Life Matters

In this episode of Life Matters Commissioner Johnston explains why the actual right to life is the keystone of America's founding principles. Recorded on July 4th of 2020, Brian explains how the value and significance of each and every human life is the predicate for all of the other freedoms the American System offers to individuals.

The right to life movement derives its name from the statement of political philosophy which we know as the Declaration of Independence. This Declaration was written to explain to the whole world why the American form of government and its attempt to establish a more just government was necessary. It is based on the God given value of every human life.

In July 2020, the entire foundation of America's founding has been called into question. Riots and revolutionary ideas are sweeping the nation. Brian reminds us that first and foremost this battle takes place in the minds, in the thoughts, and the inclinations of every individual. If we are not prepared for those battles - the battle of ideas - then the precious gift of freedom and the right to life itself will easily be taken from us.

Brian addresses the differences in revolutions and uses in particular, the actions and statements of the Marquis de Lafayette, who declared at America's founding that, "Finally, mankind has its own nation." Brian explains the incredible significance of that statement and the fact that like Lincoln, Lafayette is emphasizing that America's founding is not based on any racial or particular national origin. It is based on the value of each and every individual human life.

The intentional misrepresentation of both America's founding principles and the values that are being super imposed by new revolutionaries is very clear when examining the major mass media of our day.

For example, Brian examines the significance of having both treatments and possible cures for individual cases of COVID-19. These treatments and prophylaxis are being intentionally ignored. Much of the media intentionally defames these treatments on the sole basis that President Trump has endorsed them.

Remember that these same media 'elites', in support of a cultural ideology, are willing to kill any baby for any reason, just for choice. So the dismissal of possible cure for Covid should not be surprising. Life Matters episodes 110, 111, 112 explain in depth the real workings of this particular coronavirus. They examine in depth the extensive international studies that have demonstrated the impact of both hydroxychloroquine and zinc in literally killing the virus in individuals, and the intentional media desire to not offer any hope of a cure.

In short, Commissioner Johnston warns listeners to not simply believe major media, particularly in recognizing their skewed political commitments, and their intentional abuse of the word "science."

The scientific method is something that is available to all individuals and should be taught as a tool of learning to every fifth grade student. Sadly, American academic culture has moved away from offering the tools of learning and instead has focused on only forcing ideology into the minds of students. The four stages of science 1.) observation, 2.) hypothesis, 3.) testing, and 4.) theory; are designed only to increase our understanding and knowledge. They are not tools of moral guidance. They are not an assertion of absolute truth. They are an attempt at using ideas to come to a deeper understanding, but they are never a moral absolute.

Finally, Brian examines the very obvious use by leftist academics of false opinion polling and "new information" to declare racial division and animus by all Americans. By implying through a created study by UC Berkeley and University of Michigan department of psychology and cultural diversity (better described as 'divisiveness') that contrary to decades of iIconic mascots, suddenly in 2020, as opposed to all common sense and previous studies, the 'department of diversity' has declared that American Indians are in fact now deeply offended by the use of these mascots.

The message of Michigan's psychology department of diversity (divisiveness) is that America is a racially bigoted country from its founding. They are asserting that America's founding principles should be based on group warfare (as most revolutions are) instead of the intrinsic value of individuals.

These accusations are a heavy weapon in the battle of ideas. They aim squarely at each and every American - declaring them bigoted - and most importantly they aim at the principles that America is built on. America was not and is not based on favoring particular groups one over the other, as is the case in all other revolutions: the French revolution, the Russian revolution, the Cuban revolution, etc.

America's revolution is unique and has offered the template that has offered hope to all countries around the world – the value of each and every human life and its gift from a Creator should be esteemed by the government which governs these individuals.

In this episode of Life Matters, Our host Brian Johnston explores the deeply disturbing video of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, 2020. The worldwide distribution of the clear killing has created national and cultural turmoil that echoes throughout the known world.

Johnston shares his outrage at this apparently unjustified use of force and the killing of a man that has not had a trial. It is a public declaration that we, all of us, recognize that George Floyd had a right to be alive. We witnessed the violation of his right to life.

Officer Derek Chauvin was the perpetrator and his apparent disregard for the safety of George Floyd during his apprehension appalled all viewers. Brian pointed out the familiarity of Chauvin's last name and the fact that the term 'chauvinism' is a common phrase referring to the attitudes and values of a certain Nicolas Chauvin of the early 19th Century. These values of Statist authority were again displayed by Derek Chauvin. But it is essential to realize the crime was against an individual... both Chauvin and the incited mob apparently view it instead as a 'crime against a group.' And the reason our culture is doing that is because we have forgotten, if we ever understood, that it is individuals who must be protected, and an individual's actions must be held to account, in a just society. Pitting groups against groups leads to greater conflict and is, in itself, a violation of higher law.

The original Nicholas Chauvin, after whom 'chauvinism' is named, was an officer in Napoleon Bonaparte's army. Napoleon, a revolutionary statist, superimposed the will of the state as the final arbiter of right and wrong. In the world of French Revolutionary thought, your Creator is of no consequence. Napoleon was a dictator whose inspiration was drawn from the French Revolution. The value of individual lives is always minimized in a progressive world order, and certain groups must be punished while other groups are elevated to power. Each human life itself is seen as a mere cog in history.

