Talk:Measured
Do they love their neighbor and their rights as much as they love their own?
Or do they Bite one anotherintil the are devoured?[1]
Are they seeking a city of righteousness or a city of blood and self-righteous wantonness?
Has the appetite of the masses degenerated them until tyrants rule?
The kingdom of God is in the moment and our guide is the Holy Spirit.
We cannot be free if we will not set others free?
We are drawn near that HOLY spirit through sacrifice of "self". So when we say we have a right to self defense we do not mean the egotistical "self" but only the self that serves others in righteousness.
The more you are filled with the Holy Spirit the less you will have to draw your sword.
A sword on the side of the righteous keeps the swords of the unrighteous in their sheath.
Freedom of speech and a Conversation that is unspotted by the world is also a part of that right of self defense that is both the Law of Nature and Divine will.
Measured
Oregon Measure 114, Changes to Firearm Ownership and Purchase Requirements Initiative (2022) will not only infringe upon the exercise their natural rights of bearing arms for self defense, protection of their family and community it also has the potential of making hundreds of thousands of Oregonians law breakers.[2] There were fallacious arguments in support of this measure.[3]
There were opposition arguments also filed.[4]
This Measure 114 which supposedly passed in Oregon according to those people entrusted with counting the vote but it does clearly infringe upon the natural right to bear arms which is inclusive within the Law of Nature and Right Reason and what has been called Divine will. Every life form has a right to protect itself, its progeny, and its herd or community against unwarranted usurpation.
Besides being a clear infringement upon natural rights and also a violation of the 2nd Amendment of the Bill of Rights which part of the Bill of Rights amending the Constitution of the United States limiting the power of the government. It will also shut down gun businesses state wide further infringing upon individuals rights to obtain, keep and bear arms.
No member of the government nor citizen subject to that constitution has the authority to infringe upon that preexisting natural right to bear arms.
Infested
Oregonians are not only ignorant of their rights i.e. lack knowledge[5] but they are also slothful in their responsibilities. Every able bodied citizen should desire to arm themselves in a manner that will allow them to properly protect their neighbor and themselves.
Early Americans understood that and placed limits on the power of legislation. The modern citizen has been infested with the spirit of sloth, covetousness and the desire to rule over their neighbor.
The citizen of the United States have their own right to appeal these types of measures but they would be far better served to change their thinking to that of earlier Americans and heal their nation of the real disease that infects it.
Despite the obvious evil embodied in this measure insult is added to injury because a man calling himself Reverend Mark Knutson was the chief petitioner and a pastor at institution identifying itself as Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland,
He clearly does not know the Gospel of Christ and because of his appeals to the rulers who exercise authority to take fundamental rights from neighbors he is also one of the many false prophets of the beast.
He is not alone. The thinking of Americans has been altered over the last century and more.
What made America great?
"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there… in her fertile fields and boundless forests, and it was not there…in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there… in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good; and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."[6]
But those early churches were not like the churches we see today and the people in them do not think like nor do like those early American churches.
Embryonic republics
Long before the founders of the American Republic voiced their objections to democracy Plato postulated “Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy...”
And long after Adams and Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Democracy is morose, and runs to anarchy.”
While Reverend Mark Knutson is a self proclaimed social justice warrior and socialist.
It is absolutely clear that Jesus was not a socialist.
How anyone could even suggest that Jesus preached socialism is an indictment of the Modern Church.
Christ came to preach against socialism.
Socialism was one of the major reasons He took the kingdom from the Pharisees[7] and appointed it to the Apostles with the instructions not to be like the other governments of the world who called themselves Benefactors but exercised authority one over the other.
It was the Corban of the Pharisees which made the word of God to none effect. That Corban which was started by Herod the Great and the Pharisees who held political power at that time was a socialist scheme. Herod's temples, like the Temples of Rome, operated a social welfare system of free bread through taxation instead of freewill offerings as Moses said to do.
Winston Churchill wrote that: “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” He went on to say that “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
http://preparingyou.com/wiki/Democracy
But "The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults. ― Alexis de Tocqueville America needs to repent and seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness as their personal priority.
Despite the obvious evil embodied in the terms and presentation of this measure an insult is added to injury because it was the Reverend Mark Knutson[8] who was the chief petitioner to create and push this bill forward with his inclusive interfaith church.
- “Loss of life is pure tragedy,” Knutson said.
- Mark Knutson went on to say “When people die on the streets, that is somebody’s child... We have to remember that. That’s not some abstract number. That’s a human being. We need to rise up. When my neighbor bleeds, we all bleed.”
