Democratic Apartheid

Affirmative Action

Democratic Apartheid

Apartheid is generally defined as a policy or system of segregation or discrimination of a supposedly “minority” or “inferior” group based on race. Apartheid more deeply explored is actually the principles and ideologies architected for exploitation and abuses securing power, control, and narcissistic stature. Still, what are the doctrines of apartheid when the barriers are just as impenetrable as they are sustained by other ideologies camouflaging the intent by the method or justification? The ends often are justification for the means and the elasticity of morality allowing humanitarian abuses.

Although the brutally violent assaults on ethnicity are now usually the last resort, the subtle initiates of its replacements achieve the same results. It is not only a period in African history ending in 1994 but an act throughout American history expressed as an affirmative action of policy, society, and practice reflecting the subjugated delineation of a people to be dominated without violation of the perpetrator’s consciousness, religion, or morality. It requires a declassification of others humanity below the pedestal of a self-aggrandizing self-image of superiority or larceny of opportunity and resources.

This counterfeit social status is a construct of a narrative so propagandized to replicate the delusion as an entitlement associated with a biased concession by oppressive division. It prognosticates the separation of opportunity or rights enjoyed above those rendered. This very act of identity isolation is an allocation of humanity subsidizing the restrictions and tolerance metered out to maintain dominance by exclusion. The racially rationalized advantage of apartheid to the benefactors is now a discrimination against them when it is no longer the modus operandi of societal norms.

So, in essence any measures taken to offset the ill-gotten advantage is unfair to their continued abuses. Consequently, theoretically speaking by this logic any exclusion of a group based on expanded access or a “set aside” for another group is unfair despite the historical context or remedies sought thereof. Therefore, would not military service be such a “set aside” of unfairness to those who did not serve? There are many such “set asides’ such as job seniority, union membership, family legacy, senior citizens, adulthood, and virtually every societal absolution fits the exclusionary definition.

The only difference is not the act of recognition but the criteria of selection based upon a determinate such as the word “race” which makes it unfair. In the context of “race” it is not selective but corrective. If one child eats all the cake from the other child, would it not be fair to the child who has consumed more than their fair share to be curtailed from excluding the other’s consumption as a measure of DEI? The concept of DEI has its faults but not as many as the history or policies it seeks to remedy. Actions to perpetuate  social, economic, and political underclasses appeases a serenity of privilege but agitates the capitulation to injustice.

Injustice by coercion eventually is unsustainable and does not invite tranquility of society but instead sustainable resentment to subjugation. Ethnicity, gender, economics, and opportunity are measures of segregation restricting fairness but in all distorted fairness is promoted as having no disadvantage beyond the advantages not received. There are those hindered by the oppressions which others cavalierly dismiss as non-existent or discontinued. However, the advantage survives the gap created from its presence. The ideological virus of segregationist policies and practices infects the ascension of humanity by stifling contributions as an affirmative action to promoting confirmation of its unfair privilege.

The accusation goes from woke to radical left to Christian conservative values instead of subjective strongarming of ideologies beneficial to a biased agenda. So, affirmative is a conformation. Action is an activity taken. Democratic is a consensus. Apartheid is an abomination of humanity’s sovereignty. Combined they are a confirmation of activities agreed upon to execute an abomination against the sovereignty of a segment of humanity. When the moral check is due from the feast of oppression, the bloated diner cannot skip out on the bill or complain about its payment for a meal they consumed and thoroughly enjoyed.

It is not unreasonable and certainly expected that the provider is entitled to be compensated for the services they provided. There is no dispensation of self-determined nonpayment to avoid settlement or criminal culpability. By the way, it is also customary and expected that a tip accompany the payment. Absent reparations surely affirmative action, DEI, or other corrective measures to discrimination are a smaller domestic cost or social escrow than the billions sent abroad for foreign wars. What about an affirmative action towards funding the domestic war on the historical racial exploitations of America’s democratic apartheid of biblical proportions?

 

A Question of Perspective- Dinosaurs

 Did Dinosaurs exist?

What religion in the world accounts for dinosaurs in the 6,000 years old history of the world? Furthermore, is it more likely the earth’s archeology is incorrect or the narratives of religion are? But, heaven forbid we challenge inconsistent narratives. Global conflicts has arisen from these narratives and will continue until the masses research their beliefs and align themselves with their validation and not anyone’s indoctrination.

Dark History Bright Future Anthem of Evolution- Table of Contents

 

Dark History, Bright Future-Anthem of Evolution by Thurston K. Atlas

Dark History Bright Future   Anthem of Evolution 

  Introduction to Thurston’s Thoughts

 

A-  The Historical View                                               Part B-  Interpretation                      

A- Theory of Critical Race 20                       B- Distorted History  35                       

A- Absolute Certainty  50                              B- Most CeArtainly Did 62                     

A- To Tell the Truth 71                                  B- Pulling the Curtain 93.                    

A- Overdrawn Account 107                         B- The Big Payback 125                         

A- Twisted Reality 147                                  B- Madness to the Method 168         

A- Happy Emancipation  185                      B- Regifting Freedom Again  197      

A- Disturbing Display 220                          B- Hustling Backwards  237                

A- No N-word Allowed 259                         B- Speak no Evil, Do no Harm 270.   

A- Tactical Protest 293                                  B- Power to the Purpose 312.               

 Don’t Say It if We Don’t Mean It  346

 Hard Hat and a Lunch Pail  434

 Mindlessly Tethered  576

 Conclusion 587

 Appendix  601

 

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Dark History Bright Future Anthem of Evolution- Book Description

Dark History Bright Future  Anthem of Evolution

Book Description 

Thurston presents a candid examination of the sociology of racism, modern social systems, primitive rituals, and religious manipulations cloaked in conformities of ignorance. This is a casual forensic inquiry of history, methodologies, ideologies, and consequences of racism, religion, and economics to formulate narratives leading to our modern challenges of divisiveness and conflict. The sanctity of ignorance must be individually and intellectually dissected for suggestive solutions and future perspectives to identify historical traps of distraction, dehumanization, and deceit.

The book’s goal is to stir discovery, self-evaluation, discussion, and the rejection of counter-productive ideologies, behaviors, and conformities designed for subjugation. Among the evaluations are suggestions for solutions understanding the context of time, genetic migration, economic motives, political influence, military conquest, spiritual corruption, and psychological captivity.

 Not surprisingly, these transcend race to maintain exploitation through servitude as essential to a ruling class heavily reliant upon etymological illiteracy. This anthem of evolution is a call to shed the mental shackles of forbidden curiosities and rational impossibilities. Dare to explore your beliefs as the iceberg of deception melts under factual scrutiny. This must have book is an expansive journey into the tip of this deception and ignorance binding us. Free your mind, un-shield your eyes, and hear clearly this resounding message.

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Dark History Bright Future Anthem of Evolution- “African American”

Dark History, Bright Future-Anthem of Evolution by Thurston K. Atlas

Dark History Bright Future  Anthem of Evolution

Excerpts regarding the term “African  American” 

Page 176

Otherwise, there is a distinction such as African American or minority, not of lesser numbers, but as disadvantaged. Never just American. The Olympics is the only time we are simply American. No other race or nationality are referenced by a land many of them never visited and ties dating back over four hundred years. They at least have a country instead of just a continent of origin. However, many have populated this country to have the interim title removed from their designation, simply being called Americans.

Undoubtedly, the ability to Americanize one’s image for easier assimilation diverts attention from themselves, especially by ostracizing others, particularly Black people. Those who arrived by immigration now bemoan immigrants while concealing apparent hints of their immigrant origins.  White and light complexion immigrants easily assimilate into the white culture or middle class and are excluded from adverse comparisons and discrimination. Once incorporated, they quickly develop no allowances for a diversity of perspectives or cultures not rejected by their new identity and cultural spectacles.

Their culture is surrendered in exchange for a new identity welcoming them to the Americanized white subgroup. Not having their identity stolen but surrendered, they fail to see the damage and trauma caused by never feeling or escaping the prolonged ostracization our people have faced. Regarding the “African American” plight, they don’t know the half of it. The sting of the whip or the noose around the neck of it. They instead become members of the system by white association. The system and the integration become indistinguishable.

People are molded to be inflexible and dismissive, while systems are designed rigidly but fickle. Taking the country back for conservative values is maintaining the violation of church and state for religious values to mandate legislative foundations supplementing sociological biases. These customary biases and identities are preferred as normal behavior well entrenched, while any deviation is abnormal or fearfully anticipated. The imbalance that produces their comfort disregards the aggrieved party’s demand for consideration, essentially minimizing and dismissing claims with indignant outrage.

The way it has been is prone to narcissistic impositions by rejecting the evolution of intolerance and discontent to instead embracing inclusion. The majority inclination has shifted from the majority ideology of controlling minority populations. Yet, the now racist minority ideology resists the changing times seeking to rule the majority. The ignorance of the past attempts to paralyze the present and remains opposed and fearful of future possibilities and expectations. Redefining the constructs of society, self-identity, and equality is deemed a threat.

Marginalized society is no longer happy with whatever scraps procured, instead wanting whatever possibilities and considerations advantaged white’s receives. Wanting equilibrium of opportunity and social treatment impartially available and applied. The contempt and discontent are prevalent and pervasive on many levels regarding a biased irrelevant and suppressive application or standard.

However, a stark difference exists, whether it is gender inequality, pay inequality, religious discrimination, educational gaps, healthcare deficiencies, lifestyle orientation, and many others, not just racial profiling and social injustices. Moreover, many deep traumas have been directed towards all subgroups not representative of the dominant controlling group despite being members of other dominant subgroups such as educated, male, or the double whammy, Black and female. Every subgroup has a learned behavior with defining expectations and benefits and is subjected to judgment from other subgroups’ prejudices.

