It's All Greek to Me

   When I was little, my mom read D'aulaires' Book of Greek Myths to me and I was intrigued by all the crazy stories of Greek gods. I got a little older and read more in-depth stories of the Greek myths (two in a row that said the exact same things and I have never let my mom forget it). A couple years after that, I read the Percy Jackson series, and in high school I read The Odyssey and Oedipus Rex. I can explain the story of Atlas and Prometheus and identify Aphrodite in Renaissance paintings.

   I have noticed that many Christians are afraid of letting their children be exposed to views opposite of their own, telling their children not to read the part in history books about Greek myths, banning movies that mention such things as evolution or magic, shielding their kids from anything that might make them doubt Christ for their entire childhood. This has never been my experience. I listened to The Wizard of Oz on four cassette tapes over and over again when I was small, even though my mom didn't believe in good witches. All I got was a warning, "There's no such thing as a good witch," and I was free to memorize The Wizard of Oz and the preview chapter of Pinocchio to my heart's content. I've studied evolutionary theory from a Christian perspective and I read On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (I might be a little bit obsessed with the full title). I've read the Communist Manifesto (Karl Marx had issues, man) and several different books explaining the prevailing worldviews in the world today. I watched Star Wars at age eight and Lord of the Rings several years after. I read The Hunger Games at twelve. 

   My parents were open to letting me be exposed to the world (at appropriate ages, of course) and discussing views that differed from ours. In no way did this hinder my connection to God, but instead it strengthened my convictions. I was not hidden from the attacks Christianity has come under and was able to learn the counterarguments to these attacks. I know evolutionary theory probably better than most who believe in it, and so understand the weaknesses inherent in the model. I can recognize communism in the world, and I didn't become a Communist by learning about the worldview. I was allowed to question everything because in that way I received answers and grew in knowledge and understanding of my faith and the world I live in.

   In many ways, I can't help but see how such a restrictive, protective lifestyle actually hinders the Christian walk rather than helping it. When one is told what to think and not how to think, that leaves the person vulnerable to any person with an authoritative stance on a subject. A faith cannot truly become personal until it is tested, and a child raised in a Christian home is crippled by not exercising his brain and solidifying his faith until he grows up and is thrown into the real world as an adult. As Thomas Jefferson once said, "Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear."

   Not only does the absence of exposure to differing worldviews hinder faith, it makes it almost impossible for a Christian to relate to those in the world, understand them, and reach out to them. This world has been built by those who did not follow God, and if one does not understand their beliefs, one cannot understand our world either. For example, let's go back to my good ol' Greek myths. Sure, they were the center of pagan worship of false gods. Yes, they seem kind of silly to us today. But the Greek myths have permeated Western culture far more than any of us quite realize today. At the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor in Walt Disney World, Mike Wazowski tells a joke about Roz and how ugly she is: "The face that launched a thousand lunches." It's a silly thing about Roz being so ugly that she makes people throw up, but the joke is also a twist of the classic "face that launched a thousand ships." This phrase references Helen of Troy, who was kidnapped by Paris because Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman in the world, and the Greeks went to war with Troy because of it, launching a fleet of a thousand ships across the sea to fight for Helen's honor.

   Missing out on this joke because of a weak understanding of Greek mythology doesn't truly hinder anyone in much. But this is just one example of how much Greek mythology has affected the world we live in. "Achilles heel". "Between a rock and a hard place." "Trojan horse." "Mentor." "The Midas touch." "Opening Pandora's box." "Narcissists." Many of the Renaissance paintings done by Christian men, such as Raphael, Michaelangelo, and Botticelli. That hideous statue of George Washington hidden somewhere in Washington DC that posed him like Zeus. Without an understanding of Greek beliefs, we can't understand why the Renaissance paintings so frequently featured naked people. Even in Acts, the Greek and Roman gods are mentioned. In one town, Paul was labeled Mercury because he spoke to the people and the man accompanying him was called Jupiter. In Ephesus, he was not very welcomed because he was cutting in on the merchants' sale of Diana (Artemis) statues to those who came to visit the temple in the city. Without an understanding of Greek mythology, we miss out on the context of so many things that have come to be in this world. 

   If Greek mythology is so integral to understanding the world, how much more is understanding modern belief systems important? So many times I have heard Christians insult those who believe differently than they do from an attitude of superiority when they don't truly understand why they believe differently. Without understanding of those differing beliefs, you cannot have compassion for those who believe them or have a real conversation with them. And without compassion, you will turn people away from Christianity rather than bring them in. If you do not deign to understand what those who are different than you believe or participate in cultural landmarks such as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, how will you ever be able to understand those who live in the world and befriend them? If you cannot befriend them, how will you reach them with the truth? And how can you ever make a difference in the direction the culture is going if you won't participate in or understand where the culture is now?

   I can't say I understand the move to keep your children from everything you disagree with. To be frank, it's all Greek to me.

It's Time to Stop Romanticizing the Past

   I hear it all the time from many people I know. "It wasn't like this back in [insert era]." "Kids these days are so weak. They aren't raised like they used to. Kids used to be tough." "Back in the Colonial era [or the days of the Ancient Israelites, or what have you], there weren't any teenagers. Kids grew up a lot faster. None of this nonsense we have now." Or "America used to be such a God-fearing nation, and look at us now! If only America was the same as it was in the day of the Founders." "In World War Two, we had real men, and now, young men get PTSD from social media posts!" I've even heard someone say that this is the only era where kids really disobey their parents, that before modern times, children obeyed without question.

   Look. I won't deny that the past had its bright spots. We wouldn't have civilization without the bright spots of the past. But, much like human nature itself, the history of the world is a long, varied history of misery and destruction and sin. We tend to focus only on the brightness of the past as contrasted with our present mistakes, but that gives us a rose-colored view of history.  This age isn't any better or worse than any previous time. The eras of the past did not have it more together than we do. The miseries we focus on that we claim are all our own are often reflected in the past by similar miseries.

   1. The past century is hardly the first with US government overreach. John Adams, one of the Founding Fathers, the second president of the United States, pressed for and signed laws that made it illegal to speak out against the president or government. He thought such talk was treasonous and would doom the republic. He made sure newspapers were shut down and people were jailed for criticizing him. Incidentally, this is the primary reason he was a one-term president.

