Golden Rule. Platinum Rule. Ho-hum!

August 9, 2026August 9, 2026 Roger Mitchell1 Comment

Recently, I was involved in a “debate” on the Unz Review concerning the Golden Rule and its (supposedly better, certainly more modern) re-interpretation, the Platinum Rule. This was sparked by a comment I made at an article by one, Caitlin Johnstone, a popular blogger, who is not afraid to blast what she sees as unjust, immoral, and wrong. I salute her for the well-meaning intent, but take issue with some of her stances. Our philosophical differences have no bearing on the current subject. If you read this article and scroll down through the links, you will find my initial comment as #5, from which you can read replies by other commenters and my own replies to them.

https://www.unz.com/cjohnstone/im-not-political-just-means-i-support-the-status-quo

During the course of this “conversation”, someone brought up the idea that the Platinum Rule was superior to the Golden Rule with respect to the relationship between people. I had to admit that I had never heard of the Platinum Rule before and, more than likely, you may not have either. There is an enormous amount of information on the Internet about it. Just type the key words, platinum rule, into your browser. However, for those who can’t be bothered, the tension between the Golden Rule and the Platinum Rule reads like this:

Golden Rule: “Treat others as you want them to treat you.”
Platinum Rule: “Treat others as they want to be treated.”

Apparently, the main sticking point in the Golden Rule for some people is that they read it as selfish and self-centered. It is a manipulative system in which you give others what you desire for yourself and you expect to receive it as compensation for your “giving”. Honestly speaking, this is no different than the attitude and belief that many Christians have when they drop cash in the “offering” plate at their weekly gathering on Sunday morning. I don’t see it that way and I am quite certain that Jesus didn’t mean it as such. See more on that below.

On the other hand, treating others as they want to be treated can lead to disaster. Ask yourself, how would someone like Benjamin Netanyahu want to be treated, and the problem becomes immediately clear. How does Donald Trump want to be treated? How does an abusive, philandering husband or a perpetually victimized wife want to be treated? Giving someone everything that they wish for is a recipe for disaster and must be avoided religiously, at all costs, because there are times when people like that need a good, swift kick in the ass and a reprimand, which is most definitely NOT what they want.

The main problem I find with the Platinum Rule is that it is nothing more than a cleaned up, sanitized, and more professional version of the Golden Rule. The Platinum Rule appeals to “educated” people–psychologists, group leaders, human resource administrators, politicians, etc., and others who specialize in molding and directing people into their own mode of thinking. In reality, it is a clinical take on what Jesus taught 2000 years ago, but is no different in essence, as long as it is not self-seeking.

Eventually, after some give and take in the discussion, I posted this response which has not been answered nor challenged. In fact, there is no good rebuttal to the main thrust of my argument. Sometimes, silence speaks louder than words.

“After some reading on this subject, I have decided that there really is no substantial difference between the Golden Rule and the Platinum Rule. They are flip sides of the same coin. The wording is different but the principle behind them is the same. The whole argument is one of semantics and arguing over which one is better only muddies the water.”

“Whether one treats others from the perspective of the Golden Rule or approaches from the Platinum Rule, the core issue remains and can be phrased by this question. At the most basic level, what is the one desire which everyone has? Answer: to be loved. Ultimately, we are all crying out for the same thing, that someone love us for who we are in spite of our very obvious failings. This need is the same in Donald Trump as it is in the lowest homeless beggar in the worst slum of the largest city on Earth and everyone manifests that need in different ways, even though they are asking for the same thing–“Love me.” It is our responsibility to find a way to do just that for others while also understanding that we are looking for the same thing within ourselves. It is the practice of loving others that teaches us our own need and we satisfy our need, paradoxically, by self-sacrificial giving so that the need in others is also satisfied.”

“Incidentally, just because someone wants something does not mean that we are obligated to give it to them. Fulfilling their wants may not be beneficial to them, but may very well increase their demands. “Give me more!” Sometimes, the best thing we could do for others like this is to give them a good, swift kick in the pants and the directive to grow up.”

