Slavery

Slavery has been with mankind almost from the beginning.  It has been common practice for millennia.    American Indians and African tribes and virtually all other societies practiced slavery.  They enslaved either people kidnapped from other tribes or whole tribes that were conquered.  

In the days of the patriarchs slaves were necessary for farming and herding chores.  Did slavery make the persons life worse?  Being owned by another often meant getting taken care of and protected by the other person.  A slave owner wants healthy slaves to protect their investment.

Were slaves sometimes considered just short of family members?  Were slaves were very close to adopted children?  Do some people treat the pets they own as part of the family?

Consider plantations where slaves were given small homes (compared to the plantation owner) and food.  Were they better off than when they were in their own very poor country?

Were slaves that risked punishment by running away (north) treated badly by their owners?  Did all owners treat slaves badly?

Individual freedom was something our forefathers fought to obtain.  Was our forefathers support of freedom responsible for eventually emancipating the plantation slaves?  Was the 13th amendment possible because the constitution allows amendments?

Are people in communist and socialist  countries essentially slaves of the government?

Do they exchange free speech, free travel, free thought or opportunity for being provided minimal sustenance?

Do theocracies also enslave people?

Is there a role for religion in overseeing government?

You could consider the first slaves that worked for patriarchs preparing food and tending to the herds.  They traded work for food, protection and shelter.  Often people chose slavery as indentured servants to obtain either travel, debt payment or permission to marry.  These conditions were often temporary.  The year of jubilee, every 49 years, was when slaves were to be set free.  Did many immediately sell themselves back into slavery for food and shelter?

Today, with a vibrant economy and justice system in place, slavery is considered a horrendous abuse of people.

Was it really all that bad before a strong free economy was established?

Was it better than the alternatives?

Were slaves treated better than sweatshop employees?

Is slavery what many groups, claiming to fight for equality, are fighting to establish?

Was the practice of lifelong slavery bad?

Are children often treated as slaves?

indentured servant: a person who signs and is bound by indentures to work for another for a specified time especially in return for payment of travel expenses and maintenance

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indentured%20servant

Slavery, condition in which one human being was owned by another.

slavery | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica www.britannica.com

Charity

Charity can have a couple meanings including love and giving time or money.  Does time imply work here?

What inspires people to give away time or money?

• Friendship
• Spreading your views
• Hate
• Good feelings
• Filth
• Poverty
• Justice
• Recognition
• Education
• Indoctrination
• Scripture
• Training
• Power
• Racism
• Abundance
• Taxes
• Food
• Hunger
• Politics
• Practicality
• Returned favor
• Pass it on
• Safety
• After life

Is it better to give away your money or other peoples money?

“I should consider it a disgrace to die a rich man.” – Andrew Carnegie (1887) retrieved from http://intelligentcollector.com/blog/carnegie-had-a-simple-philosophy-on-how-to-spend-your-life/ 

Poverty

What do poor people really need?

How do you define poor?

Is poor defined as needing

• food?
• possessions?
• ability?
• shelter?
• job?
• inheritance?
• religion?
• medical care?
• home?
• peace?
• alcohol?
• friends?
• protection?
• contentment?
• money?
• education?
• safety?
• family?
• drugs?
• worry?
• sanity?
• opportunity?
• clothes?
• entertainment?
• spirit?

How much defines a 'lack' of something?

What marks the boundary between poor and not poor?

What are the minimum things needed to not be poor?

Does the boundary depend on how much others have?

Is poverty a relative term based on the surrounding location?

Will people always want to be given more if others have more?

What can or should the government, church, community or person do to help the poor?  Is throwing money enough to eliminate poverty?   Is throwing money an easy way to feel good about solving poverty (especially if it is someone else's  money)?

"For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always." (John 12:8)

Consider the proverb " […] if you give a man a fish he is hungry again in an hour. If you teach him to catch a fish you do him a good turn. (Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie(1885) Mrs. Dymond source: https://en.wiktionary.org/ ).

Are food, shelter and opportunity the primary things that should be given to help reduce poverty?  What are the best ways for the government, church, community or person to help provide these things?

For the poor you will always have with you in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’" (Deut 15:7-11)

Nature

Are unnatural sexual preferences genetic or learned?

Is sex addictive?

What is sexy?

It seams sexual preferences are established during puberty and difficult to change after that.

There is a broad range of sexual preferences and many are culturally driven.

Is pure white skin sexier than tanned skin?  Was snow white fairest in the land?

Are small feet sexy?  Some cultures bound feet to make them smaller.

Are wide hips sexy?  In some cultures women pad their hips to look more attractive.

