How to Become
A CHRISTIAN ANARCHIST
 

How to Become
A CHRISTIAN ANARCHIST
 

“You're Un-American!” I get told this a lot. I turn the accusation on its head: If you are not working to abolish the government, you are a lousy American. This is easily proven. I'm confident that every person who signed the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution would agree with me. The Declaration of Independence says we have the right -- actually, the "duty" -- to abolish any government that becomes a "tyranny." America's Founding Fathers abolished their government because they said it had become a "tyranny." Their government was a kindergarten class compared to our government today. But they abolished it. John Quincy Adams said, “The war was revolutionary. It began by the dissolution of the British Government in the Colonies; the People of which were, by that operation, left without any Government whatever.” This is not entirely true. The American People in 1776 had something we don't have in 2019: self-government. A better word: Godliness. What would America's Founding Fathers think about our government today -- given that they called their government a "tyranny" and abolished it? They would say you are a pathetic, stinking rotten American for not abolishing your government. Worse than "tories," who were called "unworthy Americans." In fact, if you're not "anti-government," America's Founders would say you're not an American at all. Because your government is a mega-tyranny compared to the one America's Founders abolished. They could not have imagined -- in their wildest nightmares -- a government as evil and tyrannical as the one you Pledge your Allegiance to. The government of the United States is the enemy of Christian civilization. The government of the United States is the enemy of mankind. The Government of the United States is the enemy of Christianity, as every government eventually becomes. But it's not enough to say that this particular government is a tyranny and should be abolished. We need to realize that the entire concept of a small group of elites ruling over everyone else is a fundamentally flawed and un-Christian concept of society. In the long-term, "the State" inevitably moves society away from Christianity and lowers our material standard of living. America's Founders rejected the theory of "the divine right of kings." That was very shocking in their day. "How can you have a government with no king," many asked. "Who will lead the nation? Who will steer the ship of state? Having no king is like a nation with a headless horseman!" People were worried. Benjamin Rush eventually signed the Declaration of Independence, but at first he had his doubts, and spoke of his own "Copernican revolution": Never before had I heard the authority of kings called in question. I had been taught to consider them nearly as essential to political order as the sun is to the order of our solar system. Tremendous progress was made in the direction of liberty and self-government by those who questioned the status quo. But in 200 years, no more progress has been made. In fact, no serious student of Christianity and American history can deny that we have regressed. We have suffered a significant loss in liberty and virtue. America's Founders would be shocked. Horrified. It's time for another copernican revolution. Not only can we have a virtuous, orderly, peaceful, and prosperous society without a king, we can have one without "the State" in any form. That's right: "anarchy."

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So why is it you're such a lousy American? Because you're a victim of Educational Malpractice. Public schools were originally invented to teach everyone the Bible. But your government has banned the Bible from public schools. No surprise there: tyrannical atheistic governments always ban the Bible. This website sells a home study program that duplicates 12 years of a colonial American one-room schoolhouse in just 12 months. We don't teach "the 3 r's" (reading, writing and arithmetic), just the Biblical Worldview that every public school in America taught a few hundred years ago. Click here to find out just how messed up your education was, and why America's Founding Fathers wouldn't recognize you as an American, and why Christ's Apostles wouldn't recognize you as a Christian.

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Here are the five things you've never thought about: 1. First, a definition: The word "anarchist" literally means "not an archist." But what's an archist? 2. An "archist" is someone    who believes he has a right to    impose his will on others by force. Like all Americans, you have been trained in government-approved schools to believe that an "anarchist" is a bad person: a bomb-throwing assassin who rejects the doctrine of private property, seeks to foment disorder, chaos and riots in order to overthrow the government by force and violence and establish some dreadful political ideal like "the dictatorship of the proletariat," where everyone is his own god and criminals run wild. No, this man is an "archist" I am 100% opposed to such things. I hope you are too. The man above believes in using force to impose his will on others. I believe this is the definition of an archist, not an anarchist. It turns out that "archists" are the ones who    • throw the most bombs,    • assassinate the most people,    • confiscate or destroy the most private property    • overthrow or destabilize the most governments    • and are the most systematic enemies of Christian morality. "Archist" defined here. 3. Jesus prohibits His followers from being archists,    which logically means He commands you to become    an anarchist. [proof here] 4. a true an-archist is an admirable person. If you don't think of yourself as a true non-archist, prohibited by your Lord from being an archist, then in a pinch you would be willing to wear the uniform of an archist and steal, imprison, or kill your neighbor. Intelligent, well-educated, civilized people just like you in Germany did what they were told by archists. "I was just following orders." Given the right circumstances, you would betray Jesus Himself. Because you're not an anarchist. Are you an archist? 5. The world would be a better place without archists. Archists commit more evil acts than so-called "anarchists" by orders of magnitude. Archists in the 20th century were responsible for     • the murder of hundreds of millions of human beings     • the enslavement of billions of human beings     • the theft of trillions of dollars of private property. Archists in the 21st century want to multiply these grizzly statistics -- and they will . . . . . . unless you decide not to be one of them; . . . unless you decide not to be an archist. The world would be a better place without archists. Without archists, We would enjoy a higher standard of living Education, literacy, learning, and philosophy (literally, "love of wisdom") would increase There would be less crime There would be less violence There would be less immorality There would be more harmony and peace There would be more glory to God. The astonishing fact is, the evils we have been trained to attribute to so-called "anarchists" are the work of archists, and we give archists our permission to commit immense evil in order to protect us from so-called "anarchists." Jesus would have us understand that "archists" are the ones who drop the most bombs, assassinate the most people, confiscate or destroy the most private property, create economic chaos and social instability, overthrow other governments, and are at war with God's Law -- all because archists want to be their own gods, and impose their will on others by force. Jesus says Christians are to be "servants," not "archists." Americans like you overlook staggering amounts of evil every time they enter a voting booth. And when they give their permission to archists in Washington D.C., they lose their power to counteract aggression at home, in schools, at work, even in churches. See this chart. Those small numbers who riot and throw bricks through storefront windows are not really anarchists, they are archists-in-training. They are wanna-be archists. Recent example: "Anarchists smash windows, throw paint on inauguration 'eve" images Often, these small, pathetic groups of so-called "anarchists" are losers led by archist agents known as "agents provocateurs." The evil caused by so-called "anarchists" is pitiful and insignificant compared to the systematic, institutionalized global destruction and tax-funded immorality wrought by real professional archists. "Archist" defined Click here for examples of famous archists in history. Click here to learn the distinction between anarchists and archists. The deception, destruction, and danger of archists is staggering. And yet we trust them to protect us against so-called (but false) "anarchists" and their puny little threat to life, liberty, and property. And when you trust archists and their archist ways, you become like them. [examples] Now, the challenge: You cannot consistently and faithfully serve Jesus Christ and be an archist. Another challenge:   Anarchism is the heart and soul of Christian ethics. This website sells a home-study course guaranteed to transform you into a Christian Anarchist. If you complete this program, you will have experienced the most profound, lasting, and beneficial personal transformation of your entire life, or your money back. In fact, if you complete our program and don't agree it's the most powerful, beneficial, transformational program or class you've ever taken, we'll give you DOUBLE your money back. A summary of our daily program: cut out an hour of the mainstream media [defined] substitute reading the Bible ask the right questions answer them repent of being an archist and tolerating archists. If you're not a Christian, you should become a Christian even if that means being imprisoned or executed by "archists." If you're not a Christian, you'll soon learn how you've been lied to about  both "anarchists" and "Christians." Most of those the mainstream media calls "anarchists" are actually archists. Most of those the mainstream media calls "Christians" cannot rationally be said to follow the commands of Jesus Christ to any meaningful degree. The "Establishment" doesn't want you to become a true anarchist or a true Christian. On this website: Benefits of becoming a Christian Anarchist [go] Jesus Commands Christians to be Anarchists [go] How To Become a Christian Anarchist [go] Enroll Now [go] This page is over 365k in size. It has over 500 links to pages that each have a dozen or more trusted resources. All the links are free. You can start becoming a Christian Anarchist right now, on your own, no charge. Enrolling in our paid program will turbo-charge your personal growth with individual guidance, accountability, and support.  You've Been Lied To  Anarchists: You've been told they are evil, dangerous people. The Bible: You've been told it condemns anarchists. Or that it condones, promotes, or even mandates archists. Or else you've been told the Bible is unreliable, having been changed and re-edited so many times over thousands of years that nobody can ever know for sure what God thinks about archists and anarchists.     All of these are lies.   Where else you can go on this page: Skip this list of options and continue by listening to an audio introduction to this website.   Benefits of Becoming a Christian Anarchist   Test Yourself: Are YOU an ARCHIST?   Famous Archists in History   Who is the Greatest Threat to Order and Peace: Governments or Anarchists?   Jesus Commands His Followers to be Anarchists.   The Character of a Christian Anarchist   Why Archists Ban the Bible from Public Schools -- And why you're a victim of educational malpractice   Healing Our World - An Anarchist Blueprint for a Peaceful, Orderly Society Based on Jesus' "Good Neighbor Policy"   The Vine & Fig Tree Vision of the Old Testament Prophet Micah    Please listen to this audio introduction by Kevin Craig Founder of Vine & Fig Tree, a non-profit, tax-exempt educational organization. Thank you very much!    Distinguishing Anarchists and Archists I want to convince you that "anarchists" are the good guys, and "archists" are the bad guys. This may be an insurmountable hurdle. This is not a trick. This is not a word-game. This is a fundamental principle of Christian ethics. This is a life-changing moral issue. We're talking Christian Morality 101. So what is an "archist?" And who am I to tell you? I am a Bible-believing Christian who, as a follower of Christ, does not initiate force leaves vengeance to God upholds private property ("Thou shalt not steal") believes taxes should be paid to occupying powers (Romans 13) and "all things should be done decently and in order"  (1 Corinthians 14:40). works for a society "under God," a "City upon a Hill," a "Christian nation," where everyone dwells securely under his own "Vine & Fig Tree." This Man was executed as an "anarchist" by the archists of His day. This is the 180° opposite of what most of us have been told is an "anarchist." Everybody has heard of an "anarchist." Everybody has been warned against them. But nobody has heard of an "archist." What exactly is the "archist" that the "an-archist" is not? An "archist" is someone who believes he has a right to impose his will on others by force. Notice that the bomb-thrower above is the 100% opposite of what Christ commands us to be. The Archist: initiates force against others engages in punitive retaliatory vengeance does not respect others' rights to private property creates disorder, chaos, instability, riots -- violent overthrow of competing archists; promotes the religion of Secular Humanism: monarchy, oligarchy, socialism, fascism, "the dictatorship of the proletariat," democracy, republicanism, etc. The Non-archist: relies on persuasion, not violence and compulsion [learn more] "turn the other cheek," not vengeance; forgiveness, patience (1 Corinthians 6:7) would rather be a martyr than a revolutionary [more] private property, no theft [more] "Let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40) Competing Free Market Institutions of Systematic Reconciliation and Restitution [more] The "Vine & Fig Tree" society [more] Here's what you were never told in school: The people who drop most bombs, assassinate the most people, destroy or confiscate the most private property, create the most chaos, economic uncertainty, and social upheaval overthrow the most governments, and prohibit teachers in government-run schools from teaching what Christ taught are the ARCHISTS, not the anarchists. By "archists," I mean "the government," of course. To all non-anarchists, I would say this: If your son or daughter came home from school and announced, "Dad! Mom! I'm going to be an anarchist when I grow up!" you would be dismayed. Even horrified. My goal is to convince you of this: The world would be a much better place if you and all other parents were to be horrified if your son or daughter came home and announced, "Dad! Mom! I want to be an archist when I grow up!" Archists are bad people. We need to view them with horror. The world would be a better place without them. The world would be a better place if you were not one of them. The world would be a better place if you did not support them. The world would be a better place if everyone encouraged archists to repent. Where else you can go on this page: Benefits of Becoming a Christian Anarchist   Why True Christians Are "Extremists"   Test Yourself: Are YOU an ARCHIST?   Famous Archists in History   Who is the Greatest Threat to Order and Peace: Governments or Anarchists?   Jesus Commands His Followers to be Anarchists.   The Character of a Christian Anarchist   Why Archists Ban the Bible from Public Schools -- And why you're a victim of educational malpractice   Healing Our World - An Anarchist Blueprint for a Peaceful, Orderly Society Based on Jesus' "Good Neighbor Policy"   More about Kevin Craig and Vine & Fig Tree Inc.   The Vine & Fig Tree Vision of the Old Testament Prophet Micah    Keep reading: Why You Should Become a Christian Anarchist   "Why the heck would anyone want to become a "Christian Anarchist?" Are you crazy or something?" I know the idea sounds wacky. I know this website is ugly. I believe it can turn your world upside down. In a good way. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus.” Acts 17:6-7 If you follow my program you will experience the most profound, lasting, and beneficial personal transformation of your entire life. You will become a more consistently faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. You will develop a new-found affection for and knowledge of the Bible. You will no longer fall for government lies.   This website is based on a simple premise, but one which has profound personal, social, national, and international implications. Our claim: The Biggest Lie in the history of human political discourse is the claim that anarchists are the bad guys and archists are the good guys. Those who oppose "an-archists" are "archists." You have never heard the word "archist." Nor have you ever asked yourself some truly basic questions about human conduct and social organization. This will transform your life like nothing else. Enroll Now Benefits of Becoming a Christian Anarchist The Marketing Department has told me to "Lead with benefits! Consumers love benefits like: • Lose 30 pounds in 30 days overnight! • Find another totally unique soul mate! • 'Manifest' a seven-figure income! • Never work again!"

