Church & State

Those who created our country—the Founding Fathers and Mothers—understood that there is a divine order which transcends the human order. They saw the state, in fact, as a form of moral order and felt that the bedrock of moral order is religion.

The Mayflower Compact began with the words, “In the name of God, amen.” The Declaration of Independence appeals to “Nature’s God” and the “Creator” and “the Supreme Judge of the world.” Congress was given a chaplain, and the oaths of office are oaths before God.

James Madison in the Federalist Papers admitted that in the creation of our Republic he perceived the hand of the Almighty. John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, warned that we must never forget the God from whom our blessings flowed.

George Washington referred to religion’s profound and unsurpassed place in the heart of our nation, quite directly in his Farewell Address in 1796.

Seven years earlier, France had erected a government that was intended to be purely secular. This new government would be grounded on reason rather than the law of God. By 1796, the French Revolution had known the Reign of Terror.

And, Washington voiced reservations about the idea that there could be a wise policy without a firm moral and religious foundation. He said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”

RONALD REAGAN

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The reason the United States of America is special is because its whole structure is predicated upon a foundational truth, that our rights are not given to us by the government or other people, they are given to us by God. Therefore, it is the job of the government to protect and ensure those rights. At the core of all of our founding documents, is the belief that we are endowed by our Creator. This is significant, because it is not the government, the king, or the oligarchy that determines what our rights are. Yet, the founding documents make no determination as to who God is, or what god you have to pray to. The documents remain free from any specific establishment of religion.

In saying that our rights come from God, with no respect to an establishment of religion, comes the freedom to not have religion. However, to the atheist, I ask, how do you determine and claim those unalienable rights once you remove God from the equation? Once you remove God from the equation of America, the duty falls back to man, to King George III. You see, God serves as a fail-safe mechanism, which prohibits the government from making determinations about what you can or cannot do with your own life. Therefore, according to the founders, to really be for America, you have to allow for the existence of God. You don’t have to worship God, nor do you have to be religious. But, if there is no allowance for the fail-safe, all of it goes away.

By virtue of this principle we say, “One nation under God,” and, “In God we trust.” In saying this, God does not become a working entity within the government, but serves solely as a protector of our rights. As a believing person, I have no problem with this. As a former atheist, I can appreciate how this statement may irk non-believers. But, why? If you think of God as simply a protective measure for the society in which you say you believe in, a society that you think is good, then why do you take issue with this founding principle?

Understand this, America doesn’t exist if government is the ultimate authority. Think on the etymology of the word “worship.” It is old english, stemming from “worth-ship.” Whatever is of highest value in your life is what you worship. If you do not believe in God, then know what has taken its place. Something will fill the void. If it’s not God, it’s scientism. If it’s not scientism, it’s politics. If it’s not politics, it’s the environment. If it’s not the environment, it’s culture. Your highest aim can be any number of things, but God is ultimately replaced with something else. With that said, if you remove God from the American equation, you give government more power over your life than it deserves. As an American, I don’t want anyone having that level of control over my life. Whether or not you believe God, God serves as a pillar upon which this country is built. If you try to remove that pillar, you make the country itself less stable.

It is worth noting that taxation is another pillar. While I may hate it, it remains a pillar. As Americans, we are required to provide for some functions of the government, as it provides for the common defense, infrastructure, and the rule of law. That is why the allowance of taxation is a constitutional amendment. Do I like it? Am I in favor of it? NO. Yet, I understand its necessity in American society. In my mind, taxation, and therefore, the government should be smaller rather than larger. Following that rule of thought, the atheist also has the right to say, God should be smaller rather than larger. Yet, like taxation, God provides for a particular structural soundness. So, with respect to the founding nature of God, the atheist isn’t being marginalized, in the same way that the small government conservative or libertarian isn’t being marginalized by the existence of a taxation.

