Ether's Avenue

For discussion of liberty, freedom, government and politics.
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iWriteStuff
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Re: Ether's Avenue

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“Our great Constitution has been beaten and torn until now it hangs by a single thread, and that thread is our franchise to vote.”
- Ezra Taft Benson, Freeman Institute, Provo, Utah, 1976
I love modern prophets!!!! :) :D :p

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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“There is one and only one legitimate goal of United States foreign policy. It is a narrow goal, a nationalistic goal: the preservation of our national independence. Nothing in the Constitution grants that the president shall have the privilege of offering himself as a world leader. He is our executive; he is on our payroll; he is supposed to put our best interests in front of those of other nations. Nothing in the Constitution nor in logic grants to the president of the United States or to Congress the power to influence the political life of other countries, to ‘uplift’ their cultures, to bolster their economies, to feed their people, or even to defend them against their enemies.
- Ezra Taft Benson, America at the Crossroads, August 30, 1969
What's that? The Constitution doesn't grant the authority to randomly intervene in foreign conflicts? President Benson makes it clear we are only to fight to preserve our national independence, not to right wrongs or seek foes. When did that change?

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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"There are good and bad qualities in all nations. All real Saints, when they receive the Gospel, will readily relinquish party spirit and national feeling, and count such things as the distinctive ornaments of Satan’s kingdom. Sustain those principles that do away with and destroy this feeling of nationality that is in the hearts of individuals."
- Brigham Young
Do we ascribe to beliefs that separate mankind into different classes or do we embrace the Gospel which sees them all as equals before God? Our Heavenly Father does not regard an American any higher or greater than a Syrian, a North Korean, or a Chinese citizen. All are alike unto God, who regards only the heart of the individual.

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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The Monologue Continues!
"There is something wrong with this patriotism, which is based on conflict. As Froissart tells us forcibly, under chivalry the only way to prove one’s nobility was by fighting somebody. The tradition survives, and to this day there are many whose patriotism is not a widening but a contracting circle, recalling the defensive-aggressive posture of the Roman trux et minax (dour and threatening), the walled towns and castles of the Middle Ages, the family shelter of the Jaredites in which “every man did cleave unto that which was his own; . . . and every man kept the hilt of his sword in his right hand, in the defence of his property and his own life and of his wives and children” (Ether 14:2), and finally, the narrowest circle of all, with every man “walk[ing] in his own way,” seeking his own interests amid the rich offerings of Babylon (see D&C 1:16). The passion for security ends in total insecurity, with the would-be patriot fancying himself as a lone frontiersman, facing the world with his long rifle, his keen eyes searching the horizon for enemies and finding them everywhere; until one day as he draws his circle even smaller, we find him coolly keeping his next-door neighbor and fellow countrymen in the sights of his trusty .22, lest the latter make a suspicious move in the direction of his two-years’ supply. Can that be patriotism? Yet the sincerity of such people cannot be doubted, and Brigham Young with characteristic insight diagnoses the nature of their condition:

"An individual . . . with [an] abhorrence of evil [joins the Church]. . . . He sets himself upon the watch to detect the failings of others, deeming that he is doing God a service in being so employed [for God and Country], and thus is he decoyed into the occupation of the great master of evil, to be the accuser of the brethren. And during the time thus occupied by him, he considers himself actuated by the purest of motives, arising from a detestation of sin. . . . Yet mark the subtlety of Satan in thus leading men into a false position. Such a course, in the first place, probably arose from the purest of motives, and perhaps the individual was instrumental in rectifying some error; he feels a satisfaction for having done so, his self esteem is gratified, and ere he is aware, he is seeking for another opportunity of doing the same, . . . continually set[ting] himself up as being capable of sitting in judgment upon others, and of rectifying by his own ability the affairs of the kingdom of God."

Patriotism of this type was the principal weapon used against the Prophet and the Saints; the stock charge against them was treason—they were a danger to America. What was behind it? Brigham knew: “I wish this fact to sink into your hearts, that when men or women have doubts, they also have fear; and when they have fear, they are in danger of what? Of themselves. Want of confidence is the parent of moral imbecility and intellectual weakness.
- Hugh Nibley, The Uses and Abuses of Patriotism
That's a lot to digest, but it is at least enough to question one's definition of patriotism. Can we be patriotic without searching out and destroying enemies to prove it? The answer is yes.

