Common moral ground is necessary for any heart to heart communication with another person. It is just as important as using the same language.  Common moral ground exists, however it is perverted with hypocracy. The  illogical dual standard people show for their behavior vs somebody else’s behavior.  Nathan overcame this perversion with David in 2 Samuel by taking David out of the story he discussed with David. David was then free to say what the correct moral judgment would be, not being perverted by selfish interests and hypocrisy.

The point I would like here is the that hypocrisy of those who you need to talk with does not mean that there is no common moral ground; It is a different animal; The common ground still exists. It presents atheists with a rather large theological dilemma. [need a reference to a post on the spaghetti monster here] atheists when forced to the wall about the nature of this moral common ground throw spaghetti at it, somewhat literally, and concede that God is a spaghetti monster; an absurd red herring. But still they do not deny that we do not know right from wrong; that we have common moral ground.

It is an illusion to see hypocrisy as a lack of moral common ground.  A moral appeal is valid even to those who deny God. The appeal is different and needs to be made based on something they do not deny – the future of their children … change the word ”moral’ to ‘better’: “What would be a better world to live in?” or “What would be more ‘human’ way to …”

Alinsky himself does not deny common moral ground, although he mistakes the rules of men as the common ground. The only weapon he has is that it is common moral ground that somebody does what they promised (a valid moral law). He is blind to the fact that moral law supersedes the rules of men.

A rule of man would be to respond to all email in 24 hours. A greater law would be to do so in a sincere way. The moral law is that one must make the best of two choices. Hence an email that says wow there has been a lot of requests, in order to handle them correctly, honestly and with due diligence we will take more time and not compromise on higher ideals.

Another example, our rule is our buses are always on schedule. However, if that means putting people’s lives in danger then the moral law is to not put peoples lives in danger. The rule of mice and man, built on pride, must never put peoples lives in danger – period.

The knowledge of right and wrong is written in human nature. We can not escape it. When somebody is accused of being wrong they do not deny this nature; instead they claim an excuse for why what they did was not “wrong” or minimize it, explain it or justify it based on circumstances.

We can not escape this knowledge, nor the shame that comes from breaking this standard. We can not escape the knowledge of the joy of doing good.

If you sincerely have taken the “Are You Good” test, and understand nobody but Jesus could pass it. Then you understand the state humanity is in. And, understand that no man has freed himself from sin. We don’t just need a savior to save use from the judgment of sin, but to help us, instruct us, guild us hour by hour to repent of sin and away from it.

I think a good biblical example of how this works can be found in 2 Samuel 11 – In these verses can be found the weakness and sin of King David who lusted after Basheba, committed adultery and the murder of Uriah after attempts to cover it up his sin failed. He later married Basheba and acted according to a belief the sin had been hidden.

In 2 Samual 12 the lord sent Nathan to David to tell him a story and ask what would justice dictate. David’s judgment was that “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” … Nathan then exposed King David’s sin and David confessed his sin and was punished by the lose of a son.

It was not Nathan that convicted David and forced his confession, it was David’s own heart.

Related:
• Ephesians 5:11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
• Acts 26:18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’
• 1 Timothy 5:20 Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.

The truth is a strong foundation, David was restored to this foundation by confession and having been punished.

Those that wish to tear down society do not stand on truth, because what they want to accomplish is not desired and can not be won by open debate, they work from darkness. A Christian needs to work from light.

• Romans 13:12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Draft

We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.  The Good Test but that does not mean we can not speak out against wrong.  No matter what has proceeded. Even if we failed to speak against something that was wrong before, our mistake to speak out earlier does not mean something is correct. Maybe we failed to see why it was wrong before, we did not have a complete understanding because we did not take the issue to heart; but we are told to turn away from sin and sin no more. We can not speak against something that is wrong until we understand it as wrong, then we must speak.

An argument that a wrong that took place yesterday justifies a wrong today, will lead to a world that is falling into an increasing in sin and suffering. An argument against wrongs because they are wrong leads to a better world.

The rhetoric Jesus used when they wanted to stone an adulterous woman was “Let him who is without sin case the first stone”

We are forgiven of passed sin through faith in Jesus. If we speak based on our convictions based on the holy spirit and based on scriptural truth, then we are messengers of the truth. We must turn away from what is false but even a reformed adulterous can speak against adultery. In fact a reformed person may uniquely be able to speak to those who are unreformed because it is clear he understands the other person.

Humility is more powerful than pride.

Want to help save the country or change the world? The world is big, and we are small. Try to plant only 1 square mile in a day … how much we will be able to do is just a small part; But, we can help although the bulk of the effort is not ours. We have been demoralized to believe that our efforts our in vain because we can not plant a whole square mile in a day, our hundred seeds are indeed only a small contribution. But like a child who helps his father farm, his father will be proud of our effort.

Our part in changing the world is to love thee neighbor, pray to God to help us with our sin. And, tell those we come in contact with that their sins can be forgiven, that they can have a new life. We don’t do the bulk of the work – we give that to the only one who can.

He gives us what we need to take his message to all corners of the world. Sometimes God will allow us to see the transformation of others. However,  we know that one person plants the seeds and another gathers the harvest. So we may not see anything when we plant seeds; But we can look at the harvest, hear the testimonies.

… this page will be edited and appended to, as more information is put together  …

Saul Alinsky rules for radicals sets out his atheist views on community organization. His methods are more of divide and concur than actually bringing people together – his methods create an elite, not a concensus. He suggests mockery and ridicule of those in the way, with no regard to whether those people are actually correct. For Saul the means justifies the ends.

RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

It is human nature when dealing with an opposition to be tempted to play with the same rules that are used against them.

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:1

Christian’s, being human, are pulled in to the temptation to respond in kind – forgetting the armor that we have been given.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms.
Therefore put on the whole armor of God,
so that when the day of evil comes,
you may be able to stand your ground,
and after you have done everything, to stand.”

(Ephesians 6:12-13 NIV)

Hypocrisy is not something that Saul Alinsky avoids. No as quickly as one responds in kind our error is subjected to ridicule. How would Jesus respond, we have available to us the best community organizer who ever existed, his words of truth demolish evil. When we depart from the truth we no longer are able to stand.

Truth is more potent than ridicule, It can not be mocked.