Power and Control to Make America Great
You might have noticed how easily deceived and manipulated most of us, including you and I, have become. Even those of us who are well versed in Scripture aren’t immune to manipulation. Don’t pretend otherwise.
It probably shows up every day, such as when we’re looking at TV or listening to a radio commentary or watching your nightly news program. Perhaps it shows in your annoyance, as it does with me, when you see the same commercial or kind of commercial over and over again in a mere hour’s worth of programming.
I get dizzy at all the minute long pharmaceutical commercials, most of which are occupied with disclaimers for how they might kill you if they don’t help you the way they are supposed to. Or the foods to eat that create the conditions for which the drugs are made. Type 2 Diabetes comes to mind, along with High Blood Pressure, and High Cholesterol.
But this essay isn’t about food, drugs, or how we got where we are in America. Well, OK, maybe a little about the latter one. Where we are, and where we’re going as human beings and as a nation are vitally important and I mean right now.
I’m a Boomer. Yep, born in 1958 to a Cold War fighting, code-breaker Dad, who designed and built listening posts as an electrical engineer for the U.S. Navy, and a Mom who was by his side every step of the way from the jungles of the 1950s Philippines to the even more hostile battlefields of Washington, D.C.. My sainted mother and my Dad, now 91, are from what has become known as the Silent Generation: Uncomplaining, forward-thinking, and no-nonsense freedom lovers. They earned their way through life, and taught their children to do likewise. My brother, sister, and I are no exception.
Subsequent generations since mine aren’t really any different, although they may see their lives, and those of the lives around them, differently. This is always the case, I believe. The dreams of these generations may be different, along with the desire to achieve them, but there are those out there who will work themselves to death to get to the goals they have set before themselves, no matter what.
Some of these dreamers are so ambitious, some would say power-mad, that they have developed ways of controlling how we do things in America as individuals, governments, companies, and have manipulated us into believing that an “American” dream is something to be reached out for and achieved, even if it can’t be defined.
Herein lies our greatest weakness.
The manipulators in our lives: The unseen powerful in government (elected or not), the 1% of the wealthiest—mainly Americans—who control much of the wealth of the world and are exempt from the rules of taxation, unlike you and me, and who control many of the corporations, foundations, and entities which run the media, and other businesses which impact our day to day lives have power and control over all of us.
Even the economists—supposedly neutral analysts in matters to do with human choices like wealth, money spending, and how people, and nations make choices—have been bought off. Universities and foundations are paid for by the billionaires, by and large.
When my wife and I were in theology school, we had a wise teacher who told us that whoever said, “knowledge is power” was wrong. Her response to that was that “applied knowledge is power.” To this I reply, “absolutely right.”
As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am called to a life of loving action on behalf of others in order to persuade them to do as I have done: To follow Jesus to a life of eternal salvation, loving others, and foregoing my old life of depraved selfishness which is where the carnal world has found itself ever since the Fall of Man.
I welcome a debate with anyone who would like to have a reasoned, and passionate discussion about the matter but look at the world. Do we have time for this? There are many in the Power and Control spheres of America alone who want nothing more than to deprive you and I of our ability to disagree out loud with them!
Politicians, be they radical leftists, Christian Nationalists, Proud Boys, Ku Klux Klansmen, and others are seeking ways of silencing dissent the same way as has been repeated throughout history—you know, that history that is no longer taught—which many are ignorant about these days. The ultra-high net worth crowd have controlling interests in much of the media, pharmaceuticals, food companies (and their by-products and additives). Applied knowledge is the only thing that will save us.
The wisdom of God, through the Holy Spirit He provides those who diligently follow Him, will be a strong force in our defense. I’m not a Christian Nationalist. I believe in a strong Constitution, as it is, and God will make us strong if we seek Him.
Hey, look! If I had the wealth of a Bill Gates, or a Jeff Bezos, or George Soros, or any of those who routinely appear as our betters in private jets around the world pontificating about things we need to do to make earth better, I might think I’m better than God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus, too.
But sooner or later we all will come to this:
Then everyone—the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person—all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?” Revelation 6:15-17 (NLT)
The powerful and controlling in the world, in their heart of hearts, lack the love of others to allow for the real love of Jesus, who gave us the best definition of love to make real change in the world. What we read in the above Bible passage is the result of that.
Merry Christmas, Friends and a Blessed and Joyful 2024!
