Culture

A Place to Start

The physical realm is an expression of the spiritual realm – or the lack thereof in the case of the atheist. If this is true, then the physical world can tell us things about the spiritual realm. Consider the following quotes from two very different men; can you guess who they were?

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable Superior Spirit Who reveals Himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God"
and
"..for since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through that which has been made."
We will sometimes see science telling us things other than that which we have assumed, and in some cases, cherished -- for instance: It had been assumed for millennia that the universe was in some sort of eternal equilibrium. This was rationally compatible with philosophies such as Hinduism and its various children, with their endlessly cyclic patterns and "balanced universe". The big-bang however, models a starting point in time, and the eternal imbalance of gradually dissipating energy. Einstein by the way, was quite annoyed at this. Speaking of Dr. E, he is the one responsible for the first of the above two quotes. His partner in philosophy -- interestingly enough -- was the apostle Paul.

The best of science today describes a universe that began at an absolute time, point, and source of energy. One definition of God would be to describe Him as the absolute of the universe.

Another thing the natural realm reveals is an ethical direction. Things go from an ordered state to a disordered one -- Houses deteriorate, mountains wear down, etc. Consider the house with all the boards the right length and in the right places. Now detonate a case of dynamite under it. The material all still exists, but it is now scattered and disordered. The material had value while it was in order; the same material in disorder is only a mess to be cleaned up. A well ordered brain is a beautiful thing. Randomize it with hallucinogens or a bullet, and it loses function. Ethical parallel: Things that increase order might be labled “good” whereas things that destroy order and dissipate resources might be labled “bad”.

Context

Life, purpose, everything begin with God. How do we optimize our lifestyle to most effectively care for that which God has given us, and to express His life into the natural realm?

Both scripturally and historically, it can be proven that we don't know when Christ will return. We are clearly told to be diligent in what we are to do, and to not concern ourselves with the actual times or seasons. It was part of a servant's task to plan ahead for the next year's crop, and until we receive instructions to the contrary, this remains our responsibility.

There are many people who would benefit from the things to be shared, who have no interest or belief in the Bible. These are to be embraced and encouraged, and I will not hesitate to extend the boundaries of what I write to address their concerns, hopes, and perspectives.

Everybody complains, but knowing what you DON'T want is useless unless you can define what you DO want. This writing is about defining an optimum existence, proposing a path to achieve it, and considering tools that could make such a path possible.

Entertainment

Fictional drama is a mainstay of our modern culture. Books, TV productions and the so-called “reality shows” have numbed our sensitivities and skewed our morality. A more Godly culture would unplug from the degenerate conditions of the surrounding world. Hollywood would not control the minds and eyes of those who would choose to worship God and live in reality.

As near as I can tell, the Bible lacks any reference to fictional entertainment. I think the closest we come to it is in the telling of parables by Jesus. There are a few references to sports, and to singing and dancing on festive occasions, and at least one reference to singers or dancers before kings. This does not declare entertainment to be wrong, but clearly a low priority. There were also temple singers and musicians who led the public in worship.

The variety of commodities available in our modern lifestyles requires countless specialties, so individual occupations are often vary narrow. Often in such environments there is little reward for diligence, and little penalty for laziness. This obscures the connection between a career of shipping parts for soldering machines and living a meaningful life. This disconnect may be part of the reason people need vicarious lives to simulate a meaningful existence.

Since survival and culture are apparently unrelated in our modern world, culture is free to be corrupted by the anti-Christian and pro-pervert/adultery propaganda of our entertainment industry. Anti-God influences have divested the government itself of any moral compass. We are left with conspiratorial groups networking and vying for their respective special interests and philosophical indoctrinations upon our children.

A Good Direction

A lifestyle where people are more directly involved in the production of basic necessities and in the nurture of others would provide fulfillment that may free people from their fictional dependencies. The level of their performance would be clearly connected to the quality of life they experienced. Such a culture would be more oriented towards local commodities and the people who produced them than to cash. Under-employed people would have opportunity to improve their situations through increased efforts. This would not be a head-in-the-sand syndrome, but a cultural choice. Concerns of life involving care of natural resources, health, and cooperation with the rest of humanity on non-cultural issues would remain in tact.

Relationshipswith others in your community will be among the most challenging and important changes. In our current lifestyles we generally have no need to (or interest in) knowing who lives next door in our apartments or neighborhoods. Now however, they will be significant to our daily lives. They will be directly involved in the commodities and services we use every day, and they will be depending upon us to do our part. There will be a mutual dependence among neighbors for security and quality of life. Survival itself is not life, but relationships are.

