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<entry>
<itemid>458</itemid>
<eventtime>2004-01-01 10:42:00</eventtime>
<logtime>2004-01-01 16:44:42</logtime>
<subject>A Beginning</subject>
<event>
Well I wrote this thing over the last year. It is not an intent to offend, simply an attempt to bridge the culture gap I see destroying America. I have dear friends on either side-on the 'Left' and the 'Right' with 'Good' and 'Evil' amongst either number. I think that with the definition of things slipping away, a common language is becoming harder and harder to find as even the very sources from which they obtain their news and what they define as 'truth' becoming more obscure with each passing day. Here is my attempt at philosophy. Take it as you will. Codex Americana What is it? “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” What of the other truths? What of the other rights? The world has evolved a great deal in two hundred years, and the Codex Americana is an attempt to find that truth. It is an attempt to get at the fundamental philosophy and base ethics that most Americans share, to quantify that unwritten ethos that defines the American ideal. In short, it is an attempt to create a Declaration of Ethics, a baseline from which deeper and more fundamental truths can be created. A compass in a morass the shadow and darkness in our modern times. Why Create it At All? Words have power. Written words have power that transcend time and pass from person to person and generation unto generation. The creation of this document is an attempt at discovering a basic alphabet of ethics, a language that all can use to accept those things ‘We hold to be self evident’. To solve ones differences, first you must determine what it is that you have in common. By What Authority? None. I have no spiritual dominion over any of my fellow man, but I believe that each of us has contained within us a part of the Light of Truth. This light reflects in every living thing, but as human beings we are graced with the gift to see it for the magnificent thing it is and the potential it has to shape our lives. Other philosophies cite previous experts, but I do not attempt to create a philosophy of Man, but explain in common terms the Philosophy of God. I cannot speak for God, but I can see the reflection and wonder of all creation, and attempt to quantify those flickers of truth as I see them. Whence Cometh These Words? There is no such thing as a truly neutral perspective. We do not live in a vacuum. However, with the gift of reason, we can transcend ourselves and examine the bigger picture. We can see things from different perspectives and note the things that they all share in common. I am a Christian. I am a white Mormon male born in the latter half of the twentieth century. At the same time, I count among my friends Black, White, Hispanic, Native American, and Asians; Agnostic, Gnostic, Jewish, Pagan, Protestant, Catholic and many more perspectives. While I do not know all things, I can for a brief time try to see things from their perspective, and use these commonalities to try and make the world a better place. Life is what you make of it. A simple phrase taught as the message in many movies, books and popular songs, but the ultimate meaning escapes most people. It is more than the surface conclusions. “Smile from time to time when you see the wild flowers on the side of the road” comes to mind while you whistle away the hours content with your lot wherever you are. Why was the Matrix so popular? Sure the acting was fair and the special effects highly innovative, and people enjoyed the action scenes. But I counter that one of the things that made it so enjoyed was because it resonated on a deep level with them. They agreed and understood that there was more to this world than meets the eye. There are no Atheists in Fox Holes. Everyone believes it on at least an instinctive level. The phrase ‘There are No Atheists in Foxholes’ primarily refers to an almost biological imperative to acknowledge something grander than we are. Even those who choose not to believe in a greater power in the universe, when presenting a rational response to their arguments concede that they do not know everything. Where the boundaries of their knowledge end, the limits of infinite possibilities exist. Acknowledgement of this fact is critical to a functionally balanced paradigm of the universe. A Glance in the Mirror Never Hurt Anyone Even the most devout are not perfect. They will acknowledge believing something and yet fail to live up to these ideals. This becomes dangerous when their own pride prevents them from realizing this dichotomy. “Love thy Neighboor” can mean a lot more than simply picking up litter on the highway. We must do what we can, but in our actions, especially actions that affect a large number of people; wisdom demands an occasional glance in the mirror. An honest glance. There is no ‘Somebody Else’ The first rule of self-empowerment is to understand that if you want to change the world that there is no ‘Somebody else’. You don’t like the way the trash collector takes your garbage. You don’t like it but you do nothing because you think, ‘Somebody else will fix it’. Everyone has his or her own hopes, dreams, aspirations and goals in life. By leaving these actions to ‘Somebody Else’ you are giving up your right to life, liberty, freedom and destiny. Nature vs Nurture There are at least two things that make a person what they are. Biology plays an important part; it gives you brown