Trans-Zion Trek

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For those of you who will never have time or ability to hike across the wilderness of Zion, and for those of you who care, here are some of the pictures I took Thanksgiving Weekend while other people were shopping. We barely saw anyone, and it was glorious. I wish I could have photographed the stars. Last time I saw the Milky Way that clearly was as a boy. I love that there are untouched places like this where we can wonder in awe at the worlds His hands have made.

Season of Miracles

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I returned today from a back country trek across the wilderness of Zion that constitutes little short of a series of standing miracles. As the Christmas season opens, I think of miracles, of Christ, of meaning, and of what really matters. I can't remember the time I felt so happy to be "home" in my own bed. Every year for Thanksgiving, my family puts notes in a Thankful Turkey to take stock of the miracles in our life. Since I left shortly after dinner with my parents, I didn't participate in either the deposition or the reading of these notes like I have in years passed, but in the quiet morning moments this weekend when it was too cold and dark to move but I was awake, as we stared at the Milky Way in full splendor above our heads at night, and as we drove away from the park, I marveled at all the works God's hand made. Perhaps this is the season of miracles just because we take time to actually notice them.

Miracles that made the wilderness

The trek starts at the Kolob Canyon off I-15 into Zion National Park, but it took us several hours to actually get into position, stationing a car at the end point and then driving back to the start. By the time we hit the trail, the sun was up, so it was comfortable, which was wonderful because it's the end of November and cold. As we walked through the river valleys, climbed the ridges, watched the wild animals, treked across the plateau, looked at the beautiful vistas, and wandered where the deer and the buffalo roam free, I marveled at the hand that built this region and then carved into it. The views were breathtaking, and from the prints on the trail, I can tell that few people see much of what we saw. After the first four miles and before the last four miles, we saw a total of three other people. You think of the challenges living things face, the difficulty of living in a desert environment, and how much they thrive, and it was absolutely breathtaking, worth every bit of effort and strain and money to make this trek finally happen. More than that, you consider the miracles of time to first make it look like this and then to have it look this fantastic when we made our way into that pristine region.

Miracles that saved us in the wilderness

When you consider the possibilities for things to go wrong and the lack of likely assistance in case of trouble, it's a miracle we made it back in good order. Although it snowed Monday, by the time we arrived, all that remained of that was muddy and icy sections that were shaded all day. We took plenty of water didn't need to filter any, having overhydrated before leaving just in case. A storm blew in last night, but we were on the last seven miles of the total 35.7 mile stretch when we finally hit any bad weather. The car wouldn't start when we finally reached it, but after a brief prayer, I felt impressed to check the battery and found that driving over unimproved roads had simply loosened the battery cable, and we were on our way only 10 minutes after discovering the problem. Nobody got hurt. It was probably the best possible outcome considering the time of year.

Miracle of my daily blessings

Returning to my own place, I remain cognizant of how well I have things. I don't have to camp or farm or hunt or walk 17 miles per day in rough country. I have a nice bed, warm clothes, plenty of delicious food, adventurous and reliable friends, a decent job, and the physical, psychological, and intellectual capacity to make these treks and do so successfully. When I consider the miracles that came together to create the world, the society, and the living standard that we take for granted, I know that we are blessed with the bounty of heaven. I chose to make this trek, and I was able to return to the comfortable and profitable life I enjoy. Maybe that's one reason why I like hiking, camping, and exploring, because it reminds me when I return of just how many miracles my life contains. My needs are small; I buy them all at the nickel and dime.

There's so much for which to be thankful, and not just because it's that time of year. I guess at Thanksgiving we just get a chance to focus on it and realize after taking stock just how many miracles we see. I'm still counting on that Season of Perpetual Hope, that a particular miracle will still be mine. I haven't given up hope. Midian had a giant army; Gideon's handful had God. Sarah's too old to have children, but she has one just the same. The blind see, the lame walk, and people's hearts are turned to one another. Wondrous things have been made, and more will be made. God brought me to a land of promise before, so when He decides to do so again it will. May you see the miracles already done, those being done right now and room for more in your future this Christmas season. God bless us, every one.

