{"id":2278,"date":"2019-03-24T12:33:13","date_gmt":"2019-03-24T18:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ndturner.com\/gracePlus\/?p=2278"},"modified":"2019-03-24T12:47:25","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T18:47:25","slug":"aristocracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ndturner.com\/gracePlus\/?p=2278","title":{"rendered":"Aristocracy"},"content":{"rendered":"

This university \u2018cheating\u2019 scandal, has brought a few things to light.\u00a0 I can hardly write that sentence with a straight face.\u00a0 There is nothing unifying about those things we call \u2018universities\u2019 today, and there is hardly an aspect of those fractured\u2014things\u2014which is not cheating every student in some way.\u00a0 But one of the most annoying aspects is the feigned hatred for aristocracy.\u00a0 When I was a child and thought as a child people would often say to me \u201clife isn\u2019t fair.\u201d\u00a0 I thought if people stopped saying that maybe it would be.\u00a0 But then I gave up my childish ways and realized that life is not fair and it never will be.\u00a0 But many today still think as children.\u00a0 And we are all reaping the consequences.<\/p>\n

\"Women<\/a>

Women and Children First. Those with power have a greater duty to lay down their lives. The Wreck of the Birkenhead. Thomas Hemy. c.1892.<\/p><\/div>\n

Jesus said the poor would be with us always.\u00a0 In context he was making it clear that worship of the Father through the Son is more important than social problems.\u00a0 We are worshipping creatures, we are here to worship, and if we worship the wrong thing i.e. the created rather than the creator, the poor\/social problems\/whatever, instead of Yahweh through his son Jesus the Christ, we are going to make a huge mess of things.\u00a0 Christ also made other stunning statements to our snowflakes yearning for fairness.\u00a0 He says he spoke in parables so that some people would not understand(Matthew 13<\/a>).\u00a0 He was fulfilling prophecy, glorifying his father, not enlightening those who didn\u2019t want the light.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t sound fair.\u00a0 Even more unfair is the Parable of the Talents Jesus tells in Matthew 25<\/a>.\u00a0 He concludes saying:<\/p>\n

For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nothing about this seems fair to us.\u00a0 Each servant was given a different amount in the beginning and though the two servants who invested got the same percent back the servant with the most money was again rewarded when the wicked servant was rebuked.\u00a0 Moe went from 5 to 11, Larry went from 2 to 4, Curly went from 1 to 0.\u00a0 That\u2019s not fair.\u00a0 Because the point is not about money or status the point is about how you handle the responsibility given to you.\u00a0 It\u2019s about the relationship between you and your creator, not you and other men.\u00a0 That brings us to a key concept in our politics and social concerns today, envy.\u00a0 Envy is the sidelong glance.\u00a0 \u2018But what about him\u2019 Peter says.\u00a0 Jesus replies \u201cwhat is that to you, follow me\u201d. \u00a0 Even in a perfect world were everyone followed Him, there would be a million inequalities. That\u2019s how God wants it.\u00a0 Those inequalities are opportunities for conflict, as well as reconciliation and stronger relationships.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to get along with people who are just like you.\u00a0 But when people are richer or poorer than you, you have to work a little to sacrifice or humble yourself.\u00a0 Jesus divided Eve from Adam so that they could relate to one another in a richer, deeper way.\u00a0 Men and women can complain about what they don\u2019t have and compare themselves to the other, or they can be faithful with what they do have.\u00a0 The wicked servant was not appreciative, he thought God was stingy.\u00a0 He thought it was a zero sum game and was to afraid to take risks or to profit.\u00a0 He was probably a Socialist and those who take his side are guilty of envy.\u00a0 Envy used to be considered a bad thing, because God said so.\u00a0 It was one of the seven deadly sins.\u00a0 Sadly today in America it is considered a virtue.<\/p>\n