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."
- John F. Kennedy

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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“I have been afraid to ask God to kill my enemies, lest some of them should, peradventure, repent.”
- Joseph Smith
Are we quick to seek vengeance on offending nations? Is such an approach correct?
“Some pleaded our suffering from persecution and said they were justified in stealing from our enemies because they had robbed us, but such a course tends to destroy the kingdom of God."
- Brigham Young

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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"Liberties aren't given, they are taken."
- Aldous Huxley
Still true.

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."
- Samuel Adams
Welcome to your daily brushfire!

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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What if George Soros, Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump were all spotted in the room?

OUT AND ABOUT IN THE HAMPTONS -- Lally Weymouth held her annual summer party last night at her house in Southampton.

SPOTTED: Jared and Ivanka chatting with Joel Klein and Alan Patricof, Kellyanne Conway on the dance floor, Boyden Gray, Chris Ruddy, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and wife Iris, Katharine Weymouth, Mary Jordan, Richard Cohen, Margaret Carlson, Gillian Tett, Steven Spielberg chatting with Steve Clemons and Robert Hormats, Carl Icahn, Tom Lee (famous for doing a leveraged buyout of Snapple and now lives in Princess Radziwill’s house), David Koch, John Paulson, Dina Powell, Richard Edelman, George Soros and his wife Tamiko Bolton, former Florida Gov. and Sen. Bob Graham (Lally’s uncle), her cousin Gwen Graham (who is running for Florida governor), Maria Bartiromo, Ray Kelly, Bill Bratton, Jeff Rosen, William Drozdiak, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.).
Oh that's nothing, right? As the Dailywire.com writes:
This should surprise absolutely no one. It must be noted that attending the same gathering as someone with whom you disagree isn't wrong, nor is it a sign that you are colluding with them.

That said, it shouldn't come as a shock that these people — Soros, Conway, Kushner, etc. — were all partying together. They are the Washington elites. The majority of those in the D.C. political world are homogeneous. They may play enemies on the great American stage, but behind the curtain, this acting troupe is thick as thieves.

This is actually a good lesson on perception. We, as voters, must be able to discern who is simply playing the game, and who is truly trying to change Washington for the benefit of the people.

The men and women who are doing everything they can to bring the United States back to constitutionalism are in the minority. It's our job to recognize the value in these people, and vote for them. It's also our job to see the actors for what they really are, rebuke them, and remove them from office.
Food for thought. Again, Republicans and Democrats: the Left and Right Hands of the Party of Gadianton.

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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The Soros/Kushner connection is well-documented so party on, right?

Trump Supporter Acute Cognitive Dissonance Syndrome (TSACDS) is getting worser and worser, poor things. Next they'll be bigly denying the sun rise and that water's wet and other stuff that rational people accept as mere facts.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-advi ... 1493717405

Trump Adviser Kushner’s Undisclosed Partners Include Goldman and Soros

Investments show ties to major finance and technology names

By Jean Eaglesham, Juliet Chung and Lisa Schwartz
Updated May 3, 2017 12:14 a.m. ET
Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, is currently in business with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and billionaires George Soros and Peter Thiel, according to people familiar with the matter and securities filings.

The previously undisclosed business relationships with titans of the financial and technology worlds are through a real-estate tech startup called Cadre that Mr. Kushner cofounded and currently partly...

RELATED VIDEO


Jared Kushner’s Businesses Raise Conflict of Interest Issues
Businesses belonging to real-estate magnate Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President-elect Donald Trump, may present conflict-of-interest issues if Kushner ends up taking a job in the new administration. Photo: AP (Originally published Nov. 28, 2016)

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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“Rights are either God-given as part of the divine plan, or they are granted by government as part of the political plan. If we accept the premise that human rights are granted by government, then we must be willing to accept the corollary that they can be denied by government.”
― Ezra Taft Benson, The Constitution: A Heavenly Banner

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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“To all who have discerning eyes, it is apparent that the republican form of government established by our noble forefathers cannot long endure once fundamental principles are abandoned. Momentum is gathering for another conflict-a repetition of of the crisis two hundred years ago. This collision of ideas is worldwide. Another monumental moment is soon to be born. The issue is the same that precipitated the great premortal conflict-will men be free to determine their own course of action or must they be coerced?”
― Ezra Taft Benson

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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Where do you gather your information? Who determines what news you consume? Do you know? Here's a quick chart to show you who dictates what you see and hear on the media:
ownthemessage.jpg
ownthemessage.jpg (118.34 KiB) Viewed 1347 times
Do your own research. Seek truth. Be informed.