eyes, dimples, freckles, a webbed toe or perhaps even some sort of tendency to behave a certain way. However, another part, the part that we can control, is made up of all the words that we have heard. People are not born conservative or liberal, they are not born to speak a certain language. Nature might provide a certain push in a certain direction, but ultimately the choice is our own. If nature produced a strain of humans that caused them to crave human flesh, we would not excuse them murdering people ‘Just because they were hungry’. Taking Responsibility For Who You Are Most of us are taught as young children, “You can be anything that you want to be.” We then proceed to spend the rest of our lives ignoring it and conforming to whatever our friends, the television, our religion, our families, billboards, magazines and any other source that we can possibly find rather than ourselves. The second step of self-empowerment is recognizing the following statement: “I define who I am” and sticking by it. Who Are You? What makes a human being? Is it your memories? What if you lost all of them? Would you still be you? What if someone changed them and replaced them with false ones? We can only deal with what we perceive. Deal with reality as you experience it. Understand this most of all; you cannot choose what happens to you, but you can choose the way you want it to be and work toward it with whatever strengths and talents that you possess. What Does This Mean? This is embracing opportunity to learn and grow through or pain, joy, sorrow, change etc. Adversity helps us grow and learn. This is how we evolve we would other wise become stagnant and probably sad. To grow and learn which is ultimately our purpose we must accept and forgive. We Define Who We Are Many things define who we are; our school, our job, our career, but the ultimate authority that determines who we are is literally what we are. That sounds like a redundant statement, but it sums up simply in this. What you do, say, think and dream ultimately makes you the person you are. A simple truth, but an important one. You cannot remove yourself from your environment, but that does not mean your are a total prisoner to it. Ideas act like Living Things Understand that an idea, just like a virus or any other living thing can reproduce itself and move around, hosted in those who carry it. Your identity is constructed by these ideas; some you accept, some you reject. Some ideas that you like you pass along, or change just a little. Babylon is Consuming Itself. Once you accept the idea that ideas act like living things, the idea that these ideas can form an “ecology” is not so much of a stretch. Like any natural environment, pollution causes a loss of life and mutation. The new sciences of marketing, psychology, psychiatry and sociology have done much good; but they have also had an unintended side effect. As we become more efficient at measuring the effects of ideas and images around us, we inevitably affect the definitions themselves. This results in a slow dilution of all meaning, causing the natural barriers between one idea or another to break down until there is nothing left but hot air. The Internet Boom Proved This Point. There were many reasons for the ‘internet crash’ that caused all the .com stocks to plummet, but ultimately it occurred because people began to realize that their only worth existed in the world of ideas. The cycle of perceived value had exploded so much, that people made an internet company’s stock valuable, solely due to the fact that it was an internet company. As must inevitably occur, reality reared its ugly head, and the Truth caused the smoke and mirrors to vanish in the light of day. We are headed for a Crisis of Metaphysical Proportions Mergers and political alliances are blurring the lines between politics, business and religion. Faction allies with faction and uses potent images to make themselves look better whilst making their opponent look as evil as possible. They mine ideas for their own benefit; all the while slowly creating a sinkhole under themselves that will ultimately cause their own collapse. An Exercise To Demonstrate Pick three words that cause you joy, or that hold deep spiritual meaning for you. These could be the name of a hero, someone you love, or a concept you hold dear. Write the number 1, 2, and 3 next to each. Pick three words that have very dark meaning for you, things that you hate, which evoke passionate feelings of fear, resentment or anger. Write the number 4, 5, and 6 next to each. Plug them in to the following: “You must buy [insert 1 here] cereal, my [insert 2 here] friend! 3 out of 4 Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers and Artists agree that [insert 1 here] cereal is the [insert 2 here]y-est! All of the other cereals out there are just [insert 5 here] and [insert 6 here]. Buy [insert 1 here] cereal! It’ll make you a [insert 3 here]!” Deeper than It Seems. It might seem ridiculous. It isn’t. Orwell prophesied it happening in the book “1984” and it is happening before our eyes. Indeed, one disturbing thought that cannot help but occur as you look around is-did people creating many advertisements actually get ideas from it? They’d never admit it, but look at “New Speak” in any side of the political spectrum. They change words and use them to their advantage. The Six Axioms of The Patriot Good vs Evil – This is the only Axiom that the Patriot does not seek the middle of. A true patriot always seeks to work toward the greatest good