Template:Measured

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The picture is an artists rendition of Matthew writing scripture holding the sword Christ said buy.[1]
This conversation about Measure 114 is to take the measure of the people who claim to serve the public, but are liars and actually hate the people and God.
They do not love their neighbor but only themselves.[2]
Or do they Bite one another until the are devoured?[3]
Are the people of America 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? We the People have become those "masses" with an appetite for benefits since the New Deal entangled again in the covetous practices that weakens us by degenerating the Social bonds of a free society.
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.
Download Recording #3 No Health and safety Crises
Measuring corruption and the whole TRUTH
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See Article 2 Section 22, Legal charity. The Covetous practices of America are not "good" because they degenerate the social bonds of free society setting them up for a Mass Formation Psychosis.
Download Recording #2 Crises in understanding
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Download Recording #1 Measures of lies and TRUTH
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Measured

The following is a timeless examination of the distortions and lies used to manipulate people in modern politics.

A dishonest or incompetent media has caused the mind and thinking of the people to be manipulated influencing a reduction to their access to their liberties. But while this media madness has deceived the masses some of the blame must rest upon the people themselves.

The deception and lies, like we saw with Article 2 Section 22, and almost a hundred years of Legal charity has the blind leading the blind in Oregon and the whole of America.[4]

Those Covetous practices introduced in America decades before was not "good" because they degenerate the social bonds of free society setting the masses up for a Mass Formation Psychosis. If you understand The Psychology of Totalitarianism admitting your error[5] and sloth and seek righteousness.

There is a lack of knowledge which we need to look into.

The claim of crisis

The mental health crisis which promotes a myriad of strong delusions is "due to generations of legal charity which has always degenerated the masses" of societies into an ignorant and violent state.

The present state of mental psychosis among the violent and those who want to disarm the people and imagine the government as their savior can be easily traced back to the institution of legal charity.


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.[6]

There were opposition arguments filed that suggest imposition of some problems and a greater danger upon residence.[7] Most of these arguments would only convince those who are already convinced the Measure is an infringement.

There were fallacious arguments in support of this measure but they obviously lack of understanding and knowledge of facts.[8] No one seemed to make an effort to expose their real hypocracy and deception.

Rev. Mark Knutson who was the chief petitioner and pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland stated, "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."

What health crises?

What Health Crises

This idea that the presence of arms or the capacity to hold more than ten bullets is a health crises is a repeated false claim.

Cancer is the leading cause of death in Oregon not guns.

Obesity causes far more death than guns through the common complication associated with being over weight.

In fact 18.7 deaths from drug overdose per 100,000 residence far exceeds injury deaths rate from firearms which have been claimed to be only 13 per 100,000.

The statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tell us that the increase in gun fatalities is due to the growth in population and actually remains below the levels of earlier years.

So in fact there is no "public health crisis of gun violence" but only a public and media hype crises by people like Mark Knutson who skew the facts for their own agenda and virtue signaling.

So let us repeat that statistic again.
The actual death rate "remains below the levels of earlier years" according to the CDC.

The truth will give us the measure of far more deception by the proponents of Measure 114 if people are "willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.[9] Deception has been employed to drive public opinion, inducing fear with falsehoods, moving the minds of the people by a media of mendacity, and sealing their souls with self serving virtue signaling.

What is the actual death rates caused by guns?

Since the actual death rate "remains below the levels of earlier years" what is causing that death rate as it is presented to us?

Is it homicides or something else?

Real health crises

If someone actually wants to talk about a real "mental health crises" we can look at the Suicide rates which have increased by 36% between 2000-2018. “Oregon had the nation's 13th highest suicide rate in 2020", according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The Oregon Health Authority reported that 83% of deaths were the result of suicides with only 13% being homicides.

About 833 people died by suicide statewide. It ranked ninth the year before, when 906 people died by suicide" but those numbers are back up this year and still counting.

So, the "gun violence" caused by firearm homicide is not 13 per 100,000 after all but far less than even 2 per 100,000. That number which is far lower is hardly a health or safety crises.

Suicide is never the result of high-capacity magazines. The legal assault on high capacity magazines is absolute nonsense but they got away with it because their opponents were easily plaid and Oregonians were duped by a bias and incompetent media.

