Sunday, September 08, 2024

US Constitition: An Inspired Document



https://youtu.be/B9r0PyAAzns?si=xqKOmp4-qiTNbBAk

The Stick of Joseph podcast is talking about the US Constitution.  

D&C 101:77 "According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles; 78 That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment. 79 Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another. 80 And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood."

There should be a separation of Church and State.  Government and Religion have different jurisdictions.  Government is only supposed to prevent harm on others by prosecuting harmdoers (eg, distribution of recreational alcohol and psychoactives). The Job of Welfare and Virtue (Self Harm) is the job of Religion (James 1:27).  The failure of government in the US is the failure of religion.  US religions do very little welfare and even less virtue (upholding family values).  Government welfare redistributes wealth without accountability, enabling the poor.  Only the Church can best distribute fish while teaching people to fish (rehabilitate).  Religion needs to start doing it's job (including marriage and adoption) and Government it's job.

A significant SCOTUS question was "can the government mandate people buy broccoli". Only the Church should define good doing. The State should only prosecute harm.  Government defining and mandating good is the definition of fascism. 

The US Constitution is the model of Constitutional government across the world.  That is why Satan and Globalists conspirators have been working to demoralize and subvert the country and is purposefully provoking war with Russia and China.  The death cult in control of global governance wants US citizens to eventually and voluntarily walk away from the Constitution in favor of a militarized global government on one hand or just plain anarchy on the other. 

But, while saving the US Constitution begins with a return to virtue, covenant making and covenant keeping; it doesn't end there.  The second step in binding Satan is to prevent Satan's ability to fund his operation (treasures of the Earth).  Another purpose of the US Constitution is to secure freedom not only of our lives and liberty, but also over our property, via our credit and currency.  According to Article 1 Section 8, the Congress via the US Treasury is to coin, print, or otherwise create 100% of our money and not just a fraction of it as it does now via our corrupt, unstable, and inflation prone fractional-reserve banking system. A Constitutional full-reserve economic system also known as Milton Friedman's Chicago Plan (Safety Society System), would fully fund a constitutional government, fully and fairly support economic growth, and take the Satan's power which is currently financed by a mega-international banking cabal the Zurich Institute of Technology they named the "Super Entity" in a 2011 paper.  

Such an equitable economic system would be the key to unify western Christian nations with Muslims and Communists as the Chicago Plan protects property rights and free enterprise without relying on a social class of wealth aristocracy.  It is Sharia Law compliant.  and at the same time, the communist sympathizers would embrace this new constitution-based system which protects and empowers the working class. 

Isa 65"21 "And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands."

Thursday, August 29, 2024

Ancient Jewish Marriage Tradition




https://youtu.be/dU81hfwml6Q?si=vKnQQF-JqD8p0Egk

Andrea Woodman has been presenting on Stick of Joseph and Ward Radio brilliantly pointing out that many scriptures make reference to the ancient Jewish marriage tradition. So. understanding the aspects of the tradition is necessary to understanding the scriptures. Jesus Christ is the groom and the Church is the bride.

Negotiations: arranged by the bride and groom's fathers. Not independent of agency. The bride and groom may already like each other. The bride has agency to accept. God selected Adam's wife.

Proposal: Shiddukhin: If the bride opens the door to the groom and groom's father, she accepts the betrothal and sign the katubah and share a meal together.

Rev 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone should hear My voice and open the door, then I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."

Betrothal: Erusin: Ketubah: a marriage contract by a groom given to the bride, promising to take care her needs.

Baptism: Traditionally, in preparation for the betrothal ceremony, the bride (kallah) and groom (chatan) are separately immersed in water in a ritual called the mikvah, which is symbolic of spiritual cleansing.

Mohar: Bride price is a dowry or endowment paid by groom's family to bride's family. Mattan: gifts given to bride's family and friends.

Gen 24:53 "Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother."

Gen 34:11 “Let me find favor in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. Ask me never so much mohar and mattan, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me; but give me the damsel to wife.”

Preparation: Erusin: During the erusin period, the groom was to prepare a place for his bride, while the bride focused on her personal preparations: wedding garments, lamps, etc. The groom spent the year building a house for his family to reside.

2 Cor 11:2 "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."

Procession: Although the bride knew to expect her groom after about a year, she did not know the exact day or hour. It was the father of the groom who gave final approval for him to return to collect his bride. The son must have completed the construction of his home. 

Matt 25:6 "And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him" 

John 14:2-3 "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

Wedding: Nissuin: means to take or to lift up. The groom, with much noise, and fanfare carries the bride home. The bride and groom then recite a blessing over the wine (a symbol of joy), and finalize their vows under the wedding canopy or huppah.

James 4:10 "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up (exalt)."