Why I Was Always A Conservative

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Although they say that if you aren't liberal when you're young you have no heart, I don't think that's true. If you read this blog regularly, you know that I care about people and that my heart bleeds for one particular and practically perfect person. That being said, I have never been a liberal- I have never believed in expediency. I don't believe in a "living and breathing" set of rules that is always integrated at every point to justify and advance what you already happen to believe. Liberalism is, as Rush Limbaugh asserts, lies. It's pushed by the Father of All Lies. It's built upon the notion that everyone has a price, and that everyone can be bought with "stuff". It relies upon propaganda in the guise of "education" and trusts that people won't do their own homework or stand up for dissident beliefs. It excuses everything on intentions regardless of actions and claims that the ends always justify the means. In all of that, liberalism projects these faults on its OPPOSITION and slanders and libels conservatives. One of my former students actually retweeted this week the asinine notion that Democrats ended slavery. Really? You must be joking! At the end of the day, I have a conscience, which is why I have been and always was a Conservative. I realize this may cost me friends, dating prospects, promotions, etc. Well, you can keep that mess of pottage. I am a Child of God, and I won't deny Him.

Liberals will always think that YOU have too much money until you have none at all. When I was 12, I inherited from a distant relative whose identity doesn't matter a sum of stock transferred to my name. Shortly after Bill Clinton won the presidency, the tax laws changed, and I was charged some small amount (I think it was $38) in income tax because capital gains were taxed regardless of income. This was done to catch all those "rich" people who don't earn money by going to a job, but since it caught me, at the age of 14, I was upset that I had to pay money for the right to keep my own money. Now that I'm an adult, I watch liberals propose programs essentially designed to buy votes, where in exchange for power they provide pelf, in many cases under false pretenses. Some of them will say, "here are these six onties of silver, which I will give you if you deny what you believe" and some people take it! Selling your soul for silver makes you weak. The rest of the time, they promise you a free lunch and then try to buy you with your own money sometimes and get you to agree with them for personal profit. Well, my soul is not for sale. I work very hard to provide what I desire and to care for people I love, but I do not know you, and most of you don't like me, so why would I be working to help people who hate me? Our calamity is sometimes exacerbated by the realization that we furnish the means by which we suffer.

During that same year, my parents gifted me the complete works of CS Lewis, chiefly amongst them "The Screwtape Letters". For those who don't know, that particular book contains fictitious correspondence between two devils attempting to lead a man astray during WWII in Great Britain. The more I read, the more I experienced things that I felt, that people around me tried to prevail upon me to believe, and that the government, media, and liberals preached as doctrine issue straight from Screwtape's mouth as advice about what Wormwood ought say to his "patient" in order to mislead and destroy him. Just inside the front cover, I wrote in pencil back in 1995: "Nothing convinced me more that liberalism is the philosophy of hell than reading this book". I've alluded to it on this blog before, so I won't belabor the point, but the same arguments, the same topics, the same ideas I hear issue from the mouths of liberals today were plied by the pied pipers of prosperity back in the 1960s just as vigorously as they are today. Consequently, as liberal ideas paraded before my eyes in high school and college I knew they were the techniques of the adversary of truth and disregarded them.

At almost every juncture, liberals appear to be the biggest hypocrites on the planet. Sure, other people make mistakes, but I have watched liberals talk out of both sides of their mouth as well as do the opposite of what they say WHILE saying it! A memorable majority of garbage we find on the trail evinces the passage of those "environmentally conscious" persons who buy power bars, special trail foods, energy drinks, and the like. Almost everyone I have to lecture on trail etiquette, camping regulations, and dog handling on the mountain shops at REI, Patagonia, the North Face, etc., companies who give some fraction of their funds to "save the planet", I guess because their customers destroy it. Many liberals complain about wealth but do not understand that compared to most people they are rich beyond the dreams of avarice, and while they prattle about carbon emissions and drive their fancy cars and fly their private jets it never dawns on them that they're part of the problem. Liberals are the people who always end up unfriending me because of my religion or politics, even if they are liberal republicans. While they require me to tolerate them, they also require that I become what they tolerate. Some of them who read this blog will say that they hope we can still come to an understanding, but they never seem willing to compromise on THEIR narrow vision or admit error.