I told The Marketing Dept. that nobody who comes to a website like this would fall for any of that. Quite the contrary, by becoming a follower of Christ the executed anarchist, you may lose everything. In our day the "Bill of Rights" means nothing. You may become the object of government surveillance. The FBI or other government intelligence agencies may open a dossier on you and members of your family. Your participation and public affiliation with an "anarchist" website may lead to IRS harassment in the form of an audit or other legal inconveniences. You may be deemed an "enemy combatant." If your job required you to take an oath or sign a statement indicating your support of the U.S. Constitution, you may lose your job because you visit "anarchist" websites. Your house or place of business may be searched and your assets "forfeited." You may become targeted for assassination by one of 30,000 drones over U.S. skies. We cannot be responsible for these eventualities. You have to make the decision: will you be approved by the government, or will you be approved by God? Nevertheless, The Bible promises that if you meditate on God's Commandments (the basis for the anarchist character traits you will be gaining in our program) you will prosper: Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth: but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Joshua 1:7-8 Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. Deuteronomy 29:9 And keep the charge of the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; 1 Kings 2:3 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,          And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree          Planted by the rivers of water,          That brings forth its fruit in its season,          Whose leaf also shall not wither;          And whatever he does shall prosper. Psalm 1:2-4 Click here for more promises. America is a unique "laboratory experiment" that proves the benefits of Christian Anarchism. Imagine a political spectrum with "Christian Anarchism" on one side: As America moved toward the side of "Christian Anarchism," America grew more prosperous and more admired around the world. As America moved away from "Christian Anarchism" toward the side of Secular Fascism, America has become bankrupt and despised. Just like America, you may become prosperous and admired as employers, clients, or others see your non-archist character. Conversely, just like America, you may become bankrupt and despised as you become less anarchist and more archist.

Extreme	Middle of the Road	Extreme
A B C D E F G H I J K L	M	N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Anarchism	Apathy	Archism, Tyranny
Theocracy:  "Liberty Under God"	Lukewarm	Atheism
Love	Indifference	Hate
Do you want to be a Grade "A" Christian? Then you had better avoid being a Grade "Z" Christian with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

The Bible also promises benefits for those who engage in "iron-sharpening": Just as iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen the minds of each other. Proverbs 27:17 Even if you don't become a Christian Anarchist, going through our program will be a mind-expanding discipline. There is further benefit in the daily study of the Bible. Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of the mind, searching the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so. Acts 17:10-12 George Washington, who struggled with archism, yearned for liberty and studied the Bible an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. A final benefit: Jesus will not vomit you out of His mouth if you become an anarchist and repudiate the imposing of your will on others by force. Jesus said we must be "extremists." There is no "moderate" or "neutrality" on this issue. "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. {16} So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth." Revelation 3:15-16 14 “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” 16 So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; Joshua 24:14-16  Mark 12 28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that He answered them well, he asked Him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" 29 Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 32 Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'He is one, and besides Him there is no other'; 33 and 'to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and 'to love one's neighbor as oneself,' -- this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that no one dared to ask Him any question.

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The idea that "anarchists" are the bad guys and those who oppose anarchists (logically, "archists") are the good guys is The Biggest Government Lie in Human History You are a victim of educational malpractice. Are you an Archist? You are an "archist" if  • you initiate force against your neighbor  • or threaten your neighbor with violence and harm  • in order to compel your neighbor to think or to do  • what you think your neighbor ought to think or do. You are also an "archist" if you "vote" for "The Candidate"  • who promises to initiate force against your neighbor  • in order to compel your neighbor to think or to do  • what you think your neighbor ought to think or do. "The Candidate" is also an "archist." The initiation of "force" includes:  • a threat to do harm or violence,  • a threat to infringe on the other person's      • life,      • health,      • wealth,      • liberty,  • or obstruct the other person's pursuit of happiness. The myth that archists are the good guys pervades every area of our lives. And most of us end up thinking, If "they" can use force to accomplish their public goals, why can't I use force to accomplish my private goals? It isn't just "criminals" who think that way. "White-collar" criminals think the same way. Voters think the same way. Breaking that myth ("anarchists = bad; archists = good") will transform you, no matter who you are, or what you do in life: A Christian Anarchist is a: An Archist is a: husband/protector wife-beater job-creator boss civic leader tyrant rescuer invader teacher classmate bully pastor abuser personal coach drill sergeant evangelist terrorist We have all been infected -- to one degree or another -- by the idea that it's OK to impose our will on others by force. For Candidates and Politicians, Bureaucrats and Tyrants, the "initiation of force" usually takes the form of regulations IRS audits fines imprisonment capital punishment conscription military imperialism torture "the sword." the Bomb -- "Mutual Assured Destruction" This is what "archists" do. An "archist" is someone who believes he has a right to impose his will on others by force. Becoming a Christian Anarchist was the best decision I ever made, even though it cost me my career. If you follow my program you will experience the most profound, lasting, and beneficial personal transformation of your entire life. Or I will DOUBLE your money back. Seeing through the anti-anarchist propaganda of the government-controlled media will transform every area of your life. You will be amazed.

Still to come on this page: The Character of a Christian Anarchist Who is the Greatest Threat to Life, Liberty and Property? "Anarchists" or "Archists?" Why Archists Ban the Bible from Public Schools And why you're a victim of educational malpractice Healing Our World - An Anarchist Blueprint More about Kevin Craig and Vine & Fig Tree The Vine & Fig Tree Vision

Enroll Now

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Famous Archists in History:

           

     

You'll recognize one of those archists above as Adolph Hitler. Hitler did not kill six million Jews. Name one Jew whom you can prove Hitler killed. Six million Jews were killed by six million Germans who chose to wear a silly uniform, walk a silly goose-step, and follow the orders of a beyond-silly, pathologically evil man. These Germans were archists. They were "ordinary people." Just like you.

If you don't take immediate steps to become an anarchist, then by default you'll be an archist. Plus, you'll be unable to resist the temptations, the bribes, the pressure and the threats by archists to become an archist. You'll become an archist just like those rows and rows of "good" Germans above. They are just like you. You are just like them. "Sensible." "Rational." "Practical." Enroll Now You might be saying, "Sure, there are bad archists. But aren't there good archists? And aren't there bad anarchists?" No. And No. It's like being "a little bit pregnant." If you are an archist, you are not following Christ. Whether you are using force against one person, or against an entire race or nation, you have chosen to reject Christ's path. If you are an anarchist, but a weak one, a hesitant one, at least you are not trying to impose your will on others by force. Yes, there are bad so-called "anarchists," so-called by the government-puppet media. But they are in fact wanna-be archists, and the chaos we have been trained to associate with the word "anarchy" is really poly-archy, or multi-archy; the violence of lots of would-be archists. Such "anarchists" seek to impose their will on others by force, violence, and vandalism, and hence, they are in reality archists.

These are not anarchists. They are vandals. They are archists.
This kind of "anarchy" is multi-archy. Lots of archists.

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There is no such thing as "a good archist," any more than there is "a good thief." "Yes, but he loves small animals."

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Who is the Greatest Threat to Life, Liberty and Property?

A. "Governments"

B. "Criminals"

Who drops the most bombs, assassinates the most people, deprives more individuals of liberty destroys the most private property, and causes the most chaos and disorder? "Anarchists" or "Archists?" Organized "government" claims to protect us from "criminals" who might steal from us or kill us. In 1994, "criminals" committed 7,885 bank robberies, taking $28 million. That same year, "government agencies" seized $2.1 Billion in "asset forfeiture proceedings," often without "probable cause," and often not returned when innocence was proven. The Federal Government confiscates over half of everything you earn. How much do "anarchists" withhold from your paycheck? The "anarchist" Tim McVeigh was blamed for the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma, but U.S. archists have bombed many more federal buildings in Iraq, with far greater loss of innocent life. Some who are reading this will remember Dresden, Tokyo, and Hiroshima. "Archists" around the world have confiscated trillions of dollars in private property in recent years, have murdered hundreds of millions of human beings, and have deprived billions -- literally -- of human beings of liberty. And much of this has been funded or protected by the productivity of Americans like you. "Your tax dollars at work." Name one "anarchist" who built a concentration camp, or bombed an entire metropolis "back to the Stone Age." More governments have been overthrown by other governments than by "anarchists." In the 20th century, organized "governments" intentionally killed an average of 10,000 human beings each and every single day. (That figure does not include abortions, which occur today an average of 135,000 times per day around the world.) Our program will prove to you that "the government" is the greatest force for crime and evil on the planet. By the time you finish this program, you will agree that ARCHISTS are the greatest enemy of Godly order, and those of us who are anarchists must persuade all archists to repent.