possible, both for himself and those around him. Good *------------------------Evil Liberty vs Law A true Patriot understands that while ultimate liberty is among the finest of ideals, among the few worth dying for, it is utterly impossible without law. Thus, one must seek a balance between the greatest liberties, while obeying, honoring and upholding the law that makes that liberty possible. Liberty-----------*--------------Law Magic vs Science By Magic, I do not mean people dealing in pacts with dark unseen powers, I mean an understanding that we do not, and probably never will understand all the laws of the universe in our mortal lifetimes. The kind of magic you see when you look at a rainbow. The kind of magic that people like David Copperfield perform. Wonder. By acknowledging that there are things beyond our ken, yet striving to understand them through the methodology of science, we achieve a balance between wonder and pragmatism. Magic-----------*--------------Science Concept vs Reality The world works on two levels. There are some things that only exist of the minds of people. In the practical physical world, a dollar bill is only a piece of paper. But in the world of ideas, if you possess them in sufficient quantity it represents power to purchase nearly anything you desire. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter how just you think your cause is, the man with the shotgun can kill you either way. Gravity does not care whether or not you think you can fly. Both realms exist, both realms must be dealt with in understanding how to live and effect change. Concept--------*--------------Reality Absolutism vs Relativism Truth is. Even if it is only the truth that you as an individual define. To you truth exists, yet there are those who deny that there is any Ultimate Truth. Those who become lost in the morass of unending paradigms, open their minds so much that everything falls out. On the other hand, those who lock their minds in rigid absolute ideas often take them to an extreme that endangers themselves and everyone around them. The true Patriot must learn to balance between these two dangerous points. Absolutism---------*-----------Relativism Tradition vs Innovation Two pseudo religions exist within almost every culture or creed. Those that seek to hold to tradition and those that seek to change or attempt something new, often ignoring the lessons learned from the past. The key to understanding involves neither worshiping the future or the past, but acknowledging the present and dealing with it. Learn the lessons of the past. Plan for the future. Live for today. Tradition------------*----------Innovation The System Isn’t Broken, it Has Some Flaws. Many have fallen into despair because they feel that they have no voice in the system. They see well-financed campaigns for special interests. They see government agencies making decisions that only support large business interests and not the public good; or they see people making decisions that support an extreme moral view point only upheld by an extremely vocal minority of the population that claims to represent the majority. Nevertheless, politicians pay close attention to the polls. When people are passionate about something, they vote on it; and they change. As long as the sanctity of the voting process remains intact, the system is not broken, but it does have some cracks. Two States of Mind Most of the time people are in ‘LCD’ mode. ‘LCD’ means Lowest Common Dominator. The vast majority of the time, we do not think about incredibly complex things, but instead focus on the day to day just to get by. The opposite of this is Aware. Some only experience this a few moments of their lives, others walk around all the time with their heads in the clouds, ‘aware’ of the suffering of those around them, but never doing anything about it. Anyone Can Be A Genius “Genius is 1% Inspiration, 99% Perspiration”-Thomas Edison. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Inspiration lies all around you, and people have incredible ideas that could change the world multiple times a day. The problem is that they never do anything about them. To be a genius, you don’t have to get nifty ideas on your own; you merely have to act on the ideas that you know can make a difference. The man who makes good things happen is infinitely more effective than the brilliant thinker who sits around all day coming up with concepts but never puts a practical use to them. Voting Is The Most Important Thing a Citizen Can Do Ideas are important. We have established this. Taken to the next logical step, it means that your actions as a citizen affect the very ideas that make our society work. If you are disillusioned with the system, you only make it worse by failing to act. You would do better to go to the poll, vote ‘None of the Above’ and walk out happily knowing that you have done more to defend Democracy, than the best informed voter in the world who stayed at home and did nothing. Those who believe that by refusing to vote, they will cause a silent protest in which reform of the system will occur are deluding themselves. This has been going on for years, and absolutely nothing has changed. An Ostrich does not get rid of a Lion by sticking its head in the sand. By refusing to vote, you only reinforce the idea that politicians have that it is not about issues; it is about meaningless sound bytes, cheap slurs at your emotions, and appealing to the natural LCD state in all of us. You Need To Act Stop waiting for the other guy to do