Tag Archives: freedom

Inclusiveness and Freedom

July 8, 2010

Watching the news it becomes obvious that the subject of inclusiveness has become a political football; different factions vying for the right to define it.
Both major political parties are competing for the title of being the most inclusive.

Unfortunately for my fellow citizens, and depending on whether you see a glass as half-empty or half-full, both parties are either doing a fine job of achieving the politically correct form of the term, or failing with equal excellence if one actually understands English and the proper meaning of inclusiveness.

Definition of Inclusiveness

Dictionary.com defines the term as, “including the stated limit; including everything concerned.”

The definition includes a limit; everything within and everything concerned. Being inclusive requires boundaries or it is a useless concept.

Related Searches

The miracle of search engines offers these major searches common to the term ‘inclusiveness’ on Dictionary.com:

  • Diversity – synonymous with ‘miscellaneous’
  • Liberalism – synonymous with ‘indulgent or broad’
  • Integrity – synonymous with ‘unity’

Every Umbrella has Defined Limits

That a significant number of our citizens believe these three concepts to be synonymous with ‘inclusiveness’ is a problem. Here are the definitions for each; you be the judge.

  • Diversity: the state or fact of being different; unlikeness
  • Liberalism: philosophy advocating the freedom of the individual
  • Integrity: adherence to principles; state of being whole or undimished

Only one of these terms actually lends itself well when you consider the definition of inclusiveness, and that is ‘integrity’. Diversity concentrates on what is different, inclusiveness on what is alike. Limitless liberalism is closer to anarchy than connectedness.

My freedom ends…

From an early age my mother taught me that, “My freedom ends where yours begins.” This is a lesson in getting along with each other. Taken to its extreme, one who has total liberal freedom may murder at random thus taking away all freedom of even life itself from his or her victims. Any expansion of one individual’s freedom will cause an equal contraction of the freedom of another.

The concept of society is that of distinguishing where the margins of my freedom and yours intersect. A nation of laws then establishes statutes so each citizen enjoys the greatest possible individual freedom while protecting the freedoms of his neighbor. The topic of freedom of speech also requires societies to determine where the margins of personal freedom should be.

Tolerance or Hypocrisy?

Tolerance is similar to inclusiveness in that it requires establishing limits in order to be meaningful. Inclusive of what? Tolerant of what? To include everything or tolerate everything defines anarchy. There is no order, no guaranteed freedoms, and no society.

Being tolerant only to the extent that you require others to allow you to exercise your freedom without limits is hardly an example of being tolerant; it is an illustration of hypocrisy. Taking away my freedom so that you may enjoy yours is not tolerance. Margins and limits must be established.

A Rose

Also a Rose?

Labels and Faces

Quit looking at the labels and faces of social and political debate; they lie. ***   Instead look at the impact on freedoms. Our government is charged with providing for the common good. Not everyone will agree on what the common good is, but recognize the consequences of social and legislative changes before you stand up for them.

Action and Reaction

In physics we learn that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The same is true of freedom.

Imagine a bucket filled to the brim of water. The bucket represents freedom. If you want more freedom you add more water. By adding more of your water you cause other water to flow out over the top of the bucket where it will be lost.

There is no Limitless Capacity

Inclusiveness isn’t limitless. Freedom isn’t limitless. It is not possible to provide everything to everybody. This isn’t a political opinion, it’s just a simple fact.

Limit Freedom?

Only by establishing limits on freedom will we retain the freedoms we presently enjoy. It doesn’t matter to me which political party you affiliate with, I’m just trying to help folks visualize the issues we face realistically.

I’m a horse trainer. One of my jobs is to help horse owners understand how horses think so they can be more effective in creating great relationships with them. If an owner thinks a horse should be other than what it is they will always be in conflict with their  horse. A horse will always be a horse.

Societies of humans have already experimented with every possible ideology. Search history, including the Bible, and you will discover that just as horses have not changed, neither has mankind.

Every freedom you enjoy will by both practice and definition limit the freedom of someone else. Choose your representatives wisely and remember to look at how each proposed change will affect all our freedoms.

*** This is a blackberry, not a rose.

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The need to prune…

June 29, 2010

The art of pruning involves removing what is perfectly healthy and setting it aside to allow what remains to become stronger or to restore to health what is ailing.

I say ‘art’ because pruning is not an exact science. One must make a correct assessment of the state of the whole before beginning to snip and discard. Of equal, or greater, importance is the inspired vision of how pruning will lead to the ultimate goal.

Vision

Discernment

The ability to correctly assess and generate vision is a combination of both gift and experience. As with any artistic endeavor, natural talents combine with study and hard work to both create vision and be able to share it with others.

