Dominion--the whole duty of man

By Johnny D. Symon

"If society fits you comfortably enough, you call it freedom."
— Robert Frost

Today is a day of independence, or so we're told, but surely independence is a strong opposite to dependence, for the state of independence is "Freedom from control or influence of another or others," whereas dependence is "The state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else." So with this particular day in mind, the 4th of July, it's time for each and every one of us to stand back and consider our present condition, our present state.

"The past is not what it was."
— G K Chesterton

But the past, and those who lived their alloted spans within it, fell under the same condition laid out by Robert Frost above. We can never change the past, though some of us would like to, and others still are busy trying. But history has become a condition where one group feels comfortable with it, and others try to re-write the books, together with the curriculum, for it's easier to re-write history as it's written in our books, but nigh on impossible to re-write the genuine past.

Independence Day for America was physically at it's point of time, and literally as it was written, a genuine call to freedom. The term "independence," as used for that event, was the correct one, and only a fool or a half-wit would argue over this. But independence can be changed from it's original state to it's direct opposite in such a way that it appears, to all intents and purposes, as like the transmutation of water into wine, and we all know that good wine requires good water and good grapes, that when combined require the right conditions or environment to mature in the optimum manner.

I personally have taken a few steps back recently, to reassess this much touted term or condition, erstwhile named "independence," and I considered the term in both its genuine historic nature and as it is now practiced. I combined both and found discrepancies. For you see, although the wine was a combination of two pure substances, it's future history contaminated the contents, and although the wine had gone bad, those whom we'd appointed to run the vineyard were busying themselves through assuring us that it was still a great vintage. A condition strikingly similar to the story of The Emperor and his New Clothes, but this time round we're led to believe that we're the Emperors, and our new clothes are the classiest things on earth.

But the truth is plain for all to see, that both the Emperor's clothes and Independence have vanished into thin air.

"If society fits you comfortably enough, you call it freedom."
— R F

Are the words "freedom" and "independence" interchangeable? Is independence a state that can be regarded as the Dominion of the Free? And if so, where is it?

Do we still have the freedom to own property? All of it? And if we earn 2000 bucks in one week, is it all ours? And if that 2000 bucks was piled up on our dining table as gold coins and paper notes, would both be worth the same as each other? What if a leader cuts tax by 10 percent, then devalues the national currency by 15, and promptly dispatches a few guys with tin snips out and about, to snip off a 15 percent section of each of your gold coins. Would you feel free, would you feel independent? Would you have dominion? for dominion is the optimum word here.

Several weeks back I watched "Buenas Noticias" on Spain's TVE 2. This show is a Sunday morning Christian Evangelical offering, that this particular day saw a theologian discuss parts of Genesis. On reaching the part where Adam and Eve are exhorted to "have dominion" over creation, the theo remarked that this translation was "unfortunate." Being an "ecologically minded" type of jerk he didn't like the feel of Genesis. He didn't question the authenticity of the translation, which is just as well because I know that it was correct, he simply did not like the fact that ecologists have nothing to grasp in it. Dominion was granted, and no warnings were provided against "polluting" or "depleting." Nowhere in the Bible, or the Koran, is the mention of "limited resources," or "the dangers of pollution". ... "Dominion" is where we're meant to be at. And nowhere in the Bible is there made mention of man-made world peace, in fact Jesus himself said "I have not come to bring peace but a sword." He also promised wars and rumors of wars.

Therefore true independence equals an understanding of what the world is, where it came from, and where we are in the scheme of things. And the truth behind this understanding leads us to dominate and build. Therefore, if the opposite view becomes prevalent, it's simply because our leaders have rejected their own Creator, and fear becomes their portion ... A fear for the world and it's resources. A fear of war and conflict. And a terror for what lies ahead of us in the future. But terror is something they've built within themselves, and their fear for the future is simply a vision for themselves in the future, for there's "fear" and "Fear." True Fear is actually a reverence for the Creator and His handiwork, the other fear is based in irreverence and a groundless trust in the work of their own hand.

The Jewish Talmud, written thousands of years ago, had this to say in section Sotah 49b;

"The vine will offer its fruits, but the wine will be expensive."

I believe those words were prophetic because they lay out the future evils of inflation and devaluation of currency, and it outlines the handiwork of evil kings and queens, and political leaders, together with their top banker bosom buddies.

