Column #289     March 19, 2021The word of God is LOVE

Now you’re probably wondering how does “love” apply to nutrition, diet, and our daily lives? In my view it starts with this generalization; “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That sounds familiar to many people, but these days it’s a rarity whether people are religious or sacrilegious. Too many people are complaining about how they were, and are, being treated, yet they treat others with even greater disdain. It’s a me-me-me world filled with hate.

Pastor Michael O’Neill, from Yakima, Washington, visited New Hope Church in Palm City, Florida and gave a four-series presentation on Love. It’s an important message for our times because these days too many people don’t know that love is a cornerstone of the Biblical message. That’s unfortunate because everyone should understand the concept and, if they want to be happy and healthy, apply it.

In the King James Version, love is mentioned 310 times, 131 times in the Old Testament and 179 times in the New Testament. Due in part to translations, love is mentioned 348 times in the New American Standard Bible, 551 times in the New International Version, and 538 times in the New Revised Standard Version. So why is it that these days loving your neighbor is considered worse than taking cod liver oil and eating liver.

Often when conversing with others, they tend to get around to talking about their chronic health issues. I listen patiently, wondering if I should say something (more than commiserate with them), or just let it slide. When it’s applicable, I try to introduce the idea that scientists have shown that chronic diseases are most often caused by the diet. Then I suggest they look into the science because, by changing the foods they eat, they may totally suppress their chronic disease.

Make a guess as to how often that results in a positive response and personal change. Well . . . I must admit, over the past 20 years there have been a couple of times where there has been a positive change. But quite often the person changes the topic or becomes offended. So the topic is dropped and usually cancelled forever. This is how cancelling destroys the learning experience and, with some chronic diseases, sometimes that’s fatal.

Our whole society is operating on highly partisan levels these days. Cancel culture is shutting down the exchange of ideas which means learning is grinding to a standstill. That happens when we no longer think of others as actual people with feelings who deserve to be loved, recognized, and heard. Perceptions regarding how people appear, talk, or act gets far more weight than their actual good works, capabilities, intellect, and deeds. Words are weaponized and phrases are taken out of context to be used as evidence for why certain speakers should be banned.

The mainstream media (MSM) is taking advantage of these negative attitudes by presenting only one side of the discussion. Quite often they literally make up lies which are then repeated over and over until they are accepted as official dogma by their followers. Assisting them, or vice versa, the primary social media internet platforms are literally controlling online conversations. In the process the loudest voices are grooming society to follow the grand plan for The Great Reset which calls for a far stronger central government and control over the citizenry.1

As our nation lurches down this path of “righteousness,” the bureaucrats, various career politicians, and oligarchs are assuming unauthorized powers over the people. Most big businesses, especially those with large foreign operations, are going with the flow. As these groups work in concert, their allegiance is to their own personal wealth and influence. In fact, I think their goal is be the most powerful people on earth where Americans are just another group of people on their planet.

On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy gave a highly memorable Inaugural Address. He was a liberal Democrat. Now, sixty years later, some people say Kennedy sounded like a Republican. For instance, in his address he said “. . . the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.” Another statement was; “United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do—for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.”2

Of course, his most famous line was; “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” That statement suggests to me that citizens should not be demanding more from the government, but they should roll up their sleeves and, by being the best they can be, contribute to the betterment of the whole nation.

In order for that to happen, the government’s power must be tightly restricted. The primary function of our central government was originally to pass laws, enforce laws, and provide for the common defense. When the central government takes on the responsibility of determining how our children are educated, how we manage our health, what foods we should eat, how we should worship, which products businesses should make and sell, set prices for products, financial instruments, and labor, which businesses are allowed to open, and regulate a myriad of other functions in the everyday lives of its citizens, the people are in straightjackets and so is the nation.