As much as finances, education, and behavior influenced my beliefs, the greatest influence on who I am, what I believe, and how I live originates with my Faith. Even though it grows increasingly passe to stick on the side of God and stand for right, and even if I stand alone, I continue to adhere to the directions and commandments I understood and understand to be the word of God. He has declared certain behaviors, beliefs, patterns, and circumstances to be contrary to His will, and so no matter what the Wicked Traditions of Our Fathers may allege, I will choose the Lord. The Pope, some politicians, and even some prominent members of my Faith may change with the times for the sake of "political correctness", but making something legal does not make it ethical or moral, and neither does making it popular or common. I continue to maintain that there are laws irrevocably decreed in heaven. This is where I am; this is where I will stay, and I will not be moved. My ally is God Almighty, and you cannot do anything to me unless He gives you permission (that's the lesson of Job). I will follow the law, the Law, and the Lawgiver. I will not presume to be wise enough or almighty enough to formulate better ones or to supplant them in their place. Choose Ye This Day whom Ye will serve. If you choose to serve mammon, then we're not going to be close friends or anything else. We don't have enough common ground, and the ground on which you decided to plant your flag is built upon the sand, which eventually cannot stay in the storms of Truth like you could if you were built on the Rock. I may disappoint God sometimes, but I'm not intentionally fighting against Him, and at least, unlike many liberals, I'm willing to admit "I might be wrong".

Leadership in the World

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The problem with leadership in the world as I see it, at least in America, is that although people may graduate from high school, some people never actually leave it. The adolescent attitudes of high school permeate the adult world far more than I expected or like. The petty, shallow, vapid, and false fronts of that stage continue to parade a company of players into our lives, most of whom are playing you for a fool. They are not the best, the wisest, or people who know how to move forward. They think they are experts, but they were poorly educated, mostly with propaganda, and so there is a great dearth of understanding between what they believe and what is real. It's really a case study in pavlovian logic, that these pretty people are actually petty and think that they are enlightened but other people are dumb, deluded, and deceived. That's usually the case with young people, most of whom are out there absolutely atwitter that Hillary got Trumped. The problem is when they never actually grow up because it tends to mess up the world for those who do.

In high school, the popular kids rose to positions of prominence. How many times have you seen someone, perhaps yourself, cast a vote because you "recognized the name" but knew nothing else about it? Much of the prominence in high school is due to visibility rather than morality, charisma rather than character, and promises rather than prescience. The prom king and queen are usually both known, both attractive, and both magnetic personalities. In some rare cases there are notable exceptions, but only because the "beautiful people" and "important people" band together to make it so. Unless you are one of their MyFaves, you don't stand a chance in the pecking order of high school. These people in adulthood continue to maintain the misbegotten notion that worth is tied to titles, power, and influence, and consequently they seek after these things in professional capacities in order to reassure themselves that people still like, adore, and need them. They crave POWER. They love how once they get into leadership positions that people bow to them, fawn over them, and depend on them. Empty and vacuous, these people enter politics and leadership in an attempt to relive the glory days and feel better because they secretly loathe themselves. If you look at many of the best leaders in history, they were people who took charge because of necessity rather than true desire. The best people in high school do not enter student government, become cheerleaders, etc., as a rule, because they are busy preparing in high school to be successful elsewhere. If the need arises, in the moment, these beta personalities will rise up and take charge, but then they go right back to what they truly love as soon as possible because they do not depend on validation.

Back in high school, the powerful kids did so because they had nothing else to offer except as a figurehead, a mascot, and a beacon. Especially in light of yesterday's election results, how many of those candidates are the most moral, the most capable, and the most desireable? In point of fact, candidates of both parties are actually morally bankrupt, intellectually bereft, and lacking sorely in actual achievements. Sure, they may be rich and famous, but so what? There are lots of rich people and lots of famous people who make very little difference in your life at sidewalk level. Most of what they offered in high school to gain fame and position was and is fake. Their wealth usually came from wealthy parents. They bought friendships with fancy cars, lavish parties, gifts, and physical intimacy. The cool kids only talked to me when they needed something, usually hoping to copy off my homework or get free tutoring once they realized they didn't even have to sleep with me to get my help. Far too many of these people peak early and fade away, and you know the cliche of how the cool kids at the 20 year reunion are hardly recognizable let alone laudable, because that was their glory period.