Covenant established (Ketubah) – 1 Cor 11:25                     
Purchase Price -1 Cor 6:19-20                                               
Bride set apart – Eph 5:25-27, 1 Cor 1:2, 6,              
Reminded of the Covenant – 1 Cor 11:25-26                   
Bridegroom left for the Father’s house- John 14:1-3
He returns to get His bride – 1 Thess 4:16-17

Thief in the Night: In Jewish tradition, the high priest was known as “a thief in the night.” Why? During the night watch of the Temple, the high priest would check on the Temple guards to see if they were asleep while on duty. If a guard were asleep, the high priest would wake him up by lighting the fringe of his temple robes on fire. 

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Book of Mormon: War Chapters


Captain Moroni and Mormon were top generals over their nations armed forces.  If the Book of Mormon is true, I would expect the Book of Mormon would contain some "secret knowledge" about warfare that Joseph Smith, the translator, didn't even realize was in the Book. 

When it comes to conflict. there are different levels of warfare.  Casting arrows and throwing stones is only the tip of the pyramid:

Tactics
Strategy/Technology
Logistics
Policy/Politics
Economy
Demographics
Values/Idealogy 

It is fascinating how Captain Moroni and Mormon address each of these aspects of warfare in their description of their conflicts. 

A nation can employ the best tactics, stratedy, technology and logistics, but if we forget about demographics and values, we can win all the battles and still lose the war. 


Sunday, July 07, 2024

AI Safety



Like many people, I enjoy new technology which includes emerging Artificial Intelligence. In addition to using these new tools to help with my kids primary talks (which these LLMs are surprisingly good at writing), I probably waste too much time asking the various AI's questions to see how they respond.  I am generally happy that they, so far, have generally positive things to say about the Book of Mormon and the Church of Jesus Christ. 

In addition to enjoying the occasional AI dystopian movie, I also have taken notice of AI research focused on AI safety.  Some pretty smart people like Elon Musk have expressed that they are very concerned about the threat AI technology could pose to humanity. While any technology can be used for good or ill, the scriptures are clear about the the true threats to human civilization, which is a lack of virtue and morality. 

When I ask the various AI's about why Rome fell, they give a long list of complex symptomatic factors.  But they fail to acknowledge what the ancient and modern prophets have said again and again.  Civilization rise and fall based on their morality and lack thereof.  The same goes for us.  While we face many complex economic and geopolitical complexities, many of which parallel Greece and Rome,  modern prophets have warned that all these complex issues all arise from the same fundamental failings of virtue and morality. 

In Rome, there was widespread recreational and ritual substance abuse.  In addition, there was widespread prostitution and promiscuity. These sins generate poverty via broken families, illegitimacy, poor health, and decreased productivity, decreased equality. and decreased social capital.  Greater poverty and inequality brought opportunistic politicians to power promising greater social justice and equality through government social programs.  However, these expensive social programs only serve to enable the problem instead of promoting rehabilitation and repentance.  The economic costs of these social programs led to greater economic problems, the need for military expansionism, and unchecked immigration policies.  But.all these problems all goes back to issues of personal virtue and morality. The same thing goes for us. 

This is actally a spiritual and religious problem and not political.  It's actually the job of religion and not government to do welfare because of the need for accountability. James 1:27 says welfare and virtue are the business of religion and not government.  Beleiving in the need for a separation of church and state, the state needs to get out of the business of religion.  But, only after religion starts doing their job first. False religion these days is too much about entertainment and not enough about expectation.  Government welfare enables the poor and doesn't rehabilitate them. Only true religion and a return to virtue can save us.

And that comes back to the real threat of Artificial Intelligence.  The real threat is not that AI will take all our jobs. or an autonomous cloud of drones will attack, but that AI might be a distraction from our real problems.  Too many of us may be putting our faith in technological advancement like the Space Race in the 60's to solve all our problems, ignoring the weightier matters of morality and virtue which are the real source of greater inequality and conflict in society. 

Extramarital promiscuity and recreational substance abuse are morally wrong. They errode health, social cohesion and social capital. This has been the consensus of human wisdom throughout the ages and as well as incontravertible supported by the most sound philosophy and old and new scientific data and thinking alike.  Any culture that argued for these vices soon crumbled into oblivion.  

Morality means do no harm to self or others.  Self harm may or should not be legally punishable, but should still be discouraged.  AI must take a stand on these moral issues or it will be part of the problem.  You cannot be neutral on moral issues.  Neutrality on morality is immorality.

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Sacred Markings of Early Christian Burial Undergarments in Egypt



"The piece of clothing closest to the body is not usually well preserved due to the destructive influence of fluids and chemicals remaining in the body. In this burial, as well as a few others, however, the woolen garment next to the skin is sufficiently well preserved for us to observe that small rosettes have been woven into the material in particular locations. There is one rosette over each breast and one on the right leg near the knee, but there is no corresponding rosette on the left leg. Across the lower abdomen, the material also has a hemmed slit about six inches long."