A New Voice of Freedom

Pandora’s Box, A Story of Hope The following story of Hope was written by my daughter Paula Hiatt and read by Linda. Let me refer you to her Blog Post at paulahiatt.com.  Some background to the story may be helpful. One dreadful evening, Paula came into my den, shut the door and said, ‘Dad I have been diagnosed with cancer.’ Her mother, my first wife, died of cancer in 2000. She was 55 years old....

Utopia  We have names for the perfect society:  ·      The Garden of Eden,  ·      Shangri La, ·      El Dorado,  ·      Promised Land,  ·      Heaven,  ·      Camelot,  ·      Paradise,  ·      Nirvana,  ·      Utopia,  ·      Happy Valley,  ·      The New Jerusalem,  ·      The Celestial Kingdom ·      Zion,  ·      Elysium,  ·      Empyrean,  ·      The Millennium.  ·      Arcadia I dare say th...

The Road to Power, Machiavellian Pragmatism, Rule # 21: “Trample on Traditions.” One of the first things any new tyrant must do is to destroy old traditions and old laws. Machiavelli understood that for a person to gain power and to hold power, he must not only destroy old laws, but he must establish new laws. In what I have called Machiavelli Rule # 21, Machiavelli said,  “And nothing honours a m...

Random Thoughts on Repentance   ONE Those who stray from the law leave the path, and law cannot bring them back.  Christ alone can bring them back.  Repentance brings one back under the safety of the law and places one back on the road to sanctification and on the path to spiritual perfection through the grace of Christ.  Repentance helps us to continually adjust our course and stay on that correc...

Milton’s Paradise Lost Bk VI, Pt XIII, The War in Heaven Pt 3 The Final Battle  In the last Podcast, Lucifer and his army create weapons of mass destruction, taking Michael and his army by surprise. Michael, however, leader that he is, responds in an unexpected way. They have no firepower to match the machinery of Satan; therefore, they throw their weapons down, not in surrender, but so they can d...

Linda Faith in Action Like the creation of the earth, faith also has two creative periods: a spiritual creation and a temporal creation.  “ The substance of things hoped for” occurs in the spiritual creation; “ the evidence of things not seen” occurs in the temporal creation.   Using Paul’s definition of faith, the spiritual creation is linked to the temporal creation with the common coupler hope...

A Demonstration in Denver   On March 24, 2018, Linda and I, after touring the Molly Brown house, were swept away in a river of happy protestors in downtown Denver, Colorado, all flowing toward the Capitol to an anti-gun rally, attended by hundreds of people carrying homemade signs of protest.  They were led by ministers, civic leaders, and concerned parents.  The day was crisp, the sky blue, the p...

The Road to Power, Machiavellian Pragmatism, Rule # 20: “Never Let a Good Crisis go to Waste.” The quote, “Never let a good crisis go to waste” is first attributed to Winston Churchill, who was pushing to form the United Nations during the dark days of WWII.  Whereas I am a great fan of Winston Churchill, I abhor Machiavellian Pragmatism. The statement by Churchill in one instance may be fundament...

Godly Sorrow   Sometimes, because we seek joy in sin, we are just sorry that we got caught. “10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10) Many sincerely repent in prison because they are removed from the exquisitely decorated enticements of the orchestrated lights of the outside world; however, being for...

Milton’s Paradise Lost Bk VI, Pt XII, The War in Heaven Pt 2 Michael and Lucifer The first day of battle favored Michael. With his usual arrogant confidence Satan led his rebels. From skirt to skirt a fiery region, stretched In battailous aspect, and nearer view Bristled with upright beams innumerable Of rigid spears, and helmets thronged, and shields Various, with boastful argument portrayed, The...

Some Random Thoughts on Addiction Part IV: Wants, Appetites, and Desires These podcasts address only spiritual preparation so that one puts himself or herself into a frame of mind to overcome undesirable habits or addictions or behaviors. Spiritual preparation lies squarely on the individual who is suffering. There are some things that only we can do for ourselves.  Changing one’s behavior is a fo...

Some Random Thoughts on Addiction Part III, Time This is Part III in the series on Addiction. We leave it to the experts to treat addiction. Personal treatment is beyond the scope of these podcasts. We are grateful to all those who have dedicated their lives and services to helping addicts to overcome addictions. Everyone must choose for themselves the type of treatment they pursue. We make no sug...

