Hello again, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another episode of Freedom's Creed. I hope that you and all of your family, friends, and loved ones are doing well. There is certainly a lot going on in the world today that troubles all of us, I think. And we truly wish and pray that things could be different. Part of what I'm talking about today has to do with that, that is, being different. Because all of us know the definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. History tells us that acts of violence, war, hatred, and other less than admirable traits haven't worked so well. So let me start off by talking about the naming of my podcast. It wasn't a random act of desperation. Now, yes, I wanted to incorporate into the artwork of the logo my name, as well as use wording that included the letters of my last name. I put considerable time and effort into this project, and I'm well pleased with the way it has turned out. Not because, oh, I'm saying, look at me, I'm so great. No. It was something that I wanted to do and then did. I'm happy with the way it came out. Isn't that the essence of life that we strive to find happiness and even maybe some joy every now and then in the things that we do? I think so. In any case, you may be wondering why I'm talking about this. However, as I said early on in the podcast when I first started it, that I planned to intertwine the words freedom and liberty into as many episodes as I see fit. I mean, freedom and liberty are, after all, the backbone of everything that is good, not only in our American society, but across the world generally. People are happier, they find more fulfillment in life if they're free, if they have the liberty to do as they choose to do. It's a proven fact. No one likes to be under the thumb of totalitarianism or communism or any form of government that encroaches upon freedom and liberty. Period. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there is nothing I won't do to ensure that freedom and liberty are preserved for all, regardless of any other belief, ideology, creed, position, whatever. Doesn't matter. I don't care if I'm standing in front of somebody who's yelling in my face because they totally disagree with what I stand for. That is their right to do. And as long as they do not do anything to me physically, they have the right to say what they want. Yes, say what they want. I am not going to take offense or be offended at the things that people say and do to me. Now, if they are trying to injure me or a member of my family, that's a whole nother story. And I will defend myself and my family, my loved ones, to the death. I don't care. My desire is to be able to have that same attitude toward everybody else. That everyone else deserves the right to be able to be free, to have the liberty to say what they want to say without injuring another person. It's fundamental in our society, at least here in the United States. It's fundamental. It's preserved through what we call the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. In 21st century America, there is no other form of government that I want, other than the one we have now, and it's worth preserving, ladies and gentlemen. Now, unfortunately, there are conflicts raging in the world. And most often there are these regional conflicts and wars in countries that we hardly ever hear about. There is war and hatred raging in this world right now. Unfortunately, these two abominations, war and hatred, have been around since the dawn of man. But we cannot afford to give in to the baseness of our natures. We must discipline ourselves to rise above hate, disagreement, and ultimately war. If we don't, then we're doomed. And I don't know about you, but I am not about doom and gloom. No, that's not I'm not going to accept that. Which I understand makes it all that much more difficult to try and tolerate our leaders in this country who are in the executive branch of government, the legislative branch of government, and even the judicial branch of government. It's difficult, believe me, I know, and I know that you do too. It is difficult to be able to tolerate the things that they do. Many of them serve at their own pleasure and because of greed and the lust for power. That is why many of them are there. They're not in Congress, or whether it's the executive branch or whatever, for us, for the people. No, no. They are there for themselves. Now, that's not to say that there are not good people who serve in government. They're just few and far between. And don't get me started on the bureaucratic nature of government. People who work inside of government who are not held to account because they're not elected. I mean, for heaven's sakes, even the people who are elected by we the people get away with just about anything. So do you think that bureaucrats who set in their ivory towers and who are supposed to be nonpartisan are going to have any concern because they know that they're not going to be held to account? It's pathetic. To be sure, this kind of thing often happens when I do an episode because I get really fired up about this particular topic. It is the reason, or one of the reasons, why I chose to do the podcast in the first place. Because I want to defend your rights, my rights, the rights of everyone in this country to be able to be free and have the liberty that we desire, not to be hogtied by the federal government or by any other local, regional government, whatever. I don't care. If you're going to encroach on my freedoms, I'm going to fight back in whatever way I feel is necessary to do. Now, that is not to say that I'm just going to go in guns blazing. No. That's not what I'm saying at all. When I say fight back, I mean it's kind of like the old saying to speak softly but carry a big stick. You know what I mean? Listen here. There is nothing wrong. There's absolutely nothing wrong with disagreement. What is wrong is often the way in which disagreement is handled. Oftentimes people who disagree with one another get personal and they attack one another. It's the most disgusting thing that any of us could ever see in the public square. Over 13 years ago, I published the book The Poison of Politics. It's my first and only book to date. In the book on social media, as well as the blog that I created subsequent to publishing the book, and even in this very podcast, I have made it a point not to make personal attacks of someone's character in my interactions with others. I'm