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Now, do you really want to be an archist? Enroll Now

If you do not want to be an archist, then you want to be an "an-archist" -- "not an archist." You might be saying, "Wait a minute. You can't trick me. Everybody knows anarchists are the bad guys. Where did you get this word "archist," anyway? Answer: From the Bible. I try to get everything from the Bible. In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, Jesus discovers His disciples arguing about who is going to be the "greatest" in the Kingdom of God. They didn't understand that Jesus' Kingdom was quite unlike the kingdoms of the world. But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. {43} Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. {44} And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. {45} "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." The word translated "rulers" comes from the Greek word from which we derive our English word "anarchist." "Lords," "rulers" and "great ones" are "archists." Jesus clearly says His followers are not to be "archists." They are to be "servants." (If you are a secular libertarian and you don't like my public use of the Bible, consider the impact on your life and on the rest of the world if I could persuade 200 million self-professing "Christians" in America to become non-archists, eschew the use of government force to "Christianize America," and to stop giving their money to archists and to use their money in more Christian ways.) You may have heard the saying, "Power corrupts." The man who wrote this, Lord Acton, was a Christian anarchist. (Or pretty close.)(We think he would be if he were here today.) Most people who have heard that "power corrupts" have not heard the rest of the paragraph. Compare what Lord Acton said with what Jesus said: Jesus Lord Acton You know that those who are considered archists over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. Why does power corrupt? Because "power" -- being a legal "archist" -- is a license to do harm to others without doing any time. With no consequences, there is no reason not to be an archist. From being an archist over one's neighbor, it becomes easier to become an archist over millions. "Great" men want this power. To repeat: The archist: initiates force against others engages in punitive retaliatory vengeance does not respect others' rights to private property creates disorder, chaos, instability -- violent overthrow of competing archists; promotes monarchy, oligarchy, socialism, fascism, "the dictatorship of the proletariat," "crony capitalism," democracy, republicanism, etc. The Biggest Government Lie of All Time is that "anarchists" are bad, while those who oppose "anarchists" are good. Logically, those who oppose "anarchists" must be "archists." The mind-boggling reality is, "archists" are the bad guys, and Jesus commanded His followers not to be archists. The True Christian is not an "archist." If you want to be a Christian (a follower of Jesus Christ), then you do not want to be an archist. Jesus told His disciples not to be archists. You are not a consistent, faithful Christian if you are an archist. (Obviously I believe that repetition is the best teacher. So do the media. But I haven't had access to you for the most recent decades of your life, so I'm making up for it now.)

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accomplishment accurate alert amiable analytic anarchist aspire available bold calm cautious charity chaste cheerful compassion composed concentration confident contemplate contentment contents cooperative counsel courage courteous creative decisive deference dependable determined diligent discern discipline discretion earnest efficient emotions endurance energy enthusiasm expressive faithful flexible foresight forgive frank frugal generous gentle goal-setting goal-getting grateful honest hope hospitality humble

The Character of a Christian Anarchist Each day as we read the Bible we're going to focus on things that have been banned from archist schools:   Virtue, Morality and Character.   Not the kind of character that makes a person a prissy priest or clergyman.   But the kind of character than can create entrepreneurs, CEOs, and heroes; build businesses and hospitals; rescue the perishing; speak truth to archists.   We'll study the character traits you see on the sides, and we will begin developing them into habits in our own lives. We'll discover a program to develop extraordinary habits in the next great work we're going to read. Thomas Jefferson, despite his criticisms of clergy and ecclesiastical corruption, would want to be remembered as one who lived and encouraged a life of virtue and morality. He would not take credit for the army of people who champion "separation of church and state" as a cloak for selfish immorality and a lack of virtue. The practice of morality being necessary for the well-being of society, He has taken care to impress its precepts so indelibly on our hearts that they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of our brain. We all agree in the obligation of the moral precepts of Jesus, and nowhere will they be found delivered in greater purity than in his discourses. — TJ to James Fishback, Sept 27, 1809, Bergh 12:315. (1809.) Jefferson had written in 1819, "I never go to bed without an hour or half an hour's reading of something moral, whereon to ruminate in the intervals of sleep" -- to which Randall adds, "The book oftenest chosen . . . was a collection of extracts from the Bible." Henry Wilder Foote, "Introduction," The Jefferson Bible, 23 He was passionately devoted to the gospel of Jesus, which stirred him to the depths of his being and was the most powerful motive force in his life. Donald S. Harrington, "Foreword," The Jefferson Bible, 11 Speaking of "the widespread denunciation of him by his political opponents as an anti-Christian infidel or atheist," Foote observes, [I]t is one of the minor ironies of history that such slanders should have been so generally and so long believed about the man whose knowledge of and admiration for the teachings of Jesus have never been equaled by any other President. Henry Wilder Foote, "Introduction," The Jefferson Bible, 18 It was not, however, to be understood that instruction in religious opinion and duties was meant to be precluded by the public authorities as indifferent to the interests of society. On the contrary, the relations which exist between man and his Maker and the duties resulting from those relations are the most interesting and important to every human being and the most incumbent on his study and investigation. -- TJ, Report to the Visitors [school boards] Oct 7, 1822 America's Founders were agreed that religion and morality were an essential part of a public school education. This is because good character, which is the embodiment of religion and morality, was essential to liberty and a free Republic. If everyone thinks he is his own god, and can steal, enslave, or kill anyone who stands in his way, you cannot have ordered liberty. People of bad character will clamor for a strong government to take vengeance against other people of bad character. Soon you have totalitarianism and lawlessness. Read the Founders on the connection between morality and liberty here.

industry initiative interest joy justice kind love loyal manners mature meek memory motivate music neat non-violent obedient objective order overcome parent patient perfect persevere persuasive planning punctual purposeful reader recovery relax resolute resourceful respectful responsible reverent security self-assured self-disc self-educauted self-respecting self-starting sensitive sincere speech success thorough thrifty tolerant touch truth virtue wise work babylon contents

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The Christian Anarchist Case Against "National Defense"
Christian Anarchists as Unpatriotic Collaborators

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Matthew 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

Christian Anarchists are pacifists. They reject the initiation of force, as well as vengeance (retaliation). The Bible prohibits "National Defense."

1. We are commanded to be subject to whichever government God "ordains."

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Romans 13:1-7

13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except by God, and those that exist are put in place by God. ² So then, the one who resists authority resists the ordinance which is from God, and those who resist will receive condemnation on themselves. ³ For rulers are not a cause of terror for a good deed, but for bad conduct. So do you want not to be afraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from it, ⁴ for it is God’s servant to you for what is good. But if you do what is bad, be afraid, because it does not bear the sword to no purpose. For it is God’s servant, the one who avenges for punishment on the one who does what is bad. ⁵ Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God, busily engaged in this very thing. ⁷ Pay to everyone what is owed: pay taxes to whom taxes are due; pay customs duties to whom customs duties are due; pay respect to whom respect is due; pay honor to whom honor is due.

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Titus 3

3 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,

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1 Peter 2:13-17

¹³ Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; ¹⁴ Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

¹⁵ For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: ¹⁶ As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

¹⁷ Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

• Anarcho-Pacifist Apologetics in Peter's First Epistle
• Social Apologetics
• A Theonomic Critique of Logic
• Apologetics Without Aristotle
• Benjamin Rush Quote
• On Building the Kingdom
• Listen to Audio

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Being "subject" is not something Americans are very good at.

• Would Jesus Celebrate Independence Day?

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Matthew 26:52
King James Version (KJV)

⁵² Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

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Matthew 22:15-22
New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. ¹⁶ And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. ¹⁷ Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show Me the tax money.”

So they brought Him a denarius.

²⁰ And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

²¹ They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

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Render Unto Caesar - R.J. Rushdoony

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Jesus on Paying Taxes to Caesar

During this time many Jews were locked in conflict with Roman authorities. Many wanted to establish a theocracy as an ideal Jewish state and for them any Gentile ruler over Israel was an abomination before God. Paying taxes to such a ruler effectively denied God’s sovereignty over the nation. Jesus couldn’t afford to reject this position.

On the other hand, the Roman leaders were very touchy about anything that looked like resistance to their rule. They could be very tolerant of various religions and cultures, but only so long as they accepted Roman authority. If Jesus denied the validity of paying taxes, then he could be turned over to the Romans as someone encouraging rebellion (the Herodians were servants of Rome).

2. God "ordains" invading governments, and we are commanded to be subject to them.

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Rome invaded and conquered Israel a few years before Christ was born.

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Matthew 5:41
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

⁴¹ And if anyone forces^[a] you to go one mile, go with him two.

Footnotes:

a. Matthew 5:41 Roman soldiers could require people to carry loads for them.

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Reformation Study Bible

5:41 if anyone forces you. The possibility of a Roman soldier coercing a person to serve as a guide or burden carrier was real. Even if compelled by force to do something for someone, one can demonstrate freedom by volunteering more than was demanded rather than begrudging the service.

Generously provided by Ligonier Ministries

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Matthew Henry:

Some give this sense of it: The Jews taught that the disciples of the wise, and the students of the law, were not to be pressed, as others might, by the king’s officers, to travel upon the public service; but Christ will not have his disciples to insist upon this privilege, but to comply rather than offend the government.

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The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

Love Even Your Oppressors (5:41)

Here Matthew probably means submission to a Roman soldier's demands. Because tax revenues did not cover all the Roman army's needs, soldiers could requisition what they required (N. Lewis 1983:172-73; Rapske 1994:14). Romans could legally demand local inhabitants to provide forced labor if they wanted (as in Mt 27:32) and were known to abuse this privilege (for example, Apul. Metam.9.39). Yet "going the extra mile" represents not only submitting to unjust demands but actually exceeding them—showing our oppressors that we love them and take no offense, although our associates may wrongly view this love as collaboration with an enemy occupation. The truth of this passage is a life-and-death matter for many believers.

Such courageous love is not easy to come by and is easily stifled by patriotism. To take but one example that challenges my own culture, many white U.S. citizens may wish to rethink the patriotic lens through which they view the American colonies' revolt against Britain in the 1770s-did they really have grounds for secession of which Jesus would have approved if they had been his disciples? Past oppression is also easily recalled. British Christians might consider their feelings for Germans; Korean and Chinese Christians, for the Japanese. In some form the principle can apply to most national, racial and cultural groups. While early Christians responded to their persecutors with defiant love (a humility the persecutors often viewed as arrogance), many politically zealous Christians in the United States guard their rights so fiercely that they are easily given to anger (which opponents also view as arrogance).

Rather, Jesus' teaching does mean that we depend on God rather than on human weapons, although God may sovereignly raise up human weapons to fight the oppressors. If we value justice and compassion for persons rather than merely utopian idealism, we must also calculate the human cost of opposing various degrees of injustice. In first-century Palestine, few "safe" vehicles existed for nonviolent social protest against the Romans; Romans viewed most public protest as linked with revolution, and punished it accordingly. In a society like ours where Christian egalitarianism has helped shape conceptions of justice, nonviolent protest stands a much better chance of working. Neither violent revolutionaries (whose cause may be more just than their methods) nor the well-fed who complacently ignore the rest of the world's pain (and whose cause is merely personal advancement) may embrace Jesus without either distorting him or transforming themselves in the process.

Yet Jesus' own life explains the meekness he prescribes. When the time appointed by his Father arrived, Jesus allowed people to crucify him, trusting his Father's coming vindication to raise him from the dead (Mt 17:11; 20:18-19). He was too meek to cry out or bruise a reed until the time would come to bring "justice to victory" (12:19-20). Yet he proclaimed justice (12:18), openly denounced the unjust (23:13-36) and actively, even somewhat "violently," protested unrighteousness although he knew what it would cost him (21:12-13). Jesus was meek (11:29), but he was not a wimp. He called his disciples to be both harmless as doves and wise as serpents (10:16)-in short, to be ruled by the law of love (22:39). Love of neighbor not only does no harm to a neighbor but bids us place ourselves in harm's way to protect our neighbor.

IVP New Testament Commentaries are made available by the generosity of InterVarsity Press.

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Zealots and Sicarii - The "Second Amendment" crowd of first century Israel.

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If the Bible prohibits violence against those who are in authority over you, how can you justify using violence against these very same people when they are in the process of putting themselves in authority over you -- by invading your nation and conquering it?

If Christian ethics prohibits you from "standing up for your rights" against "the powers that be" (using violence), why do you think you would be permitted to "stand up for your rights" against "the powers that wanna be?" Against those same powers when they are becoming "the powers that be?"

Answer: you are not permitted to use violence against invading powers.

God sent the invaders.

3. God has had much practice in sending evil governments against people who forget Him.

God "Ordains" Evil: A collection of dozens of Biblical references to God sending "the sword" as a judgment against evil nations. This is the Old Testament background of Romans 13.