The founding fathers, diverse in their beliefs, understood the necessity of a transcendent authority. While there may have been sweeping disagreement in their personal beliefs, they knew that objective truths, clearly understood, are what give energy to culture. While the establishment clause states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” it does not mean religion should have no place in the public square. Nor does it prohibit religion from influencing a person’s politics. As an old admirer of the late Christopher Hitchens, like him, “I want to live my life taking the risk all the time that I don’t know anything like enough yet, that I haven’t understood enough, that I can’t know enough, that I am always hungrily operating on the margins of a potentially great harvest of future knowledge and wisdom.“ Guess what? God and the Founding Fathers wouldn’t have it any other way.

Red Team Theories - Suffering

Suffering exists for the good of man.

2020 has been an extraordinarily awful year. I’m certain I don’t have to go into great detail, but with disease, riots, and unjust killings in mind, I’d like to quickly expound on the embracement of suffering, mentioned in The Theory of Red Teaming - A Call to Action. The existence of suffering is often used to question the existence of God. It is probably the best logical argument one can make. Why would a god that is, “good,” permit such a thing? Life is filled with tragedy and with what can be perceived as senseless suffering. Illness, terrorism, war, poverty, and the simple fact that at some point we will all die makes it exceedingly difficult to think otherwise. Now, I say this not to make a religious argument, but I would like to point out one simple fact. God does not promise you a life free of pain.

Pain and suffering will come knocking at your door when you least expect it. If it hasn’t yet, then just wait. If you are not going through it now, I am sure you know someone that is. Often, when it finds us, we’re unprepared for it. Suffering imminently reminds us of the imperfections of this world. However, there is a peculiar thing that happens that often goes unnoticed. Something good is also brought forth. You see, people make the mistake of isolating suffering. They box themselves into it and focus on the pain. But, if you closely examine the ripples of suffering, you will realize that it does not have a determined end. Suffering is something with which we get to choose what to do with it. Suffering compels a choice.

It is, in fact, human beings that are what gives things sense and reason. As my father-in-law slowly succumbs to Lewy Body Dementia, early in his years, the experience for his wife and children has been painful, fatiguing, and emotionally despairing. While he wasn’t particularly close with his children, I have watched each of them come to terms with old wounds. They have come to reconcile, and in some respects forgive their father. Each of them has made a concerted effort to be home and to help care for him. I have witnessed his wife, with firm resolve, put her husband before herself in all things. And, while many tears have been shed, I consider this to be a moment of glory for this family. The siblings have grown closer together than they ever have been, and they have come to know their parents in ways they never did before. They have grown personally, emotionally, and spiritually. And, this ordeal has grounded in them the importance of faith, love and family.

In the moment, yes, suffering is awful. But, what is good doesn’t have to, “feel,” good. Understand this. Suffering is a transformative force. It serves to provide us with an opportunity to change the world. The sense in suffering comes in what we choose to do with it. In nature, is this not what we see? Consider the many forest fires that have ravaged our country over the last twenty years. All we see on the news is the devastation. But, thanks to evolution, plants and animals in fire prone areas often rebound vibrantly. Grasslands rapidly regenerate providing food and easy pickings for local wildlife. These fires, while devastating, also allow for new long term life. Evolution and adaptation are the outgrowth of affliction and destruction.

To understand and see the good in suffering, you must widen your scope. The danger of linear thinking is always the starting point. Anything worth it’s salt requires sacrifice. Be it physical fitness or a proper education, it all requires sacrifice. No successful business was ever built without someone suffering for it. We bargain with the present to attain something in the future. While this is voluntary suffering, the same rules apply to involuntary suffering. Something good can and will be attained if you look for it. Understand that suffering invariably makes the world a better place. So, do not expect to live your life in a pain moratorium. Summon your grit, find your steel, and bleed willingly. To create a world where there is no suffering is to create a world that is doomed to die.

“I did not find the front-line trenches or the C.C.S. [Casualty Clearing Station] more full than any other place of hatred, selfishness, rebellion, and dishonesty. I have seen great beauty of spirit in some who were greater sufferers. I have seen men, for the most part, grow better not worse with advancing years, and I have seen the last illness produce treasures of fortitude and meekness from most unpromising subjects.”

