Culture of Conscience

Conscience is a topic not often written of in this era as well as did John Gill write of it in chapter 22 of 'Practical Divinity'. In Latin 'science' meant 'knowledge'. Conscience is thus a science, or a state of mind with knowledge of itself able to judge its own actions. Today though conscience is made with God's laws and instructions for right behavior criteria preponderantly absent in the minds of many Americans under the influence of the unconscionable broadcast media and to a certain extent, government. Each have removed God as the individual to whom their conscience is normalized and reset it just unto themselves and secular opinion. The effect is notable.

It is a scientifically established fact that by 27 weeks a fetus can recognize words and even syllables. A newborn that has often heard a particular word while gestating can recognize and react to it. The unborn can even learn to recognize syllables. A newborn that did not experience a specific word while unborn will be as unresponsive as an atheist adult is toward claims of Christian conscience when the word is said. With more than 50 billion abortions served since Rowe v. Wade, the conscience of the U.S.A. has taken a beating from spiritless thugs.

Gill describes elements, relationships and forms of human conscience in this chapter within a section on internal forms of worship and the relationship with God that illuminate the important role conscience plays in the mind and life of Christian. Christian conscience is free from sin knowing that Jesus Christ has freed them from what they could never have liberated themselves. It is an important distinction not made plain enough even in churches today sometimes where forgiveness of sin seems to be an abstract sort of event accomplished metaphysically rather than actually.

There is a very large difference between the conscience of an individual with personal egoism and atheism setting the parameters than there is for than for those reborn in the blood of the Lord. Christians of good conscience with moral criteria reset to those of the Lord Jesus Christ are free indeed. When the Christian fails to live up to those standards it is to those standards that he seeks to return, while the atheist and egoist have no such direction as they swim blind to the light in the darkness waiting for sharks to take them under. Instead moving in the dark pool of Lord Vader (only joking) phenomenally adjusting his/her/its subjective psychologically attenuated heart of darkness toward the light-hearted frivolity of secular sensualist satisfaction he/he/it moves from next gestaltic drive-fulfillment to another in a succession of theories that evolve like unique snowflakes falling from space-time in showers of for-themselves echoing through Kabuki that is space-time evolving doom they should pray for the merciful spirit of the Lord. The wrong choice has profound impact on tax and foreign policies for-others as well as the eternal spiritual condition of the lost-with-others-destined-to-hell.

Internal Forms of Religion

John Gill's book 'Practical Divinity' is in its own way brilliant. The twenty-two chapter leading section on internal forms of religion as distinct from the following section on external forms such as occur at regular church services works to develop those important, vital characteristics of the thought of a Christian living in-the-world. I will write a little here of the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.

Kierkegaard was a poet initially rather than a philosopher. Though he was Christian and heavily drawn to the subject he was not an ordained priest or minister with a church or parish. For quite a time he was tempted to take such a position and even negotiated a little with church officials about it. In reading his works it is easy to see why some have regarded Kierkegaard as an early existentialist philosopher because of his attitude toward salvation and the Christian life of his day while in the world. He wrote with a poet's insight of how the Christian should stand in complete phenomenal relationship to God without concern for else. The detachment from temporality is worthy of Sartre's objective review of all experience as subjective.

Kierkegaard does write of Abraham's situation of being brought to sacrifice Isaac yet he is necessarily regarded as a Christian philosopher instead of as a Christian theologian. Theologians tend to be far more scripturally oriented directly writing of the meaning of particular scripture and considering it with modal hermeneutical methods. There were scholastic theologians such as Aquinas and Duns Scotus in the late Middle Ages and brilliant early theologians like St. Augustine so heavily influenced by neoPlatonism and exposure to other philosophical schools as to be able to write comparatively well-informed of subjective schools of thought and develop in response a concentration on scripture informed of empirical issues of space-time such as had been raised in his day in order to write well enough about it in reference to scripture.

