What is legal plunder?

How collectivism leads to theft

Steve Schlichter 0 1825 Article rating: 5.0
"Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. Thus the beneficiaries are spared the shame, danger, and scruple which their acts would otherwise involve. Sometimes the law places the whole apparatus of judges, police, prisons, and gendarmes at the service of the plunderers, and treats the victim — when he defends himself — as a criminal. In short, there is a legal plunder...

Does God Value Liberty?

How the fall and the book of Judges can answer this question.

Steve Schlichter 0 1547 Article rating: No rating

 

Does God value liberty?  There are two ways to answer this question. The first is with reason. Evil exists because God values free creatures that choose good (and therefore are capable of choosing evil) more than he values the absence of evil. The fall of man is evidence of this. God created man and gave him opportunity to choose freely. God values Liberty.

 

Violence and Protection of Life

Including one's own

Steve Schlichter 0 1615 Article rating: No rating


Violence is a tool. It is not a hammer or screwdriver that goes in your toolbox for everyday use. It is a tool of last resort. It is behind the glass broken only in extreme circumstances. What are the appropriate circumstances? We always want to avoid violence but there are circumstances when violence is necessary.
 

The Qur'an and hadiths of Islam teach that violence is an appropriate tool for the propagation of religion. In contrast, the Hebrew conquest of Canaan was a period in which God-ordained violence occurred but the purpose of the conquest was not to gain converts. Later, Jesus and the entire New Testament make it very clear that violence must never be a tool for the Church to spread Christianity or the gospel message.   This brings us to the question of self-defense.

Absurdity of Laws

How we use force of law to plunder our neighbor instead of love our neighbor

Steve Schlichter 1 3662 Article rating: No rating

In 1696, the legislature of Britain implemented a window-tax. The more windows you had, the more you had to pay. If you were wealthy enough to own a home in London that had a lot of windows then you can pay your fair share (for the common good, of course). Some variation of this law existed for about 150 years. This (even if well-meaning) tax was a swing at the rich but these laws rarely hit their targets. Those with the means just boarded up their windows with bricks leaving a legacy of absurdity making both air and light a government service to pay for. When the law is used to target the rich, it rarely hits the target. In this case, a large tenant building full of middle and lower-class renters would get taxed heavily. The owner would pass the cost down to the tenants. A swing and a miss.

One absurd law played out requires another absurdity to fix it. A similar tax was placed on the number of fireplaces and the number of bricks used to build a home. This, in turn resulted in bricked up hearths, cold residents, and building houses with over-sized bricks. It is not that all laws are absurd. Undeniable laws exist naturally and organically. These natural laws govern all human activity. Natural laws are based on the responsibilities of the individual to bear the image of God. This requires certain rights in order to execute those responsibilities. These rights include the right to your own life. Not being killed. They include the right to your freedom. Not being enslaved. They include the right to property. Property is what you did with your right to life and freedom in the past. Not being robbed or plundered.

The Essential Church

The bona fides of the Church that Christians must consider

Steve Schlichter 0 1538 Article rating: No rating

Politicians have told us that we must follow the science. Models were presented that caused us to brace for impact for up to 2 million dead from this virus. We complied. We submitted. The Executive Branch of our states have the legal authority to curtail rights in the face of an attack or national emergency. The emergency was originally the risk of overwhelming our healthcare infrastructure with too many infections. We shored up hospitals, erected tent hospitals, and boats to care for the sick. We were called upon to not assemble, to stay at home, to flatten the curve so that we are not all sick at once. The curve was flattened. The hospitals were not flooded, the tents are empty, and the boats have sailed away. The estimates were overblown, the models flawed, and the science trumped by politics.

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