Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI200484B
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00:01 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider
00:03 where I was sharing some thoughts 00:05 on the commoditization of humanity. 00:08 Looking back to World War II and what the Nazis did, 00:11 but to the present 00:13 and what we know is going on in China against detainees, 00:18 many of whom, if not most 00:20 are detainees 00:22 based on their religious identity, 00:25 many Christians certainly among them. 00:28 So I want to raise this point. 00:30 For us, it says, I wrote, 00:33 perhaps we are not so morally vigilant 00:37 because the commoditization of life 00:40 is now a full-on aspect of our digital lives. 00:46 Not too long ago, 00:47 one of the political parties rather openly railed 00:50 against as they put it, 00:51 the eaters or consumers 00:54 as being a drag on the producers. 00:58 One natural consequence of that 01:00 is a dulling of human sensibility 01:03 as we deal with illegals who are costing us, 01:06 so we are told and threatening us 01:09 so we are told, 01:11 and must be cleansed from our midst. 01:14 Of course, any country has the right to take steps 01:17 to protect itself and uphold its laws 01:19 and its borders. 01:20 But I see in this, the social dynamic, 01:24 expressing a reduction of humans to utility value. 01:30 Meanwhile, we all fondle our cell phones, 01:33 which track our every move and watch us incessantly. 01:36 We install ever listening bugs in our homes. 01:40 We are surrounded by ever smarter, 01:42 artificial intelligence that triangulates 01:45 all our personal information 01:47 to evaluate our personality, our health, 01:51 and our security risk factors 01:53 and indeed our very utility to the economy 01:57 and to the system. 01:59 In the US, at least, 02:01 there is still a residual memory 02:03 of the founding principle of republicanism, 02:07 not a party, 02:08 a principle that the power derives from the people. 02:12 In the Constitution there is still unobliterated 02:17 if largely unread, 02:19 applications of the greatly fought 02:21 for protection such as Habeas corpus 02:25 and protections from intrusion into our private affairs. 02:29 There is still an insistence on hands off 02:32 for religious practice. 02:35 But what will we do 02:37 when the algorithms and the public mood 02:40 tell us that we cannot afford certain viewpoints? 02:44 That is a huge unanswered question, 02:48 a huge unanswered question. 02:50 You know, in many ways we're coming close 02:53 to the mentality of the Jews in Jesus' time. 02:57 Obviously, there were doctrinal differences between Jesus 03:01 and the Pharisees, a little, 03:03 less than we might realize. 03:04 He basically was on their wavelength 03:06 because they believed 03:08 like he did in the resurrection 03:10 from the dead and miracles and so on. 03:12 There were even bigger differences 03:13 between Jesus and the Sadducees 03:16 who didn't believe in the divine 03:18 and the supernatural. 03:20 There were huge differences between Jesus 03:23 and the Roman occupation, 03:27 and then the puppet rulers. 03:31 Remember Jesus spoke of that fox Herod. 03:35 He was very critical, 03:37 but not involved with political matters. 03:41 So when Jesus ran foul of the Jewish authorities 03:46 and with the potential to be seen as seditious 03:49 by the Romans themselves, 03:51 the Sanhedrin met and it was said in that group, 03:56 dealing with this dissident who some of them 03:58 were more sympathetic than others. 03:59 And we know that Nicodemus in that group 04:01 became a follower. 04:02 So there was some pro-voices. 04:05 But the swing against him came when it was said, 04:08 it's better that one man die 04:12 than that the nation should perish. 04:16 It was said in Germany in World War II. 04:19 Better for the whole people, 04:20 these Jews and gypsies and communists 04:23 and, you know, that was a bit broader 04:24 than just the Jews, 04:25 but this part of our society 04:28 better that they be destroyed 04:30 than the Fatherland go down to disgrace. 04:34 Better an equation 04:36 balancing one against the other, 04:39 which is done in many things, 04:40 but dangerous when you're dealing 04:42 with human lives. 04:44 Better that one man die than the nation should perish. 04:49 The Marines which I've never joined 04:52 and I'm not militaristic, 04:53 but I've been inspired by their mentality 04:56 or their slogan in the past, never to leave a man behind. 