Young people were insufferable know-it-alls back then and continue to be so in adulthood if they don't leave high school. It amazes me when a former cheerleader knows everything about everything when they barely made it to graduation. It amazes me that jocks are experts because they are rich or hot. They don't know anything, but people turn to celebrities for answers and perspective because they are known and not because they are credentialed. You know the aphorism: "Hurry and move out while you still know everything", but these adults still think they know all the answers. So much of this comes in false premise, logical fallacy, and outright deceit from the people to whom they look up. They really believe the tripe they feed each other about the rosy outcomes that MIGHT be. They truly believe that tyranny leads to liberty because their leaders say so. They are always right about everything, and so these naive people, inflamed with hope and ignorant of human nature, presume the best and make no provision for the worst. They think that if they change human behavior it will change human nature. They may know a great deal about their specific area of expertise, since they work in some field, but they presume expertise in related, tagiential, and unrelated areas, and they cannot be turned because they do not learn. When men are learned, they think they are wise and do not hearken to other counsels and dissenting opinions. In many cases, although the beautiful people in high school of yesteryear do things for power and advancement, they think that adults do not care about money or titles or rewards when adults say that. Nevermind that they don't believe that when their own parents say that. They're in love with "grandpa bernie". They actually think that their leaders give a flying pinwheel about them. They can't; they don't know you. Their kindness is largely imaginary, but their hatred towards their opponents is fully real, despite the theater we saw today from the "gracious" concession to Trump. They are ignorant of history and don't want to know about what happened before they are born, so the history they believe becomes canonical, and in many cases, in order to justify their own hatred, they link modern events to historical ones, imbibed with hatred to rationalize the caricatures they create. They hate homework, so they don't do any legwork to find out anything besides what they are told is so. Their leaders spoonfeed them hogwash, and the parliament jester's foist works on this somnambulent public. Terry Goodkind wrote in "Wizard's First Rule" that people will believe a lie for one of two reasons. In the first part, they believe it because they hope it's true. Young people the things their candidates and leaders say will happen, often without regard for the integrity of those making the promises or without introspect into their past proclivities to keep promises. On the second hand, people believe lies they fear might be true. Young people believe the fearmongering their side uses in caricature to slander and libel their opponents because they believe in their guys. It's perfectly normal. You like who you like, and you don't really know if you like other people.

While young people fear the "tyranny of the right" they busy themselves imposing their will on the right, and on everyone really. They do precisely to others what they claim those others do to them. Our young people may be the future, but only if they grow up. Far too many of them still live in and venerate the laws of the jungle that apply in high school, and we continue to pay the price for it. Our leaders aren't wiser; they're prettier. Our leaders aren't better; they're vacuous. Our leaders don't learn; they assume. They exist in both parties, and this adolescent attitude is my major critique against most candidates who do not live in the real world but hold on tightly to vestiges of the fairy tale land that established expectations in their youth. The only way to arrive at a good outcome is to admit where you really are, and only when they live in the real world.

Fifth of Liberty

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A lot of young people now remember the Fifth of November, but very few of them really understand what it truly means. Coopted by the Occupy Wall Street movement, the image of Guy Fawkes has become associated with something somewhat skew from its original intent, as a new version of "rage against the machine" without bothering to identify what the "machine" means. Young people may foment and rant about big business, but it is big government that always does the most to reduce human options, human potential, human liberty, and human happiness. Guy Fawkes, and the Gunpowder Treason, were not about what people think. This was about LIBERTY. It was about an idea that men ought to be agents rather than objects, that government was bloated and oppressive, that it was inefficient and corrupt, and that when a man stands up against tyranny he might actually change the world. As you go to vote next week remember that although Fawkes failed, 276 years later, in Philadelphia, another group of men started a movement that succeeded and gave us the liberty that we do enjoy, a freer country than the world had know for centuries, if we can keep it.