“This is not a matter of bowling balls and cheeseburgers. In fact, the entire concept transcends the physical world (which is nothing more than a collection of “things”). It rises above the emotional state which reflects the broken aspects of ourselves. It IS a matter of spirit, the spirit of love, and when that is correct and proper, all other parts of our psyche and makeup are healed.”

“How do I want to be treated? With love. How do you want to be treated? With love. How should we treat others and how should they treat us? With love. Both the Golden Rule and the Platinum Rule are methods of teaching that principle to people who learn by doing, making mistakes along the way, but correcting them when they are recognized.”

“God is love. We are created in the image of God. We are also human, therefore flawed and imperfect, yet we can become like God, through the deliberate and conscious choice to surrender the desires we selfishly hold in the interests of showing love to others, so that they too can become like God.”

“This is as simple an explanation as I can make and, while I fall short at times, the end goal of perfection, perfect love, is always within my sight.”

If I truly love someone, I will do what is best for them regardless what it costs me, regardless of what I might gain from them, regardless of what they want me to do for them.

There Will be Wars…And Peace

May 31, 2026May 31, 2026 Roger MitchellLeave a comment

End of May, 2026.

The war with Iran which erupted on February 28 in an attack by America and its “stalwart” ally, Israel, (is it the other way around?), seems to have ground down into a stagnant affair of threat and counter-threat, occasionally punctuated by a missile strike on a facility by Iran or a boat sunk by the US. Israel doesn’t appear to be an active part of the conflict at this time, but is concentrating on destroying southern Lebanon in an attempt to eradicate Hezbollah in the same way that it has with Gaza and Hamas. The Strait of Hormuz is still restricted to traffic with only a few ships squeezing through the stranglehold imposed by Iran and the blockade imposed by the US. The Trump administration produces nothing but sound and fury, headlined by his incessant Truth Social posts, while the Iranian side posts its own version of the “negotiations”, refuting and denying everything which comes from Washington.

The war, which we were told would last only a few days (or a few weeks at the most), is now three months along and there seems to be no end in sight to the hostilities. Each side appears to be hanging on with determination, expecting to outlast the other and win by default. In the meantime, the world situation concerning the supply of oil gets worse and worse, with the dread day of “tank bottoms” looming closer and closer all the time. Even if the strait were to be completely opened to shipping tomorrow morning, oil inventories would not begin to be replenished for at least a couple months due to infrastructure damage and the length of time it takes to move oil from wellhead to gas pump. The chances that the strait will be opened soon, however, are still quite slim, so the shortages caused will probably continue to worsen, along with world-wide economies which are highly dependent on the free flow of oil. Severe, even catastrophic financial collapse is well within reason, bringing with it its own troubles.

All the while, the war in Ukraine still grinds on, one day at a time, with no clear end in sight and the distinct possibility that the European nations of NATO and Russia will officially come to blows in a hot war, potentially including the use of nuclear weapons. Donald Trump continues to blow up ~~fishing~~ drug-running boats and make noises about invading Cuba. The Taiwan issue is simmering on the back burner, but could explode at any moment. International tensions are rising everywhere, it seems, with peaceful life on Earth becoming more and more tenuous all the time.

There will be wars and rumors of wars. It’s the end of the world, at least as we knew it. What are we to do?

Is it really the “end” of the world? Are we doomed to violent extinction? Will we be enslaved in an AI-driven system of machine control with robots doing all the work while useless mouths are eliminated in one fashion or another? Are we rushing headlong into Armageddon? Will Jesus really come back to ~~snatch~~ rapture us, that is, the “true believers” out of the chaotic mix just before condemning all the others to a state of eternal punishment? Who knows? ¿Quien sabes?

Life can be peaceful once certain things are understood. I am going to die. I have no control over geo-political issues. Some things are certain, anything is possible. The pension promise from the US government, a.k.a., Social Security, could be wrecked at a moment’s notice…or without any notice at all. An EMP or massive solar flare might take out the entire electrical and electronic grid, forcing me to carry water from the local river in five-gallon buckets–just to survive. Yes, anything is possible, yet, in all this turmoil and unknowing, there is peace because I am learning to simply put my faith in Almighty God, trusting that whatever happens, I will be all right and I do not have to worry about how I’m going to pay the bills.