Several years ago I spoke to an English citrus grove owner down in Southern Spain, and he said that "in a couple of days my complete harvest of oranges and lemons will be picked up by trucks, commissioned by the European Commission, and this produce goes to a landfill site to be buried beneath the soil. It's the EU's way of keeping prices high. They give me the market price, but the fruit never reaches the market." It's something Roosevelt did too, and for the same reasons.

"The vine will offer its fruits, but the wine will be expensive."

Though, yet again, the oil fields will offer their fruit, but the gasoline will be expensive. Right?

I noted with great interest a Saudi spokesman's comments in Madrid recently, he said that the high price of crude is nothing to do with the oil producers, it's market speculators that are to blame. And the man was right. He also went on to say, that inspite of the increased demand for crude, especially in reference to China and India, there was no shortage to meet the demand. And this is where everything returns to the subject of independence and dependence. We're no longer independent because the world's resources are wrongfully controlled ... they're meant to be part of our dominion package, but have been seized by those whose idea of dominion leads to our dependence and subsequent domination.

I reckon the only answer left to fight and overcome this problem, is to remove any form of political/ecological control of the world's unlimited resources. Crude and natural gas should be under the control of properly informed religious leaders; Christians, Muslims, Catholics, Jews, etc. A common understanding would develop as to what the nature and origins of resources are, and Who provided them. And we have to confront anyone who claims to believe in God and the Bible, yet openly claims that we are "stewards" of the planet. If we're stewards of the planet, then let them show us the chapter and verse, and I guarantee they'll never find it, because it's a lie from hell.

The other day I was hurtling along in an SUV with an old friend in the back, and the ecological subject raised it's ugly head. I said that one of the tricks used by the bums at the top, to fool us about crude, is to describe it as purely "an energy source." Inevitably this leads on as a one, two, thing, to the subject of "alternative energy sources." But you know something? The truth is that there's no alternative to crude oil. I held up a mineral water bottle for my friend to see, and said, "This is made through a derivative of crude. I want to see it's substitute created by sun, wind, nuclear or wave power! In fact most of this automobile stems, one way or the other, from crude ... right down to the floor mats. For the truth is that crude is not ONLY an energy source. It's a source of physical products. So where's the substitute there?"

And where in the Bible, or the Koran, can be referenced a situation where God says, "Here it all is folks. It's all yours to have dominion over. But don't waste it, and don't pollute it either, otherwise the result will be all your own making."

King Solomon summed up our purpose in life with these words;

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God, and keep his commandments:
for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment,
with every secret thing, whether it be good,
or whether it be evil."
— Ecclesiastes 12:13,14

Let's all take note of Solomon's words, for nowhere can be found any evidence of "stewards of the planet," or a certain "limit" to the resources provided us.

But the funny thing is, that one of the world's finest examples of a top notch political ecologist leader, goes by the name of Robert Mugabe, for through his faithless 28-years of "service" to his people and nation, he now can boast of being the leader of a Zimbabwe that's one of the world's "least polluting" nations. And as for resources; they're not there to waste because, thanks to him, the whole place is a dust-bowl, and most folks have returned to grass huts. Now that's ecology in action!

This boy shouldn't get sanctioned, he should be upgraded to become Top Dog of the United Notions. I reckon that in no more than 10 years of faithless service, there'd no longer be the need for crude oil, and hemp would be all the rage ... both to live in, and stride in. I regard Robert Mugabe as the ultimate world politico: Total control and total waste of human resources, and the biggest savior of natural energy on the planet. And while achieving all of this, he's found, to his great delight, that most of the world's leaders envy him as someone who achieved something that they only aspire to, and due to this they bestow huge amounts of money and resources on his person, as a reward for providing them with great hopes and aspirations for their own futures too.

Robert Mugabe can truthfully share in the celebrations of July 4th, for he's genuinely an independent entity ... not so for his people though. But Americans can remember their history, of a day and time when independence was achieved. The Pilgrim Fathers fathered independence when they set sail from Europe; Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, was lowered into the hold to travel with them. But that hold held little else besides the above; Some provisions, a few sticks of furniture no doubt, a little something to protect themselves, and their faith.

"Act, and God will Act."
— Joan of Arc

What didn't travel with them was much more interesting, I guess; A fear for the world and it's resources, and the ecological lie. I bet that as they made their plans for the future, there was no place for recycling, for they knew that whatever c**p would be produced on the way would be recycled by the fish. To them everything under the sun had a purpose, and everywhere under the sea was a porpoise.

© Johnny D. Symon