Guy Fawkes belonged to a group that felt that the central government of Britain had too much power. Ironically enough, the ensconced government managed to convince a plurality of young people that it intends to increase freedom. How, exactly? The liberal left hates religion, guns, conservative freedom of speech, the Constitution, election law, law in general, police, etc., all of which are actually part of our law and legal system. How does that increase freedom to flaunt the law? What they really mean is they want to control HOW you are free. Well, if rights come from man, and Barack Obama believes that they do, then it is government's power to give or take them at will. This is actually the opinion of feudal lords, or in other words the same opinions about government and its relationship to the people held by the powers Fawkes intended to disrupt. His efforts were aimed at taking government's eye off oppression of the people and focusing on itself. Far too many of our leaders, including Donald Trump if he is elected, think that "whatsoever a man doeth is no crime" if it's legal. Well, that's because they do not believe in natural law. Sure they believe in what they call "science", and they claim they believe in karma, but who decides what constitutes reason and good karma without a standard, which is something in which our leaders do not really believe. It's a convenient religion to worship government, but that's just as bad as if not worse than trusting in men of the cloth because every man is flawed in some way, and so what they do cannot possibly ever be perfect.

Guy Fawkes' actions were designed to reduce the efficacy of government overreach. A large explosion in a building housing the bureaucracy would provide a significant setback four centuries ago to the administrative state's ability to harass, delay, and defraud the populace. Rather than looking outward, they would have to put things back together before any foray out to harass the citizenry could be effectively mounted. The king of England was the final word. With the creation of the Anglican Church under Henry, the king wasn't just the political and military leader, he WAS god. Rights, gifts, and everything were up to him, and that was an ideal as offensive and vile as any the people of that island ever knew, because as flawed as they were they at least meant to worship God. "There is God and there is government. God is greater than government, and government doesn't like that" (Inga Barks). Whenever any government becomes disruptive of our rights under natural law, it is our right and responsibility to resist. Fawkes did so violently. Others do so peacably, but he did something, and as Teddy Roosevelt would say, credit goes to the man in the arena, and that's why we remember Fawkes.

Guy Fawkes Day occurs near election day every year in America and ought to remind us why the gunpowder treason got started in the first place and its relationship to American Liberty. In truth, the events his failed actions set in motion eventually precipitated the American Revolutionary War because the government of King James and the government of King George both enslaved the people to their government. The tyranny of British Monarchy demanded loyalty and offered nothing in return. It was long on talk and short on action, and so both of these dynasties eventually fell for the same reason. Although destroying Parliament would not defeat Britain, Fawkes and his fellows knew that symbols are given power by people and that if enough people got behind it, it would change the world. It didn't work in 1604, but in 1776, the symbols in America DID work to galvanize a continent to throw off the oppression of an island.

This election day, we have a choice between a candidate who will do whatever it takes to centralize power in government and a buffoon. Hillary Clinton has shown for 30 years that she will do whatever it takes to empower government and by association empower her since she's part of executing government mandates, no matter what it costs you. Her final stretch ads claim that she will rebuilt America- an America she essentially destroyed. Despite what Clinton claims, she is not interested in expanding your options; she is interested in dictating which ones you have, even if they are ones you desire. I grow tired of her ads on youtube claiming that she campaigns to help children when she ignores the potential of a fetus to become a full-fledged citizen; liberals do not care about your potential, because they believe it's unfair for people to not be equal in every way (except of course for them, they may be whatever they like). Liberals do not believe in freedom the way we mean it; they mean to be free from restraints, except those restraints they happen to feel ought be imposed upon you at this moment, and they encourage behaviors that enslave the mind and body (drugs, sex, etc.). Where on earth are liberals actually happy? They claim they just need a little more time, a little more power, and a little more money, and THEN they will be able to deliver on their promises, but this is a lie. If they deliver, and you become happy, you will not need them, and they cannot abide that. According to them, you will always have too much freedom and too much money until you have none at all of either, and even then they may, as they did in Europe, squeeze it out of you or incarcerate you for inability to pay tax.