Both Derek Chauvin of the 21st Century, and Nicolas Chauvin of the 19th Century saw themselves and their fulfillment, as agents of the state. Their fulfillment was in embodying the power and decisiveness of state authority. That is the opposite of the principles of the American Republic. The American principles of government are built upon the intrinsic value and worth of each individual.

Created Equal: The Clarence Thomas Story In His Own Words. Clarence Thomas is one of the few United States Supreme Court justices who has ardently advocated the essential principle of natural law. As such, he has been clear that the value in our rights do not emanate from the group of which we may be a member, but our rights emanate from the fact that our individual lives have been given to us as a gift from our maker.

Justice Thomas while a college student had himself been leeward into the groupthink cultural hatred that is fostered by the progressive worldview. Justice Thomas had been a black radical. It was only on returning from a riot that Clarence Thomas felt overwhelmed by the uncontrolled hatred in his heart and knew he could not free himself from that emotional cancer. In the film, he is quite clear that his prayer asking God to free him of hatred became the first step in his walk of faith.

Finally, Commissioner Johnston turns to what has become a pervasive starting principle in all of America's public schools, which now views human beings as merely animals, and teaches the same. This view rooted in the Darwinian concept of evolution, minimizes the uniqueness of mankind's creation, unique gift of life, and responsibility under a higher law. In the evolutionary worldview whoever or whatever is most evolutionarily advanced becomes the ultimate authority. This denial of higher law and greater truths has robbed the American educational system The result is students who are incapable of recognizing higher laws. Perhaps most telling is Charles Darwin subtitle, clearly stating that his principles invoke a racial superiority system (On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life). It is progressives who separate human beings into racial groups and declare their proper hierarchy in society. Natural law, on the contrary, deems each and every human life as worthy of protection and accountability. That is the basis of the right to life.

In this episode of Life Matters, Commissioner Brian Johnston interviews Eric Eisenhammer, Vice-president for Communications of California Pro-Life Council. They discuss the Unborn Sanctuary Resolution, a powerful educational and civic action which encourages locally elected representatives to distance themselves from the oppressive state sponsorship of unlimited abortion.

Unborn Sanctuary Resolutions have been in enacted in New Mexico (Roswell) and Utah (Riverton) in reaction to the open unlimited acts of abortion authorized in New York and Virginia and other states in 2019. The animating influence was governor Northam's of Virginia open admission that if a child should be born alive in the process of abortion it is simply "set-aside".

When a similar measure was introduced in the Santa Fe legislature for New Mexico the town of Roswell would have none of it, and immediately passed the Unborn Sanctuary Resolution. These resolutions (unlike some measures proposed in Texas, do not ban anything). They simply are a public proclamation of disdain for the wanton killing of unborn children and children born alive in the process of an abortion. As a resolution, they cannot be enjoined in court. They are merely an expression of documented distain and distancing from an evil state-wide policy. Local council-members have been very excited and pleased to have this opportunity to air their grievances and opposition to the wholesale abortion industry operating in California

Perhaps most importantly, the introduction of the resolution and the public debate that follows, is an educational opportunity for not only the public at large but even the local pro-life community. Because many have been deceived by the intentionally misleading, fake news and the media's protection and adherence to "choice" being unlimited abortion rights.

The Resolution

WHEREAS, the State of California, through Medi-Cal (https://files.medi-cal.ca.gov/pubsdoco/publications/masters-mtp/part2/abort_m00o03.doc) pays to kill a human child at any stage of gestation and without requiring any medically-indicated reason, such as disability of the child or health of the mother; California is paying to kill healthy children in healthy mothers, without accountability.

WHEREAS, CA Health and Safety Code Sec. 123435 states that a child born alive in the act of abortion must receive the same medical care and support as any other child born spontaneously. However, the current administration of the State exercises no meaningful oversight or enforcement of this life-affirming law, the law is toothless;

WHEREAS, the State of California under CA Health and Safety Code § 18944.18.(b) repealed regulations on California abortion clinics, greatly reducing accountability, cleanliness standards, emergency and safety regulations;

WHEREAS, as outlined in the MediCal provider manual cited above, the state of California funds and promotes unlimited abortion as a matter of ideological preference;

WHEREAS, every city in CA is nevertheless standing in direct opposition to this ideology of human disposal, and is already using its civic power to affirm a preference for human life by offering - in answer to the many "trash-can babies" that had been discarded at birth - an open-armed safe place at every fire station where a young mother can leave the newborn without any legal or personal risk;

WHEREAS, polls indicate even those in California who consider themselves pro-choice do not necessarily support the killing of these older children and the government funding of such killing, especially when there is no medically indicated reason. Marist, Gallup, LA Times).

THEREFORE, We the City/County of do hereby affirm our preference for the acceptance and protection of vulnerable human lives, particularly of vulnerable viable children about to be thrown out.

