Links for 1/23/20

Links for 1/23/20
St. Thomas More believed that assassination was better than warfare, at least in Utopia. Utopians also practice voluntary euthanasia. This tracks with the view that the sovereign (in our case, the people) are responsible from protecting others from danger in execution and, by extension, late term abortion and sterilization when pregnancy is a danger to the mother. Any morality that is based not more on pragma that idealism makes an Ogre of God.

This view also justifies war, suicide by spies and terrorism against tyranny, racism and genocide. It also is used by pro-life extremists to kill doctors. This is where encounter must be the first step. It is the justification for criminal and social justice as a safety valve against extremism and revenge. The latter is much needed in Palestine. Politics is also a safety valve to civil violence, even the armchair variety

The question of the day is how to go from the armchair to the podium and the best seller list. This is likely up to God. Prophets ever never recognized in their home towns or at all until it is God's time for them to do so - but this is no excuse to stop trying.

The big story of Davos is everyone laughing behind Trump's back. His views on religious freedom are equally ignorable.  As for its Masters of the Universe, they either have no clue about basic economics or are part of the latest investor swindles (Crypto and Exchange Traded Funds holding bad debt from over-leveraged single family rental housing. Again, the question is whether anyone is listening to Cassandra.

Regarding government provided services, cooperation is the key to dealing with questions of prayer and services. If cooperative entities can bypass public funding, provided that this is not an excuse for under-funding, pluralistic issues can be handled on a smaller scale. This still leaves the question of the rights of the individual versus the rights of the group to dictate options. This is another realm where encounter and tolerance are more important than winning and group dynamics (particularly if the majority believe that they are speaking for God). Individuals in a cooperative should always have the option to seek outside services and solutions - and have the funds to do so. This is also a good rule of thumb for the distribution of services offered by both non-profits and the government.

In Paris, he who pays the piper calls the architect.