Sometimes the internal forms of religion and worship and set aside in Christian ecclesiastics and the outward, ritual forms are structured even to disregard the inward forms. That may occur in Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant sects.

On the other hand, atheist and agnostic sects of government and media may work to annihilate Christian conscience and inward forms of thought altogether. Removing Christian conscience and internal forms of religion may occur concurrently with a rise of raving dissociationist psychology with associationist truth value theory philosophically. What better way to outrun the void of Christian conscience than with fractured thought and social ethics governing meta-sociological phenomenalism?

Internal forms of religious experience are the foundation for Christian experience under God with the Lord's saving grace for all of the elect. While it may be nice to utter some Latin phrases, here the rising beautiful songs and catch a whiff the the sweet smelling incense wafting around the altar the love of God is unbound to temples of any sort other than making itself one with the human heart and mind. It is in the internal forms of worship that one has a direct experience of God.

Seven Precepts of Noah

The Seven Precepts of Noah- described by John Gill in his book 'Practical Divinity' remind one of the Decalogue. One can see that abortion was regarded as murder and homosexuality definite sin. These precepts are probably still valid categorizing sin correctly. It is somewhat ironic that people violating two of the seven precepts in such quantity are also the greatest contributors per capita to global warming and potential mass lowland flooding. Global warming sea level rising 80 feet by the year 2100 may be an adjustment for the kind of people that violating Noah's precepts.

If the U.S. Supreme Court lacked fundamental integrity and honesty, or perhaps adequate intellect to realize what marriage is, one might wonder what alien force corrupted them or broke up social and political cohesiveness as if dissolving the strong force binding protons together. Original sin conditioned mankind to hate the good and prefer evil. In marriage two become one flesh. The union of two genomes become one new genome-a human infant.

Human genomes are compatible only male and female to conjugate and become one new genome. That is the mystery of marriage. Society sanctified it. It has a legacy from Adam and Eve and symbolizes the marriage of the elect to God through the Lord; individual human souls share the spirit of God. Humans and God also have different 'genomes' (except maybe for the majority members of the U.S. Supreme Court). Humans are saved through the grace of the Lord and Jesus Christ so they are bonded into God.

If the class genomes cannot theoretically combine to become one new genome then marriage does not occur. The court doesn't know that not all words are abstract or purely symbolic-some words are representational. Homosexuals cannot marry, people and monkeys cannot marry, hippopotamus and humans cannot marry, dogs and cats and donkeys and people cannot marry. The court doesn't get it or perhaps believe they've power of God to define reality for-themselves. The U.S. Supreme Court showed it does not care about truth, and has the power to put over the big lie.

The High Court failed to comprehend marriage and promulgated a fabrication, a fiction, a dissimulation, a falsehood, an error, a lie, a deception upon the public with force de majeure as if truth is only what they say it is.

Gill write in Practical Divinity that; "this conjugal union, male and female, become one, even one flesh, (Gen. 2:24; Matthew 19:6) which union is therefore very near and strict, and, indeed, indissoluble but by death, excepting in one case, unfaithfulness in the one to the other, by adultery or fornication, (Rom. 7:2; Matthew 5:32) and this state is to be entered into with mutual consent; indeed, with the consent of all parties who have a concern in it; with the consent of parents and guardians, under whose care single persons may be; and especially with their own consent, for none are to be forced into it against their wills; no, not by their superiors; it must be their own voluntary act and deed: and being thus entered into, it is a very honourable state (Gen. 1:27; Mal. 2:15)."

Here are the precepts of Noah-of ancient lineage. It is easy to see that the High Court has again sided with wickedness.