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Arenera
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Re: Ether's Avenue

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iWriteStuff wrote: July 12th, 2017, 10:09 am Where do you gather your information? Who determines what news you consume? Do you know? Here's a quick chart to show you who dictates what you see and hear on the media:
ownthemessage.jpg

Do your own research. Seek truth. Be informed.
Where is LDSFreedomForum?

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iWriteStuff
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Re: Ether's Avenue

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Arenera wrote: July 12th, 2017, 10:15 am
iWriteStuff wrote: July 12th, 2017, 10:09 am Where do you gather your information? Who determines what news you consume? Do you know? Here's a quick chart to show you who dictates what you see and hear on the media:
ownthemessage.jpg

Do your own research. Seek truth. Be informed.
Where is LDSFreedomForum?
Ask BrianM!

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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I saw this quote today and thought, "My, how appropriate":

“It is not a matter of what is true that counts, but a matter of what is perceived to be true.” - Henry Kissinger


What is really true? What if all we see of government is really just theatrics to cover what's really going on?

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/Articles/ta ... Fever.aspx

Christian War Fever

Published: Thursday, July 13, 2017
Some time ago, Laurence Vance published a compilation of excerpts from the famed British Baptist pastor, Charles Spurgeon, on the subject of the proper Christian attitude regarding war and peace. These sermon excerpts are as germane to Americans today as they were to the citizens of Great Britain in the mid to late 1800’s when Spurgeon delivered them.

I tried to warn listeners of my radio talk show on how then President George W. Bush was turning Christian people throughout the United States into warmongers. Because Bush claimed to be a born-again Christian and had successfully garnered the support of so many conservative evangelical Christians, he was able to shift the entire spiritual paradigm of the country. But that’s what wolves in sheep’s clothing do. Phony Christians do more destruction than overt unbelievers. Phony conservatives do more destruction than overt liberals.

Ever since the two administrations of G.W. Bush, America’s conservative Christians have become infected with a serious malady; it’s what Vance correctly calls “war fever.” And the evangelical church in America is eaten up with it. And now that we have another Republican warmonger in the White House, war fever has reached epidemic proportions among evangelical Christians.

The United States and its coalition allies have killed tens of thousands (a very conservative number) of innocent men, women, and children in its so-called war on terror. The doctrine of American hegemony (not to mention the globalist/Zionist doctrine of “Greater Israel”) has turned the Middle East into a giant killing field. Through perpetual bombings, drone attacks, missile attacks, etc., President Trump has killed more innocent civilians in the first five months of his presidency than ISIS, al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Iran, Syria, Russia, China, and North Korea combined. And that fact does not take into account the billions of dollars in U.S. weapons sales to terrorist states such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey that account for thousands of additional deaths. Barack Obama and G.W. Bush did the same thing, of course. Trump is merely carrying on the same international crimes of empire as did the two presidents that preceded him.

And just who are the biggest cheerleaders for war? You guessed it: evangelical Christians.

When Donald Trump unjustly, unconstitutionally, illegally, and immorally ordered the bombing of Syria for what was clearly a false flag chemical attack in that country, evangelical Christian leaders immediately jumped in to provide spiritual cover for Trump. And this they will continue to do for the next four years.

See this analysis by a Marine Corps colonel and veteran combat pilot on how U.S. government reports of Assad using chemical weapons against his own people in order to justify the U.S. missile attack against Syria were totally FAKE:

Senator Black: CIA Lies Getting Harder To Believe

But in the eyes of the so-called Religious Right, ANY war a Republican president sends the U.S. military into is a just war--no matter how unjust the war really is. Evangelical Christian pastors are unabashed apologists for war. It is safe to say that a majority of conservative Christians have become rabid warmongers. They cheer for war; they promote war; they glorify war; they worship those who wage war; and they enthusiastically vote for neocons like Lindsey Graham and John McCain because of their support for war.