• We repudiate the euphemistic use of the term "choice" to cover up what is in fact the killing and dismembering of a child in the womb, i.e. human abortion.
• We assert and affirm the actual life-embracing "choice"-- letting the child live.
• We affirm the many other options - "Choices" - that are widely available to women experiencing unwanted pregnancies and we uphold that these are in preference to killing the child.
• Keeping the child;
• raising the child with the comfort and support and assistance of others;
• involvement of grandparents, church, care homes, and other non-profit support teams; and adoption are all options that have existed and should continue to be asserted as preferable and elemental acts of human kindness. There are an estimated 2 million couples currently waiting to adopt in the United States. https://www.americanadoptions.com/pregnant/waiting_adoptive_families. Every child killed in an abortion or thrown away in an abortion is indeed wanted, and will gladly be cared for right now, by loving, adoptive parents, if only given the chance.
• We affirm that Life is the best choice available and the only one that preserves the integrity of human life, the protection of which is the foundation of a civil society, and the principal purpose of this City Council's existence.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:

We do hereby proclaim that our community is a Sanctuary for the Unborn Child, and should his or her life be sought by means of abortion or any other destructive act, we pledge to protect her if born alive. As we have already demonstrated through our police and fire station safe place commitments, We commit ourselves to his and her protection as a matter of civic responsibility. We strongly affirm and proclaim the many voluntary citizen resources that are available in our community to aid both mother and child.

California Prolife Council is preparing legal action against Governor Newsom's sweeping executive order to make all balloting a, 'vote by mail' process. While in preparation for filing the case, Congressman Darrell Issa and the Republican National Committee have also filed suit. CPLC attorneys, in consulting these other actions, have determined that the points of law California Prolife Council is raising are substantively different and important for a comprehensive judicial analysis.

In this program, our Chairman, Brian Johnston explains the steady erosion of the integrity of the California vote and the Democrat Party's intentional re-definition of who is an appropriate voter.

A sympathetic media offers little criticism or analysis of the steady voting process corruption, but often simply pushes forward the rhetoric of the Democrat Party. This is substantially the practice used by the Tammany Hall machine of New York - collecting ballots from groups in order to empower and "push forward" a particular group of people.

But in the United States of America, the power to vote is vested in each and every individual voter. This is because of the value of each and every individual life which is at the very heart of our freedoms. The purpose of government is not to organize groups into winners and losers and punish some and advance others. But the whole purpose of just government is to establish just laws which treat every individual with respect and individual dignity and accountability.

This is the basis of the right to life.

Johnston details the many treacherous laws that have already been been put in place in California. Governor Newsom's dictate is merely a capstone to make "bushel-basket voting," routine, as was the case in Tammany Hall and communist countries. As Lenin said, "It doesn't matter who votes - what matters is who counts the votes."

Commissioner Johnston has previously laid out the foundation for a just society as emanating from the principles of natural law. The value of individual human lives is recognized in natural law as the predicate for a just society and just laws. As America's Founders said, "To ensure these rights, governments are instituted among men."

In this episode Johnston explains the current climate in the battle of ideas which rages against the idea of a right to life for innocent individuals. The current climate even rages against the use of natural law principles in creating society's laws. The greatest, single fountainhead for this antithetical approach to the basis of our laws is best summarized in the philosophy of Hegel.

Hegelian Progressivism, which swept through the academic world of the 19th century, quickly began to fulfill its asserted "destiny" by seizing governments in the 20th century.

Essential to Hegelian thought is the pseudo-spiritual idea that history itself gives spiritual purpose and direction to mankind; and specifically the form of government is what enables the human spirit to be fulfilled. This combined spirit of contemporary government with its human participants (or "zeitgeist") is the essential, animating and spiritual aspect of the Hegelian view of history.

Because Hegel builds on the conflict of ideas - the dialectic - the synthesis of new ideas and forms of government replacing previous ones, the revolutionary idea of constant change and 'progress' has become a familiar invocation for social warriors. Individuals are not held to account for justices are injustices but social groups and classes are either oppressed or oppressors. Elevating the oppressed and suppressing the oppressors becomes the goal of the Hegelian Progressivism. Such thinking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries lead to widespread civil unrest and anarchy, and finally the collapse of Russian government and its Marxism takeover.

Decades later, the identical principles were put into action, but as philosopher Brian McGee puts it, the ultimate goal is simply changed. Instead of economic justice, German National Socialist sought racial justice. As Magee states, it's very easy to substitute for 'X' as your goal and use the formula for Hegelian thinking to see his government for whatever purpose you may seek.

Within a few years, the competing Hegelian progressive idea of national Socialism focusing on racial superiority emerged in Germany. It was a direct stepchild of the socialist and Hegelian worldview. By its very nature, Hegel's philosophy of progress demands changes of government. Everywhere Hegelian progressivism has taken over, millions of lives have been taken. Individual human lives are disposable to the flow of history.

Johnston includes direct comments from contemporary philosophers: Peter Singer, the animal rights activist who teaches at Princeton, and public intellectual, BBC commentator, Brian Magee. Commissioner Johnston points out that the Hegelian notion of progress pushing towards a brave new future and dismissing traditional values has become an inherent part, not only of foreign governments and ideology, but is widely accepted currently in American academia and even by large numbers of American office holders.

With significant quotes from Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, the current push to embrace certain new truths and new principles and a new radical form of government, is religiously and spiritually exciting to individuals who otherwise have no spiritual or ethical foundation. Hegel's compelling, 'spiritualized' religious motivation is extremely widespread throughout American culture of the 2020s.

