance of these ideals in the hearts of the people.

Confusion and corruption arises by not making the distinction between 'law' and 'statute.'  Mike reminds us that true 'law' is from the laws of nature which are self-enforcing.  Humankind has ever set about to declare 'rules' to follow for a 'civilized' society.  Hence the Golden Rule.  Why?  Because of the 'Law': As you sow, so shall you reap.  Our statutes/legislation should best be in accord with The Law, not so that we attempt to play God, but to help our fellow man avoid the consequences of trying to 'break' The Law.

I asked ChatGPT what Ron is talking about.  Here's the response:

Short answer: The commenter is mixing biblical Hebrew and classical Greek words to criticize modern “liberal” compromise and to praise an older, religiously framed idea of liberty (freedom from bondage). He contrasts false liberality with pure liberty and invoke Alfredo Rocco’s fascist formulation as the prompt for that polemic.

The writer is responding to Rocco’s famous line about liberalism and fascism by arguing from a religious-linguistic frame: he calls some modern liberals nadiyb (pejoratively), accuses them of keciyl (foolishness), and insists that true freedom is the biblical/Greek idea of release or manumission rather than state‑enforced equality. The tone is moral and theological: the commenter treats political categories as moral/spiritual conditions rather than neutral policy labels.

Glossary (words the commenter used):
- Nadiyb / nâdîyb — a Hebrew word meaning noble, generous, princely; as a noun it can mean a grandee or (in some contexts) a tyrant or notable person.
- Keciyl / kᵊsîl — Hebrew for fool or foolish/complacent person; used in biblical wisdom literature to mean a stupid or senseless person.
- Chophshiy / chophshîy — Hebrew adjective meaning free or liberty (freedom from bondage, tax, or care) — the commenter’s “ancient Chophshiy Liberty” refers to this biblical sense of exemption and manumission.
- Drowr / deror — Hebrew noun meaning liberty, release, free run (used in contexts like the Jubilee proclamation of liberty).
- Brakah / berakah — Hebrew berakah (blessing); in some lexica it’s also translated as liberal or present; the commenter’s “Brakah liberality” likely invokes blessing/generosity as a moral ideal.
- Eleutheria / Apeleutheros — Greek eleutheria = liberty/freedom; apeleutheros = a freedman or one set free — the commenter borrows classical Greek to emphasize civic or personal freedom as an ancient ideal.
(Each gloss above is drawn from standard lexica and Strong’s concordance entries.)

About the Rocco quote:
Alfredo Rocco’s sentence appears in The Political Doctrine of Fascism and is widely quoted as a succinct contrast between liberal individualism and fascist collectivism. Rocco was an Italian jurist and later a member of the National Fascist Party; his essay was part of 1920s Italian fascist intellectual literature.

How to read the commenter:
He is not doing neutral philology but using ancient-language terms as moral weapons: Nadiyb and Brakah are set against Drowr/Chophshiy/Eleutheria to claim a purer, God‑aligned liberty and to reject both socialist/fascist coercion and what they see as corrupt modern liberal permissiveness. That rhetorical move mixes theology, classical language, and political polemic rather than offering a systematic political theory.

Dream on, Reston.  Some of the richest politicians are 'progressive' liberals who, once in office, raked in millions — for what?  Apparently they have become the most savvy investors Wall Street has ever seen.  Nancy Pelosi is one of the biggest hypocrites ever, with AOC now a millionaire after only a few short years in Congress.  Elizabeth Warren, too, also making millions while spreading the 'eat the rich' rhetoric.  Face it, the poor are kept poor for their votes for empty promises and to promote class warfare — all while the government reps laugh their way to the bank.

Our 'right' to be free is not earned, but I will agree that to move from dependence to independence requires taking responsibility and is the distinction between a child and an adult.

🤣 LOL, Waffler, you are exactly who Braun is talking about!

We can never avoid the consequences of breaking the laws of nature and of "nature's God."

Prescient words indeed as we witness the election of an avowed Marxist as the mayor of NYC — the financial capital of the US, if not the world.  He was elected predominantly by recent immigrants (legal and illegal perhaps).  It can't happen here?  God help us...

Islam is essentially a theocracy (i.e. sharia law), so absolutely incompatible with the American republican form of government.

The quote is attributed to Marx without a source, so, rather than argue with a straw man, we need only refer to Marx's confirmed writings like Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto (with Engels). 

There are some intelligent responses above, like the post from Tony, Victoria.  But in my mind, the cure for the ills of imperialism (like czarist Russia and British colonial feudalism) was not the implementation of Marx's and Engels' statist ideology but through Liberty under a republican form of government as was proffered by the Founding Fathers of America.

