The seeds for these writings came about after the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. I elected to give a Toastmaster speech on the Second Amendment and as I thought about that document, I realized that the word rights had been bandied around as if it were an 11th commandment and the word regulated was treated as an attack on civil liberties. Believing that three viewpoints are essential for at least some clarity on any and every situation, I realized “responsibility” was the missing word in the 2nd amendment. As I began to dance with these three words and how they impacted not only our so called “rights” but also the temples of wisdom on which the hope for “Democracy” is built.
“Democracy is the participatory practice of molding the principles of social equality.”
Rights, responsibilities, and regulations makeup the framework of Democratic possibilities. They are foundations of Democracy, the essence of Liberty, and the structure of Justice. They are the principles of hope and the only thing that makes “Human Rights” even remotely possible. God only provides one right. The use, practice, and training of your mind! Every other so-called right is only a privilege, even the right to breath, is a privilege that we will all someday loose. The idea that unalienable rights are a gift of God, goes against the laws of nature, the facts of science and all soul building practices. The belief that we have rights, without responsibility or regulations has us living with the “virus of expectancy” in place of an attitude of gratitude.
While the words themselves may be powerful, as words alone, they have no power. We are living in a time unprecedented in human history. Humanity is changing faster, creating more oceanic disruption, and defacing the planet more every day than the entire 500 years of the Roman Empire. In his book “Future Seeing” written in 1926, Edmund Shaftesbury writes: “The past is gone and cannot be recalled. The present is always the fruit of the past; and for that very reason must always be the schoolroom of the future.” As I look back on my 70 years of life, I have a never ending gratitude for electricity and all of the convenience it has brought to us, transportation and the marvels of discovery that have made it so easy to tour the globe and the accumulation of knowledge, wisdom and insights that have brought us into the wonderful world we now enjoy. Yet an honest evaluation of the past century clearly shows that we have been responsible for more transformation, disruption and change to Mother Earth than the previous million years. We now have more wisdom at our fingertips than our forefathers had scattered around the entire world. Only through responsibly regulated actions can the planet be protected; piece be promoted, and rights be realized.
When I first read Future Seeing written in 1926 the word “viewpoint” became etched in my mind as one of the most important words in the English language. It is only through a viewpoint that we acquire a perspective, an opinion, an understanding, a stance, or a construct. Shifting our viewpoints are what the great gift of free will is all about. The ability to fix or flex one’s viewpoint is about the only inalienable right we truly have. All others are illusions.
Responsibility for our actions, intentions and reactions are key to social, planetary and soul development. Millions of years of evolution has taught us that the regulatory processes of nature will ensure that that planet will live. Millions of species have disappeared in the evolutionary process leading up to humanity. We have a global responsibility to protect our waters, air, and land. The future of our grandchildren’s grandchildren is at stake.
I coined the word “hydroviews” to mean viewpoints predicated on and bound by the facts of science, the laws of nature, and the teachings of The Urantia Book. Viewpoints that may or may not be able to be proven false or correct by any one or all of the above. The idea of God is a hydroview, science can’t prove God exist, nature supports the idea of some sort of infinite intelligence and the UB offers amazing insights into the idea that there is a God that lives within us and is there to connect with. Though the use of hydroviews I will outline concepts, viewpoints and ideas designed for soul growth, planetary protection and personal responsibility. I will also be planting seeds of possibility on how to apply algorithmic values to the words Rights, Responsibilities and Regulations with the goal of harvesting from the wisdom and follies of the past, a spring of potential to water kingdom of heaven on earth in the hearts of men.
0:1:17 (3.4) Divinity is creature comprehensible as truth, beauty, and goodness; correlated in personality as love, mercy, and ministry; disclosed on impersonal levels as justice, power, and sovereignty.