That being said, I intend to continue on as I have been, reducing my debt load, building personal and neighborhood relations, working in my garden, developing my CAD skills, preparing my household for the future in the only way I know how, and encouraging others to act in the same manner, in their own way, with what resources they have. And, perhaps more importantly, I am going to speak the truth as I see it, even if I do run into resistance from others or encounter a bad case of writer’s block, as has happened recently.

After 67+ years of inner strife and turmoil, I am learning what peace, real peace, is all about. It is a good thing and life is beautiful.

Destroying the Village to Save It: Modern Version

April 19, 2026 Roger Mitchell1 Comment

In just a few days, the two week cease-fire in the Iran war will come to an end. What happens then is anybody’s guess, that is, if you’re not politically or militarily connected to the power-brokers who call the shots. What is certain, however, is that all the warring parties have been feverishly restocking their depleted stores of bombs, missiles, drones, planes, and other assorted war-waging materiel just in case the shooting starts all over again. I am quite sure it will. This time around, if it does, I would expect an all-out, no holds barred, assault on Iran and a reciprocal fire aimed at Israel, the GCC, and any US assets in the region.

Whatever happens, shoot or go home, there is one serious side-effect to this war which is not going to go away anytime soon, i.e., the shortage of oil around the world which has been caused by the Hormuz Strait closure and which will not be restored to any former sense of normalcy for months, at the very least. Larry Johnson sums it up quite well in this interview with Danny Davis. Donald Trump might put it like this, if he was to think about it.

“Iran’s closing of the Strait of Hormuz which was open before the war cannot be tolerated. It was closed by Iran because we attacked them and now we’re going to attack them again to force it open. This war has already caused immense financial and social damage world-wide, but we have to continue it because Iran is at war with us.”

In other words, we have to wreck the world economy to save the world. Shades of Viet Nam.

The Strait was closed to traffic at the start of the war and, except for a few isolated instances, no oil tankers have transited it since then. Now, assume that a fully loaded tanker leaves the Strait headed for China or Japan, a voyage of 6500 +/- miles and travels at an average speed of 15 miles per hour, 24 hours per day. The voyage would take 433.33 hours or about 3 weeks to complete the trip. This means that all the tankers which left the Strait at the start of the war have already reached their port destination and unloaded the cargo. Plan a week to offload and another three weeks to make the return voyage means that a round trip could be made in seven weeks, or just about the length of time of the war so far.

The problem, under this scenario, is that there are no more tankers en route with cargo since none are allowed through the Strait and, even if these tankers could reload and ship out immediately, say another week to turn around, it would mean four more weeks before they arrive again in China or Japan. This means at least two months with no oil shipping from the Persian Gulf which will be absolutely disastrous to these countries (and all others dependent) and the effects will be felt around the world, including the US which (supposedly) is self-sufficient in oil. Not exactly true, but that’s another story. For a good description of how this affects the societies on the ground around the world, see here. Even if the Strait was fully opened immediately, there would still be that time lapse when no oil moved and the consequences of that will linger for a long time. If the active shooting restarts, the problem will only get worse.

Net result: cost of oil going through the roof and everything else which is derived from it rising in lockstep. We may very well see gasoline at $10 or $12 per gallon before this is done, which will basically cut the foundation from under the world economy and it will fall like a stone. A very large stone. Recall the lyrics which John Fogerty of CCR sang in the classic, “I see a bad moon rising. I see trouble on the way.”

Well done, Mr. Trump.

Massive dislocations in society, both public and private, are coming, like the predicted return of Jesus by so many people, soon, real soon. Those changes will probably get here first and will result in major alterations in the way the average person lives. They will drive the switch in thinking from “What can I buy which will make me feel better about myself?” to “How can I stay alive and feed my family today?”. In short, a paradigm change in the consideration of what is truly important. We need to be ready for that, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, and the best place to start our preparations is found in this.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart 
And do not lean on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths."
-- Proverbs 3:5-6

Utopia? Or the Truth Working Its Power?