something. Remember, there is not a ‘Somebody else’. And even if there is, do you want that guy making decisions that affect your life, or do you want to be the one making the decision in things that affect you and how you are. Truths is an Eternal Constant; We are Not Pick up a ball. Drop the ball. The ball falls. Gravity. Universal constant. Our understanding of what gravity is has changed many times. The Gods. Magic Fairies. Giant Sucking Ants. Newtonian Physics. Einsteinian Physics. Neo-modern physics. Who knows what our understand will bring regarding the nature of gravity tomorrow? Gravity doesn’t care. It has always been there; and for the foreseeable future; always will. The Aspects of Reality By defining the terms of a concept with specific words, it becomes possible to establish dialog through which ethical terms and practical solutions can be discussed. The Three Core Concepts of Self Mental-The realm of ideas, our minds, our intelligence, our creativity and all things associated thereof. Physical-Our physical beings as manifest in the tangible world. Emotions-How we feel about a specific thing; hate, love, hope, joy, fear are all emotions that are a unique bridge between the mental and the physical. The Two Reflections Around Us of Self Society-Our society; our civilization, is the reflection of our own minds in that of others. All of society is, to one degree or another an illusion in the sense that it only has physical manifestation if a human being makes it so. People make up society. Therefore, people must act upon an idea to make it a practical reality. It is perceived by the mind and the understanding of those ideas. Reality-The practical physical world. There are ideas, ideals and plans, as well as concepts and dreams shared by many, but quite often these dreams and ideas are not capable of manifesting themselves in the practical hard core world around us. It is perceived by the physical senses; sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. The Mix, Conundrum and Definition that is Spirituality Spirit-The spiritual realm is an extension of the emotional self. We experience the spiritual realm through how we feel. All human beings can reach a ready consensus in the mind, or the physical, but unless a thing is experienced and acknowledged as an unseen spiritual reality, based primarily on the faith that it exists, then only an individual can perceive it. Shared spiritual experiences are possible, but there are as many perspectives of these things as there are individuals. Is Spirit a part of the self, or merely an extension of the whole? By definition, spirit is something we each view differently. Therefore, while an Ethical Philosophy must acknowledge that it exists, it must also acknowledge that everyone perceives it differently, and their inherent right to do so. The Key to an Ethical Alphabet Is Understanding This The rules of society must be based on what can be understood with the mind and sensed in the physical world; while acknowledging the capacity for the spiritual. Once this frame of reference is understood; it is possible to create rules that all can live by in mutually agreed self-governance. To Avoid Definition Allows Corruption There are those who believe that to codify a freedom is to invite corruption. And yet, why do we right down laws at all? It is to allow a clear and enduring medium through which all parties can agree on the basics and common framework. Thus, failure to define the moral philosophy of the nation (which does not mean the same thing as creating a state religion by any stretch of the imagination) allows those solophists to push the boundaries of common morality to the point that they no longer have meaning. Thus it is that Secular Humanism has become the underlying philosophy of the nation, rather than Belief and it is an important distinction. By failing to acknowledge a supreme being, be it any religion, Christian, Pagan, Islamic or Judaic; we say that the policies which define our law are answerable to no power but ourselves. We no longer strive to the highest ideals, but live only in a state of what we can prove to be just, rather than having faith that an absolute truth exists, even if we do not know what it is. Embrace Moral Philosophy To deny the existence of right and wrong beyond that which we can define with our empirical senses will ultimately spell the doom of our society. We have established that we are creatures of more than mere flesh; yet Secular Humanism would make us islands unto ourselves in the end. That which you strive for, you will obtain. The only solution to this sliding slope of darkness is to seek a moral philosophy which can govern us as a nation, and still allow all individuals the freedoms they enjoy, regardless of their race, religion or status. Glossary of Terms Memelocked – An individual who has become so imbedded in their current philosophy that they have lost the ability to receive outside thought. This state of being is extraordinarily dangerous due to the inherent disconnection from reality. Memelocked individuals rarely check facts; but instead manipulate facts to their way of thinking. The Perfect example of this occurred in the Soviet Union in the 1930’s
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<entry>
<itemid>635</itemid>
<eventtime>2004-01-13 10:37:00</eventtime>
<logtime>2004-01-13 15:37:44</logtime>
<subject>Practical Applications</subject>
<event>
