Is Your Ideology Transcendent?

Or, in other words, does everyone believe your world view? Is your way the way everything should work? Almost all of us human beings have pre-set opinions of how things should be; and we almost always react to changes in public policy, ethical changes, moral issues, etc. with a knee-jerk response conditioned by our pre-set opinions. As we grow older, our responses become even more stereotyped—we do not waste any more time carefully evaluating the things we do and say. In other words, we have made up our minds about what we think.

We all like to think that we rationally evaluate all the choices we see washing over us in the media; but, in truth, we are usually dominated by our preconceived ideological determinants. Once fully formed, our ideologies are durable things; but sometimes we will have second thoughts.

How are our world views (ideologies) formed in the first place? Most of us adopt the views of our parents. Not a few, however, adopt just the opposite views from their parents, because they have not liked what they have seen in their primary families. Of course, there are also other influences, e.g., economic and social interests, racial and ethnic characteristics, religious convictions, genetic predispositions, the influence of peers and respected authority figures (especially college professors), and last—but not least—there may be some rational thinking.

We need to remember that other people go through the same processes in forming worldviews; and we must consider their views. We must, also, learn to doubt our own views to some extent, at least, if we are to live in a social world and come to the best consensus.

One thing the Enlightenment thinkers added to our armamentarium of useful ideas was that in the aftermath of Reformation wars about religion, it was necessary to develop a domesticated Christianity purged of the doctrinal certainties and intensities that had torn Europe apart for decades. Society had to learn that it was not God’s will that we kill each other over disagreements about God’s will.

We should, of course, always try to keep our eye and heart on God’s revealed word in making decisions and always try to apply the Golden Rule in our thoughts and actions. But…we must, also, at the same time recognize that there is a broad scope of civilizing tasks before us. We must do the best we can, using common sense, in the attempt to solve our every-day problems as they arise.

This blog post was excerpted from First Things May 2011, pages 3 & 4.

Want To Help Pay Down the National Debt? You can do it!

Did you know that there is a fund to which anyone can contribute that will help pay off the national debt—now estimated to be about $14.7 trillion? The fund is established by the Treasury Department and can be accessed at 202-622-2000. Or, you can ask your tax advisor about it. Some states also have similar funds, i.e., Arkansas, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

It is interesting that those who would have the United States Government raise taxes very seldom contribute to this fund. Last year a grand total of excess money contributed to lower state and federal debt totaled only $300 million, just a pittance compared to the amount of money in the pockets of the very rich—many of whom are spending millions of dollars lobbying for higher taxes. (I’m not kidding! There is a group called Responsible Wealth that spends millions of dollars yearly trying to get legislators to raise taxes! It seems to me that if they really meant it, they would give that money to the debt-reducing project.)

America has a rich heritage of voluntarism; and volunteering to reduce the national debt would be an appropriate place for volunteer contributions, it seems to me. During the Revolutionary War, many Americans gave their fortunes to help finance the cause of Independence. Today, thousands of volunteer soldiers are risking their lives to defend American values on the battlefield.

I am afraid that raising taxes will not do America any good. I am afraid that raising taxes will only finance government expansion and take the pressure off Congress to make the deep spending cuts that are so urgently necessary. I am afraid that higher taxes will decrease private investment in infrastructure and increase unemployment.

This blog post was largely excerpted from the Wall Street Journal 6 May 2011 page A15.

Government Should Quit Shooting the CIA in the Foot!

I think that the Justice Department should cancel the prosecutions of the CIA officials who interrogated terrorists, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Faraj al-Libi in Poland and Romania after the 9/11 event. Those investigators gained useful information by their “harsh” techniques that very probably aided the extermination of Osama bin Laden. Those CIA interrogators should not be punished for the work they did to contribute to the safety of the American people and of the whole world.

Any of my readers can write to the Department Of Justice to express their opinion on this matter. Send an e-mail to AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

Government Creates Poverty; Freedom Creates Prosperity

(Reprinted from Reason.com 4/28/11 by John Stossel)

The U.S. government has "helped" no group more than it has "helped" the American Indians. It stuns me when President Obama appears before Indian groups and says things like, "Few have been ignored by Washington for as long as Native Americans."
Ignored? Are you kidding me? They should be so lucky. The government has made most Indian tribes wards of the state. Government manages their land, provides their health care, and pays for housing and child care. Twenty different departments and agencies have special "native American" programs. The result? Indians have the highest poverty rate, nearly 25 percent, and the lowest life expectancy of any group in America. Sixty-six percent are born to single mothers.

Nevertheless, Indian activists want more government "help."

It is intuitive to assume that, when people struggle, government "help" is the answer-- the opposite is true. American groups who are helped the most, do the worst.
Consider the Lumbees of Robeson County, N.C.—a tribe not recognized as sovereign by the government and therefore ineligible for most of the "help" given other tribes. The Lumbees do much better than those recognized tribes.

