One Generation Away, Words Have Meaning

One Generation Away:

I attended a showing of the linked movie at St James Coffee  on 18th Ave N in Rochester last night. First time I had been there, the coffee was good although it was somewhat disconcerting to be thrown on the floor and baptized a Catholic upon entry.

The title of the movie comes from this speech by Ronald Reagan which is well worth watching. There is no question the world would be a far different place today without his presidency, and I suspect that the generations of freedom would have fully passed rather than just being in what appears to be the last.

The movie covers a series of stories relative to the loss of religious freedom in America --  Christian wedding cake bakers, florists and photographers being sued,  harassed and forced from business over same sex "marriage". Hobby Lobby being attacked for not providing abortion pills, the Catholic Church being attacked over allowing gays to adopt children, the fight over a large cross on a war memorial in San Diego ...

The stories are told by interviews with real people on either side of the issue -- which in the case of the Hobby Lobby family and the wedding controversy people is probably the first time you have seen the real people harmed vs just their demonization in the media.

It is a powerful movie that people on both sides of these issues ought to see. The DO cover both sides -- not evenly, but FAR more evenly than our standard media.

The issue is "tolerance" vs "coercion" -- which often ends up in imprisonment and death. The movie takes the stand that "no issue can be equated with Jim Crow / equal rights in the South" -- because that is ultimately the issue that the forces of coercion point to and equate their present cause to as the reason that they MUST resort to coercion.

My basic view is that coercion relative to at least business matters is simply wrong. Here is a good quote on the subject by Milton Friedman from "Capitalism and Freedom"

I believe strongly that the color of a man's skin or the religion of his parents is, by itself, no reason to treat him differently; that a man should be judged by what he is and what he does and not by these external characteristics. I deplore what seem to me the prejudice and narrowness of outlook of those whose tastes differ from mine in this respect and I think the less of them for it. But in a society based on free discussion, the appropriate recourse is for me to seek to persuade them that their tastes are bad and that they should change their views and their behavior, not to use coercive power to enforce my tastes and my attitudes on others. 

Areas like the vignettes covered in the movie, the coercion of private businesses in the south relative to blacks, smoking laws, or the treatment of Jews in National Socialist Germany are all cases where governments resort to coercion and "show the lie" of the supposed "progressive" thought that man is infinitely perfectible through education -- or simple free economic or other choices.  Statist claims of belief in "freedom" is a lie plain and simple -- it is coercion by naked force they believe in!

As Statist forces advance, they simply cannot tolerate those that think and believe differently from their agenda! To do so would be to admit that there is a power higher than the state, and ultimately whatever you name leftist thinking -- socialism, communism, fascism, dictatorship, etc, it is ALWAYS about ever increasing and eventual total state control. Religion is one of the things (along with economic freedom, free speech, the right to bear arms, etc) that will always run afoul of the Statist.

Statist forces seek to stamp out ANY alternative to their power -- including their power to control what you are allowed to say or even think! Religious freedom is one of the "canaries in the coal mine" -- when you see religious freedom attacked in your nation, you know that the forces of totalitarian rule are on the rise!

See this movie. For any even "nominal Christian", that is over 30, there is no doubt that what we see today would have been UNIMAGINABLE even 10 years ago. What BO has done not so subtly is replace "Freedom of Religion" with "Freedom of Worship".

WORDS HAVE MEANING -- they are what we label ideas and concepts with. I worked at IBM for 30 years ... I saw the "Full Employment Policy" become "Full Employment Practice" become a "Full Employment HISTORY" -- as in totally gone, and layoffs being an annual event.

Religion is an integral part of your life (for Christians, it is to be the MOST important part)   -- it is a major definition of who you are. "Worship" is whatever you do in the four walls of the church a few hours a week, commonly on  Sunday. BO and TP (The Party-D) want to convert "religion" to "worship" -- you have a right to practice what you want inside the confines of your church or possibly your home. Outside those bounds, the state religion is Secular Humanism and you MUST practice that religion under penalty of law -- all that is missing is the Sieg Heil!

Our Freedom of Religion canary of freedom is looking very sick -- the (very limited) time for action is NOW!

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