History & Comment for September 10, 2025

A look at historical and current events on this day, comment and humor so dry it would make a camel thirsty. 

Transcript

This is History and Comment for Wednesday the 10th of September 2025.  

Our purpose here is to discuss politics and religion in a way that is practical and with a touch of dry humor.  In some of the descriptions I describe it as so dry it would make a camel thirsty.    In reality,  there are a number of themes and concepts that are intertwined, they usually can be distilled down to few basic ideas, that are theological.  

Let’s try to list them.   

1.     There is a God, who is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-present. 

2.     He is a loving God.   

3.     Mankind and our world is a fallen estate.  Less than intended by God. 

4.     In this estate, Man is self-centered and consumed with self-interest. 

5.     Man has a primal desire to be restored to God. 

6.     Individuals should be allowed to seek God and live their lives with as little outside influence as possible.  

If we consider those foundational points nearly every ill in society can be explained.   When you understand the Fall was caused by self-interest and self-promotion,   it is easy to understand why in the New Testament God distilled the entire Jewish Law to just two points.  Love God and Love one another.   The first one is easy if you could separate it from the second.  You cannot.  

It should be well established that I am an advocate of the smallest Government as possible.   Marxist, totalitarian, communist governments and that is redundant are universally atheistic.   The Government becomes the ultimate authority.  This also removes any purpose to life.  Soviet Russia was maybe the best, long-term socialist experiment in the history of mankind.    It was an utter failure in human terms.   The masses were largely living on vodka.  The system rewarded the party and relegated the masses to a lifetime of labor with no reward and no purpose.    The system expected near 100% effort for a median or average return.   In time society ground to a near halt, while the government spent its self blind building a military.    The same thing is happening in North Korea.   

Yesterday, we mentioned Bill and Hillary Clinton in passing.  The are the champions in terms of pre vs post Presidential wealth.   Barrack Obama is a distant second.  Every other President since Kennedy,  has made some gains but pale in comparison to those two.   We might be able to argue that both were promoters of larger Government.    We could again, cite George Orwell and his book Animal Farm.  All Animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others. 

Man is driven by self-interest.  If he truly has a Christian World view, he will temper that drive to at least a level playing field.  And occasionally tip it in the favor of the other guy. 

The viral videos out of the Philadelphia Philles baseball game last week are a counter example.    The tradition of getting a home-run or even a foul ball is a big part of the spectator side of the game.   I suspect a large percentage of kids have taken a glove to the game with such a dream.   There is always a competitive rush to see who can come up with the ball.   And a crowd of others who were so close.   You can be assured there are always some shoving and elbows.   What made this event unique is the lady, now known a Philly Karen, following the guy and making a scene.   There was not much Christian Love anywhere in the event.  But you have to give points to the Dad for trying to take the high ground and deescalate the situation.   The outpouring of gifts in the aftermath, is a nice touch.   It is something of a fairy tale ending. In the days before viral videos the Dad would have just had a difficult lesson to share with his son.    The old Phrase “if she can live with it, I can live without it.”; comes to mind.  

Meanwhile the wrath being poured out on the Lady, might be over the top as well.  She was just being aggressive and defending what she thought was rightfully hers.  Society lauds that most of the time, then turns on people who are really good at it.  What would the Christian ideal of love your brother look like in this situation?   I think again we have to give credit to the Dad and blast Karen.  We are talking about a simple baseball and a routine regular season game.   The value is almost entirely sentimental.   

In this case it is easy to blast Karen and point out her sins.   We often use the absurd to illustrate a point.   But what does it look like down on Main Street, where two businesses are in competition?   Karen was just being a good salesman or businessman as the case may be.  

This is where the idea of Love your Brother as yourself, seems so simple and yet is absolutely counter to human nature.   If we could master it, we certainly would be close to the Kingdom of God.  

Let’s explore this idea that the nature of God is loving.  It is almost unique to Christians and remote at best in the historic Jewish Culture.    What the relation and interaction was between God and Adam before the fall is largely a mystery.   We can make a case that Man is the highest and most delightful of all of God’s Creatures.   One that he took a very personal interest in and made in his image.   Some would argue that Love is his very essence.    I think that is a fair argument.  

There is a counter argument across many religions that God is angry and needs to be appeased.   That he is not approachable.   This idea is routinely found in pagan religions.   But also creeps into Christian dogma.  

There was an idea that originated in the late 19th Century that the idea of earthly holiness should be the ultimate goal.   It gave rise to a wide range of separatist churches.   The phrase of be ye Holy for I am Holy, comes from a few passages on the Book of Levitcus, when God gave the Jewish Law to Moses.   Then Peter quoted the idea in his first letter.  

It is very easy to preach God as Angry, if you use the idea of be ye Holy as some undefinable quantity or virtue.   When you preach God is Love and one should love your neighbor.   That is far easier to put into practical terms.    It is also almost impossible to do on a regular basis.  

The Gospel provides an answer that God is willing to do the work provided we take a first step and turn to him.      

Society rants to no end that man has the solution to our ills and government robbing from one class to subsidize another is the answer, while taking their cut along the way.   That puts Government in the place of God.   It is not a good solution, in fact it is just more of the same,  Man and his self-interest turned on itself. 

Things makes perfect sense when you place them in the proper context. 

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