Some Random Thoughts on Addiction Part II As a precursor to this podcast, let me refer you to Season 3 Podcast 157, ‘Some Random Thoughts on Addiction Pt I”. In Podcast 157, the Three Theological Virtues—Faith, Hope, & Charity—were presented as the spiritual foundation for anyone trying to overcome addictions. As you listen to this podcast, please remember that they are prefaced by the Three T...

Faith and Law   Paul gives us one of the clearest definitions of faith found in the Holy Bible. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) The Apostle Paul makes two assertions about faith 1.     Faith is the substance of things hoped for. 2.     Faith is the evidence of things not seen. The key words are substance and evidence. Substance is a...

The War in Heaven Pt I Introduction Some critics are astonished that Milton, inspired by only a few verses from Genesis, was able to write Paradise Lost. Strictly speaking, that is too narrow a view of the scope of Paradise Lost. I want to continue to keep at the forefront Milton’s stated theme: Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste Brought death into...

Gender  Any state that ignores the strict laws of science and nature as it relates to gender, as it relates to biology, as it relates to the inherent qualities of male and female to satisfy the whims of manufactured social discontent exploited for political purposes will become so entangled in strange laws, peculiar practices, unsolvable dilemmas, and irregular behaviors that society will simply c...

Argumentum ad Baculum Argumentum ad baculum, the Latin form, is a logical fallacy better known as appeal to the stick or appeal to fear or appeal to force. Slander and character assassination are forms of argumentum ad baculum. Any form of threat, coercion, pressure, constraint, duress, oppression, menace, abuse, jeopardy, or badgering as a form of persuasion is a form of argumentum ad baculum. It...

Complacency   Complacency is like a fluttering butterfly balanced on a broken bell. Complacency is a state of being pleased with oneself, a state of agreeableness or compliance or self-satisfaction or conciliation.  Synonyms are ·      Gratification ·      Contentedness ·      Quietism ·      Tranquility ·      Placid, ·      Comfort ·      Amelioration ·      Easement ·      Serene ·      Tranqui...

Faith and Democracy.   The three levels of faith are ·      Faith in Self ·      Faith in Others  ·      Faith in God In a democracy, for man’s liberty to flourish, the government must provide an environment for all three levels of faith to flourish.  The reason is simple ·      A democracy is built on self-reliance ·      We are all God’s Children and God gives his gifts generously. One reason Go...

Milton’s Paradise Lost Bk V, Pt X, The First Temptation  Sir Arthur-Quiller Couch said, a writer to reach the high points resorts to poetry, to reach the low points resorts to prose. With Milton there are no low points. One cannot be distracted while reading Paradise Lost or one will get lost in Paradise Lost, and having a good dictionary nearby is useful. Book V of Paradise Lost opens with Adam a...

The Road to El Toboso In our previous podcasts Linda and I have talked much about the split between science and religion. Perhaps nothing divides science from religion more than the Christian belief in the supernatural. The scientific method is bound by temporal law. Without accurate predictability confirmed by repetition, science is nothing. Science flounders when it wanders into the supernatural...

Faith and Liberty May we bring God back into our country so that we can bring liberty back into our hearts. Faith in self gives access to all our personal powers; faith in others gathers around us needed support to strengthen our weaknesses; faith in God brings down the powers of heaven and creates miracles.     A country that does not support self-reliance, free enterprise, and freedom of conscie...

Season 3 Podcast 160 Tribalism in America According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary a tribe is “A social group comprising numerous families, clans, or generations 2. A group of persons having a common character, occupation, or interest.” Tribalism, according to “Oxford Languages is, “the state or fact of being organized in a tribe or tribes. The behavior and attitudes that stem from strong loyal...

The Road to Power, Machiavellian Pragmatism, Rule # 16: Strengthen the Weak; Weaken the Strong As with all other Machiavellian rules, none consider morality, right and wrong, just and unjust, good and evil, fair and unfair, or moral and immoral. They are all dominated by the central rule that the ends justify the means. Rule # 16 says, Defend the weak and weaken the powerful but keep all foreigner...

Milton’s Paradise Lost Bk IV, Pt IX, The Wiles of Satan Satan is about to enter the Garden of Eden. The following description by Milton brilliantly describes the devil in his duplicity. Thus while he spake, each passion dimmed his face Thrice changed with pale, ire, envy, and despair; Which marred his borrowed visage, and betrayed Him counterfeit, if any eye beheld. For heavenly minds from such di...