I have been perturbed lately by discussions I've had online and with actual humans in person about why we should or should not trust our government, and one thing stands out to me.  That is how little we understand the nature of government, and the pains our Founders went through to protect our nation from the problems governments and potentates had caused in the past.  First, and this is an important point, they collectively viewed government as a 'necessary evil'.  The larger the government, the less necessary, and the more evil. But, let's take a close look at the term "necessary evil".  There are two operative and diametrically opposed terms here.  "Necessary", and "Evil".

You may have heard some of these, but here's a couple

"Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket."

or my favorite:

"Daylight saving time occurs because Chuck Norris hits snooze on his alarm clock."

There are those who think daylight savings time is just a trick and we're the victims.  Well, they're only partially correct. The truth is, DST is there to correct the trick.  What is the trick that it corrects?  The clock.  Let me explain....

Before clocks became available to the average man, people kept time by the sun.  The day started when the sun came up, and ended when the sun went down.  Indeed, those of us familiar with the Bible read how the Hebrews reckoned time by the number of hours since sunrise.  The 9th hour, for instance, was sometime around 3:00 p.m. - or 9 hours after sunrise.  So, the workday began, depending on your particular activity, when the sun came up, and by the time the sun went down you were through with your daily work and it was time to get ready for bed.

Then came clocks.  Now we have a mechanical means of keeping up with time.  That was the first major change, and things would never be the same.  At the time, Great Britian was the world power, and since they'd basically invaded every country on earth, they took it on themselves to decide what the time standards were.  Even today, the world's times are all keyed to the time in London.  Listen to the U.S. Government's time station, WWV, and you'll hear it called "Universal Time".  It's also known as Greenwich Mean Time, all based on the time standard in Greenwich England. 

However, even back then people didn't necessary become slaves to the mechanical timekeeper, and things still were pretty much sunrise to sunset.  Then came Edison, and all of a sudden the lack of light was no longer a limiting factor.  But the real gamechanger came shortly after that.  It was called Henry Ford.  Now, at the time, the change to a 40 hour workweek advanced by Ford Motor Company was a great idea, because the workweek had been somewhere around 48 hours per week, and Ford believed that a somewhat shorter workweek was better for worker productivity.  So 8 to 5 - punching the clock, and now we're slaves.

The problem is that the sun still comes up and the sun still sets on different schedules depending on the time of year.  To correct this difference between "sun" time and "clock" time, a New Zealander named George Hudson proposed moving the timezone to give people like hiim more daylight to pursue interests outside of their work schedule.  It took a world war and the wish to increase productivity by lengthening the workday by an extra hour to make it what it is now.

Now, remember, by this time we are slaves to a mechanical clock rather than using the "natural" timepiece - the sun.  The use of daylight savings time was an attempt to correct that situation.  So, it turns out that, in reality, it's that thing you wear on your wrist (or, if you're like me, those digits on your smartphone) that is fake, not the attempt to correct things.

OK, so what?  Well, here's the thing. In the days when we were an agrarian society, the clock was not as limiting because most work was done outside and the sun still dictated when the work had to finish.  But once we became an industrial society, the work moved inside and the clock took over.  But, the sun still goes down on its own schedule.  Now, I hate seeing it dark at 5:00 p.m.  I'm sitting here right now at 7:00 p.m. and it looks like midnight outside.  My eyes tell me it's time to go to bed, but if I do that, I'll toss and turn all night long.  The clock doesn't track with the sun, and that really messes with your body.

So here's my proposal:  Just rip the bandage off and move the timezone permanently.  Stop calling it daylight savings time and just stick with it.  Why this long diatribe?  I had nothing else to do and it's dark outside......

Governments do one thing and one thing only wield power. There is no such thing as a benevolent government. Governments only appear somewhat benevolent because they haven't yet completed their journey to tyranny, but they are all headed in that direction! So, be very afraid of any power you grant to anyone, and even more afraid of power given to a group of people.