If Oregon's suicide rate is 20.4 per 100,000 then when people add the number of suicides into an "injury death by firearm" or "firearm mortality" category that creates the high statistical value that is virtually lying with statistics.

Avoiding the statistical distinction between homicides and suicides is dishonest and is done to make people fear more and misidentify the problem.[10]

The vast majority of deaths found in the 13/100k statistic are not truly "gun violence" in the sense of a homicide as Mark and his "cohorts"[11] would like the people to believe.

By mis-identifying the real mental health crises as guns and high capacity magazines, instead of depression and despair which has lead to suicides increasing all over the state. Mark Knutson and his cohorts[11] draw attention away from real mental health issues which they hide in the data undermining genuine efforts to address that growing problem.

Crises of lies

Mark Knutson cohorts[11] include the dishonest press and mendacious media, and the censoring of the conversation by social media that has become all to common.

Every year, an average of 94 people in Oregon die at the hands of murders using a gun which has a population of 4.246 million people which is only 0.002% and most all of those deaths are among the existing criminal elements of society which in most cases already cannot purchase a firearm. Another 30 or more Oregonians are murdered without firearms.

Mark Knutson and his cohorts[11] have worked very hard to take the right of the good people of Oregon to protect themselves from that very criminal element. They should be ashamed of themselves.

They lied about those deaths being a health and safety crises. Even if you add in the suicides by firearms the data from Suicides in Europe shows us that most suicides can take place without firearms and with absolutely no high capacity magazines since they are not a factor.

Even if you deceptively move the number to 528 the deaths by adding those suicides the percentage is only 0.01%. While at the same time cancer deaths at 8,083 account .19% of the population. But premature deaths that could be avoided would include death from tobacco use is causing even more than cancer at 8200 deaths per year. Tobacco is still the number one cause of preventable death in the United States. The tobacco industry spends over $25 million per day to keep current users hooked and entice new users to initiate the use of tobacco. But the State of Oregon gets $390.5 million from tax revenue on tobacco and only spends a tiny fraction on prevention.

If Mark Knutson and his cohorts[11] or the State of Oregon were actually interested in the actual health and safety of the people we could see it in their actions but they are not.

Suicides in Europe

It is not guns that cause suicide any more than ropes or bridges cause suicide.

In the Netherlands in what is the rated as "world's fifth happiest country" also a serious problem where there are few guns. Men far out number women with hanging and strangulation being the most popular method at over 830 in one year. Drugs/medicines/alcohol are second with equal popularity among men and women(330+). Near 200 jump in front of Train/metro with another soo jumping from heights and drowning. Other methods include poison, deliberate accidents, jumping in front of a car, cutting one's own wrists, gas, burning or electrocution. Almost no one shoots themselves in the Netherlands because there are almost no guns but the suicide rate remains very high and climbing and this.

Suicide is a serious issue and a "Real health crises" that should be discussed by people who want to address the real issue rather than use it as a political agenda lever.

The greatest ally of Knutson cohorts[11] was the disunity, sloth, and demoralized Oregonians who know how to get angry but not how effectively organize. That is where those social bonds have always been essential. Oregonian's are a scattered flock, with few of the social bonds common in the free societies of the past.

Causes of Homicides

As we have seen death rate due to homicide "remains below the levels of earlier years" and is not a health crises according to the CDC but if we include suicide in its proper context and examine the violence which is reported as being related to "intimate partner violence and gang violence", all of which are related to mental health, depression, and both legal and illegal drug deaths.

If the proponents who want to infringe on everyone's natural right to protect themselves in their homes and community actually cared about the community health they could see the real cause is the depression, lack of meaning and purpose in lives, the drugs and addictions that are driving the rise in suicides.

Instead by attempting to disarm the law abiding citizen they fail to provide for the real crises and actual threaten public safety by endangering individual safety.

More violence less protection

Are the same people trying to infringe upon your right to protect your family actually encouraging an unrestricted flow of criminals into the community and protecting them at your expense?

The vast majority of criminal aliens in Oregon’s prison system have been convicted of homicide, rape and other violent crimes.