November 25, 2025 Roger Mitchell7 Comments

“A free republic requires citizens who can restrain themselves, tolerate disagreement, act with integrity, and recognize right from wrong. Without that, laws become hollow and institutions brittle.” — https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/americas-real-crisis-collapse-citizen

This quote was taken from an article cautioning us to not put our full trust in AI as a means of solving our problems. It is good as far as it goes, but I am going to rip it entirely out of context and address the deeper philosophical meaning buried in these two sentences. A free republic allows this and no one can complain that I did not recognize the author because you can click on the link and read it for yourself. If you want to.

Consider.

Isn’t the first part of this question a paraphrase of the Great Commandment and the one which is its equal?

“Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second one is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.'” — Matthew 22:35-40 (NKJV)

If citizens restrain themselves, tolerate disagreement, act with integrity, and recognize right from wrong, then what need is there for laws, especially laws which are intended to control and regulate behavior according to what someone else thinks? Literally, every single law that has ever been promulgated has been enacted for one purpose–to control someone’s behavior in some way, yet Jesus says that the structure and foundation of these laws throughout history, myriads of myriads, is encapsulated in two short sentences: Love God with everything you have. Love your neighbor as if he were you.

So, I ask again, if citizens restrain themselves, tolerate disagreement, act with integrity, and recognize right from wrong, what need is there for laws? What need is there for governments which do not make people free by their rules, but seek to enslave them by constantly passing more laws which restrict human liberty?

Of course, some will say that this is only a theoretical exercise and people will push back declaring that I am trying to create an unworkable Utopian future, yet the fact remains that I, personally, do not need laws to tell me how to restrain myself, to tolerate disagreement, to act with integrity, to recognize right and wrong. I do not personally need government to order my life, to keep me under control, to keep my neighbor “safe” from my depredations and aggressions against him. Further, I do not need government nor laws to protect me from my neighbor who also keeps himself under control and recognizes right from wrong. Neither do you.

Let me ask you a question. Do you have need to be told how to live, how to restrain yourself, how to discern what is right, how to be known as a person of integrity, how to disagree with others? Well, do you? The point I am trying to make is that if you and I can live according to the Two Great Commands, then so can anyone. Everyone has the potential for doing so.

But, but, but…I can hear the sputtering now. We might be able to live that way with God’s help, but others won’t and they are the ones who need to be controlled and ordered. Imagine what the world would look like if criminals and wrongdoers were allowed to run amok without any fear of punishment or retribution, to which I would respond, like the world we live in today? And, of course, we could go back and forth in this argument forever without ever coming to some agreement, so I will just leave it there and move on.

What would be the condition of the world in 100 years (or 1000, the length of time doesn’t matter) if those who understand what the first sentence of this article really means AND spent their time, effort, and resources developing those traits and characteristics in themselves instead of working to pass laws to control someone else? Instead of trying to keep others down, what would happen if we actually lived the life as described in Jesus’ answer to the lawyer? Didn’t Jesus also say that, “You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free.”? And, isn’t it true that one of the things we are set free from is fear–fear of the unknown, the future, our fellow man, our own sinful nature, inclinations, and actions? If we truly wanted to be free, wouldn’t we work harder on ourselves to conform to His Image and less on a political party or ideology that we support and believe in? Isn’t it likely that the more we become like Jesus, the less we will conform to the world system, perhaps eventually abandoning it altogether?

Theory. All theory, you say. Pie in the sky by and by and completely impossible in this world. Yet, that is the way I am living now and, as time goes on and my life becomes more in tune with His Spirit, I fully expect to become more and more consistent with what I am promoting. Whether anyone joins me or not is irrelevant. I know my path and I will travel it unafraid, alone if necessary, and without any need or desire to exercise power and control over anyone else. But, then, I do not have to walk alone because the Spirit of God walks with me.

This is not to say I have arrived at sinless perfection because I haven’t. I won’t as long as I am alive. There will always be corrections to make, sins to overcome, hard places to smooth out, transgressions to be repented of and forgiven. However, I have put my trust and faith in the Word, which rules supreme over all law and I refuse to believe in the actions and institutions of Man.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law.” — Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)

I repeat, against such, there is no law.

