Proverbs (29:12) and Politics

When a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked. (Proverbs 29:12 NKJV)

“There we go again, getting into politics with the Bible! I thought mixing politics and religion were totally wrong and taboo!” Actually, if you read your bible, it speaks very often about correct principles to earthly rulers, and how they should rule.

If you read your bible, you may have encountered the book of Proverbs. It is a very interesting book. Harry Conn said (and if you don’t know about Harry Conn, you are truly unfortunate) that it is one of the only books of preventive psychology, and I think he was right. Most psychological problems, excepting those that arise from a physiological cause, mostly come from guilt or adherence to wrong concepts of reality. Proverbs can set us straight on much of that before we run into trouble. (It can also get us back on track if we have strayed at any point in our lives!)

Anyway, for many reasons, I have good cause to translate the Hebrew of this Proverb thus:

When a ruler sets his attention upon false philosophy, his administrators are wicked.

The tense of the proverb is present, and because of the lack of a true past or future tense in the second half of the statement. The present tense is implied when no form of “to be” is lacking, and there is no other verb.

What is translated simply “lies” here is a compound word, a double noun. It literally is “word of falsehood.” The Hebrew word used here for “word” is very broad and has often to do with a topic or matter of concern rather than a spoken statement. For example, if you said in ancient Hebrew you had read the “works” of Plato, you would probably have used this word. In my opinion, there is no better way an ancient Hebrew would have stated the term “false philosophy.”

The word used for the ruler’s servants is specifically used as the term for ministering in an official position of responsibility and authority, such as the Aaronic priesthood, or a king’s administrator.

A ruler can listen to a lie, on one occasion when someone tells him a lie, perhaps, and he may make a wrong decision based on that, and even get into trouble. That does and has happened in almost any political administration.

However, this verse tells us that if a ruler pays constant attention to, or concentrates upon a false word or concept, then his administration IS (or becomes, in the process of forming it) wicked.

Let's just say you are elected to some political office. (Oh, good for you!) Who are you going to gather together with you to help you accomplish your agenda? For obviously, you have one. If you are like any other naturally minded person, you will find those who agree with you politically, morally and philosophically.

In reference to the current Presidency of the United States, what is the philosophy that our President pays attention to? If you said, Secular Humanism, you would probably be right for the most part. However, you will have to add to that, perhaps, the political and moral philosophies he absorbed into his mind in his formative years, growing up in Indonesia and Africa, etc. He did not grow up in America. You may say he was born a U.S. citizen, but he grew up without any absorption of American patriotism, 4th of July, any of that. He taught Saul Alinsky’s philosophies in his college courses. That should tell you plenty, if you are any bit aware of Saul Alinsky. He was basically an American communist.

What of all the current scandal in Obama’s administration now being exposed. Is more to come? Why is it happening? Why, because his administration is wicked.

Case in point: Hilary Clinton. She is the creme dela creme of Secular Humanists. As Secretary of State she said she would (and obviously did) direct our foreign affairs, not upon the “rigid ideology” of previous U.S. administrations, but upon pragmatism, which is the secular humanist philosophy of do what gets the results you want, the end justifies the means. (If you doubt any of this, you need to do some homework.) Where has that brought our foreign affairs?

Search out the Secular Humanist manifestos (there are three now). Find out what they say and see if you want all your elected and appointed officials believing those things. Are they compatible with the remnants of the Judeo-Christian point of view you may yet adhere to? If you believe in a true right and wrong, for example, rather than social consensus determining right and wrong, you have too much of those rigid ideologies left in you for a secular humanist activist.

What must I do?

There is one important thing I know I am going to do with every politician that vies for my vote. And things will never change in this country until we do this overall as citizens and as adherents to the rigid ideals of Judeo-Christian philosophy.

Vet his/her philosophies and religious point of view.

The first question I am going to have for each politician that asks me to vote for him/her will essentially be, “Are you a secular humanist?” It is true that the Constitution forbids a religious test for admittance into office. However, I am not the U.S. government per se. I have every right to ask a candidate what are his religious and philosophical foundations. If he doesn’t answer those questions, he won’t get my vote.

Ask that candidate, “What is the ultimate basis for determining what is right or wrong for our society?” If you want to watch someone squirm more than a worm, ask that of a politician.

Fink Scientific(TM): Pedal Pain Explained and Conquered

There is a serious epidemic around the world. It is foot pain. Particularly, pain in peoples’ right feet, in their arches and the balls of their feet. What is the cause of this you ask? Fink Scientific™ knows one major cause, and how to help it!*

You will probably be curious to know why you were never told this in driving school? Well, I will not bring up any theory of conspiracy between auto makers and podiatrists to answer that question.