There are over 980 criminal aliens with outstanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers in Oregon state prisons as of July 1, 2022 according to David Olen Cross, an independent crime researcher based in Salem, Or.

Cross’ report presents the data that 47% of the criminal aliens convicted of rape, sexual abuse or sodomy and another 138 criminal aliens account for 14 percent of the total had committed homicidal crimes.

This increase[12] in crime against Americans has gone on while Pastor W. J. Mark Knutson claims to be worried about the threat of guns and has turned his church's steeple into an alarm to warn the illegal aliens he harbors in the community of approaching ICE agents.

Knutson 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. I must assume he thinks he can vet those people entering his community better than ICE and is even willing to thwart their efforts.

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." [13]

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.[14]

Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Sentencing Commission, federal Bureau of Justice and other sources estimate that illegal immigrants who only account for 3.5 percent of the population in the real world 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 compared to incarceration to the home country of most criminal aliens. There is a great incentives for criminals to illegally come into America which puts hundreds of thousands of Americans at risk, increases drug traffic and violence and gang activity.

Meanwhile without a domestic increase of violence except among inner city gangs who are often peddling the same drugs brought across the southern borders, Knutson and his dishonest or delusional "cohorts" want to take your right of self defense away in violation of the Constitution of the powers.

Violating law and rights

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 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 of the Constitution of the United States.

It will also shut down businesses infringing more upon individuals rights to obtain, keep and bear arms even though there is no gun health crises.

No member of the government nor citizen subject to that constitution has the authority to infringe upon that preexisting natural right to bear arms.


Unconstitutional

Of course there will be challenges and sheriff's are already refusing to enforce the law.

Ordinances, enactments, laws, and orders do not have the authority to violate a constitutionally protected right.

"An unconstitutional act is not a law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation as inoperative as though it had never been passed." Norton v. Shelby County :: 118 U.S. 425 (1886).

The Supreme Court can declare a law 'ultra vires' or null and void if it is against the letter and spirit of the Constitution or contravenes any provision of the Constitution.

“A Law repugnant to the Constitution is void.” Marbury v. Madison (1803) - National Archives. With these words written by Chief Justice Marshall, the Supreme Court for the first time declared unconstitutional a law passed by Congress and signed by the the chief executive.

This power is referred to as the power of "judicial review", or the ability of the Court to declare a Legislative or Executive act in violation of the Constitution, was an established doctrine in the case of Marbury v. Madison since 1803.


"This means that the law is treated as void from its inception (void ab initio)—as if it was never enacted. This, in turn, means nullifying all the legal arrangements, rights, interest, obligations, offices and acts established under it's authority." (Norton vs Shelby County 118 US 425, 442, (1886).) The Effects of Judicial Decisions in Time (Cambridge, Intersentia, P. Popelier, S. Verstraelen, D. Vanheule and B. Vanlerberghe eds., 2013)

The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution of the United States (Article VI, Clause 2) establishes that the Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the "supreme Law of the Land", and thus take priority over any conflicting state laws.

If a statute is facially unconstitutional, the courts have stated that it cannot be enforced.

A facial challenge contends that a government law, rule, regulation, or policy is unconstitutional as written — that is, on its face.

The confusion sown amongst the people and the damage to business, the cost of litigation was not only unneccasary but unwarranted since there was no crises. Those people and organization who attempted to create such a statute that was so clearly facially unconstitutional could be held financially responsible.

We need to ask where did this spirit of deceit and control so predominant in our society come from and do we need to repent in order to fight it?

Are the people of America 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?

We the People have become those "masses" that Polybius warned about a century before Christ.

Americans have become the masses with an appetite for benefits since the New Deal and are again entangled in the covetous practices that weakens the people by degenerating the Social bonds of a free society.

We cannot be free if we will not set others free from our own desire to rule over our neighbor through governments that exercise authority one over the other to obtain their dainties.


Other violations

This measure and and the other efforts to get it passed presented other violation of the single subject Ballot rule, and a (See law: Oregon Constitution, Article IV, Section 1 (1d)[15] 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.


Delusion and Infested minds

Oregonians are not only ignorant of their rights i.e. lack knowledge[16] but they are also slothful in their responsibilities just as we saw with Article 2 Section 22.

