Know Them By Their Fruits

“A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within. The essential causes of Rome’s decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, her consuming wars.”

Will Durant, 1885-1981
Caesar and Christ - Epilogue

KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS

Robert Harris Brevig

Since the very beginnings of human civilization there have always been enemies of freedom. In the past those despots who found that freedom of the masses created a disadvantage in achieving their tyrannical objectives would gather armies together to enforce their edicts. These armies would be uniformed in such a manner as to be identified and identifiable with their ruler’s agenda.

From the proud Centurions of Caesar’s Roman Guard to the fierce SS Storm Troopers of Hitler’s Nazi invaders, the enemies of freedom have in the past been recognizable and identifiable by their manner of presence, by their very appearance. This is no longer so, except in minor instances where they actually employ military or law enforcement (SWAT) agents to carry out their agenda.

In our modern world the real enemies of freedom are not so easily recognizable. It is not so simple to identify with whom they are truly allied. They no longer wear the uniforms of despots and rulers, indeed, they dress as the common man and woman, and move freely in our midst to fulfill their heinous mission, to destroy our freedom. Unbeknownst to the majority of our citizens these treacherous and insidious agents infiltrate our social and religious groups, our cultural and educational institutions and our economic and political systems. Once they are so ensconced, even at the highest levels, they begin in earnest to influence and modify our moral and our ethical standards, our understanding of our selves and soon our ways begin to slowly change, to become confused. Our values, our sense of propriety, our sense of what is morally and ethically right becomes undermined and we lose our decisiveness. Eventually, we begin to witness our society begin to decline, gradually taking with it all that we have traditionally held dear. The desire for excellence begins to disappear. Incentive and the yearning to learn and achieve begin to slip into quiescence, or are actively discouraged and oppressed.

Societies, especially strong ones, do not crumble of their own accord. Enemies cause it! They may be hidden, but they are not invisible, at least not to everyone, and they are at work in our midst.

We, in America, are in the throes of an undeclared war and we are presently losing that war. If we are to turn the tide of this war and preserve our freedom, our way of life, it will depend entirely upon our ability to recognize and identify this enemy. By becoming aware of their presence in our midst, their purpose and their tactics, by which they achieve their most treacherous aims.

We must realize and understand that we are under attack, why we are being attacked and the methods and manner in which we are being attacked.

We are surrounded by the evidence of this and our senses are so influenced and “familiarized” by the effects of it that we are led to believe that what is happening to us is “just another day at the office”, is popularly accepted, and even desired by the mainstream of our society.

If this were actually so, why do you suppose that over two-thirds of our citizens have become so disillusioned with American politics that they can no longer bring themselves to vote for a leader who simply stands as the lesser of two evils.

They claim we are a democracy, when in fact, we are a republic, yet the diminishing remainder who still vote, remain blinded to the rampant political deception and corruption, yet now decide how the overwhelming majority will be governed. Friends, this is the same as the island of Cuba saying: “Okay Yanks! Your country is on the skids! We’re coming over and running the show.” Then, our conniving “leaders’, our military musclemen, and our cowering populace all pathetically bow down in acquiescence and say: “Don’t shoot! We give up.” Or, if that analogy doesn’t arouse you, how about the vision of a flea climbing an elephant’s leg with determined intentions of rape. There is little difference, either way, to this observer’s way of thinking.

Before we will ever learn to recognize these enemies we must first learn to discern what it is they are doing to us, and why. When we accomplish this, it will become quite clear to us where they have located themselves in our midst. We will begin to recognize them as certain school administrators and teachers who are now shaping the minds and characters of our children. They are those news people and entertainers who spectacularly fabricate and “spin” media events and make the American family look ridiculous ultimately influencing how we perceive ourselves and the world around us. They are those politicians and bureaucrats who legislate the policies and statutes that over-tax us and over-govern how we live our lives. They are wearing judicial robes and police uniforms twisting our perceptions of law and yes, they are even in the pulpit skewing our conceptions of morality and Godliness.