I have observed that small non-mainstream communities tend to be governed by individual leaders. I was involved with a sprawling homeless camp consisting of several ethnic groups that would normally be at war with each other, but in this context they all got along. The fact that each sub-camp had its own culture was not a problem. Each one of these camps had its leader, and there was a person in one of the camps who was recoginzed as the leader of the whole area. These leaders had no special privilages; they were just protective of the people around them. They also had the force of personality and physical threat to deal with things that were clearly out of line. If someone from one group was causing problems for some other group, the group he was from had the responsibility of dealing with him. If they didn't, he was fair game for anybody. A little primative perhaps, but it worked.

Another Model

Many of us have been to conferences where we had a “mountain top” experience. These were controlled cultural environments where there were scheduled times of quiet, common meals, worship, teaching, and other forms of ministry. With employment, family, and maintenance issues temporarily out of reach we were able to focus upon our individual relationships with God, and to put the rest of the world in perspective. In some cases life-changing commitments were made and new long-term friendships were established.

Earlier in our history, when God was still generally believed and respected, there were blue laws by which businesses were closed on Sundays, and certain other activities were forbidden. A Godly culture could go a long ways towards alleviating much of the world's misery and crime.

A Companion Infrastructure

Later in the infrastructure section I will share a couple examples I have seen where meals were prepared and enjoyed in a central location. These were surrounded by individual and family sleeping arrangements. This “conference ground” style of infrastructure would be a good place to begin in an emergency, and many of the principles established at this level would be beneficial for any culture.

Rhythm

Any definable culture has its routines for the different categories of individuals within it. If a culture is to grow out of a conference-style community, develop a cultural routine from the same source.

Consider a typical conference structure:

1. Breakfast

2. Morning meeting

3. Free time

4. Lunch

5. Free time

6. Dinner

7. Evening meeting

In a community centered around a common dining and meeting facility, it would be possible to develop a rhythm that could meet everyone's needs. In the case of an ongoing community, breakfast would phase into a time of announcements and any coordination needs of the day.

A post-lunch siesta period is a very healthy thing. It would be good to schedule a time of disciplined quiet about the camp for those who would choose to nap. An after dinner meeting would be a good time for any community-scale religious observance or communication a culture group may choose.

Many of us like to connect with God in the early morning. Regardless of whether individuals choose to do this, the culture should respect it with a period of quite. In cases where resources do not provide private warm and lighted areas for each individual, a comfortable and lighted common area should be reserved for a specified daily period. It should be understood that this is not a time for individual conversation, games – solitary or otherwise-- or any activity that may be distracting to others. Because we all work on different clocks, it would be good to reserve this area from somewhere around midnight until a little before breakfast.

Practice

It would be beneficial to hold practice retreats where alternative cultures could be explored and refined in an alternative infrastructure setting. Cell phones, radios, TV, and internet would be out of reach in these sessions if people truly wanted to deal with the insecurity of a fast-changing world.

Initial experiments might involve as few as six or ten, but the design should be upwards scalable. In keeping with an optimum micro-infrastructure scale, no more than fifty people should be involved at any stage. Even at this scale there would be no need for amplified sound for either ministry or music. Eliminating this whole electronic audio-visual thing that bombards our lives and subconscious could make room for the lost arts of human communication and original thinking.

Qualifications for Leadership

People who lead by example of servitude and humility are the true leaders. People who prefer to give orders are not. Give honor to the true servants and listen to them.

Ps.105:17 “He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.” Often a man chosen by God is prepared by extreme trials. As you consider Moses and his forty years of exile before being called to lead Israel, the beatings, imprisonments, etc of Paul, the relentless pursuit of David by Saul, you see a pattern of what it often takes to forge a leader. Under such pressures the true nature of a man becomes refined. One has to wonder how many others God put through trials who simply didn't make it.

We would do well to select men who have stood up under trials, betrayals, and impossible circumstances. They will understand things that others have yet to learn. In Hebrews it says of Jesus that He learned obedience through that which He suffered. That word “learned” does not refer to knowledge per. se., but rather to having gained understanding through experience. It goes on to say that therefore He is qualified. We all know men who are willing to stand up for their rights; this is OK. The real men however, are the men who will stand up without their rights. These are the men who don't whine, or waste their souls in self-pity. They live in reality, evaluate situations, and take action while ignoring personal insult. They are often loving and dangerous.

Beyond this, there are good reasons for having leaders who are bound by faith-based morality. Consider the following syllogism:

A. The most typical religion of academics and politicians is humanism or atheism.

B. These religions have no absolute moral standard, and therefore no limits to the levels of selfishness, deception, and underhandedness that their adherents may practice.