What about weight?  Some cultures worship several hundred pound women.

What about violence?  Often violence is associated with sex.  Some people enjoy S&M.

What about dominance?  Some people enjoy being dominated and some enjoy dominating.

Why do some groups claim without cause and effect proof, that people are born with certain sexual preferences?

Why do many people try to classify people based on sexual preferences?

These preferences cover a wide range of types and actions.  Is it like trying to classify people as tall or short?  Some are clearly and tall and some are clearly short but most fall in between.

 

Good and Evil

Is a quest for knowledge always good?

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:27

Several interpretations of this passage in different denominations and religions exist.  Consider these questions representing different viewpoints.

Was the tree a bad tree?

Was the reason to not eat merely a test of obedience to just one rule and free choice?

Was the command to not eat from evil sources and the tree wholly good for man to partake?

Did the fruit have something to do with the blending of good and evil?

Did the fruit give power to evil?

An additional take is the following.

Does the meaning change if you add a word,  

Tree of self  knowledge of good and evil?

Was it really an ability to judge others, actions or things, that resulted in death?

If you judge others as good or evil do you lose a close relationship with others?

Does this interpretation fit in the context of the rest of Genesis?

Does the tree of life represent Jesus's forgiveness which would counteract the judgement of good or evil?

Does making lists of actions as good or evil take into consideration the intent behind the action?

Do the lists of good and evil actions consider special circumstances?

And let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient. (Surah 5:47)

Black Lies Matter

The Black Lives Matter movement claims there exist widespread discrimination against African Americans.  They use statistics comparing comparing number of events versus population percentages.  But is there something in black culture that makes them more prone to violence and disrespect of others?

The Black Lives Mater web site may have some clues to the problem?   All quoted text is from https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/ retrieved on 16 July 2020.

Black Lives Matters supports:

• "We are unapologetically Black in our positioning"
• Does this indicate that racism is perfectly acceptable?
• Are black supremacist less bad than white supremacist?
• "We build a space that affirms Black women and is free from  ... environments in which men are centered."
• Do many men grow up and become less self centered when they learn they need to provide for their helpless children?
• Does this say they do not want males to provide support their family?
• "We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure"
• Is this part of trying to destroy "Western" culture altogether?
• Is it not well established that children need a mother and father to help them develop strong character?
• Can you count on a strong family to always give you support and carry you through rough times?
• "We foster a queer‐affirming network"
• Are LBGP organizations goal destruction of all sexual morality?
• Do these organizations indoctrinate people into their addictions? 
• Are people addicted to certain types of sex, discriminated against in jobs and housing?
• Is everything LBGP organizations call discrimination really discrimination?
• Can trying to convince people that unnatural sex acts are unhealthy for them and society be an act of love?

In addition the site made the statement 

"We know that police don’t keep us safe"

The whole purpose of police is to keep people safe from others and themselves.  

What is the justification for such a radical statement?

• Should police arrest someone before they commit a crime?
• Are police overzealous in trying to capture criminals?
• Do police risk their lives trying to keep people safe?
• Are police disrespected more noticeably by blacks?
• Are traffic laws intended to keep people safe?
• Are drug laws intended to keep people from destroying themselves? 
• Without enforcement would these laws be effective?

 Is there something in black culture that makes them more prone to violence and disrespect of others?

Co Op Living

Alternative living may be an economical path to a luxury lifestyle.

Share and Share Alike.

As humans need to cut energy usage to help slow global warming changing the single family home concept may be helpful.  Every home has things that are used very little but needed for the occasional event.  Also, the heat transfer through walls of homes accounts for a large part of our energy consumption.  Many families drive low mile per gallon trucks, again because they may need to pickup something occasionally.

As we get older many people move into a group home.  In the group home they have a small personal space and some larger shared space. The cost to live in senior group homes is large because the cost covers people who cannot pay and the many services that need to be provided.  If members took care of these services the cost could be very low.

The Kibbutz (Tourist Israel) is similar to Co Op Living, but there are many variations.  A Co Op is where people or groups share resources.  Would people raised in such an environment tend to be more sharing?

How much could you save by sharing the following among a group of families:

• Trucks
• Campers and mobile homes
• Building and yard maintenance
• Auto repair equipment
• Wood working equipment
• Sports equipment 
• Laundry equipment
• Kitchen equipment
• Video entertainment (movies)
• School lesson tutoring
• Games
• Boats
• Fishing equipment
• Food preparation
• Food bulk purchasing
• Entertainment and recreational spaces
• Community service
• Exercise equipment
• Child care
• Sewing equipment
• Product production equipment
• Computer equipment
• Gardening and food production

How would you maintain strong nuclear families?