Hegelian disciples (even if they never heard his name) practice the routine 'grouping' of individuals, by race or class, or any other social structure. Rather than holding individuals responsible, the social conflict of groups is an essential element of Hegel's dialectical conflict. The American principles of the value and significance of the lives of individuals is dismissed by Hegelian thinkers. They view humanity as groups - oppressors and oppressed, and injustices as accomplished as only corrected by sweeping social change, and not by holding individuals accountable for their individual actions. Ultimately, The human individual is seen as merely a cog in history. Their purpose and fulfillment is only to be found through the flow of history and righting society's wrongs. Those who refuse to go with the flow seem to be obstacles to "the changes progress is calling for," and must be re-educated or removed.

Wherever the Hegelian worldview is embraced, that form of government routinely dismisses the lives of entire classes of human individuals. The right to life of each individual is of little or no significance when it comes to changing mankind's destiny and affecting the flow of history. That is the ultimate goal of the Hegelian progressive.

While many progressives associate the feelings and quasi-spirituality of Hegelian thinking with freedom, they are often disappointed with the reality that it mandates a belief in a controlling government which is "necessary to bring this inspired "freedom." Their faith in statism is, in fact, an alarming call for authoritarian change.

The vague, pseudo-spiritual appeal of Hegel is akin to the now widespread American syncretism of George Lucas' Jedi religion, which many Americans now espouse as their personal model. See, "How we all became Jedis"." (Religious News service December 20, 2019.)

Failure to recognize the widespread influence of Hegel and his influence on contemporary society is a failure for those who wish to protect innocent lives. The falsehoods, the pseudo-science, pseudo-religion of Hegelian progressivism must be directly repudiated. As Pope Pius the Tenth wrote in his encyclical on Modernity (1907), progressive ideology seduces and destroys clear thinking, the desire to recognize truth and instead presents a synthetic truth, a synthesis, which misleads and superimposes itself on other human beings.

Commissioner Johnston explores the popularity of, and the origins of, the cultural wide embrace of relativism. What is it? Where did it come from? Why does it seem so prevalent?

He builds on the exposition of the previous episode which dove into great depth as to the nature of "self evident truths," natural law, "the laws of nature and of nature's God." These principles are essential to grasp and understand if one is to understand the nature of America's experiment in freedom.

America's founders, in starting a new nation, realized they could create any form of government they desired, but their greatest desire was to learn from the errors of those who have gone before them. Most importantly, they wanted to ensure that they were going to build a more just government. They needed to be sure they were building on sound and true principles. They asserted that these principles could be observed in nature.

As heirs of the British Renaissance they were fully aware that Western Civilization's ideas sprung from this singular notion that man has a spiritual quality and is able to discern spiritual principles as revealed in nature. In other words, despite their many different opinions, the one thing they could agree on is that they all shared a common Creator. Their Creator had given them their rights, and their Creator had shown, in the designed laws of nature, an understanding of justice and equity and truth.

Commissioner Johnston dedicated the last program to those Christians whom he has met, that shy away from thinking about the very obvious fact that God has revealed His principles through His visible creation. Johnston, for their sake, gave extensive biblical references to the fact that God has demonstrated truth to everyone. The real problem is when people bring their own preconceptions and don't want to seek the truth. But again, this is where Christians themselves should be the best studied and the most committed to be able to explain to others why the God of reality is the God of reality through what He has actually demonstrated, as in Paul's presentation at Mars Hill in Athens, and his inducement to Timothy to be apt to teach, and explain the truth to those who have been taken captive in the futility of their mind to do the will of the devil.

In this program Johnston builds on the basis of natural law as demonstrating that the truth can be known. But unfortunately, academia has been infiltrated by another view of truth and of how we come to conclusions.

While there are many relativistic philosophers, clearly the most dominant in the academic world is a man by the name of Hegel. Hegel's …History builds on the idea that there's a purpose to history, and that man has risen out of the depths of confusion and come up with new ideas on how to govern himself. These ideas may conflict with one another, but even the conflict of these ideas creates even newer ideas - compelling history to move forward and presumably "upward."

This conflict of ideas, or dialectic, has become the dominant view of most intellectual institutions. It has infiltrated every aspect of modern life. One of the reasons is by viewing history in this way it gives a sense of purpose, an explanation for those whom might otherwise still be asking "What is the meaning of life?"

Hegel gives a spiritual quality to history referring to the spirit of the times the "zeitgeist" as being a fulfillment of man's purpose and the form of government under which he lives - uniting an individual with this greater, higher purpose.

Many progressives, animated by a spirit of injustice, seek to create and influence history in a Hegelian manner. This was the foundation of national socialism, international socialism, and modern progressivism. The conflict of ideas is an essential and spiritual aspect of the struggle to change and formulate history. For this reason progressives are passionately religious about a belief system regarding the future, but a future that has nothing to do with God. It is a future in which man's spiritual destiny will be fulfilled and all injustices made right.

This passionate belief system allows the adherent to 'do whatever it takes' to bring this preferred future to pass. All of mankind and the destiny of mankind is dependent on this struggle moving forward. And by definition, those who disagree, those who have an older, "old-fashioned idea" about things, are now obstacles. They are impediments to history and to freedom, and to mankind's fulfillment. If need be, these old world types, should be removed from the path of history.

Sadly, wherever progressive ideas get hold of government, that new form of government is willing to dismiss entire categories of human beings who may be seen as impediments to the brave New World they wish to bring about. And that is when the 'right to life' is lost for those 'disposable obstacles', those 'hindering' human beings.

Objective history has shown this time and again.