However, the problem arises when it minimizes or infringes on another subgroup to be defined by the standards beneficial to the dominant subgroup. Thus preferences are common to all humans or specific taxon, but the exercise of dominance and privilege where none exist based upon a manipulated interpretation or advantage violates humanity. Continued practice of this violation is not a deterrent for change, it invites it by unfairness. On the contrary, it dictates perseverance because to concede is to assure the imbalance of identity, perspective, and privilege continues.

Page 389

I have a theory, maybe a wacky theory but follow me. Suppose we travel back far enough to the origin of life in Africa. Wouldn’t that make everyone walking the earth African and all Americans African American? Suppose all bi-racial people claim their presumably socially dominant racial identity instead of the lowest relegation of their racial identity. Wouldn’t that make them white if they so choose?

Sort of the reverse one-drop rule where one drop of white blood would make you white or whatever race contributed to your identity. If Canaan was made Black by Noah to curse his father, Ham, then can’t all Blacks claim to be White being descendants of the pure seed of Ham directly from Noah or Canaan when he was white? What about as a descendant of Adam? Genealogy allows for claims of many variations of race or identity.

Furthermore, if people can choose to be non-binary, a singular person can identify as plural, and anyone can be white then why can’t Blacks claim to be any race, even white or no race, as a matter of self-identity, even for government purposes? Why not if it is based on self-identification or ancient history? So what is African American? Is it a color, a lineage, or a classification that secretly segregates us as a distinction other than American?

Look at any government form; under white, it does not have any distinction outside the collective family of white, none indicating origins or lineage. Maybe, everyone’s identity should be an x on forms to eliminate race as a consideration. Makes me wonder if race or gender is even needed since it is questionable what benefits the distinction brings. Arguably, it is more used for discrimination. This could indicate that some re-evaluating needs to occur when these terms have or should have no bearing on determinations or qualifications. But let’s go to the deep waters.

Case in point, to some the greatest President of all times, 45, who claims the confederate heritage and an all-American persona grandfather and grandmother was born in Kallstadt. But he claims white, not German or European. It goes unquestioned and is acceptable because, quietly, most designations of white fall in the immigrant category of impersonating a legacy of American heritage.

My grandmothers and grandfathers were born in Mississippi and Georgia, but I need to claim African American. Their parents and grandparents were born in America. It is a sly segregationist distinction where Black and brown people are further diluted as people of color. These distinctions are misleading, ambiguous, or flat-out lies. We are relegated to a continent or hemisphere, while other races belong to a country, province, city, or culture.

Whites can be of any nationality to claim white. All dark complexion people are not directly from Africa, although all humanity is from Africa, so how far back are we going? If that make all Americans African American by ancestry, whereas a naturalized African would be what? African Americans too, regardless of color. If born in Africa and naturalized in America, that seems to make you African American more than Black. But what that would make you is knowing your natural heritage, which we cannot claim. Still, their struggle is not removed from ours, our reference point is simply different.

Therefore African American signifies unknown origins and lost heritage. How many claim America as their homeland and heritage to take back America? But their roots don’t go back as far as ours in America? They will claim the country but not the atrocities. That would make America ours before it was theirs by way of their immigrant legacy. We have been the N-word, coons, coloreds, negroes, blacks, people of color, and African Americans in the ever-shifting saga of our assigned identity. I claim Black with pride just as others claim their distinction, even confederate, but they refuse to claim squatter.

Black is a legacy American whose ancestors were subjected to slavery, reminding me of my obligation to not defile their sacrifices and tribulations. The analogy is often inconsistent when attempting to retrofit an identity or association. By that metric, is there such thing as Confederate American or Immigrant American according to their heritage and ancestry? Most whites are of immigrant origins compared to descendants of slaves, but they also arrived on a boat, most after us. African American is furthering an insidious distinction that undermines the concept of equality. Minority applies to everyone from Black people to gender, disability, religion, and soon-to-be white in approximately thirty years.

Race is a delusion of numbers and classifications by disproportionate criteria. The technical distinctions defy logic while casually applied. By designation, the census and office of OMB consider African Americans to be anyone whose ancestors’ origins are traced back to the lower regions of Africa, below the northern portion or sub-Saharan. I would imagine even indirectly from another land. So realistically, African American is a polite way to say slave descendant. Everyone else on the globe can be considered white, even if from Africa.

By definition, it is firmly consistent a dark complexion person or so-called Black from the northern part of Africa is white by geography. So with the geographical origins set by that criteria, how does anyone else become classified as African American if not by color? The spectrum of color variations in all lands further extracts light complexion appeal as the overwhelming and overriding criteria simulating whiteness but not by geography. So by geographical designation as evidence, it reveals in general not where they hijacked us from but a dark skin aversion.

By the same curiosity, what slave trade or immigration globally have others undergone in four hundred and fifty years? Does it reflect their geographical origins for direct comparison to ours during the same period? That changes many things in the world, but many it doesn’t change. Globally connect the systems, ideological cultivations, and echoing beliefs throughout that time for an accurate portrait of comparison. From origin to evolution, follow the continuity of repetition over time. The repetition of time cast its shadow as truth without breath possessing only time with more assumed than spoken.

Page 399

This brings it back full circle to the descendant from slavery labeling disguised as African American. Maybe they need to know to exclude us rather than ensure we are included. White includes every light complexion nationality without further distinction whereby they are incorporated by deceptive but established means regardless of time or history in America. Skin tone grants automatic membership and privileges from day one. This is also true for other darker complexion nationalities so long as they are not Black.

Page 401

It would then seem culture not colorism is at play. It also confirms white is more of a social status of inclusion not a race. With African American meaning the descendant of slaves and white meaning everyone else, including descendants of slave owners, it also denotes us not being accepted as belonging on or from this land. White exclaim they need to take their country back, but it was inhabited when they arrived, but no mention of returning it and definitely not vacating it. But, we are welcome to return by boat to Africa when we have been here before almost everyone saying we don’t belong.

Relocated by slavery, our designation is the closest estimation of commonality, Africa, even if over four hundred years ago or more. But, African American also denotes being of unknown origins or lineage from a miscellaneous bin of humanity. It gets confusing because white is miscellaneously composed and defined only by what has not been included, Black people, ignoring genealogy. African American is an oxymoron. Africans suggest we don’t belong here, and American likewise suggest we don’t belong there. Yet, we are tolerated in America as orphans with no specific nationality or ancestral identity.

Abstract Logic

                                   Thurston’s Thoughts

Divergent Tangents of Validation

Abstract Logic

I have a tendency to think in abstract terms to understand human behavior and beliefs. It could be a misapplication but it seems to work for me. Let me explain but first I must set the foundation. Abstract meaning outside the box of common conceptual application or evaluation. Divergent meaning Increasing infinitely in the same direction but on different angles of separation never crossing. Tangent meaning touching at only one point. Axis as a straight trajectory dividing a plane of thought. These are my methods which may differ slightly from the technical terms but I did mention the abstract part. Just trying to explain my process for your understanding.

To obtain a meeting of the minds the terms and starting point must be defined and the process, discussion, or understanding proceed from there. Otherwise, our undefined baseline prevents our logical progression. That is the core concept in general of what is stated above before we slice up the particulars to reach a mutual basis from the analytics of accepted information. This concept can be applied to many beliefs and life circumstances. So not to further bore you with my corny proclivities, I will offer two common examples for you to use as an exercise in my analytics.

The first is religion. Three major religions are the Abrahamic religions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. They intersect at Abraham as the axis or point of belief. Prior to that point they each have a seminal reverse divergence regarding God’s name although the same time frame of creation. Not to exhaust my point but they should not intersect at Abraham if their time frame are the same but beliefs are different. They should be a linear separation or parallel that never cross.

Still, if they start at different points but intersect at a common point yet expand at different angles of belief afterwards they should not intersect again. However they do repeatedly. But otherwise, their tangent regarding many things especially Jesus, the Trinity, and methods of worship do not. Even their divinations and denominations expand on more diverse planes of belief to repeat the pattern for even more angles of separation from themselves.    

The second is Democracy and the Constitution. All American social and political elements converged at these two from revolutionary policies and practices. This is where they intersect as one nation under the same groove which should have created a linear unification. But even as revisionist history must reveal, this tangent of supposed commonality and equality resulted in a greater separation exchanging one tyranny for another.

The current social and political chaos is a direct result of the angle of departure from the tenants of the original principles promoted but never practiced for all. Any attempt to reconcile the trajectory to an axis point centuries laden in divergence is an angle of improbability if adhering to the same tangent. In other words, too far apart to be close together again. The longer they go the farther apart they become. 

Any slight or even tiny angle of deviation becomes wider over time, space, and velocity from its original point of origin indefinitely widening the inconsistencies and discrepancies. It has to create different paths toward separate destinations similar to firing a weapon that is not aligned which doesn’t matter at close range but completely misses the target as the distance increase or the projectile travels farther away.

Any violation of itself is an invalidation from itself. So by geometric principles a single line is self-contained. Two parallel lines infinitely never cross. An angle is a separation from a single point. Consequently, my single point is that if it crosses when it shouldn’t it ain’t straight. So what’s the angle?

Thurston K Atlas

Creating a Buzz

Happy Black Emancipation Day



 

When the truth is a Lie

Rejoice! Hallelujah! Free at Last! Happy Jubilee! Juneteenth is now a holiday. Finally, a day our ancestors never thought would come or perhaps a day they only dreamed about but could it be a day they had already seen. A day full of promises.

Could it be a day that other than symbolically we have yet to have seen? Civil Rights, the Voting Act, Black History Month, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day brought some of the exact lofty expectations and exaltations. Please make no mistake about it; it is progress. We will take it as part of an ensemble while questionable as acknowledgment or satisfaction of meaningful change.

Let history in the future look back and be the judge if June 19th being declared a national holiday is the beginning or just another layover on the way. From this point, history looking back reveals some very curious methods of demonstrating the freedom and emancipation of Blacks in America since that initial day of liberation in 1863.

