Some thoughts

The Israelites had it made. Think of it, God was their King, they only had Judges that would listen to their legal problems and they only dealt in matters that involved the individual vs. other individuals, and in matters that involved God's Law.
Eventually, they cried for a king, and why not...every other Nation had a king, why couldn't they??!!
Samuel tried to discourage them, and reminded them that a king would bring taxation, military conscription, and the potential for tyranny. But they demanded it anyway.
It's interesting that God tells Samuel to give them a king, and says that in this request, they are rejecting Him, not Samuel.
We could say that God saw the people wanting someone to rule over them instead of individually ruling over themselves as a rejection of Him.
And look what they got.

Fast forward several hundred years, and God's law is given to us in a nutshell, "Love the Father with all your heart, and love your neighbors as yourselves."
That's it.
We could have a perfect (as perfect as man can be) society based on those two laws. If you love your neighbor as yourself, what need is there for any law anyway? Based on that Law alone, you could truly live free.
We are never told to force this law on anyone, but to spread the "Good News."  And in part, the Good News is that man can live free, free from bondage and slavery.

Fast forward to today. Today we have people who want to use this "Good News" to enslave a free people.
Of course, it's for your own good, and for the good of society, but it requires that individuals conform to a certain idea that THEY decide is right.
Does "love your neighbors as yourselves" mean to support laws made by a government you know to be evil but that throws people in jail for not following their own personal beliefs?
So then it is ok?
"Well, even though I know this government to be  evil, and that it sanctions the murder of the unborn, and murders the innocent at will, that it steals from our posterity worse than the most villainous mobster, I will support it when it is in line with one of my moral beliefs."
Really? Are you willing to let a murderous, thieving government be your "moral compass" when it passes a law that fits into your own moral code, even when that law is punishing someone who is harming none other than himself, or, more often than not, no one at all??
Where in the Bible are you told to support government-sponsored "moral laws" that merely image what you deem to be good? If you are willing to allow the government to be your moral compass, you cannot pick and choose which morals you will decide to be right. The government has and does decide that for you. I hate drugs. But I see no biblical authority to force others to not use them. I like to have an alcoholic drink, but I know some "Christians" think that it is wrong. What authority do they have to force their belief on me?
None. 
Yet we see the religious ones clamoring for the government to legislate their morals on others. Because it is "right." They allow themselves to be blinded by the fact that some day, that same government could decide that the views they hold should be illegal, and what recourse would they have then? They already had everyone who they disagreed with locked up, so who is left to defend them?
They have told God, "give us a king," and they pay the consequences of their desires, forgetting that in supporting this king, they have rejected God.

Newsminer

Here is the full story, our float took first place in the political floats.Golden days parade

Parade

Here is an image from the News Miner from the parade.

New Show

I realize that I never announced here that Patriots Lament is now live on the radio and internet every Saturday from 10 am to 11 am Alaska time.
Go here, KFAR 660 and click on the listen live and you got it. If you click programs and hit audio on demand, you can listen to archives of the show. David is putting them together to have a link to them here soon also.

It's sweet, we get all kinds of hate callers, so we must be doing something right. 

Fairbanks for Ron Paul

The parade today was a great success. Our Ron Paul float was awesome!! Michael Boldin from the 10th amendment center was on hand tonight and gave a great speech.
Good job and thanks to the Fairbanks chapter of Campaign for Liberty. These guys are the real deal.
Fairbanks for Ron Paul 2012
Jump on here and "like" the page.
It was good to see the support at the parade, and awesome how many people understood "End the Fed"!

The Sovereignty Movement vs. Being A Free Man

The Sovereignty Movement leads down many fascinating rabbit holes: some of which are built on historical fiction, significant other portions of which are quite revealing truths. Many of those who get involved are already "at the end of their rope" and still view an appeal to the state as their last resort. They often lose it when the state says, "We don't care if you are legally correct." They forget that the legitimacy of the state does not rest on law, contract, or even force, but on the perception of the majority that the state's use of force is legitimate. The state only needs the perception of legitimacy from your neighbors to use force against you for any reason whatsoever. Thus, to appeal to the state is to miss the point. The only conclusion one reaches if one does not eventually let go of these ideas is that he must project greater force against the state than it can project against him. This is a race to the bottom that the state always wins. Far more important is to attempt to de-legitimize the state in the minds of those around you. Far more important is to remain peaceful and let the truth of what you speak inspire those around you to question the very nature of the state. As Victor Hugo observed, "Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come." Indeed Christ himself showed us the way forward when it comes to demonstrating the power of resisting the "powers that be" without ever fighting back.

So what of the legal and administrative battle that is the Sovereignty Movement? We must realize that paperwork cannot enslave men, nor can it set men free. Only men can enslave men. Conversely, the condition of liberty can only be found in a society made up of free individuals. What is a free individual? One who seeks to live a life based on a congruent and peaceful ideology. An ideology free of internal conflict (peace being the absence of conflict). Since the only person we can improve is ourselves, the question of "how to be free" then becomes a question of, "What conflicting beliefs do I hold, and how can I resolve this inner conflict?" Liberty comes about one person at a time as we each decide to examine our own thoughts and motivations, and resolve the conflict within ourselves. Again, Christ reminds us of this: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"

Towards this end, I have also found Butler Shaffer's book Boundaries of Order to be highly enlightening. It caused me to reexamine considering myself to be a "Rothbardian" or "Voluntaryist" and to think in ways that are much less formal and far more internally peaceful.

-David Giessel