Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 22257 – 778:
Here’s the haps:
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
(Exo 23:2) KJV
“Don’t do something just because everyone else is doing it. If you see a group of people doing wrong, don’t join them. You must not let them persuade you to do wrong things—you must do what is right and fair.
(Exo 23:2)ERV
I have been reading in several different places about what has gone on in the Nation’s Capitol, including several conspiracy theories. Most of you know that I am, generally speaking, a conservative, depending on the subject. Most issues I consider myself as such, anyway. I believe in the rule of law. Without laws, our civilization goes away. We know we have a lot of problems in the U.S.A. but other countries have the same problems. The difference is that we have a free and open press and freedom of speech. I have written critically about our government before but if I lived in a place like China I would only ever have written the one post and you would never know any more about what happened to me. The Soviet Union was like that, too. Many other places around the globe suppress what is going on in their country so we don’t hear about the racism, hate, intolerance, corruption at every level of government, etc. there that we do here.
But here’s my deal. I consider a large part of being a conservative (in our system. I know that in other countries these terms are interpreted differently.) to being a good citizen. I don’t think that part of being a good citizen is rioting, looting, and terrorizing people. Many so-called conservatives, so-called Right-Wingers, were quick to condemn, and rightly so, the behaviors displayed in Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland, et al. But what happened in our nation’s capitol the other night was completely beyond the pale. It was equally inexcusable. Equally wrong. It’s not excusable to try to use outside groups as an argument. If it is true, as one conspiracy claims, the leftist media bussed Antifa and other terrorist organizations into the protests, that doesn’t excuse the individuals who were there from responsibility. All them pistol-packin’ mamas should have put a whoopin’ on them boys if they was there. “Listen, son. There may be a lot wrong going on right now, but that’s our Nation’s capitol and you’re going to leave it alone.” You cannot say that destruction of property or assault of any kind is excusable because you were on “the right side.” And to try to claim to be a conservative, patriotic American and try to destroy the Capitol building and kill and injure people in the process‽‽‽ Sorry. If you want to hold the people in Seattle and Portland and Minneapolis and other places I can’t recall at the moment responsible for their actions you need to clean up your own house as well.
It is inexcusable to say that what you did was okay merely because you were right. No matter how corrupt the government is, there is a right way and a wrong way to deal with it. Destroying the building and terrorizing the inhabitants does not change anything except your jail sentence. Your behavior was inexcusable. ⬅(That’s a period, aka a full-stop. Meaning the sentence ends there, as in, “Your behavior was inexcusable, period.”) and as a person claiming to be conservative, you should understand personal responsibility.
Actually, what happened in the Capitol is kind of worse than those other places because the Right-Wing wants to paint everything it does with a supposed Judeo-Christian ethic. Just because somebody calls themselves something doesn’t make it so. You claim to be a Christian? Oh, and you’re from the Bible-belt? When was the last time you looked in The Book? Let’s see. Try these Scriptures on for size:
“Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” (Tit 3:1-3) Subject to principalities and powers…no brawlers…hateful and hating one another…
But wait! There’s more!
“Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 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. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.” (1Pe 2:13-17) Submit to what? For whose sake?
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” (1Ti 2:1-2)
“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” (Rom 12:18)
“But Herb! Dude! Don’t you know there’s a war against Christianity‽‽‽”
What? This is news to you? There has been a war on Christianity ever since Jesus went down into the grave and into Hades itself and laid claim to the keys of Death, Hell, and The Grave for Himself. The enemy of our souls had to give those keys up because there was no sin to be found in Jesus. The Pharisees paid BIG money to the soldiers to say that someone came and stole the body while they slept on duty. Talk about a conspiracy and that wasn’t even a theory.
Besides all that:
For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. (Psa 75:6-7)
Not only that, but no matter who is the leader:
The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. (Pro 21:1)
Should we speak out on our beliefs? Yup!
Should we commit violence to prove our point? Nope!
Comments
44 responses to “Riot, Right? Wrong!”
The Insurrectionists have been training in their various militia-type groups for years and years now with one goal — to eventually overthrow the established government of the United States and to replace that government with something else. They are heavily armed and well-trained and just looking for an excuse to launch a wide-ranging terrorist campaign against America. This Capiotol thing was only a breath of what is yet to come. As the anger of the dissidents grows and is fanned, it will assume white hot flame status and will sweep across this nation bringing with it massive destruction and death on a scale never imagined before … and most Americans are still asleep at the wheel thinking, “Such things as this happens in Third World countries but can never happen here in The United States. These people who deny such possibilities are in for a hard awakening one of these days and the groundwork for this terror is being planned even now … There are reports that massive planning of this kind of thing is already going on on encrypted social media sites and it is reported to be expansive.
Thanks, John. I always appreciate your perspective.
Thank you for your perspective. My opinion was also, they should have defended the capitol and not followed as sheep to the slaughter too. I worry what will become of all of this. Many people in the last year have been too destructive of our country. Where is peaceable protests? Thank you again.