Governments are evil (sinful; violations of God's Commandments against theft, murder, enslavement, vengeance).

God "ordains" evil, sinful governments, commissioning them to violate His Commandments as a judgment against evil doers, stealing from those evil doers, depriving them of life and liberty, "serving" God as an instrument of God's vengeance.

It's not your business who the "powers" are. God puts them in place, and changes them whenever He wants.

Of course, if "the powers that be" invite your opinion of them ("voting," "referendum," "town hall," etc.) take advantage of the opportunity to speak the truth, and invite them to repent of their confiscation of property, murder, deprivation of liberty, and vengeance.

And of course, if "the powers that be" order you to sin against God, "We must obey God rather than man." (Acts 5:29). In other words, it's a sin to disobey a direct command from God, but it's not a sin to be a victim of governments that disobey direct commands of God (by stealing, murdering, kidnapping, taking vengeance, and everything else the State does routinely). Most Christian teachers fail to make this elementary distinction.

Hebrews 10:32-34
English Standard Version (ESV)

³² But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, ³³ sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. ³⁴ For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

Matthew Henry

They were afflicted in their estates, by the spoiling of their goods, by fines and forfeitures.

4.  God sometimes sends the objects of His wrath to an evil government, taking them captive and shipping them off to a foreign land, rather than putting an evil government in place over the objects of His wrath.

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Jeremiah 29:7

⁷ And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

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1 Timothy 2:1-2

¹ I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
² For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

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Jeremiah 27

27 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

² Thus saith the Lord to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,

⁸ And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

⁹ Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:

¹⁰ For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.

¹¹ But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.

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"National Defense" is the attempt to avoid "bringing your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon." Or China.

"National Defense" is a very expensive lie.

"National Defense" is not Biblical. It is Humanist. It is socialist. It is fascist.

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Matthew Henry

Nebuchadnezzar was very unjust and barbarous in invading the rights and liberties of his neighbours thus, and forcing them into a subjection to him; yet God had just and holy ends in permitting him to do so, to punish these nations for their idolatry and gross immoralities. Those that would not serve the God that made them were justly made to serve their enemies that sought to ruin them. [Jeremiah] shows them the vanity of all the hopes they fed themselves with, that they should preserve their liberties,

Those that will bend shall not break. Perhaps the dominion of the king of Babylon may bear no harder upon them than that of their own kings had done. It is often more a point of honour than true wisdom to prefer liberty before life

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Old Testament "Holy Wars" are not a valid basis for "National Defense" in New Testament times. They were offensive, not defensive, and ceremonial, fulfilled in Christ.

• Holy War: Ceremonial Atonement by Destruction
• No "Holy Wars" in Our Day
• Humanist Holy War
• Holy War: National Capital Punishment
• Capital Punishment: A Ceremonial Shedding of Blood

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"National Defense" really means "Government Defense," that is, not the defense and protection of the American People, but the perpetuation of the power of Washington D.C. insiders. Google "Continuity of Government"

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Education, Early American Style

The reason public schools (or "common schools") were formed was to teach everyone -- not just priests or princes -- the Bible. America's Founding Fathers believed that the primary purpose of public schools was to teach religion and morality as found in the Bible. [Find out more.] Some people say that teaching the Bible in public schools violates "the separation of church and state." But a Christian anarchist doesn't believe in "the separation of church and state."  The Christian anarchist believes in "the abolition of church and state." The entire concept of "public schools" was created by Bible-believing Christians following the Protestant Reformation in order to make sure every citizen could read the Bible. One of the first public school laws in America is known today as "The Old Deluder Satan Act" because it began with these words: It being one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times by keeping them in an unknown tongue, so in these latter times by persuading from the use of tongues, that so that at least the true sense and meaning of the original might be clouded and corrupted...; and to the end that learning may not be buried in the grave of our forefathers, in church and commonwealth.... It is therefore ordered that every township in this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to fifty households shall forthwith appoint one within their town to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write and read, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or masters of such children, or by the inhabitants in general.... "The Old Deluder Satan Act," Massachusetts, 1647 The 1636 rules of Harvard declared: Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17.3) and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom, let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of Him (Prov. 2, 3). Every one shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein That's our Program. Read the Bible twice a day. Get a Harvard education like Samuel Adams. The 1690 Connecticut law declared: This [legislature] observing that... there are many persons unable to read the English tongue and thereby incapable to read the holy Word of God or the good laws of this colony... it is ordered that all parents and masters shall cause their respective children and servants, as they are capable, to be taught to read distinctly the English tongue. In a non-archist society, parents have freedom to send their children to schools that reflect the religion and morality that parents believe will make their children successful. Secular Archists have banned the Bible and the religion and morality of Christ from public schools. No surprise there. The Bible is anti-archist. Christ was and is a threat to "the Establishment." Secular Archists have even banned everything that even reminds us of our Biblical heritage. You went to a school where the Declaration of Independence was banned. Not as an archaic, irrelevant historical artifact, but as truth. The U.S. Federal Government prohibits a school teacher in a government-run school from teaching students that the Declaration of Independence really is true. that there really is a God, and His existence is a "self-evident truth" that our rights really are the product of the intelligent design of our Creator           (not a gift from the government) that all Americans really are obligated to conform their lives to           "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" that one day our actions really must pass judgment with           "the Supreme Judge of the world" that all Americans should have "a firm reliance on           the Protection of Divine Providence." that Americans have a duty -- not just a right           -- to abolish any government           that becomes a tyranny. That's what America's Birth Certificate -- the Declaration of Independence -- says. None of these things can be taught as truth in a school controlled by the government of the United States. They can only be taught as irrelevant historical artifacts from a generation that is supposedly less literate and less reasonable than we are today. You have been systematically deprived of the three things that every single person who signed the Constitution would say are a necessary part of a basic American education. These three things are specifically mentioned in America's Organic Law. But you were never taught that America's Organic Law consists of the most fundamental charters of America's government. Now that you know what the "Organic Law" is, you still don't know what fundamental documents it contains. Article III of one of them says this: Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent . . . . The Organic Law of America not only recognizes our dependence on and duty towards God, but specifies where we should learn about our Creator (religion), the rights with which He has endowed us, and our duties toward Him and our fellow man (morality). Today, our schools and government are "secular" (atheistic) and confiscating property from others without their consent -- armed robbery -- is the heart and soul of our vast "entitlement" social programs. You were cheated out of an education which began with "Thou shalt not steal" and "Thou shalt not kill." The Christian Religion and Christian morality were to be taught in public schools. Even though Justice Douglas concurred in Engel v. Vitale, the case which removed Christianity from public schools in the early 1960's, he was honest enough to admit that Religion was once deemed to be a function of the public school system. Justice Douglas then quoted the Article above. Then he proceeded to ignore the law he swore to uphold, and removed "religion and morality" from public schools. Soon after that, knowledge was removed from public schools, because when some kids have knowledge, that hurts the "self-esteem" of those who don't. Away with grades, away with knowledge! America's youth no longer score #1 on international tests. The average teenager in 1776 knew more about what it means to be a great American, a great Christian, and a great Human Being than you do. Transport the average teenager from 1776 to our time and that teenager could figure out how to use your iPhone, your TV remote control, and drive your SUV in a matter of days, but it would take you months, maybe years, to learn as much about geography, morality, history, religion, political science, virtue, and develop the habits of character which the average American possessed in 1776. Most of today's Americans under the age of 50 are functionally illiterate. Reading the Bible is the first step in our year-long program to impose a colonial American education on you. If you already know how to read and write, the Internet now makes it possible for you to experience the same childhood education that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock experienced. Their education made it inevitable that they would abolish the government -- a government which they described as a "tyranny." In his Farewell Address, Washington reminded the nation: Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion, and Morality are indispensable supports.—In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. —The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them.—A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity.—Let it simply be asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion.—Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure—reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.— Religion is a public, not just a private matter. You can't be a good American citizen if you ignore Christianity. Atheism is contrary to reason.  Sam Adams said, [N]either the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. His cousin, John Adams, said: [W]e have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. . . . Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. [I]t is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue. Sam Adams wrote to his cousin John: Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age, by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, of inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity. . . and, in subordination to these great principles, the love of their country. . . . In short, of leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system. 1790 Letter to John Adams, who wrote back: "You and I agree." Four Letters: Being an Interesting Correspondence Between Those Eminently Distinguished Characters, John Adams, Late President of the United States; and Samuel Adams, Late Governor of Massachusetts. On the Important Subject of Government (Boston: Adams and Rhoades, 1802) pp. 9-10 This is exactly what our year-long Coaching Program will do for you. You can compensate for what the federal government denied you as a little boy or girl by enrolling in the year-long program.

Enroll Now Our Guarantee If you complete our one-year coaching program,  you will experience the most profound, beneficial, and lasting personal transformation of your entire life, or we will DOUBLE your money back People ask, "Double? Is that a trick?" Nobody in the coaching industry offers a money-back guarantee, much less a double your money back guarantee. How is that guarantee possible? Our coaching program is sponsored by a non-profit organization called  “Vine & Fig Tree.”  (Scroll down to read more about that organization.)  We've never had anyone ask for their money back, nor for double their money back. But we figure that offering that jaw-dropping guarantee will motivate people to investigate our program a little more. In short, our guarantee is a marketing gimmick. But it's totally sincere. We genuinely believe that if you complete our coaching program, you'll love it, but if not, we will have planted seeds in your brain that will eventually bring a harvest. Maybe not in one year, but eventually. If you don't see the harvest after 365 days, ask for your money back. Ask for double your money back. It's worth it to our organization. It's why we're here. Other coaching program graduates make tax-deductible donations to help us pay off our double-your-money-back guarantee because our graduates believe that eventually the program will pay off. If you're not satisfied after one year, eventually, you'll be back. If you don't like our double-your-money-back guarantee, you can still get started with our program for free. Put away your credit card. Click here to get your first coaching assignment.