   2. Abraham Lincoln had many instances of government overreach. Among those was calling up the militias of various states without prior authorization from the proper parties, writing executive orders that were treated as legislation even though he had no jurisdiction over the places he attempted to order around (ever heard of the Emancipation Proclamation, anyone?), and suspending the right of habeas corpus (that is, the right to be brought to court to determine whether you were lawfully imprisoned).

  

   3. The ancient Israelites did indeed declare their children adults at around the age our children become teenagers, which is understandable for a time when life expectancies are incredibly low and the most important part of becoming an adult is producing offspring. This, however, does not mean they were wiser than we are or that their teenagers were more mature than ours or that any of the ancient Israelites had it more together than we do. Here's a short list of things the ancient Israelites frequently did based only on Old Testament accounts: 

    sacrifice their children on burning altars to the idol Molech

    worship the literal sun

    sell their neighbors and each other into slavery

    frequently gang rape travelers (Judges 19, in case you were wondering)

    fight a civil war over said gang rape, ostracize an entire state, then kidnap Israelite women and force them to marry random men just to make up for rash promises made in the heat of battle

    sacrifice their children in the name of God (also in Judges, just so you know)

    worship any and every god that came along from other places

   frequently practice polygamy

    set up Temple prostitutes (not the gender you're thinking of) right outside the Temple built by Solomon

    somehow lose the Law of Moses for generations, multiple times

    occasionally resort to cannibalism and petition the king to mediate because one woman killed her son and ate him and the neighbor broke her promise to do the same

   I could go on, but I feel like I've made my point.

   4. The vice president of Thomas Jefferson killed a prominent politician while he was in office. Aaron Burr's political career was ruined after killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

   5. While many Americans during the Colonial era were Christians, or at least attending church, the Enlightenment was spreading through Europe, an atheistic movement that depended on reason to figure out truth. This movement did not leave America untouched either.

   6. And let's not forget the glaringly obvious issue of the Colonial era we so hold up. Yes, many of the Founders hated slavery, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. But it was still very legal and very present in America and pretty much everywhere else in the world. Not to mention all the

    smallpox

    malaria

    yellow fever

    measles

    bad water

    dysentery

    cholera

    terrible medical practices such as bleeding

    surgery without anesthesia

    lack of running water

    high infant mortality rates

    backbreaking laundry and scalding soap

    reliance on wooden ships for overseas products

    no air condition

    general disregard for women

    lack of decent education available to the poor

    a life expectancy of 36 

    the church bells rang for the dead so much that they were deemed by law to be a public nuisance

   7. Talk about race riots. Back in the 1850s, there was literal guerilla warfare on both sides of the issue of whether Kansas would enter the union as a free or slave state.

   8. While I forever honor the sacrifices of the generation that fought in World War II, this is not to diminish them. However, we still ought to acknowledge their faults. For instance, the lack of regard for mental health professionals and mental disorders that led to many veterans struggling alone with alcoholism and other addictions, PTSD, and pornography. Not to mention the higher rates of domestic violence, disregard for women, and polio. Also, this was the generation that fully endorsed eugenics and even began practicing it until the news of the Holocaust broke.

   The point I'm trying to make is that while there were good things about the past, there were also plenty of bad things, and we can't pretend like there weren't. Many in mainstream society tend to only focus on the negative aspects of history, but we can't let this drive us to only focus on the positive aspects. Both are dishonest and don't lead to a proper understanding of the past. For if we don't know the mistakes of the past, how can we hope to not repeat them?

The Problem with Having "Christian Leaders"

   We have a tendency as humans to revere and look up to people. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing. When directed towards our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that's a wonderful thing. But when we start directing this tendency towards regular people, we start getting into dangerous territory.

   Now, I could take this post a variety of ways, but I specifically want to look at the way the church views big-name theologians, or those sometimes referred to as "Christian leaders". People like John Piper, Francis Chan, Jerry Falwell, Jr., Franklin Graham, even people like Charles Spurgeon, C. S. Lewis, John Calvin, and Martin Luther. Without a doubt, I could go to any church in the country and find a majority of churchgoers who revere one of these people or someone like them.

   So what are the dangers? What's wrong with having revered Christian leaders in the faith community? There's nothing wrong with having a healthy respect for and learning from someone. However, especially in the Christian community, we have to be careful when elevating certain people above the rest, placing them on pedestals, and saying, "Look at that man. He's so wise! He is the perfect example of a Christian in today's world."

   While there are some Christians given the gift and the calling to lead others in worship in a variety of ways, that doesn't mean those called to lead are suddenly now wiser and smarter and holier than the rest of us. So often, though, I see this mindset creeping in. Whenever a Christian is listening to a speech by someone who might not be a Christian, we tend to listen closer and test their statements before believing them. But when it's one of our own, too often we turn off our brains and take everything they say as gospel truth.

   "Take it with a grain of salt." We do this whenever we know somebody is saying something that could very well not be true. But why don't we do this all the time? No matter how wise or intelligent or well-read a person is, they're still just one person with one perspective. We live in a flawed world. Not one of us is right all the time. So why do we treat certain people as if they are the authorities on what the Bible says? Maybe John Piper, Francis Chan, and Franklin Graham know more about the Bible than you, but maybe they don't. I can guarantee they're not right about everything they claim the Bible teaches. No one is.

   This tendency to treat certain people as the leaders, the authorities, and the exemplaries of the Christian faith can get even more dangerous when those leaders fall. I'm not talking about minor mistakes in theology, I'm talking about major mistakes. Sometimes this takes the form of a once-revered leader descending into strange theology and cult-like teachings. Sometimes it's a news story about a beloved pastor secretly engaging in adultery, pornography, rape, or some other kind of sexual deviancy. Sometimes it's a belief about the Jewish people that helps contribute to the mass murder of millions.

   People make mistakes. Sometimes, they make massive mistakes. And when the people making the massive, public mistakes have been practically worshipped by the Christian community, it damages our witness. Just because someone says something smart or even wise about the Christian faith doesn't mean they are smarter, wiser, more knowledgeable, or holier than you. No matter who the person is, we must always always always test what they say. Take everything with a grain of salt. Never become a follower of a person other than Jesus. Never assume that because a person says one wise thing, they're a good Christian leader, or even a good man.

What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?... For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? --1 Corinthians 1:12-13, 19-20  ESV

 

Fun Facts!