First, many have diligently and heartfeltly worked to bring about the recognition of this holiday. Second, there are many, many more who rejoice in the celebration of the symbolism of this day. Third, the swell of pride can barely be contained within the satisfaction of its recognition.

A day that is symbolic and celebratory. By no means do I want to diminish or criticize the meaning of its importance, impact, or impression for those feeling the accomplishment or validation of its achievement. However, I wonder if the degree of pride celebrated is really a source of pride symbolically or otherwise comparatively. It has to be contemplated forgoing the reality of its subsequent impact; what is the meat on the bone?

At its core, governed by the reality of its intent, purpose, application, and legislation, what was really “given,” promised, or protected by the notification of freedom. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation changed the practice but not the perception or acceptance of slavery regarding legislative integrity, only the procedure but not the context.

A quasi end to slavery and its overt methods giving way to the begging of equality and the beginning of pseudo freedom. Is Juneteenth a memorial to the atrocity or a celebration of relief from it? Quantify and contextualize the reprieve against the covert and sinister practices that have limited its impact.

If this is a celebration of relief, why are we still subjected to the injustices of discrimination rooted in slavery? Its implications both seen and unseen are effectively both overtly and covertly practiced in principle and purpose. Should it be a day of mourning the indignities suffered and the struggle to shake the remnants of its ideology?

The two-edge sword cuts efficiently on both edges, but the handle is safe from its wounding damage. The handle controls the blade, but who is holding the handle? Whoever controls the handle guides the cut. So, was what was given really received on this day? Was it not granted over two and a half years before and the notification amounted to permission to know.

The question of the delay of freedom’s notification to finally reach the outer regions granting freedom makes me wonder if it was the beginning of liberty or the end of slavery. They appear to be two different things at closer inspection in practice and law but did we fully get either?

Then it would follow that why would you celebrate the delay of the information or change above the day it was enacted into law, January 1st, 1863? Not much had essentially changed except now everyone knew about it. What about those who had already known or where it had already taken effect?

When and where it did take effect was it more in word or prominent by deed? Slavery was followed by Jim Crow and its many variations of systemic racism and injustices. Coloreds only water fountains and lunch counters existed after the Juneteenth notification. Ask Claudette Colvin or Rosa Parks about freedom to ride the bus without being required to give up your seat for a white person.

How easily are we now deceived or pacified by our need for acceptance and validation? We now have the audacity to celebrate a day that did not deliver on what our expectation and interpretation of its intent was. Have we forgotten what was promised? It did technically mostly deliver on not being a physical slave, it did not deliver on freedom from not being treated as a slave or inhumane, but then it never promised that did it?

Forced labor became coerced labor in many cases, and no education became limited or scripted education tilted towards discouragement. In many ways, there is no definitive way to deal with slavery other than to do what it takes to put it behind us by meaningful change of substance.

For example, removing qualified immunity for law enforcement, changing the economic barriers to the equal probability of a possibility of fairness, quality healthcare, education not designed for social engineering, fair taxation, loan and banking reform, criminal justice system reform, and many other reforms or proclamations would have far more reaching substantive benefits than a holiday celebrating something that in principle has yet to happen.

For a bonus, these changes would not be racially biased and would have universal benefits ensuring universal acceptance. Generally, it would be better for the Black condition if certain things were discontinued instead of a hollow holiday celebrated.

As a free nation, do we not, as everyday citizens have the right to celebrate any day we would like without that day being a national holiday, for example, your birthday? Then why do you need the government’s permission to celebrate any day of collective importance to you? You know they sell ribs, beer, and fireworks for celebrations other than government-sanctioned holidays.

For that matter, we have Kwanza, which is largely ignored. At the same time, Christmas is widely celebrated as a government-sanctioned holiday, and credit is given to a white myth, I mean Santa Claus. Thus, it could be misconstrued that we need government approval and validation to determine our cultural celebrations.

Lack of a holiday has never damaged the Black condition. Still, many other societal and institutional injustices have, so why not address them because our grievances won’t disappear with a holiday, but they might with stipulations that address inequities.

We need reciprocity to get what we have contributed to others receiving, what they have been given in equal value, context, and quantity to be reflected in the principles of our Freedom. Freedom can now be defined as the Freedom from discrimination and systemic obstructions to our unhindered participation in the American dream.

Freedom where any racial context is inconsequential to the veracity of our skill and ambition as the only factors, no more or no less than anyone else’s. That should be the interpretation and understanding attached to Juneteenth, not pacifying anyone’s guilt or outrage.

Juneteenth is a participation trophy where nothing was won or given of value. A holiday can’t be given to instill pride and validation to a race of people because, at its essence, it shares the same psychological bondages as slavery to permit you something that should be within your power and dignity to grant yourself.

It is facetious to celebrate something within you because someone permitted you to have the courage to do so. It is, however, an indictment of how far we need to progress psychologically. To claim our pride, identity, and self-acceptance fortifying our strength of self-determination.

 

 

Our validation is a singular individual journey that gives rise to our collective accumulation of ascension by removing ourselves from being part of the problem and demonstrating a statistical representation of the solution. To be counted in our progress.

Like in the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy was told she always had the power just needed to summon it up. Juneteenth, in many ways, was a promise unfulfilled. It has yet to be realized because slavery was transformed into discrimination. It has operated ever since the notification of Freedom reached the far regions of geography but has yet to fully reach the distant regions of modern time.

Time has carried the water of this ideology while bailing water only to have some refilling the vessel of hate. Therefore, celebrating this holiday does very little beyond giving you another reason to fire up the grill and not have to work.

When the celebration ends and the congratulations are done, there will still be more pressing issues that await us. So when we have to get back to the work of substantial practical progress, remain diligent not to let the celebration douse our commitment and resolve needed later to focus on the task at hand.

Any solution upholding Juneteenth purpose and intent lays between the ears of both those who champion or oppose its essence. That is where the problem started and hides. The mind conceals or reveals the perspective whereby the solution rest.

But for now, let us celebrate this day as creating temporary possibilities to pacify a truce of interests and acknowledgment of slavery but not its ills. Recognizing its ending but blinded to its revival in a different form. If this seems cynical or ungrateful, I ask, should I be celebrating Freedom or the end of slavery?

Freedom from the chains implied the condiments of Freedom from discrimination and suppression. Freedom in its essence could not have been given if after a century and almost three score long fight still not received by now. Again, slavery ends but Freedom does not begin. So there goes that delay again.

As the handler of the sword, the wielder is impervious from the damage of the blade. While those who are cut continue to cry out, where is the relief, the Freedom from damages? Should not the one injured be the judge of the injury? Truth is a lie when it is proven false and can’t survive scrutiny, or when it is brutally honest but so truthful it is repulsive and rejected as a falsehood to preserve ignorance. Which is this? The biggest lie ever told is the truth when you do not want to accept it. The lie begins where the truth ends. Where Freedom from discrimination never began.

Warning! Straight no chaser. 

Truth is similar to quicksand. The more you struggle, it engulfs you. So. there can be no opposition where there is no resistance. Likewise, there can be no resistance where there is no opposition. It’s a silly notion that the last day we were notified of our Freedom made transgressions evaporate to become free. They only lessened. Only the coercion, free labor not fair labor, and physical restraint diminished while other ramifications increased. Therefore, are we free from the ramifications of being free?  

We were not promised or given Freedom. They stopped robbing us of it. It was not theirs to take, so how could they give it? Now no longer a slave, are there those who do not know this still? Do we still not fully enjoy our rights despite slavery or freedom from it? The appearance of Freedom without conviction is the problem.

Consequently, being free but unaware until notified gave us a mental perspective devoid only of physical suppression. The question is, what was that perspective? Were better techniques used to accomplish the same effect? Do other’s actions promote we still are not free or do ours that we don’t know we are free? Capitulation is surrender, and submission is by defeat, both primarily of a weakened spirit. Protect yourself at all times from both.

The options are either resistance of the status quo or the system submits you regardless of race, especially if you are black, narrowing the objective and defining the rules. There is no mystery often regarding the rules, but so what, to smell success overcome them because you ARE Black. The motivation is for the smell of it. 

Boasting of the obstacles overcome smells better than crying over obstacles that overcame you. Mental toughness and an analytical resolve supply your mind with the tools needed to overcome barriers. Any breach has been allowed to penetrate your mental perimeter to weaken your spirit. Be careful what is served that you devour; consider the menu and motive before consuming.

This celebration is diluted because the holiday benefits everyone whether they want it or not. Our experience paid for this day, so where are specific concessions for us with practical solutions to our Black condition. We are hustling backward for what we already grind for with everyone else now along for the feast. For transgressions against Blacks, it’s reasonable to assume any concessions would be specifically directed toward a black redress without exceptions.

Many issues linger despite the late notification or holiday for us to be patronized away from essential changes. A benefit analysis reveals the sum impact of the holiday probably is not a substantial change. Its practical benefit is not much more than if it had not been declared a holiday. It is devoid of any meat on the bone. Granted, the holiday is an absolutely appreciated acknowledgment if you accept payment in holidays, not practicalities.

Freedom is a concept manifested more in what is not taken than what is given. It is the availability of choices unhindered. Freedom gives you more options and a better selection, but not what is available to choose from, instead only what you can choose from. How available and accessible are these choices? Freedom restricts what you can not do while defining what you are allowed to do.

Freedom taken and is unable to be returned, dignity tarnished but cannot be restored, and permission still by your notification indicates the facade of Freedom yet to be realized. Unable to take or grant either now leaves only the lingering phycological afflicting bondage of spirit and mind to be shaken. We freely control that unless we relinquish it. Stand on it, stand in it, but don’t loiter around it. Loitering is a sign of hesitation. Claim it, not be told it.