Currently oligarchs and bureaucrats seem to be manipulating our government for their own personal benefit. It’s a corrupt form of government that even Aristotle was aware of when he wrote; “The true forms of government, therefore, are those in which the one, or the few, or the many, govern with a view to the common interest; but governments that rule with a view to the private interest, whether of the one, of the few or of the many, are perversions.” This sounds like our current government is now a perversion.3

Offshoring industry, opening borders, funding huge stimulus programs for pet projects in the disguise of helping those hurt by government shutdowns, unleashing wars on religion, culture, and history, crafting laws that benefit the interests of the oligarchs rather than the common good, operating in near secrecy behind a walled fortress, manipulated elections, fanning the flames of cultural and racial differences, and more are not acts of the government that our nation’s Founding Fathers envisioned. So how can we change this?

When we focus on loving everyone, we tend to be less focused on ourselves. With that approach we are more understanding of other points of view. But that doesn’t mean we forgo our own identities and our principles. We can still stand the line, but hopefully in a manner that opens up two-way communications instead of shutting it down.

Some of the radical changes we are facing today have been decades in the making. But they are here now and the “leaders” are not living under the same restraints they are enforcing on the masses. They preach fear and loathing along with strict guidance about following their bureaucratic rules. Compare that to our government’s intended purpose as Ronald Regan saw it. “Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”

The pandemic has brought out the worst in our government, placing a huge burden on the people. It has proven once again that bureaucrats in Washington are incapable of managing the everyday goings-on within our country. Not even a thousand bureaucrats working together, each and everyone being a regular person, know what all the other hundreds of millions of individuals must do with their lives. Heck, many of the bureaucrats have their own problems they aren’t solving just like everyone they want to control. They are not gods.

One prime example of bureaucratic incompetence is the USDA’s MyPlate dietary guidelines. It’s basically unchanged in six decades and during that time chronic diseases have only gotten worse. Obesity has gone ballistic. Yet the bureaucratic guidance stays the same while private sector scientists, who study animal biology and human nutrition, have been demanding change for more than four decades.4 5

The biologists have been trying to promote foods that are low glycemic, nutrient dense and diverse, with balanced ratios of Omega-6 to Omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs). These foods are mostly green leafy vegetables, grass-fed and Omega-3 meats, and wild-caught seafood. But the private sector message about balancing the EFAs is unknown by nearly everyone, including the folks in the medical community.6

In a similar vein as being off-base in dietary guidelines, in the past year the CDC has issued many rules that fly into the face of science for addressing COVID-19. Its dictates for social distancing at six feet, wearing masks (much less two masks), to shutdown schools and businesses, and many other lifestyle suggestions have no scientific validity whatsoever. The CDC’s goal to be 100% safe is totally ludicrous and the costs to lives of millions caused by its dictates are immeasurable.

I’ll paraphrase what Nathanael Blake, senior contributor to The Federalist, wrote recently. The current crop of self-styled activists is seething with hate, but it is only upon strong love that we can build identities capable of moving beyond division. The historical baggage tribalism drags with it, can only be surpassed by love for something, or Someone, greater than tribe or tongue or nation.7

Quite often Ronald Reagan spoke of love. One quote is; “If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen.” The Bible tells us to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31).

Going forward everyone needs to get the message out that we do not need a federal government nanny state. We do not need our government to set rules for living such as dietary guidelines, what schools must teach, how people should handle how they go about their daily lives, which businesses may be open and when, and the many other aspects of our lives that we must manage for ourselves in order to be the best we can be. But we need to do it in a loving way. There is a lot of resistance and it won’t be swayed with hate.8

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

1. The Great Reset by Ted Slanker

2. “Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You” John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961

3. Aristotle Quote from LibQuotes

4. Government: Dangerous for Your Health by Ted Slanker

5. Essential Fatty Acids in Health and Chronic Disease by Artemis P Simopoulos M.D.

6. Food Analysis: EFA, Protein to Fat, Net Carbs, Sugar, and Nutrient Load by Ted Slanker

7. Why The Left Is Helping Make America Racist Again by Nathanael Blake from The Federalist

8. Protecting Minority Rights by Ted Slanker