   Because I don't want to talk about current events or any super deep subjects right now, here's a collection of fun facts you might not have known before.

• Snakes fertilize their eggs before they lay them, so, unlike chicken eggs, you won't ever find a nest of unfertilized snake eggs.
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• Once, due to a complicated series of political maneuvers, there was a grand total of three popes at the same time! Each thought they were the only proper pope and declared the others excommunicated from the church and therefore, as they believed, from Heaven.
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•  Pedro Lascurain was president of Mexico for less than an hour. He wasn't assassinated, he just resigned due to political pressure from the dude who was next in line.
  

  

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• The shortest war in recorded history was the Anglo-Zanzibar War, and it lasted no longer than forty minutes. It was fought by pro-slavery factions trying to regain control of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, which had been taken over by the British some years before and forced to become slave-free.
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• The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophia was a disaster from start to finish. A group of Serbian nationalists backed by the Serbian government and by Russia tried to throw a bomb under the archduke's car, but the bomb bounced off the car and blew up a different car instead. The group scattered. While fleeing authorities, one member tried to poison himself, but failed because the poison was expired, then tried to drown himself, but the river he jumped into was only fifteen inches deep. He died sick in prison several years later. Gavrilo Princip fled to a delicatessen after the failed assassination, where he spotted the Archduke and his wife on the road outside after their driver took a wrong turn trying to get to the hospital housing the people injured in the previous assassination attempt. Although Gavrilo Princip was at point-blank range, he missed one of his two targets, taking out the archduke's wife instead of the general he was aiming at. After the investigation revealed the complicity of the Serbian government in the shooting, the Austrian government could have legitimately declared war on Serbia, giving Russia no time to shore up their courage and mobilize and keeping the conflict a regional one between Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Serbia. However, the Austrian government sent Serbia a series of demands, and, after a month, declared war when Serbia refused only a few out of the long list given, thus giving Russia time to mobilize and declare war and starting World War One.
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• Once, the Austrian army accidentally attacked themselves and lost ten thousand men.
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• Aristotle believed maggots were born from rotten meat and the mud at the bottom of rivers gave birth to eels.
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• Cleopatra VII, wife of Marc Antony, was the first in a long line of Ptolemaic pharaohs to actually speak Egyptian. This is due to the fact that the Ptolemaic pharaohs were not Egyptian, but Greek. Thus, most depictions you have seen of Cleopatra are most likely wrong, as she would have resembled Greek populations much closer then she would have resembled Egyptian populations.
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• Tutankhamen was possibly murdered for the throne by his advisor by being deliberately run over by a chariot in the middle of battle. He was buried in haste in the tomb that should have been his advisor's. His advisor, who took over after his death, was most likely buried in the tomb meant for Tutankhamen.
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I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.

• There are elements of the periodic table named after Einstein, Marie Curie, and America.
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• Marie Curie died of radiation poisoning as a result of too many experiments with radioactive substances without proper protection.
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• Snakes literally eat dust. Using the Jacob's organ, snakes taste dust when flicking their tongues in and out of their mouth and the electrical signal in the dust tell them where prey is.
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• Pandas have no natural predators.
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• All the pandas in the world belong to the nation of China. Try to steal a panda, and you just might end up at war!
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• Due to a mix of Hindus and Muslims, there is a country in Asia where it is culturally unacceptable to eat both pigs and cows
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• The suspected site of the crucifixion and tomb of Jesus was fought over by different Christian denominations. After a series of wars, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, among other sites, was split between six different denominations. No changes to the site are allowed unless all six denominations agree, which has never happened since the treaty was signed. When the treaty was signed, a workman was on a ladder washing a window, and the ladder has stayed there since the 18th century. A few times, a couple of the denominations have tried to move the ladder due to the silliness of the argument, but the other denominations have forced them to put the ladder back, since the ledge the ladder rests on is owned by multiple denominations and no one denomination has the authority to move the ladder.
  

  

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• You are more likely to be killed by a cow or a coconut falling on your head than a shark.
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   I could go on, but I should probably stop here.

A Story of Rivals

   A couple of months that feel more like years ago, I randomly signed up for a free ancestry site called FamilySearch. I didn't expect much, but thought it couldn't hurt. Now, my mom and I are blown away by the family history that has been uncovered that we never even knew about. Crazy, interesting stories and people we never would have guessed we were related to.

   All this mess that's been going on lately has gotten me thinking about these people in my past. Some of them no one would ever guess we were related to. One interesting thing we've discovered about our family is that, besides a somewhat odd tendency to always go by middle names (call me Marie, why don't you?), our family has an interesting tendency to marry the people our ancestors fought against, possibly with a long history of prejudice.

   Among my ancestors are several memebers of Germanic tribes, including Goths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Saxons, and others. There are several tribal kings, among them several Saxon kings and Frankish kings (who were probably named Louis). The bitter rivals of the Germanic tribes, not counting each other, were the Romans, and I am also very likely descended from a line of Roman senators and consuls which includes one dictator.

   Of my ancestors from the Germanic tribes, some are Britons who were left behind after the Romans abandoned Britain, and some are of the Saxons that invaded. I have ancestors that fought against the Norman invasion and ancestors that were Normans given noble lands and castles as a result of the Norman invasion and one ancestor that led the Norman invasion (William the Conqueror). I am descended from Vikings and the English king that kicked the Vikings out of England. I am descended from Irishmen and from Englishmen, who have a long history of hatred and prejudice towards each other (though it's mostly one way, the English oppressing the Irish) and from Welshmen, who are still being oppressed by the English, and from two of Robert the Bruce's sisters (their kids married each other, and yes, I'm grossed out), who were rivals with, you guessed it, the English. (Can we all agree that the English have a long history of prejudice and rivalry?) I'm descended from English kings and French kings who most definitely fought wars against each other. 

   My French and German ancestors fought each other, and so did my German and Polish ancestors. I have ancestors on both sides of World War One and an ancestor who tried to fight in the war for America and wound up staying home. I have an ancestor who's a Native American and possibly the daughter of Pocahontas and Kocoum, and several not-so-nice ancestors from Jamestown.