Therefore, you are always free, but your options are always regulated. The mind evaluates what it is told, distinguishing whether you are notified, already knew, or believe. So it was not the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, or the last notification made on June 19, 1865, that freed the slave it was being told.

You must know your self-worth within your mind without being told or having to ask. A strong will and a knowledgeable mind are formidable opponents when the mind becomes an elite intellectual weapon. A weapon always at the ready, rendering you unable to be disarmed. Our mind is the final frontier of contention to be conquered by us to guarantee our Freedom by our permission. Like Dorothy, we always had the power.

Knowledge is the currency of prosperity, and that is why it is always forbidden. Knowledge is Freedom. Know that, practice that, and become that. We must master our minds. You must be made to remain ignorant to remain a slave, obedient, or perpetuate a slave mentality. Ignorant of knowledge but mostly of ourselves and our possibilities. A piece of paper signed or late word spread is no longer sufficient control to restrain our minds or liberties. Our lack of discipline and determination is.

As Ten Bears said, no four corners of a paper can hold the iron. The iron is in the tongue when you speak, and in the actions you take. And if I might add, the iron is in the mind’s thoughts and heart’s determination to defeat any obstacle placed before you. 

We must know by now!

Happy Juneteenth to all.

Enjoy your Freedom and holiday.

 

Thurston K. Atlas

Creating a Buzz

 

Spread No Further



Legacy of Contamination

I remember as a young fella, quite naturally I am going back a number of years, but I remember a television show named Lost in Space. The main characters were Dr. Zachary Smith and a robot. Dr. Smith was always whining and nervously candy-assing his way through every episode.

When confronted with danger, he would sell you out in a heartbeat. The robot would repeatedly proclaim, this does not compute Will Robinson, and malfunction shutting down when anything was beyond his programming and understanding.

Contamination is understood to mean a state of impurity or poisoning of something that results in spoilage, corruption, infection, or unfitness. It also spreads with a hazardous impact throughout entire countries, continents, or the world. By definition, the following most certainly will qualify as such toxins, when the contamination is ideological, but the intent was purposeful. It magnifies the outrage.

The biggest obstacle to dealing successfully with these contaminates have been far more than the lack of recognition and transparency but the outright lies that continue to be perpetuated and promoted. Instead of the names changing to protect the innocent, the names of the guilty remain the same, while their guilty deeds are made innocently invisible.

In an old gangster movie it was said, if you do not fear for your deed, then why fear for your name. No one should deny them their full credit if we are to be led to believe that these deeds are so admirable. If so deservingly earned, why not attach their name to all they have done. After all, they have been glorified and exalted to be of exemplary emulation as influences on America.

Ronald Reagan, Charles Darwin, King James I (or aka the IV), Great Britain, Christopher Columbus, Capitalism / Colonialism /Patriotism, and Healthcare have surely earned such distinctions in no particular order but with long-lasting implications. And now, yes, added to the infamous ranks is none other than the nefarious Donald Trump himself.

If you wonder whether the current pandemic is man-made, then there is no such question concerning the influence of the pandemics mentioned above. Of that, we can be sure. However, although I imagine all did some good, we could have all been better off without them considering the damage done.

Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)– the great communicator and alleged drug dealing undeniable racist of trickle-down elitist economics. His impact and the impact of his directives can still be felt today with a legacy of crack cocaine aided by Oliver North, who later was head of the NRA.

They stood accused by the U.S. Government and history. The Iran Contra scandal was a way to circumvent the workings of the U.S. government funding protocol by not only trafficking drugs but guns and funneling money for a war in a foreign country.

Drug addiction and other forms of inebriation to cloud judgment and diminish will or resistance are weapons used against populations for hundreds of years and cause many years of dysfunctional impediment. Whether building wealth, raising cash, funding objectives,or promoting corruption, drugs have proven quite lucrative and effective.

That the crack epidemic was directed towards the black communities should come as no surprise. It could have been foretold by Reagan’s shared racist views with disgraced Presidential bigot Richard Nixon.

In October of 1971, Ronnie was recorded long before his Presidency by Nixon of the “these cannibals” utterances. He stated,” to see those- those monkeys from the African countries, damn them, they are still learning how to wear shoes.” Reagan was indeed a man of his time as many in government shared this sentiment regarding Blacks in America.

This ideology seems to have played out in his presidency after his California governor stint, where he proclaimed that housing discrimination was a property owner’s right. He was against sanctions of Apartheid in Africa as President. His trickle-down effect politics at its core is F— ’em and feed them cheese while taking care of the elite interest at the top.

There was considerable economic suffering among minorities and low-income Americans under his eight-year tenure, which ended in 1989. In addition, Reagan created a legacy of drug addiction, crime, and incarceration lasting over thirty years after leaving office. His impact was not only felt in the States but other drug-torn countries and toppled governments.

Charles Darwin (1808-1882)– revealed his bigoted evolution by his obviously primitive twisted mind while masquerading as a scientist promoting a premise of natural selection. Furthermore, he believed in racial hierarchy and gender superiority, stating that the woman’s brain was similar to a small child’s brain, well beneath a man’s brain.

The Descent of Man principles were taught as fact, further perpetuating this privileged class and racist view. It exalted the Caucasian male, especially the European Caucasian, claiming that the negro and the Australian or aborigines are closer to the ape and gorilla in all matters. All other members of humanity were also beneath the white male but above the colored.

The New York Times advocated and found no fault with others displaying a pygmy male, Ota Benga, in the Bronx Zoo in a cage with monkeys to prove Darwin’s Theory of evolution. The Bronx Zoo, then owned by William Rockefeller, had no problem displaying it in 1906, claiming he was a cannibalistic link between the African and apes.

Instructed and enforced consciously and subliminally that the white race was superior to all with the white male at the top of the evolutionary chain. Darwin encouraged genocide to fully exterminate and replace savages throughout the world in addition to a duty to and justification for slavery thinly veiled as Social Darwinism. Supported by his equally misguided cousin, Francis Galton, they convinced or justified what continues to plague the world today nearly 140 years after Darwin’s death.

These two gave rise to eugenics (1883) which greatly inspired Adolf Hitler and Nazism (1933) based on the reproduction of a master race. Undesirable elements of humanity, such as the poor, uneducated, immigrants, and minority populations, were to be exterminated. Today they are widely known as not only minorities but “essential workers,” expendable.

Hitler was known to say if you tell a big enough lie enough times, it will become true. Darwin has yet to be fully discredited and exposed. Mimicking this Trump lies so much today with similar results as Hitler and praise of the swastika-like symbol confederate flag.

King James I (1566-1625)– that practitioner of behaviors supposedly forbidden and denounced by the most famous book in the world, which bears his name, the Bible. He has been of particular detriment to society.

He has violated the trust and sincere yearning for the Christian guidance of billions of seekers by being in a position at a time in history to manipulate and change the Bible. It reflects his purpose and ambition of control, vanity, and systematic racism.

The issue of marriage and homosexuality has been vigorously debated and rebuked. Marriage, at times, was just a contract of a partnership between two parties that needed the support of each other to accomplish a task. It had nothing to do with gender or a sexual relationship; it was just business. In comparison, using self-righteous judgments of impositional morality against those who choose to live outside the mainstream traditional acceptance of both, condemnation is inflicted.

King James I in the era of #metoo would have been a prime offender allegedly primarily canoodling with Lord Buckingham of British and Buckingham Palace fame as his longtime same-sex lover through coercion or the Weinstein technique of courtship. His infidelity and sexual appetite were rampant, contrary to the book that bears his name, but vanity was his primary sin and objective.

Lord Buckingham proclaimed himself to be the “slave and dog,” a not very royal title, of King James at his disposal to be turned every which way but loose. The next time someone stands on a stack of King James Version of the Holy Bible condemning homosexuality, infidelity, fornication, and same-sex unions, remember he openly practiced them. The charade continues nearly four hundred years after King James’ demise.

Charles Darwin was of British descent like King James and his self-proclaimed slave and dog Lord Buckingham marking a long and less than royal history of racism in Britain. The London Company, Henry VIII, William Shakespeare, Elizabeth I, and Charles I was embedded in British racist society. This honored their racism and garnered adulation for the whiteness of their influence, bloodline, and royalty. 

Christianity had struggled before Constantine’s vision before a victorious battle which converted him to Christianity and his Council of Nicaea (325, 381).

If not for Constantine and King James I, you might now worship animal deities, numina, or ancestral worshipping. They were pervasive practices in Rome before embracing Catholicism. Now, sprinkle in some Titus of Flavian lineage and Theodosius I for influential good measure shaping modern Christianity.

The Catholic Church has also committed some unholy deeds and indulgences. They were a prominent presence benefiting directly from participation in the slave trade and spreading their religion to educate heathens. This served more to deter slaves from revolt and resistance while having been robbed of their resources and identity.

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) a murderer and marauder, which perhaps none have done better when it comes to conquest and colonialism. His influence can be felt in America, the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, and Canada as he spread his European brand of death, bondage, disease, and greed.

He had ambitions of conquering Asia and proving to the Spanish Crown that he could strong-arm gold, precious resources, and slaves in sort of a bum rush midnight raid. In the process, he left a path of destruction, genocide, theft, and slavery everywhere he went and influenced those who followed to do the same.

 

The Taino of Arawak descent was the first to taste his homicidal thirst on the island of Hispaniola, Columbus taking advantage of their cultural lack of aggression and abundance of hospitality. He left them decimated and diseased coincidentally with smallpox and extinction.

Smallpox was gifted to the Native American or Indigenous people of this land long occupied by them. Somehow, that which had already been discovered and indeed occupied was whitewashed. It was credited to Columbus’s exploration as his discovery.

Columbus is no hero worthy of a national holiday. He is a squatter and, most appropriately, a war criminal and a warmonger without opposition, compassion, or a war. He is the father of colonization in the new land bringing slavery and death while providing how it can be done to an inviting population.