I’m thankful to be a citizen of a better kingdom, not of this world.
God is a good God, the gospel is the good news, today is a good day, to give our good God praise. Love the scripture usage Dad!
Gia says, “Amen Grandpa Thiel.”
Goodnight Gia.
She’s up kind of late.
Great song.
Not my country, not my politics, but from an outside perspective, this is essentially what gives the USA such a bad rep nowadays. I saw a meme going around that said ‘if the US saw what’s happening in the US they would invade the US to help them establish democracy’ and I feel that’s comment enough. No matter which side you’re on, it really doesn’t make sense to storm your own symbols of government unless you’re ready to give up on your country altogether
I appreciate your perspective. And, you’re right, it’s pretty ridiculous.
That’s really sad and funny at the same time. Yes, I agree.
Certainly an attempted coup d’etat is not merely a riot nor freedom of speech.
You aren’t the only one to say that, to be sure.
Back this spring, when the twin cities were burning, the mayor of St. Paul held a press conference where he said that 100% of the protesters who had been arrested for violence were from out of state. A lot of people used his statement to bolster the claim that white nationalists, not BLM protesters, were behind the looting. All of this was totally false. The vast majority of people arrested actually we’re locals, and had no connection to any sort of white supremacists movement. When I heard about the claims that Antifa was actually behind the Capital riot I remembered that press conference. Funny how no one can take responsibility for their own ideas, when those ideas lead to violence that is widely disapproved of.
I don’t agree with you that this is worse than what happened this summer. I think that in the end more innocent lives were destroyed as a direct result of the BLM riots. I’ve been to Minneapolis, I’ve seen entire city blocks burned to rubble. I’ve seen plywood covering every window in downtown Madison. Nothing near that level of destruction took place in this situation. That’s not to justify this event. I just don’t think it’s worse.
By the way, as of last night the number one selling book on Amazon is a book on the origins of Antifa. Number two is 1984. Take of that what you will.
I think I probably didn’t use the right word to describe my thought. It’s reprehensible what has been done in all of those places and I was not trying to belittle or make light of it.
I get that. One of my closest friends had his workplace attacked his workplace attacked this summer. He spent an hour huddled in back while looters attacked the front of the business. No secure bunker to go to, no national guard called in. In fact, the police were called to stand down. Fortunately his workplace was able to reopen, many were not that lucky. I guess where I’m coming from is it sucks that that happened and it’s extremely unhelpful to try shifting the blame. At the same time, I have a difficult time finding sympathy for people in congress who had to sit in heavily guarded offices and bunkers for a couple hours.
I agree with your sympathies. There is a world of difference between the two scenarios, I agree.
Here’s the thing, though, and this is not at all to say I condone or would have in a million years participated in such a thing (I don’t riot for anything):
These are people who thought the country was about to ratify a stolen election. Everything that could be done legally had already been done. What else was there to do?
Well, one way or another it ended quickly and the election results were made official, and that was that.
But the thing is, if there was a belief or at least a poisonous enough partisan environment(which no one in their right mind could possibly deny at this point; they literally just impeached the guy in the halls of Congress a second time, a completely unprecedented event, this in a country that has actually suffered a Civil War), what else do you expect from a country born from similar discontent?
Even if you dismiss them as wrong you have to admit that if they truly believed the election was being stolen and there was apparently no stopping it, some gesture was necessary, in the American tradition. We even had a rebellion during the very first presidency, under the guy most of us still think is probably the best holder of that office even two hundred years later.
I don’t know what else to say.
You make, as you usually do, several good points to consider and from a different point of view, which I appreciate. Yes, it is kind of the American spirit. You say that you don’t riot, nor I, but the Founding Fathers did not have a majority of the people backing them. 35% if I remember without looking it up.
The media inflates everything. That’s what the media does. The “Boston Massacre” was such an event, and so successful most Americans still buy it for the propaganda it was. I wish we could at least say if the media were finally called to account, or at least acknowledged as agents of special interest propaganda, it might actually improve, it might actually have a chance to merely report. It’s all in the telling, what’s emphasized, how it’s worded. All of this matters.
I wish we had dealt with the entire last year differently. Literally all of it. We have only cowards balking at the responsibility of the public’s interest, and in their place opportunists who are only interested in manipulating events to their apparent best interests. How anyone can possibly see any of this as working in their favor is completely beyond me. I see things spiraling out of control. I yearn for it to stop. I don’t know that it can at this point. It has been feeling like dancing at the edge of another Civil War. I now don’t have to wonder what it must have been like the last time. It was an era of stupidity. Plain and simple. The saddest part is that last time we at least had Lincoln. The even sadder part is last time we despised even Lincoln until he was dead.
This is the exact level of stupidity from which we should distance ourselves.
Your last quote was the best We need both. What I find humorous is that many hate groups call themselves Christian organizations when Christ only stood for Love. The thing is these folks have been around forever they only need someone to take control of them. Sad isn’t it.