How would you control slackers?

How would you schedule the use of facilities and equipment?

How would you maintain equipment and facilities?

Would a farm setting be better?

What morals would you uphold?

How would you admit people?

How would you care for children and senior citizens?

How large should the buildings be?

How many families?

What about adult singles?

How much private space per family?

Would all meals be in a shared space?

How would you maintain personal privacy?

How would you organize personal property?

How would you manage conflict?

How would you control disease and pest spread?

The Believers Share Their Possessions

³² All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. ³³ With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all ³⁴ that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales ³⁵ and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. _{Acts 4:32-35}

Note how different this bible passage is to modern day taxation.

Violence

Are African Americans more violent?

African Americans are statistically arrested at a slightly higher percentage than others.  Is this because of a tendency towards violence or discrimination by police?

A little research on studies of testosterone in blacks suggest that free testosterone levels are higher in black males and the peak occurs at younger ages.  Most of these studies were looking for a link into why prostrate cancer occurs more often in African Americans.  The levels are statistically significant but not likely to increase the occurrences of cancer.  Testosterone has been linked with violent behavior.  Whether the behavior increases testosterone or testosterone increases the behavior does not appear to be firmly established.

Another possibility is life training.  Blacks are taught from a young age that they are discriminated against and to hate police.  

Also for life training some are taught that schools do not teach 'their' subjects so are unimportant.  Education is the best way out of poverty.

Another possibility is economic disadvantage.  In economically distressed neighborhoods, violence may appear to be needed to obtain sufficient food and shelter.  Or is it the greedy wanting to posses as much as someone else that requires violence?

Blaming somebody or something else for outcomes you do not like, only builds trouble. 

Isolated cases of actions that appear to be discrimination are bound to occur and we will always have the poor.  Since everyone wants to appear superior there may actually be a few cases of  police discrimination,  but is it unlikely that widespread discrimination occurs? 

Why don't we quit the supremacy, black and white, and treat people as individuals?

Handicapped

Are you handicapped.  A definition may be "having a condition that markedly restricts one's ability to function physically, mentally, or socially."  An interesting description of the history of the word 'handicapped' is at https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/69361/why-did-disabled-replace-handicapped-preferred-term. The origin of the word was in horse racing where you put your hand in cap (with money ) to accept an advantage (a head start or extra weight ) to make a horse race more even.  Handicap has a similar usage in golf today.

Changing the definition above slightly to "having a condition that restricts one's ability to function physically, mentally, or socially."  gives it a better meaning.  Under this definition, are virtually all people  handicapped?  The only difference in the definitions is the degree of restriction which is arbitrary anyway.

Could any of the following characteristics be considered handicaps?

• being short
• being tall
• being large
• being small
• being skinny
• shyness
• narcissism
• materialism
• racism
• self pride
• skin rash
• asthma
• nervousness
• skin color
  
  
• addictions to
• smoking
• alcohol
• sex
• violence
• television
• computer games
• sports
• work
• reading

Are virtually all people handicapped?  Should anyone be further restricted because of a handicap?  Are all people equal on Gods scale?

Could Jesus Appear Different

Is it possible that Jesus could appear differently to different people?  There is no direct evidence of this but it could explain a few bible passages.  At Pentecost the disciples spoke in tongues,

And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.  Acts 2:6

So different people heard the words in their own language at the same time.  But could Jesus have appeared different to different people at the same time?  A few incidents would indicate that maybe he could.  In the town he grew up in the bible says

And they rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. But passing through the midst of them he went away. Luke 4:29-30

So how did he pass through the crowd of people he grew up with, without being seen?

Other instances are mentioned when he was being arrested.

Then Jesus, knowing all that was to befall him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth."Jesus said to them, "I am he." Judas who betrayed him, was standing with them.  When he said to them, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground. John 18:4-6

Why did the soldiers fall to the ground unless Jesus appeared terrifying to them?  

And why did Judas need to identify Jesus with a kiss, if the chief priest and elders could see him every day in the temple?

Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I shall kiss is the man; seize him", Matthew 26:48

What would be the significance today if Jesus could appear differently to different people?  Could denominational difference be resolved by the different view points?  What religions from different parts of the world?  Is it true Jesus is love?

The same people

It seams people like to complain or force their view on other people.  Many of the popular views held by groups contradict some of their other views and actions.

Why do the same people think that:

• It is OK for a woman to kill her (unborn) children, but think nobody should own a gun?
• Slavery should be erased from our history, but want repayment because ancient ancestors were slaves?
• It was terrible for European settlers to expand their territory by conquest and treaties, but it was great for the Aztec empire to expand their territory by conquest and treaties?
• Anyone who owned a slave was a wholly despicable person, but want the government to enslave all people?
• Want the government to tax corporations, but want good paying jobs?
• Call random things racist, but consider their race superior?
• It is OK to overeat, take drugs, smoke, fornicate and not exercise but want free health care?
• The police are forceful, but want the police to protect them from violence and crime?
• We should reduce green house gas emissions, but drive SUVs and travel to conferences?

Where your heart is.

Where your money is, that is where your heart is.

Money leaves your possession several different ways.  Two main ways money leaves you possession is to spend it or give it away.  When you spend money you expect something in return and when you give it away you do not.

Generally when you give money away you expect some general public good to come from it.  But what about when you spend money.  Do you expect some general public good to come from spending money?  

What happens to money after you spend it?

Does it:

• Pay someone for the work they do?
• Help the poor?
• Cause extra pollution?
• Harm the environment?
• Weaken your country?
• Come back to you?
• Enslave people?
• Enslave you?
• Make your neighborhood poorer?
• Make your neighborhood richer?
• Make you better?
• Make you worse?
• Relieve your tension?
• Comfort you?
• Support oppression?
• Support competition?
• Provide food or shelter?

When you spend money do you consider what happens after you spend it?  

Do you buy:

• the 'best' model?
• the cheapest model?
• from the biggest retailer?
• locally made items?
• harmful products?

Superiority

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

It seams people always want to consider themselves superior to others.  Winning a sports title is often followed by the chant "We are Number One".  This would indicate that "we" are superior to all others.

There are many characteristics of people that could be used to indicate superiority.

Which of the following could be used to indicate superiority?

• Color of eyes
• Color of hair
• Baldness
• High weight
• Thin build
• Cost of cloths
• Volume of voice
• Salary
• Frugality
• Position on Organization chart
• Slave owning
• Freedom from slavery
• Possessions
• Tall height
• Short height
• Great great great grandfathers triumphs
• Great great great grandfathers persecution
• Mother wears army boots
• Father can beat your father
• High grades in school
• Low work in school
• Age
• Health
• Intelligence
• Attainment of a degree
• Having servants
• Serving others
• Race

Is it important to feel superior to others?

If everyone considers themselves superior to others then are they all racist?

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all." Mark 9:35

Hell

Does Hell exist?

A popular song from the sixties may describe hell vary well with the phrase "Imagine there is no religion, nothing to live or die for."  With no purpose in life the only things that mater would be pleasure and power.  Both these goals are unachievable, so life becomes a struggle for pleasure and power.  With a focus on pleasure and power, true love does not thrive.

Does God condemn people to eternal hell or do they choose eternal hell themselves.  Are the following choices choosing hell?

•  Addiction to drugs
• Addiction to alcohol
• Addiction to sex
• Revenge
• Hatred
• Materialism
• Killing
• Self importance
• Laziness
• Workaholic
• Hedonism
• Politics
• Forcing your opinions on others
• Forcing your world view on others
• Racism

Can submission to God and love of others overcome the hollowness of pleasure and power?

Laws

Politicians seam to always argue about the outcome of laws.  There is always disagreement on how to solve problems.  Laws are often written to address a current issue or concern which becomes an unnecessary burden when the issue has passed.

I support constitutional amendments of the form below be added to legislative duties of the legislature.

Purpose and Duration of Laws.

All bills will contain a description of the purpose of the bill.  The purpose shall be linked with other provisions of this constitution and include metrics for determining whether the bill has accomplished its purpose.  

Seven and fourteen years after a bill becomes law the Secretary of State will evaluate whether the bill has accomplished its purpose using the metrics included in the bill.  Also, consequences counter to the welfare of the state or the people of the state shall be considered in evaluating whether the law serves its purpose and benefits the state or its people.  A public comment period of not less than thirty days will be available for all residence of the state to suggest positive and negative results of the law.  If the law has been found to not accomplish its goals or be excessively burdensome, it will be terminated one year after the determination.  The legislature will be notified of the determination within one week of the determination.

No law shall be in effect more than forty-nine years.  Existing laws prior to the passage of this amendment will be terminated in equal proportions over the forty-nine years after the adoption of this amendment.  The Secretary of State will publish a list of such laws to be terminated each year before the first day of January and the laws will terminate on the succeeding first day of January.  The legislature would then have a year to pass a replacement bill if they deem it useful.  This provision supersedes other statements concerning when a law shall continue in force.