Quoting Gill from page 450; "for it is asked, “who is Ger Toshab; that is, a proselyte allowed to dwell in Israel? (the answer is) Whoever takes upon him, in the presence of three neighbours, that he will not commit idolatry.” It follows, “R. Meir, and the wise men say, whoever takes upon him the seven precepts which the sons of Noah obliged themselves to observe.” Others say, “these do not come into the general rule of such a proselyte. Who then is one? He is a proselyte who eats what dies of itself; (or) who takes upon him to keep all the commandments in the law, except that which forbids the eating of things which die of themselves;” 331 but the usual account of such a proselyte is, that he agrees to observe the seven precepts enjoined the sons of Noah; 332 six of which were given to Adam, the first man, and the seventh was added to them, and given to Noah, and are as follow: 333 a. Concerning idolatry; by this a son of Noah was forbid to worship the sun, moon, and stars, and images of any sort; nor might he erect a statue, nor plant a grove, nor make any image. b. Concerning blaspheming the name of God. Such an one might not blaspheme, neither the proper name of God, Jehovah; nor any of his surnames, titles, and epithets. c. Concerning shedding of blood, or murder, the breach of which command he was guilty of, if he slew one, though an embryo in his mother’s womb; and one who pursued another, when he could have escaped from him with the loss of one of his members, &c. d. Concerning uncleanness, or impure copulations; of which there were six sorts forbidden a son of Noah; as, with an own mother, with a father’s wife (or stepmother), with another man’s wife, with his sister by the mother’s side, with a male, or with mankind, and with a beast. e. Concerning rapine, or robbery and theft; of which such were guilty, whether they robbed a Gentile or an Israelite, or stole money, or men, or suppressed the wages of an hireling; and the like. f. Concerning the member of a living creature, taken from it while alive, and eating it: this is the command, it is said, which was to Noah, and his sons, and of which the Jews interpret Genesis 9:4. g. Concerning judgments or punishments to be inflicted on those who broke the above laws: this command obliged them to regard the directions, judgment, and sentence of the judges appointed to see the said laws put into execution, and to punish delinquents."

Wesley Clark also Trimmed for McCain Statement in 2008

General Wesley Clarke said in 2008 something to the effect that getting shot down didn't make one a hero. I suppose that military training might not benefit from leading soldiers to believe that being taken captive is heroic. Clarke was criticized by the media of course and Trump is experiencing the same.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/29/clark.mccain/

Soldiers in war often have ordinary heroism that doesn't win any medals. Units may experience 50% casualties and people keep on fighting as part of the job. It is tough to imagine the ordinary courage of W.W.I soldiers in trenches ordered to go over the top into poison gas, artillery fire and machine guns in futility to a large extent. Some won medals for exceptional behavior yet just being their and willing oneself to become a target with a high chance for death required military discipline.

McCain's aircraft on the Forrestal was hit with a missile from another aircraft and a fire resulted that killed 134 sailors. McCain transferred to another boat with good combat missions and was relatively inexperienced. He was a bomber pilot rather than a fighter pilot. He volunteered without much experience for a mission to Hanoi. His aircraft was hit by A.A. fire and he broke both legs and an arm ejecting from the plane.

Senator McCain's record in Vietnam has been considered at length. Here is one study- http://www.pythiapress.com/wartales/McCain-Shootdown.htm

http://www.a4skyhawk.org/2d/skyhawk-casualties.htm  McCain's official shoot down record

McCain graduated 894th out of 899 midshipmen at the naval Academy. His father was senior officer in the Vietnam war for a time. McCain had experienced some trouble yet was enthusiastic about getting in some combat flight missions.

Ordinary valor common to many-one should read about the New York national guard in the civil war- is such that one could say that all were heroes for being there and not running off to Canada. War heroes though are individuals that usually accomplish some sort of combat exceptional performance. It is difficult to imagine that p.o.w.s qualify in that regard though the experience is one of the worst circumstances a soldier might be in. The bridge over the River Kwai dramatized some of the problems, and of course there was the Batan Death March and such. There was even a Catholic Priest posthumously awarded a medal of honor for carrying a wounded soldier until he died in the Korean War.