Laugh On
Many things have been served up in the name of God.
Yes Isn’t that sad
Not to make light of the matter but around here we call this particular conversation ” a tar baby”. The more you play with it, the more you get on you. Great post friend.
Well, you’re right, but sticky or not, someone’s got to try to do something with it. Br’er Fox or no Br’er Fox.
From the perspective of your northern neighbour – maybe governments have to stop labelling these extremists as white or black, far left or far right. Maybe they should just say they are violent extremists. Period.
The media needs to do the same thing – they are making it sound like the only violent bad people are gun toting right extremists. Apparently they haven’t checked what the anarchists are saying on Twitter and on their websites. “Insofar as Biden will govern by the same means and preserve many of the same policies, it will be necessary to resist his administration as well as the fascists who threaten it.”
I agree with the term violent extremists. You’re right, it doesn’t matter.
Amen, Brother! 🙏
So…. you think we need to always do what people in power say to do? I mean, based on your scripture quotes? That concerns me. I even tell my kids they don’t have to jump off the cliff if we go crazy and tell them to do that. 🙂
As to the successful capture of the Capitol building, I agree that violence or destruction of property are not the way. Honestly, though, they seemed mostly well-mannered. They even stayed between the velvet-topped dividers when they invaded the interior. I don’t buy into the ANTIFA argument, either; at least, I agree that people need to stop blaming and choose to be a human, responsible for their own actions.
Thanks so much for your perspective Chel. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things. Thankfully our country has a constitution with fail-safes written into it. Not all countries have that. But Christians are called to be law-abiding citizens first.
It is true that anarchy isn’t a commandment. 🙂
Just watched MLK I Have A Dream Speech again:
https://archive.org/details/MartinLutherKingIHaveADreamSpeech He shows and tells how it’s done.
Mostly well-mannered criminals.
😀 It seems so.
What’s really sad is that the election was amazing well done in the middle of a pandemic – and it was fair. The courts weren’t given any proof that it wasn’t. Trump’s lies have been like a cancer in the US. He isn’t and never has been a Conservative either. That was just another of his lies.
Well, I don’t know if any Conservative Republicans exist anymore. But all the good he did too, the booming economy, the lowest unemployment, including minorities, of the last fifty years, brokering 5 middle-east peace treaties, moving the embassy to Jerusalem, sitting down with the Norks, are all going to be eclipsed.
I think the Republican Party is more responsible than Trump for many of the positive things. Trump has a awful lot of blood on his hands at this point. Even before the mob at the Capitol where 5 people died, his ineffective leadership and negligence with COVID was killing thousands. Having rallies during the pandemic was unforgivable. I hope I’m not being offensive.
He has not been my favorite, certainly. Out of the seventeen plus that were in the primary in 2016 he was clearly the only one who had what it took to beat Hilary and I think that was a part of it. You’re not offensive.
I’m glad I’m not offensive. I think Jeb could have beaten her, and I think he would have been good. Let’s face it, no one has a crystal ball and I know people try to do what they think will be best.
The USA is my country and I believe in its constitution. However, the attack on capitol was heartachingly. I felt as it was a slap on our internal security system. It tells the rest of world that how would the world power # 1 country save the world while we are failed to our on Capitol. I don’t care who did it and why did it. I care because it was attack on the American constitution. It is a shame for all of us.
I agree with you. It is shameful behavior.
The USA is my country as well and I’m ashamed at all the in-fighting. It’s something I never thought I’d see in my lifetime. I’m a conservative and the attack on the Capitol embarrassed me as an American. I’ve always believe that violence solves nothing but peaceful (and prayerful) protests get results. And I think that the incident may have been a false-flag attack of Antifa dressed as “patriots”. Antifa leader John Sullivan was arrested and is charged in instigating the attack. It’s just a shame that people think that violence gets results when it has always done the opposite. We should be smarter than that.
Instead of acting on emotions, we should use our heads and strategize- and do it calmly and peacefully.
Peaceful and prayerful protests are important. Violence only begets violence. And I may be wrong but one of the things about being a conservative is respect for the rule of law.
You’re absolutely right, Herb. Respect for the rule of law is part of being conservative and those who claim to be conservative and act violently, we don’t consider conservatives. They might as well crawl on over to the other side.
Yes, the frustration may build and some conservatives may feel like lashing out and doing something dumb, but we step back and think first.
Very concerning that some in the GOP still think the Myanmar model for a coup is how they will try this twist the next time. Both sides are at fault here for making government a competition for party and personal power. If they would do what they were elected to do, do the right thing for the people of their constituency and the country, progress could be made. Name calling, blaming and shaming, violating laws and rights and the continual see-saw of Dems reversing everything the GOP does and vice versa is simply expensive bad governance. Like Winston Churchill said, Democracy is the worst form of government, except all those others that have been tried. Stay well Herb. Allan
I agree, Allan. thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.