   And then we come to my hero, Elizabeth Key Grinstead. She was the daughter of a slave from Africa and Thomas Key, an English slave owner. At the age of six, her father was sued for paternity and forced to provide for his daughter. He made her an indentured servant and died shortly after. He was a jerk, but he did make his friend who held the indenture promise to treat her like his daughter and take her with him if he moved back to England. The friend did move back to England, but instead of taking Elizabeth with him, he sold her indenture to another man to pay off some debts. This other man kept Elizabeth nine years after her indenture was up. Elizabeth could have become bitter and angry. She could have hated the man who enslaved her and any of his nationality. She had no reason not to hate the English.

   When Elizabeth met a young indentured servant from England named William Grinstead, she didn't hate him. Instead, they fell in love. They got married, as much as they were legally allowed as indentured servants. They had a child named John. Then the man that owned her indenture died. Elizabeth and her son were listed as slaves. They were going to be sold off in an estate sale. But William fought for her freedom in court after court, eventually going to the House of Burgesses and convincing the court to free her. She received compensation for the nine years she was enslaved over the terms of her indenture. As soon as William's indenture was up, they were married officially and had another son, who was also named William. This is the man who was my ancestor. They lived happy lives, though short ones, because life expectancy was super short in those days. (Unfortunately, Virginia changed the laws after William's death so no slave could ever win his or her freedom the same way William won Elizabeth's freedom.)

   Some of these rivalries have died away, but some of them are still with us today. Hatred in this world is so common; it's rarer to find freedom from hatred and prejudice than to find someone that is ruled by it. I'm not here to judge who is right and who is wrong in the conflict that is tearing our nation apart these days. The rivalries my ancestors fought and believed in were legitimate rivalries on both sides. Some were more balanced than others in crimes committed against each other, and some were steeped in oppression of one by another (probably by the English, if we're all being honest). But these rivalries and long histories of hatred didn't hold some people back. In the midst of these crimes and rivalries, somewhere along the line, some of these people put aside their differences and their crimes and the crimes of their ancestors and decided to forge a new history, a different history, a history that ended in love and family and new life.

   I am not my ancestors. I cannot be praised for their good deeds or condemned for their mistakes. I cannot change the things I've done in the past, for good or for ill. Neither can anyone else. All we can choose to do is move forward and forge a new future. We can choose to react to horrific crimes in emotion and anger, we can perpetuate rivalries, or we can choose to move above that. We can react with kindness instead of anger, love instead of hate. We can choose to pursue justice without hatred and end corruption without corrupting ourselves. We can make a difference while being the difference.

   This year has been one punch after the other, and who knows if it's going to stop? Hatred is not going to stop. It's been in this world since the Garden of Eden and it's going to be here until Judgement Day comes and the trumpet sounds and Jesus comes back to this world to take us home. Crimes are not going to stop. Evil men are always going to exist. We can choose to live in hatred with them, as some of our ancestors did, or we can choose to live above that, put the past behind us, and forge a new future.

   After all, it's what my ancestors would have wanted.

   Recompense to no man evil for evil: procure things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as in you is, have peace with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine: I will repay, saith the Lord. --Romans 12:17-19

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. --John 15:12

Nothing I'm Not Worthy Of

   The Greatest Showman was a worldwide phenomenon two and a half years ago. Coming out at the same time as The Last Jedi, it was...way less disappointing. Now, my family and I didn't actually watch the movie until very recently when it came on TV. I was less than thrilled with the movie itself, but that's not what this post is about. Even before I watched the movie, even while it was still in theaters, I had heard the music (I heard "Rewrite the Stars" so much in Spotify commercials I still hate the song). I really like "A Million Dreams", and I'm pretty ambivalent about the others (they're fine to listen to, but I'm not wild about them). One of these songs is the triumphant anthem "This is Me", a song I actually like quite a bit. However, two lines of this song really put a bad taste in my mouth, especially in light of today's culture.

   "You know that I deserve your love/There's nothing I'm not worthy of!"

   On the surface, these lyrics may seem innocent. Look closer, though. As a Christian, we are told to hold all things accountable, and does this really hold up to the standard of the Bible?

   "You know that I deserve your love/There's nothing I'm not worthy of!"

   Spot the problem now? If not, let me point it out. We, as sinners, don't "deserve" anything but Hell and damnation. We certainly don't "deserve" to be loved by anyone. And, deep down, we all know there are plenty of things we are not worthy of.

   Now, come on, you're saying. That may all be true, but it's only two lines in an otherwise great song. And that's true. I'm not saying you should never listen to the song or refuse to watch The Greatest Showman again. However, troublesome things in movies shouldn't be ignored, either. If we don't talk about them and parse why this may not be acceptable, we may end up simply accepting it. And these lines are only indicative of a larger problem.

   Think again about the song. It's about outcasts in society refusing to accept being put down any longer and believing they are more than all the insults. Now, it does kind of bother me that this song is sung by the one person that grew up normal and could choose at any time to not be a hated outcast (Bearded Lady; literally all she has to do is shave and no one would ever know), but, again, that's not exactly the point. The point of the song is to encourage hated minorities to not let the world and the culture get them down, which grows out of the recent "Tolerate" movement. Now, some things (and I know I'm going to shock some people here, but here we go) about that movement aren't that bad; namely, saying that just because we don't agree with someone's lifestyle doesn't mean that person should be convicted of a crime and thrown in jail or otherwise persecuted. However, we all know the movement doesn't even remotely stop there. This goes off of my post about what tolerance truly is. These two lines indicate that we should not just not persecute people we disagree with, we have to love them and support them, because "they deserve it". This idea isn't limited to just this movie either. In the new book-to-movie adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, Meg Murray shouts at her possessed brother that "I deserve to be loved!"

   Let's be honest here: is everything about you amazing? Do you love everything about yourself? Chances are, the answer is no. I know I'm not perfect. However, we have started encouraging commonly hated groups of people to overcome their persecution in the wrong way by essentially telling them that they are perfect. As Christians, we all know that sanctification is an ongoing process. We all have sins that we struggle with, some of which we'll struggle with all our lives. But telling people "God loves you just the way you are because you're perfect" robs us of so many things.

   I'm going to say it plainly here: Just because people hate you because of irrational prejudice doesn't mean that you are a perfect person in every area of your life. We all need to change and grow. Thinking of ourselves as "victims" leads us to believe that any criticism, critique, or angry words towards us is because that person is prejudiced against us because of our minority status as a woman or insert ethnicity here or what have you. Maybe that person really is mad at you because they're prejudiced against you. There are people like that out there. Or maybe, the critique is just a critique. Maybe that person is having a bad day and you happened to be a convenient target for frustration. Maybe you're just overthinking things, and that wasn't meant to be an insult at all and you should just calm down.