Plainly the Vietnam War was one of a few that the United States did not win outright. The left opposed the war and others and in the U.S.A. losing has become a kind of virtue-especially that of Alpha males. Donald Trump was a very symbolic winner for capitalism during the late stages of the cold war. In a way he is the last surviving Reagan era super-hero in politics. In this era of national decay it is challenging for anyone to say what they think or run counter to corporate political correctness without being deleted. Trump has the position where he actually can say what he thinks to a limited extent. The left would love an apology I would think.

The lesson to learn is that war is expensive and ought to be avoided by right-thinking people.

Obomba-Kerry Nuke Deal; Patience to Actualize Ideal Iranian Nuke Weapons Development

A college professor may reject a rough draft as too polemical and in need of slow careful revision. The Obama administration has taken that position on Iran's somewhat hasty and crude race to complete nuclear weapons development counseling patience; everything besides the fissile material needs to be perfected. It is o.k. to add the secret ingredient later-in a decade or so. When justice, decency and good sense are surrounded by hoary political faggots stimulating flames of unreasoning atheist dystopia bizarre international agreements may be accomplished propaganda's sake. Iran seems to have received the ideal nuclear research and development deal that is Foggy Bottom's best.

 One-hundred billion dollars and end to most international sanctions, new jet purchases, caviar and four-star day dreams come true with years of safety to improve ballistic missile technology until stylish designer missiles can be purchased legally in a few years.

The Iranian nuclear weapons package is consistent with the basic Obama 'charge it' doctrine for economic policy extended to international affairs. Even so it seems part of an incoherent Middle East policy setting both sides against the middle and ends attacking themselves that is interesting in the way that James Holmes' national publicity intervention was interesting; macabre, tragic and surreal. That is the fruit of bureaucratic policy accretions without an overall plan.

An end of weapons sales embargoes in fewer than ten years? Where is the fully stocked refrigerator and beach front condo?  The Obama addendum seems to want to give Iran the best opportunity to develop its economy and nuclear delivery packages and miniaturize warheads before resuming the production of weapons grade uranium in a decade or so. Thoughtful, patient nuclear weapons development producing faster, cheaper, better weapons are better than hasty, rush jobs with large bombs  sent up like a fat boy in Enola Gay to dump a load.

The time required to make nuclear weapons that are optimally useful for war is substantially greater than just making a large bomb that can be delivered with a large easy to shoot down aircraft. Iranian scientists will be able to research and develop all of the peripheral nuclear weapons delivery packages required in safety with good financing in the decade ahead without concern of sanctions or danger from hordes of 50k HE kamikaze drones flying in the dead of night to light up their command and control shelters. A do not disturb sign has been provided for Iranian weapons tech research.

It is important to realize that the U.S.A. has a terrible record with Iran since 1953 when it put in the Shah and SAVAK followed before western liberals supported the Khomeini Revolution to depose the Shah putting in Muslim theocrats. Iran experienced a generation traumatized by the Iran-Iraq war and became a sponsor of Shiite and Palestinian terrorism in the Middle East. 

 Freeing up billions to flow to Hezbollah to attack Israel and fund continuing Hamas terrorism seems apropos for the complete Obama makeover of the Middle East with a five-ring circus of terrorist training, profusion of high explosives and more conventional weapons, volunteer terror states and support for Shia and Sunni conflicts. Still the left believe the Obama-Iran deal that might win a second Nobel Prize, Swedish biscuits, and gravy.

Perhaps the proximal reason for U.S. enhancement of Iranian nuclear weapons development and economic security for the west is the immediate goal of defrapping a perceived immanent nuclear threat that probably could not have vaporized D.C. for ten or fifteen years anyway. U.S. security against stealth weapons delivery is not as good as its prideful bureaucrats would say it is, and hidden trembling may have been the primary stimulus for kicking the nuke can down the road to the next administration along with public debt.