These words are true but in what manner do we "rise up"?
There are hundreds of situations where people stopped mass murder because they were armed. When evil came they were able to rise up and stop evil. Mark wishes to take that right and ability from the people.
“A good guy with a gun is an effective way to stop a bad guy with a gun.”
Hundreds of thousands of times crimes have been prevented or halted by the clear presence of firearms. But there is no doubt that millions of times crimes are never committed because criminal elements of society are concerned that a firearm might be present which creates an environment of criminal hesitancy that cannot be denied. Mark Knutson seems unconcerned about the reduction of that criminal hesitancy by his measure that infringes upon the right to be armed. Thhe people that may be injured may also "bleed".
More violations
This measure and what was done to make it legal was also a violation of the single subject Ballot rule, and a (See law: Oregon Constitution, Article IV, Section 1 (1d)[9] and Article XVII, Section 1 Amendments and Revisions) and was designed to deceive millions of voters.
This measure will make tens of thousands of Oregonians law breakers and subject them to arbitrary police actions and fines.
Prohibition
The right to bear arms is not a "constitutional right" granted by the Second Amendment.
The Second Amendment is prohibiting the Congress or anyone who has the power to make law in the United States from doing so in a way that would be an infringement upon that Natural law right. ("shall make no law").
- "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
No member of the government subject to that constitution has the authority to infringe upon that preexisting Natural law right.
People might be better prepared to counter the acts of violence in their society by addressing the real cause rather than the symptom. It is the violent or savage heart and the inability to care about others that brings violence.
If Rev. Mark Knutson and so many other preachers were actually preaching the Gospel of the kingdom. The modern Church should be seeking to understand the Christian conflict with Rome. Rather than appealing to the government to hinder and infringe upon the natural rights of their neighbors to defend themselves or protect their community.
Cancer is the leading cause of death in Oregon not guns. In fact 18.7 deaths from drug overdose per100,000 far exceeds deaths from firearms. The vast majority of deaths from firearms is the result of suicide which is never the result of high-capacity magazines. Oregon Health Authority reported 83% were the result of suicides with only 13% being homicides which occurs most often in the context of intimate partner violence and gang violence. The vast majority of criminal aliens in Oregon’s prison system have been convicted of homicide, rape and other violent crimes. Over 980 criminal aliens with outstanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers in Oregon state prisons as of July 1, 2022 according to Cross’ report with 47 percent — convicted of rape, sexual abuse or sodomy and another 138 criminal aliens — 14 percent of the total had committed homicidal crimes. Pastor W. J. Mark Knutson who claims to be worried about the threat of guns has turned his church's steeple into an alarm to warn the illegal aliens he harbors in the community of approaching ICE agents. He brags about how far the bell can be heard by all with seeming little concern about criminal aliens that are a violent homicidal threat who get the same warning.
Bonifacio Oseguera-Gonzalez, 29 shot and killed three people and injured a fourth in Oregon after being deported six times. "Almost half of all of the criminals prosecuted in federal courts in 2018 were aliens, charged with crimes ranging from drug trafficking to murder to kidnapping." Estimates are that 38,000 are illegal or undocumented aliens. It is also reported that these criminals are housed at a cost of over a billion dollars annually to American taxpayers.[10]
Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Sentencing Commission, federal Bureau of Justice Statistics and other sources estimate that illegal immigrants who only account for 3.5 percent of the population yet they account for "13.6 percent of all offenders sentenced for crimes committed in the U.S."
Jail time in America is like a country club so there is a great incentives for criminals to illegally come into America which puts hundreds of thousands of Americans at risk.
Appeal to force
With this appeal to the rulers who exercise authority one over the other to take away the rights of your neighbor to defend themselves and others hypocrites who say they believe in Jesus actually go against Christ who directed His disciples to arm themselves.
- Luke 22:36 "Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take [it], and likewise [his] scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
He certainly does not have the same mind of Christ if he wants to take away the rights that God endowed us with. Guns are not a health hazard any more than cars. The hazard is that you are unarming people so they are less able to protect themselves and others.
As a pastor of what is called the Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland, he clearly does not know the Gospel of Christ and because of his appeals to the rulers who exercise authority one over the other to take from neighbors is like the appeal to persecute Christians by Ambrose who was servant of the Fathers of the earth and a member of the of the Church of Constantine".
False prophets
Reverend Mark Knutson is not a minister of Jesus the Christ and the Gospel of the Kingdom but is a false prophet as a political activist in and of the world.
- Revelation 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [come] out of the mouth of the dragon,[11] and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
- Revelation 19:20 "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone."