His sole purpose was not to prove the world was round or to discover new lands but was motivated by a decree to see who he could jack of their resources and enslave their people, and that is why he is an American hero today.

The pride some so adamantly claim of Columbus’ heritage must be made in full disclosure and support of his genocidal ways. It is a shameful commentary that no one else of that heritage can be deemed more deserving than him.

The father and founder of slavery in the Americas unleashing discrimination lasting over five hundred years later. Colonialism/Capitalism was built on robbery, theft, deception, and oppression, including death. It is no longer practiced exclusively against the poor, immigrant, purposefully ignorant, women, and minorities but the working and middle class.

Yes, the middle class is now infiltrating the lower class when they thought they were safely above it. Pure greed recognizes no boundaries. Laissez-Faire is the foundation of Free Market Capitalism to not interfere with the free market of survival of the fittest unless it affects the rich.

The Marxist theory of socialism and the Fascist principles urging ultra-nationalism and racism are inbred with today’s capitalism. Capitalism, Marxism, and Fascism are conducting an intimately salacious threesome in a democracy where it is unchecked. It is becoming a dictatorship suppressing criticism and truth obliged by silence or vigilantism to protect the money or political ideology that protects the power.

The great American Revolution and the Boston Tea Party were supposedly about taxation without representation, but what about representation without taxation. Some rich do not pay any taxes at all and boast of it. How is that possible or acceptable in a country founded on tax disputes and fairness?

Capitalism is becoming straight-up indentured  servatude and exploitation where assistance to the poor is primarily considered socialism while the bailouts and incentives for the wealthy are justified economic policies.

The healthcare system image is as long as you owe them, they will never be broke, and you will never be well. Healthcare itself is not the problem, but the rules the system is forced to adhere to for its survival. It promotes corruption from within, seeming like a high-stakes poker game where significant resources or DEBT are required to participate. Same for educational and student loans, the game is debt.

Medicine is an instrument used to launder money and redistribute wealth, probably better than the stock market. Consider all the substances which are legal but detrimental to your health. Many create not only sickness but outrageous medical expenses. There can be no other justification other than money. Look no further than the opioid crisis.

Crack was devastating, and it had a child named OxyContin, cousin to the dog food dating back to the Vietnam war exit and before. Opioids and heroin are nothing new, but the last 60 years have spanned these three illicit drugs to continue to be a destructive toll on populations by design.

Then, crack was a crime heavily and unevenly punished, but Oxy and dog food is now a disease by demographic selection. Opioids created wealth through sales and now through treatment.

Marijuana, which has many medicinal purposes, is only now being utilized, but the argument against it being its unknown effects and addictive nature. Other substances are allowed, encouraged, and addictive with industry backing and profits. This does influence their acceptability with well-known health damages if that is the case. This is where the lobbyist and special interest groups come into corrupt the reality of its danger.

Compared to the things that we know the side effects of with no medicinal purposes, the argument is weak. If addiction is a concern, then what about alcohol, cigarettes, or sugar, among many. Control of hemp products, the newspaper industry wars, and good old racism is again the original root opposition of a ban on marijuana.

Donald J Trump (1946 -, 45th President of U.S.) that stern representation of the Confederate legacy, American heritage, and Patriotism. He can boast of himself dodging the draft, an immigrant background by way of his grandfather coming here after being dispelled from his country for dodging the draft, and family roots from the drumpf’s of Kallstadt, formerly of Bulgaria, not the patriotic founding fathers.

Real Patriots of the Republic to make America great again would not participate in any government stimulus, assistance, subsidies, bankruptcy protection, business or corporate bailout as an inspiration and example of their beliefs just like their opposition to the vaccine. Instead, they participate in the overthrow of the government and an election without realizing what happens when you tire of Trump, elections again? Not likely.

However, when the shoes get tight, where are your patriotic principles now. Without excuses, please, since you reject all reason, then please give no excuses. The puppeteer exploits your ignorant complicity to threaten your beloved Constitution and Democracy for his glory.

If you would relinquish your freedom to vote him out or his offspring, then what? Racism is the number one killer in the world of opportunity, whether by drug addiction, economic suppression, or any other socially engineered construct of control.

No wonder it is hard to advance, it is most likely to have been by effective design and not human frailty or lack of ambition. Most of these atrocities were committed in the name of morality, religion, and politic. The rest can be attributed to pure unadulterated greed. Now Patriotism is the new buzzword and dog whistle.

Arianism is the belief that Jesus is above man but below God, which a twisted adaptation is used today to promote racism in essence insinuating that the white race is above all other races. That and Patriotism are alibied to save the country. Their Patriotism aims to restore America to what principles or period and, how by government coup, mass murder, or slavery?

The above examples of how dangerous these fallacies, grandiose delusions of superiority, mass deceptions, and wanton acts against segments of society are promoted. It is transmitted as intentional contamination of reality and faith persistent throughout time. It ignores truth and fairness but embraces ignorance, violence, and inequality from a self-appointed group of moral law and order manipulators with religious principles.

They want you to believe the meek will inherit the earth but let us not forget even Jesus warned of a house divided. Something more closely resembling fairness, equality, and freedom must emerge soon if we avoid the fate of all great civilizations before us. The clouds of unrest rumble on the horizon of implosion.

With the former leader of the free world attempting to install himself as a quasi-dictator by promoting insurgence via a violent takeover of the Capitol lawmakers in one fell swoop, our foundation is wobbling badly right now yall. Like all of the above, Trump’s actions will have long-lasting repercussions both at home and abroad. The chaos has been ignited.

We are a resilient nation when in solidarity. We have survived much, but as we now tussle with the Covid-19, which Trump unduly exacerbated by admittedly downplaying the presence and deadly consequences, regardless of how it originated. He bungled the response.

The foundation of what has stood for 244 years is on the brink of destruction and collapse in four years of one man. A day of ego soothing indiscretion and foolishness carried out by his army of terrorists threatens Democracy.

Remember, those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. This is how dictatorships and strongmen come into power, but they keep control by oppressing those who brought them to power. They prefer the iron fist technique of persuasion for their longevity of rule.

These above-referenced influences of American foundational structure and guidance have a very well-earned placed in history and should be rightfully singled out for their intentional and insidiously contrived transmission of mental and social contamination. Let us not forget the accompanied death and suffering. Now we can add the destruction of Democracy and Capitalism.

You cannot have Capitalism without Democracy. Trump is not solely to blame because the table was set long before him. He just feasted at the table. However, he can be held to account for his contribution, and many share his vision if not his methods. This needs to spread no further.

Hopefully, it is not too late to forgive them, for they know not what they do. Seduced and cajoled by a snake oil salesman bent on deceit, vanity, and ego inflation selling miracle notions and poisonous potions. It is the puppet master who pulls the strings when the puppet dances.
Now, this seems like being lost in space with the cowardly constantly whining Dr. Smith and the robot, who frequently cannot compute reality and have malfunctioning meltdowns. A sellout and his malfunctioning companion, the public.

 

Thurston K. Atlas

Creating A Buzz

 

 

Patriotism and The American Way



Why does it Taste so Different?

Here we go again. The Capitol revolt at its core is aggression to preserve a mangled distortion of truth and a delusional rejection of reality.

An effort to circumvent an outcome that did not unfold according to a preferred advantage. The proclaimed love and allegiance to Democracy, Capitalism, and the Constitution has revealed itself to be a farce when white privilege and rogue expectations are unfulfilled.

Fairness and equality have never been the American way, with more than a thumb of collusion on the scales and at the highest levels subversively unbalancing the scales of justice. Justice is not blind but peeking to distinguish who it shall be imposed upon and who has an inalienable right to the exclusion or special consideration from its application.

Claiming the founding fathers at your back and the confederate Flag at your front, this violent takeover attempt screams insurgence and only in whispers can be called a coup.

“Loyal patriots” now fight not for the country but in mutiny against it to unseat our government and overrun the Capitol chambers decimating Democracy.

Camouflaged as patriots while masquerading as protestors, the insurrectionist has undertaken to highjack a national election and have the moral integrity of this country bent to their ideology. A minority ideology at that according to election results.

It is an obvious annihilation of and contradiction to Democracy at the behest of the highest office in the land. Not aligned with but in direct opposition to that which you claim to hold dear, our democratic society.

It is not about Resident drumpf either, at least in principle, but he did promote the fabrication and this notion of patriots. They are not patriots, and white folks are not the only ones to have served this country as real patriots.

A wide variety of racial backgrounds and women served in defense of this country despite being discriminated against, segregated, and/or excluded from service.

These groups have all persevered to serve their Flag and country honorably. These groups have served in some capacity from the beginning of this nation to support this country, especially doing times of war. Only the traitorous confederates have ever turned on this country and now seek a resurgence. There are examples of when patriots were patriots and not all white.

At the birth of this nation, a patriot merchant has been historically acknowledged as the first to give his life in defense of what would become the nation we know today.

This patriot was Crispus Attucks, a Black Man. He was the first to be shot and killed, which started the American Revolution by the Boston Massacre that ignited freedom from British rule.

He was a former slave and partly of Native American heritage. To honor his moral courage and contribution at the founding of this nation, he was laid in State, which necessitated the waiver of segregation laws.

He took two to the chest while others were shot in the back. His murderer, a white British soldier, and others were placed into custody. They were put on trial to symbolize the fair justice this land would later become known for, instead of being lynched for their crime immediately.

Even back then, six were acquitted of the eight soldiers who fired shots, and two were convicted and given reduced sentences. Once again, a Black Man shot and his white murderers shown leniency and defended by John Adams. This brand of fair justice is still on display today.

I guess some might say Crispus Attucks did not serve. Some others would say that Crispus Attucks served America before America was. However, there is no dispute that he gave his life at the very start of this nation while confronting tyranny or at the very least protesting it.