Final answer.

Oppression Shall Cease: O Holy Night

December 25, 2024December 25, 2024 Roger Mitchell5 Comments

December 25, 2024. Christmas Day.

“Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother and in His Name, all oppression shall cease…” — from the Christmas hymn, “O, Holy Night”

ALL oppression shall cease. It follows logically that, wherever oppression exists, His Name has not yet become the guide for life. Wherever people are oppressed, the Name of Christ has not become the Law which is followed and obeyed in everyday life. This applies to both the individual and the collective (corporate, according to Karl Ludwig von Haller), because it is certain that both the individual and the collective can be (and are) oppressive.

All OPPRESSION shall cease. Oppression implies control because it is impossible to oppress someone, anyone, unless control is established over them. It follows that the less control we have over others, the less possibility there is to oppress them. If the statement that all oppression shall cease is true, then it must mean that all control over others must also come to an end. Of course, there are qualifiers: parents exercise control over their children, but only to the point where their children are able to function as responsible individuals in their own right. Once that point is reached, control must be relinquished and the child must become liable for his own actions.

All oppression SHALL cease. This implies that the cessation of oppression in all aspects of life is future-oriented and will not occur completely nor immediately in the present. This should give us hope that the future will be better than the present or the past. There are issues we have to work through to gain the end of oppression–both individually and collectively. Christians, especially, ought to understand this since we are taught that holiness is gained progressively as we surrender and submit our lives to the Kingship and Authority of Jesus, the Christ. If the Law of Christ is not oppressive and brings peace, then, as His disciples, we gradually and progressively learn to become non-oppressive towards ourselves and others as well. We learn, over time and through experience, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, minimizing and eventually eliminating the effect of oppression on them and that expression is a personal choice made by us, as individuals, under and with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit working in and through us. We have no excuses for not going down down this road.

All oppression shall CEASE. Come to an end. Be eliminated. Can this really happen in time and on Earth? Do we, as sinful persons, need to have a Messiah descend from Heaven to impose this upon us OR do we have the capability to make this fulfilled now? Again, Christians ought to know the answer to this question. Yes, we do, and it is by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to achieve this goal. We can refuse to oppress others. We can love them as we love ourselves. We can serve them without expecting anything back from them. All cessation of oppression begins with the individual and expand outward into the collective (corporate), bringing to life the lesson taught by Jesus in the parable of the yeast mixed into the bread dough.

Ultimately, this is an expression of faith. The Kingdom of Jesus, the Christ, is triumphant over oppression now and will be triumphant over oppression in the future, up to the point where oppression is no longer existent. It is a long-term goal, something to be anticipated, something to work for. It is not to be given automatically. It is not a “participation trophy”. It will not be reached by imposition, only by surrender to the Word, which speaks the Gospel of Peace into our lives on a daily basis. It will not be attained by a submission to law or obedience to legislation, regardless of the source. It can only be gained by recognizing, in the present, that I am a sinner, prone to oppressing others for my own sake, and abandoning and overcoming that tendency within myself, so that all may benefit.

The obliteration of oppression does not begin with political action. It is not derived from the top down, rather, it begins at the very bottom of the pile–the soul of the individual, who recognizes that his life does not reconcile with the Law of Love and the Gospel of Peace, and begins to change his ways so as to become compliant with them. Society is a collection (collective, corporation) of individuals, and if the individual changes his ways, the society will change–for better or for worse.

The Practice of Politics: Round Three

October 26, 2024 Roger Mitchell6 Comments

In just a few days, the citizens (citoyens, comrades) of the United States will decide (rubberstamp) a Dear Leader for the next four years, which selection will have enormous implications for, not only the country itself, but the world at large. Whoever is “elected” will shape American policy, both domestic and foreign, for years to come and will largely determine what happens within the next decade.

The choice is yours. Choose well. Or refuse to participate in the process at all.

Should Christians be involved in politics? This is the burning question which I have tried to answer recently in two blog posts, see here and here. Even though my answer has been a resounding “No!”, I think that I have explained my position badly and fallen short of the real reason why I believe as I do. This is an attempt to clear the air a little, although, it is certain that this will not be sufficient for the task. It is an ongoing “enlightenment” and it will continue until I pass through the gate to an eternal home where I can see clearly through the fog that I experience now.