Iran's ability to fund counter-terrorist operations against ISIS will increase with all of the extra funding and freedom from concern for U.S. military snuffing of incipient nuclear weapons faggots. Iran will have time to develop anti-aircraft laser defense octopus(sies) sending invisible pulses of light from hidden portable laser sources through networks of underground tubes to surface mirror-'guns' to zap jets like mosquitoes from the sky. It may be more challenging to take out Iranian air defenses in a decade. Time is on their side.

 U.S. leadership has been largely daft in Iraq and Syria since the Iraq war victory. President Obama developed a support both sides and none consistently policy with no entry or exit strategy. The Iran deal is a cash and carry Obama-Kerry ploy of paying the pr rent today and leaving the kowabunga bills for the next to use the time share.

It is possible that constructive engagement with Iran will allow pizza delivery and trust to build.  Iran may become a great stabilizing agent able to neutralize Saudi and U.A.E. royal influences repressing millions of Sunni poor and middle class persons of interest that would like to revolt and create a democratic caliphate with liberty and justice for Muslims after a Jacobean reaction. In the absence of intelligent political design, anything can develop.

It seems in some ways as if U.S. administrations since President Reagan lacked any ability to creatively construct new relationships with directions that transcend the old dialectical engagements of opposites. That sort of traditional Marxist failure of skill in innovating paradigm shifts was overcome by Reagan and Gorbachev to end the cold war, and that is the sort of approach that should have been used with Iran and the nuclear proliferation problem. The Iranian-Obama nuke deals seems instead to set Iran on a new ideal weapons development research foundation with patience providing a better, more realistic quality nuclear program instead of a quick and dirty, ineffective big bomb or a few. 

New Horizon to Pluto Proplits Public With New Space Data

N.A.S.A.'s New Horizon mission to Pluto did better than my song from 1991 named 'Beneath the Stars'. I wrote the lyrics hoping to get it out in time for D-Day commemoration in 1992. A hired band named New Image performed it with some rather crashing symbolism. I learned from the experience that songs made for hire may not have the kind of work in them one would want.

The lyrics ran something like (it's was registered at the copyright office in 1991 and I haven't memorized it); 'the world seems someone dreams, its running out of place, every year it snows and no one knows that's a mace behind your face,  drivin in to the wall, into the shadow of nights that brawl, peace must be a profit of outer space, electromagnetic space stations put up in the catapult's haste'

Trying to get too many things done in one mission (song) can make it tough for people to understand I guess. Too many metaphors.

I had hoped that driving into the shadow of the Berlin Wall (that was gone), and in the shadow of cold war brawls might evolve to a peaceful society with electro-magnetic mass drivers doing the heavy lifting for Earth and extra-planetary bodies to orbit in order to get space colonization going better. It's been more than a half century since the last human set foot on another world, and I am not happy with that at all.

Yet it seems like corporate is happy and content with a failed manned space program. Peace is not the common thing on Earth these days. Perennial middle east war with administration efforts to expand that into Ukraine a little have been dampened on the gloom axis with the recent Iran nuclear treaty that may pass congress. Iran is needed to help defeat ISIS and they probably need better surveillance drones and so forth. It is a complex situation since President Obama seems to hate President Assad of Syria enough to keep that war going for years with so many dying or being injured. Meanwhile there is no electro-magnetic catapult nor better ways of building on the moon or other planets with tech that can be pre-assembled without humans present. If easy to build shelters pre-existed the arrival of astronauts it could make things easier and cheaper.

N.A.S.A. did at least gets its mission to photograph Pluto. It certainly is a big clump of stuff left over from early formation of the solar system.

Type of Work:	Music
Registration Number / Date:	PAu001566526 / 1991-10-22
Title:	Beneath the stars.
Copyright Claimant:	Gary C. Gibson
Date of Creation:	1991
Authorship on Application:	lyrics: Gary C. Gibson, 1954-; music: Broadway Music (employer for hire)
Names:	Gibson, Gary C., 1954-
	Broadway Music

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/images/index.html

image credit N.A.S.A.