He is the very first American Hero; he was “the first to defy and the first to die” at age 47. Attucks and the other four brave protesters murdered set off the Boston Tea Party against British rule and injustice. As they say, the rest is history, but it is not surprising that they blamed the protesters for being fired upon. So, modern-day patriots, check your history.

William H Carney, born a slave, escaped slavery through the underground railroad. He was the first Black soldier to earn the Medal of Honor for valor at Fort Wagner during the Civil War. He took three shots in total but managed to fight on, picked up the American Flag, and carried it the whole time while advancing.

He was taken to a field hospital, relinquishing the Flag while never letting it touch the ground. Let us not forget that he had been shot three times after he picked up the Flag but still managed to keep the American Flag from touching the ground.

Andre Cailloux of Drew Brees’s very own beloved New Orleans was born a slave and became a Union Captain. He had his arm blown off by cannon fire during combat but continued to spearhead the charge on a suicide mission while he was gravely wounded until he was killed. It was commonplace to give the most dangerous missions to the “colored” units, who did a lot of the heavy lifting.

Many other Black heroes are listed in history for their valor during the Civil War against the Confederates attempting to overthrow America’s government.

However, because the treasonous Confederates fought against the American Flag and this country being soundly defeated, I guess you could say they were on the wrong side of history again. The Confederate flag stands for treason and slavery; what else was the Civil War about but preserving economic advantage.

American Sergeant Henry Johnson, a Black Man, single-handedly fought off German soldiers in the trenches of France during WWI. He was injured twenty-one times. As a result, he was one of the first Americans to be awarded the prestigious French Croix de Guerre Avec Palme, the highest award given by France to anyone.

He was awarded the Purple Heart and Distinguished Service Cross posthumously in the United States 57 years and 63 years after his death. As a member of a negro unit, he used a knife, a rifle, and his bare hands to fight off two dozen German soldiers.

When he was not busy fighting also managed to save lives. But, unfortunately, the racism of that time prevented many black patriots of valor whose heroics were absolutely needed but not awarded.

The Tuskegee Airmen nicknamed “the Red Tails” fought in WW2 with exemplary distinction escorting planes critical to the supply chain. Their war efforts significantly contributed to the Allies’ victory.

So skilled and fearless this “colored unit” that despite the extreme racism and segregation pervasive at that time, they forced the United States military out of extreme necessity and often at white squadron’s request to use them to ensure safe missions and swing the advantage to the allies.

They are not to be confused with the Tuskegee Study done in 1932, where black men were used as research specimens for the government study of syphilis. Done without their consent or knowledge and allowed to go untreated. The men were intentionally infected with syphilis which caused blindness, insanity, other ailments, and ultimately their premature deaths. Did they serve medicine?

Patriots of a different kind, I guess, for the advancement of medicine. In 1940 when penicillin was discovered as the cure, they still were not offered treatment.

When it became unethical to conduct such experiments in the U.S., they merely moved them to Mexico and began experimenting on their population. These human trials are why old heads did not trust the medical profession; better to be sick than dead.

Doris “Dorie” Miller, a cook, jumped in the gunnery seat and operated anti-aircraft weapons with no training and attended to the wounded later was awarded the Navy Cross.

The day was December 7, 1941, that day that will live in infamy known as Pearl Harbor. He was the first responder to defend this country against that attack. That probably qualifies as a patriot.

The right to protest is in the DNA of this country. The voice of the people heard and their right to demonstrate their discontent with the treatment of citizens.

The Vietnam War was a very unpopular war with the American Flag burned by white Americans, soldiers treated far worse than kneeling before the Flag, and the soldiers returning “home” from service spat upon. We needed civilian patriots then to not stand for that disrespect of the Flag and returning troops.

Ohio National Guard fired upon Kent State students protesting the Vietnam War on a college campus for protesting. Four students were murdered and nine others injured on May 4, 1970, the outrage and fallout from the student-led protest shutdown colleges across the country.

Resident Richard Nixon, that purveyor of racism, would be proud of Resident drumpf deadly antics now to “dominate” protesters he opposes but supports those who violated Democracy in the worst way since confederacy.

The hope that students and young people will lead us out of this shameful history is in question since some have been poisoned with wanting to “make America great again.

Many Black Women patriots also made significant contributions to the freedom that allows others to enjoy liberties that they did not. In addition, many other marginalized people of different racial backgrounds have and continue to serve this country and Flag.

Women, including Black Women, have and still fight for equality, safety, and recognition to this day.

For many years women were never treated as full citizens, believed by Charles Darwin to have the mind of a child, justifying their denial of the right to vote or run for office. The Women’s Suffrage Movement is still essentially being fought today since 1848 but is now reflected more in wage disparity and health care.

So, when it looks like this is just a racial issue, it is not nor is it a group’s radical claim to Patriotism despite others’ contribution. It is a discrimination issue manifested and facilitated by racism and sexism. Racism is the longest and most vile offense among many that fuels this brand of Patriotism quivering behind morality and religion.

Black folk’s specifically and others in general, have a record that speaks for itself of being patriots when respecting the American Flag and military service. America’s record speaks for itself too when it comes to this Democracy and the Flag, but this is a flag that never gave a dam about anyone but “white males.”

Is Democracy is just for white radicals to disperse according to their will and not be confined by the principles upon which it rests?

Well, that’s a fat cat’s easy street if you can find it. Despite Black’s service to this country, the “love” has yet to be fully felt. Instead of love, hundreds of years of brutality and economic suffering under this Democracy that you claim we should love so much.

Still, no violent storming of the Capitol because an election did not meet our black expectations or the horrible treatment we have suffered. Now tell me what seems like a better reason.

We would love Democracy more if it had done for us what it has done for you. Despite that, we have fought for the American dream that does not include us despite exhausted patience and the insanity of forgiveness.

Patriotism is a choice, a collective pride, albeit an individually made choice. Patriotism has transcended our atrocious experiences, harsh treatment, blatant discrimination, and even brutal murder. Talking about loving Patriotism under duress or unfulfilled expectations.

You would not expect the Jewish community to salute, fight for, or stand for the Nazi Flag with the atrocities against their people, but Blacks not only still stand but also serve a flag and country that should thank us for our service.

In times of crisis like 911, we are one nation, America Strong. Still, otherwise, we are n—-rs, relegated to second-class citizenship whose voting preferences should be overturned by a mob on capitol hill.

The very foundation of America was built on the brutality of slavery, and the same Constitution of The United States of America, which never included Black folks, might need to start sincerely including us for real. We fought too.

I think we have earned the right not to be treated dismissively. If not, I believe we have earned the right to protest by peacefully kneeling to symbols that have oppressed us. Our oppression has been much worse than the founding father of America have ever experienced or “patriots” whining about an election lost.

The alternative to kneeling is standing up straight and tall with our backs un-bent, displaying the same valor for ourselves that we have time and again displayed for this country.

All those who may feel our centuries-old struggle feel their own, demonstrating their dissatisfaction by their vote. In a democratic society, we have somehow become unpatriotic by not storming the Capitol attempting to overthrow Democracy.

The Black Man has every right to be constantly in fear for his life regularly given America’s continued assault on our lives and dignity. This is nothing new, but it has gotten very old.

Of all the law enforcement personnel at the Capitol, only one shot was fired despite thousands of violent terrorists besieging Democracy and even causing death. At the same time, none was in fear of their life to fire a shot except one.

Some did appear to be too busy yucking it up, giving tours, or fleeing but not in fear to use force deadly or otherwise if as if it were one black man with his back turned. No fear, no enforcement, no preparation, and no problem.

Encouraged by their deceitful and egocentric leader, white supremacists, conspiracy theorists, and enemies of Democracy attempted a violent insurrection. He whipped them into a violent frenzy that can only move in large numbers and with intimidation and consent but mostly with weapons.

Overwhelming odds are a common theme of their beer muscle courage and Gestapo tactics. Their efforts were very short-sighted unless it was implied complicity that they could, or it was preferable to unseat the government and install a dictator. By some appearances and concessions, it might not be too far-fetched by the lack of resistance shown.

The people in a majority have spoken in more overwhelming numbers united not by race but as citizens of a democracy. Yet, when violent armed puppets lack even the courage to process disappointment, instead, they bellyache and hatch a coup to eradicate any future elections, especially if they do not agree with the outcome.

So, the American military will be deployed against citizens protesting racism for looting stores but not against terrorist looting democracy and forcing entry into a beacon of democratic structure fundamental to our countries existence and national security.

King David, a boy still, stood courageously against the mighty Goliath with just a slingshot, not with his boys, a mob, or heavy weaponry.

A lone protester in China among many protesters unflinchingly positioned himself in front of an armored tank in Tiananmen Square with steeled resolve. Without his boys or heavy weapons, armed with only his courage and conviction.

Where is the courage from some of our elected officials to protect Democracy? Instead, some folded to the whims of one man? Although he had law enforcement and the military at his discretion, he still did not deploy them, thereby endangering some legislature’s lives during the attack?

A failure of this magnitude cannot be exaggerated or summarily dismissed. The government was on the brink of being maimed or overthrown.

The Resident can admonish and sanction the Chinese government over Hong Kong, but he does or threatens to do the same in a democracy. At least they admit to authoritarian rule. As the bigoted puppet master’s anxiety level escalates over the end of his term, so did his desperation and blunders.

While the country fragments, he produces a karmic cause and effect that his hate base has to find ever more blatantly bizarre explanations to explain and dismiss his actions.

He has kept them on their toes with little to work with but plenty of blatant lies and divisive tweets. With pathological lying so acceptable to his base, they should encourage their spouse and children to lie whenever they open their mouth.

His lies have become more divisive and hazardous to Democracy, as well as an obstruction to the current administration. So why are career people considered knowledgeable in their field, exceptionally experienced, and highly qualified silent and disposable in favor of his delusions and ambitions?