\"envy\"<\/a>There will always be rich and poor, gifted and ungifted, beautiful and ugly.\u00a0 God likes it that way.\u00a0 Every system we have devised to try to eliminate these differences has resulted in death and destruction and slavery, often on a large scale.\u00a0 There are types of equality which are good.\u00a0 Equality before the law is good, no matter who you are you should get a fair trial if you are wronged or accused of wronging someone.\u00a0 Conservatives speak of equality of opportunity vs. equality of outcome.\u00a0 The outcome side is that impossible task which Marx and all who follow him pretend they can fix.\u00a0 The opportunity side is somewhat doable, by striving for a merit based system.\u00a0 By rewarding people for what they can do instead of who they are, or who their parents are(( Even this is arbitrary, what do you have that you were not given? God gives some abilities (Exodus 31) and some status (Romans 13), some neither.)).\u00a0 This is what seems to upset a lot of people about the cheating scandal.\u00a0 But while the U.S. has done far more here and by extension around the world to bring this about, inequality of opportunity will always be with us.\u00a0 In this country upward mobility or the measure of the poor\u2019s ability to become wealthy is better than almost anywhere[2. I would argue even the nations Slovenia, Chile, Italy, and the UK, where it is better, that fact is due to American thinking being exported].\u00a0 But it is declining.\u00a0 I think one major reason for that decline is the establishment of Envy.\u00a0 Attacks on the 1% are more common, so why bother?\u00a0 What is in fashion is attacking the 1%.\u00a0 What is out of fashion is minding your own business and achieving the most you can.<\/p>\n

And that gets back to Jesus\u2019 words.\u00a0 What matters is your relationship with your creator.\u00a0 Do you appreciate and enjoy and make the best of what he has given, you<\/i>?\u00a0 Or do you grumble about the neighbors and go vote for Bernie?\u00a0 There are some vestiges of this left in our culture, like that catch phrase from Spider Man, : ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’\u00a0 And that\u2019s what we forget.\u00a0 Since aristocracy is a fact, what do we do about it?\u00a0 It used to be that those with more were held to a higher standard.\u00a0 A gentleman was not just someone who had more, it was someone from whom more was expected, by himself, his family and society.\u00a0 You get the perks but you also have the duties.\u00a0 We see the breakdown of this all around.\u00a0 Children of the wealthy are party girls and playboys, they don\u2019t lead by example with what they have, they exploit it for selfish ends.\u00a0 Unlike the English gentleman who laid down his life in war for his country, the wealthy of today party, drink and have sex in ways unbecoming of the worst heathen from days gone by. We see it in the Kardashians, Hiltons, Trumps and even the British royal family.\u00a0 One example of this done right is the speeding rules in Iceland.\u00a0 The highest speeding ticket in the world is from Iceland.\u00a0 Because it\u2019s a progressive system.\u00a0 The more money you have the higher the fine.\u00a0 Which is how it should be.\u00a0 Not because speeding matters at all, it doesn\u2019t, but because if you believe there should be a penalty, it should hurt the same for everyone.<\/p>\n

This was brought to light recently with the prostitution scandal involving Robert Kraft.\u00a0 People are suggesting that he is receiving harsher treatment because he is a high profile person.\u00a0 But that\u2019s good, he should be held to a higher standard.\u00a0 Just like Gregg Gianforte should be picked on for knocking down a reporter, when the average person might not be.\u00a0 If you want the power and the money and the influence, you should use it for good.\u00a0 People are watching.\u00a0 Bad behavior should be condemned and punished.\u00a0 You can\u2019t champion bad behavior in the wealthy as a right of passage and also suggest you care about the poor and repressed.\u00a0 Bad behavior by those who can, is the same abuse of power as that which you see in whatever social problem.\u00a0 When the Kennedy\u2019s are caught with a woman under the desk, it\u2019s not cute.\u00a0 It\u2019s abusive.\u00a0 They are supposed to represent the people, to be selfless.\u00a0 Their sin trickles down or up whichever way you want to look at it.\u00a0 Bad men elect bad leaders and bad leaders encourage bad men.\u00a0 Whichever side you are on, you have a responsibility to stop evil in yourself.\u00a0 We are to emulate the<\/i> king, Jesus and to model our leaders after him.\u00a0 He sacrificed everything.<\/p>\n