Life Matters is your program on the right to life, on the culture that has emanated from that singular and foundational premise: the idea that your life is actually a gift given by your creator and not given by the government.

And yet the government does have a specific role in your life. It has a responsibility, and that responsibility is to ensure your right to be alive. All of the rights that you have emanate from your existence. It is a very simple premise, but it is clear and straight-forward. And America's Founders put it in writing in the Declaration of Independence.

The American Founders in the Declaration of Independence told the whole world about these rights that emanate from every human life, endowed by their Creator. They felt an obligation to clarify that the laws they were claiming weren't merely asserted because they had now 'seized power,' that they could somehow make new rules becausethey had taken over government. "A decent respect for the opinions of mankind compel us to give the reasons that we are breaking these bonds, these unjust bonds," that had previously held them to the Old World.

And they were very clear on why they were ethically, morally and legally justified. They gave objective facts that can be demonstrated and seen through natural law. They were invoking principals therefore, that were not personal or self-created, but could be objectively recognized by deliberative people throughout the world.

Today Life Matters is going in-depth into natural law - why you should know it and be familiar with it as a premise, why it's not something you should be afraid of. It's a very important foundational element for understanding the right to life, because the right to life is an assertion from natural law principles revealed in nature.

Commissioner Johnston spends extra time talking about that in order for you to understand why the ideas arrayed against natural law are so wrong. We're going to do what's known as a contrastive analysis, a comparative and contrastive analysis with, 'the other way' of looking at laws, 'positivist law'.

This other way of looking at laws is where you can come up with your own ideas. "How 'bout I come up with a new idea for new laws, to address this 'new age' we now live in?" You see, laws are basically ideas that are enforced. And what America's Founders said, and what much of WesternCivilization reinforced, is that there are principles that can be seen in nature: a 'higher law.'

WesternCivilization actually carries an ongoing assertion about mankind. This assertion is rather essential, and of course it is held to be 'self-evident.' The very fact that you can consider it, reveals a deeper reality - that is, that human beings are more than merely animals. Human beings are able to see and understand spiritual things, that human beings have a spirit as well as a soul and a body. This is an important principle of Western Civilization.

Judeo-Christian tradition asserts such in the "Imago Dei" - the premise that mankind is made in the image and likeness of God. The Greek and Roman traditions also viewed mankind as 'a little lower than gods.' And indeed, in the Greek and Roman worlds , humans were capable of making the transformation to godhood, an apotheosis, "becoming a god" should their life and 'genius,' or spirit, reach a destiny of fulfillment.

We will examine this natural or higher law now and in our next episode exploring the contrastive principles of relativism and in particular, some of the philosophy that your opponents routinely use to dismiss the notion of a higher law, or perhaps more pointedly, the assertion that their 'relativistic view of laws' should be higher still.

There are people who oppose your right to assert there even is a, "right to life." They oppose the idea that all innocent lives should be protected. They oppose it and they have new ideas which they wish to substitute to govern you and all others.

Where did they get those ideas? We're going to talk about Hegel and the relativist philosophers that justify much of the opposition you're seeing right now. Right now there is virulent opposition to the premise of the right to life. Many of those advocates of killing human babies, of euthanizing your grandma, they've never heard of Hegel. And yet, they've adopted a world-view that emanates from his teachings. They've been imbued with 'values' that justify the government -sponsored killing of these babies, and those dependent and elderly, or sick - and maybe some of them aren't sick. They're simply seen as less than perfect, less than human. A Hegelian Progressive view of the world justifies this.

So this battle of ideas is very, very real. I'm going to give you some very tangible examples. Unless you understand that the right to life is a self-evident truth, as America's Founders said, you're not going to be equipped for this battle. But the right to life is based on objective facts, demonstrable facts, the fact that that baby's heart is beating as early as 18 days after conception. Or that it has unique DNA proclaiming their humanity in every cell of their dynamic body. This has nothing to do with my belief. That's an objective physical fact about a human child, about you. You were once that size. And science declares every cell in that child's body declares that that's unique human being. The DNA is a combination of the mother and father, and that unique signature is used by science to demonstrate individual lives. Science is confirming and echoing the objective reality of the God of nature.

And we're going to spend time today going into depth, into natural law and why you should understand it. And especially if you're a Christian, I want you to understand it, because if you're a Christian, you say that you know this God that made nature. And I do have frustration at times with Christians I know who don't want to deal with the world of ideas. They say they don't want to deal with science or they're intimidated by science, when in fact, it should be Christians who are most interested and most committed to understanding what is objectively true. And that's what science tries to figure out.

Now some people falsely assert a 'false science.' They have madeconclusions and are simply trying to create evidence to support a conclusion already in hand. Wrongo. This is not uncommon, and particularly in our era of 'talking heads' and forced public-policy isbased on who talks loudest and longest.

But if you claim to be a Christian, you should be the best equipped to demonstrate why a falsehood is false. If you haven't spent time in learning how to observe what God has made and realize, as it says in the Book of Romans: Chapter 1 - Verse 20, that 'God has revealed His invisible nature through His visible creation, so they're all without excuse.' If you don't understand that God has proclaimed truth objectively, and that truth is objectively proveable, you will simply fall back on your feelings and opinions, and that worst of all possible assertions for making laws to rule others… "because I believe it."