How Christians Should Regard Multi-verse Theory

There is no need for Christians to be cosmologically illiterate. If God created a way to pack an infinite number of Universes into finite space one would think that more probable than packing few Universes into infinite space.  God has infinite power and thought, creativity and goodness. If he actualizes an infinity of mansions inside his house metaphorically speaking, is any particular mansion of less value or significance? 

If Augustine were writing today it isn't likely that he would be unaware of contemporary scientific cosmological data and theory, and neither should contemporary Christians view scripture with antiquarian glass; God and the inspired scripture of the Bible is well able to stand in light of modern science.

One might develop several models to explain the way the Universe was created. It is easy to harmonize Biblical and evolutionary accounts. WMAP's images of the way the Universe looked as a plasma sphere at 400,00 years after creation seem to have direction bands called by some 'the axis of evil'. In theory there should be no oriented bands. It is as if they were remnant fossils of two lips that spoke thee word to begin. As of 2014 there was no accounting for them.

If the Lord in his infinite nature has infinite Universes; multi-verses with infinite interests of the Lord and every possible form rather than just a single verse,  is that in some way inconsistent with what one might think about the character of God? 

If God amidst his multiplex of places has one universe region with sentients ready for cultivation and salvation from their unregenerate natural state how better than to bring a proto-evangelium to them through a chosen people that would introduce a line of development amidst society bringing them to a knowledge of God and relationship with him as they fit to receive?

If Adam and Eve were created ex-temporally from the multi-verse in a different and perhaps more spiritual condition and then after their fall downloaded into the world of man as a kind of sourdough starter to evolve the species to a spiritual saving relationship through the Son of God, in the kingdom of God that transcends and surpasses the excellence of a multi-verse is that more than modern man could bear to learn?

John Gill wrote on page 146 of Practical Divinity; "How any come by true contentment of mind.
2a. It is not natural to man; man is naturally a discontented creature, especially since the fall; no, it was discontent which was the cause of that; our first parents not being content with the state of happiness in which they were, abode not in it, but fell from it; such was their ambition, prompted to it by the tempter, that they affected to be as God; or however, perceiving there was a class of creatures superior to them, more wise and knowing, they could not be content with their present case and circumstances; but wanted to be upon an equality with them; and being told, that by eating the forbidden fruit they would attain to it, took and eat of it, and thus by coveting an evil covetousness, lost the happiness which they had; hence it is most truly said of man, that he is, “at his best estate, altogether vanity” (Ps. 39:5).

2b. It is not to be found in a natural or unregenerate man; such a man is always uneasy and disquieted; as restless as the troubled sea, and the waves thereof; let him be in pursuit of what he may, he never arrives to it to satisfaction; is it wisdom and knowledge he seeks after, as his first parents did? he gets no content; but finds, that in much wisdom is much grief and vexation of spirit; and that, by an increase of knowledge sorrow is increased. Is it pleasure in the gratification of the senses? these are soon palled with it, and new pleasures are wanting; and these, when had, like the former, issue in bitter reflections and remorse of conscience.

 Is it worldly honour, fame, and applause of men? these are fickle, transitory things, not to be depended on, and seldom last long; and amidst them there is something that mars the pride and ambition of men; as Mordecai’s not bowing to Haman made the latter uneasy and discontented, notwithstanding the profusion of honours conferred upon him. Or is it wealth and riches? these are very uncertain and unsatisfying things, as has been observed. There is nothing can satisfy the mind of man but God himself; and if a man lives without God in the world, let him have what he will, he lives a discontented life; none but a godly man is a contented man; there may be content with godliness, but without it there is none."

As mankind's knowledge stands on the horizon of a multi-verse he still has the problem of worldliness ironically. With a vast range of variable physical 'constants' possible amidst a multi-verse, he has difficulty in imagining a Supreme Being who can create the entire multi-verse energy field and differentiate it from monism to infinite pluralism and even have an interest in each individual soul that arises to exist from energy processing through particle-wave quanta stars and star dust forms to atoms aggregating over time as planets and sentient life.