For Christian conservatives to talk about the bloodthirstiness of Muslims is laughable. Islamist jihadists don’t hold a candle to the sheer numbers of innocent people who have been killed (and are daily being killed) by the American empire. At the same time, conservative Christian pastors constantly trumpet more and more war, more and more killing. These pastors would do well to familiarize themselves with the “Gospel of peace” (Romans 10:15; Ephesians 6:15) as proclaimed by the “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Laurence Vance introduces Charles Spurgeon this way:

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–1892) was an English Baptist minister who served as pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London from 1861 until his death. But Spurgeon was no ordinary minister. He was a pastor, a preacher, a teacher, an author, an editor, and the overseer of a pastor’s college, a Christian literature society, and an orphanage. He is still widely revered today among Baptists (and others as well) as one of the greatest Baptist ministers in history.

Spurgeon preached his first sermon as a teenager and, in 1854, was called to the pastorate of the historic New Park Street Church, Southwark, London. During his thirty-eight-year tenure, the church increased from 232 to over 5,000. [And remember, this was in a day when the only attraction to the church was the preaching of God’s Word: no rock music; no smoke; no colored lights; no espresso machines; no twenty-minute sermonettes, etc.] During the remodeling of the Park Street chapel to house the growing congregation, Spurgeon preached at the 5,000-seat Exeter Hall, a public auditorium. But because the remodeled chapel was still too small to accommodate the crowds, the church began construction of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, which sat 5,500 and had standing room for 500 more. In the interim, Spurgeon preached to thousands at the Surrey Gardens Music Hall. He was truly one of the most popular preachers in history. When he died in 1892, 60,000 people filed past his casket in the Tabernacle.

Spurgeon lives today through his sermons. From 1855 until his death, his Sunday morning sermons were published weekly. By 1865, Spurgeon’s sermons were selling 25,000 copies every week. They would eventually be translated into more than twenty languages. The sermons were then collected in one volume and reissued at the end of each year in book form. After Spurgeon’s death, the series continued until 1917 using his Sunday evening sermons. The six volumes of the New Park Street Pulpit (1855–1860) and the fifty-seven volumes of the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit (1861–1917) contain 3,561 sermons, 25 million words, and fill 41,500 pages. Many of these volumes are available online, and most are in print.

Unlike some Baptist preachers today who shamelessly serve as spokesmen or apologists for [war], Spurgeon was not the least bit excited about war and war fever.

Vance quotes Spurgeon:

“Long have I held that war is an enormous crime.”

“So combustible are the materials of which this great world is made, that I am ever apprehensive of war. I do not account it wonderful that one nation should strive against another, I account if far more wonderful that they are not all at arms. Whence come wars and fightings? Come they not from your lusts?”

“Sin is the mother of wars.”

“It is astonishing how distance blunts the keen edge of anything that is disagreeable. War is at all times a most fearful scourge. The thought of slain bodies and of murdered men must always harrow up the soul; but because we hear of these things in the distance, there are few Englishmen who can truly enter into their horrors. If we should hear the booming of cannon on the deep which girdles this island; if we should see at our doors the marks of carnage and bloodshed; then should we more thoroughly appreciate what war means. But distance take away the horror, and we therefore speak of war with too much levity, and even read of it with an interest not sufficiently linked with pain.”

“He is the God of peace, for he is the restorer of it; though wars have broken out through sin. He is the preserver of peace. Whenever I see peace in the world, I ascribe it to God, and if it is continued, I shall always believe it is because God interferes to prevent war.”

“The church, we affirm, can neither be preserved nor can its interests be promoted by human armies. We have all thought otherwise in our time, and have foolishly said when a fresh territory was annexed to our empire, ‘Ah! what a providence that England has annexed Oude’--or taken to itself some other territory--‘Now a door is opened for the Gospel. A Christian power will necessarily encourage Christianity, and seeing that a Christian power is at the head of the Government, it will be likely that the natives will be induced to search into the authenticity of our revelation, and so great results will follow. Who can tell but that, at the point of the British bayonet, the Gospel will be carried, and that, by the edge of the true sword of valiant men, Christ’s Gospel will be proclaimed?’ I have said so myself; and now I know I am a fool for my pains, and that Christ’s church hath been also miserably befooled; for this I will assert, and prove too, that the progress of the arms of a Christian nation is not the progress of Christianity, and that the spread of our empire, so far from being advantageous to the Gospel, I will hold, and this day proclaim, hath been hostile to it.”