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Healing Our World

In addition to the Bible, we're going to read an excellent book on how Christian Anarchism can be made practical in our "modern" world. The book is called Healing Our World in an Age of Aggression. It could just as easily have been entitled, Healing Our World in an Age of Archism. It makes a practical application of Christ's teaching: Luke 10:25-29 25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? Here is a summary of the book's contents (or skip to the Vine & Fig Tree Vision): Chapter 1: The Good Neighbor Policy In Summary As children, we learned that if no one hits first, no fight is possible. Therefore, refraining from “first-strike” force, theft, or fraud, is the first step in creating peace. The second step is compensating others for any damage that we do. These two steps, honoring our neighbor’s choice and righting our wrongs, constitute the Good Neighbor Policy or the practice of nonaggression. Peace and prosperity are only possible when we are Good Neighbors. We can abandon the Good Neighbor Policy without even realizing it when directed to do so by an authority figure (archist). When we take from our neighbors what they won’t voluntarily give — at gunpoint, if necessary — we call it theft. When majorities take from minorities what they won’t voluntarily give — at gunpoint, if necessary — we call it taxation. Perhaps we don’t have peace in the world because we’ve abandoned the Good Neighbor Policy without even realizing it. Chapter 2: Wealth Is Unlimited! In Summary Wealth consists of goods and services. Money is only a claim check on existing wealth. (What is money?) Using resources in new and more productive ways creates wealth. Since creativity is unbounded, so is wealth. Countries that practice the Good Neighbor Policy create more wealth than those that don’t. The poverty of ancient times was largely due to violations of the Good Neighbor Policy, especially aggression by governments. The poor are harmed most by aggression and prosper most under the Good Neighbor Policy. The United States is the wealthiest country on earth because it practiced the Good Neighbor Policy for the longest time. By studying U.S. history, we can learn how a country can create great wealth and how it can lose that wealth by abandoning the Good Neighbor Policy. Chapter 3: Destroying Jobs In Summary In the marketplace ecosystem (also known as the free market), people with different skills find their job niche, just as different species find their niche in the environment. The marketplace is self-regulation and usually functions quite well without our interference. Attempts to correct marketplace imperfections with aggression do far more harm than good by destroying the jobs through which wealth is created. Immigrants to the United States in the 1800s overcame prejudice by offering employers a greater share of the jointly created wealth. Young Americans sometimes use the same technique to get that all-important first job. Almost everyone is able to create some wealth, so everyone can find a starting niche. As expertise improves, so do job opportunities. Wage controls intended to help disadvantaged people backfire by destroying their jobs. Instead of low wages, they end up with no wages at all! Because poverty is caused by lack of wages, rather than low wages, wage controls increase its incidence, especially for blacks and other disadvantaged groups. The marketplace ecosystem slowly but surely dissolves prejudice by rewarding with higher profits those employers who hire workers solely according to their productivity. After the Civil War, white landowners tried to pay blacks “slave wages.” Because the marketplace penalized such employers, many paid blacks more than they otherwise would. Prejudice was slowly but surely eroded by this natural process. Chapter 4: Eliminating Small Businesses In Summary Self-employment provides another option for employees who are dissatisfied with their working conditions. Businesses that please their customers are rewarded by profit. Those that don’t please their customers suffer loss. Licensing laws stop entrepreneurs -- at gunpoint, if necessary -- from providing service to willing customers. Many licensing requirements have nothing to do with safety, because they are intended to keep the disadvantaged from competing with established workers. The poor have a difficult time climbing the Ladder of Affluence because wage controls keep them from being hired and licensing laws keep them from establishing their own businesses. Most people who get a foothold on the Ladder of Affluence are able to climb it. Indeed, someone on the lowest rung is just as likely to advance to the top as to stay at the bottom. Licensing laws impoverish all of us because the cost of enforcing them, lobbying for them, and supporting those who are forbidden to create wealth greatly shrinks the Wealth Pie. We get less than we otherwise would, even if our Piece is larger than that of our neighbors. Most poverty today is caused by licensing laws that inhibit the creation of wealth. Getting a business license, for example, takes hours in Hong Kong, weeks in New York City, and years in India. The gap between rich and poor is wider in nations with the most regulation. The damage done by licensing laws can be reversed. Every time we retire one regulator, we create more than 150 private sector jobs! Chapter 5: Harming Our Health In Summary Licensing laws designed to protect consumers actually cause harm. The number of service providers goes down, and prices go up. People either do without the service or try to provide it themselves. Consequently, states with stricter licensing laws for electricians have more accidental electrocutions; states with the most requirements for optometrists have more blindness; states with the most restrictive licensing for dentists have poorer oral hygiene. Likewise, licensing for medical doctors creates physician shortage and overwork, as well as higher prices. Innovation, especially in nutrition and alternative specialties, is compromised both by licensing and by use of taxes for funding research. Our nation’s health suffers as a result. The higher income that practitioners gain from licensing laws is more than offset when those unable to afford the higher prices demand tax-supported care. Certification provides a better way to insure quality while honoring the choice of each consumer (e.g., electrical equipment certification by Underwriters Laboratories [UL]). Chapter 6: Protecting Ourselves to Death In Summary If a loved one were dying, we’d never snatch lifesaving drugs from their grasp. Yet, we unwittingly do just that with FDA “consumer protection” regulation. The FDA’s mandate to approve only drugs that are completely safe and effective can be fulfilled only by approving no drugs at all. Because the FDA is unfairly blamed when drugs affect some people adversely, it drags out the approval process. Consequently, drug development time and cost has increased five-fold since the early 1960s without any improvement in either efficacy or safety. We pay five times as much for drugs as we should! The true cost, however, is measured in lives, as tens of thousands of people die waiting for the FDA to approve breakthrough drugs. The FDA limits the information that drug companies can share with doctors and consumers. Consequently, 10,000-100,000 Americans died needlessly from heart disease each year be­cause aspirin makers couldn’t advertise aspirin’s role in prevention; 25,000 children were born with preventable deformities because vitamin sellers weren’t permitted to advertise folic acid’s protective effects. The biggest cost of regulation, however, is the stifling of innova­tion that could transform life-threatening diseases (e.g., infec­tion) into a mild inconvenience. Innovation lowers the cost of health care dramatically. In the 10 years after its introduction, ulcer medicine slashed the cost of treatment from a $28,000 surgery to $140, a savings of 99.5%! When certification replaces aggressive regulations, prices drop, safety improves, and innovation thrives. More treatments be­come available, lessening the chances that quackery will prevail. Chapter 7: Creating Monopolies That Control Us In Summary We create the Pyramid of Power with successive layers of aggression-through-government. Each layer of aggression gives us less choice and higher prices. The first layer outlaws some goods and services; the second layer outlaws all but a single service provider to create a monopoly. The third layer of aggression forces us to subsidize the monopoly and the fourth layer forces us to use it. Rockefeller gained 90% of the oil refining market with innovations and low prices. The marketplace ecosystem made it impossible for him to raise prices and exploit consumers. However, the aggression of exclusive licensing allowed him to stop some of his strongest competitors. Bill Gates, like Rockefeller, gave consumers quality products at low prices. His competitors complained to the U.S. Justice Department instead of wooing their customers back with better service. Bell Telephone enjoyed a monopoly for many years because its patents gave it an exclusive monopoly. When the patents expired, Bell’s competitors brought phone service to the masses. When Bell regained its monopoly through exclusive licensing, the rate of phone installations plummeted. Deregulation returns control to the consumer. Service providers compete with each other to provide the highest quality, lowest cost service. Everyone wins! Chapter 8: Destroying the Environment - Audio In Summary Third-layer aggression forces us to pay subsidies, usually to exclusive monopolies created by second-layer aggression. Subsidizing these monopolies, usually government services, increases costs, encourages waste, discourages conservation, and destroys the environment. Federal and state lands, which cover over 40% of the United States, are maintained through subsidies. The natural process of homesteading is stopped -- at gunpoint, if necessary. Because the bureaucrats who supervise government lands do not profit by caring for them, special interest groups, such as loggers and ranchers are allowed to abuse them. When loggers and ranchers are allowed to own the forests and ranges, however, they take better care of the land. Similarly, when bureaucrats control our parks, they upset the ecological balance as they did in Yellowstone. Some states even subsidized bounties to kill hawks and other predators. Private parks, like Sea Lion Caves and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, do a better job of protecting wildlife. When Ravenna Park was under private ownership, the giant Douglas firs were protected. A few years after the city took over the park, the beautiful trees were all cut down for cordwood. Since people protect the environment when they own a piece of it, privatizing our parks would ensure better care. When we end the subsidies that make parks and government monopolies possible, we get better service for lower cost. Privatizing government-owned services gives us more for less. Privatizing government-owned lands might even retire the national debt, while protecting our ecological heritage. Chapter 9: Banking on Aggression In Summary One example of fourth-layer aggression is the Federal Reserve, an exclusive, subsidized monopoly on currency issue. We are forced to use the Fed’s currency “for all debts, public and private.” When banks lend, they expand the money supply, causing inflation. When banks slow lending, the creation of money slows too, causing deflation. By manipulating the money supply, banks can control a nation’s economy. For example, the Second Bank of the United States, a precursor of the Fed, tried to create a depression when President Andrew Jackson refused to renew its charter. The Federal Reserve is subsidized invisibly by devaluing the currency through expansion of the money supply. Between 1933 and 2000, this “inflation tax” was more than 90% of all newly created wealth. People without property, such as the poor and those on fixed incomes, pay most of the inflation tax. At current rates, the inflation tax on retirees will cost them half of their purchasing power over the next 20 years. In essence, the inflation tax redistributes wealth from the poor to the rich. The Federal Reserve is supposed to protect us from booms and busts. However, highly regulated banking systems, like the Fed, have eight times as many crises as banking systems free from aggression. In the past, “free” banks expanded the money supply carefully since they, not the taxpayers, were obligated to make up any shortfalls. Consequently, prices were more stable as money and wealth creation proceeded at approximately the same rate. The marketplace is reacting to the inflation tax by creating alter­native currencies based on precious metals or work hours. Chapter 10: Learning Lessons Our Schools Can’t Teach In Summary The education monopoly is an example of fourth-layer aggression: a subsidized, exclusive monopoly that we are forced to use. Even private and home schools must abide by rules set by the school licensing boards. In the early days of the United States, when most education was private and voluntary, Americans were among the most literate nations in the world. Modern public schooling, however, has failed our children. Costs are twice that of private schools and test scores are lower. Drugs and violence are more prevalent in public schools as well. If schoolchildren rebel when forced into the one-size-fits all educational mold, they are given potent psychotropic drugs to quiet them. These drugs often have severe side effects, including violent behavior, in children. Black and minority children suffer the most in public schools. Consequently, parents will often go to great extremes, such as cutting back on groceries, to give them a private education. Private schools are better integrated than public ones, both in the classroom and in the lunch room. Public school teachers and members of the U.S. Congress send their children to private schools more frequently than the rest of the American public. Public schools are not legally obligated to teach our children. Private institutions, like Sylvan Learning Centers and Hope Academy, however, guarantee to teach students up to five times faster than public schools! A fully privatized educational system would teach our children better for less than half the cost in an environment that was safer and more integrated. Indeed, with Internet, educational cable TV, and advertiser-sponsored programs, even children who didn’t study could hardly help learning the basics! Chapter 11: Springing the Poverty Trap In Summary Poverty is caused by unemployment, which usually results from minimum wage and licensing laws. By trying to alleviate poverty with tax-supported welfare, we tempt the disadvantaged to accept an aid check instead of a pay check. Welfare breaks up the family by encouraging multiple illegitimate births and discouraging marriage. By the time young mothers realize that welfare is a dead-end, they are caught in the poverty trap. Entry level jobs don’t pay enough to support her many children, but while she is on welfare, no progress is possible. When welfare recipients are required to do community work, more than half get a job and get off the dole. In just four years, welfare reform in 1996 slashed black child poverty to the lowest levels ever seen. While tax-supported charity doesn’t help the poor, private charitable groups have been incredibly effective in helping the home less, the addicted, the criminal, and the illiterate. The most successful private programs accept little or no tax support. Indeed, their existence is often threatened by regulations imposed by bureaucrats. Even Mother Teresa’s helpers were put out of business in New York! An entire mutual aid network that once provided a social safety net for low- and middle-income Americans, survived both World War I and the Great Depression. Regulations, however, destroyed mutual aid. The human spirit is so generous that the time and money contributed by Americans exceeds the entire poverty budgets of federal, state, and local governments. Without the aggression-through-government that makes people poor, befriending leadership and charitable donations would be more than