   I heard someone say once that the greatest thing about America is that we give people the chance to fail. I vividly remember little perfectionist me crying because I got words wrong on a spelling test and my mom telling me that she would be worried if I wasn't getting words wrong, that it was good that I was messing up because that was just opportunities to learn. She told me that my failures are indicators of what I just don't know yet. That's stuck with me ever since she said that. Failure is not enjoyable, but it's the way we learn. Failure isn't fun. But without it, we wouldn't be able to grow. In addition, this idea of "I deserve to be loved" puts all the burden of responsibility for change in tough situations on the haters and persecutors, when we can do things to change many miserable situations ourselves.

   Look. This world can be miserable and terrible. People can treat us horribly. But saying that we deserve to be loved robs us of the beauty of love. The beauty is that we don't deserve to be loved and yet God loves us anyway. He died for us because He loved us even though we don't deserve it. The misery of this world doesn't mask our imperfections, but there is someone that loves us not because we already are amazing, but in spite of our sinfulness. It's okay to not be perfect. It's okay that we fail. It's okay to acknowledge that not everything about us is wonderful, and that we need help overcoming something. The way you were made is not a mistake. But that doesn't mean we can't make mistakes. We can't be perfect. We're going to mess up. We're going to do something wrong that will only encourage the people determined to hate us that they were right all along. The beauty of love is not that we deserve it. We don't. We never can, not on our own. But that doesn't matter, because Christ loved us so much that He died for us even though we didn't deserve it, that we may be made like Him. Before Christ, we are all equal. Before Christ, we are all wretched sinners. Before Him, anyone can be saved by His unchanging grace.

   That is the foundation on which we should base our responses to prejudice. Not faith in ourselves and our false sense of perfection, but in Christ.

 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33b) 

P.S. On a completely separate note, what is with the trend to make musicals about the jerks in history (Alexander Hamilton, P.T. Barnum)? Surely there are some nice guys in history that we could make musicals about.

Soial Distancing Fun

   Because quarantine is frying my brain, this post is going to be disjointed and random. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

   I saw a post recently on Buzzfeed about what people would do if they became God, and over half the people said, "Give proof that I exist." Obviously, that infuriated me, and while I could talk for a while about how much evidence there is for God's existence and how if God literally coming to Earth and dying for us isn't enough, nothing is, but instead, I'll leave all those people that complain about nobody being able to "prove" God's existence with this: Philosophers can barely prove that they themselves exist. They're not really sure about you. Everything else could easily be a fever dream; there's no proof either way. You really expect them to be able to prove the existence of a higher power? You expect too much of them, my friend.

   I'm the only history major in my Western Civ class, and so I understand that I'm going to be the student that usually knows the answers to the professor's questions, but some of the stuff is so obvious that there should be other people that know it, like what the Rosetta Stone is. There's one of two things going on here: either nobody remembers anything they ever learned in history, even if they just learned it a semester ago, or other people know things and I'm the only person who feels like speaking up. Either way, I'm not impressed.

via GIPHY

   What is everyone else doing with their quarantine? I'm procrastinating.

via GIPHY

   On the subject of quarantine, everything's shut down in my state right now, which means I get to keep the thirteen books I had out from different libraries for, like, about two or three months; in other words, long enough to actually read them all. Naturally, of course, instead of reading my library books, I'm rereading Ilyon Chronicles, listening to audiobooks I digitally borrowed, and doing my 2000-piece Star Wars puzzle. How can there be so many plain blue pieces in one puzzle?

via GIPHY

   I'm also using this time to work on my current novel, which, somewhat appropriately, is a dystopian. Not featured in my novel, however, are pandemics, toilet paper shortages, or social distancing. Instead, I've been writing about brutal interrogations, labor camps, "brutal" eighty-degree summers in northern New York (so jealous, tbh), and impending medical experimentation. Included in my research for this novel is brainwashing, the effects of tasing, and the soil composition of New York. Also bench presses, for reasons.

via GIPHY

The Death of Platonic Friendships

 

Via Pinterest

   There seemed to be a bit of a movement a while back to recognize the importance of platonic (aka, not romantic) relationships for being just as important as romantic ones. But a groundswell has burst and suddenly platonic relationships in fiction are simply nowhere to be found. Even if there are platonic relationships in the piece of fiction itself, they are romanticized in the fanfiction. Case in point: Luke Skywalker in Star Wars is such a friendly guy, he makes platonic friendships with everyone. He's really close to Han and Leia, who end up being his sister and brother-in-law, which is a perfect representation of what their relationships ended up like. The father-son relationship between Luke and Vader is at the center of the entire trilogy. And yet, I have seen Star Wars fanfiction with Luke Skywalker having a romantic relationship with Han, with Leia, with Vader, and even occasionally with Palpatine. In fanfiction, you can find the strangest pairings imaginable, often based on the barest hints of platonic friendships between characters in the actual story. I'm not even going to open the can of worms that is the pairings in the Sequel Trilogy, but believe me, they are much worse than what I've just said about the Original Trilogy (and I haven't even gotten into the weirdness that is the Leia/Boba Fett ship. What even).

   This tendency to make everything romantic is obviously not staying in the realm of fanfiction. Tom Holland is accused of being gay because he has a best friend that is a guy whom he is roommates with now (which is just what Peter Parker did in the comics, moving in with his best friend Harry Osborne in college, and Peter Parker was very much a ladies' man). And this tendency is growing into the realms of the very disturbing; have you heard of the term "age is just a number" recently? In case you're wondering, this is a phrase excusing massive age gaps in romantic relationships. Not supporting this tendency seems to get people called homophobic, or worse. And yet, how many of us have had the relationships in our lives be solely romantic or sexual ones? Absolutely none of us. Most parents and children don't have a romantic relationship. Many siblings enjoy a close relationship and are never attracted to each other romantically. Sibling relationships are so very rarely portrayed in fiction, and yet when they are (Elsa and Anna, Thor and Loki), many see their relationships as romantic. I had a close best friend of my own age and gender for seven years, and never once was romantically attracted to her.