“Did you ever hear of a nation under British rule being converted to God? Mr. Moffat and our great friend Dr. Livingstone have been laboring in Africa with great success, and many have been converted. Did you ever hear of Kaffir tribes protected by England, ever being converted? It is only a people that have been left to themselves, and preached to by men as men, that have been brought to God. For my part, I conceive, that when an enterprise begins in martyrdom, it is none the less likely to succeed, but when conquerors begin to preach the gospel to those they have conquered, it will not succeed, God will teach us that it is not by might. All swords that have ever flashed from scabbards have not aided Christ a single grain. Mahommedans’ religion might be sustained by scimitars, but Christians’ religion must be sustained by love. The great crime of war can never promote the religion of peace. The battle, and the garment rolled in blood, are not a fitting prelude to "peace on earth, goodwill to men." And I do firmly hold, that the slaughter of men, that bayonets, and swords, and guns, have never yet been, and never can be, promoters of the gospel. The gospel will proceed without them, but never through them.”

“While, however, we shall anxiously watch the contest, it will be quite as well if we mingle in it ourselves. Not that this nation of England should touch it; God forbid. If tyrants fight, let them fight; let free men stand aloof. Why should England have aught to do with all the coming battles? As God has cut us off from Europe by a boisterous sea, so let us be kept apart from all the broils and turmoils into which tyrants and their slaves may fall.”

“The Church of Christ is continually represented under the figure of an army; yet its Captain is the Prince of Peace; its object is the establishment of peace, and its soldiers are men of a peaceful disposition. The spirit of war is at the extremely opposite point to the spirit of the gospel.”

“War is to our minds the most difficult thing to sanctify to God. The genius of the Christian religion is altogether contrary to everything like strife of any kind, much more to the deadly clash of arms. . . . Now I say again, I am no apologist for war, from my soul I loathe it, and I do not understand the position of a Christian man as a warrior, but still I greatly rejoice that there are to be found at this present day in the ranks many of those who fear God and adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour.”

“For if there be anything which this book [the Bible] denounces and counts the hugest of all crimes, it is the crime of war.”

“What, then, is to be done? Shall we unite with the clamorous patriots of the hour and sacrifice peace to political selfishness? Or shall we in silence maintain our own views, and despair of their ever being received by our own countrymen? There is no need to take either course: let us believe in our principles, and wait till the present mania comes to an end. We would persuade all lovers of peace to labour perseveringly to spread the spirit of love and gentleness, which is indeed the spirit of Christ, and to give a practical bearing to what else may become mere theory. The fight-spirit must be battled with in all its forms, and the genius of gentleness must be cultivated. Cruelty to animals, the lust for destroying living things, the desire for revenge, the indulgence of anger--all these we must war against by manifesting and inculcating pity, compassion, forgiveness, kindness, and goodness in the fear of the Lord. Children must be trained with meekness and not with passion, and our dealings with our fellow-men must manifest our readiness to suffer wrong rather than to inflict it upon others. Nor is this all: the truth as to war must be more and more insisted on: the loss of time, labour, treasure, and life must be shown, and the satanic crimes to which it leads must be laid bare. It is the sum of all villainies, and ought to be stripped of its flaunting colours, and to have its bloody horrors revealed; its music should be hushed, that men may hear the moans and groans, the cries and shrieks of dying men and ravished women. War brings out the devil in man, wakes up the hellish legion within his fallen nature, and binds his better faculties hand and foot. Its natural tendency is to hurl nations back into barbarism, and retard the growth of everything good and holy. When undertaken from a dire necessity, as the last resource of an oppressed people, it may become heroic, and its after results may compensate for its immediate evils; but war wantonly undertaken, for self-interest, ambition, or wounded pride is evil, only evil, and that continually. It ought not to be smiled upon as a brilliant spectacle, nor talked of with a light heart; it is a fitter theme for tears and intercessions. To see a soldier a Christian is a joy; to see a Christian a soldier is another matter.”

“Many of our bravest soldiers are on the side of peace, and in the present crisis have spoken out more boldly on the right side than we might reasonably have expected of them. This must be duly acknowledged and taken into account, and we must speak accordingly.”

See Vance’s column here:

Charles Spurgeon On Christian War Fever

When is the last time you heard words such as these coming from the pulpits of today’s evangelical churches? And when Vance quoted Spurgeon saying, “Many of our bravest soldiers are on the side of peace,” I thought of the words of King David. He said, “I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.” (Psalms 120:7 KJV) I know that feeling very well.

