Speak truth to power?

"Speak truth to power" a lefty politico says, and his followers cheer while onlooking newsies nod their heads. It is a catchphrase at Democratic Underground, batted around like a badminton birdie in their numerous posts. It has the sound of wisdom and insight without really saying anything.

Word to the wise: If you want to hang around a bunch of liberals and not be identified as a conservative, be sure to say "speak truth to power" at least once or twice and they won't give you a second glance. Other catchphrases to remember are "WMDs" and "Bush lied."

Neo-Neocon had posted a definition of the pesky phrase back in September of 2005: "The expression, which has been around for quite a while, is brilliantly parsimonious. In just four simple words (really only three, since one of them is "to"), it succinctly encapsulates the left's view--both of itself, and of the way the world works.

First, there's "truth." One of the hallmarks of much leftist thought is the idea of their own moral (not just doctrinal or analytic) superiority. The left's definition of "truth" often seems to be that it consists of whatever they believe to be true. Ergo, whenever they "speak" (word three), it's "truth" by definition; they certainly don't need no steenking facts cluttering up their truth (as in the pesky Memogate).

Next, there's "power." The left is all about power differentials. Third-world countries or those perceived as powerless are always right (i.e. "truthful"); powerful countries are always wrong. It's not, of course, just about international relations and countries, it's also about people and economics: poor people=good (powerless), rich people=bad (powerful).

Want to know the origins of the phrase? I did; it turns out it has to do with Quakers and pacifism, (see this), a subject I plan to tackle some time in the not-too-distant future." Read the whole posting here.

Hay, pacifist? If a guy broke into your home to steal your stuff or attack your family, you gonna stand there and watch? If the USA was a pacifist country we would all be speaking Russian or German as a first or second language right now. To be a Christian is not necessarily to be a pacifist. I don't attack other people but if you tried to hurt my children or wife I would go for your throat, for it is my duty to protect them and it is in my heart to do so. What kind of man, what kind of country, does not protect their own?

Jesus is the guy who chased the money-changers out of the temple.

Mark 11:15 "So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves."

Now, picture this, a man is going around in this area turning over tables and physically forcing people out of the temple. People are shouting and running and stuff is flying all over, a violent scene. This was Jesus??? Oh, yeah, and then he says:

From Mark 11:17 “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”

Jesus against hordes of money-changers, and He wins? The guy knew how to fight! There were occasions when Jesus was threatened with physical violence but avoided it without a struggle. Even when He was taken from the garden of Gethsemane Jesus did not fight. Because he knew it was necessary for him to be taken and tormented and finally crucified for the sake of mankind. This was sacrifice. But it was also war, spiritual war in this case, and Jesus Christ knew he had to shed blood to defeat his enemy and the enemy of mankind.

The God of the Bible is no wimp. In the power of God David fought and defeated Goliath. The children of Israel took over the promised land by force. So many of the heroes of the Bible, like Joshua and Gideon (whom an angel called a "mighty man of valor") were warriors against those who sacrificed their children to false gods and sought for the destruction of God's people.

We are "one nation under God", formed by men who believed in a land of freedom, based on Judeo-Christian principles. The beauty of freedom is that one is free to believe or believe not. Our nation is founded on Godly principles and yet is secular in nature. We have in our 200-plus years, been a nation that defends freedom rather than spreading oppression. Often that has meant a war, for the forces of totalitarianism of various stripes never fight only with words.

In II Samuel 22:35-38, David is singing of God and to God and the subject is warfare:

"He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your gentleness has made me great.
You enlarged my path under me;
So my feet did not slip.
I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them;
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed."

Dwight D. Eisenhower - "History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid."

Franklin D. Roosevelt - "In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved."

H. L. Mencken - "We must be willing to pay a price for freedom."

George Bernard Shaw - "Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it."

Thomas Jefferson - "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

Patrick Henry - " It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun!"