Background Checks Don't Work

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Tuesday I arrived on campus to see a table outside manned by young, idealistic, and foolish young people in favor of increasing background checks on guns in Nevada. As much as I appreciate their zealotry and enthusiasm, it's based on several pieces of flawed logic. Since they are young people, they still believe in the world the way they wish it were and will be and discount human nature. They still think that things are simple, that people are predictable, and that what they are doing will lead to the outcome for which they hope just because it might. Well, this is not an effective way to achieve the outcome they allegedly seek. They may not really mean it the way they sell it, but if they do mean it honestly and earnestly, they are ignoring a few facts, behaviors, and statistics that show that this road does not lead where they think it will and that increased background checks will not necessarily make the state safer.

False Logic #1: Background checks are not currently done enough to deter crime

Background checks are actually only required right now in Nevada if you buy a gun in Clark or Washoe County. In the rural areas, there are no background checks at all, so the simple answer could have been to simply drive to Ely or Wells or Schurz and buy one in a county where they don't ask any questions. However, most people who obtain guns don't do that, even though it's not technically illegal. The only way to get a gun in Clark County without a background check is to meet someone in a parking lot based on an internet ad and buy one out of his car. Even then, most people in those ads insist on seeing some sort of paperwork or ID before they will sell a gun. It's not 100% effective, but it does deter most law-abiding citizens from transacting sales with criminals and miscreants. You have to prove you live in NV, that you either bought a gun legally (blue card) or have a CCW.

False Logic #2: Background checks will keep guns out of the hands of criminals

By definition, criminals are people who do not care what the law says. Criminals always get things even if they are illegal- drugs, hookers, jobs, promotions, elected to public office, guns, etc. Police statistics in Clark County show that 99.9% of gun violence is perpetrated by people who shouldn't have a gun who obtained it by illegal means. Criminals do not show up to do background checks; they know they won't pass. They get guns elsewhere, and they will always find a way to get them even when it's difficult for you. These young people, foolishly naive, think that more laws mean lower crime; well, then why are people killed with guns in Chicago, where owning guns is illegal? It's a canard that background checks will affect anyone other than law-abiding citizens who will have to pay the price to get one if they desire and to defend themselves against one if a criminal arrives and shoots them. A month ago, my friend's neighbor awoke one morning to find a burglar armed with a gun standing at the foot of his bed and shot him with his own .357, and guess what- the burglar didn't get the gun legally. He stole the gun. That's what usually happens.

False Logic #3: Background checks will reduce violent crime

Even if you keep guns out of the hands of criminals, it will neither prevent them using other weapons nor deter them from violent crime. No criminal says "Crap, can't buy a gun? Now I can't rob the liquor store." In point of fact, in Europe where they have strict gun laws, many of the Islamic facists who attack Europeans are now doing it with knives, axes, ad infinitum. You do not need a gun to kill someone. Wars throughout recorded time prove that. Back in May when I was mugged on the way home, my attacker didn't even have a weapon on him, which is one reason I didn't feel threatened. When he escalated to assault, he used a weapon of opportunity and threw a floor tile fragment at me, hitting me in the back. He is alive because I, as a responsible gun owner, didn't mow him down where he stood, because with a .357mag, I could have certainly put a stop to his crime spree single-handedly. I was robbed because he does not have a conscience. Criminals are criminals. They will do what they do no matter what laws you pass.

CS Lewis criticized this kind of blind naivete. He wrote in Mere Christianity how the world works from the outside in, hoping that changing behavior will lead to the right result without acknowledging human nature. Many of our laws ignore basic human nature, human behavior, and assume that if they DO a certain thing they must BE a certain way. Being begets doing, but doing does not necessarily lead to being. Background checks will not work because they will only work on people who would already obey the law if it were in print; the criminals would ignore it no matter what it says. Criminals do not need guns, and keeping guns out of the way of people sets them up to be easier targets of violent crime. Since being mugged, I have carried my revolver on my hip with me to the store some evenings. My presence alone deters shoplifters, profanity, and jaywalking. I don't brandish it, but the criminals know that if I pull it, if it's loaded, and if I know how to use it, their lives may never be the same.