05:00 The Marines try to do that. 05:02 I don't think they've always been able to. 05:04 I think in Mogadishu there was a horrible incident 05:09 where a few were left behind. 05:12 And I remember, 05:13 in Afghanistan shortly after 9/11, 05:15 there was the infamous scene 05:18 where a Marine was shot 05:20 and the Taliban and Al-Qaeda were savaging the body. 05:25 That is the things that are most regrettable 05:27 because the Marines 05:28 don't want to leave someone behind. 05:30 There's this great respect for a fellow soldier, 05:34 for a human being. 05:36 Western democracies also have, in the larger sense, 05:41 tried to embody this that humans are valuable. 05:44 And I like to think 05:46 that in our present COVID emergency, 05:48 which is full of disinformation, 05:49 overreaction, poor planning, and all the rest of that, 05:53 what lies behind it is still the sense 05:56 that we cannot stand by while humans die 05:59 or allowed to die, 06:01 either by neglect or poor planning, 06:04 but if there's something we can do anything, 06:07 we need to intervene to save their lives. 06:09 You know, that's not a dissimilar dynamic 06:12 that is existed behind true religious liberty. 06:16 People misunderstand religious liberty 06:18 just because we have open religious liberty 06:20 and I'm pushing for it. 06:22 It doesn't mean I think that this religion 06:24 or that faith system are wonderful. 06:26 I might think they're the most pernicious views 06:29 for human beings to hold destructive. 06:32 But as fellow human beings, 06:34 I have to not only allowed but defend 06:38 and spend myself in defending 06:41 their right to believe it, 06:42 because they are a human being 06:44 with thoughts and inclinations 06:46 just like me and is to be respected. 06:48 The West has brought that to a high level. 06:51 And, of course, republicanism is a whole-ism, 06:54 is a whole government system, 06:56 based on the respect of the individual. 06:59 As I've often said on this program, 07:01 it's not democracy writ large, 07:04 which can easily have the majority vote 07:07 against and eject a small minority. 07:09 No, republicanism is power 07:12 deriving from the people and protecting all people. 07:18 A democratic republican system doesn't protect the minority, 07:22 the disadvantage, the powerless, 07:24 it's denied its very essence. 07:27 And when we look at the modern world 07:29 and this inescapable commoditization 07:33 of the individual, 07:34 it's easily done as we gather together in cities 07:38 and every activity and every financial exchange 07:43 can be quantified and weighed 07:46 in the balances of what is said. 07:48 And it's a dangerous phrase. 07:51 The common good, 07:52 it's very easy to decide 07:55 these people are not necessary, 07:57 this class are not to be helped because it's futile. 08:00 They're costing us too much 08:01 or this belief system 08:03 is something that we cannot afford anymore, 08:06 because it's disruptive, it cost too much. 08:10 It might even be something that will spread through 08:13 and spread dissatisfaction to other people. 08:15 Any number of reasons, 08:17 but you can sort of put a number value 08:20 on this freedom 08:22 and it can be weighed in a utilitarian balance. 08:25 And those that have no sympathy for it 08:27 maybe decide whether or not it's allowed. 08:30 That's where we're heading. 08:32 We've been there in the world at least before. 08:36 The US hasn't had a great experience with this, 08:38 but I believe events, modernization, 08:42 the stresses of life are moving us 08:44 irrevocably toward this point, 08:46 where the bean counters of morality 08:49 are going to be allowed 08:51 or if we're not careful allowed 08:53 to make these life or death decisions 08:56 on people groups, 08:58 belief groups, and on principles. 09:01 And the greatest principle I believe that we have 09:04 in our government today or in our civil life, 09:06 is religious liberty. 09:09 It must be protected, 09:11 because human beings are not commodities. 09:14 They're sent in creations of a divine being 09:18 and we owe our life to God, we owe our loyalty to Him. 09:23 And I believe in reading my Bible 09:25 that we will have our continued existence 09:27 with Him one day. 09:28 How can we allow anyone to so demean 09:31 that is to see us 09:32 as just the number and an option 09:34 among many other options? |
Revised 2020-12-05