Lumbees own their homes and succeed in business. They include real estate developer Jim Thomas, who used to own the Sacramento Kings, and Jack Lowery, who helped start the Cracker Barrel Restaurants. Lumbees started the first Indian-owned bank, which now has 12 branches.

The Lumbees' wealth is not from casino money. "We don't have any casinos. We have 12 banks," says Ben Chavis, another successful Lumbee businessman. He also points out that Robeson County looks different from most Indian reservations. "There's mansions. They look like English manors. I can take you to one neighborhood where my people are from and show you nicer homes than the whole Sioux reservation."

Despite this success, professional "victims" activists want Congress to make the Lumbees dependent—like other tribes. U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.), has introduced the Lumbee Recognition Act, which would give the Lumbees the same "help" other tribes get—about $80 million a year. Some members of the tribe support the bill. Of course they do. People like to freeload.

Lawyer Elizabeth Homer, who used to be the U.S. Interior Department's director of Indian land trusts, say the Lumbees ought to get federal recognition. "The Lumbees have been neglected and left out of the system, and have been petitioning for 100 years. ... They're entitled, by the way."

People like Homer will never get it. Lumbees do well because they've divorced themselves from government handouts. Washington's neglect was a godsend.

Some Lumbees don’t want the handout.

The Mexican Immigrant: The Stress Recipient

Nancy and I work with Mexican and Central American immigrants every Tuesday and Thursday mornings at Crossroads of the Rockies, a food and clothing bank. Most of these people are illegal immigrants.

We receive various reactions from friends and associates about that work. The reactions vary. “You should never do that—you are only encouraging illegal immigration.” Some say, “We think what you are doing is commendable.” Well…both reactions are wrong.

The first comment is wrong because the Bible clearly instructs us to care for and help the immigrant living in our midst. We are not instructed to first consider the immigration laws of our federal legislature to see if we are acting correctly. We are to show mercy first and foremost.

The second response is also incorrect, because the work we do is to be done as to the Lord; and commendation is not the goal.

We, American Christians, should consider who it is who comes through the doors of Crossroads and other compassionate ministries in our country. The Mexicans/Central Americans in these ministries are suffering from lack of money, few jobs, poor education, and systematic discrimination from society in general and the government in particular. In addition to all the above, these poor people live in a drug, alcohol, and violence/crime-soaked society. Their children go to schools where many bad forces influence them. TV and movies encourage them to participate in immoral activities. Their families are riven with spousal abuse and desertion. In addition to all this, they do not have the Spirit of Christ to guide them through the difficulties in life.

We, Christians, need to help these people as long as they are on our doorsteps. However, I must say, that constructive government policies and enforcement of good laws would help this immigration situation immeasurably. Unfortunately, we have neither. Correct government policy could stop a lot of the pain, which these very poor people suffer.

Blanket amnesty for these people would not help them much. They need to be selectively admitted to U.S. citizenship and to a reasonable guest worker program.

It Costs Too Much To File Taxes

On 18 April 2011, the Wall Street Journal published an editorial called “The 30¢ Tax Premium,” indicating that for the average taxpayer, it costs him $1.30 to send the government $1.00 of tax revenue. This added cost comes from the need to pay the government $1.00 of tax plus the cost of his own time spent filing and complying with the tax code plus the tax collection costs of the IRS plus the tax compliance outlays that individuals and businesses pay to help them file their taxes.

I can identify with these facts, because in our personal 2010 tax returns to the Feds and to the State of Colorado, Nancy and I paid $6,313 while paying $261.75 to H & R Block for our filing costs. That amounts to paying 4% of our money trying to comply with the tax codes. Four percent does not seem like a lot of money; but, for us, $261 is a big bite. We would like to avoid that outlay of money if possible.

Some might say that we should have filed our tax returns by ourselves and not used H & R Block. Although our tax return was relatively simple, one of our 1099’s from an income source did not arrive in our mailbox until 15 April. This caused a last minute need to file an amended tax form, a much more complicated procedure than we are capable of performing. We are glad we used H & R Block, but it costs us too much to file our income tax reports.

What is the solution to this problem? A tax reform to a simple flat-rate tax with no deductions would significantly reduce the current complexity inherent in our progressive tax system, which is full of loopholes, exemptions and special interest carve-outs.

Parental Effects On Their Children

In 2003, I did a study on the sex habits of young adults in Nigeria. An interesting and useful fact came out of that study that is worth revisiting.

One question was asked on my research questionnaire was, “Have you ever heard your pastor tell you to avoid sexual intercourse outside of marriage?” A “yes” answer on that question had absolutely no correlation with the avoidance of illicit sex.

Another question was asked of my respondents: “Have your parents ever told you to avoid sex outside of marriage?” A “yes” answer to that question had a positive correlation with abstinence of sex outside of marriage.

The point is that parents have a decided and important role to play in guiding their children away from sex outside of marriage. Teenagers may not appear to be listening to their parents, but often they are. Pastors have relatively little influence on sex habits; but parents should certainly exert all the influence they can muster to help their children reach the wedding day with integrity and without a load of guilt on their consciences about their past behavior.