The whole original point of the Codex Americana was so that I could feel a sense of DOING something, about trying to write in tangible form the way I saw the world and to a degree the way that the world was. Of course, over time I have come to realize that everyone has their own version of the truth. That does not change my belief in an absolute truth, and my single greatest argument in favor of it is the Gravity principle as I discussed in the codex; still others will argue that we don’t really understand what gravity is. This is true. We do know what it does when you leap out the open window of a 757 at 20000 feet. The point is that all the wonderful philosophical ramblings in the world don’t mean much if you don’t try to put them to practical application, and I guess the first place to start doing that is myself. We are a product of our environments, both past an current. I was raised a conservative mormon, and right now my family is split along a fifty/fifty ratio of those who consider themselves conservatives or moderates and those who consider themselves liberals or moderates. It is never quite as black and white as all that. If you talked with any of them, they have opinions that would surprise you. The primary reason for that is that I come from a family that was taught to think. This is a good thing. I think any human being has the power to transcend the programming that flows like rain through the world but to do that they must think things out for themselves. Some people don’t like to do that. I ought to know, I’m one of them. I like to think and yet I don’t. There is decidedly a part of me that wishes I could just believe something and feel purely about it one way or the other. And so I’ll get to the point. I’m talking politics, I’m talking Mr. George W. Bush, President of the United States. There is a part of me that wants to believe in the things this man says. Much of the statements he makes on democracy, on the necessity of values, indeed even ‘compassionate conservatism’ is something that hails a positive note in who I am. And then there are the dozens of emails I receive about his ‘lies, deceits and treachery’. It would be nice to have a simple villain in the white house, someone you could point at and say, “There is evil, and it must be stopped!” The truth, as is so often reflected in reality lies somewhere in between. I think Bush does believe a lot of what he says. In the end, I simply apply the principles I wrote in the codex to this situation….I look at what the man does, and place more emphasis on it rather than what he says. The fact is that when the election started for the year 2000 I was honestly pretty neutral with regards to the current president, indeed I was possibly even a little predisposed to him. Then his political advisors used the levers of power to make the book “Fortunate Son” disappear. This week (and the reason I’m writing this now) former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Niel came out and criticized the current white house. Now, I’m sorry, but anyone with an even remotely objective view point can clearly see that Mr. O’niel has an axe to grind. The key to seeing through the spin of things is look at what people DO not what they say. Mr. O’niel was mad at the president, so he published a book attacking him. Pretty cut and dry really. Then President George W. Bush turns around and (through the Treasury department) initiates a prosecution of Mr. O’niel for violating National Security laws. Now, of course, there are perhaps some conservatives who might be reading this who make the argument that he DID violate the laws and should be punished for them. Perhaps so, and yet the timing of the issue is such that I can’t help but see it as something more. Mr. Bush fears having his activities take place under the light of day. I can’t help but look at it as, not an attempt to vigorously enforce the laws of National Security, but as anger at having the simple truth brought out in the light of day. And that simple truth is this: Saddam Hussain was an evil brutal dictator, who killed millions of his own people. And if that was the real reason we went into Iraq then I postulate that this would be a very good thing. However, we are not doing the same thing in Cuba, Iran or North Korea. You could argue that North Korea and Iran are much more sensitive and diplomatically difficult targets; you can’t make the argument for Cuba. Don’t even talk about the Weapons of Mass Destruction thing. Cuba sponsors narcoterrorism in Colombia and you don’t see us invading them. This is about revenge, pure and simple. The real reason George W. Bush wanted to be president, I propose, is because he simply did not want the family name to go down through time as the Man who Failed to Oust Saddam Hussein. Let us not forget that he shares the same name as his father. His successes, and his failures. How would you like to be named after Neville Chamberlin? The point is this; there are many many good reasons to go in and stop Saddam Hussain; personal revenge at the expense of 300 military American lives is not one of them. I said before the war and I say it again, if you want to judge someone’ true character, look at what they do more than what they say. This thing with Mr. O’niel just confirms what I’ve thought all along. The President is a man with morals, good intentions and some serious character flaws; it is not my position to judge another person and yet when it comes to my elected leaders I have to. If I don’t think for myself, who will? I can’t TELL you what to think, it was simply my thoughts that led up to this point. You think what you will.