All of us have no excuse to dismiss self-evident truths, and especially Christians who believe in the Creator. He has demonstrated that in natural law, in the laws of nature and of nature's God. You should really be the best at understanding and promoting natural law and the laws of nature and nature's God. And if you're not a Christian, listen in to these scriptures anyways. They're not scary. They are self-evident truths. And you'll be amazed that it's actually those who oppose the right to life, it's actually those who oppose the laws of nature and nature's God, those who oppose self-evident truth; they're the religiousones. They have a belief system that they've adopted. They've made it their own and they're committed to it. And it is not founded in objective facts, but the conjectures of their "belief.'

Founded in assertions, and conjectures, Hegelian Progressives are seeking to prop up a sweeping and 'spiritualized' world view in order to justify their undying passion to move forward. To 'progress' to new truths and to a truly 'just' brave new world.

Well, as pro-lifers, we're asserting that killing an innocent baby in the womb actually violates natural law. The laws of nature and of nature's God is that it's a self evident truth that that is a human baby that can't defend his or herself. Before our times that was demonstrated in the English Common Law. The child was legally protected from the moment that objective evidence existed that he or she was alive. As soon as there was 'quickening' (that movement of the child in the womb could be detected),that the baby could kick, then it was obviously a unique human being and was now protected under the English Common Law. That was a demonstration of physical evidence and it demonstrated a 'self-evident truth,' that there was a human being present and alive.

And then later, Dr. Horatio's Storer, who is the Founder of ModernGynecology, started a legal crusade to protect these children in the late 1860s. He insisted that in the United States abortion be clearly outlawed because it was so obvious wrong from his study of childbirth in the UK. (In the UK they were protected in the Crimes Against the Person Act.)

Dr. Storer, through his medical exposition, demonstrated this is a unique human being. As he said, "This child is my patient.' So these are assertions of natural law. Self-evident truths in the appeal to natural law are very important when we seek to enforce civil laws in our society.

And it goes way back. It goes back to the time of Aristotle, who was an observer of nature and a natural philosopher. He asserted that there was a prime mover, a great designer who designed all things. And that's why truths and objective facts could be validly observed, and you could make sense out of your observations. He referred to the moral qualities revealed in nature as natural law. Aristotle was a Greek, but when the Romans came along, Cicero was probably the best known of the legal advocates in Roman law to assert natural law. Certain facts had to be followed because they were self-evident and revealed to be morally justified or morally wrong based on what others could observe in nature. So he wasn't asserting that law should be made up by tyrants. Those with power can make up whatever law they want. He was appealing to a higher law.

Cicero was an eloquent advocate for natural law and really one of those who greatly influenced Roman law. And then, throughout the Middle Ages, the laws that various European nations adopted emanated from the Roman law. Thomas Aquinas, in the Middle Ages, took these principles and he elucidated them. He underscored the fact that natural law, the laws of nature and nature's God are evident, and should be followed in a just society.

These are self-evident facts, objective truths that can be seen. So I want to take just a second as we're talking at this stage that there is a contrast between objective truths and conjectured truths.

When we talk about relativism, ideas that are conjectured to be "true and asserted to be true, and sometimes 'temporarily true,' for me, or for you. But everyone can have their 'own truth.' Sometimes, those who make such assertions and conjectures feel a need to justify their conjectured truths and they'll claim scientific evidence to validate it, but remember, by invoking science, they are suggesting that nature is proclaiming it, and that it can be seen in nature! (A silent salute to natural law!). In the very process of fighting nature's dicta, they invoke natural law principles!

We'll spend some time talking about such false science. And in our next episode, we'll go into great depth about a philosophy known as Hegelian progressivism that has its own, 'pseudo science' to justify incredible moral turpitude by governments. Hegel is a very important philosopher. Most of us haven't spent a lot of time with Hegel. And yet, as you will see in our next episode, Hegelian philosophy has imbued our current era, and is in direct war with natural law.

So the reason you need to know that the right to life is rooted in natural law is because that's the foundation of your assertions. You need to assert what is objectively true about a human child or about an elderly patient that's vulnerable. Maybe they're in physical pain, but you can deal with the physical pain. That doesn't mean you need to kill them. And yet, false thinking and false science is being used to justify wanton killing under the law. Ultimately, these are debates about what is a 'just law.'

So I told my Christian friends I would spend some time in the scriptures. And if you're not a Christian, that's OK. These scriptures won't hurt you. But you need to know as a Christian that you should understand natural law.

Throughout the scripture, the God of Scripture is asserting that His presence is demonstrated in nature. Psalm 19 says,the heavens are declaring the glory of God that night unto night is being proclaimed and there's no country in the world, there's no language where the language of the heavens are not understood. It is proclaimed and known to everyone that there is a God who made all things, and therefore a God to whom we are responsible. This may seem very simplistic, but it is it's actually straightforward. It's not complicated. In order to avoid the evidence of God's presence, it is we who must complicate and distract from its self-evident proclamation.

Acts 17:22-29. Paul was learned in the Hebrew scriptures, but he was a Hellenic Greek. And in Tarsus, where he grew up, he learned Greek and he learned Greek poetry, obviously, because he quoted Greek poets when he went to Athens at Mars Hill. He told the Greeks there again, he wanted to speak in their language, not just verbally, but culturally. He wanted to relate to them, where they lived emotionally and intellectually. He pointed out that, "You have an altar here on Mars Hill to the unknown God. Well, that's great, because I want to tell you about this God you don't know, that He has made himself physically evident. In fact, "in Him we live and move and have our being."