I am also reminded of the words of Major General Smedley Butler (USMC). General Butler wrote a book entitled “War Is A Racket.” This book is a classic treatise on why wars are conducted, who profits from them, and who pays the price. Few people are as qualified as General Butler to advance the argument encapsulated in his book's sensational title. When "War is a Racket" was first published in 1935, Butler was the most decorated American soldier of his time--including receiving TWO Congressional Medals of Honor. He had lead several successful military operations in the Caribbean and in Central America, as well as in Europe during the First World War. Despite his success and his heroic status, however, Butler came away from these experiences with a deeply troubled view of both the purpose and the results of war. I consider General Butler’s book “War Is A Racket” to be MUST READING.

The spirit of war will never be extinguished from our country until it is first extinguished from our churches. A sizeable percentage of all of the evangelical/fundamentalist churches in America today are splits and splinters off of other churches. Christians will fight at the drop of hat. They will split a church at the drop of a hat. They are filled with the spirit of war.

But Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” (Matthew 5:9) As long as God’s people continue to abandon the spirit of peace and embrace the spirit of war, we will never be able to sing “God Bless America” without abject hypocrisy, knowing that God will never bless those who are not peacemakers.

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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Slightly random topic that should be understood before the next market collapse:
Lemon Socialism
Lemon socialism is a pejorative term for a form of government intervention in which government subsidies go to weak or failing firms, often with the intent of preventing further, systemic damage to what might otherwise be considered a free marketplace. These subsidies can even take the form of a full or partial bail-out, as happened during the 2008 financial crisis. The pejorative comes from the perception among free-market economists that failing companies are defective lemons that a working free market would replace with better-functioning companies in response to market demand, and the public-sector involvement this type of state intervention shares with socialism.

Confusingly, lemon socialism may also refer to government efforts to transition from capitalism to actual socialism; in this case it refers to a deliberate strategy of absorbing the losses entailed in saving jobs within the worst-performing sectors of the economy — the lemons — before the nationalization of more profitable industries.

The sentiment was earlier expressed in the adage "Socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor", which was in use by the 1960s, and the notion of privatizing profits and socializing losses dates at least to 1834 and Andrew Jackson's closing of the Second Bank of the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_socialism

The Gadiantons will shrug off the impossibly high debts of the financial collapse onto the backs of the poor, none of whom benefited from the financial shenanigans of the rich and empowered.

Where is your wealth? And where is your freedom? You do possess it in name only or have you claimed it for your birthright?

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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Pardon the double post, but I think this is worth saying twice:

Two things to note in this story:

1) An admission that North Korea has the range but not the ability to actually hit us with a missile.
2) That doesn't matter because we should prepare to attack them preemptively anyway.

"And it was because the armies of the Nephites went up unto the Lamanites that they began to be smitten; for were it not for that, the Lamanites could have had no power over them"
- Mormon 4:4
North Korea lacks capacity to hit U.S. with accuracy: U.S. general

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea does not have the ability to strike the United States with "any degree of accuracy" and while its missiles have the range, they lack the necessary guidance capability, the vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Tuesday.

Earlier this month North Korea said it had conducted its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and that it had mastered the technology to mount a nuclear warhead on the missile.

But General Paul Selva, speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the July 4th test stopped short of showing North Korea had "the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence of success."

Pyongyang's state media said the test successfully verified the atmospheric re-entry of the warhead, which experts say may be able to reach the U.S. state of Alaska.

"What the experts tell me is that the North Koreans have yet to demonstrate the capacity to do the guidance and control that would be required," said Selva, the second highest-ranking U.S. military official.

South Korea's intelligence agency also does not believe North Korea has secured re-entry capabilities for its ICBM program.

South Korea on Monday proposed military talks with North Korea, the first formal overture to Pyongyang by the government of President Moon Jae-in, to discuss ways to avoid hostile acts near the heavily militarized border.

The United States has remained technically at war with North Korea since the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty and the past six decades have been punctuated by periodic rises in antagonism and rhetoric that have always stopped short of a resumption of active hostilities.

Tensions have risen sharply after North Korea conducted two nuclear weapons tests last year and carried out a steady stream of ballistic missile tests.

When asked about preemptive military operations against North Korea, Selva said he believed that "we have to entertain that potential option."

"We need to think seriously about what the consequences of that action might be," Selva said.
We leave safety behind when we seek a foe outside our borders who has not struck us.