What brought on this mini dose of absolute reality? The story of little Charlie Gard, a British infant the British government wants to kill. Despite the offer of a U.S. doctor to use a new experimental procedure that has some possibility; despite the raising of private funds to pay for it; despite the offer of Congress to grant citizenship to little Charlie to expedite his trip here; and despite some physical evidence to suggest there's still "something there" inside little Charlie's head, the British government wants to kill him.

Why? Two reasons: Them's the rules, and because they can.

Still want the government to have a role in health care? Well, pardon me, but you're an idiot.

Stephen Moore: "One of my favorite stories of American history dates back to the 19th century when Col. Davy Crockett, who fought at the Alamo, served in Congress. In a famous incident, Congress wanted to appropriate $100,000 to the widow of a distinguished navel officer. Crockett took to the House floor and delivered his famous speech, relevant as ever: 'We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to so appropriate a dollar of the public money. … I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks.' Crockett was the only member of Congress who donated personally to the widow, while the members of Congress who pretended to be so caring and compassionate closed their wallets. It all goes to show that liberal do-gooders were as hypocritical then as they are today."

And THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is how liberalism works. It is IMMORAL to hold a gun to someone's head and force them to finance something you feel is important.

Here's a link to an article - the first I've seen on the subject - which addresses something I've been thinking about for, oh about 6 years now:

http://www.onenewsnow.com/church/2015/07/08/flags-should-reflect-god-before-govt?utm_source=OneNewsNow&utm_medium=email&utm_term=16781489&utm_content=16342207304&utm_campaign=20716

We've always been taught to fly the American flag above any other flag, and up until the latter part of the 20th Century that might have made a little sense, since our nation was established on Judeo/Christian principles (sorry liberals, but that's the truth, and you're wrong to say otherwise).  I've always believed, and still do in spite of recent events, that the U.S. is the best place on earth to live.  But we've strayed from our founding principles, so much so that I can no longer say the our country and our founding Biblical principles are inexorably linked.

The last 60 years have seen Christians bit by bit yield to anti-Biblical ideas in the marketplace of ideas to the point that we are no longer considered a Christian nation.  If you believed, as I did, that we were before, you can no longer believe it, particularly in light of the [un]Supreme Court's June decisions to make same-sex marriage a right.  I hope and pray the bond has been only temporarily broken, but we are now treading on dangerous ground.

It all began when the Church, for reasons of money, entered into an agreement with the government to stay out of politics if it wouldn't be required to pay taxes.  From that point on, the Church began distancing itself from the political process - something which our Founders would find abhorrent, since the 18th century Church was indispensable in the Revolution.  The Church only began to get re-involved when it became apparent the tide had turned the other way.  Well, just what in the world did the Church expect?  When the influence of God's people was removed, what happened was exactly what happens every time - the devil's influence increased.  Now we find ourselves murdering 50,000 babies a year, sanctioning things the Bible calls abominations, and becoming everything our Founders fought to get away from.

Two things:  My allegiance is to Christ first, so given the choice of which flag is more prominent, that should be the overriding consideration.  But, more importantly, it is way past time for the Church to re-engage itself in the public discourse.  In the last several elections, the results would have been markedly different had God's people simply first paid attention, then second, showed up to actually vote.  We must forget about politics and focus on what's right, even if it is politically incorrect (not just from a social standpoint, but from what the world would call a "strategic" standpoint).  You'll also notice I didn't mention anything about political parties here.  As it turns out, no matter which one is in power, we still slide downhill!

There are two famous lines that firmly address this issue.  The first, well know from Irish statesman, philosopher, and political theorist Edmund Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".  Couple that with James 4:17, "to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin".  The second, which has been quoted in several forms, but probably has its origins from Danish Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, the best version of which I've seen goes something like "There's no limit to the changes that can be made from a small, dedicated minority".  The Left has been doing this for decades. 

It's time for followers of Christ to remember the power we have access to.  Us and God makes a majority!  It is time for God's people to begin being the "salt and light" we are supposed to be while here!

Karl