not going to promote it. I'm not going to engage in it. If somebody wants to do that with me, then they're going to be doing it alone. I get it. It's very difficult at times to maintain composure. But that is the thing that we must strive to do. Just because it's difficult to do doesn't mean that we shouldn't make the effort to be in control of ourselves and not allow the emotion to get the best of us. By the way, I'm still working on that one. But I will certainly continue on this podcast and in any other situation that I may be in to make sure that I respect the rights of other people, to exercise their freedom and liberty in the way they see fit, as long as their actions, again, are within the bounds of the law and they're not hurting anyone else. So unfortunately, as I mentioned previously, war and hatred are raging in the world today. Ukraine, Russia, Israel, and Hamas, Democrats and Republicans, and on and on. So what is the better way in overcoming all of this? Well, first of all, I am not so naive that I believe that every single person in the world will get along with everyone else. I get it. It doesn't happen, unfortunately, and it won't happen until well, we leave this dimension, shall we say? As long as there is greed, hate, selfishness, and a host of other less than admirable characteristics, there will be conflict to some degree or another until the end comes, whenever that is. It has been said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I believe that that is true. I also believe that this is true on the micro level as well as the macro level and every level in between. In a household, if someone rules over another person, then happiness is going to be lost. On a wider scale, on the macro level, as I say, the same thing happens. When people are wicked and choose to have power over anything else, then a majority of people are going to be miserable. I believe that those who seek for absolute power tend to be the most selfish, narcissistic, and really miserable people. So naturally, they have no problem inflicting their misery on the rest of us or on those that they rule. In our country, we are fortunate to have the kind of government that we do. But in other countries, it's not like this, not at all. Certainly none of us knows the outcome of the wars that are currently being fought, not only those that make the nightly news, but also those that do not, that are fought in, I suppose, countries that the US government deems not worthy of its attention, which is a sickening thing in and of itself. Again, it's another catastrophe of war. It's despicable. Let me leave you with five suggestions that if everyone adopted, we would have a better world. And by no means is this some kind of an exhaustive list. It's not. But there are things that I think that all of us can do, even a little bit. One, how about we just love each other? Which doesn't mean we have to associate with everyone. Loving people is the right thing to do. But it doesn't mean that we have to be buddy buddy with everyone we meet. That's not gonna happen. That's not reality. But even strangers, people we pass on the street, we can have a certain amount of love for. In other words, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I think love is the basis for the golden rule. Two, respect. Choose to respect others, particularly those we may not agree with. Unfortunately, we see it all the time when people don't agree with each other. They have zero respect for one another. It goes out the door. That need not be the case. Three, be courageous, stand up for the defenseless, even if you stand alone. It takes courage to do the right thing. Just be willing to do that. And by your example, others will soon follow suit for be kind, just be nice to other people, do something often that'll brighten someone else's day. It might just be smiling at someone you walk past or saying hi. Just be nice, like you know, Mr. Rogers. That dude was nice. Be nice. And my fifth suggestion is to defend the cause of liberty and freedom. Because in doing so, we are doing our part to make the world a better place. I don't care if that sounds corny to people. I don't care. What I care about is that everyone has the liberty and freedom to do what they want to do and not feel that they are being watched or that they are being scrutinized or whatever. It doesn't matter. You don't have to agree with people. That's not a prerequisite to getting along with people or to want to preserve their liberty and freedom just as energetically as we would defend our own. That's how important it is. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that all people in the world are the offspring of deity, and that we have an interconnectedness. It's in our DNA. We really are the same. We may look different, we may act different, we may speak another language, none of that matters. We do have the same kind of DNA structure. It's in all of us. And it seems to me that we ought to start realizing this more often. And by doing so, perhaps, just perhaps, we can get along a little better in the world than we are now. As I said, I'm not naive, but I'm extremely optimistic. Ladies and gentlemen, to conclude this episode, I want to read from a hymn that Charles Wesley, who was a prolific Christian hymn writer, he wrote literally thousands of hymns. He wrote one called Love Divine All Loves Excelling, and I'd like to read that to you to close this episode. It says Love divine all loves excelling, joy of heaven to earth come down, fix in us thy humble dwelling, all thy faithful mercies crown. Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art. Visit us with thy salvation, enter every trembling heart. Breathe, O breathe thy loving spirit into every troubled breast. Let us all in thee inherit, let us find that promised rest. Take away our love of sinning, Alpha and Omega be, end of faith as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty. Come almighty to deliver, let us all thy life receive. Suddenly return and never, nevermore thy temples leave. Thee we would be always blessing, serve thee as thy hosts above, pray and praise thee without ceasing. Glory in thy perfect love. Finish then thy new creation, pure and spotless, let us be. Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee. Changed from glory into glory till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love and praise. End of quote. And as always, if you can think it, you can plan it. If you can plan it, you can do it.