My first ever protest march … was against the 1981 Springbok Tour.
I don’t remember the date or the details. It was such a long time ago.
1981. Were you for or against the Springbok Tour?
Oh, I can’t even remember. 1981? Er … I don’t really know.
But I remember more than John Key!
(I’m not sure how to embed videos from TVNZ. But click anywhere on the above image to visit the ONE News website and the video will play automatically.)
Last time I posted about the NZ Police they were brutalising the sick. Now (it is alleged) they’re brutalising the old. A 64 year old woman was put in a headlock and her arms forced behind her back when she tried to pick up the phone. Her own phone, in her own home. She sustained severe bruising to her arms and face.
“We’re terrified of the police,” said one woman at a community meeting in the Paparoa Town Hall. And with good reason, it seems.
Once upon a time, police officers were among the most respected members of the community. That’s no longer so. Today, many otherwise law abiding people as well as actual criminals see them as “the filth”. Indisputably, there is corruption in the NZ Police. Who knows how much? I like to think that police corruption in New Zealand consists of “isolated pockets”. But I worry that police corruption is endemic. Regardless, the loss of respect for the police is something the police have brought upon themselves.
The War on Drugs™ plays a huge role in this. The incident reported in the video above is all over a few cannabis plants! Prohibition is unjust and those who enforce our drug laws commit injustices in doing so.
I’m optimistic that New Zealand will legalise cannabis soon. One day the War on Drugs™ will effectively be over. But when it’s all over, will the reputation of the NZ Police recover? The NZ Police support cannabis prohibition. Cannabis prohibition makes arresting people easy. Whether they’re being investigated for a real crime, or not. And they get to go for helicopter rides at the taxpayers’s expense. Will the police become better people when they have to put in real work to establish grounds to arrest and convict people for committing real crimes? Will the police attract a different class of recruit when the job perks no longer include free drugs and free helicopter rides? I’m pessimistic.
Heads up, peeps. I’m starting to have doubts about libertarianism itself. 😎
A few years ago, the Libertarianz Party merchandised some apparel with the slogan, “There’s No Government Like No Government.” And underneath, in smaller letters, “Unless it’s Very, Very Small.” The idea being that the proper role of government is limited to running a police force, a judiciary and an army. But should the government be involved even in these? I’m finding it hard to ignore the mounting evidence that our police force is corrupt and/or incompetent. And I already know that our justice system is severely compromised. Violent criminals get treated like victims, and lying murdering psychopaths walk free, thanks to show trials manipulated by a cynical MSM and obsessional narcissistic former All Blacks.
And, while I’ve yet to hear a bad word about the men and women of the New Zealand Defence Force (and I hope I don’t), I’m starting to wonder—should I abandon the label “Christian libertarian” in favour of “anarcho-monarchist”?
The next movie I want to see is Hellbound?, a new documentary by Kevin Miller.
Hellbound? is a feature-length documentary that explores the questions, Does hell exist? and If so, who ends up there, and why? The answer is that everyone ultimately gets to go to heaven. That’s because the writer and director is a universalist. Universalism is one of three main positions on the questions the documentary explores. (The two main alternatives, annihilationism and traditionalism, hold that not everyone gets to go to heaven.)
I enjoyed watching Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, an earlier documentary cowritten by Miller and hosted by Ben Stein, Christianity’s answer to Michael Moore. As expected, this new documentary is biased in favour of Miller’s theological views. See Glenn Peoples’ review for further theological details.
The cast includes some famous names in death metal. 🙂
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
[Hat tip: No Minister]
… Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
“I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
But the people said nothing.
Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”
Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”
“Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.
“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. (NIV)
The lines have long been drawn
Between the life and death,
The right and wrong
But what’s the reason,
What’s our reason?
The walls are high we know
They’ve gotta come down
I happened across a discussion of Morbid Angel’s album artwork. One commenter remarked
I think the green / purple convey a certain aura of sickness and putrescence… apropos for a death metal band.
Indeed.