sufficient to care for the truly needy. Chapter 12: By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them In Summary Freedom from aggression-through-government is the most important determinant of a country’s rate of wealth creation. Since modern government can only collect the money it spends through taxation or inflation, government programs start with aggression. Consequently, as government spending increases, wealth creation decreases. When Sweden increased government spending from 31% to 66% for its social safely net, wealth creation plummeted from 4.9% annually to a mere 0.6%. Slowing wealth creation hurts the poor the most. Consequently, aggression-through-government is the poor’s greatest enemy. Most poverty in the world today is caused by aggression-through-government. When nations cut back on government spending, they automatically cut back on this aggression. The three countries that have slashed government spending in recent years (Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom) increased their wealth creation dramatically. Without aggression, we’d create wealth 3 to 18 times faster! When we recognize that we live in a win-win world, we no longer need to choose between our welfare and that of others, between what’s good for the individual and what’s good for society. Instead, we recognize that our mutual welfare rises and falls together. Chapter 13: The Other Piece of the Puzzle In Summary Righting our wrongs is the second part of the Good Neighbor Policy. TIT FOR TAT is a well-known social strategy that acts very much like the Good Neighbor Policy. In both computer tournaments and diverse situations of strife, it has proven effective in convincing aggressors to become peaceful and cooperative. In addition to our own experience as children when we re-created the peace by righting our wrongs, TIT FOR TAT’s record suggests that letting aggressors experience the harm that they have done is the best way to teach them to be Good Neighbors. When aggressors make their victims whole again, they experience the harm they have done to others. Restitution through productive work is the most successful rehabilitation known. Restitution also deters crime better than imprisonment. Japan has an extensive program of restitution and is the only industrialized nation in the world that has seen a consistent decrease in crime since World War II. Full restitution, which would include all the costs of trial and apprehension, would end the aggression of taxation that currently subsidizes these functions. When in doubt, erring on the side of forgiveness and contrition is less likely to provoke further aggression. When we used licensing laws and regulations in an attempt to stop individual aggressors, we slashed our wealth creation. When we substitute restitution for these laws, we will deter individual aggressors more effectively and increase wealth creation once again. Corporate irresponsibility would lessen if aggressors were required to right their wrongs. Forgiveness could only come from victims, not from an arbitrary limitation of liability by government. Chapter 14: The Pollution Solution In Summary Righting our wrongs is the ideal pollution solution. Restoring the person or property of another is so costly that it acts as an effective deterrent. Government officials are actually penalized if they try to protect the environment. In contrast, if they cause great harm, sovereign immunity protects them from personal liability. The Love Canal disaster happened because the Niagara Falls school board disturbed buried chemicals after repeated pleas by Hooker Chemical not to do so. When the chemicals caused skin irritation, Hooker was blamed, but the school board was not. Taxpayers had to pick up the bill for relocating residents. Hooker had to clean up the mess that the school board had made. When nuclear testing damaged rangeland and more than doubled childhood thyroid cancer in Utah, courts denied compensation to the victims because the U.S. government has sovereign immunity. The U.S. military is the greatest polluter in the world, but it rarely cleans up its mess. Sovereign immunity protects it from legal action. DDT saved millions of lives by nearly eradicating malaria in the Third World. The DDT ban killed millions of people in developing countries when malaria returned. Asbestos removal in schools, as ordered by the EPA, endangered our children by increasing airborne concentrations of this carcinogen for years afterward. All polluters, public or private, should compensate their victims. Restitution, by deterring pollution, will contribute greatly to environmental protection. Chapter 15: Dealing in Death In Summary Although people who rape, steal, and murder are clearly aggressors, people who use alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs peacefully in their own homes are not. Alcohol Prohibition failed to stop people from drinking. Organized crime thrived and the murder rate increased two and one-half times. The War on Drugs kills more than 10 times as many people as the drugs themselves by increasing homicides from turf wars, AIDS from shared needles, and accidental overdose caused by contaminated drug supplies. Because our police spend more time arresting pot smokers than thieves, murderers, rapists, and child molesters, crimes of violence increase when drug enforcement does. Mandatory minimum sentences for drug-related crimes have forced overcrowded prisons to release violent felons to prey on the innocent. The desperately ill are condemned to unnecessary pain and premature death because some drugs with documented medicinal uses are prohibited. Marijuana’s cousin, industrial hemp, may be the real target in the War on Drugs. In Amsterdam, where marijuana can be legally purchased, heroin addiction is dropping and pushers have left the schools. Cocaine and marijuana use by Dutch teenagers is only 10-40% of U.S. rates, depending upon age group. Even if everyone in the United States took drugs once they were re-legalized, the death toll would still be less than we have today from the War on Drugs. Chapter 16: Policing Aggression In Summary Private police cost half as much as public police, yet deliver up to seven times faster response times. Crime drops as much as 95% because of their preventive procedures. Private police have no sovereign immunity, are not funded by taxation, and focus on aggressors. Because they themselves are Good Neighbors, they are less likely than government agents to create tragedies like Waco and Ruby Ridge. Guns save 400 times more people through self-defense than they accidentally kill. In Orlando, Florida, rape plummeted 87% when women were encouraged to train with firearms. Homicides dropped 30% and rampage shootings fell 78% when states permitted concealed weapons. In Britain and Australia, gun crime increased 40-300% when firearms were banned. Under U.S. civil asset forfeiture laws, property can be confiscated on suspicion alone. American juries have the right to judge the law as well as the guilt or innocence of the defendant. However, judges often tell juries otherwise. If police stopped chasing pot smokers and speeders, they could spend four times as much time apprehending violent criminals. Private highways have one-third fewer accidents than the U.S. interstates. The poor benefit the most from private justice. Chapter 17: Healing Our World Is Inevitable In Summary The Good Neighbor Policy, honoring our neighbor’s choice and righting our wrongs, creates harmony and abundance in our city, state, and nation. Becoming Good Neighbors promotes our own individual health and happiness as well. Suspiciousness, hostility, cynicism, and blame -- Type A or aggressor behavior -- alter our body’s biochemistry, predispos­ing us to cardiovascular disease. Similarly, Type C or victim behavior -- frustration, helplessness, giving up, and resignation -- predispose us to cancer. Much of our society is caught in a destructive A/C loop, alter­nately becoming victims and aggressors through the guns of government. Type S or self-actualized people focus on changing themselves rather than others. They are neither victims nor aggressors and reject aggression-through-government. Type S individuals live longer than Type A or Type C individuals. The thoughts that precede aggression estrange us from the rest of humankind, sabotaging the happiness that we hope to gain from our actions. Even those who gain money and power through the guns of government eventually recognize that aggression sabotages their own health and happiness and reject it. Because our health and happiness depend on our becoming Good Neighbors, we will all abandon aggression one day. Healing our world is virtually inevitable. Chapter 18: Beacon to the World In Summary Excessive government regulations and licensing laws greatly limit wealth creation, causing widespread poverty and suffering. Some 50-80% of the people in Third World nations create their wealth illegally. Legally owning a home in Third World countries is virtually impossible. For example, in Peru, obtaining legal title to land requires 728 steps. Consequently, most houses in poor nations are built without clear or formal title. The land and homes of the world’s poor are worth almost $10 trillion, but because they don’t have legal title, they cannot access this equity. Most U.S. foreign aid is squandered by Third World despots. Rather than using the money to help the poor or build their economies, they use it to increase their own wealth, power, and prestige. Because bureaucratically managed loan funds are usually wasted, borrowing leaves only crushing debt in Third World Nations. High tariffs and import restrictions in developed countries keep poor nations from becoming self-sufficient. Trade barriers designed to protect jobs in developed countries backfire to destroy jobs instead. The only poor nations that have grown rich in the past few decades are those that have lowered tariffs and increased their trading volume. To become wealthy, poor nations need only follow the example of Hong Kong and become Good Neighbors. By getting rid of stifling regulations, formalizing the property of the poor, and ending tariffs and import restrictions, they can go from abject poverty to First World affluence in a few short generations. Chapter 19: Is Communism Really Dead? In Summary Communism has killed more than 100 million people in the twentieth century, all in the name of compassion. Many people view communism as obsolete, even though it is openly practiced in a variety of countries, including China. Communism is simply aggression-through-government taken to its ultimate extreme. The communist vision is the whole of humankind sharing like one happy family -- at gunpoint, if necessary. Because communists use aggression as their means, poverty results. People who can’t keep the wealth they create don’t create much. Shortages of food and medicine were so common in the Soviet Union that life expectancy there declined while it rose in other nations. Communism encourages resentment, hate, and animosity. Psychological development is hindered. The environment is destroyed. The Communist Manifesto of 1848 outlines a 10-step plan for converting the developed nations to socialist states. The United States and other Western nations have implemented at least 8 of these 10 planks. The real communist threat stems from our belief that aggression serves us. Our military might cannot protect us from ourselves. When we recognize that love must precede sharing, we realize that honoring our neighbor’s choice is the first step to implementing the ideals of communism without its horrors. Chapter 20: Making Our Nation Safe and Secure In Summary The Communist threat posed by the Soviet Union was a consequence of our domestic aggression (taxation and banking regula­tions) rippling outward into the world. By similar means, Washington D.C. has helped to empower virtually every threat to U.S. national security in the past 50 years, including terrorists Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. U.S. intervention in the Third World often causes a great deal of death and suffering. The result: animosity toward Americans. Because of biased reporting, Americans are often unaware of what is done in their name. New findings suggest that both Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks were provoked by aggressive U.S. foreign policy. Because the military-industrial complex profits from war, it encourages conflict. As President Eisenhower warned us, we need to be vigilant. If the 9/11 terrorists wanted to destroy our freedoms, we are playing right into their hands with the USA Patriot Act, secret military tribunals, and torture of suspects. By ending foreign aid and the drug war, we can deplete the cash flow to would-be dictators and terrorists. Trade turns enemies into allies by increasing the wealth of both nations (e.g., Japan). Trade with every nation may be the best deterrent of all! Privatizing defense can be an effective, economical, and innova­tive alternative to a tax-supported military. Good Neighbors make few enemies. In the rare instances when defense becomes necessary, their superior wealth-creating abilities give them a strategic advantage over their adversaries. Chapter 21: A New Age or a New World Order? In Summary A world government would resemble the governments of today and thus would most likely be an instrument of aggression. The things that we want global government to do (prevent overpopulation, protect endangered species, prevent global warming, create a single global currency, and end war) are best accomplished by simply becoming Good Neighbors. As countries grow in wealth, their birthrate declines. Because the Good Neighbor Policy enhances wealth creation, it both destroys poverty and controls population naturally. Private ownership of the world’s fauna promotes biodiversity and protection of endangered species on land or in the sea much better than governmental bans on hunting or habitat destruction. Global temperature and its measurement are so complex that we can’t be sure that warming is occurring or what might cause it. Even if global warming becomes a problem, restitution would reduce the use of harmful products. Multiple currencies provide an important check on inflation by central banks. A single, global currency would give the people who control it more power than any ruling elite has ever known. World government is more likely to be a forced union than a voluntary one. Consequently, its consummation will more closely approximate rape than love. The Good Neighbor Policy is more effective in creating a world without borders than global government is. Indeed, there are no borders without aggression to erect and maintain them. Chapter 22: How to Get There from Here In Summary Although the world seems to be moving away from the Good Neighbor Policy, appearances can be deceiving. In 1750, no one thought nations could survive without monarchs. During the next two centuries, however, much of Europe began dethroning or disempowered their royalty. Europe wanted the prosperity of the United States and so voluntarily imitated it. Catalyzing change can sometimes be as easy as setting an example. By ending aggression-through-government, we can create a world of universal harmony and abundance. Nothing will reform government as quickly as making elected and appointed officials personally liable for any damage that they do. When we are tempted to use taxation or regulation to temporarily relieve suffering caused by aggression, let us remember the devastating impact -- long lines and rationing -- that subsidies have on health care. Trying to solve the problems caused by aggression with more aggression is a cure worse than the disease. A number of organizations actively promote the Good Neighbor Policy, usually under the label “libertarian,” from the word “liberty,” as in free from aggression-through-government. You can use the research done by these organizations to increase your understanding of the Good Neighbor Policy or become actively involved in its promotion. You are the best judge of how your talents can help create a non-aggressive world. No matter how small you think your contribution is, it most likely will have a major impact. Each link in the chain is vital. Please accept my gratitude for helping make our world a better place!