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<entry>
<itemid>1009</itemid>
<eventtime>2004-01-29 13:08:00</eventtime>
<logtime>2004-01-29 10:08:19</logtime>
<subject>Over the Edge – Taking a principle too far</subject>
<event>
The is an old Mormon proverb about a merchant in the old west who wanted to hire a teamster to drive a wagon through a treacherous mountain pass where the merchant could sell his goods in the next town over. He wanted the best he could find, so he put out an ad in the local paper asking for teamsters to come to an audition. A few days later, three men replied to the ad. The merchant explained that he had three wagons filled with cargo and the man who could drive a section of the mountain trail the most skillfully would be the man to win the prize. The first took the reigns and began to work his way up the road. “I’ll show him just how much skill I have!” he thought to himself and skirted the edge of the gorge beneath the narrow winding road coming as close as he possibly could. The merchant just stared at the first man in disbelief when he got back. “Wow” the first man thought to himself, “I must have done pretty good.” The second man realized he had to do an even better job so he not only came close to the edge, he made sure that his wheels touched the edge of the canyon absolutely every time, coming absolutely a fraction of an inch from falling off to his doom. The merchant looked even more amazed and awed but silent, apparently beyond words at what the Second man had done. “Heh heh heh” the second man thought, “it’s in the bag.” The third man did exactly the opposite and kept as far away from the edge as possible making sure to drive slowly and carefully to make sure that the cargo was returned safely. Needless to say, the Merchant hired the third man. Skill in this case meant results and results meant taking as little risk as possible. The moral of this little morality play is that it is better to stay away from the edge when dealing with issues of morality, because when you play around with temptation, doom will surely fall. However, now let us extend this principle a bit. Imagine the next day, if-on his first day of the job, the Third man got up, quite happy to himself for having done a good and skilled labor and landed a secure work to feed his family. He loaded up the wagon and waved to the Merchant, who smiled and nodded, quite secure that his cargo was in the hands of someone with Common Sense. As he wound his way up the mountain trail, true indeed he stayed firmly to the Right, keeping as far away from the edge (on the Left) as possible. Not one bit of cargo was lost. However, as the trail flattened out before the town, he came to a bridge. Rather than staying away from the edge, as Common Sense might dictate, he went as far to the Right as possible, keeping to the edge thinking that surely that would be safe. Needless to say the wagon fell over the bridge, the cargo was lost and the third man lost his job. The merchant was looking for someone with Common Sense who really understood what staying away from the edge meant, not just going as far to the Left OR the Right as possible. The moral of this EXTENSION of the story is that (according to MY beliefs and LDS teachings) God does not always necessarily extend an opinion to everything. Sometimes you have to use common sense. Sometimes the middle course is better than going as far to the Right as absolutely possible, and just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean that it is the right thing to do. Just because you were hired for staying away from the Left edge, doesn’t mean that an edge on the Right isn’t going to cause you problems along the way.
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