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Hogmeister
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Re: Ether's Avenue

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Ezra Taft Benson was close to J. Reuben Clark. J. Reuben Clark apparently had several copies of "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" in his library. Read them and ponder the last century and our current awful situation.


https://youtu.be/cRuKmxQSPSw

https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/soci ... zion31.htm

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iWriteStuff
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Re: Ether's Avenue

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Hogmeister wrote: July 23rd, 2017, 12:05 pm Ezra Taft Benson was close to J. Reuben Clark. J. Reuben Clark apparently had several copies of "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" in his library. Read them and ponder the last century and our current awful situation.


https://youtu.be/cRuKmxQSPSw

https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/soci ... zion31.htm
Could you elaborate a bit more on the Protocols? They are new to me.

gardener4life
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Re: Ether's Avenue

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So try not to get too wrapped in either party. We have the 'parable' of the Gadianton robbers infiltrating all levels of society in 3 Nephi 2-5. We also have the record of Ether. Our days's version of Gadianton robbers is Babylon infesting the world and the country so thick that even when you want to do good, there's nowhere left to go. It's like if you were in the great and spacious building, and it gets so big you are searching for days to find the exit to get out but feel trapped with nowhere to go. You are lost.

That is our country now.

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Hogmeister
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Re: Ether's Avenue

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iWriteStuff wrote: July 24th, 2017, 9:42 am
Hogmeister wrote: July 23rd, 2017, 12:05 pm Ezra Taft Benson was close to J. Reuben Clark. J. Reuben Clark apparently had several copies of "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" in his library. Read them and ponder the last century and our current awful situation.


https://youtu.be/cRuKmxQSPSw

https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/soci ... zion31.htm
Could you elaborate a bit more on the Protocols? They are new to me.
Once you read them you will understand Ezra Taft Benson. He was right.

Below are a few samples from the protocols. I am an economist by trade and I find the information regarding the planned finances and economics in the protocols absolutely stunning as it refers to my understanding of such things. Money rules the world (No question about it).

"We shall create an intensified centralization of government in order to grip in our hands all the forces of the community. We shall regulate mechanically all the actions of the political life of our subjects by new laws. These laws will withdraw one by one all the indulgences and liberties which have been permitted"

...

"At the same time we must intensively patronize trade and industry, but, first and foremost, speculation, the part played by which is to provide a counterpoise to industry: the absence of speculative industry will multiply capital in private hands and will serve to restore agriculture by freeing the land from indebtedness to the land banks. What we want is that industry should drain off from the land both labor and capital and by means of speculation transfer into our hands all the money of the world,..."

...

"TO SECURE THIS WE MUST HAVE EVERYBODY VOTE WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF CLASSES AND QUALIFICATIONS, in order to establish an absolute majority, which cannot be got from the educated propertied classes. In this way, by inculcating in all a sense of self-importance, we shall destroy among the ... the importance of the family and its educational value and remove the possibility of individual minds splitting off, for the mob, handled by us, will not let them come to the front nor even give them a hearing; it is accustomed to listen to us only who pay it for obedience and attention. In this way we shall create a blind, mighty force which will never be in a position to move in any direction without the guidance of our agents set at its head by us as leaders of the mob. The people will submit to this regime because it will know that upon these leaders will depend its earnings, gratifications and the receipt of all kinds of benefits."

...

"2. We have taken advantage of the venality of administrators and slackness of rulers to get our moneys twice, thrice and more times over, by lending to the governments moneys which were not at all needed by the States. Could anyone do the like in regard to us? .... Therefore, I shall only deal with the details of internal loans.

3. States announce that such a loan is to be concluded and open subscriptions for their own bills of exchange, that is, for their interest-bearing paper. That they may be within the reach of all the price is determined at from a hundred to a thousand; and a discount is made for the earliest subscribers. Next day by artificial means the price of them goes up, the alleged reason being that everyone is rushing to buy them. In a few days the treasury safes are, as they say, overflowing and there's more money than they can do with (why then take it?) The subscription, it is alleged, covers many times over the issue total of the loan; in this lies the whole stage effect - look you, they say, what confidence is shown in the government's bills of exchange.

4. But when the comedy is played out there emerges the fact that a debit and an exceedingly burdensome debit has been created. For the payment of interest it becomes necessary to have recourse to new loans, which do not swallow up but only add to the capital debt. And when this credit is exhausted it becomes necessary by new taxes to cover, not the loan, BUT ONLY THE INTEREST ON IT. These taxes are a debit employed to cover a debit ....