   My point is this: society today is trying to say that it's okay now to be whoever you want to be, and that women don't need a man to validate them, etc., but if you look at the way they treat everything as romantic these days, it's clear they actually believe the opposite is true. Everything in this culture seems to revolve around romantic relationships these days. If someone isn't attracted to someone of the opposite gender, they must be gay. If someone is close friends with anyone at all, no matter who they may be, they must be romantically involved. And it's incredibly damaging. We're essentially telling all the kids that they are worthless unless they have some sort of romantic relationship. And yet, of the demographics of romantic relationships, the ones the least properly represented is the one we all start out as: single. Everybody grows up single. Some people stay single, and that doesn't mean that there's something wrong with them, as the label "asexual" seems to imply. We all have incredibly fulfilling platonic relationships with people from all walks of life, with family, with coworkers, with best friends, with professors and teachers and anyone else that we may meet.

   It's okay if such-and-such relationship is platonic. It's okay to portray platonic relationships in media. It's okay for people to have best friends and roommates of the same gender and not be romantically attracted to each other. It's okay for men and women to have close, non-romantic relationships. And it's okay for you to be single, now, yesterday, and forever. After all, as the Apostle Paul said, "Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am."

   Let's not forget the value of simple friendships. We all have them, and sometimes, they're the most important relationships we can have.

Why Can't We Be Friends?

   They say we're more divided in this country than ever before. While that's obviously not true (see: the American Civil War), it is true that Americans are very divided these days. It's normal and even good to have people in this country that disagree fundamentally, but that advantage of different perspectives goes away when we're never nice to each other. Nowadays, it seems like if two people disagree on certain issues, they're not allowed to still be friends, respect each other's differences, and be kind to each other.

   Take, for instance, the issue of gay rights. George W. Bush is, as Ellen DeGeneres put it, a "conservative Republican president", while she is a "gay Hollywood liberal". Ellen and her partner attended a football game that George W. Bush and his wife were also attending. They sat near each other, chatted, and had a good time, despite the fundamental differences in their beliefs. Ellen was slammed on social media for being friends with George W. Bush. Slammed! For being nice to someone she disagreed with. I myself don't agree with certain of Ellen's personal choices, but I applaud her for refusing to follow the trend of society today and instead acting like a decent human being. She told everyone that we have forgotten that being different is okay and that we can disagree with people and still be friends.

   Ellen is exactly right. I think many people have started to see people that disagree with them, especially people who are white, male, Republican, Christian, or, heaven forbid, all of those at once, are people that hate them, have some sort of agenda against them, or somehow wish harm on them. That kind of thinking is ridiculous! Just because I disagree with Ellen's life choices doesn't mean I hate her or think she's some kind of lesser human being. I applaud her for being able to look past barriers and be friends with someone who is very different from her, even though she probably knew there would be backlash.
   I posted a while ago about enemies. What I said in that blogpost still holds very true today. Maybe I really am idealistic, like my fellow students told me in class yesterday, but I don't see why that idealism has to be a bad thing. Why can't we all strive to be better than we think we can be, to be friendlier, to put aside our differences and get along anyway? Why can't we be different and still be friends? As they have said, don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon. Don't tell me we can't stop focusing on "black" and "white", "white privilege" and "black oppression", on any of the real or perceived superficialities that set us apart and focus on the true person instead. Don't tell me we can't be better than we are. Don't tell me we have to be ashamed of our past to truly change our future. We are more capable of the impossible than we could ever dream. Why is it wrong to dream big?
   The differences that set us apart don't have to divide us. So forget what's possible and just do what's right. You and I can be as different as can be, but we can still get along and be friends.
   So please, let's stop the attacks on people who believe differently than you, who look different or act different, or maybe even believe some of the things you do are wrong. Chances are, they probably don't actually hate you, and would be more than willing to be friends.
   We don't gain anything from fighting and hating each other. Differences don't have to be divisive. Disagree doesn't equal enemy.
 
   Why can't we be friends?

America, Spread Your Golden Wings...

   Once upon a time, there was a massive empire. They had just fought a hard war against one of their greatest enemies with the extensive help of thirteen of their most loyal colonies. The people in these colonies had bled and died, as they had been on the front lines of much of the war's fighting. When the time came to pay for the war, the legislatures of these colonies were ready to write laws on new taxes as soon as the crown asked them to. After all, they were English citizens, and all taxes on them had to be levied by their representative body, as guaranteed by the Magna Charta and the English Bill of Rights. They were ready and willing to pony up according to well-established laws and traditions. Whenever the king wanted to levy a new tax on the colonies, he asked the colonial legislatures to pass one, and they always complied.

   However, the king did not ask the colonial legislatures to levy a tax. Instead, the English Parliament voted on a tax on the American colonies. This angered the colonists. They had no representatives in the English Parliament. Furthermore, it would be incredibly impractical to ever have American representatives in the English Parliament, as London is so far from the shores of the New World. Parliament had no power to levy taxes on them. Since Parliament had no power to levy taxes on the thirteen colonies, the "taxes" were not obligatory or legally binding. So, the colonists simply refused to pay them, sending advocates all the while to England to remind them that the English Parliament had no power over them.

   Parliament, however, thought their overseas subjects were nuts. The colonists weren't English citizens, but a second class of subjects in thralldoms, and of course they had the power to levy taxes on them. A few MPs were on the side of the colonists, but they were outshouted and outvoted. More and more taxes were levied on the thirteen colonies.

   The colonists took more and more drastic action to avoid or outright refuse the taxes. They were English citizens, after all, and from the time of King John to the Glorious Revolution, they were never ones to surrender their freedoms quietly. Even more, they had lived for several generations in a harsh wilderness, alone except for their God and their ingenuity. After years of independence and self-reliance, they weren't going to bow down now. When the Stamp Act was passed, colonists burned anything with the king's stamp on it. Parliament repealed it, but in their repeal stated that they had full power to do whatever they wanted to the colonies.

   Parliament had gone too far. All they had had to do was ask them to tax themselves and they would have done it. This posturing was absolutely ridiculous. Whisperings of war and even more drastic action were being passed around in the most radical circles. And when British soldiers were sent to Boston to try and enforce the supposed laws, the angry colonists started drilling in militias from snowy Massachusetts and New Hampshire to humid Georgia.