Paul is explaining to others that God is here, now. God is not far away. Everything that has been made is made by God. And all of creation exists in God because you can't go anywhere to escape from Him. He existed before anything else existed. And therefore, wherever you go, there He is. David said that in the Psalms. (Psalm 139:7-12) He said, "If I took the wings of the dawn, you'd still find me. Where can I go to run and hide from you? I can't. If I descended into the deepest hell, you would still be there."

So of all people, Christians SHOULD know, God is here. And that's a very important principle in natural law. Truth can be known right now, right where you are. It's not a far-away thing. And you have heard the phrase 'Just be here now?' You should also know that refers also tothe kingdom of God. The more you read in scriptures about God's kingdom, you'll learn - it's right now. Listen to the verb tenses that God uses. It's right now. And very often we may misunderstand when it is said that the kingdom of God is at hand or the kingdom of God is nigh. It's actually saying "it's right here, right next to you. Just turn around." (Matthew 6:33; Mark1:15; Luke 17:20-21) It should be crystal clear to committed Christians: The kingdom of God is in the present. And we have to understand that about truth. God has made known His truth. Right now. And it's revealed in nature right now. So being in the present is an important part of understanding God's kingdom rather than adhering toconjectures about who God is.

Conjectures and misplaced preconceptions are what bring us problems. And I think you'll recall some of the stories, the parables Jesus told. In the parable of the talents, it was that last servant he gave a talent to who got things wrong. The misinformed and worthless servant had conjectured about who God is. He didn't really know his Master. (Matthew25:20-30) He wasn't watching and observing his master, didn't spend time right now understanding the nature of God. And that's what we are called to do - spend time in the PRESENT, observing and noting the things of God, physically and then spiritually. He has most immediately manifestedHimself in His physical creation.

Remember, whenever God identifies himself, He uses the present tense verb- constantly. Literally "I am who am." God is in the present. And you're in the present too, right now. You're invited right now into His presence. So if you're not a Christian, you should know that God is inviting you. He is present and He's inviting you through Jesus to have forgiveness for your errors because that's what sin means. You made a mistake. It's an error. You missed it. You simply don't get what He has already shown you in nature.

Sin means to miss a target. It's from old English archery. You miss it. And once you realize you're missing it, it is a great opportunity to adjust, and take a better shot with that new understanding. Nature is still proclaiming, "God is still here," and because He is eternal and unchanging, He still loves you and wants to hang out with you. You can have that opportunity through Jesus, through the Christ.

One of the most compelling truths about natural law, and understanding truth through looking closely at nature is said in, 'He who made the eyecan see and you can see me," a very straight forward deduction from natural law in the present. The God who made the eye can see. You have the ability to see. Therefore, it is only logical that your Maker also is able to see. (Ps 94:9)

And of course, throughout the Old Testament when God and the Jews rebuke heathens for their ignorance, for their misconceptions; they point to the obvious: made idols. The idols can't see or do anything. They're phony, carved of wood or stone. They were made up. They are arbitrary. They were conjectures. They're made up out of the futility of the mind of the misled individual. But what those individuals needed to do is simply look closely at what God had actually made: (Jeremiah51:17-19)

God is. He always was. He always will be. He always remains the same. He's here and He wants to show Himself to you. He has demonstrated that and He is demonstrating it through nature. And once you recognize His existence, then you can start seeking Him. You have to, as it says in Hebrews (Heb. 11:6), "Those who come to God must first believe that He is". This is the starting point. He Is - right now. And then it says they must also believe, "He is a reward for those who diligently seek Him". So in all these statements of scripture, as we talk about natural law, we can talked about it in depth, both with Christians and those who aren't! All of us live surrounded by the natural world, which is imbued with 'demonstrating truth.'

We're talking about coming to an understanding of what really is, what is really true, and that's God. God made all things. And He's trying to tell you that.

That's what natural law is. That's what America's founders were appealing to - the laws of nature and of nature's God, to knowable and 'self-evident truth'.

There's so many other scriptures I want to share with you. The scriptures are replete with demonstrating that God is in the present. And if you want to follow God, you must also live in the present. And you must also take the time to consider deeply.

I know there are a lot of people who look at the stars, but they don't consider the deeper significance of the vastness of creation and the designer of creation, so in our next episode we'll spend a little time contrasting the 'natural law' with arbitrary 'synthetic law'. We are doing a comparative and a contrasting analysis of relativism and natural law. You should be an advocate of natural law and you should be able to disprove those relativists, those who are asserting their own conjectures about laws they think should be there. But you, if you believe God made all things and especially if you claim a relationship with Him, you should be able to demonstrate what the good and just principles of God's nature are that He's revealed in nature.

Again, if you're a Christian, you should be a master of natural law.

Progressivism is the passionate religion of cultural'progress'. It's actually a faith in conjectured principles, in things that the particular branch of that religion may deeply believe. So there's a lot of feelings, a lot of strong feelings in the religion of progressivism. And I do want to remind you, if you're a Christian, you know that you're not supposed to build your faith on feelings. That's one of your problems. It's true. And Christians who think religion and feelings are the same thing only get in trouble. You need to build your faith on who God is, on the principles He has laid out for you to consider - not on how you feel about Him or His principles. You will make big mistakes if feelings are your guide. Remember the unworthy servant and the talents.

