2006-10-11 05:01:00
I wrote (in part):
This is the principle that is behind the justifiable use of force which is this.
Authority and force are positive things if they are used to restrict those forces which restrict life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Freedom cannot be imposed. It can only manifest through free will when those conditions, which prevent freedom, are restrained.
Dan writes:
While I love this principle as far as I understand it, one thing that concerns me a bit regarding this "Principle of the Justified Use of Force" is that it could be used by some of the more radical (militant) anti-government factions (pro/anti-tax, abortion, gun, welfare, etc - pick any "big gov't" pet peeve) WITHIN this country to justify violent acts of 'civil unrest' (THEIR version of "restraining those conditions which prevent freedom").
Good point Dan. Indeed every principle has to be interpreted in the Spirit rather than the letter. This and every other principle can be misused if interpreted incorrectly. This is why soul contact is so badly needed. When the seeker sees through the eyes of the soul he sees the language of principles and will interpret them correctly because he understands the language.
He who does not understand the language may feel his pursuit of happiness lies in abusing little children and seek to defend this warped version of liberty. Of course the disciple sees behind such illusion and recognizes that when the liberty of the child is sacrificed then the principle is not properly used.
Thanks for reposting my treatise on true freedom. I almost forgot I wrote it and enjoyed reading it again myself.
Dan:
I simply CANNOT create GOOD by forcing you to do good, in fact I create evil by so doing, but my use of force to stop you from forcing another, even if you are trying to force them to do good, is not only fully justified, but likely creates a good!
Weird me OUT, man! It don't never seem to git no easier but it shore IS always interesting ain't it :-)
Interesting way to word it. As Solomon says, there is a time and a place for everything, even the use of force. A just police force applies this principle daily to assist us in maintaining life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
They are prepared to use whatever force is necessary to prevent murder, rape, robbery and many other affronts on human freedom. Unfortunately, without this threat of force our civilization would be in anarchy and little freedom would be available to the individual.
In a future age this threat of force will not be needed, but our civilization is yet some distance from achieving this.
On this note here is a great quote from DK written during World War II:
The leaders of the United Nations (Allied nations) and of their armies are not Godless men, as are the leaders of the Axis Powers; they are men of rectitude and of spiritual and humanitarian purpose and are able thus to work-consciously or unconsciously-under the inspiration of the Hierarchy. This has been amply demonstrated. On account of this decision of the Hierarchy, Christ became automatically the Leader of these Forces. His work has been greatly hindered by the sweet sentimentality of the unthinking Christian and by the well-meaning, but oft unintelligent, pacifist. Both these groups would sacrifice the future of humanity to temporary methods of "being nice" or "being kind" or taking gentle measures. The forces of evil, stalking the world today, do not understand such measures. The cry of such people that "God loves all men" is true-eternally and forever true. It is one of the unalterable facts of existence itself. God loves-without distinction and irrespective of race or creed. To that Great Life naught matters but humanity and its perfecting, because upon humanity depends the salvation of all the kingdoms in nature. But this statement (made in time and space and as it concerns the form aspect and not the spirit in man) is frequently misleading, and the simple-minded are apt to forget that the Christ said, "He that is not with me is against me."
Men fail also to realise the potency of the thought wielded by Those who work under and with the Christ. Thought is pure divine energy, impersonal and-like the sun-it pours down upon the worthy and the unworthy, unless definitely and deliberately directed. The Hierarchy was therefore faced with the problem and the necessity of seeing that pure impersonal thought energy did not find its way into the ranks of those fighting human freedoms, for it stimulates the minds and the mental processes of the good and the bad alike. This danger They deliberately offset by directing Their thought to the forces fighting under the leaders of the United Nations and by openly taking Their stand upon the side of right human relations. They did not dare to do otherwise, for-in their place and given circumstances-the leaders of the forces of evil have proved themselves cleverer and more calculating than those fighting for human freedom. It is this distinction and its necessity that some kindly and well-intentioned but ignorant Christian thinkers often overlook.
Externalization of the Hierarchy, Pages 476-477
Copyright © 2006 by J J Dewey, All Rights Reserved