Every able bodied citizen of a nation that values freedom 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 ignorance over reason. Bit also the desire to rule over their neighbor.

The citizen of the United States have their own right to appeal these Measure 114 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 an 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.


Fixing the Fault

The thinking of Americans has been steadily altered over the last century and more through your educational systems. You need to be willing to see the whole truth of this fact and provide for it.

People are not being told by their schools nor their media, nor their churches what makes a society strong and great.

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."[17]

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.

What was different then when freedom was won and what do we need to do now when that liberty and freedom is slipping away day by day?

Embryonic republics

Long before the founders of the American Republic voiced their objections to democracy Plato postulated “Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy...” and the truth is it will arise faster under democratic socialism which Americans have been creating for over a century.

And long after Adams and Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Democracy is morose, and runs to anarchy” Americans have ignorantly pursued their own destruction.

More recently historian and Congressman Ron Paul said: “Our country’s founders cherished liberty, not democracy.” But many people could not here or through vanity and pride they were not yet ready to listen.

Karl Marx, who was an advocate of communism, claimed “Democracy is the road to socialism” knowing that it would set them up for communism and its sister despotism.

While it is true some were thinking that the people being “Accustomed to trampling on the rights of others you have lost the genius of your own independence and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises among you”[18] that timeless warning was unheeded.

The practices of the Masses that degenerates the people were known since Sodom, Polybius, Plutarch, but were also preached against by Moses, Jesus and the apostles.

“Under a democratic government, the citizens exercise the powers of sovereignty; and those powers will be first abused, and afterwards lost, if they are committed to an unwieldy multitude.”[19]

Augustus Caesar was right, mankind is governed by names and can be ruled by new definitions. This why people need to be willing to see they have been fooled by the changing of definitions of words like Democracy, Republic or even Religion which has led to the deception of the people.

“If you establish a democracy, you must in due time reap the fruits of a democracy... with great increase of the public expenditure. You will in due season have wars entered into from passion and not from reason; and you will in due season submit to peace ignominiously sought and ignominiously obtained, which will diminish your authority and perhaps endanger your independence. You will in due season find your property is less valuable, and your freedom less complete.”[20]

Ben Franklin advised that “A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins.” Those rights depend upon us valuing our neighbors’ rights as much as we value our own, which is virtue.

The not so good ideas

While Reverend Mark Knutson is a self proclaimed social justice warrior and socialist he also wants to claim to believe in Christ.

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, not for it.

Socialism was one of the major reasons He took the kingdom from the Pharisees[21] 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

Yes we can fix this

We can fix this if we realize that "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

In order to do that America needs to be willing to see the whole truth and provide for it. We need to repent and seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness as our 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[22] who was the chief petitioner to create and push this bill forward with his inclusive interfaith church while imagining that depriving people of their God given rights while coveting his neighbors goods and going to men who exercise authority.

  • “Loss of life is pure tragedy,” Knutson said but the newest threat to Americans by gun violence has been the influx of foreign criminals.
  • 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"?

And the deaths on the street have not actually increased except where the people are made perfect savages with their appetite for benefits and the habit of receiving them through the force of that exercising authority.

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. The people that may be injured may also "bleed".


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.


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 the people with. Guns are not a health crises any more than cars which kill more people than firearm homicides. Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined — and thousands more die from other tobacco-related causes — such as fires caused by smoking (more than 1,000 deaths/year nationwide)

The hazard is that he and his cohorts are disarming people so they are less able to rise up and protect themselves and others in their community.

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 is more 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 appears to not be a minister of Jesus the Christ and the Gospel of the Kingdom but appears to be a false prophet as a political activist for the Caesar of the world but also has conspired to infringe upon the natural God given rights of the people to defend themselves and their community.


Mark Knutson's campaign to take rights from the people and his promotion of dependence upon the government rulers who call themselves benefactors who exercise authority one over the other to obtain benefits at their neighbors' expense.

  • Revelation 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [come] out of the mouth of the dragon,[23] and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.


Mark Knutson's campaign was deceptive with false claims of crises.

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."[24]

Christ and His ministers did not come to disarm the people.