5. Later comes the time for conversions, but they diminish the payment of interest without covering the debt, and besides they cannot be made without the consent of the lenders; on announcing a conversion a proposal is made to return the money to those who are not willing to convert their paper. If everybody expressed his unwillingness and demanded his money back, the government would be hoist on their own petard and would be found insolvent and unable to pay the proposed sums. By good luck the subjects of the governments, knowing nothing about financial affairs, have always preferred losses on exchange and diminution of interest to the risk of new investments of their moneys, and have thereby many a time enabled these governments to throw off their shoulders a debit of several millions.

6. Nowadays, with external loans, these tricks cannot be played by the for they know that we shall demand all our moneys back.

7. In this way in acknowledged bankruptcy will best prove to the various countries the absence of any means between the interests of the peoples and of those who rule them.

8. I beg you to concentrate your particular attention upon this point and upon the following: nowadays all internal loans are consolidated by so-called flying loans, that is, such as have terms of payment more or less near. These debts consist of moneys paid into the savings banks and reserve funds. If left for long at the disposition of a government these funds evaporate in the payment of interest on foreign loans, and are placed by the deposit of equivalent amount of RENTS.

9. And these last it is which patch up all the leaks in the State treasuries.

10. When we ascend the throne of the world all these financial and similar shifts, as being not in accord with our interests, will be swept away so as not to leave a trace, as also will be destroyed all money markets, since we shall not allow the prestige of our power to be shaken by fluctuations of prices set upon our values, which we shall announce by law at the price which represents their full worth without any possibility of lowering or raising. (Raising gives the pretext for lowering, which indeed was where we made a beginning in relation to the values of the ...).

11. We shall replace the money markets by grandiose government credit institutions, the object of which will be to fix the price of industrial values in accordance with government views. These institutions will be in a position to fling upon the market five hundred millions of industrial paper in one day, or to buy up for the same amount. In this way all industrial undertakings will come into dependence upon us. You may imagine for yourselves what immense power we shall thereby secure for ourselves ...."

...

"THIS HATRED WILL BE STILL FURTHER MAGNIFIED BY THE EFFECTS of an ECONOMIC CRISES, which will stop dealing on the exchanges and bring industry to a standstill. We shall create by all the secret subterranean methods open to us and with the aid of gold, which is all in our hands, A UNIVERSAL ECONOMIC CRISES WHEREBY WE SHALL THROW UPON THE STREETS WHOLE MOBS OF WORKERS SIMULTANEOUSLY IN ALL THE COUNTRIES OF EUROPE. These mobs will rush delightedly to shed the blood of those whom, in the simplicity of their ignorance, they have envied from their cradles, and whose property they will then be able to loot."

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Re: Ether's Avenue

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gardener4life wrote: July 25th, 2017, 6:21 pm So try not to get too wrapped in either party. We have the 'parable' of the Gadianton robbers infiltrating all levels of society in 3 Nephi 2-5. We also have the record of Ether. Our days's version of Gadianton robbers is Babylon infesting the world and the country so thick that even when you want to do good, there's nowhere left to go. It's like if you were in the great and spacious building, and it gets so big you are searching for days to find the exit to get out but feel trapped with nowhere to go. You are lost.

That is our country now.
I'd say the first step to avoiding a trap is to realize its existence. The two political parties are the trap. Most individuals seem to think that all one needs to do is "vote for the lesser evil" and their job is done. Others think you can effect a change by getting more involved in these two parties. But they are owned AT THE TOP by the vested interests that pull the strings of BOTH parties. The "struggle" between them is a farce. Just look at how the Republicans have fought for six months now over essentially minor and insignificant changes to a socialized health insurance plan. They're not looking to do anything meaningful; they only want to be able to say they tried to do something meaningful, even if the end result would have mirrored the original law in all key points.

Be wise. Stop feeding the two headed beast of Gadianton. Stand for something.
We shall have the satisfaction of knowing that we have acted conscientiously, and have used our best judgment. And if we have to throw away our votes, we had better do so upon a worthy rather than upon an unworthy individual, who might make use of the weapon we put in his hand to destroy us with.
- Joseph Smith

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iWriteStuff
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Re: Ether's Avenue

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"Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it."
- Henry David Thoreau,Civil Disobedience

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