C. Therefore, everyone, including liberals, are better served by people with moral absolutes, defined by their faiths.

This does not mean muddying the lines between church and state. It was leaders with religious convictions who wrote this concept into the laws in the first place. They can be trusted. It was people with religion-based moral convictions that provided this protection for people who disagreed with them philosophically. Such men, administrating justice under the shadow and fear of divine oversight, are less likely to betray public (and divine) trust than those devoid of faith-based constraints.

Character and Faith attributes desirable for public officers:

Morality: If he or she will betray their spouse, they'll betray you. The Bible says to know those who labor among you, and consider the way they live. A mere profession of religion is no guarantee. It is legitimate – indeed important – to know as much as possible about the personal lives and integrity of potential candidates.

Examine the religion:

Some religions justify deception, lies, and any other activity if it will favor their religion. Islam is an example of this. A person may be a fanatical adherent to the principles of their religion, and yet a disastrous choice for public trust. There are strains of Eastern religions that favor peace and unity. These are good candidates. Even those that don't define behavioral absolutes at least define positive directions. I believe Gandhi was such a leader.

Freedom Limits

Laws exist to curtail the actions of people who would choose to violate the persons, lives, or well-being of others.

Exceptions should not be made for things labeled “religion”. The United States defines “treason” as adherence to any doctrine that advocates the violent overthrow of the government. The Koran clearly and repeatedly does does just that in the latter portions of the book. If we dare to be realistic, we would not allow the destruction of civilized society to hide behind religion. On the other hand the ACLU should not be allowed to forbid benign expressions of faith, or to force the acceptance of perversion in public schools.

If people are living close enough to be obviously depending upon one another, things like theft, adultery, and bullying will cause breakdowns in the system. In America, our culture is rampant with such things. We get away with it because we don't have to live with the people who meet our physical needs. So, we can hate everybody, lust as we please, and steal what we don't get caught stealing.

Welfare

The welfare challenge is to compassionately meet real needs without spawning a sense of entitlement – let alone an entitlement-oriented government. This would require an iron-clad wall against conflicts of interest in which those receiving community resources could not have any say in what they receive. The logical end of this is that welfare recipients would not be allowed to vote themselves benefits (gasp!), and public salaries could only be determined by the constituency, rather than by the politicians receiving them.
Obviously we want to help the less fortunate, and we want to properly reward those in public service, but we also want to protect the poor from being abused as political fodder by politicians capable of voting their own salaries.
The concept of having the producers and contributors determine the use of public resources must be kept in balance. All qualified (i.e. non-special interest) votes must be counted as equal, regardless of the income levels. Special interest must be thwarted, but equality must be maintained.

Economics

Hours of effort are a form of currency that all can afford, and forms a basis of economy in which all can participate. This leaves true wealth in the hands of God to define, according to the years and health He has granted to each one of us.

In most cases our system siphons off so much productivity that by the time a man retires he has little to show for his career but a worn out mind and body. He then becomes dependent upon the system that has deprived him of his dignity and prosperity. Another malady of our current system is our mobility. When local prosperity is freely affected by national and global economies, the job market becomes a moving target. Undulations in local economies force people to sell property at a loss and to reacquire debt as they restart in other locations.

Security in later years comes naturally in a system where a man can develop property ownership and leadership status over time. Family living in property he owns and using the resources he has accumulated to produce their own wealth results in honor and support for him until death.

Money is extracted from a system by those who lend it from outside, and our nation is a prime example. Our entire monetary system depends upon loans from an international consortium of bankers. Interest is charged by this group (Federal Reserve) on every dollar in circulation, and is tuned to optimize their profit while keeping our economy alive enough to do so. Such debt continues to increase the disparity between the rich and the poor. (As a chilling side note, be aware that the both the Secret Service and National Guard are now under the Treasury Department – basically a pawn of the Federal Reserve.)

Other schemes of unearned wealth that sap economic energy without directly producing a product include taxes, opportunistic litigation, mandatory insurance and the innumerable fees imposed by the hierarchy of governmental agencies. In addition to all this, endless regulations complicate business and blight efficiency. Until holdings are debt-free, their owners remain players in global war and money.

Debt is control, and control is the antonym of empowerment. Although initial external debt may be necessary to acquire land for a village, the debt of anything within it is not. We must reorient our thinking to proactive preparation, rather than continuing to commit ourselves to financial slavery. Resources must be allocated ahead for the unexpected needs, instead of relying on debt slavery. This should become routine in our thinking both individually and as groups.

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