Sometimes I feel like I’m living in the twilight zone. I mean, look at what’s going on in our nation; people are going mad. Are there any sane people left?
The media, for example, have lost their senses. Didn’t the media have a responsibility to the people way back when? I read where Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.”[1] Jefferson saw something in government that could go very wrong. And the media (newspapers) were supposed to serve the voice of the people. I saw this quote before, but they tend to leave out the best parts. Here is something I think is very significant:
Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington
16 Jan. 1787Papers 11:48--49
The tumults in America I expected would have produced in Europe an unfavorable opinion of our political state. But it has not. On the contrary, the small effect of those tumults seems to have given more confidence in the firmness of our governments. The interposition of the people themselves on the side of government has had a great effect on the opinion here. I am persuaded myself that the good sense of the people will always be found to be the best army. They may be led astray for a moment, but will soon correct themselves. The people are the only censors of their governors: and even their errors will tend to keep these to the true principles of their institution. To punish these errors too severely would be to suppress the only safeguard of the public liberty. The way to prevent these irregular interpositions of the people is to give them full information of their affairs thro' the channel of the public papers, and to contrive that those papers should penetrate the whole mass of the people. The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them. I am convinced that those societies (as the Indians) which live without government enjoy in their general mass an infinitely greater degree of happiness than those who live under European governments. Among the former, public opinion is in the place of law, and restrains morals as powerfully as laws ever did any where. Among the latter, under pretence of governing they have divided their nations into two classes, wolves and sheep. I do not exaggerate. This is a true picture of Europe. Cherish therefore the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. Do not be too severe upon their errors, but reclaim them by enlightening them. If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress, and Assemblies, judges and governors shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions; and experience declares that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the governments of Europe, and to the general prey of the rich on the poor.[2]
But despite the need for freedom of the press as outlined in the 1st Amendment, there appeared to be government involvement in subsidizing the press back in the early days. According to this one website[3], it was probably a benefit back then (unlike it would be today). A short explanation for this is that the government supported hundreds of newspapers despite their size, affiliation, or otherwise. This accommodated even the smallest newspaper establishments that didn’t have the resources of their own to print minority opinions. Since all of these provided such wide range of opinions among the many newspapers that this afforded, this was seen as a good thing. The government subsidies even provided for the postage to ensure that all people had access to information that was vital in regards to “laws, proclamations, and other official notices of their respective colonial governments.”
Eventually, as we all know, the newspapers would no longer need government support to survive. By the mid-1800’s there was limited government financial support for the press as they moved on toward commercial advertising and consumer revenue. Then came along other forms of communication that eclipsed the newspaper industry in the form of radio, television, cable, the internet, and now other numerous forms of mediums capable of dispensing invaluable information to keep the public apprised of the government and its involvement in business and personal and public affairs. Now this has become a concern, for some, whereas now newspapers are in a decline. Some look at it as big business coming in and taking over the newspaper industry and subsequently squeezing out the small newspaper markets solely to promote their purposes and agenda. This would, in effect, minimize opposing voices.
Due to the fear of big business having too much power and influence, some fear that there is now a lack of diversity that once existed. Now there are people who would like to see government return and once again subsidize the press to promote “the opinions of the people.”[4] There is a slight problem to this reasoning, however. Back when government was more involved, I believe there was still a moral barometer and people in leadership had a better understanding of those morals and the extent to which government was to be involved. It was their idea, remember, as with Thomas Jefferson, that the federal government would have very limited control over the affairs of the people. The states would actually supersede the actions of the federal government. George Mason and other founders of the Declaration of Independence were concerned back then that the central (or federal) government would become oppressive and violate the basic rights of Americans. That was the basic premise behind the Bill of Rights, particularly the 10th Amendment.[5]
So we cannot forget history. History has a way of repeating itself. (And I mean that we can once again return to a European form of government and/or society; one that is oppressive as the one we struggled to gain our freedom from.) As a side note, most people don’t know American history and our education system conveniently leaves out much of what is important to understand about our country’s beginnings. It is very disturbing to me that the same government who controls how our children are being educated are using the same means to rewrite our history books so that as adults we know very little about our heritage. Many people are ignorant and would be surprised that there was a great Christian influence to how our country was founded.[6] There was immense agreement among the founders as to the providence of Almighty God. They drafted many of the original documents, such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence knowing that the decisions they were making then would have profound implications. They had a healthy attitude toward their God and Creator and His involvement toward the progress and advancement of our country.