Is it because they don’t want to risk not being re-elected or appointed in the future, or have their careers ruined at the cost of the country, our Democracy, and the Constitution?

Is it acceptable to pander to cronyism and nepotism by placing your enablers and uniquely unqualified children in government positions as if this is your family business? I remember when that use to be a crime or least frowned upon, but it has added to the element of instability.

Look at the country and our diminished position in the world severely compromised by a coup attempt, and we can all see the ramifications of the disastrous atmosphere he created.

Meanwhile, his dog whistle and overt urgings to his misguided base have not ceased when he is no longer in office. Therefore, one must ask if he becomes more or less dangerous when he no longer has the pretense of restrictions associated with the oval office.

Patriotism must stop being used as a justification and symbol of oppression and white supremacy. Beware “thugs and looters” when the looting starts the shooting starts but rest assured Capitol terrorists when the siege begins, he will sit back and grin.

Elections are for the people’s majority to always be heard in the end. Majority rules, history has taught us that. It is Patriotism for Democracy and the American way. To ensure more Patriotism for the country then maybe diminish the un-patriotic actions.

Is it more distressing to kneel or turn away from the flag as opposed to openly advocate for civil war and overthrowing the government that the flag represents? Just as all have the freedom to honor the flag, all also have the freedom to not so much.

Please reconcile using coercion but being resistant to its use by others. Seemingly some are patriotic to their perspective, not the principles of freedom. 

P.S. At any rate, without Twitter to keep him up at night, I hope Patriotism can sleep well.

Thurston K. Atlas

Creating A Buzz

Christianity Weaponized



 Without Question but with Doubt?

In the movie “The Book of Eli,” starring Denzel Washington, his character was the blind guardian of the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible and its teachings were in danger of extinction and were obsessively sought after by the evil antagonist, Carnegie. Carnegie believed that the book’s power rested in its ability to control the hearts and minds of the people.

Ultimately, he believed that the possessor would have tremendous power over the people. The belief of the people in the word of this book, the book’s implied integrity, and the assumed authenticity of the book could be exploited to control them, deceive them, and make them obedient by their dedicated worship.

When the people believed, their belief would be susceptible to engineer justifications and accept otherwise unreasonable assumptions or conditions by a mysterious mandate from an invisible deity who required obedience and would be unquestionable.

The devoted religious stipulations would concede complete submission and worship. It would be reinforced by parents, family, culture, community, and sometimes country as a foregone supposition. It is an indoctrination that integrates with one’s identity and requires the compliance of one’s actions.

I have been conflicted by this topic for quite some time and have tried to avoid it, but it keeps coming back, compelling me to ask the questions I have pondered to further reconcile my indoctrination with my acquired knowledge. Therein lies the dilemma, follow my upbringing of what I was conditioned to believe. Or follow my discoveries that challenge the validity of that acceptance.

Can two things be true that are diametrically in conflict on many levels, and any attempt to merge them still leaves distance and inconsistencies that only raise more questions? What I was introduced to believe from a child was not my choice and maybe not even my people’s choice for them to accept and teach, but it was all they knew.

Having studied and researched religion and history, I can’t help but venture into uncomfortable territory searching for the truth. I seek the truth by definitively deciphering religion without any emotional influence or feeling any betrayal of my ancestral conditioning.

Deductive reasoning leaves me even more baffled. What I was taught was out of love. The best belief and “knowledge” available to them at the time. A belief down to their DNA instilling obedience to and worship of the Lord. It is no doubt that perpetuated beliefs in the devil, prayer, and God has kept people in submission, acquiescing to enduring hardships as a test of faith.

This being the will of the Lord, even if it is in direct opposition to his very “attributed” words and teachings. The concept keeps you in constant subservient despair for a reward to come after death, although no one has verified or bore witness to this “glory” called the afterlife of judgment and salvation. I guess that is why they call it belief in faith.

In theory, you would remain in limbo in some dimension until judgment day, which by our general knowledge includes every human being ever born or at least since the time of Jesus. That would be an astronomical number of people awaiting judgment day at the same time. Imagine the logistics of processing all those souls simultaneously and keeping the records accurate, but that is the power of God or your qualifying explanation which I shall not dare question.

In the movie, Eli was blind, yet he navigated the world and defended himself without any obvious limitation, seemingly having sight and being guided by the vision of faith. That single-purpose vision enabled him to “blindly” commit to the deliverance of the book.

Although the book was physically taken from him, it was intricately fused in his mind and psyche through constant exposure and relentless repetition. His existence, adherence to the Bible’s words, and deliverance of that word to the masses consumed him until his death, even having caused his death. So strong was his belief in the word and his determination to deliver the word that he willingly died for it, accepting that complete sacrifice may be required.

That is a possibility when you are a true believer, knowing that no suffering is too great or too long to satisfy the unquestioned wisdom of God or to submit to the evil of Man by turning the other cheek. Even the Lord needed warriors such as Joshua, but we, the meek, shall inherit the world through our suffering.

Logically and physically, turning the other cheek would conceivably end with you having two swollen and sore cheeks while waiting for them to tire of slapping you, but this is what is required by God, for the love of God, and love of your brothers or sisters. So dare not rise up against someone who is harming you but let the Lord handle it. But what about their accountability for the love of you and their obedience to God?

Would not God deal with the one in violation instead of demanding the obedient suffer under his “protection”? The old testament eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth is to be forsaken for the new testament of turn the other cheek and walk the extra mile. When God tires of nonsense, his wrath is felt to smite you, but you suck it up when you tire. That is the disadvantage of not being the Lord our God. Remember vengeance, be it the Lord’s.

Since the beginning of humanity, or as I prefer humanity, that body of life that demonstrates kindness, mercy, and compassion that is uniquely displayed only by humans, there has been questionable behavior towards others and often decreed by religion in the name of God. Murder, genocide, biblical curses, sufferings, and slavery are prevalent in “Christian” teachings and tolerances while committed for the glory of God?

Not only is it throughout history, but it is also in the book. It continues to be practiced and justified by those in strict obedience and adherence to the Bible and their “Christian” faith of self-declared believers and overseers. If that sounds horrible, perhaps this is even worse as the two-edged sword efficiently cuts sharply in both directions, those who are directed by it and those who have it directed against them. Just as practicing “Christianity” allows them to do it, practicing the same “Christianity” demands that you accept it.

It is recommended that you pray on it regarding any injustice and toss it up to the Lord for review and consideration. You can even assemble your warriors, prayer warriors, that is, and submit a complaint to heavenly HR for review, and a divine sign will be notifying you regarding your submission.

Prayer may take time as the system has not been updated in thousands of years and is believed to have quite a backlog. Prayer can be defined as a solemn request for help or expression of gratitude requiring trust and belief in a controlling power greater than yourself to gain favor or to acknowledge favor received but always from a position below best expressed humbly from your knees. A humble servant remains in no position to demand or even timely expect, only to request obediently.

The Lord is never late but right on time and may not be there when you want him but will be there when you need him. If it weren’t for it being the Lord, these terms of engagement would most likely have to be renegotiated to reflect the price you pay for the services rendered.

We all know that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was making you think he didn’t exist but what if the greatest trick the Christians pulled was making you believe he did exist? This is not to be blasphemous but to explore alternative concepts that may strengthen our belief and resolve in “Christianity.” I assume we can all stand to have our thoughts be more fully discussed, accepted, and understood without fear that they will be shaken or changed.

If we are true to our beliefs, then our beliefs will not be diminished but increased, and I have no intent or purpose of changing your beliefs lacking the power or will to do so but just request your assistance in clarifying mine. The truth can always stand examination to verify that it is the truth, so fear not, but as I said, it was uncomfortable for me, so I acknowledge that it may be uncomfortable for you as well. Indeed we can move forward to explore not our belief or our right to believe in what we choose but my point about it.

Our beliefs in life cannot be too fragile to forbid discussion even if that discussion is challenging or an opposing viewpoint. My viewpoint is not opposing, but our conviction should not be proven to be fleeting or too weak to process additional knowledge or opinions. This is not about opinion and definitely not about mine but a conversation devoid of emotions and sacrilegious safeguards that discourages historical insight.

This leaves religious interpretations for our own discretions. Our religious interpretations are our business alone but let us explore some things that we all know and some things that we may not all know to more fully understand the context of my point. Just as our “Christianity “cannot be contested, so is it with my point because it is not my declaration of opinion but the expression of historical fact.

Notwithstanding, the time before the written word and the foundation of Christianity. Nor the veracity or content of its teachings or existence of its principal players. Even the events and accounts therein because it is immaterial to my point. It is immaterial to my point, but my point may bring about our further examination of those very concerns. Etymology is the study of the origins and true meaning of words which are the building blocks of language.

Time brings about evolution in the usage and meaning of certain words creating and distorting understanding of these words over time. Before the written word, the reliability of word of mouth was subjected to he say she say accuracy and the limitations of descriptions by the available vocabulary. What an ancient might have described as a fire-belching creature we may very well call a UFO today or aircraft.

There is no direct knowledge, a consensus of acceptance, or rational accounts of much of the Bible, including the Garden of Eden, Jesus’s life, the many books not included in the Bible, and God himself. Do we genuinely know aside from belief alone and acceptance of that which “has been written” and told?

The accepted depiction of Jesus is blasphemous in its presentation and altered over time to reflect the characteristics of the population of the people it influenced, even the existence of a variety of depictions of Jesus’s appearance among other non-white nationalities.

Furthermore, centuries had passed without a portrayal of Jesus revealing his actual physical characteristics because it was forbidden. Finally, a composite portrait was commissioned and introduced called the Head of Christ by Warner Sallman in 1940, which is widely accepted and a portrait of Jesus. So complete is this heresy that just asks any child the color of Jesus, and they will tell you white.