I have described politics as far more than just government-oriented. Politics, the practice of manipulating and the use of others to benefit oneself at their expense, is widespread throughout society. Unfortunately, this description does not resonate with the general public at all and is completely ignored by virtually everyone. I am, indeed, a voice crying in the wilderness.

So, let’s abandon “politics” for a little while and contemplate what it means to be Christian. Of course, first and foremost, is the belief that Man (both male and female) is flawed and sinful, which renders us unable to meet, know, and understand God on our own. This defect was resolved forever by the appearance of Jesus the Christ into history, Who showed by His life, death, and resurrection from death into life, that it is entirely possible for flawed, sinful Man to become like God, under certain, clearly spelled-out rules:

You shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, soul, and mind, AND,
You shall love your neighbor in the same manner that you love yourself.

End of argument. Except that we are not willing to accept this as truth, preferring instead to substitute ritual, emotion, and irrationality as our own version of the truth, which we practice faithfully, certain that this will procure a ticket into the very presence of God Himself.

We are pretty good at “loving” the LORD, our God, with all our heart, soul, and mind, but what does it really mean to love our neighbor as we love ourselves? This is the existential question and it must be clearly understood if we are ever to understand what it means to love God. These two demands go hand in hand, they cannot be separated. It is impossible to love God fully and completely UNLESS we love our neighbor fully and completely.

“If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” –1 John 4:20, emphasis mine.

Well, all right, you might say, but WTF does this have to do with politics, government, and voting to influence the direction America (or any other nation) travels? After all, if Christians do not influence the government in a positive direction, the direction we deem to be true, right, and holy, then we are all “doomed” to live under a regime with which we do not agree, one in which we find ourselves in opposition against. Hell on earth, in other words, AND we MUST oppose that by voting for the “lesser of two evils”. Which, of course, does nothing to eliminate the evil, but actually exacerbates it since evil, to one extent of another, always wins.

The main problem with this is that it is easy to love government which solves all our problems with our neighbor by brute force and violence, but it is not so easy to love our neighbor through the application of self-sacrifice, good will, and service. Jesus did not say, “Love your neighbor by passing a law which he must obey, whether he wants to or not, and which you must pay for through taxation and regulation, even if you don’t like the extent to which you are taxed or regulated.” Instead, He said quite simply that we are to live with our neighbors, as if they (and their needs) were as important as our own, whether we like them or not.

Here is the dividing line, the distinction. Love for neighbors is voluntary. It comes out of the depths of our hearts. It does not care what it costs us personally. In our own personal relationship with our neighbors, we look out for their good. It does not matter what it costs, even if it costs everything we have, what we consider to be ours and which we are determined to hold onto at all costs, even if we have to pinch our noses as we enter the voting booth and pull the lever, signifying our belief in the “pot of message” which our favored candidate professes.

Love for neighbor cannot be achieved through a political process. It cannot be forced or violent. It must be voluntary. It is personally costly. It is self-sacrificial. We must die to ourselves so that our neighbor can live. This is the message of Christ and the Gospels and it is also that which we resist so strenuously that we have created a different, better way to “love” our neighbor: government, the application of law, and forceful action to back it up. As an example of this, it is quite easy to find a Christian church which steers a young, single mother to a government agency for “help” rather than taking her in and supporting her directly. After all, the government has plenty of money while we are struggling to pay the mortgage on our building, which is really owned by The Bank. Let’s be realistic about this.

Why? Is it not because we are afraid of our neighbor? Do we not fear what he might do to us? If this is the case, then it is better to do to him BEFORE he does to us, which principle is directly opposed to the teachings of Christ, Whom we profess to follow? Does this not create cognitive dissonance in our own minds, causing us to make excuses for all our behaviors, in spite of the irregularities and inconsistencies of our own philosophical and religious arguments? Do we create government, that is, legislation and the giving of “authority” to others, so that we can be secure and safe in our own environment? Do we accept government so that we do not have to be afraid? Yet, Jesus, in His capacity as God, asks us to completely trust Him and to accept no other as a safe haven in the storm. To be unafraid.