Painters must discern the line where one stroke of their brush ends and another begins. Horse trainers must discern the moment where pressure of leg or rein is effectively applied or removed.

Judges must discern where the rights of one citizen end and another’s begin. Christians must discern where to apply a message of “an eye for an eye” and when it is best to “turn the other cheek.”

Contradiction

To the uneducated or unenlightened two things may appear to contradict one another when in fact they do not. This is why Oswald Chambers so rightly cautions us to “not judge what we do not understand.”

Is it a contradiction that a rider should put pressure on the reins to stop their horse and they should put pressure on the reins to continue forward with more effort? (Collection)

In scripture and in most any other endeavor that requires higher level instruction there will exist an apparent conflict of basic concepts to those without the necessary education or enlightenment that provides discernment.

Instant vs. Long-Term Reward

Pruning a tree may reduce today’s beauty in favor of a more vigorous long-term result. Culling the least productive from a herd of horses or cattle enhances the ultimate health and profitability of the herd.

In organizations, whether for profit or not, it is sometimes necessary to ‘cull’ the least productive in order to achieve the mission of the enterprise. Your best sales person may cause more disruption in the ranks that they are truly worth. The very popular figurehead of your company or church may actually be a rotten apple behind the façade seen by the public.

Government

One of the greatest challenges faced by citizens of the United States in 2010 is culling those in our government who may provide us with benefit today but will ultimately lead to our economic and societal demise.

If the electorate does not correctly prune now, the ‘tree of freedom and prosperity’ will eventually die. The disease of ‘judging what is not understood’ has sapped the energy of our nation. Elected officials make laws about an economy they do not understand.

Judges set boundaries that determine who enjoys freedom; improperly removing freedoms from one in order to give it to another. Our government is no longer able to correctly identify what our picture looks like today and set a vision for the future that may be shared with all.

Time to Prune

It is time to prune officials who either inhibit or prevent a return to health for our ailing ‘tree.’ It is time to accept that short term rewards must be sacrificed for long-term survival. Only wisdom and vision can prune correctly.

Will this tree live?

Our government is in the process of systematically plucking every new leaf that tries to unfurl in the sun and lopping off each foundational limb of our national tree.
What to cut? When to cut? Be very, very careful into whose hands you place the axe. Once too much has been sacrificed, death is assured – only the time of it remains in question.

Source of Wisdom

Our founding fathers knew the source of wisdom that never fails. If you are worried that I’m heading to the Bible, you’re right. If you don’t want to go there with me, take the exit now.

“If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” (Matthew 5:30)

The Source of Wisdom

In all things, wisdom, judgment, vision, and discernment are given as gifts by the Holy Spirit and nurtured and hammered into sturdy tools through education and experience.

One purpose of this verse is to teach us to prune. It goes against our natural intellect to discard what is healthy at the moment. Our natural gifts and vision won’t get us out of the problem in our nation today. Only the gifts and vision of our new nature as heirs to the kingdom can properly guide the hands on the pruning axe.

Fellowship

Both our nation and faith were founded on fellowship; “We the people” and the brotherhood of Jesus Christ.  The gifts of the Bible and the Constitution provide sufficient instruction for wise and visionary people as they prepare to prune.

Let’s work together.

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One reason we’re broke…

June 11, 2010

Today’s post will be a bit out of the ordinary. Inspiration and blessing are foundations of this blog. Today, however, is a combination of observation and, well, I’ll be blunt… venting.

Both the world and the USA is broke – at least on paper. Any bankruptcy judge would look at the ratio of assets to debt and sign the papers. Why?

Bankruptcy of Reason

There is a difference between supporting each other in fellowship and requiring all to underwrite the selfish ambitions and bids for celebrity of the few.

In decades and centuries past risky ventures had underwriters; those who were willing to take a risk in return for a potential reward. The risk was taken voluntarily. If the venture ended badly, well, they failed.

Today anyone can set out on a venture of their own choosing and require that the rest of us make an investment in their pursuit of fame or fortune.

The risks of selfish behaviors have been mitigated by the unwilling participation of the many.

New York Times photo

Abby Sunderland

Fine, so this California family seems to have a rite of passage: each child needs to sail around the world as a sixteen year old. Abby’s older brother did and now she is making the attempt. If that family thinks this is a good idea I take no issue with that; it’s none of my business.

Oh, but wait. Abby’s emergency beacon began transmitting yesterday from somewhere in the Indian Ocean. So far an airbus was leased by a Maritime Authority to search for her. A “‘naval” ship has been reported by Fox News to be rerouting two and a half-days off it’s present course to go to her aid.