- C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Aftermath 

af·ter·math
/ˈaftərˌmaTH/
noun
The consequences or aftereffects of a significant unpleasant event.

As we begin to lighten restrictions and return to some semblance of normalcy, it is evident that this virus will reshape our society. Plagues drive change, they always do. However, we all have a responsibility to drive that change in the appropriate direction. In Origin, I place much of the blame for the pandemic squarely on China. The world’s response to the pandemic is another matter entirely. The pandemic has highlighted major vulnerabilities of western society. Particularly in the United States, it has revealed how ill prepared we are for such an event at all levels. Shortly after Covid-19 reached the US, however, I began to see it as a blessing in disguise. I say this not to diminish the suffering brought forth from this virus, but had the virus been any deadlier, the societal and economic impact would have been unimaginable. We are lucky.

As our society begins to loosen restrictions and reopen, the cost of the pandemic will become apparent. Lives and careers will change for the foreseeable future. However, opportunity will also present itself. In a free market country, there is nothing that capital hates more than risk. I would expect companies that have depended on China for manufacturing to begin diversifying their own supply chains. There will also be a renewed push for American manufacturing. While there are certainly many products worth outsourcing, vital medications, PPE, and other personal care items should be manufactured in the United States. Moving away from Chinese manufacturing will present numerous diplomatic and economic opportunities. We should look to improve relations with India, Vietnam, Mongolia, and Bangladesh. We should increase trade with our friends in Japan and South Korea. Not only will this help to contain China, it will open markets that have largely been ignored.

The shutdown has also changed how we interact with each other. We have developed new and transformative uses for tele-communications, which I’m sure are here to stay. Video consultations with healthcare professionals will likely become standard practice. Homeschooling and online learning will become widespread. People have also learned that they don’t have to be in the office to get work done. Person to person interactions will become less frequent. While I’m sure many of these changes will benefit us in some way, beware of the catch 22. As much as people have been desperate to get outside and connect with others during the shutdown, we have been very quick to accept this digital encroachment on our lives. The more we look to our phones and computers to facilitate our lives, the more information is out there for the taking. And, information is more valuable than you realize.

I believe that over the next century, economic leadership will prove to be more valuable than military strength. In fact, it is because of American military dominance that economic sustainability and foreign policy will ultimately decide who comes out ahead. Right now, there isn’t a single sovereign state that desires a direct military conflict with the United States. Adversarial nations like China and Russia understand that they cannot beat us in a short term conflict. So, they’re developing long term strategies to remove us from the game. They have developed irregular strategic doctrines to undermine and sabotage American interests. Economic warfare, information warfare, and digital warfare. While this isn’t necessarily new information, China continues to win on these fronts. Why? Because they understand the value of information.

Unlike the Soviet Union, China understands their need to prioritize their economy before politics. Information collected en masse by a sovereign state ultimately influences economic strategy and foreign policy. While the United States, with a fractured strategy, collects, analyzes, and reacts to information, China has a unified approach to proactively securing and using collected information. Consider the effect of adversarial psychological influence. An adversarial nation state will use information to sow conflict within a targeted nation. The control and use of information can easily influence sympathizers and create insider threats. We’ve seen this strategy used primitively by Islamist extremists to recruit and establish sleeper cells. And, as the focus now shifts to the development of quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and space capability, we must have a unified front to ensure American dominance beyond it’s military might.

There are questions we must ask and find the answers to. Why is it economically viable for a US based company to seek and invest in an adversarial nation state? Why is the United States no longer a place where businesses believe they can thrive? Why is the smart play investing money oversees and not in the United States? What political policies are in place that encourage the exportation of American innovation and ingenuity? Outside of technological advancement, I don’t see any social, cultural, or civic development in this country. Although, perhaps we should be proud that we have seemingly perfected how to riot.

It is my recommendation, that as the Chinese dream advances, the American Dream must be restored and revitalized. It would be a damn shame if we let a communist nation out-capitalize us.

“When things break down, that which has been ignored rushes in.”

- Jordan Peterson