I can write what I am about to reveal, because I and some Significant Other have suffered from this very thing, especially as the result of long journeys (3 to 4 hour long drives) without using cruise control. Even long before the answer was plain as day to Fink Scientific™, I would occasionally notice my right foot hurting somewhat. I didn’t make the crucial connection with my driving techniques, and so that occasional pain continued.

Now, with bated breath, you await my next sentence, eager to drink in the amazing answer and etch it into your total consciousness.

So here it is—the cause of all this pain is simply how/where we place our feet on our cars’ accelerator pedals! It is, after all, simple physics and anatomy. Now you may doubt me, but Fink Scientific™ is rarely wrong—because of science!

Carefully study the diagrams below, and you will see the simple fact. You (and I, until recently) have the bad habit of placing your foot TOO FAR from the base of the accelerator pedal. A basic understanding of leverage will explain how this can put too much strain on certain areas of your foot.

So now you know what to do to give yourself long-desired relief of your foot pain. It takes concentrated effort for a few days to purposely move your foot to the proper position until you develop the habit. There is also the extra effort to properly move your foot to the brake pedal. It is even worse in stop-and-go traffic on weekday mornings! However, the reward of the pain-free feel of your foot through the rest of your day is definitely worth it!

*Fink Scientific™ makes no claims of medical accuracy or medical advice, only “scientific” accuracy. Please check with your own doctor about any medical condition.

My First American Freedom Moment podcast

Hi everyone!

I thought after everything transpiring over the last few years, and because of the great need to rebuild the truths, ideas, concepts and philosophies that built the United States of America, that I would start to do maybe a little something that I can. I can research, write and do a podcast occasionally.

I am posting this, my first attempt to make one. It isn’t professionally recorded. I only used what I have on my iMac. The background music is one of the compositions from my son, Stephen.



Please feel free to comment on any aspect of this you like: boring voice, too long, etc., and I welcome suggestions to help make this better.

How often will I do one? That depends on how busy I get, and if this is a dud or a success (whatever that means).

Thanks for your interest, and please help rebuild America by spreading the ideals of this podcast around.

Take care,

Tim Fink

Aliens: The Real Enemy?

The other night we watched Battle: Los Angeles, which for all practical purposes is a modern war movie, but with the science fictiony twist of the enemy being extraterrestrials. Earlier in the summer we went to see Battleship, which was the same basic plot, but focused on the Navy, and Hawai'i (which I'm all for).

This seems to be the way all war movies are going to be from now on. Aliens are the new arch-enemy.

Of course, we have seen this all before in various forms since the 1950s, with War of the Worlds and The Day the Earth Stood Still. However, since Independence Day, it has been the case that mostly, if not exclusively, all war movies involve aliens as the opponent. The only exception would be historical war movies.

There must be some covert and unpublished order given to Hollywood that we cannot have any human enemies for a prospective war in a movie. Why? Perhaps because we are all supposed to be one big happy One World Order. To get us all in that frame of mind we must not think of any other nation or people as an enemy.

But also, perhaps, mostly is a fear of not being politically correct, internationally.

Pick any country to use as an enemy against the U.S. in a movie and I bet you will run into writers, directors, producers and actors who will worry about offending that nation. Why, to think that some other nation could actually perpetrate some evil plot against the U.S.—unless we are also guilty of something—is unthinkable. How dare we imply that some country might be a true enemy! That would be considered bigoted.

(As an aside, also notice how all spy movies involve U.S. spies in cahoots with other U.S. spies against—you guessed it—U.S. spies. Don't we actually spy against other nations?

Also, I would rather have peace than war. We should be getting out of as many conflicts as possible and just make sure our own borders are secure. Then we should be the disseminators of liberty via debate, proclamation and diplomacy—with the security of a strong and ready military.)

You see, aliens are safe. Regardless of the unlikely idea that they could get here in the first place (a whole ’nuther science issue), they make obvious and uncomplicated enemies. Since they don't represent any other nation, there is no fear of offending anyone.

Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy a good alien action plot occasionally. This is just an observation of our pop culture, and perhaps a recognition of an overarching “understanding” of the message we are supposed to get from all this lack of authentic war movie enemies, i.e., a country that really exists as a possible threat, such as China, Russia, North Korea or Iran, cannot possibly exist. 

You get the idea.

Islamic Anger Shows They Are Not Ready For Liberty

Protests over an offensive movie?

Of course, you should have heard by now about the two sieges and murders of U.S. embassies in Egypt and Libya at the hand of Islamic extremists. Supposedly this is in response to an "insult" to Mohammed in a movie that was made and released in the U.S. on YouTube. I think this is a lame excuse, but if it has any real connection, it is hardly commensurate with the murder of three people who had nothing to do with it.

What are they thinking?

What is the mentality of such an attack against a U.S. embassy in response to a movie release that people may find offensive (and, true, Hollywood gives people plenty to be offended about)? I am hearing many reports that at least the Libya attack was not motivated by the YouTube movie. But if either of these, or the growing number of embassy "demonstrations" erupting today (and beyond?), is a result of offense at this movie, does that give you any sense of objective reasonableness within the Islamic mindset?