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What difference does it make? By accepting this violence, either out of indifference and apathy or a calculation that you can get "a piece of the action," you diminish your own humanity. You consign yourself with the goats rather than with the sheep.

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Click to Listen

Q.4: What are you promoting in place of "archism?"

A: The Marketing Dept. has told us to call it "Liberty Under God."

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Liberty Under God
vs.
“Security” Under Archists

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A Christian worldview: zero-aggression policy rely on persuasion, not force, coercion, and threats of violence [learn more]	The Archist: initiates force against others
"turn the other cheek," not vengeance; (1 Corinthians 6:7) I'd rather be a martyr than a revolutionary [more]	engages in punitive retaliatory vengeance
respects private property,  no theft [more]	does not respect others' rights to private property
"Let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40) Free Market Institutions of Systematic Reconciliation/Restitution [more]	creates disorder, chaos, instability, riots -- violent overthrow of competing archists;
The peaceful "Vine & Fig Tree" society "The Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" [more]	promotes the religion of Secular Humanism: "every man his own god." monarchy, oligarchy, socialism, fascism, "the dictatorship of the proletariat," "crony capitalism," democracy, republicanism, etc. "The State is god walking on the earth" -- Georg W.F. Hegel

In a nutshell:

Liberty Under God

Liberty Under God is the philosophy that made America
the most prosperous and most admired nation in history.
America is now bankrupt and despised even by former admirers
because we have abandoned Liberty Under God
in favor of "Security Under Man"

By "Liberty" I mean

Freedom from Archists  (burglars, "the Red Coats," etc.)

By "Under God" I do not mean

the god of Osama bin Ladin.

1. I mean the God of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and America's Founding Fathers:

   • James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution," would say that Osama bin Ladin's religion is a "false religion." (Happily, not all Muslims share Osama's religion.)
   • I mean the True Religion.
2. I mean Jesus Christ
   • I apply Christianity
     • personally, pledging my allegiance to Jesus.
     • nationally, acknowledging that America was once a Christian nation;
     • globally, working to fulfill Christ's "Great Commission" to make every nation a Christian nation.

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Q.5: 'Wait a minute . . . by speaking of "Christian Anarchism," aren't you violating the "Separation of Church and State?"'

The Christian Anarchist opposes the modern myth of "separation of church and state." The real meaning of the modern phrase is "the separation of God and State." It no longer refers to "churches," or as Madison often called them, "ecclesiastical bodies." Any government that will not acknowledge itself to be under God is a government that believes it is God. The Christian Anarchist believes in the abolition of church and state. Holy Trinity Church v. United States (1892) The United States Supreme Court officially recognizes that America is a Christian nation. The Constitution is NOT a "Secular Document" Promote Christianity The Reason Why America was Founded The "Organic Law" - America's Founding Charters Public schools should teach that Christianity is necessary for good government and the happiness of mankind The Northwest Ordinance A foundational charter of American government that recognizes that religion and morality are essential for good government and the happiness of mankind "The Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" The Bible, the Laws of God The Ten Commandments "Liberty Under God" Means "Theocracy" A Nation "Under God" This phrase pervades American history; it was not invented in the 1950's "A Firm Reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence" It is government's duty "to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God . . . the great Lord and Ruler of Nations" The Christian Roots of Education in America Why America's Leaders Should be Christians The National Duty to Not Be "Secular" Religion and Traditional Values: Foundation of a Free Society The Blessings of Liberty they come from God Christianity and Liberty America, a Christian Nation - Christ, the Root of Our Liberties A City upon a Hill Government-Sponsored Prayer "Founding Presidents Not Christian"?? A response to a columnist who repeats the "urban legend" that America's Founding Fathers were not Christian The First Amendment The Establishment Clause Free Exercise of Religion & The First Amendment "The Separation of Church and State" A look at the prevailing myth "True Religion" Not all religions are equal "In God We Trust" Piety and Virtue Missouri Farm Bureau - Religious Life America the Beautiful This beautiful anthem is actually a national prayer Micah's Vine & Fig Tree Vision: The American Dream Creationism William Wilberforce Worldview: Your Philosophy of Life W.W.J.D.? Giving Thanks to God A National Tradition Religion & Morality vs. Socialism The "Works of Mercy" Jill Lepore and the Myth of "the Separation of Church and State" Fundamentalism Western Civilization is Christian Civilization False Religions False Religions Statism - The Worship of "the State" Politics as Salvation The State as Messiah The Cult of the Omnipotent State The State as Priest -- The Myth of "Pluralism" America's New religion? The Supreme Court's War on God Were the Founding Fathers "Deists," "Freethinkers," and "Infidels?" No "Freedom of Religion" for Mormons

The modern idea of "Separation of Church and State" is an evil lie. While the modern Supreme Court declares that America is a "secular" nation, for the first 100 years after the Constitution was ratified, the Supreme Court frequently acknowledged that America was a Christian nation. And the more consistently America was Christian, the less archist America was.

On May 2, 1778, George Washington ordered the troops:

The commander-in-chief directs that divine service be performed every Sunday at eleven o'clock in those brigades [in] which there are chaplains; those which have none [are] to attend the places of worship nearest to them. It is expected that officers of all ranks will by their attendance set an example to their men. While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian. The signal instances of providential goodness which we have experienced, and which have now almost crowned our labors with complete success, demand from us in a peculiar manner the warmest returns of gratitude and piety to the Supreme Author of all good.
— George Washington, General Orders, May 2, 1778 The Writings of George Washington, JC Fitzpatrick, ed., Wash. DC: US Gov't Printing Office, 1932, Vol. XI:342-343.

The Delaware Indian Chiefs came to Washington inquiring how they could leave their world of superstition and poverty, and become more like the Americans. On May 12, 1779, George Washington coached them:

You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do every thing they can to assist you in this wise intention.
The Writings of George Washington, JC Fitzpatrick, ed., Wash. DC: US Gov't Printing Office, 1932, Vol 15, p.55.

George Washington to New Hampshire Founding Father Meshech Weare, June 8, 1783:

I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in his holy protection, that he would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the Field, and finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all, to do Justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity, humility and pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristicks of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation.
 a Circular Letter of Farewell to the Continental Army, containing "my final blessing to that Country, in whose service I have spent the prime of my life."
Inscribed on a bronze tablet adjoining the Washington pew in St. Paul's chapel in New York City.

Can we know for sure who is the Divine Author of our blessed Religion? Could it have been Muhammed? On July 9, 1812, President James Madison proclaimed a day of prayer,

to be set apart for the devout purposes of rendering the Sovereign of the Universe and the Benefactor of Mankind the public homage due to His holy attributes; of acknowledging the transgressions which might justly provoke the manifestations of His divine displeasure; of seeking His merciful forgiveness and His assistance in the great duties of repentance and amendment, that He would inspire all nations with a love of justice and of concord and with a reverence for the unerring precept of our holy religion to do to others as they would require that others should do to them.

"Our religion" is Christianity.

If I were elected to Congress I would follow James Madison's advice to vote against any bill which does not promote Christianity, the "true religion." In one of his most famous speeches, Madison, the "father of the Constitution," gave his reasons for opposing proposed legislation:

Because, the policy of the bill is adverse to the diffusion of the light of Christianity. The first wish of those who enjoy this precious gift, ought to be that it may be imparted to the whole race of mankind. Compare the number of those who have as yet received it with the number still remaining under the dominion of false Religions; and how small is the former! Does the policy of the Bill tend to lessen the disproportion? No; it at once discourages those who are strangers to the light of (revelation) from coming into the Region of it; and countenances, by example the nations who continue in darkness, in shutting out those who might convey it to them. Instead of levelling as far as possible, every obstacle to the victorious progress of truth, the Bill with an ignoble and unchristian timidity would circumscribe it, with a wall of defence, against the encroachments of error.

The Disciples were given a "Great Commission":

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and make every nation a Christian nation, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: Matthew 28:18-20

During the first 100 years after the Constitution was ratified, courts -- including the Supreme Court of the United States -- repeated on numerous occasions that America was a Christian nation, including the notable 1892 case of Church of the Holy Trinity vs. United States. Only someone ignorant of the facts or with a secularist agenda would ever say that America was not originally a Christian nation.

But Washington D.C. does not always act consistently with "the Characteristicks of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion" -- to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and to not be like "the kings of the Gentiles." America has never been 100% consistent with "the religion of Jesus Christ." Of all the political parties, I think the precepts of the True Religion are best reflected by the Pledge required of all members of the Libertarian Party:

#1 audio

1. I do not believe in or advocate
   the initiation of force
   as a means of achieving political or social goals.

• no theft -- even if it's called "taxation" or "revenue enhancement."
• no kidnapping -- even if it's called "conscription" or "imprisonment"
• no murder -- even if it's called a "bold foreign policy" or "capital punishment"

Beyond the initiation of force, the religion of Jesus Christ prohibits the return of force:

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2. I do not believe in the return of force -- no retaliatory, punitive vengeance

• Returning Force Against Private Force
  • Love your enemy
  • "Turn the other cheek"
  • be defrauded rather than sue (1 Corinthians 6)
  • Do not return evil for evil; overcome evil with good (Romans 12; more)
• Returning Force Against Government Force
  • Go the Second Mile
  • suffer persecution
  • martyr, no revolutionary
  • Did Jesus Practice "self-defense?" Yes, but not by armed revolution
    • Jesus said, "My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But actually My Kingdom is not from hence."
      John 18:36
• The Myth of "Self-Defense"
  • Christians seek to prevent evil from occurring.
  • There are ways to defend yourself against aggression;
    that is, to prevent an act of aggression from happening.
    • Lock the door
    • Use a shield
    • Run away.
  • But once the act of aggression has taken place
       and you have been aggressed against,
       then initiating a second act of aggression against the aggressor is not "self-defense."
    You're no longer defending yourself,
       you're on the offense;
       you're taking vengeance.
       You're not preventing violence, you're adding to the world's violence.
  • The myth of personal self-defense
  • The myth of "National Defense"
• Reconciliation through repentance, Not Vengeance or "punishment"
  • Goal + Process = repentance and reconciliation
    • Matthew 18:15ff - The Church as Dispute Resolution Organization
  • Competing Free Market Institutions of Systematic, Reconciliation and Restitution
    • Free Market Dispute Resolution Agencies
  • Do not return evil for evil; overcome evil with good (Romans 12; more)
    Do not return force for force, but return incentives to reconcile for force.
  • Archists (in their hearts) will pretend to not be archists (in society).

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3. Private Property - Individualism, not collectivism

• No compulsory redistribution of wealth.
• not socialism
• not fascism
• not crony capitalism
• not democracy
• The "Vine & Fig Tree" society, not the New World Order
• List of ways politicians steal private property
• The rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are also threatened by archists.
• Unregulated private action - the exercise of divine callings using private property -- increases mankind's standard of living more than archists.

#4 audio

4. Order, not chaos/disorder

• "Let all things be done decently and in order"
• throughout society, not just in your home or church
• Liberty is the mother of order; archism is the father of chaos.
• America's Founding Fathers would say America today is chaotic and disordered, even though we have archists which are a thousand times more numerous and more powerful than the "swarms" of archists who plagued America in 1776.
• Archists are the greatest source of disorder and instability in our world today. Examples:
• Education:
  • The Founders insisted that the primary purpose of public education was to teach religion and morality, because order is maintained by religion and morality, not by archism.
  • Archists in Washington D.C. have prohibited local public schools from teaching students that the Declaration of Independence is really true
  • Archists are at war with "our holy religion" and with Christian morality
• Economics:
  • Archists cause economic recessions/depressions, the "boom-bust" of the "business cycle," and economic disorder; compounded by archist confiscation and redistribution of wealth known as "bailouts." Archists are an obstacle to the economic stability and predictability needed for long-term investment.
• International Relations:
  • Archists destabilize and overthrow competing archists on a far greater scale than so-called "anarchists."
    • The government of Iran was overthrown in 1953 by U.S. and British Intelligence, which led to the Iranian Revolution, then U.S. support for Saddam Hussein in his war with Iran..
    • The International Islamic Jihad from Afghanistan to Kosovo to the U.S. was created with American dollars beginning before the Carter Administration to destabilize and overthrow the Soviet Union, including the building of Mosques throughout Eurasia and printing of Korans with Wahabbi notes. "America Made Islam"
    • The CIA in Indonesia, 1965-1967
    • CIA destabilizes Guatemalan government Guatemala in 1954, and other governments in Latin America
  • Would Jesus Celebrate Archist Warmakers' Day?