“And it makes me wonder.” — Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”

In eternity, which I live in presently and will enter permanently within the next twenty years or so, the only question I have to answer is this: How do I love my neighbor? Do I love him from the depths of my heart, wishing, hoping, and working for his best even if that means I have to suffer loss, or do I try to control him through the office known as government, so that I can feel safe, even if that means that both he and I will suffer loss? Is my love for him real and lasting or is it just a face put on so that I can remain secure in my own world? Should I love my neighbor for his benefit or should I seek to control him so that I can benefit?

Politics!

Voting, whether you want to admit it or not, is just a mechanism of control. Nothing more. It is something which we use to indirectly affect how our neighbor will live or die if they refuse to behave the way we want them to. (If you click the link, notice the reference to Matthew 19:19) We can say that we love our neighbor, but if we advocate for a policy which degrades him, hobbles his ability to prosper, or restricts his behavior so that we can feel good about ourselves, then where is the consistency?

Where is the love, indeed?

There is only one reason for resorting to government as opposed to trusting God: we are afraid. We are fearful. We think about what MIGHT happen in the future and we take steps to make sure that doesn’t occur, because it might cause us harm. The actions we take are defensive in nature, yet God calls us to trust Him completely, which compels us to abandon any defensive measures and tactics, even those political in nature. Voting is such a defensive measure and, while it may serve as a feel-good, self-congratulatory action at the moment, it does nothing at all to solve the problem, which is spiritual in nature and which cannot be solved or corrected by pulling a lever in a voting booth.

Should Christians be Involved in Politics?

October 12, 2024 Roger Mitchell10 Comments

The question in the title arises from a meeting at a local church on the same subject. My wife asked me to go with her, so I did, and when the pastor asked for discussion on the topic, I gave them my opinion. After just a few minutes, I was told by some unknown person to, in essence, sit down and shut up. Which I did, then sat through an extended period in which the entire rest of the group explained all the reasons why Christians ought to be involved. None of them asked me for any further explanation. After an hour or so, I just got up and walked out. I will never go back.

Politics. Before answering the question, it should be important to understand what politics actually is. If you do not know what politics is, then you cannot answer the question. Most people associate politics with government, as in this definition, taken from Merriam-Webster:

a: the art or science of government

b: the art or science concerned with guiding or influencing governmental policy

c: the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government

Now, I do not dispute the description, but the word “politics” is multi-faceted (as admitted by Merriam-Webster) and can have many different meanings and connotations. During my comments at the session, I mentioned the saying that, “Politics is a dirty business”, and asked them if Christians should be involved in dirty business. To my surprise, a lot of people nodded their heads affirmatively, which only shows that they simply do not know what the “dirty business of politics” is all about. But then, American Christians, at least the modern kind, have never been known for their acumen and understanding of the way the real world works.

I also brought up a line from Billy Joel’s song, Piano Man, which should be familiar–“And the waitress is practicing politics as the businessmen slowly get stoned…”, and explained that politics, outside the government angle, is nothing more than the manipulation of people for personal gain, which, if true, ought to provoke outrage on the part of Christians toward the practice. It was at this point that I was quite unceremoniously booted from the floor and the rest is history.

“Politics is the practice of getting what you want by manipulating other people and is always at their expense, to their detriment.” (My own description of politics. Click the link, scroll down until you find it.)

Unfortunately, politics, even in government is manipulation of some people by other people, all with one purpose (usually unspoken) in mind: control and power. Control and power. Virtually everyone is consumed with gaining power over others so that their behavior and actions can be controlled. Christians usually bring up the subject of “morality” and the dire need to make people behave the way they ought to, that is, in the manner that Christians think they ought to, because, you know, the country is diving headlong into the sewer of “immorality” and needs to be rescued. Or else, there will be hell to pay. Of course! There always is. Whether anyone else wants their version of morality or not is irrelevant. It must be done! We must get involved! We must vote! Vote! Vote! Vote for the lesser of two evils, even if that means the System as a whole becomes more evil, which mechanism is really a rear-guard action that does nothing to stop the onslaught of evil, but only slows it down a little. In the end, evil wins.