If it is possible that one is in denial about any of this, one may also find the enemy lurking in the mirror each time one looks there. This enemy claims to defend our citizen’s rights, our values and our American way of life, yet they encourage us to exercise these by burning our flag, by promoting homosexuality, by engaging in false drug wars, by presuming our citizens are criminals where no crimes have been committed, by discouraging independent thinking, and by rewarding a lack of initiative. On and on we could continue listing the signs of enemy treachery.

Outwardly they call themselves Democrats and Republicans, but secretly they harbor the same insidious agenda. They seek to undermine and eradicate a way of life that is founded on appropriate moral attitudes and ethical behavior, or by decent character and self-discipline. These are learned qualities, therefore, they must be taught by those who understand the need for them and have embodied them to some extent. Do people of such quality, who are in the public eye, no longer exist in our society, or have they been overwhelmed and displaced by those whom we presently see attacking who and what we are and, in so doing, destroying the possibility of what we might have become as a nation.

These cunning J. Worthington Foulfellows and treacherous Gideon the Cats are leading the average American citizen, like Pinnochio on his way to his lessons on becoming a real human being, astray. We want to believe that we are being led to “Pleasure Island” when in truth we are being made asses of. Believe me, it shows, and the whole world is watching.

Who are these enemies? How can we defend ourselves from their subtle but incessant attacks? They are people in positions that influence us, and especially our children, away from basic values, moral attitudes and ethical behavior. Qualities that we know in our hearts are innately and universally correct and appropriate. These are the mores and standards that keep families, communities and societies together and living in harmony. These are the qualities that engender worthiness; integrity and which assure perpetuity.

They are qualities that must be passed on to posterity. They must be learned, disciplined and exercised if we are to anticipate the rewards that their practice promises. These are qualities we can allow ourselves to be talked out of, or we can lose them simply by omission if we do not tend to them ourselves.

No government can legislate genuine morality. It can only provide us with worthy or unworthy examples of human conduct. The examples we are witnessing with currently are simply a reflection of our own condition on the whole as human beings.

Governments are made up of us, out of human beings. We must provide worthy examples to those in government and we must demand worthy examples from them in return. We must learn to recognize our enemies by realizing that they attack us by deceiving us and by confusing us. We can learn how we are being deceived and then refuse to believe the deception. These enemies have no power over anyone who cannot, or will not be deceived. Awareness is our only defense. Awareness is achieved by constantly seeking correct information and right education. Deception, distraction and denial lead unerringly to ignorance, enslavement and oblivion.

In their quest to deceive us our enemies are blinded by their own self-deception, so when we allow ourselves to be deceived, we are like the blind being led by the blind. The outcome of such a tragic condition will inevitably be disastrous for us all, in spite of our present comforts, unless we begin to seek the truth behind our circumstances.

Deception disappears from its own lack of substance if we refuse to allow its roots to take hold of us. Our enemies will have no influence and no claim over us. Ultimately, it always comes back to our own choosing, or the absence of it, does it not? It is a matter of whether we are responsible enough to be certain that we have the correct facts, so we can recognize the truth in a given situation, rather than simply naively relying on what the media “spin-doctors” tell us everyday. If we neglect the former, we will fall prey to the latter and in so doing we invite our own deception. We become the victim of our own lack of responsibility to ourselves and those we care for by encouraging the lie that holds us in it’s thrall. We are responsible for empowering our enemy by our willingness to be deceived by him.

We also have it within our capability to dis-empower our enemy by awakening ourselves to the deceptions he imposes on our senses. By so doing we empower our selves and his power over us diminishes because it was an illusion in the first place.

We are weakened and susceptible to the ready and waiting evils of deception when we ignore truth in our lives. It has been prophesied that in the final days the truth will abound and if we can recognize it, it will set us free.

Shall we simply bury our attentions in the many diversions and distractions of daily life and wait for truth to trumpet itself or wave itself in our faces, or shall we set aside a few moments each day and begin to seek for it on our own? Isn’t it clear which method will most effectively enlighten one with the truth? Ask, therefore, and it will be given to you!

RHB – December, 2000

The Sovereign Letter