- Revelation 20:10 "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
- 1 Peter 4:1 "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;"
Legal definition of the Church
The Church can only be defined by Christ, but a legal definition is available:
- "CHURCH In its most general sense, the religious society founded and established by Jesus Christ, to receive, preserve, and propagate his doctrines and ordinances."
- "A body or community of Christians, united under one form of government by the profession of one faith, and the observance of the same rituals and ceremonies."
Black's Law Dictionary 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th... eds.
The term church may be used in several senses.
While many institutions may call themselves a church, to meet consistent legal definition it must be established by Jesus Christ.
The Church as a body is a corpus or corporate, and it would not include the people, except through practices of charity. This would not include Legal charity if the State that degenerates the masses and ushers in tyranny and was forbidden by Christ.[12]
The church as a community does include the people or laity in a communion of that charity.
You cannot get near God without what is sometimes called Sacrifice.
The manner of that sacrifice is where the Christian conflict is seen.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary 1856 Edition
CHURCH. In a moral or spiritual sense this word signifies a society of persons who profess the Christian religion; and in a physical or material sense, the place where such persons assemble. The term church is nomen collectivum;[13] it comprehends the chancel,[14] aisles, and body of the church.[15]
'immigrant' is a foreign national (alien) who legally emigrated to the U.S. and has applied for and was granted lawful permanent resident status by the U.S. government. When a foreign national is illegally smuggled into the U.S. or violates visa restrictions--he or she is an unauthorized (illegal) alien present in the U.S. in violation of U.S. law, and subject to deportation under Title 8 of the U.S. Code § 1227, Deportable aliens.
The Measure 114 which supposedly passed in Oregon clearly infringes upon the natural right to bear arms. The right to bear arms is not a "constitutional right" granted by the Second Amendment.. The Second Amendment is prohibiting the Congress ("shall make no law").
Oregonians are not only ignorant.of their rights and responsibility and the limits of their power of legislation but they are infested with the spirit of tyranny and desire to rule over their neighbo.
We can change if we change our thing and what we do. Alexis saw the people of Europe a contrast to the American thinking prevalent at one time but encomprehensible to the modern voter.
"There are some nations in Europe whose inhabitants think of themselves in a sense as colonists, indifferent to the fate of the place they live in. The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation."
"They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved. They are so divorced from their own interests that even when their own security and that of their children is finally compromised, they do not seek to avert the danger themselves but cross their arms and wait for the nation as a whole to come to their aid. Yet as utterly as they sacrifice their own free will, they are no fonder of obedience than anyone else. They submit, it is true, to the whims of a clerk, but no sooner is force removed than they are glad to defy the law as a defeated enemy. Thus one finds them ever wavering between servitude and license."
"When a nation has reached this point, it must either change its laws and mores or perish, for the well of public virtue has run dry: in such a place one no longer finds citizens but only subjects.” Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
There is no salvation for America in merely voting in another leader to fix what has broken in the hearts and minds of Americans. Unless we can reforge the social bonds required in a free society there be no restoration of liberty.
The covetous practices of the masses has not only made them human resources but has degenerated large portions of society into perfect savages with an appetite for benefits willing to take a bite out of one another to satisfy their own lust and wantonness.
If we individually fail to reinstate those social bonds generations of New Deals and the Great Society has degenerated and sickened there will be no coming back from destruction.
Those systems of legal charity through the state has made Americans a scattered flock and tyrany prospers.
“Despotism, suspicious by its very nature, views the separation of men as the best guarantee of its own permanence and usually does all it can to keep them in isolation. No defect of the human heart suits it better than egoism; a tyrant is relaxed enough to forgive his subjects for failing to love him, provided they do not love one another. He does not ask them to help him to govern the state; it is enough that they have no intention of managing it themselves. He calls those who claim to unite their efforts to create general prosperity “turbulent and restless spirits” and, twisting the normally accepted meaning of the words, he gives the name of “good citizens” to those who retreat into themselves.” “Thus the vices fostered by tyranny are exactly those supported by equality. These two things are complementary and mutually supportive, with fatal results.” Democracy in America: And Two Essays on America, by Alexis Tocqueville
- ↑ Galatians 5:15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
- ↑ Measure will "require permits issued by local law enforcement to buy a firearm;
- require photo ID, fingerprints, safety training, criminal background check, and fee payment to apply for a permit; and
- prohibit manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, possessing, using, or transferring ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds and make violations a class A misdemeanor.