Early pilgrims attempted a form of communism that failed so drastically, they had to get rid of it or risk starvation.  America flourished whenever liberty and the Golden Rule were the ideal.  Rules for a 'civilized' society must not violate the laws of nature (and of nature's God, as Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence).  Indeed the Catholic and Protestant church's departure from their Christian ideals resulted in the oppression of many nations, but the laws of nature cannot be broken without consequence. 

'Capitalism' is a loaded word that does not fully take into account the causes of the oppression for which 'capitalism' is supposedly the cause.  Servitude of any kind is in opposition to Liberty.  Remember that in a monarchy or a communist state, all the land, roads, deer, businesses are owned by the state/monarch, and all are but tenants paying tribute — that may have been called 'capitalism' by Marxists, but it is not what private enterprise would call capitalism. 

Highly-regulated commerce and a fiat money system are the true causes of poverty and servitude today — fundamental planks of the Communist Manifesto.  If history is any guide, implementing the planks of the Communist Manifesto transforms every nation into a slave state that eventually succumbs under its own weight. 

Built upon false premises, Marxism is a hopelessly flawed ideal that only a sound education can recognize as a cliff from which not to jump.

Exactly!

Interesting, Ron... what the hell are you talking about?  Inquiring minds want to know. ;-)

According to Bertrand Russell's 'golden rules,' today's 'liberals' are liberal no more, breaking most of the 'commandments.'  Progressive liberals have 'progressed' far beyond the classical meaning of liberalism (as was understood by fascists like Alfredo Rocco in his day). 

My 'disdain' is for the hypocritical 'liberals' who are not liberal at all but embrace the authoritarian aspects of progressive liberalism that is in fact nothing more than socialism disguised.  Supremacy of the state is NOT liberal, and socialism in all its forms places the State as supreme and the individual subject to it.

I will say that I believed marijuana should have been decriminalized, even the use of cocaine and heroin.  But test cities like Seattle and SF have shown that also removing the penalties for the crimes that drug users commit is a bridge too far.  Scenes from Philly with drugged out zombies taking over entire neigborhoods are ghastly.  Small businesses aren't even allowed to keep their storefronts free from squatters.  This was not the intent of decriminalizing drug use.

I agree with you, Terry, but look what the State has done now with legalized drugs — the drugs are more dangerous than ever with entire populations of users living in tents on sidewalks and underpasses, zombies walking the streets defecating all over the public spaces.  Letting out non-violent drug offenders has been extended to not even prosecuting theft and violent crimes. 

Sex education has turned into indoctrinating children into choosing their gender and genital mutilation encouraged by the State.  Euthanasia while understandable for the terminally ill in pain, but now MAID service (Medical Assistance in Dying) is being prescribed for 'ailments' such as poverty and depression, even for the young.  The suicidal may now request MAID with the support of the medical community — calling the suicide hotline may end up helping to make an appointment!  

The Boy Scouts used to prevent homosexual Scoutmasters for fear of grooming young boys — now those fears have come to fruition once the guardrails came off, even girls who identify as boys may join. 

It seems every good idea turns into a racket — look at how far left the liberals have gone.  Conservatism has good reasons for its stand to stick to the fundamentals.

I attended public school in 3 different states, also Catholic school and prep school.  The Department of Education had not yet been formed, so public school was not quite as indoctrinated as it has since become. 

Black kids were bussed in to our 'white' neighborhood an hour away, making the local kids the minority in their own town.  We were taught even then that the whites were racist, and I felt so guilty, I wished I was black and started emulating them.  My mother would get angry, "Stop talking black!"  Young minds are so malleable. 

The classes ended up being segregated anyway with a corner for some students to read and study on their own while the rest of the class was 'catching up.'  There was constant hostility of the bussed in kids towards the locals — I came to recognize this f-u chip on their shoulder throughout my life.  The racism was towards the whites constantly, and this continues to this day, it appears to be cultural. 

In private schools, race played no role.  All were expected to be respectful, to excel, and to be prepared to go to college (which in those days was not like it is now).  Obviously, the better education was that which my family paid for — same for health care, better service if you are willing to pay above and beyond the 'basic' services.  You get what you pay for. 

It should be noted that each private school offered scholarships to those without financial means, but of course those students were expected to maintain good grades and civic discipline as were all students.  Students could be expelled! 

Government support for private schools was always an ideal of the founders like Jefferson and Adams, but every good idea eventually turns into a racket when government financing comes into play.  The power of the educator becomes very enticing since the children are easily molded by them.  Politics can't help but to take advantage. 

Today, the education system has been coopted by a statist creed, producing drones with just enough education to support the apparatus of the state.  I found old notebooks from my great grandmother, and 8 year-olds knew more back then than high school graduates today!  This is not an accident.  If you want to get an education, go and get it, spend time in libraries, and even today, ChatGPT and YouTube can teach you anything you want to learn from elementary level to a Ph.D or a trade.  The opportunities for learning have never been better, and it hardly costs a nickel.  Just do it! ;-)