Let's take this idea further. 

Let's say you and a bunch of friends and neighbors and family members become greatly offended at some insult to Jesus, or some famous historical figure of U.S. history, such as George Washington, presented in some Bollywood movie. What are you going to do about it? Perhaps you would write letters to the producer. Maybe you would organize a boycott of the movie. Probably you would set up a protest at one of the theaters that showed it (hard to do that to YouTube, though), which did happen a couple of decades ago over a very blasphemous Jesus movie.

Would you stage a siege of the India embassy in Washington D.C? Of course not! Why not? Because everybody knows that the government of India was not responsible for the production of that movie at all.

Islam radicals only know of totalitarianism

How does this relate to what the radical islamists are doing then? If a movie upsets them then they go and besiege the U.S. embassy. Why? Obviously, they think that the U.S. government is responsible for whether the movie was made, for what it said, and that it was released and allowed to be played.

You must remember, that most of the islamic countries are unlearned, and mostly have the perspective of thousands of years of tribal existence, which was monarchical in nature. That is, the only freedom you have is what the ruler of your tribe, or nation, allows you to have. That's it. And if what you do is only what your ruler allows, then what you are allowed to do is the responsibility of your ruler.

So when the radical islamists look at something coming from America, or the West, then they look at it from the governmental ideals they live in. They have no conception of liberty, of free market economy, of personal responsibility within the context of a nation or as a citizen. There is no philosophical foundation in their outlook for any of the freedoms that we as U.S. citizens conceive of or enjoy.

Blame the U.S. government for it all

So no matter what comes from our society to offend the radical islamists, they will continue to throw their anger against the U.S. government. The sooner we pull everything out of the Middle East, the sooner they will forget about the U.S. and they will have to put up with each other. And if their history is any indication, that will mean they will be infighting and at each other's throats within a few years. Or we can allow China to go in and try to put them in peaceful order. Let them wear out their military and use up all their financial resources to futilely keep the area stable.

Already a pawn of China?

When it comes to what the U.S. of A. is doing on the international scene, it appears to be one big conundrum. People on the left feel President Obama has crossed them, leading us further into the Middle East, not closing Guantanamo Bay, and so forth. Those on the right feel perplexed because he has basically continued and furthered the Bush Administration’s path of the War on Terror. Not only that, but he has quagmired the U.S. into Lybia, which also seems to be enmeshing NATO into a Vietnam-like venture. And soon he (and Hillary) may drag us into Syria.

Now we also have our economy heading downhill fast. Nothing brave in the line of holding the line on spending is happening. In fact, everything passing for financial legislation is only new dressing for the same old increase in spending on a scheduled basis. This will only increase our national debt beyond repayment within a few years.

What’s going on? How come, no matter who is in power, the same things keep happening, maybe just at a different pace?

The Bible says the borrower is servant to the lender. Well, that makes the U.S., steeped in tens of trillions of dollars in debt plus even more in unaccounted obligations (like pensions), a servant to many parties. One of those is China. At this point, the U.S. is in a compromised position, and we are not free to deal with China from a position of strength or integrity, because of the fact we owe China trillions of dollars, which we can’t begin (or maybe never will be able) to repay.

Perhaps its possible that China, knowing that we cannot repay them, at least not in the usual or expected way, may be even now demanding we repay them in other ways. One of those ways may be by spending our military strength to do what they would like to see happen around the world: weaken their areas of interest, increase destabilization, all the while making it easier for China to wait for the right time to come on the scene and “take over.”

Seems far fetched? You never know who is calling who at the White House these days.

Shave over the Day of Rest?

I have noticed something over the last several years. Monday mornings I get started shaving, splashing the hot water on my face. My brain tells me that my whiskers seem much shorter than they usually are on any other morning.

Now, I don’t know how many guys notice this, if they would. But it seems to me there’s only one real explanation for this: God’s day of rest.

You see, if you remember the account of the creation in Genesis, God rested after everything was done, and He called it the 7th day. He later commanded His people to rest on the 7th day, because He rested after His work of creation.

Whether or not God created it all in a literal or figurative seven days, He commanded we observe a literal seventh day for rest. Now, of course, as a Christian, I believe God changed that day of rest to the 1st day of the week, to also commemorate the resurrection of Jesus. So if we are obedient, we will honor God on His day of rest, or the Lord's Day, whichever way you want to say it.

So, do we (in general, everyone on earth, or just believers?) actually rest on this day of rest? I mean, is there a seven-day cycle we all are somehow in tune to in some basic physical sense? Do many of our bodily systems actually relax their functioning during that day? Considering my whiskers on Monday morning, I would think this is so.

 Does anyone else think this, as well? Or do you think this is totally bogus, or just psychological?