Subsequently, it is that understanding of God’s influence in our nation that gave our founders a moral barometer, and to me, protected people from the government’s influence when they first subsidized the press. But now, seeing how our culture is heading down a very dangerous moral slope, I think the very idea of the government seizing control of yet another aspect of our lives is very frightening. It goes back to that very idea that Thomas Jefferson had about our nation being divided between wolves and sheep.
Isn’t that the reason why many liberals today are trying to control the means by which we receive our information? If we the people had any idea about how we became a nation as great as we are, or at least once were, we would fight tooth and nail to protect what was important to our continued prosperity. We would see what is actually being taken from us in the form of freedoms. Freedoms that our forefathers fought hard to protect! (Think for a moment about how aggressively the liberals are attacking God through the ACLU in removing Him from all government institutions, schools, public land, etc.)
Now we have liberals that not only have a majority in our government and are passing about every law imaginable so that they can gain control (just as with the great health care plan they just passed), they are infiltrating the media as well. The truth is, it is more likely that they took over the media way before they took over the government. But we allowed that, didn’t we? With the likes of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and others feeding us their version of the truth, we’re being misinformed about what is actually taking place in our culture. They’re telling us exactly what they want us to know and believe. And we’re paying for this by ignoring the lies, listening to them day after day, and promoting them through advertising dollars. If we were honest, we would pay attention to what the main-stream media is force-feeding us and realize that it’s a bunch of half-truths. One such organization that tries to hold them accountable is the Media Research Center.[7]
The question that is left then is…why? Why do the liberals want to take over? Well, some are trying to gain power and control. These would be the limited few that have the ability to manipulate and use people to their advantage. Then there are others who I believe that their whole purpose is to have the freedom to live as morally lose as possible. These people are feeding right into the hands of those that are manipulating them to gain power. The problem is is that our government previously had a tight a grip over what was right and wrong through harsh and unfair laws. This, unfortunately, had a backlash reaction because that system of government went too far. So now, if the liberals can gain a political advantage and pass laws that will silence the voices of opposition, then they could essentially accomplish their goal of a society free from vices and give them the sort of society they desire…even if they are the minority. The examples of this would be the gays and lesbians versus the Christians, or the pornography industry versus the Christians, or Hollywood versus the Christians. You get the idea.
But you would think that I’m making this up. I wish I was. If you’re really interested in knowing the truth, I suggest researching it for yourself. One particular website, and there are other fine resources available, that I find interesting is World View Weekend.[8] Do I agree with everything they say? No, but I do keep an open mind and look at what is going on around me. I do think that the liberals have a left-leaning bias and their goal is to control the information that people receive. They want to silence opposing voices, such outlets like FOX News, Focus on the Family, Media Research Center, or other conservative points of view that are contrary to theirs. And then what will we be left with? Sodom and Gomorrah.
What’s really disconcerting to me is that we may have already seen a takeover from a socialist perspective. With Congress and our President successfully passing this so-called health care plan, they have a major piece of the puzzle for them to work with. It’s something like an eighth of our economy! Whether people realize it or not, their goal is not to make sure people have adequate health care or for people to have the basic necessary government services at their disposal. Their goal is to get us so dependent on them to meet our needs that we have no other alternative but to look to them. This accomplishes the objective that they’re looking toward...for us to give up our freedoms and choice and for them to have complete control over what products and services are available to the masses. They then have the ability to reshape our culture and have it look and behave the way they see fit. The media plays right into this and that gives them power. And friends, we just gave it to them.
[1] http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/government-support-for-newspapers-in-america
[2] http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_speechs8.html
[3] http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/government-support-for-newspapers-in-america
[4] http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/government-support-for-newspapers-in-america
[5] http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights.html
[6] http://www.choicesforliving.com/spirit/part4/america1.htm
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