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Finding Ourselves in our Past


Albert Einstein Français : portrait d'Albert E...

Albert Einstein Français : portrait d’Albert Einstein (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.

~Albert Einstein

How often do you think about who has come before you? How often do you look to the past to understand the now, to understand the self? Mr. Einstein, once again, has hit the nail on the head. Our now, who we are, has a direct connection to that which comes before us. Our human understanding of self comes to us from our ancestors. We owe gratitude to human history, to human expression and our basic curiosity about our own existence.

All too often, we look for the new and exciting ways to discover self, to change and we give praise only to ourselves and to the “new gurus” of today. Yet, we fail to give credit to the past, to those who came before.

If Einstein can humble himself to acknowledge that others, those who came before him, have laid down the groundwork for whom and what he is, surly we can do the same. However, the idea of become Renaissance men is gaining an understanding of the great men and woman who have come before. We read the classics, study the great ones that have come before us and expand our horizons beyond ourselves to include the great men and woman of history.

Through the trials and tribulations of history, we discover the ebb and flow of life. It is within the historical ebb and flow that we will discover the secret of discovering self. There is nothing new under the sun; all that we need to understand about our humanity is in our past. Yes, we have lots to learn about the science of the human body, but there is nothing new to learn about the human condition. Plato, Cicero, Buda along with Confucius and Jesus Christ have given us the road map to perfection, and the great men and woman of the past studied and emulated the great sages of antiquity.

We have much to learn about respecting our past, and growing our future. Nevertheless, we are capable, and we have the tools we need. Most, if not all, of what we need is free and available on the internet. We can go to our local art museums and historical museums to visualize the human condition or attend the local Orchestra concert to hear our collective human heart beat. We are never more than a few miles or few clicks away from the classics, unlike any other time in history, we, in this day and age, have the ability to read, watch and listen to the voice of history. The digital age offers us total access to online studies of the classics.

We need to establish clubs and organizations for adults and youth that delve into the classics that teach the lessons of Plato and Jesus, we need to experience, as a group and individuals, the masters such as Leonardo and Dante. We need to reconnect to our past, not through the filtered message of political views, but as unfiltered historical documents of humanity.

The human condition is defined in our art, literature and wars. How we treat others and care for the less fortunate among us. Our art is our soul and our literature our heart, it is time we reconnected to them.

God Bless

Paul Sposite

Guided Insight Life Coach

 

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Compassion


Stock Photo of the Consitution of the United S...

Image by Rosie O’Beirne via Flickr

Ok, so here it is, I have been listening to talk radio on the way into work, and the big topic The Arizona law on illegal’s.  The Catholic Bishops seem to think the law is inhuman and some how degrading. The liberal bleeding hearts feel that the law is unjust and takes away the God given rights to enjoy the freedom of America and all she has to offer. And the the conservatives are applauding the law calling for it to be enacted in every sate of the union. This law has stirred up the nation and given the talking heads weeks if not months of material.

For anyone who reads my blog, you already know where I stand, for those who never have read my blog, well you will just have to wait and see. I am going to try to keep my opinion on this until the end. I want to start off with just facts. First, what the law truly states, not what the talking heads want us to hear, second what the Catholic Church truly states, not the opinions of the individuals. And as for the bleeding hearts, well no amount of reasoning will ever make a difference, they don’t like facts they  only like “feelings” so we will not concern ourselves with them to much.

Fact One: The Law:

The law itself only enforces the federal law that is already on the books. The United States of America has a standing law that requires all immigrants to carry papers.The Arizona law only enforces this federal law. The law also gives Arizona officers the right to request papers if they find reasonable cause to question citizenship. Officers in Arizona cannot randomly question anyone, they cannot “profile” anyone. The law is a secondary response, meaning that someone can not be stopped, pulled over or questioned just on a suspicion that they may be illegal. They must first be stopped, pulled over or questions for some other illegal activity, such as speeding. Once the person has been pulled over for speeding the office still needs “reasonable” suspicion to request papers. (Read information here)

 

Fact Two: The Church:

CCC 2241 The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.

Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.

Above are the only two facts that truly matters in this debate. My opinion is mine and cannot be enforced upon anyone, your opinion is yours and the same is true. We can debate the morality of the law or of what the church states but we can not and should not allow our opinion override the facts as stated above.

The bleeding heart liberals, both within the Church and outside of it can cry and call foul all day long. They can claim unfair justice, racism and any other  “slander” of the day they like. But what they cannot do is claim that the law, both inside and outside the Church, is not clear. The law of the Church and the law of the land, both, are clear. All are welcome here in the USA, please come and enjoy a better life for yourself, but please respect the law of the land. Immigrate here legally, go through the proper channels, get the proper documentation.

The liberals will cry foul at this, that it is some how degrading to make someone follow the law. If this is they case, lets abolish all laws, why risk degrading anyone. Besides following the law of the land is not degrading, it is respectful.

They, the liberals, will cry, but they are running from an oppressive government.. Fine, than apply for political asylum here in the USA. We have laws and procedures to help out all who come to our shores.

But here is the question of the day….