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;"

Real ministers promote pure Religion and Fervent charity and not the legal charity of the world which are the covetous practices that make the people merchandise and curse children.


The Church

The church is not a political action committee appealing to Caesar to take rights from the people.

The real problem in America is not just that Americans do not think like Americans at the time of Alexis de Tocqueville and David Crockett but they do not think like the early Christians.

The Church can only be defined by Christ, but a legal definition is available:

The Church as "A body or community of Christians, united under one form of government..." Anyone claiming to be a Christian should be sitting down in free assemblies with ministers who are servants of the people, taking care of one another through charity or else they are not really seeking the kingdom of God nor His righteousness. That was the conflict between the kingdoms of the world and the early Church. Nimrod to Now Series: Part 10: The Church] ~8 min
"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.

What united them was a daily ministration of love and the practice of fervent charity instead of the legal charity of the world.

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.[25]

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;[26] it comprehends the chancel,[27] aisles, and body of the church.[28]

  1. Self defense
    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. 37 For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. 38 And they said, Lord, behold, here [are] two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough."
    Matthew 26:51 "And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out [his] hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear. 52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. 53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"
    John 18:10 "Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. 11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?"
    Matthew 23:23 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."
  2. 2 Timothy 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all [men], as theirs also was.
  3. Galatians 5:15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
  4. False prophets and Guru theories
    Isaiah 42:16 "And I will bring the blind by a way [that] they knew not; I will lead them in paths [that] they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. 17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye [are] our gods. 18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see."
    Isaiah 30:20 "And [though] the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: 21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This [is] the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. 22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. 23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed,..."
    Matthew 13:13 "Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand."
    Matthew 15:14 "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."
    Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recoveing of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
    John 9:39 ¶ "And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind."
    Luke 6:39 "And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master."
    Acts 13:11 "And now, behold, the hand of the Lord [is] upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand."
  5. The way of error
    2 Peter 2:15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam [the son] of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
    Jude 1:11 "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12 These are spots(not "unspotted" like Pure Religion) in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds [they are] without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;"
    Revelation 2:14-17 "But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication ("to permit one’s self to be drawn away by another into idolatry"). 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth [it]."
    Ezekiel 16:49 "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."
  6. The 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.
  7. 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 violent crime or mass shootings because criminals will never comply with the law; only law abiding gun owners will be restricted.
    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?"
  8. 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."
  9. "It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it." Patrick Henry, Give me liberty or give me death speech
  10. How to Lie with Statistics is a book written by the journalist Darrell Huff in 1954. Supposedly recommended by Bill Gates.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 “All the members of my cohort have already accomplished some amazing things in their communities and the places they serve, so the energy and the desire to see the Church grow for the right reasons is energizing,” Knutson said. “I’m on vacation when I’m here. I am so excited because I get to be in a room with others without the daily agendas coming at me, but to really go deep in thinking and talking from experience. That is powerful stuff.”
  12. From Oct. 1, 2007, through Oct. 1, 2012, the Department of Corrections' criminal alien inmate prison population grew by 257 prisoners - a 26.1 percent increase.
    The deaths in 2012 showed a 90 percent increase from 2011. A "storm of crime ... cost for incarcerating 287 foreign nationals in the state... approach 8.88 million dollars annually."
    OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS Inmates W/ICE Detainers 611 with 106 for Homicidal Crimes October 1, 2022
  13. https://www.heritage.org/immigration/commentary/federal-report-shows-open-borders-bring-increased-crimes-and-costs-taxpayers
  14. Federal Report Shows Open Borders Bring Increased Crimes and Costs for Taxpayers
  15. (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.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. Abraham Lincoln, September 11, 1858.
  19. Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1776.
  20. Benjamin Disraeli(1804-1881), British Prime Minister
  21. 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.
  22. This is the same Pastor W. J. Mark Knutson has turned his church's steeple into an alarm to warn of approaching ICE agents.
  23. Draco of 7th century BC, also called Drako or Drakon meaning dragon or serpent.
  24. 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."
  25. See Benefactors, Covetous practices.
  26. 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.
  27. 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.]
  28. Ham. N. P. 204.