   A radical group went a little too far protesting the tea tax. All the colonies thought it might be a good idea to pay reparations for the thousands of pounds in damage. However, the furious British Parliament decided to shut down the colony in which the offense was committed, shut down their largest source of revenue, and starve the inhabitants to make them suffer.

   The colonies arose in outrage. They banded together to help their sister colony in her time of need, holding hands and becoming one for the first time ever. Even more people joined the militia. The British Army attempted to shut down colonial legislatures. They completely ignored them, instead meeting in local taverns. The colonies skirted the army and ignored Parliament, hoping the king would see the oppression and stand against the illegality. Offense after offense by Parliament and the army piled up. Until one day, it all became too much. The fatal straw had come.

   General Gage sent his troops to destroy the store of ammunition and gunpowder in Concord, Massachusetts. The local militia got wind of the plan and stood in their way with their guns, hoping to deter them without firing. But British soldiers got too eager and charged the men at Lexington. Somebody fired, then everybody fired, and eight men died. The militia swore they hadn't begun the fight, but they would finish it. They couldn't stop the British from their mission, but they hid behind fences, trees, and barns, shooting at the soldiers until they were terrified and running for Boston. For a year, they fought hard, losing battles with an army they refused to call the King's Army, for surely the king they had been loyal to for so long couldn't condone this.

   The colonial legislatures the army had tried to disband voted to send representatives to a congress of all the colonies, the First Continental Congress. This congress sent pleas to the king in hopes that this war could be ended when it had barely begun, in hopes that only Parliament was the problem. Their hopes were dashed in the spring of 1776. The colonists were forced to acknowledge the fact that King George III was behind all the machinations and oppression of Parliament.

   This knowledge rocked the colonies. In the spring of '76, spurred on by this knowledge, a new identity began to emerge. The colonists were seeing themselves not as British, but as Americans. And an idea that had been tossed around for a while by the Continental Army's new commander-in-chief began to be talked about by everyone.

   Through prayer and a miracle, on July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress formed the United States of America, the thirteen colonies collectively declaring independence from Great Britain. On July 4, they told the world exactly why.

   The war had just begun. Five long years of hard fighting followed. Without prayer and praise and the Hand of God, the Revolutionary War would not have been won. After another two years of sporadic fighting and tense negotiation, a treaty was signed between the United States of America and Great Britain, ending the war.

   And the rest? Well, it's history.

   

   Happy Independence Day, fellow defiant rebels! Today, let's celebrate our amazing country and her glorious birth. Remember, rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. Let freedom ring!

True Evangelism

   Two years ago, my family and I traveled up to Indianapolis over Memorial Day to visit family and attend the 100th running of the Indy 500. While my dad and I, along with various other family members, were walking up to the track, we passed a man holding a sign and shouting at everyone in line to get in that they were going to Hell. All I wanted to do was tell him to shut up. As I told my dad, "He's not helping us! He's just annoying people."

   The man at the Indy 500 isn't the only Christian whose evangelism methods are less than ideal. 

   Not all people handing out Christian tracts are this rude, but it still isn't a practice that's left me with a good feeling. I've been handed tracts myself a number of times. Every single time I get them, I throw them away, annoyed. By handing this out to someone, you're automatically implying that you think they're currently going to Hell. (Also, most tracts are worded kind of weird. "Have you ever lied? Stolen? Lusted? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are a sinner in need of redemption and are eligible for salvation. Call 1-800-JOHN-316 to get your free gift of salvation today." [Okay, I know they're not actually like that, but that's what they feel like.])
   The "if you don't repin this, you're denying Jesus" pins. The girls with Bible verses or other clear Christian references as their Twitter handle or their email. The people that post pictures of their daily devotions complete with highlights and coffee. The people who constantly post links to spiritual blog posts and quotes from a famous Christian theologian that makes you cringe every time you see their name. The Christian adventure books with dialogue like "So, do you know where you're going when you die?" before every dangerous situation. The cheesy Christian movies. If that's all people see of Christians, it's no wonder they think we're weird and annoying. Seriously, what kind of messages are we sending here? Do we really think we're reaching people with actions like these?
   A mantra every writer knows is "Show, Don't Tell." This is so true not only in writing, but in real life. Everything I've described above is Christians telling other people that they're Christians and everyone else needs to come to Jesus. And that's nice, and they have a good motive, but it's not usually that effective. Just as you won't draw people into your story if all you're doing is telling your readers, "Bob was angry, so he fought the man," you're probably not going to make people want to know about Jesus by just walking up and asking them if they know Jesus.
   I grew up on Michael W. Smith. On my favorite album of his, there's a song titled "Live the Life." Some of the first words he sings are these:

And when it's time to speak our faith

We use a language no one can explain

That's no longer good enough

And God knows it's a shame

'Cause if we look to pass the blame

We are not the worthy bearers of His name

For the world to know the truth

There can be no greater proof

Than to live the life, live the life

   It's not enough to just tell people about Jesus. If all they see us do is make people mad with fake money, shout at people they're going to Hell, and insult them, why would they listen to us when we try to tell them about Jesus? If we don't show love to others, why should they believe us when we tell them about God's love? Yes, trying to save somebody is an act of love, but firefighters don't curse at people while carrying them from the flames. They don't haul people out of fires by their feet kicking and screaming. If our actions annoy even other Christians, how do we expect to truly reach people?

   I think one of the main reasons this is a problem is because we're so worried about evangelism. We read Matthew 28:19 and are concerned we're not doing anything to spread the word of God so we freak out and hand out tracts and corner people in the grocery store to tell them about Jesus and make movies that are just messages with a side of cheesy story and even do really rude things like leave fake money tracts instead of tips and shout at everybody attending a race that they're going to Hell. We need to calm down, stop freaking out, and just live. If we're truly Christians, people will see Jesus in us. 