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5. God's Law, not Man's Law

We have been trained to think of "anarchy" as a situation where every man is his own god. But if Jesus is Lord, then we ought to obey His command not to be "archists." A world without archists is a world of peace, cooperation, harmony, and Free Markets, with everyone dwelling safely under his own "Vine & Fig Tree."

• "The Laws of Nature and of Nature's God"
• Theocracy - but not imposed by archism
• The Christian Religion
• The Religion of Secular Humanism brings genocide

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SERVICE CREATES ORDER, NOT ARCHISTS

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It is not enough to say, with Jesus (Mark 10:42-45), that we should not be "archists." Jesus does more than prohibit us from being like the Gentile kings. He gives us a positive command as well. In the passage where He tells us not to be archists, He commands us to be "servants." The command to be "servants" is the well-spring of social order, not "the government."

Many who hear a proposal to eliminate zillions of "government programs" are rightfully and properly shocked, because they have been trained to feel this is a disregard of important social duties, such as education, care of the poor and elderly, and checking crime. Our criticism of the State is not a disregard of these or any other "civil" functions, but a belief that the State is creating disorder in each area where it intervenes in an attempt to create or maintain these civil functions.

Our goal is to encourage greater personal responsibility for the functions of "civil government" and ensure that these functions are carried out efficiently and humanely.

Social order is neither created nor maintained by the coercive apparatus of "organized government." Social order is not the result of threats and negative sanctions. Social order begins in the Family. Social order never leaves the home to take up residence on Capitol Hill. Decentralized social order beginning at home creates, nurtures, and permeates society, and expands spontaneously. Washington D.C. is a force for disorder.

Abraham our Model

"Civil Government" begins at home; "Patriarchy," not Politics

   • What Needs to be Done

   • How it Can be Accomplished Without "The Government."

   • How To Make Your Home a Community Center

Who Counts the Most Important Things of All?

Not Washington, D.C.

Trusting God rather than the State

"Vengeance is Mine," saith the LORD; so is social order

How Should We Then Live?  

Long-forgotten paths which generate social order

Voluntary Associations

A more potent source for social order than coerced action

Gary North on "social overhead capital"

Significant expenses not always found on the ledger books

America's Founding Fathers recognized this

Statism: The Idolatry of our Age

Religion and Morality, not government agencies

The Founders' vision for America

Obedience in Life

pleases God more than Ritual and Sacrifices in Church

Virtue in a State-free society

Morality, not coercion, creates social order

Morality in a Church-free society

Education must be religious

Ordinary is OK

In an Extraordinary way

"Volunteerism" which is 

• required by law
• paid salaries with taxpayers' dollars

is not "volunteerism."

• Legislating Altruism
• National Service (tna)
• National Service (CATO)
• Public Service, Kennedy Style
• Bovard Blows the Lid Off Clinton's Crown Jewel – AmeriCorps
• AmeriCorps- Salvation through Handholding
• America's history of effective Voluntary Associations 
• What's wrong with national service
• Capitalism Magazine: Volunteerism
• The National Service Illusion James Bovard | The Ripon Society
• AmeriCorps: Working Families Will Pay the Price

Power Corrupts - Archism Poisons Volunteerism

Servile Nation      All working Americans are engaged in acts of service. These acts of service are valuable enough that other people voluntary pay money for them.      All homemakers are engaged in supremely important acts of service to their families.      Liberal elites believe that these acts of service are not of value because they have not been approved by the government. This idea led to Hitler and Mussolini. Where will it lead in the 21st century?

• Public Servants?
• Public servants clocked up 306m air miles last year, Conservatives say | Environment | The Guardian
• Public Servants, My Foot by Charley Reese
• When Public 'Servants' Are Our Masters by Steven Greenhut
• Taxes and the Public Servants - Mises Economics Blog
• Giving Thanks to the Market | The Beacon
• Good Enough for Government Work? Lucky You! | The John Birch Society - Truth, Leadership, Freedom
• BOVARD » Killer Cops Next to DC
• The Myth of Public Service
• Avoid Phony Public Service
• Dont Expect Much From Politics | The Foundation for Economic Education
• Ideas and Consequences: Economic Opportunity Needs A Moral Dimension | The Foundation for Economic Education
• Happy Bureaucrat Week!

• House Passes Mandatory National Service Bill
• Senate votes to triple AmeriCorps, bolster service
• Senate Rubber Stamps National Enslavement Bill

• ECONOMY: Obama's Forced Servitude Agenda Moves Foward
• Building a Solid Political Foundation Through Youth Indoctrination

• Love the State, Serve the State
• "National Service" and Conscription: A Question of Ownership | by William Norman Grigg
• This is the Army, Mrs. Jones!
• Ron Paul, Statement on the Volunteerism and Education Act (H.R. 1388)
• Backwater Report » Churchill, Hitler & Obama and the Centralized State
• Iron Ink - Churchill, Hitler & Obama and the Centralized State
• Obama's Forced Servitude Agenda Moves Foward
• You Belong to Us by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
• cryptogon.com » Archives » H.R. 1388: Obama’s Youth Brigade Conscripts Would Be Prohibited from “Organizing or Engaging in Protests” or Participating in a Variety of Religious Activities
• The Draft-Nappers Are Stirring by William Norman Grigg

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ALERT

• Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - National Slavery or National Service? - March 28th, 2008

G.I.V.E.

• GIVE a Little Bit of Your Service to Me

BOTTOM LINE The world would be a better place without archists. If mankind would make a collective self-conscious rejection of murder and theft, even (especially) murder and theft committed by "the government," repudiate the claims of moral legitimacy made by archists, and cultivate the heart of a “servant” as commanded by Jesus, We would enjoy a higher standard of living Education, literacy, learning, and philosophy (literally, "love of wisdom") would increase There would be less crime There would be less violence There would be less immorality There would be more harmony and peace There would be more glory to God.

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For more on our year-long program, under construction,
see: George Washington Coaching or SamAdamsCoaching.com.
We'll have this program ready by the time you finish this 95-day program.

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Kevin Craig | Vine & Fig Tree

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• Kevin Craig is the Founder of Vine & Fig Tree,        a tax-exempt non-profit educational organization dedicated to        accelerating the fulfillment of the Vine & Fig Tree vision of the Old Testament Prophet Micah. • He runs for U.S. Congress under the theme "Liberty Under God" to get this vision before the public. • Personal coaching is a revenue-generator. About Kevin Craig About the Vine & Fig Tree worldview About the Campaign for "Liberty Under God." About the Coaching programs About Kevin Craig | Became a creationist in high school Got addicted to public policy questions in high school academic debate Represented Orange County, California, in the national Student Congress championships Personally tutored by R. J. Rushdoony, founder of the Chalcedon Foundation. B.A., University of Southern California, Political Science Named Chalcedon Scholar, wrote regular column for Chalcedon Report. Studied law with John Warwick Montgomery at the Simon Greenleaf School of Law. M.A., J.D. Passed the California Bar Exam Denied a license to practice law by the same federal court of appeals that ruled that public school students should not be permitted to say the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Used legal training to form a dozen or so non-profit organizations. Co-director of Isaiah House, recovery home in Santa Ana, Calif., roughly 1988-98. Founder, Editor, Vine & Fig Tree, a non-profit educational ministry. 10,000 volume personal library About Vine & Fig Tree Here is Micah's prophecy Formed in 1979 Lame "Marketing Plan" c.2004 "V&FT 300-Year Plan" c.2005 Need a marketing plan makeover 2014 "Liberty Under God" - A Campaign for Congress Libertarian Party nominee for Congress six times (in California and Missouri) Top congressional vote-getter in last few elections for Missouri Libertarian Party Probably the largest candidate website on the Internet || New Gateway Coaching Programs Sam Adams Coaching Peacemaker Coaching

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Vine & Fig Tree

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• Supporting: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, sobriety
• Opposing: Secularism, Humanism, Anti-Family Sex, Hedonism, Autonomy, Totalitarianism, and Mass Death

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The name "Vine & Fig Tree" comes from the fourth chapter of the prophet Micah, and is set forth here. You've probably heard Micah's words before -- we beat our "swords into plowshares" and everyone dwells safely under their own "Vine & Fig Tree."  America's Founding Fathers were familiar with this vision: "Vine & Fig Tree" is the worldview that made America "the greatest nation on God's green earth."

George Washington's Diaries are available online at the Library of Congress. That website introduces those writings with these words: No theme appears more frequently in the writings of Washington than his love for his land. The diaries are a monument to that concern. In his letters he referred often, as an expression of this devotion and its resulting contentment, to an Old Testament passage. After the Revolution, when he had returned to Mount Vernon, he wrote the Marquis de Lafayette on Feb. 1, 1784: "At length my Dear Marquis I am become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, & under the shadow of my own Vine & my own Fig-tree." This phrase occurs at least 11 times in Washington's letters. "And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree" (2 Kings 18:31). Under My Own Vine and Fig Tree, 1798 Jean Leon Gerome Ferris Virginia Historical Society Lora Robins Collection of Virginia Art Many other American Founders wrote of this ideal. "Vine & Fig Tree" is the original "American Dream." The phrase occurs a number of times in Scripture. These references are visual reminders of the Hebrew word for salvation, which means • peace, • wholeness, • health, • welfare, and • private property free from pirates and princes. When today's Americans hear the word "salvation," they usually think about going to heaven when they die. When the writers of the Bible used the word "salvation," they wanted you to be thinking about dwelling safely under your own Vine & Fig Tree during this life -- much more often than they wanted you to be thinking about what you'll be doing in the afterlife. The best place to see the Vine & Fig Tree ideal is in the book of Micah.

Let's look at Micah's prophecy (on the left) and ask a few questions (on the right):

And it will come about in the last days That the mountain of the House of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains And it will be raised above the hills		Are we in the "last days?" When did this establishment take place?
And the peoples will stream to it. And many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD And to the House of the God of Jacob,		Is Christianity doomed to minority status throughout history? Hasn't Christianity been growing since the first century?
That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For from Zion will go forth the Law Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.		What should be the Christian's attitude toward the Law? Isn't every Word of a "Lord" "Law?"
And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation And never again will they train for war.		Are we commanded to beat our swords into plowshares today? Or do we wait for the Second Coming?
And each of them will sit under his		What about private property?
Vine and under his  fig tree, With no one to make them afraid. For the LORD of hosts has spoken.		What about technology? What about the military? What is it that really brings "security?"
Though all the peoples walk Each in the name of his god, As for us, we will walk In the Name of the LORD our God forever and ever.		What if all the politicians, university professors, TV commentators, newspaper editors, rock stars, CEO's, athletes, authors, and think-tanks repudiate the Vine & Fig Tree vision and tell you not to believe it?
In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.		Should we strive to be on top, or to help those on the bottom? Is God on the side of those who have accomplished much by their own power and initiative, or is He on the side of those who are willing to be used by God to accomplish much to His Glory?

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Seven Themes in Micah's Vine & Fig Tree Prophecy

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