This portrait was an extension of Eugenics to convey Christ with a halo, and angelic Caucasian features as an imaged to be worshipped and an implication that God is white, and whites are Jesus like to be elevated above all races. Thus, the two-edged sword of superiority and inferiority psychologically and culturally established an engineered justification of systemic racism and a race-based hierarchy in society.

It is a contorted interpretation. The Bible does not remotely give this depiction, nor does the geological population of historical accuracy, yet this is still the standard that is accepted as open propaganda. It raises the question of what else might there be to the psychological and cultural collusions unknowingly and widely tolerated or accepted. Glad you asked.

The emphasis on avoiding confusion starts at points that are not open to interpretation or word of mouth but are documented in a time frame that is reliable now and well established in language still in use today. The documentation has put forth its own concentrated rationale and objective to influence and implement philosophies and principles so comprehensively that they still impact society, cultures, and institutions today. Their promotion is so pervasive that it might leave you questioning if your beliefs are chosen or embedded as a matter of survival and manipulation.

 

 

The insinuations and meanings are not like visions where the totality of sight consists of the voids being filled in by assumptions. These declarations of law and practice left no uncertainty of how they were to be viewed and applied. This creates a context for some to overvalue themselves in a very complimentary and flattering delusional image while forcing others to cling to oppressive obedience.

It is misery laden with the nightmarish despair of beliefs still waiting for permission while conforming to a context that devalues our humanity by our own actions and acceptance despite any words of protest. Accordingly, praying for the burden to be removed instead of psychologically disrobing ourselves from the burden consuming us by unconditional acceptance and pure design.

Let the distortions begin steeped into laws based upon biases, mutilated revisionist history of absolution and false achievement, forced faith, and unjustifiable hope disguised as belief. Keep in mind that we do not have time to go back farther or expand beyond what is sufficient for this contemporary discussion.

There are critical distinctions in the development of Christianity that popularized it and its manipulations, which were weaponized for oppressive purposes. Translations that shaped or obscured some essence of the Bible favor interpretations consistent with particular objectives of various rulers and nations that furthered the objective of devotion without question.

Constantine The Great Nicea Council, Theodosius Decree, King James I Bible, and The Black Code are a few examples of who was more influential on Roman Flavian Christianity than the actual teachings. Consequently, the instructions were more tailored to an agenda than to the core of biblical teachings. It was then forced upon those who would resist these Titus manipulations by either incorporating some of their beliefs or flat out murdering them. Conversion to Christianity was often a life-saving measure, your own life. Historically Christianity is a religion of conquering from a personal level to a national level.

Historically Christianity has been used to persecute the Jews and create distance from Christianity’s association to Judaism and establish itself as the preeminent religion. Constantine permitted Christianity to be recognized as a legitimate religion changing its believers from being persecuted to protected in Roman society.

Theodosius later made Christianity the only religion of the Roman Empire but incorporated other beliefs to solidify believers where Constantine had solidified what was believed in the Nicea Council. Jews who attempted to prevent conversion were sometimes burned alive. Forced baptisms and conversions were commonplace. Burning and destroying knowledge of anything contrary to this time or belief when something else was believed or worshiped occurred.

Christianity was used to justify and establish the racial superiority of white Europeans over all others. It was further expanded to the new world to institute colonialism and slavery as a moral duty to subdue, exploit, and exterminate dark-skinned people on religious grounds.

King James I furthered his narcissism under royal absolution and slave trade activities by his association with the Bible. Christian faith and belief have long been used to oppress targeted populations while simultaneously justifying cruel treatment by religious doctrine and often accompanying legislation.

Black Codes rooted in colonialism, patriotism, and Christianity after the civil war were explicitly created and imposed in support of slavery, validating the despicable treatment of blacks under the cloak of Christian beliefs. The civil war was supposedly in part to abolish slavery, but afterward, this code was pervasive to maintain the discount of white supremacy.

It was the predecessor to Jim Crow and maintained a pseudo system of slavery and indentured servitude. Today’s vigilante-armed militias are an extension of black code enforcement. They are often your most ardent believers of Christianity and the most passionate demonstrators of racism while genuinely denying being racist under their Christian faith. They are often the same going hand in hand, being a proud Christian and a staunch racist. Not stated to offend anyone, but if the shoe fits, if not, it is not your shoe.

Revisionist history cannot conceal how the indoctrination of Christianity, distinct from Christian principles, has and is still being used to promote and justify oppression and injustices by some oblivious of their tarnished indoctrination’s origin and purpose. Dred Scott, by law, made it your Christian duty to return slaves and oppose their freedom giving birth to modern-day law enforcement injustices. Thus, the population control was two-fold: what should be done and what cannot be done under Christian principles.

Being raised under Christian principles had very different meanings based on race and class. It was not about religion but the manipulation and weaponizing of our beliefs. These beliefs have been so contorted and perverted that the only choice we have is blind faith or humanity that will not allow us to practice this brand of Christianity.

The salvation of our souls was not the goal. The goal was and has been the complete indoctrination of our minds to defy humanity and logic by intrinsically embedding programming to be beyond reproach, change, reasoning, or questioning. It becomes fundamental to our existence and identity, which otherwise would require us to fully denounce ourselves, which sounds a lot like white privilege denial.

The presumptions of Christianity as practiced today might leave future and more advanced civilizations that may come after this one has destroyed itself to look back on the primitive and pagan worshipping rituals asserted to be following the belief that was wholly practiced outside the doctrines of that belief.

Failing to grasp a truth beyond our ill-fated conditioned upbringing and refusing to understand that believing does not make it true, just as disbelieving does not make it false. Maybe the rituals of Christianity began in the Garden of Eden with the tree of knowledge. It was forbidden to have specific knowledge from the tree, which could have been the subconscious mind as the source of that knowledge.

The subconscious mind is the only thing that can be so fundamentally controlled to produce the total belief and obedience required of the conscious mind. To believe without confirmation through repetition and constant reinforcement. The confirmation of Christianity is the worship and devotion to it and that God is real and his wisdom absolute but often baffling.

So, in the end, it is the unquestioned belief that brings salvation and eternal reward. The refusal to stray from that belief and the rejection of any other religion is how this belief evolved. Otherwise conditioned differently, we would believe wholeheartedly in a different religion. There are many beliefs, and everybody can’t be right. Someone has to be wrong, but God’s word altered to the whim of man or powers in vogue is worshiping those entities and not God. Maybe that is why faith is required without validation. This not to slam Christianity, just manipulating it disguised as glory to God, remembering to keep the faith.

Perhaps what is should not have been, what should have been wasn’t, and what could have been will never be was a quote I heard as a young man that sums up a lot. The judgment day for the sins of mankind, both individually and collectively, cannot be pleasing to God despite repenting on our deathbed. Atrocities committed God’s name, the adherence to his law mangled, and the complicity of those who knuckled under for their own prosperity and convenience contributed to the perversion of his glory.

Dare not associate God with nonsense executed in his name and the misleading of those genuinely seeking his knowledge and comfort. Christianity teaches suffering while those who impose it prosper. Being a child of God, imagine your father who vows to protect you, then let unconscionable acts be committed against you.

What wisdom or benefit would that be? By inquiring and seeking knowledge without restriction but to exhaustion enables us to expose deceptions and illuminate truth. So conflicted by what we are and what we should be or should have become more apparent with research and inspection and not by simply accepting that is just how we were conditioned. It is acceptance in the knowledge that is required.

Many wars are predicated on ideology and religious differences. One side adamantly declares their right to practice theirs while denying the other the same freedom to practice the one of their choosing. Death forced baptisms and repressive conversions should not be the tools of religion. Hitler’s Aryan race propaganda came from America’s Jim Crow, which was based on religious teachings and eugenics.

He was only practicing what America practiced, but the hypocritical home of the free and land of the brave must have felt Americans are the only ones who could commit such atrocities and righteous indignation claiming racial superiority. Therefore, America was somehow compelled to galvanize to stop Hitler while even using blacks in the process. Still, it was not compelled to discontinue the heinous acts and horrendous treatment of blacks in America or racial superiority declarations.

Religious justification for slavery has survived for over four hundred years in a nation that has been Christian during that same period. It was right to stand against the holocaust of the Jewish people and not tolerate their condition. It would have been nice if America had thrown Black folks a bone with some meat on it, letting us wet our beak with the American dream enjoyed by whites, or a heaping helping of some of that privileged brand of Christianity.

There can be no doubt or denial that religion and Christianity, in particular, have been deformed and weaponized for a more sinister purpose more aligned with capturing souls than saving souls. Faith and hope require that you pursue a sign delivering only subjective explanations, but seeking subjective explanations reveals some objectively revealing signs.

The right question brings about the correct answer just as the correct answer discloses the appropriate question. Only then can faith be fortified, not by refusing to ask or refusing to answer the questions or denying the answers. On the contrary, being forbidden from this tree of knowledge sows confusion, reaping contempt or, more shockingly, maybe the truth.

Let me ask you a question. If forced acceptance of something for the benefit of one segment of the population to which others must be coerced into accepting and adhering to, what is its validity to not stand alone on its merits and prevail?

Today’s so-called conservative Christian values are often used to cloak status quo exercises of exclusion and self-aggrandizing judgments of moral superiority based on faith often closely aligned with discriminatory beliefs. In a country that supposedly values freedom above all other virtues, why is another’s freedom the first thing to be trespassed on for your convenience and conformity?

Morality by your determination and standards is required to sustain your authority and dominance to dictate how others should act in a range agreeable to your beliefs without regard for their choice within a socially acceptable range but not compliant to your chosen standard.

The principles of morality are contrary to your arrogance to oppose someone else’s right to choose outside your confinements, leading to you imposing a greater injustice upon them than the lack of morality that you would accuse them of displaying. With that said, shouldn’t the example you set is the one to follow, not the one to reject. Which do you project by your actions, morality or immorality in compliance with the principles of each virtue?

Thurston K. Atlas

Creating A Buzz