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. --Galatians 2:20

   I've had relatives apologize for using bad words and correct themselves to "gosh" after taking God's name in vain. One relative winced when his siblings cursed around us and tried to be very respectful of what we believe, even though we've never talked about our faith with him. People have accused me and my family for "judging" them over something they do that goes against our beliefs even though we've never said anything to them about it. More than once, I've been in situations where it's clear the other people know I'm Christian, and I'm just like, "I...didn't...say anything..." [Side note: I'm not trying to say I'm amazing or super spiritual; I just need examples and these are the handiest ones.]
   Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying never tell people about Jesus. But if all we're doing is telling people about Him and they can't see Him in us...there's a fundamental problem with us. They'll never listen to us if we have no credibility, and if we don't truly represent the God we are ambassadors of, we can't truly share Him with others.
   I'd just like to encourage everyone to stop trying to make sure everyone knows about Jesus and just try to live like Him. Tell about Him where the Holy Spirit prompts you, and just let Christ live in you. As Michael W. Smith said:

For the world to know the truth

There can be no greater proof

Than to live the life, live the life

Get Down Off the Soapbox, Please

   Many years ago, my family talked about how frustrating it was that, in entertainment, Christians preached a message while others made good entertainment, and, as a consequence, sin was completely taking over the culture. I've even written posts about how Christians should focus on making good art instead of preaching a message through their art. 

   Nowadays, things are a little different. Complaints are frequently heard about ABC's shows turning preachy, the most recent one being The Good Doctor. Rick Riordan's readership has dropped tremendously as many fans (me included) are turned off by his preachiness. And Disney movie after Disney movie seems like just an exposition for liberal agendas (Star Wars: The Last Jedi being one of the most recent). In some ways, it is a relief that lies aren't slipping into people's heads without them noticing. But in a way, it's really annoying. Our last source for good entertainment is now gone.

 

Could everybody please stop preaching when they're supposed to be telling stories?

   I mean, seriously. All I want is to spend a couple hours having a good time. I don't want to be hammered over the head that the world is ending and [insert name here] is the Antichrist or that everyone needs to stop throwing their water bottles in the trash. I don't want to spend the entire movie wondering how the directors thought a theological seminary would make a great movie or why almost every single man in the entire Resistance disappeared between movies. I go to church to hear preaching. I watch movies and TV shows and read books to be entertained.

  So please, authors, screenwriters, movie directors, etc., get down off the soapbox, go home, and find a church you can preach in. When you're ready to actually sit down and tell me a story, you'll find me over here waiting.

The Great Rights Illusion Part Two

   I apologize for the delay in getting this post up.
   Read Part One here.

   Where do rights come from?

   We have established that rights are permanent gifts given to everyone equally at their creation, unable to be transferred, denied, sold, or taken. But who gives us these rights?

   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....  (emphasis added)

   Rights are given to men by the Creator, God Almighty. This very fact has the potential to change lives. But why?

   I'm sure you've heard of civil rights, political rights, legal rights, and those such things. Well, those things as we know them don't actually exist. See, according to the definitions of these words, their existence often hinges on the government. Many people, government officials especially, talk about "giving" or "taking away" our civil rights. But, as we have seen, rights come, not from government, but from God. No government can give rights or take them away. They cannot deny us our rights or transfer them to another. What does this mean?
   One of the hottest topics in today's culture is the government "taking away" our right to keep and bear arms. Putting aside for a moment all the debates over whether that is a right and what "keep and bear arms" actually means, let's examine this debate in the light of our new knowledge.
   The government does not give us our rights and cannot take them away. No one can take them away. This means that even should a government declare it illegal to ever own a weapon, every man still has an absolute right to keep and bear arms, and even should the government send troops to take those weapons away, men have every right to stand up and fight them. In fact, that was how our country was founded (look up the battles at Lexington and Concord in 1775 and learn more about them).
   Freedom of speech is one of the most hated rights by governments. Almost no other right has been the center of more attacks and laws. However, since our rights come from our Creator and not our government, we always have and always will have the right to speak our minds. Even should they arrest us, put us in jail, or kill us for exercising our right, our right it will remain. No government can tell you to shut up.
   Clearly, this is radical, even dangerous thinking. Yes, there is a reason the American Declaration of Independence has been banned in many countries all over the world. But if we can break through the Great Rights Illusion, we can become so much more than what we are now. If we embrace what we've been given by God and refuse to let anyone lie to us about it, we will do what Americans have done since the beginning of our country, what we are known for.
   We will change the world.

The Great Rights Illusion Part One

   One of the most fundamental things in this country is rights. Millions of protestors use them as a rallying cry, thousands of lawsuits are won by way of invoking them, we even have a Bill of Rights in our Constitution. Rights are everyone's favorite thing to talk about these days: women's rights, gay rights, Hispanic rights, millennial rights, and all the other hot topics of today. Rights are one of the most important things in today's world, and one of the most misunderstood.

   The word rights is thrown around almost willy-nilly. If you attend any protest in the United States of America, you are almost certain to hear at least one person screaming about their rights. Two of the biggest topics today are women's rights and LGBT rights. But most people that talk about rights don't actually understand what they are or where they come from.

   

   What are rights?

    Our most familiar association with the word "rights" is from the most-quoted part of the Declaration of Independence: "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...." This phrase holds the key to the answers of both questions, what rights are, and where they come from.

   Rights can also be referred to as the state of nature or freedom. This is the natural condition of man and his relationship with his Creator. According to John Locke, "The state of nature gives every man authority to execute punishment for violation of God's natural law." He also said, "Men are naturally in a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave or depending upon the will of any other man."

   Rights are natural liberties men are born with. They are also equal among all men.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal....

 Furthermore God said, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heaven, and over the beasts, and over all the earth, and over everything that creepeth and moveth on the earth.

Thus God created the man in his image: in the image of God created he him: he created them male and female. --Genesis 1:26-27

 All men are created equal and all power and jurisdiction is granted to each man equally by God. --John Locke

   Rights are "endowed" to us. Not given, not provided, endowed. This word is closely related to the word "dowry." A dowry is a gift given from a father to his daughter at her marriage. Dowries were a permanent gift, transferred directly to the recipient, intended only for the recipient, and unable to be denied. Rights are indeed endowed upon us. They are our dowry.

   Rights are also unalienable (or inalienable), a word most little kids stumble over and few understand. However, the Founding Fathers chose this word very carefully. It was related to the word "alienate," which was a legal term meant to describe transfer or sale of ownership of property. If an object was alienable, that meant it was able to be transferred. An object that is unalienable is unable to be sold or transferred. 

   This means that our rights are permanent gifts given to everyone equally at their creation, unable to be transferred, denied, sold, or taken. Come back next week to find out where our rights come from and why it's so important!

   Many thanks to Congressman Barry Loudermilk for providing the resources used in this blog post and for instructing me about rights.