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by Sam Aurelius Milam III We're being submerged in a pervasive ocean of puritan repression. Its focus is largely the repression of sexual behavior and relationships, but the attitudes and methods are not limited to sexual matters. Evangelistic puritans of every stripe are intent upon aggressive programs of repression. Some want to prevent us from "desecrating" the flag. Some won't let us smoke. Some are taking our fireworks away from us. Some are medicating us without our consent through our drinking water. Some won't let us drive without seat belts, crash helmets, or car-seats for our children. The list seems endless. The common thread is involuntary compliance with somebody else's beliefs. The repression of human sexuality is probably the most persistent program of such forced compliance ever attempted by puritans. They have long been determined to impose their narrow beliefs upon others, and they have long been brutal in their response to noncompliance. Whether or not an "unapproved" activity is inherently harmful, puritans insure by their powers of disapproval that harm will result. In general, the harm isn't caused by the activity, but by the puritans when they demonize and punish the participants. Today, to even voice an unauthorized attitude is dangerous. I challenge you, for example, to get on the internet and profess a sexual interest in children. Yet, what difference does it make if such views are "lewd"? If the freedom of speech extends only to approved ideas, then it isn't freedom. We must be able to advocate unpopular or even disgusting beliefs. Otherwise, freedom doesn't exist. It's easy for puritans to tolerate the advocacy and practice of their own doctrine, but the more they dislike our beliefs and the more they dislike us for those beliefs, then the more important it is that we insist upon our freedom. They don't have to share our beliefs or practice them, but they must not prevent us from practicing them ourselves. There isn't necessarily anything wrong with a sexual relationship between people of different races. Prohibition of miscegenation is a puritan accomplishment. There isn't necessarily anything wrong with paying money for sex. Prohibition of prostitution is a puritan accomplishment. There isn't necessarily anything wrong with a sexual relationship involving a girl who's old enough to perform sexually, to be interested in sex, and to attract men, regardless of her age. Prohibition of sexual relationships with minors is a puritan accomplishment. There isn't necessarily anything wrong with a sexual relationship between consenting siblings. Prohibition of incest is a puritan accomplishment. Most people regard each of these practices as a bad idea, and that's O.K. Whether I'm right or wrong is irrelevant. It's even irrelevant that the practices may involve a risk. Many people have been killed while on vacation, but that doesn't mean vacations ought to be banned. The point is that so long as the participants are not forcing others to participate, no one has any cause to enforce a prohibition. We each have a right to hold and advocate our beliefs, to practice them in concert with other like-minded people, and to do so without interference. Society can be based upon concern for liberty or it can be based upon concern for sin. The results are vastly different. If people respect one another's diverse beliefs, no matter how unpopular some of those beliefs may be, it tends to promote a peaceful world. On the other hand, if people try to punish others for practicing their beliefs, it promotes hostility. The results of such repressive behavior are there for all to see: Hutu vs Tutsi; Catholic vs Protestant; Christian vs Moslem; Serb vs Croatian; Jew vs Arab; etc. Throughout history, repression in the name of some belief system has been the greatest source of hatred the world has ever known.
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Give
Them an Inch and They Become Rulers
by Sam Aurelius Milam III The Bicycle Trader is a subscription newspaper consisting largely of classified ads. One regular section is called "Women Specific". It advertises events for women only. In the May 1995 issue, the following ad appeared in "Women Specific":
The paper doesn't publish a "Men Specific" section. Meanwhile, Shannon Faulkner forced her admission to the Citadel, a (previously) all-male military academy in Charleston, South Carolina. She could have obtained training elsewhere. Choosing the Citadel enabled her to challenge an all-male institution. Her failure to succeed after admission is delightful, but in no way detracts from the outrage of her unwelcome intrusion. There are thus two opposite strategies pursued simultaneously by different groups of women. The combination of preserving exclusively female activities while destroying exclusively male activities reduces men to a state of servitude and raises women to a state of supremacy. The manipulation of men has long been a way for women to seek security. Within the home and family it was O.K. Today, however, manipulation of men for the benefit of women has become a matter of public policy, enforced by feminist courts and legislation. This really shouldn't be a surprise. Over 2000 years ago, Aristotle said, "What difference does it make whether women rule, or the rulers are ruled by women? The result is the same." In 2000 years, they haven't changed. Give them political authority and in a few decades you're living in a maternalistic welfare state. Twenty years ago, I supported feminism. Today, after twenty additional years of dealing with women, I'm convinced that letting them vote was one of the biggest mistakes ever made in the United States. Since women have reaffirmed their old compulsion to control men, I won't rest until feminism is a thing of the past, women are no longer political masters, and men are no longer the political pawns of women
From The Law by Frederic Bastiat "... The claims of these organizers of humanity raise another question which I have often asked them and which, so far as I know, they have never answered: If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind? The organizers maintain that society, when left undirected, rushes headlong to its inevitable destruction because the instincts of the people are so perverse. The legislators claim to stop this suicidal course and to give it a saner direction. Apparently, then, the legislators and the organizers have received from Heaven an intelligence and virtue that place them beyond and above mankind .... "Please understand that I do not dispute their right to invent social combinations, to advertise them, to advocate them, and to try them upon themselves, at their own expense and risk. But I do dispute their right to impose these plans upon us by law — by force — and to compel us to pay for them with our taxes. "I do not insist that the supporters of these various social schools of thought ... renounce their various ideas. I insist only that they renounce this one idea that they have in common: They need only to give up the idea of forcing us to acquiesce to their groups and series, their socialized projects, their free-credit banks, their Graeco-Roman concept of morality, and their commercial regulations. I ask only that we be permitted to decide upon these plans for ourselves; that we not be forced to accept them, directly or indirectly, if we find them to be contrary to our best interests or repugnant to our consciences. "But these organizers desire access to the tax funds and to the power of the law in order to carry out their plans. In addition to being oppressive and unjust, this desire also implies the fatal supposition that the organizer is infallible and mankind is incompetent. But, again, if persons are incompetent to judge for themselves, then why all this talk about universal suffrage?" — first published as a pamphlet
in June, 1850
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Please Hurt Me by Steve Strayer I have a female friend who delights in sniping at males. Some time ago, while I was troubleshooting a problem in her car's electrical system to save her from having to pay for the service, she entertained me with the following story.
My friend, of course, got quite a haw-haw out of her story and my reaction to it. A few minutes later, as I confirmed proper multimeter readings at various points in her car's electrical system, she asked how men seem to know about such things intuitively. I explained that it's because we don't have all those brains in the way. After I finished gloating over my timely come-back and her momentary loss for words, I asked myself why so many of us men are so eager to provide freebie help to women, frequently with nothing in return except individual or collective abuse. Is it due to our feeble intelligence or do we simply enjoy being abused? Buck Hunter Shoots Off His Mouth
— Student
Dear Student A carnivorous fish.
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