Following and empowering feelings is a big error of those who follow Hegelian progressivism and in our next episode I'm going to spend time again with Hegel, because you may not know his name, but the philosophy of Hegel has infected our culture and seduced it to make conjectures, unsubstantiated and emotional conjectures, to be honored as 'new truth'. They are the "new truths" for this very-secular religion, this belief system that is at war with sound thinking.

They say that US Treasury agents are taught to recognize counterfeit money by spending lots of time with real currency, feeling and examining and understanding its qualities. The real thing is their basis of knowledge. Then, they can readily recognize counterfeits. So it is with the principles of natural law

When you truly are rooted in an understanding and appreciation of natural law as the premise for just laws and "self-evident truth," you will have a clearer ability to see the seductive deceitfulness of progressivism's ways and influence on every aspect of our culture. You will be able to detect and reveal it for what it is: counterfeit 'truth'.

Hegelian progressivism is compellingly seductive. You will see why. These are dangerous ideas. Remember, you're in a battle of ideas. So sharpen your intellectual tools, "Gird up the loins of your mind.' Be ready for this battle, because life is at stake.

In this episode of Life Matters, Commissioner Brian Johnston interviews attorney Sheila Green of the California Prolife Council. Attorney Green had filed a California Freedom of Information Act request with the state Department of Health Care Services. She had requested an explanation of monitoring abortion in California and the system by which abortions are paid for and conditions under which these abortions will be paid for.

In a stunning admission which the state has never given heretofore, the Department of Health Care Services admitted it pays for all abortions, at all times, without question of gestational age - in other words, throughout all nine months of pregnancy. In addition, there need not be any medically indicated reason, nothing wrong with the mother - nothing wrong with a child, the abortion is simply paid for without question.

Additionally, there seems to be very little oversight over the actual abortion procedures

The significance of this admission is great. The average Californian may often call themselves pro-choice when polled, but when asked about late-term abortion or circumstances under which abortion should be legal or government paid for, they do not approve of unlimited abortion at all times, for any reason at all. The Gallup polling organization, Marist Polling, and the Los Angeles Times, have consistently shown that even in California, those who consider themselves pro-choice are not in agreement with the way abortions are being paid for and promoted in California.

It is the intentional hiding of the facts and misleading by an abortion sympathetic media that allows this deceitful late-term killing to continue unexamined.

Your first line of defense against COVID-19 is not masks, gloves, moon suits, or distancing. Your first line of defense is your natural immune system. Failure of your immune system and compromised immune systems are the number one factor in COVID-19 deaths.

Scientific studies have demonstrated there are very practical and straightforward resources available including the supplementation of zinc to quickly and effectively ensure a more robust, human immune system.

In a post-Covid environment it will only be our immune system's that will continue to protect us against many deadly airborne viruses. In the politically charged environment of the year 2020, any hope offered, particularly if it has been mentioned by the President, whose first job is to provide vision and hope for the nation, has been met with false analysis and fake science to dismiss and disregard this most obvious of obligations: our need to protect ourselves first.

Commissioner Johnston explains that in any urgent situation our first obligation is to protect ourselves so that we might be able to protect others. If an aircraft is failing at altitude, oxygen masks drop down but our first requirement is to save our lives to keep ourselves conscious, that we might then be able to help others.

Commissioner Johnston relates the fact that it is not uncommon for us to face many dangers but it is our own actions and protection, rather than complete fear and avoidance, that allows us to live normal lives. Having very fair skin, Brian relays the story that he must protect himself naturally from over exposure to the sun. He uses sunscreens and and gradual gentle exposure, because skin cancer is common in his family. There are, however, members of his family that have actually refused to go into the sun for fear of debilitating sunburn and the potential for skin cancer. This has dramatically limited their lives and left them just as vulnerable. They have nearly albino skin! Fear and avoidance are not the best way to face the challenges of life. We must prepare for the challenges of life and face them if we are to lead dynamic and meaningful lives.

President Trump cited the successful studies in France demonstrating that hydroxychloroquine was proven effective and dramatically so against a Covid-19 virus. He was attacked by those who do not want there to be hope in this battle. The immediate politicization by those who seek to limit control or actions through fear has been palpably evident. Other studies are as compelling and demonstrate the efficacy both in vitro and in vivo of zinc's dramatic impact on numerous respiratory tract coronaviruses. https://aac.asm.org/content/48/3/783

Commissioner Johnston takes a deep dive into the reason hydroxychloroquine is effective. He cites numerous studies as well as an interview from Med-Cram with Dr. Seheult which explains the operant quality of hydroxychloroquine is not that it kills the virus, but that it simply allows zinc to more efficiently enter the human cells that carry the virus. It is the zinc that actually stops the virus in its tracks.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4182877/

Dr. Seheult's conclusion, as Commissioner Johnston's, is that it is vital for our immune system, and in fighting ALL VIRUSES, that our bodies not have a zinc deficiency, as zinc is a vital element in an effective immune battle against these illnesses.

Med Cram on Zinc and the nature of the Covid-19 virus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eeh054-Hx1U

Poignant passage used in episode starts at 18:11.

A stunning admission from the state of California in response to a legal freedom of information act request:

The state department of health services has admitted they will pay for all abortions through all nine months of pregnancy, regardless of the gestational age