Off to the rescue

A kid from her neighborhood, Shawn Guzman, 15, said he didn’t think her attempt to sail around the world was reckless. “If it’s her dream to sail, and she wants to follow her dream, that’s courageous. ”

Courageous or not, this wasn’t the dream of the taxpayers of France, Australia, and soon the United States. One little girl’s quest for celebrity and family achievement now involves millions of taxpayers and millions of dollars.

The World Awaits

Well, this may be the fulfillment of her dream. Satellite news crews flood the area outside the family home. Every news engine is generating stories about the poor little girl lost at sea.

Each of us is free to take a personal risk. When did my choice to climb a mountain, ride in the basket of a balloon, or said around the world become the responsibility of the world? Rescue is only rescue when the person in danger didn’t accept the risk willingly. In the case of Abby Sunderland, as with so many others, the risk is being shared by us all.

I hope Abby returns safely to her family. Let’s hope the next venture she sets out on won’t make us all unwilling investors.

My mother taught me that my freedom ends where yours begins.

That’s it. My venting is over. We went off course went we lost the ability to identify the limits of freedom.

Thanks, Mom.  Have a good day.

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Why is spring cleaning so hard?

May 4, 2010

Have you ever tackled a spring cleaning project then just kinda walked away, waiting for either more inspiration or more energy? I finally started cleaning my tack room yesterday. Cleaning the dirt away is easy, but the stuff continues to be a problem for me.

The floor is now clean, the buckets full of dirty polo wraps and quilts have been emptied and the horse laundry is now at least within spitting distance of the washing machine.

Weighed Down By Old Stuff

All the horses in the barn got worked just before the rain hit. Fine, but the tack room is a disaster area this morning. I knew when I walked away yesterday that something was up; I hate leaving a project like that unfinished. Yet, I had flat quit.

From Horse Trainer to Horse Owner

I’ve been clearing out excessive stuff from my tack room(s) for years. We went from three large tack rooms in Arizona to two in our first barn in Texas. Our place now has one. I’m not a horse trainer anymore, just a backyard horse owner with history.

Every time we go through all the stuff we think, “This is too good to give away,” or, “We’ll never be able to sell this for what it is worth.” Then there’s the ever popular, “We made need this someday.”

It has been more than ten years. We’re not going to need those amazing silver halters that saw duty at World and National Champion shows, or all the paraphernalia a trainer needs to have just the right bit for a specific lesson, or sizing options to fit nearly any horse. All I need most days is a saddle, snaffle bit, rope halter, and long lead rope.

Denial, Hoarding and Poor Stewardship

So, what’s the real problem? Denial. My days as a horse trainer are over. I didn’t accept it, so kept hanging on, packing the stuff away again and again. Yesterday I knew the gig was up.

This morning I recognize what the gig really was.

There was still cleaning to do in my spiritual tack room. It was just too hard to get rid of the stuff that served me so well in the past. So I packed it away just in case it might be needed once again.

New Beginnings Mean Letting Go of the Old

All the stuff in my tack room may be valuable to someone, but not to me. I was either guilty of hoarding or a lack of faith. It doesn’t matter which. By letting go of all the stuff I don’t need any more I am also letting go of all the guilt of not using or properly caring for it.

Freedom!

The old training stuff has been hanging on me like a weight. By throwing it off (or out), the weight of these past few years will be removed and I will be freer to concentrate on what is truly important in my life today.

Why is spring cleaning so hard? In many cases because we are of two minds, one wants to hang on to all the old ‘good’ stuff – the other says get it off my shoulders!

Now that I’ve resolved that conflict, I expect it will be easier to finish the job right this time.

I’ll let you know.

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What’s your freedom worth?

March 30, 2010

History is replete with examples of people who traded their freedom for captivity that came with a promise. The first story of bartering freedom is part of the very first story… Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Evidence that we continue on this same destructive path continues to mount even as the final piece of Health Care Reform is signed in Washington today.

Who Do You Believe?

Who Do You Believe?

Sometimes a Sense of Entitlement Closes the Sale

Eve bought the argument made by the serpent, “Why shouldn’t you be able to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge? Will you accept your status as second-class citizen?” Everyone knows how that story ended. The gate of the Garden barely missed bruising Adam and Eve’s leaf-covered behinds as it closed behind them forever. They sold their freedom for something to which they were not entitled. Oops. Satan lied, they died.

Fear and Laziness Convince Some to Sign the Deal

The captive Israelites in Egypt were elated as Moses led them out of service to Pharaoh and into freedom. Yet, no sooner did the waters of the Red Sea settle quietly over the Egyptian army than they started to whine, “ Who’s going to feed us? “

They knew the answer, they just weren’t sure they liked the terms of the deal. Accepting freedom includes responsibility and faith. They wanted to go back to Egypt to resume life as poorly treated slaves. Not a great life, but at least they knew where to go to work each day and that a bowl of watery soup would be delivered.