“The urge to save humanity is almost always a false face for the urge to rule it.” — H.L. Mencken

“Voting is nothing more than choosing whose hand holds the club with which you are beaten. It does nothing to stop the beatings.” — another of my own quotes. You can quote me on that.

Should Christians be involved in politics? If politics is a “dirty business” and the manipulation of people for personal benefit, then the answer is an unqualified “No, they should not.” This comports with the message of the Gospel of Jesus to keep oneself unspoiled from the world and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. However, as Christians, we are also enjoined to act as leavening agents to affect the world condition in which we find ourselves so that the entire structure is bettered by our actions. This seeming contradiction can be resolved in only one way–by determining where and in whom we place our trust and faith. As Christians, we are enjoined to have trust and faith in God alone, yet we continue to disregard this advice in preference to putting our trust and faith in man-made institutions, especially the modern form of government, that is, the totalitarian State, which encompasses and controls everything. As Christians, we have sold our souls for a pot of message, and it is coming back to bite us as a very bad case of acid reflux and dysentery. If we continue to gorge ourselves on this feast, it will kill us.

Belief and participation in the world system lead to death. This is a fact we must face and recognize as truth. Yet, knowing this, we still labor under the illusion that we can sway and impact “politics” in a positive way, for the better, if we join in, work with, and merge into the prevailing protocol. We think that we can “clean up” politics and The System if we just engage it and add our voice to the cacophony, yet we fail to understand that, in doing so, we soil ourselves and reinforce the message that men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.

At heart, we refuse to trust God. We would rather trust government. We would rather be practitioners of “the lesser of two evils” than turning away from evil entirely. We would rather beggar our neighbor through the application of law than to love our neighbor in service to him. We prefer to think we are holy because we go to church on Sunday morning and practice all the “accepted” perfunctory deeds that are expected, yet we do not know that our lives are as filthy rags in His sight. Yes, indeed, and I am the greatest of sinners, to paraphrase the apostle Paul.

What, then, shall be done? How, then, shall we live? Well, there is nothing to do except to change myself into and in conformance with His likeness, to become holy as He is holy, to accept that there is no other name except His by which I am saved. This alone brings freedom. It is the only path to life. Nothing else will work. Everything else will fail.

You can rationalize all you want. You can make all the excuses you want. You can delude yourselves until the chickens come home to roost. In the end, you are only deceiving yourself. There is only one way. Everything else will fail.

Everything else will fail.

Love of Control and the Antidote

September 2, 2023 Roger MitchellLeave a comment

This article was first posted at https://westernmt.news/voices/.

“Governments of every stripe are nothing more than gangs of terrorists. All government is organized crime, and relies on force and propaganda in order to subdue the human herd. The criminals at the top care nothing about any of you, and will always find the common man to be expendable, especially those who stand in the way of the State’s efforts to achieve totalitarian rule.” — Gary Barnett

Don’t let anyone fool you. Don’t fool yourself. Government which relies on force and violence to achieve its ends CANNOT be reformed and made into something which it is not. This is why the appeals to “conservatism”, “going back to the Constitution”, and “small(er) government”, always fail. The goal is NEVER to eliminate forceful, violent government, instead, it is about gaining control and power over everyone else at the expense of anyone–no matter who they are. Voting for a proxy government is nothing more than a way of exercising your own personal, deep-seated desire for control.

The main argument of government apologists everywhere can be reduced to one common theme, i.e., “If they disagree with me, then they need to be controlled.” Unfortunately for this attitude, those who seek to control others usually end up being controlled. Only a very few, all fabulously wealthy and extremely powerful, can escape this control in any measurable fashion, but they trade that privilege for their own peculiar set of problems, all of which have costs imposed and exacted.

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” — Luke 6:38 (KJV)

This passage of Scripture, spoken by Jesus, especially the emphasized part, applies equally across the board. You want control? You will be controlled. The alternative, the cure for this mindset, also spoken by Jesus, is this: