Indeed!  The real enemy is not an over-reaching government, but a citizenry that does not value freedom in their hearts.  Without a citizenry that loves freedom, their representatives will further their dependency until they are nothing more than the subjects of the crown from which the American Revolution liberated them.  That's another reason to stop trying to be more like Britain and Europe — they do not know freedom and have little to no respect for it.

Boy, how times have changed — we've come along way, baby.

Now, the "sons" of former slave owners (and even those that weren't) demand special treatment and dispensations — and are getting it, and still aren't satisfied. 

Just goes to show, give them an inch and they'll take a mile.  The liberals are liberal no more, they are fascist by any truthful definition.

History repeats because the same strategies are being used by the socialists that have been used successfully for centuries to corrupt the principles for a free nation. 

So-called democracy guarantees that the ignorant majority will always vote away the rights of their 'opposition.'  First take over state education and promote secular progressive social justice rather than teaching a people how to stay free and independent.  Then import more uneducated people from failed socialist states without teaching them about the republican principles that freed a people from authoritarian feudalism.  Debauch the currency, impoverish the middle class, and trick the people out of their inheritance. 

Same old playbook, works every time.  The Western world has been conned into servitude to the state once again.  Without a true spiritual foundation, the result is all but preordained.

Rather than 'psychological' or 'religious' I would say 'spiritual'.  Spiritual liberty is the very basis of political liberty.  Freedom to think, to know, to reason, to love, and to express that is the foundation of all liberty. 

The battle is and always has been for 'hearts and minds' which I would call the spiritual understanding of reality.  The false narrative started with the lying serpent and continues to shackle mankind.  Thus knowing the truth makes one free.  This is spiritual, not limited by psychological or religious dogma (i.e., the knowledge of good and evil).  

Thanks, Mike.  I often wonder if Buddhists or Hindus or Native Americans that observe the Golden Rule and practice love, charity, mercy, honor for their own sake can be considered 'Christian' the adverb, not the noun.  "Blessed are the peacekeepers" — is not that true no matter what religion you were born into?  'As you sow, so shall you reap' — isn't that true?  Again, I say the truth is the truth is the truth, and whenever the truth is spoken is not God speaking? ;-)

Indeed!

I get it, and agree!

What part of the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness do you not understand, Waffler?  How about the Bill of Rights?  Our 'rights' are antecedent to government decrees abridging them — such decrees being invalid on their face.  Sheesh, talk about the "devil's advocate"...

That's a great distinction to make, Mike.  It's the difference between a statist and a republican form of government.  'We the People' formed a representative republican form of government, not a democracy.  Lincoln is a most misunderstood character — the last true 'wartime' president defending the nation from within and without, part statist, part republican.  We'll never know how things might have ended up if he hadn't been assassinated.

LOL! How true! ;-)

The law is not mythical — 'as you sow, so shall you reap' is eternal and self-evident.

Interesting.  Is that one of the reasons the fruit of the tree of 'knowledge' of good and evil was forbidden?  Because it was finite and introduced a concept foreign to 'truth' and the infinite possibilities of heaven?  Apparently such 'knowledge' condemned perfect and immortal man to a mortal and 'fallen' existence.  Why put such a tree in the garden in the first place, not to mention a talking and tempting serpent...? I get a sense that the 'knowledge' spoken of is missing something in the translation.

I love this!  It is my guiding principle as a truth-seeker, and I can attest to it.  For the most part, our understanding of the world is tainted by a false understanding of what is so.  Deception abounds and even written into the history books.  False flags, covert operations, and downright lies from the wicked in high places are treated as gospel.  And what has been the result?  Servitude, hatred, envy, and all matter of evil treated as 'right.'

Jesus represents the Truth incarnate, and I can find no fault in his teachings and example.  I questioned his authenticity in my youth, but I can say that eventually God proved himself to me.  The Truth becomes self-evident to anyone who will let it in.

The existence of a lie depends on the truth it aims to hide.  But once the lie is exposed, it has no more power, and is destroyed.  The truth is eternal and requires nothing to prop it up, it stands alone without effort — it 'is.'  A lie has no substance, it is an absence like a shadow is an absence of light.  The truth is the real and substantive, the lie is unreal and without substance. 

So, to build a 'world' upon that which is not true is to build an illusion that will eventually fall once the truth becomes known.  Those that deny truth, refuse to examine false premises, do so because they have too much invested in the lie and have too much to lose.  Some lie to themselves and others lie knowingly — it all ends up the same way, inheriting the wind.

Indeed the truth makes us free — we know because we have been liberated from the lies and see plainly now.  I wish that for everyone who has ears to hear.  Merry Christmas!

Huh?  Sorry, Robert, I think you have this one wrong...

This is one of the issues with collectivist thinking... "America" is a concept, a straw man, not a ship or a person.  Perhaps you could say 'Americans' lost their integrity, but it would again be fallacious because each American has varying degrees of integrity, history, attitudes, etc..  Such generalized statements carry no weight.  The same with making blanket statements about Christians, Muslims, blacks, whites, etc.  As far as massacring, there is plenty of that throughout the world and not confined to any specific group.  That doesn't make it right.  Robert, you are British, so I find that such holier-than-thou arguments are hypocritical at best.  (See how I just demonstrated a strawman argument to belittle you?😉)

Discerning 'right' and 'wrong' is a matter of conscience, and we are not without examples throughout history from which to learn 'the way.'  Given the 'Law', "As you sow, so shall you reap," the 'rules' are set by religion and tradition.  The adherence to these rules is considered 'moral.' 

The concepts of what is 'good' are founded upon Life, Love, and Truth, the opposite of which are considered 'evil.'  To uphold these ideals in their many forms and to adhere to the Golden Rule is considered 'moral,'  and to oppose or ignore them is 'immoral.' 

Thus the morality of a religion, tradition, or a people is determined by whether the actions followed by such are in accordance with these precepts.  In pursuit of the ideal, we may trip and fall, but our faith in them allow us to not give up, to get up, and to continue on such a path for its own sake.  Thus the call for 'forgiveness,' because absolute justice is condemnation of all. 

This, to me, sums up morality and spiritual understanding.  Merry Christmas!

That is truly marvelous, Mike.  I love to hear those testimonies.

The Golden Rule is golden because of the Law: as you sow, so shall you reap.  It is not a result of plagiarism that one can see the Truth which is eternal and ever in front us to be realized/discovered.  It takes a truly narrow mind to be atheistic.  The artist is known through his art, and the designer is known through his designs.  The entire natural universe from the atom to galaxies are obviously ordered and ingeniously designed.  The human is a masterful creation, as well as life, the mind and consciousness itself (referred to as spirit or soul).  To mock that is truly arrogant.

This is what America was founded upon.  Has the world ever seen a group of men such as the American Founding Fathers?  May there be a renaissance of these ideals in the hearts of the people.

Confusion and corruption arises by not making the distinction between 'law' and 'statute.'  Mike reminds us that true 'law' is from the laws of nature which are self-enforcing.  Humankind has ever set about to declare 'rules' to follow for a 'civilized' society.  Hence the Golden Rule.  Why?  Because of the 'Law': As you sow, so shall you reap.  Our statutes/legislation should best be in accord with The Law, not so that we attempt to play God, but to help our fellow man avoid the consequences of trying to 'break' The Law.

I asked ChatGPT what Ron is talking about.  Here's the response:

Short answer: The commenter is mixing biblical Hebrew and classical Greek words to criticize modern “liberal” compromise and to praise an older, religiously framed idea of liberty (freedom from bondage). He contrasts false liberality with pure liberty and invoke Alfredo Rocco’s fascist formulation as the prompt for that polemic.

The writer is responding to Rocco’s famous line about liberalism and fascism by arguing from a religious-linguistic frame: he calls some modern liberals nadiyb (pejoratively), accuses them of keciyl (foolishness), and insists that true freedom is the biblical/Greek idea of release or manumission rather than state‑enforced equality. The tone is moral and theological: the commenter treats political categories as moral/spiritual conditions rather than neutral policy labels.

Glossary (words the commenter used):
- Nadiyb / nâdîyb — a Hebrew word meaning noble, generous, princely; as a noun it can mean a grandee or (in some contexts) a tyrant or notable person.
- Keciyl / kᵊsîl — Hebrew for fool or foolish/complacent person; used in biblical wisdom literature to mean a stupid or senseless person.
- Chophshiy / chophshîy — Hebrew adjective meaning free or liberty (freedom from bondage, tax, or care) — the commenter’s “ancient Chophshiy Liberty” refers to this biblical sense of exemption and manumission.
- Drowr / deror — Hebrew noun meaning liberty, release, free run (used in contexts like the Jubilee proclamation of liberty).
- Brakah / berakah — Hebrew berakah (blessing); in some lexica it’s also translated as liberal or present; the commenter’s “Brakah liberality” likely invokes blessing/generosity as a moral ideal.
- Eleutheria / Apeleutheros — Greek eleutheria = liberty/freedom; apeleutheros = a freedman or one set free — the commenter borrows classical Greek to emphasize civic or personal freedom as an ancient ideal.
(Each gloss above is drawn from standard lexica and Strong’s concordance entries.)

About the Rocco quote:
Alfredo Rocco’s sentence appears in The Political Doctrine of Fascism and is widely quoted as a succinct contrast between liberal individualism and fascist collectivism. Rocco was an Italian jurist and later a member of the National Fascist Party; his essay was part of 1920s Italian fascist intellectual literature.

How to read the commenter:
He is not doing neutral philology but using ancient-language terms as moral weapons: Nadiyb and Brakah are set against Drowr/Chophshiy/Eleutheria to claim a purer, God‑aligned liberty and to reject both socialist/fascist coercion and what they see as corrupt modern liberal permissiveness. That rhetorical move mixes theology, classical language, and political polemic rather than offering a systematic political theory.

Dream on, Reston.  Some of the richest politicians are 'progressive' liberals who, once in office, raked in millions — for what?  Apparently they have become the most savvy investors Wall Street has ever seen.  Nancy Pelosi is one of the biggest hypocrites ever, with AOC now a millionaire after only a few short years in Congress.  Elizabeth Warren, too, also making millions while spreading the 'eat the rich' rhetoric.  Face it, the poor are kept poor for their votes for empty promises and to promote class warfare — all while the government reps laugh their way to the bank.

Our 'right' to be free is not earned, but I will agree that to move from dependence to independence requires taking responsibility and is the distinction between a child and an adult.

🤣 LOL, Waffler, you are exactly who Braun is talking about!

We can never avoid the consequences of breaking the laws of nature and of "nature's God."