What happened to that generation of Israelites that turned its back on freedom? They all died in the desert. Someone lied, they died.

Citizens of the United States Are Selling Their Freedom

You have all heard that unless we study history we are doomed to repeat it. So true. Millions of American citizens are selling their freedom to the government in return for the promise of equality. Eve tried it. Didn’t work out so well there… Others are willing to sell their freedom because they are afraid of being responsible for themselves. They would rather have the guarantee of a watery bowl of gruel than the possibility of the promised land.

A Promise of Freedom You Can Believe

During this Holy Week there is yet one more example of people who sold their freedom because they did not understand the terms of the deal before them.
Jesus rode triumphant into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, hailed as a conquering hero to the Jews living under Roman occupation. The citizens believed Jesus came as a military king, one who would defeat the powerful and deliver them into eternal freedom.

The True Symbol of Freedom

The True Symbol of Freedom

Only five days later Jesus died; a failed imposter in the minds of those who called for His crucifixion. The people of the day were looking for someone to do the work for them, to fix everything, to return them to favored status.

The choice they made was to trade their freedom in hope that someone would make everything nice for them now. When the Garden gate closed, when the waters of the Red Sea stilled, and when sundown came on Good Friday, the foolish had given away their options for freedom without so much as a scuffle. They all died, remorseful of the deal they signed.

Who Do You Believe?

The lie each of these trusted was that a promise of a little today was worth the price of their freedom forever. When you give your freedom away you can never get it back. If it is taken from you by force, you have the possibility of using force to regain it.

Whether you are a Christian or not, the lesson here is to read the fine print before you sign away your freedom. Good deals are defined as those where both sides walk away winners. Are you giving away your freedoms for the promise of a little soup or a place in line at the free clinic?

True freedom comes when we agree wholeheartedly to the only deal offered where both sides win. That’s the deal offered to Christians. Eternal freedom brings eternal life. What may pass for temporary freedom only guarantees temporary life.

Patrick Henry very clearly laid out the choice we all must make:
“Give me liberty or give me death.”

In everything, choose life – choose freedom.

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I have a dream…

January 18, 2010

On this Martin Luther King Day I was inspired to watch his 1963 speech at the Lincoln Memorial. What exactly was King’s dream? Has any of it been realized; do we yet hope for the dream to materialize? Or, has the dream turned into a nightmare?

The politics associated with the passage of the MLK holiday became an impediment to the dream itself. President Reagan signed the law in 1983; the last state to step into line was South Carolina, in 2000. If memory serves, the resistance to MLK Day wasn’t based so much on race, as the precedent it set by carving out federally mandated honors for any single man other than a President.

MLK

“Demonstration of Freedom”

Dr. King self-titled the 1963 gathering in Washington as a ”Demonstration of Freedom.” Who could take issue with that?

What freedoms did King petition for? Freedom from (forced) segregation, discrimination, and from being “exiled to an island of poverty in an ocean of prosperity.”

The check came back marked ‘insufficient funds’

Martin Luther King, Jr. called upon the people of the United States to make good the check written by Abraham Lincoln that acknowledged the right of every citizen to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Again, who would take issue with this? Dr. King did not demand unearned benefits for anyone other than the riches of “freedom, security and justice.”

Dr. King’s text stated, “this is the time to make real the promises of democracy.”

Who is responsible to make the dream come true?

The answer to that question is based entirely upon whose dream is being discussed. Is this the dream only of the Negro? (The reference used most frequently in Dr. King’s speech.) Or, does the citizenry as a whole share this dream?

The one responsible for making any dream come true is the one who had the dream in the first place.

Dr. King’s dream has been so politically-hyped over the past 47 years that the self-appointed interpreters of dreams have turned it from a rainbow worthy dream into a nasty nightmare. The motivation is often personal greed. There are two main reasons for any political action; conviction and greed. Often a skilled judge is needed to discern one from the other. I pray we judge aright.

Dr. King can no more correct the record on what his dream really looked like than John F. Kennedy can chastise present day politicians (of either party) for taxing our economy into submission.

If freedom, justice, and the pursuit of happiness is the dream of every American, then it is the responsibility of every American to make it come true. This accountability does not vary based upon skin color or ethnicity.

My dream…

… and my interpretation of Dr. King’s dream, is a United States with:

No entitlements, which only exacerbate segregation.
No forced segregation, but a recognition of personal preferences.
Honor afforded to all who earn it.
Financial reward commensurate with achievement.
Equal access to education.
Equal objective application of all laws.

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream that we would be judged on the content of our character, recognizing that final judgment will be made by One much more powerful than any politician. If you share this dream, the responsibility for achieving that dream rests on us all.

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