- ↑ Rebecca Gladstone, president of the League of Women Voters of Oregon: "The League of Women Voters of Oregon believes that the proliferation of handguns and semi-automatic assault weapons poses a major health and safety threat to Oregonians. Gun violence, the leading cause of premature death in the US, should be confronted with a sense of urgency and a range of evidence-based solutions. Here is why the League strongly supports Measure 114: Research shows that a permit-to-purchase requirement is one of the most effective ways to reduce firearm homicide and suicide rates."
- Anthony Johnson, the communication director for the committee supporting Measure 114: "I'm a gun owner myself and I believe that people should be able to possess guns, but obviously the status quo of our gun laws are not working. We need to implement some common sense, sensible regulations to save lives and Measure 114 will do that."
- Penny Okamoto, executive director of Ceasefie Oregon Education Foundation: "Permit-to-purchase has been shown to reduce suicide and homicide. Homicide by 28% when Connecticut enacted theirs, and suicide by 33% when Connecticut enacted their permit-to-purchase."
- Rev. Mark Knutson, chief petitioner and pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland: "I hope it shows how residents in a state can come together from many directions and address the public health crisis of gun violence with common sense and well-put-together legislation. I hope that people are inspired to say: We can do this."
- ↑ Lane Magill, Wasco County Sheriff: "One of the major impacts it will have is the overall cost. The measure only accounts for a $65 charge for the process, but the major issue the sheriff’s office will be impacted by is having to hire at least one additional employee to handle this new process. You might ask, 'Why is hiring another person a big deal?' Under the current budget we now have there is no money to do this and if this passes; the sheriff’s office will be considering a reduction in patrol staff to meet the mandate!"
- Paul Donheffner, chairman of the Legislative Committee of the Oregon Hunters Association: "114 will NOT:
- prevent mass shootings because murderers or terrorists can use a dozen 10-round magazines to create the same destruction as four 30 round magazines, but why would they comply with magazine limits anyway?"
- National Rifle Association-Institute for Legislative Action: "IP 17 is yet another anti-gun ballot initiative that seeks to further erode Second Amendment rights in Oregon. It imposes a permit requirement in order to exercise the Second Amendment right to acquire a firearm ...The permit application process includes a one-size-fits-all training mandate, a subjective mental health review that is ripe for abuse, submission of fingerprints, and payment of a fee - up to $65 to apply, and up to $50 to renew. Issuing authorities have up to 30 days to issue permits to qualified applicants and they must be renewed every five years. Meanwhile, criminals will continue obtaining their firearms illegally."
- Kevin Starrett, executive director of Oregon Firearms Federation: "Where do you suppose all the smaller towns who rely on private gun clubs for training are going to go for the live fire portion of the class? How often will they provide it? What costs will be created? How do those increased costs and barriers affect Black folks in inner-city Portland?"
- ↑ Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
- ↑ This was incorrectly attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville in the book 'The Kingdom of God and the American Dream by Sherwood Eddy which was published in 1941 and again on November 3, 1952 in a final campaign address in Boston by Dwight D. Eisenhower. It similarly was quoted in A Third Treasury of the Familiar by Ralph L. Woods, published in 1970. Presidents Reagan and Clinton and many others have quoted the line not just because they thought Alexis wrote it but because they believed it was true. Others traveling through America in 1834 did write an almost identical quote at the same time as Tocqueville was touring America, “America will be great if America is good. If not, her greatness will vanish away like a morning cloud.” "A Narrative of the Visit to the American Churches: By the Deputation from the Congregation Union of England and Wales (Vol. II). by Andrew Reed and James Matheson, Harper & Brothers, 1835.
- ↑ Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
- ↑ This is the same Pastor W. J. Mark Knutson has turned his church's steeple into an alarm to warn of approaching ICE agents.
- ↑ (d) An initiative petition shall include the full text of the proposed law or amendment to the Constitution. A proposed law or amendment to the Constitution shall embrace one subject only and matters properly connected therewith.
- ↑ Federal Report Shows Open Borders Bring Increased Crimes and Costs for Taxpayers
- ↑ Draco of 7th century BC, also called Drako or Drakon meaning dragon or serpent.
- ↑ See Benefactors, Covetous practices.
- ↑ NOMEN COLLECTIVUM. This expression is used to signify that a word in the singular number is to be understood in the plural in certain cases.
- ↑ the part of a church near the altar, reserved for the clergy and choir, and typically separated from the nave by steps or a screen.
The term nave is from navis, the Latin word for ship, an early Christian symbol of the Church as a whole, with a possible connection to the "ship of St. Peter" or the Ark of Noah.] - ↑ Ham. N. P. 204.