Why would I want a neighbor or co-worker how feels that they alone are above the law? That they do not need to follow the law of the land because they are not of this land or they have no connection to it? Think about it, if I am here in this land, but according to the law of the land I do not exist, why would I bother to care about her? I will work to change the law of the land to benefit me, the illegal, and not those who are citizens or here legally. We already see this happening, the protesters holding up signs demanding there rights to American benefits! Yet they break our laws to enter this country and refuse to follow the laws once they are here.

I can hear the liberals now.. Not all illegal’s are criminals. Most are hard working people who just want a better life for themselves and there families. And you know what I will agree with most of that. Most are hard working people with families only looking to improve there lot in life, and I say God bless them. But I also say they are criminals, they are here illegally. Most not paying taxies for the services they require and demand.

So what to do?

Looking at each point, reading the documents and researching the issue would be a first step. removing your personal feelings for the moment would be a good step also. Emotions can cloud issues, and facts can be set aside. Doing that will than make you a liberal, facts and liberals do not get along. Well unless the fact was one made up by the liberal to fit there specific need at that specific time. But that’s another issue.

What else can you do, how about get a sense of what true compassion is, true humanitarianism is. Allowing anyone and everyone to enter our country is not and cannot be considered compassion, nor is it humane. Not to them and not to law abiding Americans and legal immigrants.

The influx of illegal’s has caused great strain on your so
cial networks, hospitals and schools. It has created a whole subculture that is anti-American and is a divisive force within our political system. The last election we saw this, both political parties are pandering to the illegal’s. why would they do this… To increate the base… Its all about the vote to them. Do not allow them to trick you, to make you think they are being compassionate, they are not, they are counting future votes. The kids of the illegal will be natural born citizens, able to vote. They offer free health care, free education and most importantly, they are granted immunity to our laws. No you say, what laws are they immune from? How about the law that requires all non-Americans to request entry into our country? Hmm, is that a good enough law for you? In the name of compassion we don’t even require them to learn English, instead we will bend or culture to there’s.

But the liberals will cry, we are all immigrants to the nation. Yes we are, but what does that have to do with it? Nothing, it is now our nation, with laws of it’s own. They then will cry out that they have God given rights under the Constitution of the United States. it’s kind of ironic that the liberals would use the very document they are hell bent on destroying to defend there have baked idea of compassion. Correct me if I am wrong, but the Constitution of the United States of America is to protect the citizens of America from the government of America, not the citizens of other countries. Am i right or am I right?

But if the liberal wants to argue that logic than so be it. Using that logic, that the constitution of for the whole world, not just for citizens of the good old US of A. Great! Now the liberals should shut up about the wars because we are only doing as the constitution tells us, to protect the citizens from the government. In fact I think we need more protection going on…

I am a compassionate person, I do feel sorry for people who want to enter the United States but just can’t. Be it due to money or other reasons. But I do not think that allowing every person free and open access to our country is the compassionate response called for.

How about this…

You apply for entry into the USA, no money, than you can apply for a sponsor, Good law abiding Americans will donate to a fund, freely donate, not taxed forced donations. They are interviewed, a criminal back ground check is done and a drug test along with other medical test are completed. If all goes well and the fund has money you are allowed to enter the country. You must attend English classes and you must report to your assigned rep to show that you are complying with all requirements. You must obtain a job with in 45 days of entry, the rep will assist you in finding job training if needed. You must learn to speak English with in 90 day, etc…

To me this is compassion, as the old saying goes, give a man a fish he eats for a day, teach him to fish he eats for life… I say teach them to fish… That is compassion!

The liberals will say that I am being insensitive to them, that I am treating them like second class citizens. No, not at all, I am helping them gain the tools to survive in America.  I am teaching them to learn the language and culture they chose to enter. To not teach them, to not offer a helping hand would be cruel. To only give hand-outs and not hand-ups is inhumane. And that’s what our current system does, hand-outs. o I look at the liberals as the cruel ones, not the conservatives that want to teach them to be self-sufficient not codependent.

As for what some of our Bishops are saying about all this, well they truly need to read what the Church teaches about this and they need to ask for forgiveness for teaching and leading the flock astray. And the Pope needs to let them know this kind of deception will not be tolerated anymore.

as for the millions currently in this country illegally, do we send them back and make them apply legally or do we create a system of checks and balances to determine the status of each and every person. I’m not sure, but it is somewhere between the two. I think we need to distinguish between illegal’s that are harmful to American and ones that are a positive. criminal records, educational levels and such should all be considered. So what do we do until all this is cleaned up.

Build a wall, hire more guards, use any all means at our disposal to protect our borders. Close all immigration until we have a comprehensive plan to deal with it. Our nation is struggling as it is, and yes I know that our poverty is a life of riches to some entering this great nation. But we must, as a matter of national security and as a matter of humanitarianism, we must fix our own house first before we allow others in to it. The current system is no longer adequate, it need to be updated to a new world, post 9-11.

But I am no expert on such things, so I trust that one day our leaders will do what is right.

 

God Bless

Paul

Impact of Illegal Immigration on Public Benefit Programs and the American Labor Force; Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Immigration and
James 5:16“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

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