Whatsoever You Ask -- Part 12 of The Twelve-Step Program to American Recovery

 

During this series we explored many ways we can each pitch in and help save this country we love from the looming darkness.  We talked about standing guard over our language and the 1984 changes being imposed on it. We discussed bridging the education gap left by our deteriorating public schools. We looked at necessary attitude changes – not expecting the government to play God’s role in our lives; we spent several posts on that issue. Last week we explored the need to think logically.

These are all things we can do ourselves; we don’t need to trick someone else into voting like we do. We don’t have to get into screaming arguments. We don’t need to walk around carrying posters – though I’ve done that and it’s fun. You see, a nation gets the government – and the prosperity – it deserves. If each of us becomes the person God designed him to be then our nation will continue to serve Him and reap the unimaginable rewards.

This week is the final post of the series and I’ve left the most important one for last --- prayer.

 Whatsoever You Ask       

It’s always been time to get down on our knees – this is true. Our nation has seen much more dangerous periods; I can’t imagine what it must have been like during World War II when we first realized that the bad guys were after us, too; or coping with the Civil War in our own back yard; or gearing up to fight the great power of George III.  But the thing that is so scary now is that the attacks are all behind the scenes, but they are life-and-death assaults nevertheless, in fact they are attacks right out of hell and we must fight them. To do that we have to pull out all the stops, recognize that we can, as mere humans, only do so much. We need God’s intervention; we have to pray.

Tweedledee to the Rescue -- Part 11 in The Twelve-Part Program for American Recovery

 

As I watch and often take part in discussions about the ills of modern American society I am often struck by the bizarre feeling that I’ve whizzed down the Wonderland hole and am staggering around with Alice trying to find something that makes sense. Instead, I find Mad Hatters, crazy Queens, and stoned caterpillars none of which seem able to offer a rational argument and all of which seem hell-bent on turning any discussion into an emotional rant. Right now I’m listening on the radio to a young man whose logic is just dripping fallacies and he’s so excitable he doesn’t want to allow a complete discussion. We desperately need to understand logic and how it gets twisted and why. What follows is a quick tutorial on some of the most egregious fallacies so we can all stop these sneaky arguments in their tracks. So…..

Tweedledee to the Rescue    

In Through the Looking-Glass Lewis Carol has Tweedeldee say, “Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.” And right he is – perhaps we need to take lessons from this sensible pot-bellied sage. In 21^st century America logic is cowering in a closet aware that he is no longer socially acceptable, the party has run amuck, and we need him to come out.

Most of the devastating national policies that undermine our republic are the result of faulty logic, on the part of the people proposing the policies, on the part of those reporting on them, and on the part of those reacting to the news. I can even present the problem in an algorithm --- Logical Fallacies + Propaganda (Media Complicity + An Unthinking Populace) = The Fall of a Nation.   

And we are falling – fast.

You and I are not in Congress, and we’re not in the media, but we are part of the populace and we can start thinking. One of the best ways to do that is to brush up on the logical fallacies that so permeate our national airways.  We don’t have to be putty in their hands -- we can fight back with reason.

You see, logic doesn’t change any more than God does. Logic is His gift to us; -- “In the beginning was the Logos…”  It is as fixed as the stars, as much of a scientific law as gravity. Anyone proposing an illogical policy must  shove reason in a hole and hope no one notices. But we’re noticing.

The Physics of the Family – Part 10 of The Twelve-step Program for American Recovery

It was only the 4^th paper I’d read that evening and I was already crying. Junior English narrative essays didn’t always elicit that much emotion, but this student described the night his dad slammed him against the wall, shaking him like a rag doll with both hands around his neck, trying to strangle him. The young man had had practice telling the story; he had already testified in court as the key witness in his father’s trial for attempted murder.

I wish that story were the only horrifying paper I ever had to read, but it’s not.  I wish I hadn’t gotten entangled is some of the families I had to deal with, but it taught me first hand what our society is up against. Ask any teacher what the state of the union is and you’ll get an earful. Schools are on the front lines and are the biggest window into the conditions of the family in this country, and the view isn’t pretty.

You can walk through the halls of any public high school and see the ravages of the disintegrating family. Counselors at my high school estimated that 60% of our students came from dysfunctional situations. Much of drug use goes back to family instability, as does a great deal of poverty, to say nothing of crime. Unhappy, unstable individuals are less likely to become knowledgeable, productive, self-disciplined members of society. They are less likely to make wise decisions, and more likely to just give up and let someone else runs their lives.

But let’s not take my word for this. According to the New York Times 29% of white children are born out of wedlock, as well as are 53% of Hispanic children and 73% of black children. Mercatornet.com reports that in 1960 65.9% of women 15 years and older were married. In 2009 only 50.6% were married. Big deal?

Out of the Fairytale Woods – Part 9 in The Twelve-step Plan to American Recovery

 

                     

 nce upon a time there was a country of riches and beauty and blessing. The people were free to work, to invent, to use their lives as they saw fit. They lived by laws that they all agreed with, laws that protected the right to worship God, to pursue happiness, to “become what [they could] become.” 

They also lived by the Five Laws of Reality. But as the people grew and prospered they forgot not only the Law of Freedom, exchanging it for the Law of False Security, but they also forgot the Laws of Reality and started to live by lies and false promises. They lived in a fairytale world.  

Then, the giant started down the beanstalk.